A Rare Night Out

Second City National Touring Company @ Wolf Trap

So we were very fortunate this weekend, Will's mom came to babysit Colin! Will and I were going out to celebrate a friend from work's birthday!! They had tickets to a show at Wolf Trap. It is a place that usually has concerts and shows outside during the summer. Will and I have been to a couple shows there over the last few years. We saw Joss Stone, Huey Lewis and the News and Bill Cosby. I am glad it was indoors because it was pretty cold. I am guessing that the building use to be a Barn, but it was made to be pretty nice.

The show was Second City National Touring Company. There was 6 members that did comedy skits and improv. Comedians have to audition for this company and it has had quite a few famous people come out of it. Some of those are: Alan Arkin, Joan Rivers, both Belushi brothers, John Candy, Bill Murray, Bonnie Hunt, Chris Farley, Mike Meyers, and Tina Fey.

They had us laughing the whole time! I was so impressed with the groups ability to perform skits off of words yelled out by the audience. They have to be very knowledgeable. One person yelled a place they wanted to go before they died, I forgot the name but Will and I had no idea where it was. I guess it was an Amish area and it turned out to be a pretty funny skit.

So, thank you to Grandma Liz!! Will and I had such a good time and from what we heard Colin had a great time spending the evening with one of his grandmas. That is great news, since this is the first time we left him with someone else for that long and at night! Maybe we can venture out again!

My New Camera

With my winnings from the Super Bowl pool I ended up buying a fancy camera!! I have been having a lot of fun with it. It takes pictures a lot faster and you can take them continuously. This works great for Colin who is constantly moving around. I am still learning how to use it but here is some of the pictures I have taken so far. I am hoping to start making photography a hobby of mine and will eventually try scenery pics, once it gets a bit warmer outside! I bought a book so I can learn as I go.

Master Colin

I thought I would share a little more about Colin in this blog. Colin is 14 months now and his personality is rapidly blossoming. He is a talker!!! He loves to talk to anyone that will listen. Those who knew me as a baby will probably think that he gets that from his mama, but people who have not known me as long may not see that connection! I love watching him talk, he uses his hands so much and he gets so excited when you talk back to him!

He has been walking around a lot more, but he changes to a crawl when he needs to get somewhere at a faster pace. He usually starts walking when he is zoned out watching his episode of Winnie-the-Pooh. We try not to have him watch too much tv, but we usually let him watch a show or two in the morning and then again in the evening. His favorites are Winnie-the-Pooh (Super Sleuth), Mickey Mouse Club House, Handy Manny, Imagination Movers and anything Elmo and Big Bird!! He freaks out when he sees Elmo in the toy store!! He gets so loud! He has definitely embarrassed mom and dad once or twice in the store with his display of excitement! We're getting used to attention brought our way due to him. He loves to smile and talk to people so he usually gets noticed. Most of the time people mistake him for a girl. Even when he is wearing obviously boy clothes. I think it is his BIG eyes. They make his face pretty!

We recently rearranged his room so he has a bigger space to play in. He loves having his toys out in the open and easily accessible to him. Right now he likes to throw everything over his shoulder. It is cute to watch but a little dangerous when you are in his range of fire.

Colin LOVES to eat!! At first he was a bit picky but now he will pretty much eat anything. He likes to have his own little plate that he can feed himself, which always ends up a MESS! His favorite food are bananas. He usually has at least one a day. He will eat meat, but at this point he looks like he may take after me and lean more towards the non-animal side of the food pyramid.

I cannot believe our baby is 14 months!! It is amazing and I am enjoying his age very much, but it is going by too fast!!

Super Bowl - XLIII

Cardinals vs. Steelers


We are preparing for a day of FOOTBALL!!! Not only will we be watching the game and of course the commercials, we will also be watching the football shows that lead to the sacred game! We are excited...even if the Redskins are not playing.

I think Will is cheering for the Cardinals. I am tempted to cheer for them since it is the Cardinals FIRST visit to the Superbowl in the history of the team and I like Warner. It is kind of sad that the team has never made it, so it would be cool if they get to celebrate actually going and then also winning!

I do enjoy watching the Steelers defense though. I usually do not get too excited about defense in football, but I think the Steelers have a great defense! Plus, they have Troy Polamalu, who went to high school in Winston, Oregon...and you have to give kudos to anyone who makes it t the NFL from there!! Now that I do not live there I feel I have more of a connection to fellow Oregonians...so I have to offer my support. So, now maybe I am leaning towards the Steelers. If only the Redskins had made it I would not be in this situation!

We will be celebrating the game by having football food representing Arizona and that was convenient for our grocery budget! We went with fiesta food. So, I am making a Burrito Bake Casserole. I am excited to get to try a new recipe!! Man have I changed...

We decided not to make any food for the Steelers. I got excited for philly cheese steak, but realized that would be the Eagles and polish sausage does not sound as appetizing to me. Maybe next year we will pay tribute to both teams!



Hopefully one of them will be the Redskins!!


POOR REDSKINS!!!

