tourist season

completely random double-the-fun for your viewing pleasure, because there is little we won't do around here for huckleberry's amusement.

henry is in high heaven this week, because grandma and grandpa are in town and he is getting capital s-spoiled! while they're here we're doing our best to contribute to the hoards of tourist clogging the freeway and every solitary spec of sidewalk in dc.

on easter sunday, we visited mount vernon in the afternoon and enjoyed a delicious easter feast that sent all of us (except henry) into the most glorious wave of sleepy for the night. 

on monday we drove into dc and spent the afternoon visiting the national mall: lincoln, jefferson, fdr, mlk, vietnam, and korean memorials; then we snuck down by the pier for fresh seafood on a floating barge. and the weather! we all spent the day smiling wide and basking in the most lovely mix of soft sunshine and the lightest breeze. the trees were just slightly past their full-bloom prime, but we've gotten our fill of cherry blossoms and bright, bursting flowers everywhere we've gone.

i hope your week has been full of sunshine and warm weather. we're off to walk our legs off and take in alexandria.

see ya!

happy easter!

today was huck's easter party at daycare, and 4 seconds after i picked him up he looked like this. it's a hard life being a rabbit.

we're so excited to celebrate easter and joey's confirmation this weekend! joey's parents are flying in tomorrow night to celebrate with us and will be staying for almost a week. h has had a cold the last week, so we're hoping he starts feeling better soon because he takes his colds as well as his parents do (not well atall), and we've got some sight seeing to do! 

have a great weekend and a wonderful easter!

rainy days are for dirty laundry

warning: this post contains (metaphorical) graphic images of my soul splayed out in ugly detail. but it's real life we're after here, so read on if you dare.

remember back in january when i shared a tiny hint about something new coming up for us, and then again in march i asked for your thoughts because finally things were starting to iron themselves out and the job was "officially" mine… but not really, because it's still not even officially mine? don't worry, i wouldn't expect you to uncover the encryption of any of this… so let me start over!

when we moved to virginia, i took a job teaching sixth grade math in a school district that was considered "at risk". the math department was in shambles, performance scores were abysmal, and the school was without a superintendent. but i have a master's degree, and more than anything i wanted to teach math and provide for my growing family, so i took the job with excitement and a teeny bit of apprehension (because self-doubt is my middle name). but when i finally got into the position, surrounded by the most helpful and supportive team of teachers and administrators i could ask for, i crumbled. i was absolutely defeated every single day by the very real challenges that come with teaching in such a hurting district. my heart was broken for the students i couldn't reach and for the students who stared at me with wide, eager eyes from all corners of the room who couldn't reach me. my days started at 5 am and ended most days after 6, and every breathing second was focused on finding a way to morph sixth grade math lessons into blankets of strength and knowledge for a group of kids whose everyday thoughts literally consisted of finding a place to sleep, food to eat, and someone to care. and although to the very soles of my feet i cared, and maybe because of that, i chose to walk away from my classroom for good when henry was born. because i knew that i couldn't go on with my heart shattered every single day and be the kind of mom and wife i needed to be for my family. but the move wasn't taken lightly. joey and i spent so many sleepless nights going over and over the decision that we got more sleep with a newborn than we did those few months i was teaching.

i don't, even for a second, regret my decision to move on from teaching at this point in my life. i am a teacher at heart, and will always crave the feeling i get when i'm in a classroom, but now is not the time. here is not the place. so i gave myself two weeks to bond and cuddle my brand new baby, and then i began searching for a job that would help support us through the next chapter in our lives. while we lived in saint paul i worked for the medical school at the university of minnesota supporting the curriculum department and managing a few classes for first and second year medical students. i really enjoyed the work i did at the u, and so i focused my job search in virginia on something similar at one of the many universities in the dc area. about a month after henry was born, i was called to interview for a position in the medical school at george washington university (gw), and almost a month after the interview - still having heard nothing except, "the decision is still in the works," - we gave up hope that the job was mine. but finally at the end of january, i got a call from the medical school. they told me the job wasn't mine, i didn't have the experience they were looking for, but they were intrigued with what i had to offer them. miraculously, gw had decided to create a position for me supervising a group of people who essentially hold the same job i had held at the university of minnesota. i was honored they'd considered me for the position and so very anxious to start as soon as possible. but oh the red tape we've had to cross since that phone call in late january!

