Cleveland & Christmas

My brothers and I went to Cleveland last week for my dad's heart surgery.  We couldn't help laughing during our family meeting the night before - especially when my father proudly showed us his new iphone app called - wait for it..."the flashlight app."   But overall it was pretty scary - and I wasn't even the one getting opened up.  It was a big relief that the surgery was successful, but then comes the recovery...

After Cleveland we headed to philly for christmas.  This was the first Christmas for which both boys seemed really excited and aware of Santa which makes things so fun.  Charlie was especially excited about Santa bringing him a sled and wrote him a letter which he gave to the crossing guard at school to send.  Yes - the crossing guard...The crossing guard has taken a liking to Charlie and asked him to write Santa a letter which she could send.  Charlie and his cousins also made cookies for Santa as an offering.  This all worked out in his favor as a sled did indeed appear on Christmas morning.  Luckily Charlie didn't seem to notice that the big box packed in the car disappeared on the return trip....The other presents I got weren't as well received - a balance bike for Diego and a keyboard for Charlie were pushed aside in favor of more fun toys like a remote controlled car, a "workbox" and a pig popper.  The boys had so much fun with their cousins and were devastated when it was time for them to leave.  They were also so exhausted that they could barely function. 

cookies for santa

Christmas morning!

how sad! playing with the only snow left

tio charlie gave the kids PJs to match his!!

Diego with his favorite toy - a 10 year old Staples gadget!

My mom’s pop-up store did really well (http://www.curiophiladelphia.com/)  - I’m very proud of her.  It is A LOT of work, but we are hoping she can continue it full time going forward.  Here are the kids eating their first “grinder” sandwich and stinking up the store.  And Charlie and Wallis working the cash register….

Gingerbread Houses

After 3 evenings of gingerbread baking, Charlie and I finally had our gingerbread village ready for his classmates to decorate. I got slightly jealous so decided to make one for me too:). Turns out gingerbread houses take a little more thought than I thought. The first attempt was so sloppy that the roof kept falling off. I decided to actually read the recipe/instructions....The kids seem to have a lot of fun and worked so hard decorating their houses. Charlie's house has turned into a multi-day event as he continues to fill in any remaining space he can find. charlie is very precise, balanced and geometric with his decorations....Diego's house is bit more abstract. His tactic is to skip the house and just pour the decorations onto the ground around the house. Very colorful lawn...

the village

hard at work



getting decorations out



my house

Our christmas tree hunt was slightly less romantic than in years past when we chopped it down.  This year we hunted it down at Fragers and picked one with a white tag indicating 9 ft.  Oh well - maybe next year. 

On Sunday we went to "Ice" at National Harbor which was totally mind-boggling.  They import chinese artists to sculpt two million pounds of ice and then keep the whole thing refridgerated to 9 degrees.   Doesn't seem like a very sustainable idea.  It was totally bizarre and Diego hated it, but Charlie loved it.  Here we are in our parkas...

We've been down about this year at Charlie's class which perpetuates the continual conversation about where best to live.  The teacher's aide never shows up and there are 2 kids with IEPs in his class so the poor teacher is on his own with 20 4/5 year olds.  The school principal, the parents and the PTA are all involved trying to fix the situation, but that hasn't stopped Carlos from having some choice words with the superintendent, her chief of staff, the deputy superintendent, the chief of staff for the mayor and our ANC representative. ahhh carlos.

Diego is so sweet and cozy.  He insists on sleeping with THREE pillows, two blankets and at least one toy.  He literally hugs trucks as he goes to sleep.   Of course they are not just any three pillows - they happen to be the three best in the house.  It might be time for us to buy more pillows because I'm down to one sad pillow which excerbates my uncomfortable sleep these days.  He has also been waking up early some mornings asking to come into our bed and when he does he insists on bring all three pillows and both blankets!

Baby #3 news is officially out.  I finally told my boss which was a big relief.  She is a maniac in my belly which can't mean good things for her future sleep patterns.  Then again it may be all the coffee I still drink...





