Winter is Leaving

I thrive on four seasons. I can't imagine living in a place that did not have all four of them. In my hierarchy of favorites, fall is premiere, followed by spring, winter, and summer. The older I get the less I tolerate the extremes of winter and summer but I still love both. Winter for the stunning silence and beauty of the first snow and summer for it's playfulness and happiness. I am always ready for winter and summer to end but I could live forever in a place dominated by fall or spring-like conditions and temperatures.

I am ready to see winter go but at the end of this season, I panic a little over one thing: hot chocolate. Losing winter means losing the warm comfort of a steaming cup of hot chocolate. I realize that hot chocolate is available year round but it loses its virtue in warm weather.

It is supposed to be rainy and cool this weekend, which I happily accept because I know that the suffocating humid heat of summer will soon punch me in the face and it means that I can dedicate this weekend to HOT chocolate. Oh yeah!

That's what He Said

I listened to a new song today by Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band and one line in particular struck me, "Don't let time rob you, hold on to your memories." I have been lamenting my laziness and lack of documentation of all the glories of my children. They grow so quickly! Their cuteness multiplies exponentially! I need to do a better job keeping up with their cutes.

Here are a few highlights:

Asher

• Says 'foof foof' when he sees a dog
• He loves to shake his shoulders and bounce his finger to music
• He loves cheerios and were it not for them, he would likely starve
• He sleeps SO well and rarely wakes up at night
• He loves to snuggle and rest his head on my shoulder
• He loves my fishy kisses
• He is a professional at flashing my Costco card and handing my parking ticket to the validation man, which always yields a lot of smiles
• He loves to read
• He loves to draw and easily switches from right to left hand
• He neighs and meows and moos and those are the most delightful sounds I have ever encountered
  

Soren

• He says 'durdle' for turtle and it is so cute
• He says 'eow' for meow and he will mimick any animal noise I make (see last bullet on Asher's list)
• He loves to fake sneeze
• Does the cutest sign for bike--huge arms strokes
• He is very active and loves to climb
• He loves to walk on his tippy toes and I call him Mr. Tips.
• He loves to march with high knees and enjoys mimicking whatever crazy walk I do
• He loves to point at objects in books that I ask him to identify
• He loves to be naked (well, with a diaper)
• He is a good kisser and is really great about giving kisses when asked.
  

Stylish Soren

Great spring combo: sweet Soren with azaleas!

Soren pointing to the red truck.

This is my signature look and I'm going to wear it out: diaper, one shoe, and reversible vest!

Soren gets super excited about new clothing and accessories. He loves to wear hats and shoes and would prefer to wear accessories with a diaper only. He often asks me to put his shoes (or shoe) on but he is also quite keen on taking them off when they annoy him.

Soren recently rocked the diaper with vest and one shoe look and it was quite stunning!

I bought Soren a pair of flip flops and he loved them for about two seconds, long enough to model them for me as he did a variety of his favorite activities reading and sitting on steps.

Enjoying the Front Steps

A seat just their size.

Pointing at flowers!

Ready to head inside.

Soren and Asher have a great appreciation for things their size--especially small chairs or things that act as small chairs, like bottom steps. Soren surprised me the other day by stopping to sit on our front steps as we were on our way in the house. He smiled hugely and was quickly joined by Asher. Those two, so cute together. Then they proceeded to point at and exclaim all the things they knew, tree, flower, and car.

Cousin Reunion

How cute are baby babes playing with toy cars while on a road trip? SO cute.

Okay, so sleeping babies with toy trucks are enormously cute too.

Cousins! As soon as I layed blankets on the grass Asher ran to them and layed right down. He's cute like that. Gage did his best to get him to smile.

Do you see how Gage and Wyatt are holding hands? Precious! I hope Asher and Soren share a similar affection for one another that their older twin cousins do.

Amazing. All the boy cousins lined up according to size! We could not have planned this more perfectly. Camden, Gage, Wyatt, Soren, and Asher.

We promised Lisa and Mike that if they stopped to visit with us that we would buy everyone a drink or ice cream. When we told the kids that they could get a drink, Wyatt exclaimed, "We each get our own drink? We don't have to share??? AWESOME!!!" Coming from a family of nine, having one's OWN drink is a true luxury.

Soren was the only one who didn't sit still. He's my Soren.