fast-forward to today, four months after my first interview at gw, and i am still waiting for the red tape to clear. i'm told the position will start in two weeks. but i could count on two hands the number of times i've been told that in only the last two months. meanwhile, our daycare had all but given up on us in march, so we were forced to start henry part-time to hold our spot (while paying full-full-full-full time prices. think double-rent-sized payments!) while i am still pacing the floors waiting. and waiting.

through it all, believe me, i am not feeling sorry for myself! in fact, the very opposite! we are blessed beyond belief that we were able to stock away a healthy enough savings fund while i was teaching to get us through this financially straining time. it helps that we are still able to get by without formula (thank god!), because henry's allergies would force us into a desperately costly variety! and an entertainment budget with an infant is essentially zero dollars :) not to mention some very special guardian angels (you know who you are!) have kept our growing babe in high fashion since birth. somehow, wondrously, everything has fallen into place.

in the end, i guess i needed to share this part of our journey to update those who've patiently waited for answers, or prayed for us from afar. but also to acknowledge how overwhelmingly blessed we've been. we moved to virginia with very high hopes and sparkling (blinded) eyes, and we've been surprised to find out how very real life can be. and looking back it's almost humorous to remember how rosy our blissful life once was, but encouraging to acknowledge how very blissful and fulfilling it still is. this life, it's such a crazy ride. and my two boys and i, we're anxious to uncover what's around the next corner. henry hopes it's a puppy ;)

thanks, as always, for reading.

bits and pieces make up a weekend

this guy loves his baths. very few things in this world are sure to paste that smile on that face like a luke-warm soak in a tub of sudsy water. it's a trick we save for the later hours of the day when life as the huckster knows it is virtually over. and it's during those times in the evening that his head has a tendency to whip back so his torso is sent springing out of the embrace of whoever was lucky enough to have him at the time, while his legs lock up tight and his hands fly to the air out of absolute desperation. or frustration. and even eating will no longer do. so it's up the stairs we go, and the second he hears the water rushing from the pipes, he is calm.

but truth be told, he comes by his affinity to bathing as honestly as ever. because his dad could spend the better part of saturday afternoon pruning his body amongst the lavender scented bath salts we keep on hand for such occasions. but i'll save those pictures for a rainier day. all i'm saying is if you're looking for a christmas present to take up space under your bed until december, bath salts and a six pack of ipr might send you into sainthood in the eyes of my darling husband. and that is all.

but speaking of my husband.

don't you just love a man in a front-facing baby carrier? we all know henry does, as long as he's the baby and smiles are optional. 

this weekend, henry and i made it our mission to take full advantage of the beautiful sunshine virginia sent our way instead of pouting at home (like one of us wanted to do!) because joey was at guards all day saturday and sunday. so we set out towards old town and spent the morning strolling up and down the bumpy, cobblestone streets. the tiniest breeze kept us company while we walked past the most perfect row houses until we hit the pier and were surrounded by sprawling grasses filled with sunshine-seekers just like us. gall darn you old town, you do it to me every time. you make me fall into straight love then slap a sticker price on yourself that you know i'll never be able to afford. but that won't stop me from browsing (stalking) your pretty streets until my henry wakes from his stroller nap and rings the dinner bell. see you next time, you heartbreaker you.

i don't know ma, i guess i just don't see it

to feed a henry

at henry's four month check-up we were so excited to talk with our pediatrician about introducing a few solids into h's diet, because this guy lu-huvs to watch us eat. any and all food and beverages passed about in his presence are instant attention grabbers. his little lips start moving and his eyes shoot from the item of interest to our guilty faces as he silently pleads for just one taste... okay, maybe two... three? but alas, the new fad in infant feeding is to hold off with any solids until 6 months. and far be it for us to object, because real live pediatricians are the end all tell all in our infant-care-giving-novice opinion. so we went about our little lives sneaking him tiny dabs of liquid flavors from the foods he caught us eating in front of him and giggled as his lips puckered then opened wide for another dash of big boy food. 