Thanksgiving

We had quite the Thanksgiving adventure.  We drove 7 hours to Asheville and arrived around 3:30am.  We had planned to leave by 6pm but of course we weren't out the door until 8:30 so around 2am I was trying everything to stay awake.  Asheville feels like it's a positive energy vortex - small, cute and very hippie.  Everyone is so nice - like geniunely, really nice.  Unfortunately in the case of our house-rental the hippie nice factor meant quasi-dellusional too.  The owner rented us the wrong house which ended up being small, not that clean and not very well equipped.  We quickly moved out to a hotel and came home earlier than expected.  Given the poor kitchen we decided to postpone our typical Thanksgiving meal until we returned to DC. 

On Thanksgiving day we visited the Biltmore which is insanely grandiose.  I found the basement to be the most interesting - with the indoor swimming pool filled with a hose, to the "gym" which was modern at the time but think parallel bars and wooden dumbbells, to the servants quarters to the multiple kitchens and dumbwaiters.  Here we are at the Biltmore - you might notice from the angle that Charlie took one of the pictures. 

Other than the Biltmore we went on a fun hike, Diego got a haircut and I ate a lot.  I saved Diego's hair again because I think the blonde might be growing out.  Charlie LOVED all the attention he got from his abuela and tia veronika.  He even refused to drive home with us and apparently he chatted for most of the 8 hr drive!

Check out Diego and Charlie rocking out.  You can't really hear the terrible keyboard music, but it's bad and Diego's guitar rounds out the sound nicely:)

The boys fight a lot but they miss each other when the other isn't around and, to some extent, they look out for each other.  Charlie makes sure Diego stops at the end of the block and doesn't go into the street; Diego asks 'Charlie coming in a minute?' whenever he wakes up from a nap and doesn't find his brother around; and when Diego popped his balloon by accident Charlie gave him his.  But other than that there is a fair amount of fighting....Here they are looking like happy brothers...

Baby sister is definitely on the way.  Here I am at 23 weeks and feeling very large.  My legs hurt a lot, but other than that I feel good and am gaining weight much better than I did with Diego.  She likes to kick A LOT at night; sometimes it is so much that she'll wake me up or keep me up.  She might be letting me know that she doesn't appreciate that I often end up on my back or right side while sleeping....

 

Election Night & More

Diego still loves to call people "doo-doo head."  The other day some guy on the street said hi to Diego and he happily responded "Hi doo-doo head!"  Great.   Check out Diego on his tricycle - it's so funny.  He can't reach the pedals so he scoots along and won't let me push him.

Cozy diego likes to carry his blanket and stuffed animals everywhere

Generally I'm in denial about baby #3 - I still play pick-up soccer and run (although I'm so slow now that large people who look like they aren't even moving pass me).  But sometimes I let myself wonder if we're ready for number three.  Usually the answer I come up with is no....Getting out the door every morning is a reminder that one more complication and we might never make it to school.  Getting to their various classes in one piece and on time, getting them to bed, etc, etc....But then other times I think the family definitely needs at least one more little being.  Over election night we spent time with the Nicoletti's new baby Lucas and he was so cozy.  He reminded me how much I do want another baby.  As if it's any consolation Charlie and Diego say they'll help.  Charlie has already named her Alex, Ruby and Adelaide. 

Plenty has happened in the world in the last few weeks.  GObama GO won the election, Petreaus resigned, Syria is imploding, Isreal is on the brink of a ground invasion...and on the domestic front Carlos has torn up our roof!  They say the 2012 election didn't have as much excitement as 2008, but you wouldn't have known it in DC where 91% of the voters turned out for Obama.  We were at a friend's house near U street and the crowds outside erupted when the news channels called it.  When we left around midnight we drove past the White House and found a mass influx of people headed there to celebrate.  As for the Petreaus affair we were in Mt. Pleasant neighborhood recently and there were camera crews outside the house (really nice house!) where Paula Broadwell is holed-up.



analyzing election results...:)



my election cake

And Carlos has started his version of nesting....through destruction!! A leak from the hurricane turned into our entire roof deck coming off.  "While the roof is off, don't you think we should expand that...." that's when my eyes roll back.  I can't wait for him to get a new canvas.  He always wins so we are changing the shape of the office space...which means I have no office now.  I'm stuck roaming the house in search of quiet spaces. 

