Shipping up to Boston.

For those of your who aren't familiar with the title of this post...let me enlighten you with this song by the Dropkick Murphys. Ring a bell? The Departed?

Anyway. We shipped up to Boston over a week ago for my niece, Caroline's 3rd birthday and christening. I was so excited to go visit them since it had been a year since we were last at their house in Boston.  I was also excited to head north and travel!  It felt like fall in Boston and the weather was perfect.  I think I'm still getting used to the warm Virginia fall weather.

It was Waverly's first flight and Nick was traveling for work in St. Louis, so I flew with her alone and met him there.  You may think I'm crazy, but I was so excited to travel with Waverly.  I had a game plan and was prepared for the airport and the flight.  My bag was stuffed with new books, favorite little toys, snacks, milk, a pacifier, and her blankie. She is not huge into the iPhone or iPad (which is by design) so I knew those weren't going to help us much.  The Richmond airport is so easy....1 terminal and fairly empty so we were at our gate with enough time to scarf down some dinner pre-flight.  Our flight was completely full, but I really lucked out with a super nice guy sitting next to me.  He played with Waverly, didn't mind when she kicked him in the arm, and even took it in stride when some yogurt smoothie went flying.  She was a good little traveler, but she wouldn't sit still for more than 3 mins.  She was climbing all over me, looking out the window, and playing peek-a-boo with the lady behind me.  Even though I was a disheveled mess by the end of it, we made it to Boston without any tears, screaming or pooping.  (I was crossing my fingers for 0 in flight diaper changes)  On the flight home Nick was with us, so she could climb all over both of us.  No major tears on the flight home either, but it was a 6am flight so she was super tired and couldn't get comfortable.  She also came down with a cold toward the end of our trip...yuck.

ready to go!

maybe this is where she got her cold germs??  i had to let her get some energy out!

get me on that thing already!

yay!

playing with the lady behind us.

Our long weekend in Boston was so great.  We had lots of quality time with our family.  Friday we took Waverly to the Wellesley library for story time and then I got to see Caroline's pre-school which was so cute!  It's a parent co-op preschool and looks exactly how you would imagine a preschool to look! Caroline showed me her cubby, the indoor sandbox and some of her artwork on the wall. Saturday we celebrated Caroline's birthday and went out to dinner and then on Sunday Caroline was christened.  I was asked to be her Godmother which made me feel very special!  Shannon made tons of delicious food on both days. Roast chicken, birthday cake, nectarine tart...all made from scratch and so good!  My parents, my Aunt Susie, and Shannon's family were there for both parties, so when I wasn't feeding or running after Waverly I had some good family visits!

Andy, Caroline, and Shannon

she LOVES balloons

Granddaddy and Waverly after Caroline's christening

Caroline and Waverly had a blast playing together...Waverly loves her big cousin. She wants to follow Caroline everywhere and do whatever she's doing.  It is so much fun to watch them play and they seem to get better and better at sharing and playing together as time goes on.  In fact after watching Caroline run around, Waverly decided it was time to walk!  She has been taking steps for about a month, but not actually walking.  She started walking in Boston!  We were all really excited.

breakfast time

On Sunday night we managed to go into the city and see our close friends Natalie and Trace.  They recently bought a condo and moved to South Boston.  We last saw them at our friend's wedding in May at the Greenbrier Resort in WV when we shared a hotel room together and partied late into the night...yikes. We always have so much fun together and wish that we lived closer! During our visit they took us on a stroll along the water in their neighborhood which was so nice.  They have a water view from their place and have a great city home.  I loved getting into the city and have a tinge of jealously for their urban lifestyle.  They grilled dinner for us and Waverly toddled around their house and got into everything.  As the "I'm tired" whining began, we left and I felt like it was too short of a visit without enough wine and time to chat.  Such is life with kids.

Natalie & Trace's backyard...well, across the street.

a beach in the city!

We may not be a train ride or drive away anymore, but at least we have a 1 hr direct flight!  Till next time Boston...love from Richmond!

DIY: Chalkboard frame

Disclaimer: I meant to publish this post months ago, hence the cold weather attire and Matt actually being home.

Our latest DIY project is a chalkboard frame.  I used to have a great chalkboard frame and it was broken in one of our moves.  But because I love the chalkboard, I just broke off the rest of the frame and leaned it against the wall (broken nails and all).  Here in Japan we had a perfect wall spot for the chalkboard, but still no frame.  So I roped Matt into making one for me.  And here is how we did it…

Before.

We started off by taking measurements of the chalkboard.  Then we went to our local hardware store and got some wood cut to size (that took a couple of tries due to the language barrier and the metric system). 

The materials.

The next step was to sand the wood pieces and use wood glue to stick the pieces together.  We also used that joiner thing (I completely am blanking on the name) to secure the wood together.  

Next I took the wood outside and painted it.  It is important to check the weather before leaving your painted frame outside to dry.  I did not do this, which resulted in me having to sand and apply even more layers of paint. 

Pre-thunderstorm.

Next we added additional thin wood pieces to the back of the frame so that we could hang the chalkboard.  We also clamped those to dry.

