"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: whatever you call it,
whoever you are, you need one." -Jane Howard

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Parents' Day Out

Today was the annual Parents Day Out hosted by our former day care.  They were kind enough to invite us to participate and since receiving the invite, I have had this date as a bullseye on my calendar.  I had visions of doing Christmas shopping and organizing, but not much of that got done.  Oh well; at least I'm taking a moment to add a note and pictures to the blog, right?!  :)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for: a healthy family, first and foremost; a happy family; food in our bellies; and a roof over our heads, just to name the few most important things.  I kept thinking that I should make a list of things I am not thankful for because my heart is so heavy with appreciation for all that we have.  We are so fortunate.

Anyway, we got a few hours with Jimmy and took a trip to his Grandmother's house to spend Thanksgiving lunch with his extended family.  It was a treat to see Grandma and all of his family gathered.    

Grandma Williams, holding Ashton with  Reagan and Jimmy.

Great family photo except for a little someone's new trick!
Our little happy snappy!

From there we went home and cooked our own feast for the four of us to enjoy as a family. Here are some post-dinner tubby shots!

Cheese!
Reagan loves bath time with Ashton!
LOVE my sister!
Reagan surrounded by random toys gathered at will by Ashton.

In other family news, we have had some major kid developments in the last week or so... Reagan is crawling, Reagan's first two teeth came in, and Ashton started potty training himself!  SUCH big accomplishments for both kids and I have truly enjoyed being there to witness them all FIRST!  Go Mommy, go Mommy, it's your birthday... well, almost!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Trip to Charleston

We are finally home after being away from Chesapeake Beach since the 6th.  Being home always bring a sense of calm that is nice for both Mommy and our little ones.  Our trip to SC was a whirlwind of activity most of which centered around us getting AnnMarie acclimated to her new life in Casa Buffington.  Highlights from the trip include:
1. A fantastic visit with Lauren--  We popped in to see Lauren's crib on our ride down to Charleston.  When we arrived, we were treated to a delicious meal (some type of boil, but don't remember the name) and had a chance to spend a couple of hours catching up.  It was a treat to see her beautiful home, and I mean beautiful, and meet her sweet boy friend JD. 
JD, Lauren, and Ashton 

Squeeze!!

LOVED our visit!

2. Spending 5 of our 8 nights with Trevor and Joanna--  I was really touched when Trevor and Joanna, without being asked or even telling me, kept showing up and spending time with us.  What are we... fun? They have crazy busy lives and I really appreciated their making time for us and our many laughs together.  
Reagan, Joanna, Trevor and Ashton after dinner (pants are optional!)

Something about Uncle Trevor makes Ashton remove his pants... Must be all the fun they had!


3. Learning that Ashton is still the President and CEO of the Dan Buffington Fan Club-- Seriously, got sick of hearing "Papa!"   It was heartwarming to see the two boys interact like peas and carrots.

"Sit Down Papa!"  Ashton and Papa playing ball.

Reagan and Ashton reading with Papa

Driving the boat


4.  Falling in love with Charleston all over again thanks to our thorough introduction to all that is great about the area for AnnMarie's benefit-- We went to all of the hot spots and I became increasingly jealous of AnnMarie's new life!  In turn, I spent several conversations with Jimmy scheming on how we can move down sooner rather than later...

Morning walk

Ion in the morning

Cooper River Bridges

Shem Creek

5.  Being reminded every morning and on the boat that Charleston has the market cornered on weather...


Grammy, Ashton, Mommy and Reagan! 

AnnMarie and Ashton getting a tour of the harbor.

Yay for boat rides!

Hold on!

Train 'em young!

6.  Enjoying our 48 hours of Jimmy, who flew in at 11:30 p.m. Sunday and drove us back home at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.  Good man that Jimmy...
Finally Jimmy arrives.  We are all pumped to seem him!

Say what you mean to say!  (Problem is he says it, but we have no idea what he's saying!)

Saturday, November 6, 2010

SC bound!

