New York City Girls Weekend

Last weekend I went on a fun-filled girls trip to NYC with friends Amanda, Jenni, and Tiffany. Highlights:

A visit to the Manhattan temple. I had a hard time staying awake, but it was still a pretty cool experience.

Three Broadway shows--Wicked (just as great the second time around), Curtains (loved David Hyde Pierce), and Legally Blonde (I thought I wouldn't like it since I didn't like the movie, but it was very fun and entertaining. My favorite song was "Gay or European?"). Tiffany and Amanda ran to get our Legally Blonde tickets at TKTS during our Curtains intermission. I was surprised and impressed that they made it back in time.

Going to the View. I hadn't watched this before (well, I'd seen a few minutes), and I had never seen another show taped, so I really didn't know what to expect. It was so fun! We braved chilly rain in inadequate clothing (I had light jacket and flip flops) to get in line. On our way we rode in a cab with a LITERALLY SLEEPING cab driver (and not just at the lights people) and then when we were on foot, Amanda and I were splashed by a another cab (yuck, street water). But it was worth it in the end. It was fun to see how a show was filmed. The guests were pretty lame, but the View ladies seemed really nice.

Pinkberry. It was a super yummy frozen yogurt chain in NYC that Tiffany really wanted to go to. I'm so glad she insisted because it was amazing! I order a small with strawberries and loved it so much that I had to order another small with strawberries. The people behind the counter kind of laughed at me. They really laughed at me when I went up to order yet another yogurt (this one to go for Tiffany), but I suppose they thought I was ordering it for myself.

While I was gone Andrew cleaned the house, touched up the paint, and bought a new vacuum (the one we got for our wedding nine years ago finally died). He also bought two sets of golf clubs at a yard sale for $20 total. He was VERY excited about the deal (and used it to justify buying himself a new bag and additional clubs).

Nature Walk

Today, I made Lizzie go on a "nature walk" at Huntley Meadows. Initially she was not interested and kept asking to go home. Then she saw some "callipillars" and decided to enjoy herself. We also saw lots of birds, but when we got too close they flew away. Liz was convinced it was because of me. She said "Mommy your too big. You scared them. I'm little, but your too big."

A Day Off

Andrew suggested that I do whatever I need to do to calm down and reduce my anxiety. So, in the spirit of that, I spent yesterday afternoon at the East wing of the National Art Gallery looking at (and learning about) modern art. It was really nice. I was able to see everything and even take a docent-lead tour which I never would have been able to do with Lizzie in tow. Very relaxing.


Also, last night we finally used the Doppler heart thing. Andrew was able to find what we are pretty sure was a heartbeat. Phew.

Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 9th wedding anniversary! Nine years! Yikes. I don't feel like I'm old enough to be married so long, but clearly I am. Around the time we got married, my sister-in-law, Jen, talked about how she and Andrew's oldest brother either had been married for 10 years or were approaching it. I remember thinking, wow, that's SO long. Well, here I am. Next month it will be eleven years since I met Andrew. Crazy how time flies. We decided to count our upcoming Florida trip as an anniversary celebration so last night we had a quiet night in. After we put Lizzie to bed, we had a nice dinner of steak (I don't remember ever purchasing and preparing steak for ourselves before, but Drew insists that we have), prosciutto wrapped asparagus, and garlic mashed potatoes. After dinner we gorged ourselves on twizzlers while we watched "Lars and a Real Girl" (good movie).

Earlier in the day I received a great surprise. A friend lent us her hospital-grade, baby-heart-listening-thing. Hopefully now I'll be able to listen to the heartbeat on a regular basis and calm down a bit. I haven't used it yet. I didn't dare use it during the day because I was afraid I there wouldn't be a heartbeat to find and I didn't want to be alone for that. I didn't use it when Drew got home because I did not want to spoil our anniversary with the possibility of a dead baby. I'll probably try and figure it out today.

Relaxing Weekend

We had a pretty relaxing weekend (Andrew loved it). Friday night we saw Gladys Knight and her Saints Unified Voices Choir perform. They were amazing! I especially liked Gladys' gospel version of I am a "I am a Child of God."

On Saturday we lounged around the house a lot which was nice. We did the lazy parent move and let Lizzie watch cartoons while we slept in. It was lovely. We had to take turns changing the channel and getting food for Lizzie, but that wasn't too bad. I have resisted teaching Liz how to work the remote herself because I don't want her to be able to watch television without me knowing about it. That evening we looked at couches for date night. It was actually really fun and the idea of getting rid of our nasty old sofa got us both excited.