Once the paint dried, Matt glued the chalkboard to the frame with wood glue. 

After one more coat of paint to try to cover up the clamps marks, we had our chalkboard.

The final step was finding a quote for our new chalkboard – my favorite part!

Waverly is 1 year old!

Waverly is ONE! Can you believe it??  I cannot. She has turned into such a fun little girl and I love watching her change.

We had a great 1st birthday party in the backyard with lots of friends and family. It was butterfly themed which turned out so cute.  It became a bigger party than I had originally planned, because it was our first time entertaining at the house. We worked so hard to pull the house and yard together for the weekend.  We had all our immediate family in town and were so grateful they made the trip to Richmond! To top it all off, weather was PERFECT.  I was crossing my fingers for the weather because our house is not huge and we had 20 some adults and about 10 kids!  During the party, everyone was outside most of the time which was ideal.

Waverly seemed a little tired because she skipped her pre-party nap and a little overwhelmed by the party.  There weren't any tears, but also not a single picture of her smiling...haha. She seemed to love playing with all her friends though.  I set up some kids activities in the yard and she had fun checking them out.  She also LOVED her cake...her face went right into it and she ate a ton.

It was so fun to have everyone at our new house. We love to entertain and haven't had the opportunity very often. I really enjoyed planning, decorating, and cooking for the party!  Special thanks to my family and friends who helped!!

kids table with bubbles and crayons

birthday girl

some butterfly decor outside

notice the butterfly shaped pb&j's - courtesy of my mom and sister in law!

the butterfly cupcakes I made

she has changed so much every month!

diy birthday wreath. I plan to change out the number and reuse it every year!

i made this little cake!

my close friends from college and their kids who are Waverly's buddies

friends enjoying the backyard

fishing pond

with Aunt Shannon, Caroline, and Uncle Andy from Boston

with Granddaddy and Nana

we are so happy Tina could come from DC!

with Grandmom from Wilmington DE

with Mimi and Poppi from Philadelphia

One reason I love our blog is so that I can look back and remember certain times in our lives.  This might be a long update on Waverly, but I like to have it all saved!

Waverly is seriously so fun.  She is physically strong and is ALWAYS moving...there is no slow mode. It's either go-go-go or sleeping.  She is super curious and exploratory.  She's also not afraid of much, in fact she loves a good thrill!  Waverly also loves anything that makes a LOUD noise...shakers, cabinet doors, the vacuum and usually tries to make her voice even louder. She started fake laughing recently which is pretty hilarious and has some new dance moves.  Lots of hip action and bouncing while bobbing or shaking her head.  We get a kick out of watching her dance!  This summer at the pool we discovered that she really likes being in the water.  She seems to want to swim on her own already! Splashing, kicking and wading along the edge of the pool were a lot of fun for her this summer.  Although she seems to be having a great time, it was tough for me to hold onto a baby who wants to dive right in!  At the moment she is very close to walking...stands up on her own but only takes a couple steps at a time right now.  Once she's confident enough she'll be off for the races.

One thing I love is how much she loves books. She has gotten really good at turning the pages and has some favorite books like "the big red barn" and "brown bear" and "goodnight moon". It's pretty amazing how the classics are still favorites. It must be the rhymes and illustrations.  She remembers where things are in her books and gives the dog in the pictures a kiss or opens the flap to see what's behind it.  She'll sit for a while looking at her books and it's nice to see her sit still!  Every once in a while I'll put her in her crib with a bunch of books so that I can shower...gives me a solid 25 mins.

She is now saying a couple words: dog, dada, mama, yucky, balloon, bye. She babbles a lot, especially in the car or during a walk in her stroller.  I think she is telling us about her day or what she's been doing.  I try to talk back most of the time, but sometimes she goes on and on!  Quiet is also nice, haha.  Waverly is also using sign language. I'm going to do a separate post about this with more detail but right now she has 5 signs: more, dog, all done, eat, and milk.

We have been playing a lot of "where's Waverly" and she loves to find a little hiding spot.  Since she's kind of a rough and tumble kid, we have been working on learning to be gentle and not chucking toys across the room. I do not enjoy getting hit with a flying block.  Recently she has been putting things back inside containers (yay for cleaning up!) and handing things to me instead of throwing them or putting them her mouth.

I would say that Waverly's 2 favorite things (beside mama and daddy, of course) are her dog and food.  She really loves Cole and squeals with excitement anytime she gets to pet him.  She gets upset if I scold him or put him outside...the guilt!  Food comes very close behind. I swear she could eat all day.  I'm not saying she loves any food, because there are some vegetables and meats that get the immediate high chair toss.  But when it's something yummy she will eat A LOT.  "Shovel it in" seems to be her motto.  Now not only is the dog always begging for my food, but so is Waverly. What does a mom have to do to eat, pee or shower in peace??

Through all this fun and hard play, I savor her sweet side.  She loves to lay on my shoulder and give "huggies" and kisses unprompted. These are such sweet moments that I love.  I also love seeing her climb up into the glider and snuggle up to her blankie.

I may have just highlighted all the postives about my sweet Waverly, but make no mistake she has her moments too.  Small temper tantrums, hitting, throwing toys, books and food, HATES to have her diaper changed...nothing out of the ordinary for a toddler!


