WV

Over Labor Day weekend we took our annual summer trip to raid Dad Blood's garden...I mean, visit Jon's family in West Virginia.  We were very impressed--both kids survived the 6.5 hour drive remarkably well.

We got to see Mary & the kids for about three minutes before she took off, but it was fun to meet Andrew! (Catherine's cousin twin--he's two days older)

We were so excited to head to the wave pool, especially since it was supposed to be in the 90s on Saturday.  But, no.  The wave pool was closed.  (They seriously couldn't find enough lifeguards?  What? Did all the 16-year-old kids leave town?)

So, instead, we headed to the Nitro pool, which most definitely didn't have waves and was ridiculously overcrowded.  Made for some great people-watching, though.  And people-watching in West Virginia is extra fun, for obvious reasons.

The Princess swims

Swimming with Uncle James (she adores him)

A very, very happy Princess

Seth kept himself (and his daddy) occupied by going down the slide repeatedly. 

Tongue out.

Awesome.

Joanna.  And Jacob, if you look carefully.

Swimming with Daddy in the kiddie pool

Post-swimming bath

Cousins! Brianna & Catherine.

She makes Catherine look gigantic.

We braved the rain on Labor Day and headed to the New River Gorge.

Jon thought I needed to see West Virginia's claim to fame.

The view from the Hawk's Nest

Seth & Jon overlooking the river 

It really was a miserable day.  

Check out this awesome poncho I whipped up for Seth: 

Hey, when in Rome...

(I really do like West Virginia.  But the jokes are just so easy!)

Our family at the Hawk's Nest

At least the girls look good.

Look!  It's #11!

Okay, fine.  It's Brianna inside Mom Blood's jacket keeping warm.

Claudia, Stephen & Mom

Daddy Moneybags

He's got the umbrella to prove it.

Wet, cold Seth

Wet, cold twins

And here it is, the New River Gorge: 

In the fog.

Still gorgeous, just...hard to see the actual Gorge.

You can actually see the rain dripping from Jon's face if you look closely.

We had, as always, a lovely time.  Seth & Catherine were adored all their waking hours, which is how they prefer it.  Seth even informed me that I was to address Jacob as "Uncle Jacob" instead of "Jakey."

I'm pretty sure Jakey put him up to that.

We love you guys!  Thank you for putting up with us!

Earthquakes and Hurricanes and Tropical Storms..Oh, My!

WARNING:

The following photo contains graphic images of the destruction caused by the earthquake on August 23rd:

That's right: my Pogs fell off the fridge!

Horrifying, isn't it?

(That I still have my Pogs after 15+ years?  Yes, that is kind of horrifying).

Honestly, it was a little scary.  I had just gotten both kids down for a nap and was in bed reading when I felt the house start to shake.  At first I thought they were just blowing up something big at APG (they do that a lot), but then the shaking kept going and I knew exactly what it was.  

I'm actually pretty proud that my first reaction was to run into the kids' room to make sure they were okay (and to grab them and run for the door if it came to that).  By the time I opened Seth's door it was all over--and he was still asleep.  Catherine woke up, but (thankfully) went back to sleep after a few minutes.  

I think my favorite part of the whole experience was seeing how it played out on Facebook.  There were a few "Did anyone else just feel that"s followed quickly by posts linking to maps and scales.  And many thanks to Dawn, who reassured me that she had, in fact, felt the earthquake, too.

I was a little nervous about aftershocks, but apparently the only decent one we had happened during the night and no one noticed.  Thank heaven!  

Of course, from earthquakes we headed straight to hurricanes.  I was nervous after hearing the locals talk about days without power after the last big hurricane.  We have all our food storage and 72 hour kits, but still...it didn't sound fun.  And if the electricity goes, so does the sump pump.  Bad news.

Once again, we were incredibly blessed.  The power flickered 4-5 times, but never went out (although the houses literally around the corner lost power for three days).  And the giant broken branch dangling above our shed never fell.  How a broken branch didn't fall when entire trees were down is beyond me.  Our basement stayed completely dry, and our internet even stayed active (which is really the biggest miracle considering how it goes out every time the power flickers).

Many of our friends & neighbors weren't so lucky.  There were several flooded basements, many without power for days, and even a friend who took a tree to the house (it slid down and crushed their deck instead of the main portion).  We were glad to be able to help hoard frozen foods and to offer warm showers.  

We even made it through the last tropical storm with no damage (other than our tomato plants, which are totally diseased since they haven't seen the sun in weeks).  We're grateful to have made it through and grateful to see the sun again!

