Trip to the zoo

I thought I would write a quick post before the end of the weekend. We didn't do much this weekend b/c it was so cold outside (windchills in the 20's). Right now, it is nearly 10pm and Henry is still up b/c he took a late nap and didn't wake up till 6:30 (ugg!). Henry just told us that he is going to the zoo and he would be right back. I asked him how he was going to get there and he told me "I'm going to take a taxi". He then went upstairs with David to put some proper zoo clothes on. He came back wearing a shirt of David's over his clothes. I am not sure how this is all going to turn out although I just heard the front door open.

David's birthday

Among other things this week, we celebrated David's 39th birthday. I half jokingly mentioned a few weeks ago that we were going to take him to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday. Well, Henry and David didn't think it was a joke and when I found out David had NEVER been to one we then had to go. Henry and I picked David up at the subway and headed over to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. Being a rainy Wednesday night I figured it wasn't going to be too crowded and thankfully I was correct. David had a great time watching Henry play the games and playing some of the games himself.

Pictures from birthday night and David hanging his b-day present before the game

Halloween night

We had a really great Halloween. One of Henry's best buddies from playgroup, Mallory, came over with her Mom, Dad and babysister. Mallory and Henry were so good saying "Trick-or-Treat and most importantly, saying thank you. If you all aren't familiar with the tv show the Wonder Pets, I inserted the picture b/c that is what Henry, David and I dressed as. Click here for pictures

Halloween Parade

Well, we finally broke down and bought a new laptop last week and I have to say that it has made things so much easier. It now doesn't take me a whole day to upload photos or videos from my camera to the computer and then to Kodak or You Tube. I now have no excuse not to keep this blog current. So, I will start now to blog about the Vienna Halloween Parade. This is one event that everyone I ran into kept telling me about. For me though, I wouldn't have missed it--I love Halloween and I love parades. All week I have been getting our Wonder Pets costumes ready to wear to the parade. Yesterday I had all the supplies and made the costumes during Henry's nap. Before David left for work I let him know that it would be really great if he could get home by 6pm so we could have plenty of time to walk up to the parade and get a good spot. Of course, I had already been told that some people put blankets and chairs out the night before. In order for David to get home by 6pm he would need to leave work by 5:15. At 5:30 I still hadn't heard from him. Not a good sign since that usually means something big has come up and he is swamped with work. I was starting to think we might not be going b/c my excitement was waning. I heard from David at 5:45 and something had come up at work but he was on his way. After pouting for about 15 minutes and thinking we couldn't go, I then decided to put Henry in the car and check out the option of driving some of the way to the parade and then walking the rest of the way. I found that there was a lot of parking in our neighborhood and failry close to the parade route . When we went to get David I let him know our new plan. We rushed home and David changed from "Downtown DC Attorney" to "Linnie the Wonder Pet" in 2 minutes flat. It was so awesome seeing David make the transformation and make it so quick (I have never seen David rush like he did--it was pretty awesome). We shoved the wagon in the trunk and were off to the parade. It was a great parade. Full of fire trucks, marching bands, dance troupes and local politicos. David got a message on his blackberry that his boss needed some documents emailed to him by 9pm and Henry did NOT want to leave until the end of the parade so David went home, did his work and came back and caught the last 30 minutes of the 2 1/2 hour parade (It was pretty long). Henry loved the parade. Of course, he loved the firetrucks. He didn't like some of the scary costumes which was something I was worried about. I have to say this right now. I don't care how much begging Henry does at 9 or 10, he will NOT ever go as the Grim Reaper. I can't believe how many young kids had that costume. Henry also liked the attention he was getting. We had lots of people yell out "hey, it's the Wonder Pets". Or "Look, it's Tuck" (Henry's costume).

