Recovering from our DC "Vacation"

James had to take a business trip to Washington DC so we decided that the family would tag along and make a vacation of it. Haha, a vacation! Let's just say the elements combined against us to make this one of the most least desirable trips of recent memory. James says we should rewrite history with these {almost}smiling pictures of our beautiful family, and maybe we should. Or maybe we should tell it how it was knowing that someday we'll look back at this vacation and laugh at how crazy it was. You never know, we might even wish we could all be miserable together in Washington DC again! Miserable is probably too strong a word, but let me tell you some of the not-so-highlights:

• Our first bus left at 7:30 am from Midtown (so we were all up in the 5 am hour), but 11 miles into New Jersey the bus service was cancelled due to freezing rain. The weather was so horrible that we were in the bus for 4 hours trying to get back to NYC. 11 miles, 4 hours, and two sobbing little boys who wanted to go on vacation! Luckily we caught a bus that left at 2:30 and we safely arrived in DC later that evening, but that was after 9 hours trying to be quiet in a little bus!
• Talmage spiked another fever on the way to DC. We've had a really sick winter so far, and his pneumonia/asthma/wheeze came back with a vengeance during this trip. We couldn't walk anywhere without him hacking and choking, that poor boy! We'd let him sit in the stroller with the wind guard but then Everett would flip out and T would say, "I'll be OK Mom, just let Everett ride." He was a champ.
• Everett threw tantrum after tantrum. That little boy lately, sheesh. There are so many stories I could tell you about his poor behavior on this trip, but let's just leave it at this: I was very tempted to leave him at the rest stop in Maryland ;)
• And that leaves Quinny, who wanted to experience DC nightlife to the fullest and so didn't sleep AT ALL. We haven't had nights that bad since she was a week old (thankfully) and it was ugly! We're all still trying to recover.

Basically, we cancelled almost all of our plans, ordered take-out instead of visiting restaurants, swam in the hotel pool (both boys said this was their favorite part of the trip) and watched lots of movies. Oh, and we changed our return tickets so that we could leave 3 hours earlier than we planned. Yup, true story.

Of course I'd feel ungrateful if I didn't also mention the good moments, because there are always good moments. Here are a few:

• DC has Café Rio. What! What! That grilled chicken burrito and sweet pork salad tasted like heaven and may have been the highlight of my trip!
• Quinny in a swimsuit for the first time.
• Watching the boys pick out special treats from the Air and Space Museum--T an airplane and Ev a teddy bear.
• Going to the top of the Washington Monument and touring the US Capitol, both things James and I had never done.  

Now I'm in full-on recovery mode. I'm doing laundry and cleaning, making doctors appointments and picking up new prescriptions, grocery shopping and planning our week, and of course I'm sorting through lots of pictures. Maybe James is right, looking at these I'd say our trip was a rousing success!

Lincoln Memorial from the top of the Washington Monument.

 

White House from the top of the Washington Monument.

 

DC has pretty buildings down to an art.

Carousel on the Hill for the coldy boys.

Cute old-fashioned popcorn truck.

Air & Space Museum.

My little boy and his bear named Teddy Beary.

T on the Capitol Tour. He LOVES learning.

Quinny in her swim suit. Everyone comments on her auburn hair. Sometimes I don't see it at all, but in the right light I see a little red. Do you? 

Little boys with a BIG statue.

Thank you T, for taking a picture of me and a screaming Quinn with half of big Linc!

 

T and Ever being crazy on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial.

Astro Doughnuts and fried chicken in front of the White House was two thumbs up.

My little loves in front of the White House. Gosh I love those kids...even if they made this trip crazy!

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The problem with the cold

The biggest problem with cold weather would have to be that it is just so darn cold. It's fun to slip and slide around for about 5 minutes but then your body realizes that hot cocoa sounds so much more appealing so it starts to revolt, at least that's what happens to us wimpy Wigs. It doesn't matter how well we layer our clothes those cute little snow angels of mine always come home in tears. But maybe it's all worth it to get pictures of them having so much fun in their marshmallow garb!

 

The boys went out for the snow adventure while Quinny and I cuddled warm and snug on the couch!

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A few thoughts about who I want to be

So...durp durp.

I was pushing two screaming babes down 70th this morning thinking that maybe I should post on this blog and so I kept asking myself, "Self? What do you want to write about?" And it was like crickets, ya'll. No thoughts at all except maybe please, please stop screaming children and gosh, I could use a nap, and some chocolate, and a massage, and a maid. That's the truth.

