You know it’s going to be bad when they cancel school the night before a storm!  So far we’ve got about a foot and a half and it just keeps dumping!  Rock worked from home today rather than brave New York City which is supposedly worse.  He’s has been shoveling our huge driveway and sidewalk off and on all day.  I’m rewarding his hard work with stew for dinner! 

Sledding down the driveway

Our backyard winter wonderland

For those familiar with the “plastic car”

The Snow Fort-Mr. Pres and our neighbor

Wonder if they’ll cancel school tomorrow?  We’ve got a blizzard watch till 6 am!  That would make our winter break 5 days long plus the weekend!  Happy Valentines Day to us!

I have never had a climber. Not one of my children have EVER climbed out of their crib. I know that’s unusual, but it’s true. I have always had the peace of mind to know that when I put them in their crib, they would stay there till I got them out. I realize that I am very lucky AND I realize that it was only a matter of time before that luxury ended. We knew that the toddler bed was not far away for Blue Jeans but I’ve been stalling because I like being able to take naps with this pregnancy. And boys in toddler beds don’t stay put very well just to let mom sleep.

So today I was sitting at the computer minding my own business enjoying the quiet of naptime, when I heard footsteps. My heart skipped a beat and the adrenaline started pumping as thoughts of an intruder raced through my mind. And then who should wander into the family room with his blankie and teddy but Blue Jeans, with a bewildered look of accomplishment on his face. Once over my shock I just started laughing and couldn’t stop. I went upstairs to see if maybe I had left the side down, but no, our little man has just decided the bars will no longer keep him in. Time for the toddler bed.

This morning when Blue Jeans woke up and came down stairs I tried to get him to give me a hug and a kiss.  Being a two year old and exerting his independence he kept saying, “No!”  I gave up after a while.  Just now (about 3 hours later) I was sitting here working on the computer and Blue Jeans came up to me and grunted at me as he often does to get me to do something.  “Mmm mmm uuuu uhh.”  Not understanding what he wanted he finally pointed to his lips.  So I bent down and gave him the kiss he was asking for and then he waddled away proud of himself for getting mommy to squeal with delight.  What a power trip.

Mr. President’s random prayer from last night:

“We thank thee for carrots and airplanes and helicopters and gerbils and apples and foxes.”

Note: we don’t even have a gerbil.  Or a fox.

At 12 weeks we’ve got two arms, two legs, a spine and a strong heartbeat with a 60/40 chance it’s a girl!  The technician said not to buy anything yet, but if she had to bet her paycheck she’d say girl.  Nausea is almost gone and energy level is returning!  Woohoo! 

Nothing like rockin out to Trans-Siberian Orchestra while the boys clean the house because Santa only comes to CLEAN houses. Spotless ones. And Mr. Pres says, “That means nothing stuck in corners!” You got it! Clean it ALL!!!

And here they are rewarded for their hard work with the first present. New PJ’s.

Today Go Go presented me with my very first piece of school-made pottery!  It was lopsided and and bumpy and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been given!   Every once in a while, I have one of those moments that says, “You are officially a Mother.”  Today was one of those moments.  Thanks Go Go.

Mr. President was talking to his life long little friend on the phone today and said to her, “Sally, I have 2 teeth gone and 4 loose teeth, how many teeth will I lose all together?”  Then as he was saying goodbye he said, “I love you…but I’m not IN love with you, ok?”  We had no idea he knew the difference, but at least he can do story problems. 

On our way to the Fog Creek company party last night we decided to stop at the Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. It was…. big. That’s about all I can say for it. I saw it and thought, hm, what’s all the fuss about anyway? But people must think it’s a big deal because while we were there looking for someone to take our picture another couple saw us “looking” and asked us to take their picture. But he insisted on taking our picture first. So we let him. (the picture turned out blurry, so sorry, no proof). Then he handed Rock the camera and whispered, “I’m going to propose to her so get some good pictures.” AHHAHH! No pressure! So Rock snapped as many photos as he could of this cute couple. He got down on one knee, she squealed, she cried, they kissed. I wish I’d thought to take a picture of them myself, it was really too perfect. She said yes apparently and the ring was beautiful (I got to be the first to inspect it!). We walked away wishing these total strangers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Life together! I’m so glad we got to be a part of their special moment and right there in front of “The Tree”. It was 28 degrees out but our hearts were certainly warmed by the experience.

Then it was off to the party at the snazzy Russian Tea Room in New York City. http://russiantearoomnyc.com/subindex.php?p=slideshow2
It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was wonderful. The funny/interesting things of note at the party were 1. In a room full of 60 people of all ages I was the one with the most children. 2. Someone told me I looked like I was 12 so how could I possibly have that many children. 3. On our way out, Rock’s boss reminded him to take one of the mysterious silver wrapped packages stacked by the door. He said, “They’re actually apples from Washington.” And we thought. Oh. um. cool. (insert balloon deflate sound) And as we walked away we laughingly discussed the difference between apples and the GPS type gifts that Microsoft gave out. We also decided that Fog Creek was probably the kind of company that just paid you more instead of giving fancy gifts. When we got home, Rock went to the kitchen excited to cut open a nice juicy apple only to find….. a netbook (mini laptop) in the box instead!!!! LOL. Apples indeed. Today we feel very blessed to work for such a great company. Rock really does love his job and they all raved about him to me last night telling me that they were SO glad we moved all the way across the country because he does great work.
All in all a wonderful evening.