UPDATE: The game was great!! Very intense until the last second! Gotta love those games! Will and I were in a Superbowl pool at his work and can you believe that I WON!!! Over 200 dollars! Now I can buy the camera that I started saving for!! I am very excited!! Thank you to the winning team!! I won't write it just in case anyone has not watched it yet :)

Washington D.C.

The District

                                                                                                                       

We live about 30 minutes outside of D.C. and have been able to visit about 5 or 6 times since we have been here. Will could do without going there, but I love it!! I think it is such a beautiful place.There is so much to do there.  In the picture to the left are Cherry Blossoms, which are so beautiful! Each year there is a Cherry Blossom Festival during their time of bloom. I guess it does not last that long, but it is so beautiful. You are surrounded by pink and white. The festival is to commemorate when the blossoms were given to the U.S. as a sign of peace from Japan.

Some of the monuments and other attractions that we have seen so far are: the Washington Monument (aka the Pencil), the Lincoln, the White House (from the gate), a statue of Einstein (so cool looking and HUGE), the WWII monument, Korean, and Vietnam, the statue of Nurses, and the more obscure WWI monument dedicated to the D.C. soldiers. The last one is one of my favorites.  I like that no one seems to know it is there, making it so peaceful. The Lincoln is very impressive, but I think it is weird that it is called a Temple. The Einstein is another one of my favorites! It is so big that several kids could sit on his lap. I tried to sit on him but it was so busy with school kids that I did not get the chance. I was very sad about that, but I have plans to visit the old guy again. We have yet to see William's favorite, the Jefferson. I am excited to see it, because from the outside it looks the prettiest.

Also in D.C. are the Smithsonian museums. The ones we have gone to have been pretty cool.  I think it is great that they have free admission. The Natural History has been visited by us almost every visit to the district. What can I say, Will needs his fill of dinosaur bones!! This museum also is home to the Hope diamond (you know Titanic) and it definitely brings a crowd. Some of the other museums are the Native American, Newseum, American History, Air and Space and the Spy. I really want to go to the American and the Spy. Plus, the Air and Space will be very interesting. The American one has a lot of pop culture history, so I think that will be fun.

This is my sweetie with the Washinton Monument in the background.

This is us across from the Jefferson, next to some Cherry Blossoms. You can rent a paddle boat here to go to the Jefferson, which is something I plan to make Will do one of these days.

It is 2009!!!

New Years

This New Year's we went to North Carolina and stayed in a beach house right on the beach! It was in Corolla in the Outer Banks area, which is close to where William and I had our honeymoon.  I think that this was my first vacation where there was no agenda, no plans...we just sat around and pretty much did nothing! I loved it!  Although, I was getting a bit restless towards the end. I was able to read a whole book, which is something I have not been able to do for quite some time!!

Oh, and of course the big news...Colin even took his first STEPS!!!  It was such an exciting moment and something I will never forget.

We also took Colin to the beach for the first time.  We only went once because it was pretty cold, so we did not venture out again. Colin was so cute in his very puffy winter jacket. The arms were so stiff that he could not move and they stuck straight out. It reminded me of The Christmas Story when the little boy who could not move his arms in his winter clothes fell down in the snow.  I love that scene. Colin did not seem to notice the ocean but this could be due to how cold it was. We stayed long enough to take a few pictures and then headed back in to get warm.

To keep with tradition I will add some New Year's resolutions.

1. Will and I are trying to eat healthier and lose a few pounds.
2. We are also working on getting into a exercise routine (using Wii Fit and outside activities)
3. Once it warms up we want to become more involved in outdoor activities for Colin (and ourselves).
4. I am hoping to keep up on this blog and at least write twice a week.
5. I also want to study for my classes more.

I guess that is it for now. Happy New Year to everyone!! I hope 2009 is an exciting year for all of our loved ones! We love you and miss you all so much!

No Rush To Walk

13 Months

Colin is a little more than 13 months now. He took his first steps this New Year's, but he does not seem to be in any rush to walk around. He is becoming a master crawler and can move pretty fast! He has also become very inept at squatting to get something off the floor without falling on his bottom. He seems amazed by this ability to stand on his own though!

Everytime he does it the biggest smile appears on his face. I think he is going to take after me and be a talker! Man, he can talk! He is always talking about something...we do not know exactly what since it is still in his own baby language. He does like to say "da da" a lot! "Ma Ma" comes out when he is crying, which I have to admit makes me feel good :) He loves to eat! He mostly is eating what we eat for meals. He can be picky some nights, but bananas always work!!! The picture that I included is a recent discovery of his.  He stays like that and either organizes his goldfish (crackers) around him or eats them off the ground! We thought it was pretty cute, even though I would like it if the crackers stayed in the bowl for once and not end up on the carpet.

We recently put in his new car seat, so now he is facing forward. He seems really excited about that. I am hoping that it makes my morning drives to daycare a little quieter. Mom and dad - you were spoiled that we fell asleep so easily in the car!!

