Road Trippin' (part 1)

I don’t remember my first road trip… it was probably driving with my parents to see their parents or on our way out to live in Chicago. Since then I’ve become quite used to them, but 2 weeks ago I added a new element to the road trip: the little lady.

I had to be in NY on Thursday night for an industry awards banquet – at which a project I worked on was up for an award. Shiloh had to work late on Thursday night, so I decided to bring Harper with me. My mom loved this idea because it meant she got to spend the evening with her while I was in the city.

Taking Harper (and all her stuff) on a plane or train didn’t sound like much fun, so we packed up the dog and the car and headed up the road. My awesome neighbor helped me out big time and fed Harper while I wrapped up a few things for work – allowing us to get on the road on time and right after she had eaten. This proved to be the perfect combination.

Harper's View

We only stopped once along the way so Harper could eat and be changed, and Adi could go to the bathroom. We got to my parents house with enough time to get dressed and catch the train to the city. My dad, who had just had knee surgery, had fun interacting with Harper, who is a lot more responsive and playful than she was the last time he saw her.

The evening was great; we ended up taking home the award (!!), and having a really good time catching up with our colleagues from the NY and Chicago offices. Here’s our award:

The next day I had a great time following my mom around to all of her activities so that Harper could meet all of my mom’s friends. We went to the school she teaches at (got to sneak a peak at her teaching – she is SO great with the kids), and to a fabulous quilting retreat that a bunch of her quilting friends were having. They are such a fun group of ladies.

All the running around wore both of us out, so the second leg of our road trip was postponed until the next morning.

firsts (part 1)

Disclosure: I realize over the next few years I will have plenty of posts titled "Firsts"... I apologize for the lack of creativity.

Last Friday Harper experienced three firsts: 1st metro ride, 1st outing in the District, 1st NBA basketball game. Here's a recap:

METRO RIDE

I couldn't believe this was the first time we'd taken Harper on the metro. It is such an everyday part of my life that it was funny to see what she thought of it. We are in agreement: it's not very fun. In fact, on the ride home she would scream unless I was standing up. As Noa would call that: Metro surfing. (Noa, Harper can't wait to go metro surfing with you)

When we first got on the train there weren't that many people, but as we got closer to the arena the car became quite crowded. Harper loved looking around at all the new faces. If she had not been so tired I think she would have enjoyed it a bit more.

DISTRICT

No pictures here... As we shuffled through the crowded streets, Harper hung out, enjoying the ride and peering over my shoulder at all of the people. I think she's going to be a people watcher.

BASKETBALL GAME

The game was great. We weren't expecting a very competitive game... we figured the Wizards would get stomped... Luckily, we were wrong. It was a fairly close game throughout and the Wizards ended up with a win!

Harper enjoyed watching all of the movement, and didn't mind the noise at first. However, when she got really tired the sudden moments of cheering weren't letting her sleep, which she wasn't too pleased about.

Harper's "date" was such a champ. He's definitely more accustomed to the noisy arena. Don't worry Camden, she'll get there.

At some point, she gave in, sleeping through a good chunk of the game and some pretty loud moments. Then the Wizards started making a comeback and the crowd got really loud. At least she got a bit of sleep.
It was so great to get out and see a game. The win was totally an extra bonus. L&J, thanks so much for the great evening!

Bolwing

A couple weeks ago we went out bowling with some friends. It was really great to get out of the house. Life definitely feels like it's getting back to normal.

A highlight of the evening was this awesome sign. I think I need to send it to Jay Leno.

Blessing Day {February 7, 2010}

In our church, instead of baptism, we give new babies a blessing. Both of our families were kind enough to make the long trip to be a part of this special day. Unfortunately, because of the massive snowstorm, church was canceled. So, we decided to have the blessing in our home.

It turned out to be a really nice, intimate setting. The sun was shining, the snow was beautiful and Shiloh did an incredible job.

We started the day out with a bath. Harper loved the warm water, so we let her lounge a while.


After a little nap we got her dressed, enjoying every little button and the adorable little white shoes that were almost too small. I found a sweet little headband that offered just the right amount of frill to the outfit.



Grandma Jan helped fill Harper so she would be nice and happy for the blessing.


A few group shots:


As usual, my brother, Ben, was our photographer. I took a few pictures, but the best ones came from him -- here are some of our favorites. Others can be found here.







We're so grateful for this little girl.

The great dig out of 2010

As you may have heard, the D.C. area has received more snow this winter than they've seen since 1898. The biggest dump came the first weekend of February. Coincidentally, we had scheduled to bless Harper this weekend (more on that later), so both our parents and my brother, Ben, were in town.

My parents and brother decided to sleep at my aunt Linda's house, who lives about 20 minutes from us, so they could have beds to sleep in. As the snow fell on Friday night we knew it would be tricky to get them back to the house, so we tried to convince them to sleep at our house on air mattresses. But, my dad is "from Idaho" and isn't afraid to drive in snow. Unfortunately, in Idaho they have enough equipment to plow most, if not all roads around town.

We woke up to several feet of snow, which was still falling - and continued to fall until that evening. There was so much snow that even the biggest cars couldn't get through without a plow.

By noon on Saturday it became clear that a plow was not going to make it to my aunt's street - a small cul de sac off of a main road - and we were hearing rumors that the snow plows were going to stop plowing at 3 p.m. My mom was determined to come see Harper, and was not going to miss her blessing, so they started to dig.

My aunt lives two houses into the cul de sac, and the main road was relatively cleared, so they decided to dig out the smaller road to get their car to the main road. In hopes of getting them out before the plows stopped working on the main roads, Shiloh and his brother, Jesse, drove up to help.

Here are some pictures of the impromptu work "party".

The finished product.

What a difference a day makes. On Sunday the sun came out, giving us a chance to get a good look at the huge amounts of snow we received.

Here are our power lines, in a very precarious position next to our overgrown pine tree.

Our power flickered several times over the weekend, but amazingly it never went out. The rest of the area was not so lucky. Many of our friends, along with thousands of others, were without power for most of the weekend.

This storm was 2 weeks ago, and I wish I could say that all the snow has melted, but back to back storms and cold temperatures have kept it around - causing major parking/driving/garbage removal/school & church attendance (seriously, some schools are still closed and we've had to limit church b/c there are not enough parking spots) issues.

V-Day 2010

This Valentine's Day we dined at home. Shiloh found a great recipe for Brie and Apple-Stuffed Chicken. We cooked together tonight and were quite pleased with how the chicken turned out. The only adjustment to the recipe (found here) is that we would add more brie.... but we really like cheese.


Shiloh wanted to take on dessert this year, and this is what he came up with:

one word: yum.

The best part of dinner though? The company:

Happy Valentine's Day

four

Today was Adi's fourth birthday. This year has brought many changes, many of which have had big impacts on Adi's life. She has coped extremely well and has impressed us with her reaction to those changes.

Most important of all, Adi is so good with Harper. She is very careful not to get too close, and has only sneaked a lick or two. Occasionally we'll find Adi sleeping in Harper's room on the rug next to her crib, while Harper is napping. We're excited to see these two grow up together.


Adi has enjoyed the last couple of weeks of tons of snow. Normally she isn't too impressed with playing "fetch," offer her a snowball though, and she's game. It has been hilarious to see her running around like she did when she was a puppy.

Here are some great shots my brother took of Adi this year.