slightly off-base

liam had his first baseball game of the season last week and unfortunately i had to miss it.  halfway through the first quarter inning chris texted me.

note to self: must. learn. baseball.

i married a rock star

have you seen the reality show "the voice"?  we hadn't.  until we started hearing from all sorts of people about a certain contestant -- who's apparently now one of the finalists.  so naturally we DVRed it to check it out.  here's the description of the recording:

the autograph line forms to the left.

all in a day's work

if i wasn't already in dire need of botox, i thought to myself, surely i need it now.   i was crouched under the coffee table in our family room, flashlight in one hand, my brow furrowed in concentration.  i could almost feel the crevices in the center of my forehead deepening as i peered at the rug.  susanna knelt next to me, still teary, searching the soft wool with her small hands, while liam stood a few feet away with a set of binoculars (yes, binoculars) focused on the floor below.

we were looking for a tooth.  and if there's any job on the planet more unpredictable than parenting, i'd like to know what it is.

this is susanna a mere five minutes prior:

she had bounded off the bus that afternoon, grinning widely, proudly displaying her new front-and-center gap.  that loose tooth of hers that had hounded us for weeks -- we'd packed her tooth fairy pillow as far back as our trip to DC at the end of march -- had finally bid a fond farewell.  she reported that she was walking back from lunch, wiggling it with her tongue, when it just "popped out".  she brought it home in a plastic baggie, eager to get started on writing the tooth fairy another question, as has become her tradition.

so without even pausing for an after-school snack, she sat in the family room while liam and i went through his homework on the couch, composing her letter on an index card.  i suddenly heard a small whimper, and looked up to see her silently crying.  "what in the world is wrong, honey?" i asked.

she inhaled shakily.  "i -- i lost my tooth," she said, her little-girl voice faltering.

"yes, honey, i know that," i replied.  "that's why you're writing the tooth fairy."

"no!  i mean i JUST lost it."  she held up an empty baggie in her right hand.  "it was just here but now ... now it's gone ..." and dissolved in a fresh round of tears.

"oh!  well, it can't have gotten very far," i said, trying to lighten the mood.  "we'll find it in no time.  let's look!"

which brings us back to botox, the flashlight, and the binoculars.  we must have spent a half-hour scouring that thick shag rug, and came up with all sorts of treasures -- a few sequins from an old princess dress and a penny -- but that little white tooth never did show up.  (i'm telling you, this rug is thick.  i promise that it does get vacuumed.)

and this is the part of the post that i will surely have to delete before i print out our 2012 book, knowing that little eyes will read these words ... but that tooth DID show up a few hours later.  or, at least, a replica did.  it occurred to me that for some strange reason, i had kept each child's first lost tooth in the bottom of my jewelry box.  (i know!  me, with the weird hang-up with teeth, actually kept two of them among my jewelry!  i have no explanation.)

anyway,  i held up one of them for a brief second, deemed it an acceptable replacement, and excitedly entered susanna's room.  i found her arranging her tooth fairy pillow next to her amended letter, in which she had described what had happened so the tooth fairy would understand why her pillow was empty. 

but it was not to be empty much longer, thanks to my impressive problem-solving skills.  i really had to pat myself on the back for this one.   "i found it!" i exclaimed.  "here it is!  it was underneath the coffee table!"

i expected elation.  excitement.  joy.  instead, i got skepticism.  "really?  you found it?"  and then, she had the audacity to scrutinize the  dadgum thing.  "um, well, it doesn't really look like my tooth," susanna ventured, after giving it a quite serious study.

seriously?!  "well, i found it underneath the coffee table, right where you had dropped it.  if it's not your tooth, whose is it?"

she shrugged.  "okay, i guess it's mine."  she gave me a big, holey smile.  "thanks, mommy."

all in a day's work.  not an honest day's work, mind you.  but a day's work. 

wordless wednesday: DC style, part 3

i probably should title this "wordless wednesday: UR style" but i'm trying to keep with the theme of our spring break adventure.  alas, this is the final installment.  after this post, i'm going to actually have to come up with something interesting to say.  (or, in the words of the two old guys of the muppet show, "why start now?")

