The Highlights of our Trip and a Poll

The number one absolutely best thing about visiting DC was seeing Gene and Carolyn. River loved being with them, and adored them from the moment we got there. With Grandma reading her all the books she could possibly want, to Grandpa kicking the soccer ball with her, she had a blast. I wish we could visit them all the time.

The number two absolutely best thing about visiting DC was visiting with the Elison's. For some unbeknownst reason I took zero pictures of this event (I blame pregnancy), and will now have to steal them off of Heather's blog. Woe is me.

The number three absolutely best thing about visiting DC was the Tangy Sweet shop we discovered around the corner from hotel. I can't come up with enough adjectives to describe how much I revel in their frozen yogurt. I pine after it daily. The thing is, it's not like regular frozen yogurt that just tastes like ice cream. It tastes like yogurt. But frozen. It's brilliant. The flavors are plain, green tea, pomegranate, and peppermint. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

The number four absolutely best thing about visiting DC was when we checked into our super-posh hotel (courtesy of Cameron's work) the porter accidentally dropped River's potty and the interior bowl went rolling down the stairs of the front lobby. The porter dashed madly after the bowl while everyone watched. It was so funny!

And another thing. On the long drive to DC we narrowed our favorite baby names down to three. Please vote for one on the sidebar poll. New ideas are great too!

DC was 60 Degrees, Buffalo was 7...

We celebrated Cameron's birthday this year in Washington D.C. with his Mom and Dad, who are serving their mission there. Cam's mom made him a birthday cake with chocolate-chip-triple-fudge-frosting. It was divine! Afterwards, Cam's parents took us to a Watoto Children's Choir Concert. The choir tours the United States to raise awareness about children in Africa who have lost their parents to AIDS. It was really inspirational and we loved the African singing and dancing.

The next day we hopped on the Metro to tour a couple of Smithsonians and see downtown DC. I think River's favorite part was riding the Metro, she called it a train and kept asking where the smoke was.


Cameron's favorite movie of all time is The Wizard of Oz, so we had to get a picture by the original Ruby Red Slippers!
Later in the week it was Carolyn's birthday so we all went and ate Thai food at a restaurant near Dupont Circle. The chopsticks kept River entertained, and she actually got the hang of them near the end!

Just Because

I bought this new bag.

Because my other bag looks like this.The green one is the third, ahem, 'diaper bag' that I've tried. Let's hope it lasts longer than the other two. I also received these beautiful lime roses, chapstick, and dinner from Cameron for Valentine's Day. Because he loves me. And he knows about my LipSmacker obsession. I know. You are cringing at my choice of lip gloss. I can't help it! It's a disease. I still covet the same chapstick I used in Jr. High! Akk! (I am open to new suggestions, however. What lip gloss to you use?)

And I also decided to post pictures and a video of River.

Because my new nickname around the house is Humpty-Dumpty, and I'm sure not going to post pictures of myself!

(okay, maybe just this one)

PAGE

1: Curious George and the Pizza
2: Man with the yellow hat said "George, let's go out for pizza tonight.
3: ?
4: He sprinkle it with cheese, sprinkle it with sauce and shove it into the oven.
5: 'Okay' said Tony 'I'll get my coat.' Tony said.
6: George was curious. Could he make pizza too? He jumped up on the counter and took some dough.
7: He tossed it up in the air with all four hands.
8: One fell on the jukebox. One fell on the coat-rack.
9: One fell on Tony's head. One fell on the hat.
10: George was scared. He jumped into the milk truck to hide.
11: Then the telephone rang. 'I forgot all about it!' said Tony.
12: George was stuck inside.
(This was about half-way through the book....the video was getting long.)

(If you are dying to know what happens to George, borrow 'Curious George and the Pizza' from your local library today!)


And last but not least. River pretending to be the great American Motorcycle Daredevil, Evel Knievel.
Because it's cute.

7 Things I am Loving About My Husband

1. He lets me sleep-in every weekend.
2. He just laughs when I do weird pregnancy things. Like when I put the peanut butter in the freezer, and he really really wanted a pb&j.
3. He does all his own ironing. He wears dress shirts six days out of seven!
4. He thinks 'Nadine' would be a cute girls name. (ba ha)
5. He massages my back whenever I ask.
6. He warms up the car for me every morning!
7. He wakes up with River every other night and he bathes and puts her to bed every other night.

He's the best.

