Day 638 | This Kid

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Chase is about the cutest version of himself (ever!) right now. He's hysterical, and sweet, and adorable all at the same time.

Two of my current favorite sayings of his:
  1. "You're my special girl." As in: he wants something from me. He'll say, "Mom, can you help me get dressed this morning because you're my special girl." How could anyone say no to that?

  2. "I love you so much I believe in you." I mean, amazing, right? We've adopted this new phrase as a family mantra. It's just about perfect and it's all him.


Day 636 | Winter Biking

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After nap, Chase requested a bike riding outing. As kids from Wisconsin, Chris and I immediately said no...because it's early February. Definitely not prime bike riding weather.

And then, upon reflection, we realized that it was in the mid-forties outside. That's totally acceptable outdoor biking weather (even for me!). We all had a blast and Chase is getting really good at his balance bike (apparently buying it at age 2 was a little early). 

Maybe we're not ready to trade Washington, DC, winters for Wisconsin winters quite yet. 

Day 635 | Seriously Social

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Oh, and Chase spent some time with this lion, too.
Today was a day. We managed to see three different sets of friends (four if you count the sweet friend who is part of our babysitting swap and stayed with our kiddos after bedtime) over the course of today. Whoa.

We met a new friend at the Building Museum for a play date. So fun meeting new people!

Another friend hosted us for [a delicious] dinner and lovely conversation. 

And yet another friend let us crash their house post-bedtime for a glass of wine and kid-free communicating...the night before their due date, no less!

We feel very social and very lucky for the people who have crossed paths with us in this city. 

Day 634 | Succulents

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It's my latest attempt at nurturing a succulent garden (thanks for the early Valentine's gift, Chris!). And I think (I think!) I figured out the secret: don't water it. No, seriously. My recent success with my surviving succulents (only two, sniff, sniff), is that I completely ignore them. Think, water once every few months. Crazy, right?

I'll let you know if I can keep this beautiful collection alive this time around. I'm optimistic!

Day 633 | This is 9:30am?

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Check out what my 9:30am looked like today!

My friend took Robbe for a few hours (as a new childcare swap we've started up) and I spent 2.5 hours working this morning (latte, plus music, plus candle, plus new succulent garden). Even better than that, because I worked in the morning, I had a luxuriously long and leisurely naptime to do whatever I wanted (that included working on Chase's class Valentines and Robbe's birthday invite).

Why didn't I set this up earlier?

Day 629 | Hot Russian

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I had an amazing epiphany yesterday: a hot version of one of my favorite special occasion cocktails. Enter the "Hot Russian". It's a

White Russian

with steamed milk instead of cold milk (we never use cream).

It makes me beyond happy to have a delicious cold-weather cocktail to turn to when I just need a quick warm-up on a Friday night. Yay!

Here's the recipe Chris perfected last night:

  • 1.5 oz Kaluha

  • 1 oz vodka

  • Steamed milk (we used our latte maker!) to fill the cup

You won't be disappointed.

Day 628 | Spreading His Wings

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We went to our first non-family friend birthday party today. Chase got the invite totally on his own merits and both boys were beyond excited to help celebrate.

Chase participated like a champ: ran in the relays, took tons of photos in the "photo booth," sang Happy Birthday, and said his please and thank yous. Robbe had a blast, too, mostly by eating his weight in hotdogs. Heehee. 

Such a fun family outing. Thanks to Claire and Alice (the joint bday girls) for inviting our little sweet pea.

Day 627 | Caulking

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The boys played "caulking the ceiling" for a good 45 minutes tonight while I prepared dinner. It. Was. Glorious. They played together without any intervention from me. You understand the miracle here, right?

Why caulking the ceiling, you might ask? We had another leak problem pop up a couple of weeks ago and had someone in last week to determine the cause. Until it rains, we have a hole cut out of our ceiling so that we can peek back in to check for any further moisture. The workers did a lot of caulking and apparently Chris and I have been talking about it enough that it has become a part of our child's vernacular. 

Day 625 | In Home Day Care

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I'm thinking of expanding my childcare capacity...ok, not really, don't freak out. The last few days have proven that I could actually handle another wee one running around, though. We watched a friend's three year old over the weekend and now we got to hang out with another friend's 1.5 year old this morning (and this time it was me solo). Both experiences were exceedingly positive. It helps that our friends have the best kids.

And no, don't freak out [again], no third baby plans around here in real life. I'll stick to watching our friends' babies when I've got the energy for it and when I don't have to actually rear them.

Day 624 | Snow Day: Take 3

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You might wonder, are we getting tired of these lazy snow days? Ah, no, definitely not. It feels like an impromptu vacation where we just stay home and accomplish everything and nothing every day.

