the price of coffee

Since fall has definitely arrived here in MD, I have been enjoying the crisp weather, and taking advantage of perfect outdoor time. This past week Pat's mom Connie has been on town, so my motivation to do things has gone way up. Imagine how much easier it is to make it to daily Mass with my little screamer if I know I have help! YAY! And cleaning, organizing - I know that next week will bring the reality of being at home with Bella and getting nothing done for a while.

Saturday evening we walked to Main Street to the quaint little coffee house; nothing like a hot cup o' joe on a crisp fall evening! Now when Pat and I first moved into our house right after we got married, my sister-in-law Angela, Sara (who was 4 months old at the time), Patrick and I would make this trek several times a week! Distance: 1 mile each way. Hills: 4. Difficulty: you try being out of shape 4 months post-partum and pushing a stroller with a fast-growing little girl in it! Well, 2 years ago it didn't seem so hard. Saturday it was VERy hard! (maybe it has to do with ME being the one out-of-shape and 4 months post-partum now...)
Now, the weather - It was a cool evening, after dark, and I had on a t-shirt and light jacket which I knew I would be ditching soon. My mother-in-law from California had on a wool coat. Patrick didn't have any jacket, the tough guy. Isabella was snuggled in her stroller as cute as can be: a knitted blanket under and over her, the sling in case she decided she hated the stroller halfway through, a lighter blanket in case she ended up in the sling, the diaper bag (read: a mom's fashionable purse), and on her head a little knit cap. She looked SO funny Patrick and I each burst out laughing. An evening walk took more wardrobe planning than a Broadway musical!
On the way back she started to fall asleep just before the last big hill, about 5 minutes from home. I did not want her to fall asleep 5 minutes from home, I wanted her to eat and sleep when we got there! So I jiggled the stroller; I talked to her; I poked her; I stole her pacifier. Then, I did the unthinkable: I jogged. *gasp!* Unfortunately, all this backfired - the little girl who loves all kinds of motion, whose eyes were half-mast for a few minutes, immediately fell asleep with the increase in movement. *sigh* At least it made for really cute pictures! And of course I was happy to provide such entertainment to the adults.

Orchard Fun

What is more perfect on a beautiful crisp fall day than a trip to the orchard for fresh-pressed, unpasturized apple cider? Yes, unpasturized. The pasturization process does not make for good fermentation! check back in 6 months for outcome of project.

We drove a good ways for this oh-so-special cider, and it was well worth the trip. Pat's mom Connie is out for a visit (yay for Gram!) and we had a great time. Of course Bella just loved it, running around and getting the full appreciation of such an opportunity, right? ha! She hung out in the sling while we picked out some fresh produce and a fresh-baked raspberry pie (YUM) and taste-tested their apple cider. This last part was very important, as we will not be partaking the in purchased product for quite some time, and we had to have quality assurance!

Remember when we were kids and everything was interesting and fun? We could run around and be silly and play pretend and sing silly songs making up your own lyrics... life was just fun. I remember when I became suddenly more self-conscious and awkward. Well, having kids is great; it's an immediate ticket back to the world where everything is fun and it's ok to be silly! Hence the faces in the cut-out above!

Seeing Double

It is my great privilege to introduce (or at least post about) the Roberts Twins! We went to Pittsburgh this weekend for another wedding (God Bless the newlyweds Michelle and Andy) and a weekend of fun! First, allow me to point out that a *simple* roadtrip is anything but simple with my darling infant, who seems to think the best way to stay occupied in the car is scream. Oh Joy. However, I did notice great progress from the last time we made this journey a month ago! She really did quite well all weekend, with me sitting in the backseat with her for a good part of the trip. hhmm, and my chiropractor asks me why my back is out of line... I think maybe the key is not to let her nap in a quiet place and to surround her with lots of people and loud events. She was full of smiles all weekend and was happy to be passed around and meet her "cousins" and new admirers! ;-) Michael was rather smitten with her! kinda... we'll work on it.

Nicholas and Michael are absolutely adorable, toddling around together looking for trouble, and Robin calmly follows after them, scooping up the one who just got knocked over or feeding cheerios to the other. Once when John opened the door to their hotel room there were both Michael and Nicholas looking up at me covered head-to-toe in toilet paper and looking happy as could be! I mean really, who can find interesting activities in a boring old hotel room better than toddler boys!

