Life

I know, I know, it has been a while since I have written.  Who could predict that having a baby and a toddler and moving, albeit temporarily, would do that to you?  I love to write, I NEED to write, and I have so much I'd like to share, but the thing I am lacking most of the time is free hands, as well as a mind that isn't being pulled in many different directions.

Carson Daryl arrived on April 8.  He is such a good, sweet little guy.  Truly a perfect fit for our family.  As I type this, we are sharing a chair.  He is lying next to me and trying to decide whether he wants his paci or his mouth unobstructed to smile at his mama. My heart is melting.

Lauren is growing so fast.  I can't believe how tall she is getting.  At first, I didn't see much resemblance between her and I, but now she is strongly favoring some of my toddler pictures.  She is somewhat ambivalent about her little brother.  She is protective of him, but really doesn't like to touch him.  It is even worse if he touches her.  If you were to ask her what she thinks of her little brother, and she were to offer any words regularly to anyone but her mom, dad, or few select people, she would tell you that Carson is "yittle." (Little) and that he does the following:  "Kicks, pits (spits), hiccos (hiccups), burps, poops, pottys, eats, and sleeps.  Yep, that pretty much covers it.  Lauren is very helpful to fetch a paci, diaper, burp rag, or whatever but just won't get close enough to let Carson kick her, because he did that once and it was "owie."

This morning Lauren woke up when Craig was getting ready for work.  Since she is in a toddler bed now, she feels the need to exit her bed immediately after waking.  Craig brought her in to our bed to lay with me for a while.  I had just finished feeding and burping Carson and he was snuggling with me.  Lauren fell back to sleep and moved in closer to cuddle with me.  She had her arm over Carson and was stroking his hair.  He was wide awake and smiling like he was getting away with something when she woke up with a look of horror.  She quietly said "eew," rolled over and went back to sleep.  Crazy girl!

We have now been in DC for a week and are adjusting well. Our apartment is three bedrooms, but pretty tight. I love it that so many things are within walking distance.  Surprisingly, I am liking the smaller space.  It is easier to keep track of Lauren while being easier to clean.  The thing I don't like is cooking here.  I don't know what happened to me, but I have burnt everything and set off the smoke alarm 3 times.  The biggest problem with this is that I am too short to reset it and have had to start using a wooden spoon, which is just clumsy and awkward.  From the top of our building we can see the Pentagon, Air Force Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial.  We are on the dividing line between Pentagon City and Crystal City, so there are lots of shops and buildings and Craig can even walk to work!

Last Thursday there was some muffled voice echoing through a speaker in our ceiling.  I didn't think much of it until the smoke alarms started going off and I heard it again telling us that an emergency has been reported and to leave the building immediately via the closest stairway.  So as any good city girl would do, I promptly gathered up my children and the diaper bag and fled down four flights of stairs and asked at the front desk what was going on.  Fire drill.  I haven't participated in one of those since high school.  Well, we took the elevator back up and Lauren decided not to get off.  Actually, she did get off, she just ran back on as the doors were closing and away she went.  The other thing that girl loves to do on elevators is push buttons.  My heart was pounding as visions of her exiting her choice of 21 floors and running filled my mind.  I quickly called the elevator back and thankfully she was there.  Wide eyed.  Smiling.  And saying "wheee...fun!"  We now have a new family protocol for exiting elevators. 

We took the Metro on Saturday to see the White House.  I was pretty sure we were going to get invited in for lunch, but the prez must not have seen me in the crowd.  It was a fun little outing and awesome to take in some of our nation's history.  We're looking forward to seeing more sights soon.

That's it for now.  My kiddos are both napping and I need to get a few things done!