Click here for pictures

Home Sweet Home

It's been awhile since I have posted a blog (ugg!). Not having a laptop has really hindered my ability to jump on the computer and check email and all that. I really can't believe we have been in our new house for 6 weeks! It seems like our life in our old house is a distant memory but I am also continually walking around feeling like I should pinch myself. I still can't believe we got the house we wanted in the neighborhood we wanted. If anyone has read that housing is hurting in Northern VA, they aren't talking about the areas we were looking. It is still a tight market in parts of Falls Church, Arlington and Vienna. If a house is priced right it sells in days.
Today Henry and I were in our old neighborhood (looking at scooters for David) and I wanted to drive by the old house. When we pulled up to it I asked Henry if he missed the old house and he said "No, we have a new house now". Henry has now fully adjusted to the move. Actually, before the move he started acting out and throwing really bad temper tantrums. It was really scary b/c I started thinking I had lost my sweet little boy and now have a monster child. Well, it was a tough few weeks but I just avoided unpacking or doing much around the house and just focused on Henry and his needs and it toally paid off. He, of course, has his moments but it's typical two year old tantrums (usually when he is hungry or tired). Henry actually loves the house so much it is hard to get him out of the house. If I have to run an errand I usually have to bribe him with a new Matchbox car or truck. That doesn't always work though. Henry is still totally into trucks and cars. He also loves the show Backyardigans. Henry also really enjoys music. A few weeks ago we were listening to music in the car and I skipped a song on a CD and Henry yells "Hey, I like that one!". Henry will pick up a toy block give it to me and say here's your banjo. He is a fun little guy with a lot of energy. Luckily, he takes good 2-3 hour naps everyday so I can get some stuff done around the house and take a snooze too.
I promise pictures soon. I can't seem to get them loaded on our desktop computer so I will ask my IT guy to help me (David has a 3 day weekend this weekend so he will be my IT guy, plumper, carpenter and babysitter!!!)

Let the painting begin...

We closed on the house on Wednesday so we are now home owners (Yippee!!!). Now the hard work begins. I spent Wed-Fri cleaning the house and getting ready for the weekend of painting. David spent Wed-Fri working very long hours because he had two deadlines. As soon as he got off work on Friday we picked up a pizza and headed to the new house and enjoyed eating dinner on our new deck. Yesterday and today has been spent cleaning and painting. The previous owner lived in the house for 30 years and was a smoker. It is a really strong smell but luckily it really seems to be limited to the first level of the house (living and kitchen/dining area). I did my research on how to rid a house of smoke so yesterday we washed the walls, ceiling and trim with a vinegar, water and baking soda solution. We went through nearly two jugs of vinegar in an area that is no bigger than 500 sq. feet. After all the cleaning we put two coats of primer on the wall, ceiling and trim. This should block the nicotine from seeping back out through the paint (gross, huh?!). As I write this, David is at the new house finishing up the priming in the living room. This afternoon we took a break to go to the paint store to pick out the color for the living and dining room. We went to buy samples and test them in the room and we already had an idea of what we wanted. That didn't help. After a long time of looking and debating we picked some out and then somehow David talked me into just skipping the whole testing process and buying a color. I think I was just tired of looking and caved in. I love and hate that David has an opinion on decorating. It's great when I want to go out shopping and browse around for hours b/c he likes it too but lord, he is as adamant as I am in what he wants and it's so hard to come to a decision. I forgot to mention that David's mom Pat took the train up from NC on Tuesday. Pat has been a tremendous hep by watching Henry. I could not have gotten a quarter of the things done and I am so grateful for her help. she is really enjoying her time with Henry but he is a handful. Henry is doing ok. He hasn't caught up with his sleep since last weekend when we flew to Chicago and back and he has been fighting me at nap time and bedtime. So, once we get in the house I am going to unpack at a leisurely pace and just focus on getting Henry back on track. Pictures of the new house to come soon. The place looks great with that awful Williamsburg blue trim gone. As David said this morning "I am sure this color looked good...in the 1700's"