Love this belly laugh...

A future roller coaster lover...

Little hip wiggle and doggy love...

Love from Richmond!

Let's Backpedal.

Hello blog!  I'll spare you the details about my whereabouts over the past few months (i hate that it's been that long).  I know you have been enjoying adventures in Australia and Japan vicariously through Casey, but through me you can enjoy "adventures" in new home ownership and parenthood! what's more fun?!  ha.

July and August were great but BUSY!  We mainly spent time with friends & family, moved, and worked on house projects.  Every spare moment was spent unpacking or working on a project (i.e. our "garden").

We took our annual family vacation down to Sunset Beach, NC in early July and had a great week.  It was VERY different from last year though. To be honest it's not too much like a "vacation" anymore.  Well it really depends on your definition, but there wasn't that much relaxation which is my idea of a vacation.  There was a lot of chasing around a crawling baby, trying to prevent her from eating TOO much sand (impossible), and dealing with naps and bedtime.  I didn't even bring a book to the beach because I didn't have a moment and at night when I did, we were playing games or putt putt or I was falling asleep.

I loved watching Waverly on the beach though.  She LOVED it.  She is fearless and would crawl right along the surf and into the water.  She splashed in the wading pool and her little pool, put fistfuls of sand in her mouth over and over...she had a blast.  Luckily she took her afternoon nap on the beach which was great.  Waverly and my niece Caroline played a lot together and we took wagon rides to walk "Coley" or "Dog!"  Nick and I had a double date with my brother and Shannon and it was nice to get out for dinner.  Cole turned 4 and had a nice swim and romp on the beach with Nick and we had great weather for most of the week.  We were sad to go...but tired! haha.

playing in the wading pool...good way to corral Waverly

she REALLY loved the beach

beach bums

Nick got some golf and beer time in

4 years old...and feeling it

story time with Uncle Nick/Daddy 

pretty awesome board game - Ticket to Ride

pillow forts

Nana and Granddaddy

putt putt extraordinaire 

Annual Smith family putt putt

4th of July!

The rest of July was spent closing on the house, getting ready to move, and MOVING!  Our favorite pastime. Closing was easy...you just sign paper after paper, absolutely no reading involved! just kidding. But it actually did seem pretty painless. We felt really adult and it was fun to have access to the house...because it was ours!  Such an amazing feeling.

We had some painters come in to paint part of the inside of the house that week and then we packed up and moved the following weekend. We moved in at least 100 degree heat.  It couldn't have been a more humid, hot summer weekend.  Luckily we had the help of Nick's co-workers (they all help each other move when someone new joins the engineering department...how nice is that??) and they lift weights for fun and thought this was a good day's work out. Really. I also did my fair share of heavy lifting.  We were so dirty and sweaty by the end of the day...so gross.  Waverly's room was still in the process of getting it's THIRD coat of yellow paint by yours truly. Who knew that cotton candy pink couldn't be easily concealed?  So we spent 2 more nights at my parents, took a few more loads of our things over to the house...I finished some late night painting and then we finally had our first night in the house!

we went with shortbread

love the soft but still colorful yellow

what your fridge looks like post move in - domestic beer brands for our moving helpers.

these gems arrived prior to moving in!

"you're packing me up again?!"

And so for the past month and a half we have been unpacking, organizing, and doing a lot of house projects.  It didn't take long to unpack because we have so many closets, storage nooks, an attic and garage, and lots of space by our standards.  Things are still not where I want them long term, but that's ok. Our "to do" list is long. At the top are some not so fun things like taking care of the yard (more on that later), buying all new window screens, and controlling pests around our house.

In between we have been enjoying seeing my parents on a regular basis (our "ad-hoc babysitters"), our local friends, and going to the neighborhood pool which is behind our house!  Nothing like walking back and forth to the pool within 5 mins through your own backyard!  Love it.  Just wish they allowed cocktails and the baby monitor signal would reach that far...

we loved our pool days and evenings :)

my wild garden

holy overgrown yard.

like a lion in the tall grass

baby proofing our cabinets

"hey...what happened here?  these used to bang so loud!"

testing out the new baby gate

Remember the dishes story...well I bought new dishes and love them! We got 2 sets of dishes, serving platters and accent plates from Pottery Barn all for under $200!!  Coupons, store credit, and shopping the sales plus having a cashier give you a discount on everything instead of just 1 item didn't hurt!

accent plate - comes in 4 colors..blues, yellow and reds. love!

Nick and I really celebrated our house about 2 weeks in when we finally ordered sushi and drank a bottle of wine we had been saving for our first house.  We brought it back from Maui and thought we would drink it on a special occasion...I thought that would be our 1st anniversary but we were in Richmond and didn't bring it. Then I thought it would be after our first child, but I was breast feeding and not feeling up for wine yet.  So it became our first house.  It's been our tradition to order sushi soon after moving into a new place.  So we ordered sushi and opened the bottle that has followed us from the Maui winery to NYC to New Jersey to Alexandria and finally to Richmond. Delicious :)

Now we are settling in and it feels good!  Love from Richmond!