Today will be spent packing for my parent's house in South Carolina.  We'll be gone for a little over a week (Sunday to Tuesday), so I'm packing now to relieve stress for tomorrow. I'm doing the drive down without Jimmy, which is only a challenge because who knows what sort of tantrum will occur and usually I'm the one focused on the peace keeping and Jimmy focuses on the road.  Luckily, AnnMarie will be joining me on the 10 hour drive, and will serve as chief referee and entertainer.  I've also planned for a stop in Columbia at Lauren's house, which is going to be great timing on the kid front and a visit I am really looking forward to.  (She's making white chili just for us!  What a great lil' sis.)  Anyway, I should probably get back to packing, since Ashton is no longer entertained and has moved all of his favorite toys into the office as I typed this...    

Friday, November 5, 2010

This blog isn't the only new thing..

So here I am blogging... I swore I would never do this again since my failed attempt in 2008, but I figured it is my duty as a newly promoted stay at home mom to communicate our happenings with the outside world.  A friend, neighbor, full-time breadwinner, and mother of two children about the same ages of our children inspired me.  Actually, after seeing that she:
a. had time to keep up with it...
b. didn't seem lofty or overly funny, which I found refreshing.  I have always felt incapable of blogging because I am neither witty, smart or very politically savvy, and I assumed all of these things were requirements of blogging...
c. was basically doing what I've been doing with facebook but added a few captions and the occasional story about her kid's latest new trick... 

I figured what the heck, I'll give blogging a second go-round.

So here's our latest:  As of the 22nd, I am officially a stay at home mom, which means two things: my hair is blown dry and we are incredibly poor.  This was a good change for our family, but has taken some adjusting.  Luckily, most of the adjusting has been for the better.  I no longer have to wake up at the crack of dawn, herd cats into their car seats without a glance in the mirror, drive a two hour commute, sit at a computer all day, do the daycare dash in the evening, race to find something in the kitchen that might be a meal, herd cats to take baths and possibly consider sleeping, and then clean the house and possibly consider sleeping myself.  The relaxed approach to the day has been nice.  I refuse to be one of these women who lets herself go since she's not facing many adults during her typical day, so I am showering each day (yes, that's a luxury), chasing the same cats around the house, cleaning as we go, and going to the grocery store during non-peak hours (again, this is a luxury). 

I was personally worried that staying home would be difficult because dealing with two under two is hard, but I have been pleasantly surprised that I am able to handle and enjoy being with them.  Jimmy and I have arranged for Thursday nights to be my night out on the town, which means I go to the Legion with our friends and shoot pool, and that has been a real treat.  I've already had someone other than my husband buy me a drink (don't worry he's about 30 years my senior, but at least I know I still got it!  HAH)  I'm only two weeks on the job, so I know that much of my delight comes from the fresh comparison to what was, but I'm hoping to stay positive and keep the main thing the main thing.

In other news, Jimmy just started a job with New Carrollton Police Department and seems to enjoy it.  He's training to learn the streets for about another week and then will get into a shift that is predictable.  Presently he's working 12 hour days, which is long, but does allow for more days at home with us. I'm hoping that continues but there's a chance that he'll be moved to a shorter shift.  We'll see what happens.  Now that he's back on shift work, I was disappointed to have him miss Halloween.  I'm sure you've seen our pictures on Facebook, so I won't re-post them.  In the future, we might have to start celebrating holidays on different days so that he doesn't miss out on these important memories.   As he keeps telling me, everything will work out, we just need to be flexible and plan ahead.  The good news is that he is gainfully employed, we're all very happy and healthy (except for Ashton's minor cold).  And with that reminder, I will leave all complaining out of this post. 

Anyway, back to my main thing... here's a few shots of our beautiful babies clowning around yesterday:
 Sweet Reagan is always smiling...

 Ashton politely waking Reagan up from her nap.  (That's a block he brought her)

 Paci in mouth, check.  Paci in hand, check.  "Booping" Reagan's belly button, check!

Ashton wanted to sit with Reagan, so he just plopped down in between her legs.  Of course, Miss Happy Snappy had no problem with this. 


Well, nap time is officially over as I have Ashton tugging on my leg!  Until next time, over and out!