chris has heard me say that the university of richmond has been named the most beautiful college campus in the country enough times that i've come to expect an exaggerated eye roll whenever i remind him.  but there really is no place like it on earth.  shortly after feeding the ducks by the lake that's in the middle of campus, liam turned to me and said, unsolicited, "this place is BEAUTIFUL, mommy."  sweet vindication!  i think chris probably rolled his eyes at that too

we popped into the chapel and were treated to an organ rehearsal.  the kids were more interested in the stained glass shadows on the floor

no trip to one's alma mater would be complete without a visit to the bookstore.  liam came away with a spider-themed tennis bag, and susanna is now the proud owner of a pink UR water bottle.  (and, seriously.  look at that background.  it's truly unbelievable)

just the four of us: liam, me, susanna, and one of the gazillion inch worms hanging from the trees that landed on liam's finger.  i thought raleigh was inundated but it has nothing on richmond

on our way out, we stopped by the brand new stadium.  the kids ran a lap around the track and our non-athletic daughter's legs were just a blur ... perhaps we've found her calling?

mid-cheer underneath the sign celebrating the big football win -- this one's for my uncle (who was the star cornerback of the team)

our final stop of our journey was by my college best friend's house, where susanna bonded with alison's three daughters and about 52 dolls.  it's a little funny when you think about it -- out of all the super fun things we did, we started and ended with american girl

wordless wednesday: DC style, part 2

riding the metro -- the same line, coincidentally, that chris used to ride every single day to and from work during the years we lived there

seriously -- why is liam hunched over?  does he think he's going to block the washington monument?

i, on the other hand, am hunched over for a reason.  the back brace wasn't cutting it by this point.  but i survived the zoo somehow

the kids' favorite animal at the zoo: the 11-day old monkey, who clung to his mama's chest while the fiercely protective papa (pictured) shot nasty looks at the audience gathered around

after the zoo, we walked a few miles to our friend bill and cheryl's place for an amazing dinner, and another one of chris's fraternity brothers, brett joined us.  brett and bill also happened to be with us the night chris and i met, at a bar not far from their current home ... it all sort of comes full circle, doesn't it?

par for the course: liam manages to get his dessert all over himself, while susanna looks on, amused

the kids have been asked by several people what the best part of our trip was.  the soccer game?  american girl place?  zoo?  museums?  metro rides?  playing with their cousins?  seeing the most beautiful college campus in the country (pictures to come in a future post)?  nope.  without a second's thought, their response: the hotel pool

wordless wednesday: DC style, part 1

a few pictures from our first two days of our family trip to DC ...

true story: i was in chicago in 2006, hugely pregnant,  and happened to walk into the american girl place.  it was then and there, standing in what just might be the most over-the-top feminine place in the country, that i decided that i just had to have a girl.  luckily it all worked out, because one of my most favorite memories so far as a mom was experiencing the american girl place with susanna (and kit, of course). 

what are the odds that one of susanna's best friends, lily, and her mom were going up on the same day?  i took this picture while susanna mulled over her many options of what to purchase, before she ultimately decided on a cheerleading outfit for kit.  pom-poms included.

tracy was not only a dear college friend, but also my roommate when we moved to DC after graduation AND was with me the night i met chris.  if you look closely you can see the puffy edges of the back brace i had on underneath my top.  not exactly the most flattering piece of equipment, but ohmygoodness i was still in so much pain.  which was probably exacerbated by the fact that they're currently remodeling their house (hence the crazy ceiling behind us) ... i think i was having flashbacks to the dust and grime of our renovation last summer

tracy's kids john robert (8) and cassady (6) became fast friends with our two.  it's funny how we always just assume our kids will hit it off with other kids they've never met based simply on their ages ... we would never expect that of adults ... but for whatever reason, it always works.  i have a feeling they'd all be BFFs if we lived closer

on friday night chris took liam to a DC united game (professional soccer).  DC scored 4 goals and won the game, so liam was in heaven.  chris wasn't so much; after a few weeks of 80-degree temperatures in raleigh, it didn't occur to us that we might need to pack for cooler weather.  they warmed up with hot chocolate at the stadium