Gage and one of his favorite cousins, Soren.

Soren giving Gage a kiss, ahhhh.

Pops with Asher!

Refusing to be resigned about missing family due to our canceled ATL trip, we cajoled Lisa and Mike into meeting us on I-81 for a quick but greatly anticipated and LONG over due visit. They were making the LONG journey from Alton Bay, NH to Bristol and it was easy for us to pop over from Alexandria to meet them somewhere in the comely Shenandoah valley.

It had been a YEAR since we last saw them...tragic, really. Baby babes grow tremendously in a year and so do teenagers and tweeners. The younger kids didn't seem to age much. We love us some Richards so to spend that quality, HOT time with them was easily the acme of our weekend.

The highlight of the visit was watching Gage and Wyatt interact with their twin cousins, Asher and Soren. They were sweet, affectionate, and curious. When Gage found out that Asher liked to draw he exclaimed, "He likes to draw and I like to draw!" He then asked Jamie what Soren liked to do and Jamie said, "Run, jump, and play!" (I was annoyed that he didn't say READ, which is truly one of Soren's favorite activities). Seriously though, how cute is it for a seven year old to ask what a 19-month-old likes to do?

I lost count of the number of times Gage and Wyatt hugged Asher and Soren and I loved to watch them try to make Asher smile. Little man Asher was kind of grumpy and overwhelmed (see below posts about yacky yackness) but not unresponsive to their attention.

I knew the boys would be willing mates in a game of catch so I pulled out my football and what fun we had playing catch! More fun than playing catch was watching Gage and Wyatt tenderly include Soren in our game. They showed impressive patience with Soren and were happy to let him catch and throw the ball. A&S are lucky to have such incredible TWIN boy cousins! Fun!

We are thrilled that the Richards are moving back to Bristol. When they moved to New Hampshire, I felt that Bristol had lost its heart and it always felt a little empty when we visited. Bristol is getting its heart back! Woo hoo! We have lots of cousin time ahead and we are pleased.

Here are the cousins from ONE year ago to the day. Look at those tiny baby babes! What a handsome bunch of children and an unbelievable amount of pointing fingers.

A New Backyard

Our new backyard comes complete with a quaint porch and a plenty of great chairs.

Babies with SO much space to run!

Soren and the baby goats!

The white flowers are on the dogwood tree, which serves as both the state tree and state flower of Virginia. It is a remarkable tree.

Jamie and I bought annual passes to Mt. Vernon but really we bought Asher and Soren a new backyard with expansive stretches of soft lawn and beautiful gardens. We love our new play space! Mt. Vernon is one of those lovely places that is enjoyable each time you visit and it is open every day of the year!

Friday while we were having a snack and reveling in the warm weather, fantastic Potomac views, and the satisfaction of our children having actual space for playing--we heard the sound of baby goats! A small number of them were let out of their pens to graze the grass near us. Asher and Soren went nuts and sprinted towards the creatures, which they kept calling 'dogs.' Soren would have gone right up to them had I not stopped him--oh the joys of watching a new person discover the many surprises and wonders of the natural world. Asher and Soren are tremendously observant and critically aware of their surroundings. I love that about them.

After chasing goats we walked down to the dock and were thrilled to see Osprey in their massive nest! Yay for birds! We also saw a number of cardinals and they are always such a natural stunner.

Jamie and I hope to use our new backyard as much as possible this next year. I can't wait.

HOT Hot Heat is Killing Me

No joke people, it was THAT freaking hot this weekend.

Rosy cheeked and super cute.

I need water...and year round fall temperatures!

The temperatures this weekend fluctuated from perfect: breezy and delightfully warm to torturous: wickedly hot and paralyzing. I went for an evening jog on Friday evening and was essentially saying a prayer of thanksgiving the entire time because there could not have been more tremendous conditions. A cool breeze comforted my brow and the perfume of spring provided a delightful companion for a solo run. Saturday evening was different. I went out at the same time and had to work a lot harder to complete my run. The temperature constricted my movement and made me absolutely exhausted. I told hubs it felt like 100 degrees so I was offended when the 'actual' temperature was 79. Yeah right.

My fair skinned baby babes have inherited my hot red cheeks--it takes only a few minutes in the warm weather and the three of us look like a red stop light.

I already lament ever complaining about the persistence of this year's winter. Bring back the cool.