My Cousin Todd

David and I have had some exciting news to share the past few weeks with our house and his job promotion but unfortunately some terribly sad news has hit our family. My cousin Todd at the age of 42 passed away last Tuesday. He was rushed to the hospital last Saturday and here I am back in my kitchen on Sunday after getting back from the funeral. It still doesn't seem real even though I cried my eyes out for a week and flew to Chicago for the funeral. I actually hadn't seen Todd in 18 years. That fact makes me so terribly sad. Todd's mom, my Auntie Jo, had a 60th b-day party about 5 years ago and for some reason I didn't go. I was living in Boston and I believe I didn't go because I had a job interview the Tuesday after the party. A job interview! I am sure at the time it seemed important but I really could have gone. I have always regretted it because here it is 5 years later and I have seen some of the family but not all of them. On many occasions I have told David how much he would like Todd and I really wanted them to meet. They both share a love for music and are both drummers. Todd was a funny, goofy, kind and intelligent person and will be sorely missed by his family, friends, co-workers and anyone that ever met him. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Obituary

More Good News!

I am happy to report that after a year working as an independent contractor, David accepted an offer as an Associate at the law firm he has been working at since last August. This couldn't have happened at a better time (with the upcoming purchase of the house) and I am so proud of David. David has worked very long hours for the last year and a half and although the hours won't change too much he will now have paid vacation, sick leave and all the other usual benefits that we often take for granted until we don't have them. I am really excited about the vacation because I was wondering if he was ever going to be able to take more than a long weekend since we are getting ready to take on a large house payment. Speaking of the house, our closing date is August 27th and I have scheduled the movers for 8am on Tuesday, September 2nd. The labor day weekend will be spent cleaning and painting before the move. I can't even begin to express how excited I am to move out of our current rental house and into our very own home. The rental property has tested my patience from day one. I think my next blog entry may be the "Top Ten Reasons I am excited about the Move".

No new pictures to post but check out some videos I have posted to You Tube. Sorry about the other video that are now gone.

Videos

Link with pictures

I found this link which has pictures of the house we are currently in the process of buying. These pictures show the front of the house as well as the big deck which we are going to LOVE!

Click here for pictures

Our new favorite local hangout...

Below is a link to some pictures I took at the Long Branch Nature Center just a couple miles from our house. I discovered it about a week and a half ago and we have been 3 times since. David and Henry love walking around in the stream and throwing rocks. I should have had David take a picture of me. I am sitting in a comfy portable chair reading the newspaper. It was pure bliss.

Click here for pictures

Good News

We have had an exciting week around here. Last Monday around Noon I got a call from our real estate agent saying that the contract on a house we were interested in had fallen through. I had seen the house the previous Tuesday and wanted David to see it but his work week was hectic and next thing we knew the house had three contracts. (I'm not sure why we didn't just make an offer since the last house we bid on had 18 offers! hee hee. We spent the weekend looking at other houses but we were disappointed we missed out on that house. So, when I got the call on Monday that all three contracts fell through (the other two people who made offers but weren't the winning bid had already made offers on other houses) I was thrilled. David went to see the house Monday afternoon and we made an offer. We found out on Monday night at 8:45pm that our offer was accepted! On Thursday we had the house inspected and now we are dealing with the fun stuff (negotiating repairs after seeing the inspection report and settling the financing). I am hesitant to get too excited b/c I know things can fall apart even at this stage. Below are some pictures I took when I was in the house during the inspection. Consider them "before" pictures. The house is a 1950's rambler and most of the house was updated in the 1980's as you can see from the bathroom and kitchen. We will be painting the entire house and changing out lighting immediately but we will have to live with the kitchen cabinets for awhile. We will hopefully be able to purchase new appliances first and then later we will do a major remodel. Needless to say, we are VERY excited. It is a nice house with a beautiful backyard that house lots of space to put our personal touch on it. I am really excited about planting flowers and trees.