It's a GIRL!

We found out today that we are having a girl!  wow. I honestly didn't think we made girls.  We put the sonogram results into an envelope and then opened it after a nice lunch at Rasika West End.  Turns out I was wrong and my hairdresser was too (based on my hair he bet $10 that I was having a boy).  I'm a little nervous but I'm hoping cousin Wallis can show her the ropes. 

Diego didn't care at all when we told him.  Charlie thought about it for exactly 2 seconds and then asked me to draw a fox on a piece of paper (he decided that's his costume for next halloween).  I asked him what he thought about having a baby sister and he dismissed the idea saying "I told you that I wanted a baby brother."  oh well.  I'm hoping that despite their attitudes now they will take good care of her.

HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Unfortunately it seems to usually end in tears and this year was no exception.  After an hour of trick-or-treating the kids were done and started melting down.  Luckily tia Veronika came with us and spent most of the evening carrying one or the other of the boys as they alternatively melted down.  Diego used Charlie's previous Max from the Wild Things costume and looked super cute and got lots of comments.  I'm washing it and packing it up again in hopes that I can get another use out of it with #3! 

Charlie said he wanted to be a frog so I stayed up until 1am last night making him a Kermit costume.  My sewing machine had collected a lot of dust from lack of use and I even had to call my mom to have her remind me how to thread the machine.  Let's just say that I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.  In the end I thought it was very cute but when I made Charlie try it on this morning he started crying and told me he actually wanted to be a bear! a bear?! I told him he could be a green bear named Kermit but that's about it.  He even cried about it during his school costume parade.  The major problem appeared to be that I can't sew pants very well so he spent most of the time re-adjusting them.  Nevertheless I thought he was a very cute Kermit.

here is Charlie adjusting his pants for the 8,000th time....

When we got home Charlie and Diego counted their candy, fought over the candy, didn't eat a single one and then put them in a secret stash.  At one point Charlie was trying to steal one of Diego's candies and so Diego resorted to laying on top of his candy to protect them.

counting candy

Charlie's Week

My belly is feeling very large these days.  Then again Charlie and Diego still have potbellies so we decided to see whose was biggest.  Judge for yourself....

Also vote on boy vs. girl!  We find out this week!!!

This was a Charlie filled week.  I played assistant teacher, went on his field trip to Cox Farms and went to THREE birthday parties this weekend.  The actual assistant teacher has been playing hookey way too much so I have been getting some class time in.  As for the field trip it turns out Cox FARM is less farm and more amusement park.  Charlie and Cici were my partners and the little duo had no problems waiting in line for 15-20 minutes for a slide.  The hay ride was a bit scary and the girls all screamed but Charlie didn't seem phased.  It was almost weird that he wasn't phased by the spookiness.  I was also shocked that he wasn't phased by going down the long slide alone.  I refused to go down the slide so I'd deposit them at the top and then run down to receive them. 

Here are a few pictures from Cox Farm:

The married couple!!!

 It must be birthday season.  We had pirate themed party, an indoor giant inflatable jumping theme and a pool party.   The Pump It Up place was like hell on earth to me but Charlie loved it.  Diego hated it too so we clung to eachother for 1.5 hours.  I guess pizza and cake is the mandatory party meal. Here are charlie and Diego eating pizza at Pump It Up and then eating pizza again an hour later at the pool party.  They didn't seem to mind!

This weekend was less than fun for Carlos who spent a night and a day in the hospital.  I kept the kids away because I'm paranoid of hospital germs.  To make him feel better Charlie wrote him endless notes and wrapped up his cars to give them as gifts to Carlos upon his return.  It was really sweet.