His morning routine is to drink some soymilk while watching one of his favorite cartoons, which allows mommy time to get ready. Right now his favorite shows are Winnie-the-Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, The Backyardigans and Imagination Movers. It is cute to watch him laugh when Winnie does something silly. He even watched an episode that scared him. That was so sad to see and we definitely do not watch that episode anymore. :(

However it Falls

It is a little late to be talking about this since it is January and winter, but I just LOVE the fall. I think it is such a beautiful time of year with all of the red, orange and yellow hues. It is a little sad to think that this is just a step in the process leading to the leaves falling off the trees, but definitely worth it. I do miss the evergreens of Oregon though. As I look at the baron trees in Virginia I realize I took for granted the constant "green" of Oregon. Who would of thought that trees actually lose their leaves?? Well, I did see this in Portland. The trees that changed with the season there were beautiful but you had a sense that they were not where they belonged. Taken from their natural location and brought to this new home to brighten it up a bit.

I think that Fall is becoming one of my favorite times of year, mostly due to the colors. I love the weather as well, since it gives a little break from the humidity. When Will and I were driving across the states to move here, one of the first things I asked him about Virginia was whether or not there would be trees. At first I was a little disappointed since we moved here in February and there were no leaves, but once the season changed it definitely was pretty and then Fall came and I fell in love with it quite a bit more. :) Even though Oregon will always be my first love!

**NOTE*** I do realize that trees do lose their leaves in Oregon, but there are so many evergreens that you do not really notice. Plus, compared to Virginia, visually the difference is very obvious. Virginia has evergreens as well, but to scale, it just does not compare. Thanks dad!! :)

Making Up For Lost Time...part IV

December

Colin is not at the point of understanding the idea of Christmas, but we still had a lot of fun with him this year. He did get to share in some of the excitement though. He loved the Christmas tree and was constantly playing with the few ornaments within his reach. There were also a few presents passed out with a little extra love from Colin...teeth marks! Anything he is able to pick up almost always ends up in his mouth. So Grandma Liz and Aunt Wendy were fortunate enough to have packages that were shown a little extra love by Colin! He also enjoyed the music. Will and I would try and have either the Christmas station or a CD playing while we were home on the weekends and Colin definitely is a fan of music. He actually watched the first part of High Society with me (the movie with Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Louie Armstrong). He was dancing during the opening scene while Louie was singing! Maybe I will have someone to watch my classic movies with me after all!!

It probably is not surprising but Colin was spoiled this Christmas by family. He has plenty of new cool toys that have been keeping him busy every since. While he was opening the gifts he was entertained by the wrapping for quite some time!

This year we had three Christmas dinners. The first one was the week before Christmas at Aunt Wendy & Uncle Eric's. We had a great time! Eric made a wonderful dinner and it was fun to watch Colin interact with his cousins, Aidan and Alexei.

On Christmas Eve, the three of us went to a church service at a local church we have attended a few times. The church, Community Church, is a very nice non-denominational church. We enjoy the services we have gone to. Colin really enjoyed the choir and band! He would perk up each time they played a song.

On Christmas Day we had our own little Christmas in the morning. Will was very stubborn about not letting me open any gifts on Christmas Eve, even though that is what we did in my family (he did let me open one)!

That afternoon Will's mom (Liz) and his younger brother Michael over. I made a Citrus Turkey Roast from a recipe book Liz had gotten me for my birthday. I have really enjoyed cooking lately and trying out new recipes. We had a wonderful time with them. Colin got some bath toys that should be a lot of fun and my sweetie got his Guitar Hero for Wii that he REALLY wanted! I also got Mario Kart for Wii which should be an exciting game for Will and I to play together.

The next day, Bill and Patty came over. This is Will's dad and Patty is one of the sweetest ladies. They are the people that we first stayed with when we moved here. Grandfather B and Patty had a great time playing with Colin. For this dinner, I chose to go with a German themed meal. Bill is German and that part of Will's heritage often gets overshadowed by the Scottish and Irish side. So, I thought we would focus on it this year. I made Old World Sauerbraten and Knoephla Soup! They were both delicious! I have to admit I was very proud of myself with this meal. It was a little more challenging and I had a lot of things going on at once.

So, to sum it up December was a wonderful month. We had a great holiday break. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to see my side of the family. I miss everyone very much and cannot wait to make a visit out to Oregon.

Making Up For Lost Time...part III

November


Colin turned a year old on November 21st!!! I know it is such a cliche' thing to say, but it goes by so fast! It has been an amazing year! Will and I have enjoyed being parents so much! It is such a crazy thought that I am in the position of helping a living thing - grow. Although, I think that Colin has helped me tremendously in the growing department.

We had a little family party for him. His cousins (Aidan, Alexei, Ryan and Brady) came, along with Aunt Wendy, & Uncle Eric, Aunt Ann & Uncle Jamie and Grandma Liz. The kids got to help Colin open his gifts and try them out with him, while the adults played Wii Golf.

Colin had his first cupcake! He was timid at first and I thought for a moment that he would make it through the cupcake without a mess. Of course, Colin did not fail to disappoint and he had orange frosting all over his face and hair by the end of it.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving this month. This one was a lot more relaxing then last year, since we celebrated it last year in a hospital bed recovering from having Colin the evening before. Will's mom and brother, Michael made us a wonderful meal this year and we spent it at their house. Colin had a wonderful time playing on Grandma's piano and eating the same food as the adults!!