This Little Guy

Had a difficult weekend. He vomited all over the two of us right before bedtime on Thursday evening, the night we were to leave for our weekend trip to Atlanta. He seemed fine before he threw up and afterwards so I thought we'd be okay to take the trip. We woke the boys up at about 10:30 pm to embark on our adventure (I fondly recall getting up super early in the morning to take family vacations to California so it was with great tenderness that I woke my sweet baby babes, for the first time, to take them on a family vacation). Asher again vomited as we were nearly out the front door. Again, he seemed fine and was even a little hyper by the late night awakening and was even thrilled to be in the car late at night, anticipating some kind of good time. Well, Jamie and I were just so excited to see family and friends in Atlanta that we set aside our good judgement and left for the trip, even with a yacky yack baby babe. It was ten minutes into the trip when Asher threw up again that we knew it was time to abort the trip. So, we turned around and headed home. Our children are the greatest priority in our lives and Asher's well being most certainly trumped our little trip.

Asher threw up several more times this weekend (no vomiting today) and even fell hard on his face, slicing his lower lip open. Poor little man, he has cracked his lip open nearly every week for the past several weeks. I hate that he has to suffer that pain. Asher sensitivities were heightened this weekend and he was easily offended and his feelings easily hurt. We hugged a lot and he snuggled against my neck a lot--I enjoyed those sweet moments. Ultimately, I was relieved that he fell ill during MY watch, during the time I was at home. I was grateful for every chance to gently wipe away his tender tears, scoop him into my arms, bathe him after a vomit, and just delight in the holding of HIM.

Despite his ailments, Asher wooed us with his cuteness. He is fond of mimicking animal sounds and his horse neigh nearly had us in tears this evening because it was enormously cute. Jamie said he could listen to that sweet little neigh all night long. Me too hubs, me too.

My Little Peeps

Soren likes to rub his fingers together and rub his fingernails...he gets that from his dad. Genetics are fascinating.

Here is a playful selection from my dad's photos. I'm so glad my parents were here for a week--it already feels like that was ages ago. Why does that happen? I'm glad we'll see them next month.

We are taking The Deuce to Atlanta this weekend to see Grandpa Rhett and Vaughn and Margaret. I am excited to spend time with family and friends and I am excited to watch my children discover and explore all the new places we will take them this weekend. I look forward to a road trip full of Asher and Soren pointing out cars, trees, flowers, hats, bikes, lights, clocks, and balls. Their little vocabulary is extraordinary and endears them to me ever more.

A friend at work asked me today if it has gotten easier for me to be away from Asher and Soren while I work. Before she could even finish asking the question I blurted out, "No. It doesn't get easier, it gets harder because the older they get the more I feel like they need me. Also, the more I get to know them the more I fall in love with them and the more I miss them and wonder about all the adorable things they are doing that I am missing."

Loving the Temple

Asher and Soren love to knock on doors and usually when they knock on the door they call out, dah dah (for daddy). I was moved by their fascination with the golden doors at the temple and found a tenderness in their innocence when they knocked on the temple doors and said, 'dah dah.' Yes, this is the house of the Lord and your Heavenly Father.

My Sweet Amberlyn and Brent

Aunt Amberlyn with The Deuce at the Washington, DC temple.

Reading with Uncle Hat, they loved them some uncle Brent.

I only have TWO photos of Asher and Soren with my sister and Brent. Yikes! I took for granted that they had such an awesome camera so I left my geriatric camera at home for most of our outings. What a joy to have these two in our home!

Brent is a tremendous uncle and I dare say, the best Asher and Soren know. Brent is one of those amazing father's who loves other children almost as much as his own. He celebrates the joys of infancy and toddler hood and knows just how to engage the little ones. Brent is animated and energetic, two traits that go very far with The Deuce. Asher and Soren especially loved that Brent wore a hat and they actually referred to him as 'hat.' So cute.

Amberlyn excels as a mother. She has the cadence and patience of a lovingly experienced mother and she easily shared those talents with her nephews. I loved watching her love my children. She taught them new songs and showed them new ways to play. Amberlyn is a phenomenal aunt and I find great tragedy in the distance between our families. I need her children and my children need her.

We miss you Amberlyn and uncle Hat!

Super Baby Cutes

Just enjoying photos of my baby babes from a year ago.