Come on Irene!

Hurricane...no tropical storm...no thunderstorm Irene, drove the DC area crazy these past few days. The news stations probably got their best ratings and the grocery stores were emptied out. Milk, bread, and eggs were nowhere to be found. I always wondered about the milk and eggs. It's not like it is cold outside and you can put them outdoors if the power goes out.

Now to talk about all the action in Haymarket. It was grey and stormy when we woke up on Saturday, but we needed a few things from Target in case we lost power. So we packed our pajammy man into his car seat and hit the store.



When we got  home the weather was getting worse, so like any responsible patron, Nathan and I went out for a run before the weather got too bad. Nathan did a great job securing our patio furniture and hiding our plants under the table so they did not blow away. We were prepared!



Fortunately because we were far enough inland, we were only hit with a bad thunderstorm, about 25-40 mph winds, and a good bit of rain.  Nathan and I were talking about being in a hurricane, and I do not quite remember the context, but I said that from growing up in Florida I have been in so many hurricanes I lost count. Nathan very sarcastically said I should call into our local radio stations and tell people to stop freaking out, and they should listen to someone who has real hurricane experience. I did not live that down for the rest of the night. I know many people on the east coast were out of power and had flooding and damage to their homes, so I am not trying to undermine the power of Irene. It was just comical how folks here reacted.

The next morning the three of us went out for a walk to assess the damage. Aside from this fallen 3 foot tree, a turtle on the sidewalk (I hope he was not blown there), and our fallen tomato plants, all was just fine here.

Nathan and Caleb experienced their first hurricane, and we all (Twix included) slept soundly through the storm last night.  I got up to feed Caleb every 4 hours, but otherwise we were all out cold.



Happy Sunday!

Visit with Uncle Aaron

My brother Aaron came to Virginia for a few days to visit with Nathan and I and to meet his nephew.  Aaron loved holding, playing and taking walks with, and feeding Caleb. We packed a lot of things into his short trip, and as a bonus he got to experience his first earthquake! We had a great time with Aaron and we were so glad he was able to come visit!  Here are some pictures from the week:

Enjoying a sunny day at the park

Hiking at Chapman's Mill

 Visiting LaGrange Vineyard

Relaxing at home

Our new nephew arrived!

Jacob Mark Jolliff

August 22, 2011 

Born 3:40pm, 7lbs 4 oz, 21 inches long

Congratulations Hap, Elizabeth, Sam, and Andrew! 

We love you Jacob and can't wait to meet you next week. What a beautiful family of five -:).

With love, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Heather, and Cousin Caleb

Just the 3 of Us

Nathan has a three week break from school, so the three of us enjoyed a relaxing week together. During the week we did not do anything too exciting - just taking morning walks and playing during the day. On Friday evening we went to Justin and Tara's for a BBQ. Their girls and Ryan loved holding Caleb again, and Tara and her sister fought over who could finish dinner first to hold him. On both weekend days he slept in until 9am (which felt very good for dad and mom). On Saturday we went to an outdoor mall and he liked looking around at all the people. On Sunday morning we went to Conway Robinson Park with Justin, Tara and their girls to walk on the trail, in the afternoon we took a nap, and in the evening our friends Courtney and James came over for dinner and to meet our little guy.

Caleb is a whopping 7 lbs 5 oz as of this past Tuesday, and he has been sleeping about 4 hour stretches at a time at night. His newborn clothes look like baby muscle shirts, so I think those will be packed away soon. He loves staring at himself in his new mirror, and we are hoping to see him smile at us soon -:).

Happy Sunday!

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Art

My parents came to visit for two and a half weeks to bond with Caleb and to help out Nathan and I. In addition to Caleb getting a lot of extra love from grandma and grandpa, we were spoiled with delicious cooking every night, not having to do dishes, changing only a few dirty diapers, having our flowers, yard, and garden watered every day, catching up on sleep, letting us get out a few times, and that is just a few of the things my parents did to help us out. They loved holding, playing with, singing to, and cuddling with Caleb. He changed a lot in the short time they were here, and I know they were very sad to go home to Florida this morning. We will miss them and look forward to the next time we can all be together again. Thank you so much grandma and grandpa for everything!