PS--does it reflect badly on me if I say I was disappointed we didn't get to use ANY of our emergency preparedness stuff?  I was SO prepared--we even went to bed with flashlights that night because I was positive  we'd lose power.  Nope.

Dam Fun

On August 19th we met up with some friends at Rocks State Park for some fun in the water. 

Despite what it looks like in this picture, Seth really did have a great time.

He spent most of his time dumping water on this log and crying when his cup would float away.

Catherine & I had fun, too.

I think we might be related.

And also, I need a haircut.

Playing in the water is hard work.

TMI: The highlight of the day for Seth? Pooping in the bushes.  

When we went again the next weekend, he insisted  he needed to go again.  Lovely.

No Way.

Little Luna

Dear sweet little Princess,

How is it possible you're already 6 months old?  With Seth I felt like the first six months were an eternity.  With you I'm trying to figure out where all the time slipped away to...

That being said, this month has been really, really hard for both of us.  Until three or four days ago, EVERY SINGLE ONE of your naps was 40 minutes or less.  EVERY SINGLE ONE FOR OVER A MONTH.  It was horrible.  You were exhausted, I was exhausted, and Seth was neglected.  I tried literally everything to get you to sleep longer, and nothing worked.  After about a week of this I realized I could either keep frustrating myself (and you) by trying all these techniques, or I could just do nothing and wait for you to grow out of it.  Guess what?  You did.  But the only reason I survived was because I had several moms telling me that there was some magical switch that flipped at around six months.  They were 100% right.

In just the past few days you've taken these amazing morning naps (2.5 hours?  Oh, yes), plus started sleeping better at night.  You're still waking me up twice a night to eat, which is probably too much, but it's much better than it was just a few weeks ago.  I feel guilty letting you cry--you probably are hungry!  You're still just a tiny little thing...

Here's what else you have figured out this month:

-Rolling over (again!).  I make you practice every day so you won't forget (again) like your brother did.

-Grabbing everything in sight.  I have to be careful because you'll try to grab things as I walk past them with you in my arms.  Nothing has been broken yet, but it's not from lack of trying on your end.

-You eat solid food in the morning and evening.  You'll clean out a Stage 1 container mixed with rice cereal, sometimes even a Stage 2.  Your favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas.  You were not a huge fan of applesauce or pears, but they're growing on you.  And your preferred method of eating involves you sticking your hands inside the bowl.  We're both filthy by the time you're done.

The first Mum Mum

You're still not a huge fan...

First drink of water.  

Definitely not a fan.

She's not actually sitting up as well as this picture makes her look.

She's still slumping.

-Teething.  You were in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks, gnawing and making pathetic little gumming motions.  But nothing has popped through yet--you must be like Seth was: it's not the popping through that hurts, it's the growing into the gums.

-Still in 3-6 month clothes, still in size 2 diapers.

-Loved your Jumperoo for about two weeks.  Now you're bored and prefer to be in my arms so you can pull my hair.

Hairstyling by Dad

-Swaddle free!!!  This was a strange transition--I tried to leave one arm unswaddled for about a week.  You were miserable and couldn't sleep.  So I gave up.  You could stay swaddled until you're two for all I cared, as long as you slept.  But then this week you started screaming when I laid you down.  You'd scream, fall asleep, scream again, fall asleep again...awful.  So I finally walked in your room, completely unswaddled you, and put you back down.  And you slept like a dream.  So weird...

-You're having a harder time falling asleep at church.  Expecting some rough Sundays ahead.

Despite your sleep issues, you are still just a mellow, happy little bug.  We love your deep little laugh and your raspberry-blowing smiles.  Thank you for making me smile every day.  Love you so.

(A slight update: her naps are back to being pretty awful, but we just live with it.  But the big news is that she cut her first tooth last week!  And #2 is definitely on the way in).

Visitors: Expected and Unexpected

We'll start with the expected visitors.  Luckily for us (and them, I suppose) we are about halfway between Daniel & Wendy's house and the Bloods in West Virginia.  Which means anytime they make the drive home, they stop and stay with us on the way to and back.  We love getting the chance to see them, and Seth is THRILLED to have cousins to run around with him.

We loved getting to see how big the kids are getting.  Jocelyn's going to kindergarten?  Megan's actually speaking to us now?  Jason's almost one?  Crazy.

Jason & Catherine

(not a good picture of either one, but it's all I've got)

Jocelyn playing peekaboo with Catherine.