But then Thing 2 decided I wasn't, in fact, his enemy and Thing 3 decided that fighting sleep was actually not as satisfying as falling to sleep and as things got quieter in that stroller my brain got louder, in such a good way.

Let's be honest though--it's now 10 pm, I just finally loaded the dishwasher and finished cleaning the leftover preschool mess from this morning and all I want to do is turn on a movie and fall asleep 5 minutes into it, because that's how I do movies. Brain vedge, that's what I'm craving. So I'll make this fast. These quotes have been on my mind a lot lately; A lot, a lot actually, which in Talmage speak means constantly.
 

The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

-Margaret Nadauld

And this one:

 It seems there is always a road with bends and forks to choose, and taking one path means you can never take another one. There's no starting over nor undoing the steps I've taken. It isn't like I'd want to not have my little ones and Jack and that ranch, it is apart of life to have to support yourself. It's just that I want everything, my insides are not just hungry, but greedy. I want to find out all the things in the world and still have a family and a ranch. But wisdom is not a path, it is a tree, and I can stay in one place and spread out in all directions, and I can do more learning shading this brood of mine than if I was all alone. 

-These Is My Words, Nancy Turner

Yep, there you go-a little insight into my psyche. I feel kind of lame putting it out there without any other explanation but, there you go. I guess I'm just grateful for where I am in life and for this "little brood of mine" and I want to be better, for them and for me. Kinder and softer, right Mom? I want to be a kinder and softer version of my strong, stubborn self. I want to be good in a way that I can't really describe in words but that my soul hungers after. This year is going to look good on me, I'll see to it!

And since I clearly can't have a post without a pic, here are a few of my cute kids:

 

Quinny makes T awfully popular at school. We're always surrounded by all his little boy and girl friends, begging me to let them hold her, touch her, tickle her, etc. She's adorable so I totally get it!

Quinny and I decided to try out the BBQ from Mighty Quinn's. The name is adorable, the food was just eh.

 Preschool owls from Tuesday.

This little bugger is giving me a run for my money lately. I'm questioning every bit of my parenting abilities because he is pushing every single button. But sometimes during Quinny's naps we cuddle and read books in bed and it seems so perfect that I kind of forget he's such a punk!

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My babies today

All three of my chickens now sleep in the same roost. That's right, because what the boys' tiny, little, itty, bitty room needed more than anything was another piece of furniture! So Quinn is now sleeping in a crib and the boys in their bunk beds and they love being squished into that room together more than you can even imagine. Luckily the boys aren't bothered by an occasional cry and Quinn's not bothered by an occasional giggle and so heck, so far so good. Who knew 5 people in 480 square feet could be so comfortable!

Things are changing so quickly around here, mostly in the Quinn department. Not only is she sleeping in her own bed in the big kids room, but other than an 11 pm dream feed she is sleeping through the night like a champ. When and how that happened I have no idea, but hallelujah!!! And her personality has done a complete 180. Just two weeks ago I would have described Quinn as, well, sensitive and particular and just a lot a bit hard. But now? She sleeps and smiles and loves to lie on a blanket watching her brothers play superheroes and watching me pop in and out of the room while doing chores. She only cries for a reason and she's finding fewer and fewer reasons to mourn which means her gummy grin is now becoming the norm. Gosh Quinn, you are just so delightful!

Anyway, all these changes have made me itchy to put the brakes on time because even though they're all good changes, I just can't stand to think about all of my chickens getting so big, so fast. Just ask Everett, he's "fwee and a half" and Quinn is going on four months, and my oldest baby is going to be six in like point two seconds. AHHH!!! So today I pulled out the real camera and took some pictures of my babies. It's January 7, 2015, and these are my little loves:

 Ever Knight, with his post-lunch peanut butter chin and cowlicks covering that sweet noggin.

 

 Quinny-Girl, who smiles with a mouthful of tongue and thinks her Mama is the funniest person on the planet.

And Mr. T; I think this kid looks 16 in this picture and he had to tell himself joke after joke in order to give me a normal smile!

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Ice Skating @ Bryant Park

The whole way to Bryant Park Everett was on repeat with his whines, "I don't want to go skating. I'm not going skating. You won't put skates on my feet. I want to go home." It didn't matter how many times I told him that he was more than welcome to sit on the sidelines with Quinn and me, he wanted all of New York City to know that he was NOT happy with any of this skating business. But I bet you can guess what happened, right? The second we shell over the cash for T's skates Ever starts whining, "Why didn't you get me skates? I want skates! Why did you get him skates and not me skates? I want to skate!" Three-year-olds, they sure make life interesting! This little firecracker is so much sass and so much sweet, sometimes in the very same moment. But despite his best efforts, he had a blast skating and can't wait to go back again!

