Just a little Something

Apparently, Hillary did a post about a week ago, so make sure you read that too! It is right after this one (sorry for any overlap).

First, I suppose I should tell you that we are having another baby.  It is going to be a boy – which I won’t lie makes me pretty excited he is due on April 21st. Also, interestingly enough, he will be born in my 30th year, just like I was born in my father’s 30th year who was born in grandpa’s 30th year. Kinda neat (obviously I have thought about this way too much . . . did I mention I was excited?).

Law School is going well. I am officially half-way done I took my last final of this semester yesterday (which, consequently is why I have time to write this today). I can’t wait to be finished though, it is pretty grueling and between Hillary and me we are now in our 4th year of law school.  

Anyway, we drove up to Massachusetts for thanksgiving, we drove up on Weds stayed Thurs and Friday and drove back on Sat.  We wanted to see Rachel’s new baby Devin and we also got to see my parents so that was a good thing. The drive up there was long – we left at 4am and got up there at about 7pm. Of course we did stop in New York City to see the statue of Liberty on our way – and that was pretty cool – Awesome, actually. But, then we got lost in New York City – also awesome, but in a different sort of way. . . We ended up driving through SoHo, Manhattan, the Bronx, Englewood, and who knows where else – it was crazy. I think we almost died about a hundred times (ok not really, but it was intense).

We had great time at Rachel’s house though, Claire loves playing with Jaelyn and Jordan, it reminds me of playing with my cousins when I was kid (especially Dan and Sarah).  Avery spent most of the time running away from DeSean who repeatedly tried to hug her. Every time he tried to hug her, Avery would run away and say “I need my space DeSean!” Ah- the wisdom of a two year old.

So short story. Claire comes home from school the other day and we are eating dinner.

Claire says: “Dad why hasn’t an elf come to our house?”

Will: “What? an elf? why would an elf come to our house?

Claire: “Yeah, an elf. One came to Cooper’s (little boy in her class) house and another one came to Chandler’s house (little girl in class).”

Will: “Well good for them, what kind of elf?”

Claire: “Well, when you are good one of Santa’s elves comes and hides in your house.”

Will: “Obviously, there’s your problem.”

At this point Hillary Chimes in: “You know, it’s the elf on the shelf thing.”

Will: “Elf on the shelf thing? What is that?”

Claire: “Well, he just comes when you’re good and stays at your house.”

Will: “Why would he want to do that?”

Hillary: “You know, Santa sends an elf to watch whether you are being good or not and every night he goes to the north pole and reports to Santa and then moves to a different spot in the house – and the kids have to find him each day.”

Will: “for reals, who comes up with this stuff? How about you just be good so you don’t get a kick in the pantalones (that’s Spanish for pants).

Claire: “no, Mom, that’s not right.”

Hillary: “no? ok so where does the elf come from?”

Claire: “She comes for the North Pole when you are good and then lives with you.”

Will: “so now it’s a she.”

Claire: “of course. Boys get boy elves and girls get girls elves.”

Will: “Of course.”

Claire: “Yeah, they just come when you are good and then they live with you. Santa sends them. So when is an elf going to come to our house?”

Will: “It’s not. We don’t believe in slav...er...indentured servitude” (I was going to slavery, but Hillary has challenged me to try an be a little less offensive . . . especially now that we live in the South...) I then continued: "Besides, why would an elf want to come live with us? All of its family is in the North Pole. How would you like it if we just shipped you to Canada one day while we stayed here?”

Hillary: “yeah wouldn't you miss us and get lonely?”

Will: “doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do to the elf, I think he….excuse me….she….should get to stay in the North Pole with their family, don’t you Claire?

Claire: “Well, how would you like it if you were just stuck in Santa’s workshop all day working?”

Will: “BOOM. Claire layin’ the smack down. Good point Claire. You make a good point. But, an elf still isn’t coming to our house.”

Claire: “Awww…why not?”

Will: “Because you have to be good, and you haven’t finished your dinner. Now eat your food.”

Anyway, I imagine we’ll end up getting an elf now – capitalism at its best, get the kids involved and you’re pretty much sunk. But maybe she’ll forget about it. 

Hope everyone is doing well. Here are some pics of the kiddos.

A four leaf Clover! What!

Opening Birthday Presents

Katie and Red Katie all dressed up

Happy Thanks-birthday!

Hello friends!

Since Will is busily preparing for his exams, I thought I would take a moment to keep you all updated on recent events and to (most importantly) share pictures. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with Rachel and Walter in their new home in Massachusetts. Will's parents also came out. It was nice to see everyone. Claire disappeared for the duration of the visit to play with her older girl cousins, and Avery could be heard making appropriate boundaries with DeShaun, also 2, who just wanted to hug her and hold her hand. (She was frequently heard saying, "No!", "Don't!", and "I need my space!") It was pretty comical really. Sometimes she would play with him, but most of the time she spent avoiding him. Now that we are home, of course, she can't stop talking about him. Ah, the fickle 2 yr. old.  