Well, Daniel & Wendy & kids had made the trip to WV and were heading back to our house.  It had been a crazy day for me, which meant dinner was not happening.  I did what any sane Marylander would do: ran to get a pizza from Riverside Pizzeria.  As I pulled up to the house I was relieved to see that Daniel & Wendy hadn't arrived yet.  I walked in the door and guess who was sitting in my living room?

My daddy.  

He'd taken a last minute project at APG and hadn't told anyone (including my mom, who was very offended that she wasn't entrusted with his secret).  I admit--I got a little teary seeing him there.  It's not easy to be so far away from my family.  

Seth had a great time jumping all over Grandpa & Mona, his co-worker who I've known for years and years.  I told Mona that Seth is going to be really confused when he visits Grandpa at Christmas and Mona isn't there...

My dad adored Catherine, who was being very sweet for him.  He gave her a new nickname: 

Luna.  

Can you see it?  I totally can.  It's the giant blue eyes and the emotionless stare.

Seth showed his affection by bouncing off the walls.  

Picture attempt #1: 

And the winner is: 

That's a pretty fair summation of Seth when Grandpa is around.

We were really lucky--we got to see Dad five times during his week out here.  He was super busy with work, but still managed to take us to dinner twice (Fiesta Grill and The Olive Tree--both were AMAZING) plus a few short visits.  Watching him with the kids was my favorite.  Remind me again why we live across the country?  

Mmm...plaid.  I love plaid.

Luna & Grandpa

(cute onesie and headband made by Aunt Kenna)

And, once again, this is the best picture I got with Seth.

I keep trying to lure him back out here--Raytheon just built a beautiful new building on the Edgewood side of the Proving Grounds, come on, Dad!  But he says it's too humid and there are too many people.  And that probably won't be changing anytime soon.

Dad, we loved having you here.  I wish we could see you every day.

Rehoboth!

My sister Marah is 'living' with us again this summer.  And by 'living' I mean she's a counselor at a camp and we never see her.  Great for her (earning money for college), a little sad for us.  But she told us early on that the camp was taking them all to Rehoboth Beach on July 30th, so we decided to meet her there.  And, of course, we had to invite a few friends--the Oliveras, Finnigans, and Parsons.

Our little compound on the beach

Marley & Carlos didn't want to sit by us.

(Carlos didn't want to have to move when the tide came in)

And pack and plays at the beach?  GENIUS.  Wish I'd thought of it...

75% of the Blood family.

Jon refuses to quit eating for something as ridiculous as a family picture.

Beach Princess

Seth spent most of the day digging in the sand.

My favorite part was watching him interfere with the other boys.  

They were feeding the seagulls by throwing cookies and crackers in the air and waiting for the gulls to swoop down and eat them.  As the food landed in the sand, Seth would run over and bury it.  The other boys weren't very happy about it, but I thought it was pretty awesome.

His other tactic was pretty good, too: 

Chase the birds with a shovel.

Snuggling with Daddy

It was all fun and games...

...until the sharks came: 

Okay, fine.  Those are dolphins.  But still super awesome to see them so close!

They were literally just 10 feet out from the end of the pier in the picture above.

Four happy little boys.

Guess which one is ours?  

Oh, that would be the one practically covered from head to toe, plus sunscreen.

There's no escaping the redhead genetics in this family!

Sommer, me, Marley & Kara

I would just like to point out that all four of us have had babies within the last year.  We look good, don't we?

Oh, and two in this picture are expecting again. (Not me.)

Now we look REALLY good, don't we?!

Emma & Catherine

Is there such thing as 'arranged friendship'?  

Because we decided these two were friends before they were born.

So as you can see from the (lack of) pictures of Marah, we spent, hmmm...maybe 20? 30? minutes total with her.  But who can blame her?  If you were 21 would you rather be hanging out babysitting your niece and nephew or hanging out with your friends?  Yep.  But it was a good excuse to get us to the beach!

After the beach we all had dinner at Ihop before making the two hour drive home.  Marley & I had a nice chat in the back seat while the babies (mostly) slept.  

I hope we'll do this again next summer!

Not Yet...

Yes, we're still alive.  Yes, I have some great pictures from Rehoboth Beach to post.  But piano lessons and Joy School start in September, which means I have to finish my 2009 scrapbook (I'm in September!) and editing a novel for a friend (I'm on page 112/189!) before all the insanity starts.  So...no posts until I'm done!