On Sunday I found Drew's credit card in my scripture case. I had "lost it in the apartment" a little over a month ago and Andrew stubbornly refused to cancel it and get a replacement card because according to him, he would be "encouraging my irresponsibility." Whatever.

Gladys Knight

So, last night we saw Gladys Knight and her All Saints Unified Choir perform. They were amazing! I especially liked Gladys' gospel version of I am a Child of God. Other highlights: Amazing Grace, seeing the line to get in wrap around the church, Gladys' funny husband, and hearing their conversion stories.

Thank you

I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive and encouraging of our baby news. We really appreciate your well wishes.

Also, thanks to Andrew who surprised me this morning with a breakfast of delicious German pancakes and banana nut topping. Yum. And thanks to my friends for the cake and flowers last night--another nice surprise.

Bellobration

Lizzie and I went to the circus two weekends ago. This year, they called the event a "Bellobration," as in Bello the clown. The term might not have been so annoying if it weren't for the incredibly annoying, yet amazingly memorable, theme song: "Bello, bello, bello, bello, bello, bello, bellobration." That's just a snippet, of course.

We had a great time, though. There were a few moments that frightened Liz, unfortunately. We had to step out for the human cannonball routine, and she clung to me pretty tightly when it got especially dark, but I didn't mind that a bit. Lizzie's favorite bits were those that involved horses and dogs.

Highlights from last week:

Lizzie and I made "rainbow crayons" by melting the broken/cut pieces together. She liked everything about it, except that I wouldn't let her take a turn with the sharp knife to cut up crayons.

We attended the Cherry Blossom parade. I had planned to go with a friend, thinking Drew would be grateful to be left out, but he actually wanted to come. The parade was fun, though it seemed smaller than previous years. We especially missed the Guatemalan dancers, but were happy to see our favorite marching band (I think the banner said Dumbarton) and precision motorcycling cops (Drew's favorite).

It sprinkled a little at the parade so Lizzie and her friend, Avery, started out under an umbrella. This is actually one of the few times Liz was seated. She spent most of her time dancing, wiggling, and marching. The weather was slightly rainy all day, but we really lucked out and missed most of the downpours.

We ended up having two date nights this week. On Friday night we dropped Liz off with a co-op sitter and went to Top Golf and hit a few buckets of balls. Actually I hit four buckets and Drew hit nine. The last time he went to get balls, he came back and sheepishly told me he "accidentally" hit the two game options instead of just one. Right. We both got new high scores that evening and had a lot of fun.

The next night we went to my friend Lea's house for a couples night. We didn't have a sitter so we put Liz to bed there. Unfortunately she refused to go to sleep and was still awake when we left close to midnight, four hours past her regular bedtime. Needless to say she was a beast the next day. Still, despite the occasional interruptions from Liz, the evening was a lot of fun. We played Wii for the first time ever and loved it. I bowled and did much better than in real life. I boxed Drew and knocked him out (I was sore the next day). I played tennis with the guys while trying to carry on a conversation with the other women. I did poorly, but according to my doubles partner, we won two of three games (I thought we had only played one).

For playgroup we went to a bounce house. It was for the kids, but the mom's were allowed on the slides too. I loved it. It was so fun.

We're expecting . . .

I figure it's finally time to officially announce, what I'm sure is obvious to everyone who has seen me in recent weeks: I am pregant. We are expecting another baby on September 26th. For those of you who knew us five years ago (and remember) this is same as Lizzie's due date. We had not planned for this to happen so soon, but are excited and very nervous. Please keep us in your prayers.

Cherry blossoms in the rain

We braved the bad weather this morning because we had already planned an early morning cherry blossom viewing. Turns out there was a race this morning as well so tons of roads were closed. The conditions were less than ideal, but I still thought it was fun to get out and see friends. Andrew was probably relieved when the drizzle turned to actual rain and we had to turn back instead of walking around the entire basin. Actually I would have walked all the way around, but no one was willing to come with me. Andrew said he would not come back next year and when I suggested we stop by a museum instead of going straight home he told me I was in danger of losing his company at the blossoms in 2010 as well.

I tried to get a picture of Liz with her friends, but she wouldn't stop jumping. Soon they were all jumping and a video seemed more appropriate than picture.

