I've been so busy since the last time I posted, it seems I've written a book! But don't worry Alice, this book has pictures in it. A lot, in fact, liberally sprinkled throughout to encourage you to keep reading!
I was just putting away laundry in Emily's room, and what do I find? A box of clothes I put away before she was born that I had totally forgotten were there! In those last days before she made her appearance, I put away everything that wasn't newborn size so that I didn't have to dig through all sorts of sizes to find her clothes. Well, I just came across one of the boxes, and it had a bunch of cute onesies and outfits....in 3 months size! She's too big for all of it now! I already had all this guilt because many of her outfits she only wore once, and now I find a box that she NEVER wore! She's still pretty small, so if I put a disposable diaper on her I can probably jam her in these outfits at least once or twice, because I can't stand the thought that we might not have another girl and these clothes will never be worn!
Anyway, as a Christmas gift to each other, Will and I have turned the breakfast nook into more kitchen space, since our kitchen is so small and we never use the breakfast nook. We put in cabinets and an island, and it looks really nice! I am trying to organize the rest of the house too, but I never get much further than buying containers, actually DOING the organizing is a different story.
Last weekend Emily and I went down to Mary Washington with Tina so that she could see the college and I could watch Krista's dance recital. It was a pretty day, and Emily did so well, the only issue was when she started to scream on the way home, but Aunt Tina saved the day by consenting to sit in the back and give her a bottle while we drove. Unfortunately, I had to get off the highway for Aunt Tina to switch seats, and due to the dark, some bad signage, and my own stupidity we ended up at the military checkpoint for the Quantico Marine base. I did a super-sketchy 3-point turn and took off, they probably thought I was carrying drugs and got scared away or something. Then traffic came to a complete stop on 270 because of an accident, but in a surprising fit of organization and cooperation, traffic was seamlessly diverted and we were only held up a total of about 10 minutes.
Thanksgiving was nice for us as well. We all ran the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, and I did finish without stopping once! I was a bit irritated, because I did honestly run at a good clip the whole time (nothing like the guys who finished the race in 20 minutes of course) and some people who were running then walking then running then walking managed to beat us because we had to start WAY in the back because of the jogging stroller. We didn't even cross the starting line until about a minute after the race started, there were so many people. Oh well, I didn't expect to do magnificently.
Thanksgiving day was spent up at the in-laws' farm which straddles the Maryland-Pennsylvania line. In fact, one of the day's activities included jumping on the old stone marker that shows where the Mason-Dixon line runs through the property. It is a great location for a Thanksgiving celebration, as it is secluded and woodsy and has a mean fireplace, complete with deer head. Next year though, I think we'll spend longer up there because it was stressful to have to make the food, pack it up, get up there, throw the dinner together, eat, clean up, and then have to get up early the next morning and leave. Having to sleep on inflatable beds that were basically glorified (or in Will's opinion, not even glorified) rafts didn't help. Also there was a wasp perched on the lid of the toilet upstairs, and the other two bathrooms were right outside my in-laws' bedroom and you know how I feel about bugs in the middle of the night, so the discomfort of the raft was compounded by the discomfort of my full bladder. Emily was an angel though, happily allowing me to help fix dinner, eat it, and even clean up before she started to get fussy. By that point we were all practically passed out on the couch (except Margaret who was entertaining us by acting out Guesstures words with great success) so I don't blame her for being tired at that point.
On to Friday, when we rose early (and in Will's case went jogging through the darkest, windey-est, most backwoods crickets-and-banjos area of Frederick there is) and went down to the Casa Loma meeting at Aunt Ruth's house, which is an official semi-annual meeting of all the family members in Will's generation who are part-owners of the paper. Emily LOVES little white dogs even more than she loves medium grey dogs (Mingus) so we played with Uncle Ed's dog Little Bear while the meeting was going on. After that we got a tour of the new building where the newspaper will be housed as of February 2008. It is truly amazing! I remember standing in a field at the groundbreaking ceremony a year and a half ago, and visiting the press in Tokyo last March, and now here it sits in Frederick, in that previously empty field except now it's in a building about 20 times the size of the current building. Pretty fantastic.
FINALLY, to rest and recuperate from this long week, Will and I spent the night at the Bavarian Inn thanks to a gift certificate that my sweet husband got me for Christmas 2005. This was our first night away from Emily! I was worried I'd miss her, and I did, but it was indescribably nice to take a bath, take a shower, put on makeup and lotion and get dressed without having to stop and attend to a crying baby. Our room was very charming, and the view from our balcony of the Potomac river was beautiful! The only problems were that there was a water main break in Shepherdstown, and while we DID have water, it wasn't drinkable so did the hotel provide bottled water, as I believe the law states they must if people are staying there and the water coming out of the tap is non-potable? They sure did...for $2 a bottle! That made me pretty mad, especially since we are big water drinkers. Also, at dinner, we splurged and ordered a fairly expensive half-bottle of Burgundy to go with our antelope and quail (we love eating interesting meats!). Well, the wine came out, and I sniffed it and thought "No....it can't possibly smell like....I've been spending too much time with Emily....I'll wait and see what Will says". Sure enough, Will took his first whif, and immediately announced "This smells like baby poop". We managed to finish it, but it's just a tad bit off-putting when your wine smells like something that you wash out of diapers day in and day out. I won't be ordering any more Burgundy for awhile.
So that's enough for now. I know, if I updated more often I wouldn't have to write novels each time, but that's the way it is for now! I'm enjoying this slightly slower week before I have to start gearing up for Christmas. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
-Sara
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