We had the itch to get past our front yard immediately upon waking up this morning and decided a walk to Capital City Cheesecake was needed. It wasn't easy (still very few walkable sidewalks), but it was the best tasting breakfast ever. That's what staring at the same walls for four days will do to you. 

And, good news! We were finally able to make a snowman today. Whew. Chase was not going to take it well if the snow continued to be uncooperative. His name is Olaf, in case that's not obvious. 

Day 623 | Snow Day: Take 2

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We had another luxurious snow day today. I'm happy to report that after about an hour and a half of digging out, the minivan is free! Well, we didn't actually move it, but we think it'll move when the time comes. Luckily we don't have to test the hypothesis yet: one more snow day for Chase tomorrow. And we're still waiting to hear about the Federal Government. We'll see.

It might be a rough day tomorrow if it's just me and the babies without the option to go anywhere (they're still recommending to stay off the roads and ours isn't plowed anyway, not to mention I won't be able to navigate the stroller through this mess). Eek!

Day 622 | Blizzard Dig Out

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The sun was shining and the snow was looking undisturbed and beautiful after the snow and wind let up last night. When the last flake fell, our back porch snowbank was measuring 22.25". That's no joke.

We did bust out of the house for some snow fun, which was more than needed after being cooped up for 36+ hours. Chase loved playing in the giant snowbanks. Yeah, we were surprised too. Robbe, on the other hand, not a huge fan. I guess competing with piles of snow the size of you could be a bit unnerving. With Chris and Robbe watching from our front window, Chase and I made a pretty sweet sledding run and even managed to carve out a equally sweet tunnel all in our yard.

A few additional updates:
  1. We have not attempted to uncover our van yet. Think happy thoughts for us tomorrow! That's going to be a job.
  2. Our street has not been plowed. The city still has TONS of work to do.
  3. Chris and Chase both have a snow day tomorrow! Woot woot!
  4. And finally...we didn't lose power. I think we're at a safe point to make that declaration. Whew. That's a relief.

Day 621 | The Great Blizzard of 2016

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It's the only problem with my one-photo-a-day blogging strategy: too many interesting blizzard pics to post in one photo/small collage. Instead I'll post a bunch from the last 24 hours and continue updating here if there are any exciting changes throughout today (snow is supposed to continue but lighten now).

The before.

2pm: Snow begins.

8pm: Snow picks up.

7am: Good morning 15" of snow!

Mini is wishing we had a garage.

Anyone up for a picnic?

Or grilling?
11am: Second round of shoveling. This is a *bit* crazy.
12pm: Surveying the pile out the back door.
12pm: That yard stick is reading 19".
12:30pm: The master shoveler finishes the job. Whew.
4pm: Time to shovel again.
It is pretty, though.
Looking cold on the outside, but warm inside. Thank goodness!
I'm thinking it'll be a bit before we're driving again.
The wind has picked up this afternoon.
We can't figure out why Miga won't go out the back door.
4:30pm: 22" and counting.
A second floor window. Whoa.
7pm: Third round of shoveling: Check!
7pm: We're measuring 24" on our back porch.
Poor, poor Mini.





Day 620 | The Calm Before the Storm

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We woke up to a beautiful sunrise this morning ahead of what's going to be a crazy few days (with limited sunshine). The boys and I (Chase had his first official snow day) walked to breakfast at our favorite locale and I couldn't help but think to myself how bizarre it is to see the city going about it's normal business with the Great Blizzard of 2016 knocking on its door. And how different everything will look (in terms of busy-ness, traffic, activity, the landscape) in just a few short hours.

The snow started about three hours ago (1pm) and continues to fall in a beautiful, light, still fashion as I type (from what I hear, that's going to change). The sights and sounds of snowplows are a frequent disturbance outside our window (the city is on it!) but otherwise things seem normal. We are prepared to hunker down and enjoy the picturesque nature of it all. Hopefully we're doing that in a well-heated house. I'll keep you posted.

And one article for your reading pleasure, in case you don't have any idea what's going on outside our window.

Day 619 | Late Start

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Chase's late start this morning (thanks to a prelude snow flurry last night) meant we had a lovely and low key morning with just the three of us. I miss these mornings. We even spent some quality play time in the snow before heading off to school. Seeing these two sweet peas in full-on snowsuits is about the cutest thing ever. So adorable.

Thanks in advance for the happy thoughts over the next few days as the great blizzard of 2016 bears down on the District. I'm ok with the snow (over two feet, maybe!) but a *little* worried about the threat of losing power (and thus heat). I'll do my best to keep you posted over the weekend.