When we saw the runners Andrew informed me that I had really dropped the ball. Apparently it was my job to make sure there were no races scheduled for this morning. Of course he was the one that checked the weather and ended up wrapped in our picnic blanket because he did not dress warm enough.

Friday Night Out

Last night Andrew went out with a friend from high school that he hasn't seen in about five years. I found a last-minute babysitter so I could join them, but Drew politely told me that he would prefer a guys night. So, Lizzie and I went out for dinner and shoe shopping (really we went to buy someone a baby gift, but I got distracted). While we were eating, Liz found a couple pennies on the floor under our table. I told her she could take them home and put them in her piggie bank, but she said, "They're not mine. I didn't drop them--someone else did." I tried to explain found-money etiquette--basically, keep coins, not paper--but she didn't seem to get it. It's amazing how black-and-white and rule-bound children's thinking is. She is totally in the tattle tale stage. As we walked into the restaurant, Lizzie pointed to a passing car and said "That car was naughty. It didn't stop at the stop sign."

Shoe shopping was fun, but I tired of it quickly. Lizzie kept bringing me additional shoes to try on and she wanted to measure my foot often. She said "All your shoes are getting old Mommy. You need to buy lots of new shoes." She seemed to enjoy herself, saying "I'm a shopper" and "I like shopping." Nice. It reminded me of when she was a toddler and used to pull clothes of the rack, hold them up to herself, and say, "This is soooo cute" before discarding them. Once she even did it with frilly lingerie. Clearly I took her to the mall too much in those early days. While we were out last night I managed to find a few pairs of shoes for myself before I became too ornery and tired to continue at the store. As we were getting in the car I was being a bit impatient and snappy with Liz. Finally she said, "Mommy if you keep talking like that you're going to need to take a time out." Indeed.

The above picture is not from our night out (it's from Chucky Cheese), but I like posts with pictures so here it is.

Fun on the farm

We went on a field trip to a local farm with Lizzie's school this morning. It was fun, but freezing. I definitely did not dress us appropriately. When we arrived I ended up putting spare socks on Lizzie's hands for gloves and wrapping her in the picnic blanket from the car. Despite the temperature we enjoyed our brief visit. We saw baby cows and pigs. When Liz saw the piglets she asked, "Mommy, which one is Wilbur?"

This is probably my fifth time at the farm and the directions consists of about three turns, yet I still managed to get a little "turned around" on my way there. I called Andrew at work so he could mapquest for me. He did, but I could tell he was displeased. Drew wanted to get me GPS for Christmas last year, but I insisted on an atlas instead (turns out they are not very convenient when you don't have a passenger to look stuff up for you). I think maybe I'll be getting GPS this Christmas.

Night Out

No critiques on the form allowed. This is me swinging the sticks without any instruction. Surprisingly enough, Jill actually wanted to participate in this athletic activity - that's kind of a rare event for her. Of course, she loves yoga and pilates, but when it comes to more traditional sports, Jill loses interest pretty quickly.

On our night out last Saturday, we went with some friends (Terry and Ryann Murphy) to a local driving range. For those not local to the area, it isn't just your average driving range - the balls have RFID chips inside. Each ball is assigned to separate players, and you score points depending on where you hit it on the range.

For me, it is a great way to improve my swing and cut down the handicap while eating burgers and fries. For Jill, it is a nice time to visit with friends and have some fun trying something kind of new. A nice compromise for both of us.

Am I the only guy whose wife makes him turn his hat around for pictures? Argh - I hate that. She tells me that, "if you don't turn your hat around, then it shades yours eyes." Uh, yeah - that's the point.

So we had a great time at the driving range, had fun with good friends, and ate good, greasy food. Can't get much better than that.

Pickles

It's so interesting to hear Lizzie repeat (sorta) the things we try to teach to her. On the way home from school today she asked me what food I don't like. Pickles. She responded that pickles are "growing" food (I disagree--yuck) and that I need to eat them. Lizzie warned me that if I don't eat them I won't grow "old enough to see Jacob again." I'm assuming she came to this conclusion because I have told her that some day I will grow old and die, and also that she won't grow if she doesn't eat "growing" foods. So, maybe she thinks that I won't grow old enough to die if I don't eat "growing" foods. I don't know. Lizzie offered me a special surprise from her room if I ate a pickle. I told her I would give her one too, but she said "I don't need a surprise. I have lots of toys in my room. My toys are my surprises."