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Snow-day! Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Well, a day with a "lot" of snow. We woke up to the buzz of a snow-plow, and were QUITE excited about the 1/2 an inch of snow that we got overnight. Even happier that it continued throughout the day. Benjamin and I clocked well over 2.5 hours outside shoveling, playing, building snow men, and playing with the neighbor boys who did, in fact, have a snow-day today. The first thing Benjamin said when we got outside was "Hey! Where's Poppa? And Nana? Call them, need the boat." the boat is what he calls the sled that he had up in NY. 
~Courtney posted at 7:23:40 PM Benjamin's First Camera... Tuesday, January 27, 2009 Benjamin has been really into our cameras lately, and since playing with those is NOT an option, we decided to use some of his Christmas money to get him a more kid friendly camera. Anyhow, he took over 400 pictures yesterday. Here are 100 of them. We're working on some rules with it to avoid constantly yelling things like "you can't take pictures of mommy in the shower," but we'll get there. For now, enjoy life as seen by someone 38 inches tall...
~Courtney posted at 8:20:19 AM Another one airplane, mommy! Monday, January 26, 2009 It's cold out today, so Benjamin and I took advantage of this gem, which is only about 12 minutes from our house. I cannot BELIEVE we didn't go scope this out sooner. It only costs $12 per car to go, but they have an annual pass, so I think I am going to go ahead and get that, so we can go often. It was quite emotional to see some of the actual Nazi fighter jets from World War II, but that pitted feeling in my stomach quickly went away when we walked around the corner and caught glimpse of the space shuttle Enterprise. Absolutely amazing! ~Courtney posted at 4:15:35 PM And finally, an update... Thursday, January 22, 2009 Albeit, it's doubtful it's a very exciting update. We've been in a bit of a post-holiday, or holiday-hangover, as I like to call it, funk the past couple of weeks. Most of our days consist of toddler-friendly activities, running, eating, and keeping on top of the never-ending tasks that come with a house. Benjamin is in a bit of a sleep regression. Last night, he joined me in bed at 2, sending his father into the guest room, and somehow managed to be FULL OF ENERGY until 5 am, when I told him we would NOT be going to Gymboree if he didn't go to sleep. Any hopes that he'd sleep later were shot down when he sat up, wide-awake, at 7 am this morning. I felt like I'd been doing tequila shots all night, and possibly hit by a train, too. We didn't go to Gymboree, because my eyes hurt too much to drive. In other news, I've mostly given up Diet Coke. I decided, a couple of weeks ago, that I just need to do it. If you're a reader who knows me, you know that a) this is shocking, and b) this is not likely long-term, but for now, I am feeling quite proud of my nearly 2 week hiatus from the poison that is artificial sweetener. Running wise, I had a fantastic 17 mile run on a very cold morning last weekend. It was 3 degrees when I started out, but managed to trek through at a very decent pace, without stopping to walk a single step. I was pleased. My aforementioned new water habit allowed me to run ELEVEN miles before I felt thirsty at all...of course, my 4 water bottles on my belt were frozen solid by that point, but I survived. Andrew's parents were in town last weekend. Sue was fortunate enough (I say this with sarcasm, but I knew she actually loved it!) to see Benjamin thrive at Gymboree class. And then we got to have lunch with Andrew at his office. She was very proud! Saturday night, we met Rick, Sue, Ryan, Kathryn and Jon (K's boyfriend) out for dinner to celebrate Kathryn's birthday. Afterward, everyone was invited over here to have the carrot cake I had made, and for K to open her presents. Of course, there were presents for Benjamin, too, and he insisted upon having candles in his piece of cake, too. He loves to party...wonder where that came from!?! Speaking of Andrew's work, our other exciting news from here is Andrew's promotion at work! He had been waiting to see what the annual raise would be for the year, and not only got a raise significantly above the company average, but also was pushed up a level in terms of what they can bill him for, etc. Basically, it means he'll be gone traveling a heck of a lot more, but we're super-proud of him, nonetheless. Speaking of work, I've been on a ROLL lately, and managed to get some pretty impressive things done on my company's website in the past couple of weeks. I've mentioned it before, but I truly do have the best of both worlds when it comes to work. I get to be home with Benjamin, which I love, and makes the most sense for us, but I also get to keep my healthcare technology- brain (semi)sharp and work on fun projects, and expanding my skills; from home. We've got some busy weeks ahead of us, but despite our minor funk, 2009 is rolling on, full speed ahead, and we seem semi-prepared to handle all it has to offer! ~Courtney posted at 7:56:29 PM Funniest wedding announcement EVER! Monday, January 19, 2009 Worth the click...I promise! ~Courtney posted at 8:24:16 PM The many moods of Courtney Friday, January 16, 2009 This has been a strange week. In order to not come off frustrated, stressed, negative, etc., I am going to leave you with this:  Please don't mind the just-out-of-the-shower-hair-and lack of makeup... ~Courtney posted at 8:51:02 PM Weekend, er, debauchery. Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Okay, it wasn't really all that much debauchery (unless you count my shopping...), but I had such a fantastically, fun weekend. On Friday morning, Benjamin and I strapped ourselves into the mom-car to go to BWI to pick up Beth. She landed 20 minutes early, and was ready and waiting when we zipped through our old stomping grounds (BWI is RIGHT by where I used to live), and we headed back to NoVA. Amanda texted us that she landed a couple of hours later, and I zipped to IAD to pick her up. Gossip. Eating. Bride Wars. Drinking. More Eating. More gossip. Shopping. More drinking. Yeah, that about sums up the weekend. I had an awesome time, and for the first time since I've, um, well, had Benjamin, I needed to leave my car parked in an overnight parking lot and get a cab home. Here are a couple of shots of the moms on the town. Pre-going out.  Cab ride home (WAY past my bedtime...never mind we stayed up for another 2 hours!)  Can't wait to see you girls again! Although, if I am heading west/north, it'll be spring before you see me! ~Courtney posted at 7:38:23 PM Dinner Tuesday, January 13, 2009 I just made this for dinner and it was really good, and really easy to throw together. I am a big fan of "one pot" dinners. ~Courtney posted at 7:00:27 PM Retail therapy & Slumber parties Friday, January 09, 2009 Lately, when I ask Benjamin what he wants to do, he tells me "Haircut at the mall, or Home Depot." While the shoppy side of me loves his appreciation for consumerism, and helping the economy, I can't help to feel a tad bad for cultivating such thoughts before the age of three. This morning, he picked up one of his Sandra Boynton books, The Belly Button Book, to be specific, and was saying "Home Depot," over and over again. It took me about 45 seconds, but I finally realized that he thought that Home Depot is actually "Home Bee Bo," which is what they call belly buttons in the book. It made me smile. Also making me smile, is the weekend girlie slumber party that I am hosting. We leave to get Beth at the airport in about an hour, and then Amanda, early this afternoon. I am so excited to put Andrew on Benjamin-duty, and have a girlie weekend! ~Courtney posted at 8:32:53 AM Home Improvement #1 of 2009 Wednesday, January 07, 2009 Okay, so it's not quite done, but at least I don't have to be embarrassed anymore when I show people the guest bathroom. I totally stink at the before picture thing, but this was pretty hideous. Picture reddish brown wood, with lots of gold-colored faucets, light fixtures, etc. I wish we could have redone the floor, but neither of us had the energy this time around! The original plan was to move Benjamin's toys in here, and make it a combo guest/kid bathroom, but I think I am going to leave the toys in the master bath, and instead, make this the guest/MY bathroom.
Please come and visit so you can use my snazzy new bathroom! ~Courtney posted at 1:11:21 PM You do know? Tuesday, January 06, 2009 So, we dropped my car off tonight (Andrew met us after work) to have some minor maintenance stuff done to it (remember the key incident?) at the Saab dealership. We just looked it up online, and that was the closest one, so A made the appointment. It's cold and pouring rain. And rush hour. We go inside to drop off the keys, and the guy says to me "You do know we have a shop in the next town over from you, too, right?" Um, that'd be a big, fat no. So, once we retrieve the car tomorrow morning, we will be sending it to the one that is 4 miles away, not 17 for future maintenance. ~Courtney posted at 5:51:01 PM Privacy, please! Tuesday, January 06, 2009 I was in the bathroom, and since it was just B and I at home, decided to leave the door open. B was watching tv in the next room over. Of course he has to come and see what I am doing. He walks into the bathroom, closes the door, and says "I'll close the door mommy, we need privacy." ~Courtney posted at 5:51:01 PM Chocolate Chips! Saturday, January 03, 2009 Benjamin thinks that the blue tortilla chips are chocolate chips. As I was munching on one, he started asking for chocolate chips. I asked him where they were (realizing that he'd probably take me to the cupboard that houses the M&Ms he gets for potty-treats), and instead, he pointed to the bag of chips. Nummy, Nummy chocolate chips! ~Courtney posted at 12:56:34 PM Since I might be the only blogger who hasn't... Friday, January 02, 2009  Kidding. 2009 is going to be a fantastic year for our family. I just know it! ~Courtney posted at 9:53:14 PM It's, It's, It's...a shooting star! Friday, January 02, 2009 We had an early evening trip to Home Depot this afternoon for some painting supplies. While rushing through the store, the sun managed to set, and when we got out, Benjamin said "OH! I see the moon!" I said, "Me too! And an airplane!" We turned around so he could easily see the plane. After, we turned to go back toward the car...he looks up and says: "Oh! And a shooting star!" It was actually just another airplane leaving Dulles, but it made me smile that he thought it was a shooting star. He is so, incredibly sweet, it kills me! ~Courtney posted at 9:11:35 PM |