Lest I Forget

River's two year stats:

Weight: 24.5 lbs.......................25th percentile

Height: 34.5 inches..................70th percentile

We went to River's two year well child check up and all I could think after we left was, am I really the mother of a two year old? This past year has flown by in a blur of the sweetest moments.

Will I remember years from now that River loves puzzles? So much so that we call her the puzzle wizard? Will I remember that she can read books for hours straight and never get bored? That, in fact, the first words out of her mouth every single morning are "I want to read books!"? Will I recall the sweet 'cheep cheeps' that fill the air each day as River flaps her arms pretending to be a baby bird who's name is Red? Or her infatuation with all things Curious George? Or even the way her hair looks like a rat's-nest in the morning?

That is why, my friends, I am going to take a moment and write about all the things that I love about River. Feel free to read on if you like, if not,visit again soon. My next post won't be nearly as sappy. I promise!

(One of my friends wrote the sweetest letter to her daughter on their blog. I thought I would do the same thing to jot down some things I want to remember.)

Dear River,

You are very excited to become a big sister. You 'hold' the baby all the time by cradling my tummy and giving it hugs and kisses. A few days ago while you were hugging my belly you became very concerned and asked why the baby was 'in there all by herself'. You also asked how the baby would get out by herself. I had to assure you that mommy and daddy would help her. Then you felt better.

Your favorite songs to sing are 'No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', and 'the ABC's'.

You randomly yell, "Let's move our bodies!" And begin to do squats and shoulder presses and the like. Your dad and I have no idea where you got this from!

Your favorite color is yellow. You know all your colors. You know your all your letters. You can count to 12.

Whenever I'm doing dishes, you rush into the room saying "Ho ho ho. I have a teddy bear for you." And hand me an imaginary teddy bear to hold. Then you'll say "give the teddy bear a hug, mommy" or "I brought you a present, mommy".

As soon as you put on your Dora backpack you yell "Come on, vomonos! Everybody let's go!" and immediately run for the door.

You love to say prayers. You're even saying them on your own now.

When I zip up your coat you say "you're strong, mommy".

You demand that daddy tickles your belly after you've had a bath. You won't let me do it.

You have to be able to run your fingers through your hair to fall asleep at nap time or bedtime. You inherited this bad habit from me (and grandma).

The last time you successfully used the potty I heard you shout, "Awesome!"

"Let me do it" "I wanna do it" and "I can do it by myself" are your favorite phrases.

You always want to put on deodorant when you get out of the tub. Only you pronounce it 'd-yogurt.'

When you put Curious George or the baby doll to sleep in your bed you put your face as close to mine as you can, and with finger to your lips whisper "Shhhhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhh! The baby is sleeping!"

...There are so many more things that I could write, but most of all I just want you to know how much Daddy and I adore and love you. We are very blessed to have you as a daughter!...

Taste the Rainbow

River turned 2 this month! River and I were horribly sick on her birthday, so we just stayed home with Daddy and ate cake and icecream to our hearts content.





When I was little my mom made me a rainbow cake with skittles, so naturally River had to have one just like it. However, next time I won't put the skittles on so early...they melted and ran all over the place. (I'm sure the cool-whip frosting didn't help either) Anyway.It tasted good.


River got lots of presents in the mail from her many grandparents, including; this pink jacket, two adorable birthday cards, stickers, play-doh, markers and a doll blanket!

Thank you! You made River's day purr-fect!

Dance Dance Riverlution

Taking Care of Business

Belly Business:

River: "Mommy, your belly is BiiIIIiG!"
Cameron: "You won't even be able to fit on the couch soon."
Me: (smoldering silence)
Cameron: "......."
River: "Mommy. Mommy. Mommmmmy."
Me: "What Riv?"
River: "Your belly is big!"
Me: (sigh)

Potty Business:

River won her potty prize (a Dora backpack) by filling up this chart with stickers each time she used the big-girl potty. Hooray! She's been using thicker training-undies we found at Target until it's reasonably safe to make the switch. Plus, they look like little boxers, so they're super cute!

Snow Business:

Winter in Buffalo hasn't been too horrible so far, just unpredictable. We took advantage of a rare sunny day to play in the snow and build

THE BIGGEST SNOW MAN EVER!

Despite the awesome snowman, snow angels were the hit of the outing. You wouldn't be able to tell from this video, but River had to make a snow angel a million ka-jillion more times.