Oh, little more about the location of the house. It is in Vienna Woods which is about 5 miles from Arlington (where we currently live). We were really set on staying in Arlington until I "discovered" this neighborhood in Vienna called Vienna Woods. Vienna Woods is a mid century neighborhood with 50's ramblers and split levels. Most of the neighborhood has sidewalks and there are two private pool and tennis clubs in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is walking distance or very short drive to shopping including an awesome Whole Foods and a really cool coffee shop/music venue. Also, Vienna Woods is very close to the Vienna subway station.
It also is still close enough to the places we go in Arlington (parks, shopping, etc)

PS. Sorry i didn't take pictures of the front of the house. More pictures to later!
Pictures of the house


Pictures of Henry at Meadow Lane Park

4th of July fun

We had a great week around here. My mom (Henry's Nanny) flew in last Saturday and stayed the whole week. On Monday she came with us to Henry's Itsy Bitsy yoga class. On Tuesday we had playgroup at our house and mom got to witness the mayhem of playgroup. The rest of the week we mostly played in the yard and ran errands in anticipation of the 4th of July weekend. We really had a great 4th. We actually just stayed home and made veggie dogs, baked beans and cole slaw--good ole 4th of July fare. David slept in to catch up on some much needed sleep after working a grueling two week schedule working on some projects at work. The whole morning we spent outside while Henry played with a new pool his "Nanny" bought him. He loved the pool which was a small blow up pool with a little sprinkler water feature and slide. Before Henry went down for a nap we made a "Flag cake" with strawberries and blueberries. Henry and David really enjoyed putting it together. Henry placed most of the strawberries on the cake and David placed the blueberries. Some neighbors shot off some fireworks across the street from our house and Henry did not like them. He actually clung to me and David and kept telling us "I just don't like them." We decided not to make the trip into DC to see the big fireworks and instead we just watched them on the tv which he really liked ( :

Here are some pictures from the week

Henry holds a baby

At playgroup yesterday one of the playgroup moms brought her 8-week old baby and her toddler to playgroup. While I was holding the baby Henry stood right next to my chair and stared at me. I asked him if he liked the baby and liked mommy holding the baby and he said "yes". Then for nearly five minutes he kept mumbling "Henry hold baby too". I kept telling him the baby was sleeping and to be quiet. Every time the baby would twitch Henry would start up again with "Henry hold baby. Henry hold baby too". The mom of the 8-week old heard him and said it would be fine. So, we washed Henry's hands and sat him in a small chair. He was so good with the baby. He was very serious and didn't move. After a few minutes the mom smelled a yucky diaper and told Henry that she needed to change the baby's diaper. Henry kept a tight little grip on the baby and started up with "No, Henry hold baby". We finally got the baby away but Henry threw a fit and we had to leave play group. He calmed down once we left the house b/c we saw a cat outside and then he wanted to pet the cat. It was really sweet to see Henry with a baby... here's a couple pictures...

Click here for pictures

Long Time

Last week Henry started using the term "long time" as in "I haven't had ice cream in a long time" or in Henry's case, "He hasn't seen a tow truck in a long time". I think it is so funny b/c of the way he says it so I recorded him looking at one of his truck books and saying "long time" after almost every truck.

Video

I created an account on You Tube in order to share videos. It seems like the best way to get videos uploaded and not worrying about the size limit.

Blog on hold but check out Henry's website

I have decided to only update Henry's website and to put the blog on hold. When Henry turns two I will probably elimate the website and then come back to updating the blog. The cool thing about the website is I can buy a disk and have all the information saved to disk and save it in a memory book I have for Henry.

Thanks for stopping by the blog and keep checking the website for new journal entries and pictures.

Click here to get to Henry's website

It's Spring...

well, it felt like spring today and tomorrow is going to be a repeat of today. It hit 70 degrees. As soon as Henry and I ate our breakfast I had us out of the house. First we walked to the dry cleaners to drop some of David's stuff off (my motivation in walking was to walk off all the Christmas cookies I ate over the holidays). On the way back we went by one of the parks and there were so many folks out. It was great seeing all the kids, moms and nannies. It had probably been since the first week of November that we had seen some of them. Henry and I had a blast at the park. We ran around, swung on the swings and then got completely dirty in the sandbox. Henry took a 3 1/2 hour nap after all the excitement. Tomorrow we have playgroup at our house. I am interested to see how Henry will react to others playing with his new train set he got for Christmas. He has always been a perfect little host for the playgroups but he is a bit sensitive when it comes to his trains.