Inauguration Weekend!

We had a long and eventful MLK inauguration weekend!  The weekend included 8 house guests, a visit to the mall for inauguration and an inauguration party.  Not surprisingly, there was less excitement in the city this time around and fewer events. Unfortunately that was matched with more security measures which resulted in bad traffic, a feeling of being cattle herded, inexplicable barricades, bad detours and friends spending 1.5 hrs in the car to get to our house from adams morgan.  My mom, cousin, brother and aunt made it to the mall only to be told entrances had been closed so continued walking until the Washington monument where they proceeded to find a jumbotron that didn't work.  such a bummer.  On the other hand I had a great seat and view of the ceremony.  It was pretty special to be close-up and after the ceremony I wandered up as close as possible to the podium.  With all that no one ever checked my ticket - my ticket didn't even leave my coat pocket.  Exiting turned out to be more of a hassle than getting in so I snuck past security guards to cut through the Cannon congressional building to get to our street.  This would have been a great idea had I known where I was going.  Instead I got lost in the underground bowels of congress and spent forever wandering around tunnels.  Despite the 1 million people outside I found myself completely alone in the tunnels.  Pushing, shoving and standing for so long I was getting quite crampy and was beginning to think maybe this underground hell was going to induce the baby girl.  I did eventually make it home....

Obama speaking (the little speck on the bottom right!)

the mall by 8am....

our street corner by friday afternoon...

getting through security

To make up for the malfunctioning jumbotron we had Obama at 419 1st St!  Well at least a life size representation of him..  It was real enough to startle us every time we came downstairs.  Charlie and Diego loved to move him around the house which made him even more scary and surprising.  At the party he greeted guests as they entered, danced with guests and took group pictures...He was very accommodating....

Charlie, Diego and Grandma blew up about 100 helium balloons to cover the ceiling which was so fun for them. It backfired sort of because then charlie desperately wanted to stay up for "half the party."  The balloon carcasses littered the floor the next day, but that was just as much fun for Charlie who, with help from his visiting friend Milo, popped them all with toothpicks....

 

Other decorations included inauguration coins, luminaries, inauguration trivia and - what is party without inauguration cupcakes?!

 

 

The house was not only full of decorations, but also fun guests.  My aunt, mom, cousin and brother came down from Philly as did Janine and her son from NY and Neal, who I haven't seen in YEARS came from San Francisco.  Thanks to Kathleen my mom and aunt were able to escape the late night dance party and have a quiet place to stay....

29 Weeks....

29 weeks and feeling huge!  Last week I had to do an extended glucola test which was possibly worse than labor itself.  I had to drink an ultra-concentrated glucola liquid and then have blood taken 4 times over the course of 3 hours. I made it through ~1.5 hours and then puked it all back up.  The nurses shook their head at me as I walked out of the bathroom...I didn't care - I rather go on a restricted diet then do that test again....Luckily because I held it in for over an hour they accepted the results and everything is fine.

Charlie and Diego talk to their baby sister sometimes.  Usually they whisper things like "baby sister - go pee-pee in mommy's tummy" and then they fall down laughing.  Other than that they don't pay much attention to my bulging stomach nor do they give me much of a break.  I've been feeling more tired and a little more like I'm running on empty.  I'm also getting in "nesting" mode in anticipation that this baby is coming early.  Mostly this means purging stuff and getting anxious about Carlos' construction projects.

I had been worried that Diego's bad behavior during our trip marked the delayed beginning of terrible twos for him, but now that he is better he is back to being my sweet angel.  The other night when I checked on him before going to bed he sensed I was there and reached up for me and said hopefully "mommy, you are coming into my cuna (crib)?"  When I said 'maybe later' he responded "okay, but I need a kiss."

Diego making waffles

We had our first visit to the new Children's Museum.  I'm glad we went because I won't feel badly not going again...Overpriced and not worth it.


Last weekend Carlos and  I had our first ever karaoke outing - likely to be our last as well, but after a big korean BBQ meal it seemed like a nice way to round out the evening.  Here is Carlos singing some terrible song like Bohemian Rhapsody or something.

I've found a cooking activity messier than making pizza - making pasta!!!  The kids loved it, but the kitchen was a disaster afterwards....This was my attempt to get my carb-obsessed kids to eat kale- KALE PASTA!!  It was pretty good!

Colorado!

We went to Colorado for New Year's where we got to see Jamie & Bill, Uncle Buddy, Tamar and Lucie.  With better planning we might have seen more Coloradans but, as it was, we wreaked enough havoc at Jamie's house.  Diego puked all over their house and then was a disaster for the rest of the week and Charlie broke their wall!  Other than that it was a lot of fun:).  Compared to a DC rowhouse the Andersons now live in what feels like a mansion - complete with an indoor pool!  

We had a SEVEN course feast on New Year's Eve which was insanely good.  Can you guess which is my glass....

Carlos and Bill took the boys to ski school one day and then we went to Vail another day.  Despite his complaints, Charlie had a lot of fun skiing.   In Vail he loved going up the magic carpet and skied down on his own.  Sadly we don't get to go skiing often so I'm not sure it'll stick, but at least he had fun.  While in Vail Lucie cooked us Czech cookies which made me miss Christmas time in Czech Republic.

We visited Tamar in Ft. Collins and got a tour of her work at New Belgium brewery.  It seems like a really fun place to work and Carlos enjoyed tasting the beer....I think it was after noon....


In Boulder we hung out with uncle Buddy and his chickens.  Other than seeing Buddy my favorite part was his homemade kale pasta and cinnamon rolls.  Charlie's favorite part was Perry - he absolutely melted around her...

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...