OH! The SNOW!

I remember having this conversation with Scott at the end of January. One of us said something like, "Y'know, I'm going to be pretty ticked if we don't even have one really good snow during our first winter on the mainland in 5 years!"

Ha! I'd say we've gotten our fair share during February!
It started, and now it just seems to be one snowstorm to the next. By the way, have they always named these winter storms, or was I just never paying attention before? Juno, Pandora, Octavia, Thor... they just keep on coming! 

I think we are going on 6 snow days now (meaning Keaton has NO school) and at least 5 late start days (meaning Keaton starts school 2 hours late). My boys are loving every minute of it! 

Sledding

Mark seems to have no internal temperature gauge, because he would be outside every second it is snowing!

Mark greeting our very friendly and dedicated mailman!

Just lounging around watching the snowplows clearing our back alley

We feel like complete rookies - we don't even own a snow shovel, nor did we really understand why we might need one? Doesn't it all just melt away the next day? Not in  Northern VA! Here's Mark trying his best to shovel our driveway with a Rubbermaid lid.

more sledding!

Nothing like eating the snow as it's falling!

Here's a pic from our kitchen window - solid white everywhere! You can't even tell there's a river out there!

definitely not in HI anymore!

After the snow finally stopped, we took a walk to explore our neighborhood.

Sailor was snug as a bug in the Moby, in my coat.

Keaton liked to taste the snow periodically. No yellow or brown snow Keaton!

snow angels

Face plant

I think it's possible he loves the snow as much as he loved the sand in Hawaii?

 After 2 back to back snowstorms, and about 5 days of never leaving the house, it warmed up to about 50*. I really wanted to get out, so we drove into D.C. to see what the Jefferson Memorial would look like with all the white stuff.

Looking back at these pictures,  it probably wasn't the safest thing to be walking around these slushy steps (especially holding a baby!), but thankfully, no one was hurt.

Keaton and Mark with TJ

Someone had built a snowman on the memorial. The boys had fun looking at it, and this random guy gave Keaton a cowboy hat to put on his head. Clearly the guy (see behind Keaton) got a huge kick out of us taking a picture of the snowman with his hat on.

The boys with the Tidal Basin and the Washington "Mommy-ment" in the background. Hard to believe that this will be covered in Cherry blossoms in a a few weeks!

As I write this, the snow is still on the ground, ice is covering our sidewalk, and we are awaiting another 3-5 inches tomorrow. So, I'm sure there will be more pics to come. This is really the first month that I've really longed for Hawaii weather. But, I'm a mainlander at heart, and all this snow and ice comes with a level of excitement and appreciation of our new life here in VA. And spring is so much sweeter when you've waited out a cold winter. Can't wait!

Valentines Day

In the weeks leading up to Valentines Day, I had an idea to throw a kids only Valentines party at our house. This would allow my kids a chance to hang out with some of their friends, and would ALSO give the parents a kids free date night for V day. Thankfully, my servant-hearted hubby was on board with my idea too. I sent out the invitations and 10 kiddos RSVP'd!

The boys and I had a blast setting the table and putting out the decorations

Keaton made a name tag for each of our guests (and Mark added a sticker to each)

Of course, Little Miss had to get all dressed up for the party! Here she is with her Daddy Valentine.

Her brothers are kinda crazy about her too...

The party started at 4:00 and the boys were literally waiting for the doorbell to ring at 11:30!

Finally our friends arrived! Here's the boys table.

On the menu: hotdogs, mac&cheese, fruit, and lemonade!

The girls were outnumbered!

After dinner, we had a cookie decorating contest!

Here is the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize cookies

Some of the other activities included Musical Hearts, Valentines Bingo, and a special Valentines day Chipmunks movie. We were so busy that I didn't remember to take any more pictures!  We partied until nearly 9:00.  It was a wild night, but so much fun for everyone. Maybe a new fun Valentines tradition?

3 months old

I was just getting used to having a newborn. Now she's technically an infant. It's all happening so fast! Lots of changes this month for Sailor June! She's still eating every 3-4 hours during the day, but she's definitely becoming more independent. 

She's content in her swing or on her playmat for longer periods of time. 

Her sleeping is still all over the place, and she's definitely been my first baby to really resist the "through the night" sleep. She will generally go 7 hours stretches at night, but still prefers to see me and hang out most mornings around 1-2. We made the decision to move her bedtime up to 7:30 because she was so fussy in the evenings. This was a "hallelujah" moment for me. Having my evenings back is truly more life-changing than a solid 8 hours every night. 

And if I  have to see any face at 2am,  I would want it to be this one...

She's becoming a serious finger sucker which results in tons of delicious baby drool all down her chin and usually all over anyone who's holding her. I'm wondering if she will eventually find her thumb and stick to that? I was a thumb-sucker growing up, but neither of my boys have been. 

She loves for anyone to sing to her, read to her, talk to her, make silly faces at her. She so very close to laughing and I can hardly WAIT!

As much as Mark loves her to pieces, she's still kinda like a new toy that he's still trying to figure out how it works. I found he cannot be trusted with her unsupervised even for short periods of time. One evening last week, I left her in her swing in the living room while I finished up dinner in the kitchen. Suddenly, I heard Sailor cry out - not the "I'm tired" or "I'm hungry" cry. It was more like "Mom, come quick. Someone's trying to murder me!" cry. There was Mark, looking extremely guilty.
"Mom, I think she wants you."
After some research, I discovered that Mark had actually bit her foot, just to see how she'd react...

The Moby Wrap is still her happiest place. She would stay in there for hours if I let her.
I'm thinking about contacting the folks at Moby Wrap and demanding to start collecting a commission. I'm pretty sure I sell at least 2 per week.  People are always like, "It looks so comfortable!" "Look how content she is!" "I had no idea there was a baby in the room!" I'm truly so very thankful for the Moby, because it makes getting out and about so much easier! If they could only figure out a way to make it safe to "baby-wear" and drive!  SJ has a serious issues with her car seat. Usually, she cries all the way from the house to any destination and all the way home.

Waiting for Keaton at the bus stop

 Overall, Sailor is an absolute delight. To say that we are enjoying her is a major under-statement! She makes being cooped up in the house on these frigid days so much more fun.

Keaton says, "She like the most famous person in our family!"

I asked him what he meant and he said, "Well, everyone's always talking about her and texting about her and wanting pictures of her..."

And no one is crazier about her than her big brothers!

Who can resist these cheeks!? Certainly not me!

 Keaton: "She's too good to be true!"

I have to agree.

Sailor June, you are a JOY!