Bless Daddy's heart, he pretty much dragged Ever Knight around the rink because he refused to skate by himself but wanted so badly to skate. You see that picture on the right? That's what the two of them looked like lap after lap after lap. James won a sore back and a gold medal.

Quinny and I were happy to sit on the sidelines, watching our boys and practicing selfies. 

Per usual, Talmage needed not one ounce of help from his parents and was loving the adventure of skating, and falling! He marched around the rink the first few times, but before we knew it he was gliding around the ice...and fast! I told him that we have some talented hockey players in our family tree and this made him oh, so excited. Who knows, T might be our little athlete after all!

Me and my three babies. I love these kids so much! {Poor Quinn getting smashed, life of a 3rd!}

And here is James, AKA Super-Dad, carrying and pushing some very tired boys home from our adventure.

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Burritos, Babysitters and 2015

 

On New Year's Day I walked past Harry's Burritos on 71st and gasped when I saw the big white sign in the window declaring it was going out of business. And when I say gasp, I truly mean a breathy, loud, Talmage started yelling "Mommy, are you all right?" type of gasp.  I couldn't believe my eyes and started looking up and down Columbus, sure I was on the wrong block or I was being filmed for some television "I pranked you so bad" special (clearly paranoid after re-watching the Truman Show). But no, turns out I really was on 71st and all I saw around me were other people equally curious at the vacancy. 

To be honest, Harry's cuisine was mediocre at best, a mouthful of grease disguised as Tex-Mex, but to me it was a symbol of so much more. You see, there was once a 19-year-old Heather who ate an overpriced burrito outside of Harry's on a warm summer night and dreamed about raising a family in New York City, specifically the area right around Harry's. "This is it," my young self thought. "If all my dreams come true, I'll be having my babies and owning city life, all from the Upper West Side." It was a dream that I never really thought would come true. In fact, as my yellow cab headed to JFK at the end of my internship, I watched the city fade into the distance and sobbed, sure I would never see my beloved city again. Gosh, am I still this dramatic? Yes! Because here I am, nearly crying over a restaurant closing! But guys, when I came to look for our new home in NYC I saw 16 places in two days and most of the places were expensive, dirty walk-ups that smelled like pee. No joke. But then I saw a random listing for a little place on 70th street and as I walked by Harry's Burritos and down our tree-lined street I thought, "This is it!" And it was.

I was reading some of Noni's writing a few days ago about how she thinks that the New Year holiday is a good indication of how the rest of your year will be. I tried to brush that off when our babysitter flaked last minute leaving us home on NYE instead of at the fancy party hosted by our dear friends, but when I saw that Harry's Burritos was closing...well let's just say I'm worried!

The ball dropped a little early in the Wiggy abode, thanks to Daylight Savings and Youtube. We made a whole lotta noise as we entered 2015 at, ehem, 7:15 pm! The boys were pleased because they "stayed up so late" and I was pleased that the house was quiet by 7:30. From there it was lots of treats and lots of movies until we actually sealed in the New Year with a kiss, followed closely by a snore!

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Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Talmage participated in a Christmas pageant at the Church of Heavenly Rest on the Upper East Side on Christmas Eve. I proposed the idea to T around Thanksgiving after emailing the church and learning that you didn't have to be a member of their congregation to participate and he immediately wanted to do it. We attended last year and he remembered all of the live animals, the dancers, and the children singing their praises to Jesus! He was cast as a page to one of the wisemen, and he took his role very seriously. They practiced A. LOT. during December so that they would be prepared for the show, and I'm very proud of our little 5-year-old and all of those kids for doing such a great job! There were two performances on Christmas Eve and after the first one T was tired and really wanted to go home, but then we talked and he later told his Dad, "I remembered that there were people in the audience who wanted to feel the Christmas spirit and I had to do my job." I'm so glad that we were part of such a terrific pageant and spent all of Christmas Eve focusing on the true meaning of this season.

Christmas day was extremely low-key. We opened presents, ate good food, and spent the day lounging around the house enjoying new toys and each other.

Christmas cookies and milk for Santa on the left. And on the right, a picture I snuck Christmas morning before the kids woke up!

How cute is this kid in his new Batman costume?

Santa brought her a Sophie giraffe and her smile says it all!

I don't think I've ever seen T laugh harder than when James read him "The Book with No Pictures." Let's be honest, anytime someone says "butt" it's just about the funniest thing ever!

Merry Christmas 2014!!!

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