I have been thinking about Robin as a WonderWomanMom with her hands full. I, with my daily routine with one little infant, think I have no time for anything and that the days just fly by and nothing gets accomplished. *note: we are fed, dressed, and alive by the end of the day=success, less than 3 hours of screaming+a few smiles=great day!" Then I see Robin whose little ones are constantly on the move. I believe that mothers who God gifts with twins He should also gift with the ability to bi locate, so that when they take off down the hotel hallway in 2 directions you do not have to guess which one will make it to the stairs first. I will say she does so with true expertise, though!

Now, John as Dad - hehehe... the camera could not capture the true essence of this picture - John in on the phone with Nicholas on his shoulders, mussing John's hair, while Michael is on the ground pulling at the socks on John's feet. He does this so naturally without a second thought, it made me laugh. I guess as long as they're trying to get your attention you at least know where they are and what they're doing!

Apologies for the lack of pictures: This is what happens when you only remember to take pics once in a whole weekend. Carpe Momentum!

It was so great to spend time with such great friends and to finally get to meet these beautiful boys! Robin says "everyone should have twins" and that she was praying that we would, too. Lord, DON'T trust me that much!

My Little Pumpkin

'Tis that time of the year again, with the crispness in the air, the beauty in the leaves, and we make spectacles out of our children. Yes, we take these precious, innocent little babes and stuff them into ridiculous outfits and pose them for ridiculous pictures. And they're so adorable!

We took some adorable pics with the cousins Sara and Rachael - of course, Mama is not-so-smart... I stuffed Bella into this Pumpkin Suit, oh so cute. Note that in the next picture the outfit looks different - I put it on backwards! duh. She wasn't too thrilled about being stuffed into it the first time, as it's a warm evening and this is a warm suit. So just in case I didn't press my luck enough the first time, we took it off and tried again. The right way this time!

They were so funny! Of course Bella and Rachael didn't care all that much, but Sara was sweet. She was especially interested in the hats the babies wore, so she got herself a set of bat-dielyboppers. I was NOT supposed to be in the picture; we just needed someone other than the 2 year-old to hold the babies!

After we stripped them of their adorable outfits we let them stretch on the floor for a little while. They are really cute, if I may say so myself :) When I look at 3-week-old Rachael I realize just how much Bella has grown!

After a few minutes they had had enough - I'm not sure who started it, but they are very compassionate girls, and when one starts crying... well, you see. Now when they erupt, what do their loving, caring, concerned mothers do? Laugh and take pictures, of course! They suddenly burst into tears and Angela and I crack up and grab our cameras; the timing was just too funny! Don't jump to call child services, after our quick photo-op we scooped them up, at which point they calmed immediately!

A Relative Weekend

This past weekend Patrick's Aunt and Uncle came to visit from SoCal, which was so nice! We had a lot of fun. Sunday we hit Mass at the Basilica which was beautiful of course, and then breakfast, which turned out to be a TERRIBLE experience - no more Ellis' for us! There was no one else there, and we're thinking that just over an hour is fine for some eggs, right? Wrong! 10 minutes to take our order. After 45 minutes we asked them about it and she said it was coming right up. A few minutes later we told her we had to leave and to please box it up for us - then it took her 8 minutes to box it up and swipe our card. augh! Unfortunately, this left Maggie and Jerry late for the tour. So Pat drove like a crazy man through DC and then dropped them off on a street corner. Ha! No, we met up with their scheduled tour, whose driver was kind enough to wait for us! how great is that! If anyone needs a recommendation on a good tour, go for "DC Party Tours" - they had a great time, all worked out well, as they got to spend 3 hours touring the major monuments with a guide who knew what she was talking about, and we spent 3 hours with the Brembergs! Much better for all parties involved. Just ask Isabella, who would not have gotten quite the full appreciation for the monuments yet. Maybe next year. Or maybe in 5 years. Or maybe...
Poor Isabella is still congested and gnawing on everything that comes within 5 inches of her mouth, but MUCH happier! She was so happy and smiley for this weekend. Today we spent some time with Aunt Angela, Sara, and Rachael. Bella loved watching Sara, and was happily babbling and cooing at her! It was So sweet! and of course Sara loves her 2 babies :)

This picture is just precious! Bella was sleeping on my bed and I grabbed the camera for a pic since she was just so peaceful! Well, when I zoomed in to get her face I caught her (what I like to believe) in mid-dream - she smiled while fast asleep. What a perfect image of God :)