Before Thanksgiving, Avery had her birthday on the 25th so she is now officially 2. I am relieved that she has reached this milestone, so I can truthfully say she is 2 to strangers that ask. She is tall for her age and speaks fairly well, so I have had the burden (it's awful really :) of either explaining why she doesn't look X number of months or how she is almost 2. Hopefully, the explanations are over for at least a month or two.

Anyway, Avery had a great birthday. She doesn't quite have all the birthday traditions in order, but the thing she does know about is the candles. Every time we asked her what she wanted for her birthday she would simply say, "candles", usually followed by something like "blow them out."

Claire tried to get her excited for cake and presents, but until she really discovered what 'cake' and 'presents' meant, candles were the reason for any excitement. Now, of course, she sees the roll of wrapping paper and says, "I know what this is for!" and proceeds to unroll it, searching for the gift inside.

Claire was so excited for her sister's birthday that she let her teachers, her class, and her bus driver know that it was her little sister's birthday. She was also patient and helpful in coaching Avery in proper gift unwrapping technique. What a sweet sister she was! And it is always interesting how Avery's birthday gifts help to refine Claire's Christmas list. :)

Well, I think that is all for now. I have included several pictures of Avery's birthday below. Unfortunately, we got very few of Thanksgiving, but just imagine us for 13 hours in the car, interrupted by 2 days of gorging ourselves, and 13 hours back. See? Now you have all the mental pictures you need. :)

Special shout-out to our neighbor and friend who recommended a more reasonably priced mechanic so we could get our car fixed in the nick of time (and for a fraction of the price!). Thanks Lauren!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We missed all we couldn't be with and wish you all a Happy Holiday season.

Halloween: Claire the Princess and Avery the Fairy.

Avery vs. the candles. The candles never had a chance.

Hugging the pillow/blanket gift from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Ahhh ....fall

Hiya Folks!

Since Will has started school this semester and I have assumed a more primary-caregiver role, I figure it’s my turn to write on the ol’ blog. We’ve been pretty busy this semester, but it has been fun. The leaves are changing, the weather is cooling down and Halloween is upon us. Hey, there is even a Hurricane to mark the season (Heeelllloooo Sandy!).

Claire is back in the same preschool she was in last year, but with mostly different kids, many of which are closer to her age. When I ask her about it she reports what they learned about that day, if “Mr. Monkey” (the teachers’ puppet) came to visit, and who she “hangs around with.” She is doing great and makes me laugh daily with her hilarious use of vocabulary.

This evening for instance, we were carving pumpkins and her remarks included the following:

“Eeeewwww! The guts are disgusting! I don’t think I want to get anymore guts out.”

“Mom, can I wash my hands yet?” (followed by more ews.)

And, when she was finished cleaning it out,

“Goodbye guts, hello carving!”

Later, when we let her carve her own face (she insisted), she would say things like

“Aren’t you impressive with me, Mom?”

“Aren’t you impressive with me, Dad?”

“I’m impressed with you, Mom.”

and

“I’m so very clever”

“Carving pumpkins is the best thing ever” (she seemed to forget the disgusting guts.)

Needless to say she was very pleased with her pumpkin and she actually worked very hard on it. She wanted help digging the guts out, but once it was carving time she insisted on being the only artist. I was impressed with how well it turned out, and how she stuck with it, she stayed at the table long after Will and I had finished.

 (Pictures of the adventure follow)

As for Avery, she is very adventurous and pretty mischievous. I remember Claire being curious at Avery’s age, but nothing like Avery. She is a pretty fast crawler these days and crawls around the house wreaking havoc in every room. Kitchen: she pulls things out of the dishwasher nearly as fast as I put them in there. Bathroom: I usually let her play in the bath toy cupboard when I am doing my hair, and she has gotten very good at emptying that cupboard in 2 seconds flat. This is particularly dangerous if we forget to pick up (for the hundredth time) before bed and someone inevitably stumbles or stubs their toe on an item. Bedroom: she is just tall enough to reach (on her tippy toes) the papers and books on her Dad’s bedside table. She seems to relish scattering them several times daily. She also likes to empty her sister’s child size craft table several times a day. She keeps us very busy chasing her around the house.

Also, I am a little unclear how it started, but I think somewhere along the line we have ended up rhyming “Baby” with “Waby”  and the “Waby” part stuck. As a result, we usually end up chasing her around the house, yelling “Waby!”, trying to pick up after her. I’m am sure the neighbors are wondering about us. But hey, they vacuum at 9 p.m., so who are they to judge?  

Avery has a sweet smile and she is very cute about her preferences. We are always greeted with a yelp and a speed crawl to the door when we return home. And, the other day before I went to school she teared up when she saw the babysitter because she realized that I was leaving.

The cutest thing she does right now is growl when I say or show her a lion. She also really enjoys clapping. We got family pictures taken last weekend and this is the only way the staff could get her to smile.

Well, I think that is all the news for now. Will and I are trying to juggle school and the kids this semester, and so far there have been no major disasters. We have been very blessed. We are getting ready to hunker down for exams, and looking forward to the holidays when we can visit all of our beloved friends and family.

Happy Halloween y’all!

Our little speed crawler

Claire on her first day of school this year

One of my favorite jammy pics of all time.

Subtle, right?

The finished product from tonight. Claire’s is the far right.