Looks like I am going to be busy now that everyone is gone and Nathan is back to work -:).

First Trip to the Mountains

Yesterday Nathan, my parents, Caleb, and I took a drive to Shenandoah National Park.  Nathan just finished another school semester and it was my parents last full day here, so we wanted to have a nice day to spend together.  The weather was beautiful in the park with cooler temperatures and the trees and plants were so green and lush. We drove to Skyland where we got married and it brought back a lot of nice memories of our wedding day. After taking pictures at our wedding site and around the park, we enjoyed a delicious lunch in the dining hall, filled our bellies with a blackberry ice cream sundae (specialty made in Shenandoah only), and drove home. Caleb was a great traveller and we think he enjoyed being in the park. We can't wait for him to get a little bigger so we can put him in a hiking backpack and hit the trails!

     

One Month Old

Who turned one month old?

Caleb did!  He is growing so fast and finally started fitting into his 0-3 month old clothes. He is awake for several hours during the day, loves to play on his playmat, going out for walks, sitting in his bouncer seat, and he enjoys bathtime. He sleeps on average 3-4 hour stretches at night, and last night he went the extra mile and slept for 5 hours straight (oh how good that felt for mom and dad)!  We had no idea how wonderful it is to parents and we are loving every minute of it.

Growing Boy!

Our little boy is growing fast and he now weighs 6lbs 13oz! Yesterday I took him to the doctor because he did not quite seem himself the last couple of days, and he was spitting up more than usual. Our little guy was diagnosed with acid reflux and the doctor prescribed him baby Zantac. Caleb seems much more comfortable now that he is on the medicine, keep your fingers crossed.

Nathan went back to work this week after having 3 weeks off. He is a wonderful daddy, and he got to spend a lot of time with our little boy.  I can already tell by the way Caleb looks at his daddy that they have a special bond.  Nathan was also very busy the last couple of weeks finishing up his school semester, and I know he is looking forward to some good family time (and no alarm clocks) after his finals are done on Saturday.  I am really proud of how hard he works. 

This week we have been home a lot because it has been so hot outside, but we have gotten out for a few morning walks.  Caleb continues to have more wakeful periods during the day and he is very content on his playmat. Below is a video that Grandma took this afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa are loving spending time with Caleb and they have been such a big help to us.  We are certainly enjoying a little extra sleep!  I know they will miss their grandson when they go home to Florida. 

This past weekend, our friends Josh and Melanie came over to meet Caleb. He has had a lot of visitors this past month!

Today was a beautiful day so we decided to get out and enjoy it.  We went to Warrenton and had a nice lunch outside at the Black Bear Cafe and walked around the historic downtown area.  This afternoon I checked in on our garden, which is growing out of control. Nathan bought me the 'Square Foot Gardening' book for Christmas. Just following a simple mixture of compost, vermiculite, and peat moss, you have the PERFECT mixture that will make your garden grow, grow, grow! Here are a few pictures of our summer squash, chili peppers, and tomatoes. If you live close to us, please come by and take some vegetables!

Happy Wednesday -:)

Week with Grandpa and Grandma

Grandpa Art and Grandma Sue are visiting us from Florida for a couple of weeks to love on their grandson. Grandpa is cooking us delicious meals and both are helping us around the house and with Caleb. This week we have gotten out of the house a bit thanks to some cooler weather - yes, the high 80's is considered cool around here! We played a lot at home, Caleb got his first big boy bath, we took morning and evening walks around the neighborhood, went out to eat a few times, and ran some errands around town.  Nathan's co-worker Jim came over for dinner one night and got to meet our little guy too.

                                  

Yesterday was a nice day so we took a drive in the country and went to Silver Lake Park in Haymarket to hang out for a while.  Caleb loved being outside and was so content with his surroundings. We think we will have a little hiker and camper in the coming months! We feel so blessed to have our sweet baby boy in our lives -:).

 

Two week checkup

Caleb had a great two-week check-up today and he is growing fast! He weighs 6lbs, 5oz and measured 20.25 inches. We are in love with our little boy -:).