today though, was our five month check-up, and huck weighed 17 pounds 7 ounces - almost twice his birth weight and right at the 70th percentile for babes his age. and it could be that henry was acting extra mature today, or his piercing eyes and gummy smile stole her wits right out from under her, but our blessed pediatrician gave us a full pass to introduce henry to a few veggies and fruits, finally. and the old pro acted like he'd been chewing and swallowing for years the way he slurped that quarter of a banana down. so off to the market mother will go tomorrow because we've got mushy produce to buy and food for me too because no more eggs for this girl, courtesy of the ever-present and concerning contents of henry's diapers. which is a shame, because eggs and freshly shredded hash browns have been my saving grace these days. but eggs, those little rascals, could be the dirty allergen that keeps henry's intestines perpetually angry, so we'll add them to the list. wish us luck, because the next item on the chopping block is fish, and after that nuts, and let's face it, at that point all is lost and my desire for the three foods i am still allowed to eat (lettuce, lettuce, and lettuce) will be squashed to almost-death. see you soon for more mama drama and photos of the only human on earth who thinks i am funny/remotely entertaining.

5 months

henry felt something new coming on last night, so he woke up every hour to check if it was morning yet. for the last few weeks he's been waking up twice every night - once to eat and once to enjoy the relaxing hum of his sound machine and twinkling sparkles from his night light while he chats to himself, eats his hand, and rolls around his spacious crib. it's hilarious to watch on his monitor, and i usually just let him entertain himself while i drift back to sleep waiting for his enjoyment to fade. most nights he plays for five minutes, slams his feet on the mattress, lets out a high pitch sigh, throws both arms out to his sides like a scarecrow, and falls right back to sleep. but every few nights his play session turns sour and his light hearted chatter becomes "mom-i-need-you-n.o.w!" shouts, so we nurse for a few minutes until he's settled enough to lay back down, and he's usually fast asleep by the time i get back to my bed. this morning we got up at 6 o'clock, and after a half-hearted breakfast we went downstairs to celebrate his 5th month of life. we took lots of pictures while we giggled together about his terrible fake cough and the noisy, wet bubbles always forming between his sweet little lips. he is such a ham in the mornings. joey and i practically race each other to h's nursery to be the first one to see his smiling face. because this is what he looks like, no matter what time of day, no matter how rough of a night he's had. he is always excited to see us. and when i lift him from his crib, he rests his mouth - wet from bubble-making - on the cusp of my shoulder and lays like a limp doll with his arms slung over my shoulders. and that second makes my whole day. 

his favorite things this month are...

hanging out in the bjorn

watching us eat

sucking the ears and toes of his elephant

splashing in the bath

talking... constantly

eating

getting his diaper changed

wherever we go, he steals the show. he smiles at anyone who talks to him, and chatters on and on while he stares out at the world. i am so blessed to be this little boy's mommy. love you hucky. happy 5 months!

a look back at 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, and 4 months

happy weekend!

huck and i are on our own again this weekend. joey will be stuck with his nose in a book at a prep course for his architecture tests (he's got to take 7 loooong, extensive tests - plus complete several thousand hours of work under a licensed architect - before he is officially an architect himself! i know, yuck!). and we all know my natural habitat is home base, because venturing out and about with an infant is not always simple and is neh-heh-vvvver predictable. so you might guess (smartly) that this weekend will look very similar to dullsville around the larson household, but i'm here to tell you here and now that this winter has lasted approximately forever, and it's finally starting to appear as though life really does exist out there after all, and if i spend even one afternoon locked in this house without a joey to keep my mind from melting completely we will all be goners. so i've been saving up all of our errands (sorry that we've been out of milk, bread, laundry detergent, and those two light bulbs in our bedroom for the better part of this week, honey) this week in preparation for a reallylong weekend spent anywherebuthome. if you're in the neighborhood though, (pleeeeease) stop on by!

have a good one! you know he will.