on saturday, while i went up to maryland for my sister-in-law's baby shower, chris took the kids to the air & space museum with their second-cousin reilly

in the observation tower at air & space.  their poses are reminding me of all the award shows where celebrity presenters stoop down to get their mouths near the microphones, even though it's not necessary, and wind up looking ridiculous.  in every picture chris took, they're all hunched over and i have no idea why

an inauspicious beginning

we've just returned from a most amazing trip up to DC, i'm happy to report.  had you asked me four days ago , i might have predicted otherwise.   you know you might have yourself a bit of a problem when your spouse is remarking to a neighbor that our adventure was looking a lot like the "griswold family vacation" BEFORE YOU EVEN HAVE PULLED OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY.

so let me just describe how it all went down.  wednesday night i stood up from my computer chair -- my expensive ergonomic computer chair, mind you -- and immediately froze.  in pain.  stabbing pain that i've experienced before that will often take me out of commission for days.  chris was already asleep so i hobbled up the stairs as best i could, attempted to brush my teeth for two minutes like my electric toothbrush wants me to (but couldn't stand for that long), took a painkiller that my orthopedist prescribed the last time i threw out my back, and crept gingerly into bed.  i fell into a drug-induced slumber, trying hard to convince myself that i was going to miraculously awake to a new spine and be able to chaperone susanna's kindergarten field trip to the farm like i had promised that i would.

alas, it was not to be.  chris's amazing mother pinch-hit for me (that is the correct sports term, right?) and i remained in bed on an ice pack for most of thursday.  and all the while, i'm wondering how in the world i'm going to sit in a car for 5+ hours the next morning on our long-planned spring break family trip.

i determined that the only way i could possibly make it was lying in the back of our SUV on an ice pack, surrounded by pillows.  which meant that chris's plan of taking his much more fuel-efficient sedan was no longer an option.  he smiled a tight smile at me, very likely grumbled under his breath as he returned to the driveway to rearrange what he had already done, and that was that.

until i hobbled out to the driveway on friday morning and realized that i had neglected to explain my need for the SUV.  i figured he would have somehow understood my plan to lie in the back on an ice pack.  he, on the other hand, had assumed i wanted the captains chair and the legroom, and had instead stuffed the back of the SUV with all of our luggage.

so once more, he had to undo all that he had done.  while this is all taking place, the lights were on, the music was playing, the GPS was running, and the battery was depleting.  which we realized, as soon as we were all in place, ready to go ... and the car wouldn't start.

so he grabbed his jumper cables and assured the kids that we'd be going in no time -- until he realized that the cables were just not quite long enough to reach his car.  and remember, i was of absolutely no help at this point, as i was lying on my back on an ice pack.  (not that i really would've been much help under normal circumstances, but i could have at least gone around the cul-de-sac to hunt down longer cables.  or offered moral support.  or something.)

at this point, i suggested to the kids that they get out of the car and move around a little bit, and asked them to open the back door for me to maybe roll out (or at least get some fresh air.)  and it was then that we realized that i was actually locked in.  the only way to open the back door is with the power buttons, which were, of course, all non-functional because we had no battery.  and i couldn't clamber over the back row to exit through the side doors because i was lying on my back on an ice pack.

by now, we were being inundated with questions from the kids.  most notably, "are we ever going to get to the american girl place by 12:30 for our lunch reservations?" (which had already crossed my mind.)  chris was pounding the steering wheel in frustration, and i was lying on my back on an ice pack laughing at the absurdity of it all.

we wound up borrowing some longer cables from a neighbor, successfully jump-started our car, and got off without a hitch.  until we ran into an hour-long delay on I-95 because of road construction, but that's not nearly as interesting.  i was able to call the american girl place as i lay on my back on an ice pack and pushed back susanna's and my lunch reservation by 90 minutes, and even then, we barely made it.

but we did make it.  we survived, i'm actually somewhat mobile by now, and all's well that ends well.  but for a little while there on friday morning, it was looking a little dicey. 

pictures to come -- none of which, thankfully, were taken from the back of the SUV while lying on an ice pack.