18 inches of snow

can be fun to play in!

Today's High Is Brought to You By the Number 5

and the low was something like -17. After spending two days totally housebound with a sick toddler in sub-zero temperatures, I feel as though I might have lost my mind. Not in a mad or frustrated way--it actually hasn't been that bad, frustration-wise, because I knew the cold was coming and I was prepared. Amelia has spent a lot of time nursing and we have played a lot of games and gotten out every toy in the house and read all the books and done all the chores and sang songs and danced and practiced toddler yoga and looked at letters on starfall and I discovered a little thing on Netflix called The Secret Life of the American Teenager. But I feel like I've been on some strange spiritual journey. Taken a vow of silence, of sorts. I realize I live the kind of life in which it is not only possible but in fact preferable to not leave the house, at all, for two days. There's nowhere to be, no one to call in to. It's like the rest of the world doesn't exist.

That said, tomorrow it is supposed to be 39 degrees. I hope we can venture out.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring...

but last night, Amelia slept from 7 PM-6 AM with nary a peep (and took a two and a half hour nap yesterday afternoon). Dean and I slept well last night too, and Amelia has been a happy baby all morning. Now she and her daddy are out playing in the snow.

I noticed as I logged on to blogger that this is my 300th post. This is a nice event to record for it, at the end of a week of change for the better.

Snow Pictures!

Snow in Denver

Finally!

Untitled

It is winter here. We woke up this morning (at 4:30, but I don't even want to talk about that) to a very lightly snow-coated world. Under the full moon, it was pretty and peaceful and I baked a pumpkin pie, but now the sun is out and it is windy and bright and terrible. Snow sparkle in the wind so you can see where the wind is going. And the wind is swirling.

I dislike winter. I think I have reptilian roots somewhere and part of my soul freezes when it is cold outside. I am vaguely but constantly itchy and grouchy. Baking, putting up Christmas trees, and drinking hot chocolate help, as does yoga and wearing my bathrobe all day long. Or big sweaters. As long as they don't itch.

I have been writing this morning so that explains some of the weirdness of my opening paragraphs. I am writing about dreams and from the voice of Ryan in Teen Mom, so I am bit out of my normal speaking voice.

We got the results about the lead. Turns out there is a little lead in the dust in several places in our house. We had some work done on the porch that exposed some old paint and some unseen chipped paint inside. So now the outside is cleaned and the inside has been touched up and I am doing to try to mop every other day. Hopefully that will solve the problem. Amelia will be retested in two more months.

I feel guilty for buying an old house and for not mopping it enough. You read all these articles and things that encourage moms to let the housework go a little--and then you find out there is lead in the dust on your floor. The irony is I sweep twice or even three times a day some days. But that just sweeps the lead dust around. Horrifying.

Something about winter is making it very clear to me that we have actually MOVED to Colorado and are not just here on an extended visit. I feel a little shocked. It also has to do with our first experience here that made me realize that we are essentially all alone. We had norovirus. (This was not actually diagnosed by a doctor but it was some sort of terrible stomach virus so I am calling it norovirus.) Amelia had mild symptoms last Saturday, the night before we were leaving for Santa Fe for a week (Dean had a conference for work). Saturday night, I also had symptoms, much less mild than Amelia's. All night. It was terrible. So at about 5:30 Sunday morning, I faced a dilemma. Option 1: In the aftermath of a terrible stomach virus, with a baby who also might still have a stomach virus, get on a plane. Option 2: Stay home, alone, with a stomach virus, and take care of a baby who might still have a stomach virus. Alone.

I have some very nice friends here, but they have babies too. And it takes a special friend to come over and take care of your baby and be exposed to your stomach virus so they can take said virus home to their babies. Pretty much the only person you can ask to do that is your mom. And all moms in my life are about 1500 miles away.

So I decided that if I could keep down some crackers and ginger ale, and if Amelia was okay, I would go. I did and she was, so we went.

We had a nice time in Santa Fe after about Tuesday. (Dean spent Monday battling the norovirus. To any Federal Public Defenders who find themselves feeling a bit under the weather this week, we offer our deepest apologies.) However, Amelia was oddly whiny for most of the week. I don't know if she missed her crib and her Gee and her high chair and her nightly YoBaby Yogurt Drink or if she was perplexed that we had apparently moved to a hotel room or what. But she was whiny. It got old. Also, she slept great in the hotel till the last night, when she woke up 3 times. And she has been making up 2-3 times a night since we got home Sunday.

We are still nursing. I am perplexed. Sometimes I want to quit and sometimes I don't want it to end. Before we left Amelia had pretty much weaned herself to 3 nursing sessions a day but traveling always makes her revert to the breastfeeding habits of a newborn and now it's like every time she sees me she dives for the boobs.

Who knows. Maybe after Christmas we will go cold turkey. We leave for NC again in about 3 and half weeks and I don't see the point in making any huge changes before then. I think after that we are going to swear off all travel till the spring.

This is not the cheerful Amelia Update I had intended to write. But now Amelia is awake. Until we meet again, my friends, drink a cup of hot chocolate for me.

It's Still Snowing.

snOMG

This is what it looks like outside our front door right now. The Washington Post weather page is calling it "Snowverkill."



I'm not sure whether the blowing snow comes through in the picture. The wind is howling. We are under a "Blizzard Warning."

I am very thankful that we have electricity. The lights flickered last night while Dean and I were watching Lost (the 5th season, not the 6th, so don't talk to us about it). I got very worried about taking care of Amelia in a cold dark house. How would she have her bath? But we are up and showered and breakfasted and still have power. It's so windy, though, I don't know if it will last.

As crazy as this week has been with all the snow, I am also thankful for it. It has given us a chance to just hang out together as a family and not worry about working or leaving the house.

We did take A out for a short walk during the first snowstorm on Saturday:



We made it about a block and a half before I turned around with her. She was not a fan of snowflakes in her eyes.

The next day, though, she loved walking around looking at the white world. She wore her baby sunglasses we bought for her at Waves when were at Gano's in Ocean Isle Beach at Christmas. She was too cool for school.





I am looking forward to writing and reading today, and maybe baking and catching up on laundry if we are lucky. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the lights stay on!

Today: Blizzard

That's actually what weather.com was displaying as our forecast. We are measuring 18 inches on our porch. I, for one, am ready for spring.

White Christmas

Well, we survived the "Blizzard of 2009!" The news stations were calling it that the night before a single snowflake fell, but despite my skepticism, their predictions of over 15 inches of snow came true. Our last official measurement was a little over 19. It'll still be a white Christmas here, but we are headed down to NC tomorrow for Christmas! We are both excited to see family, as well as to take advantage of everyone who wants to hold little A so we can rest. I have big plans for us getting out and about by ourselves once a day! That said, we have had a great couple of snowdays with Amelia. We are really getting to know her. She is a funny bear. She gets very excited at bath time--she anticipates it when Dean takes her up to get ready for the bath. And when she wakes up, she smiles and laughs when she sees us. We can't wait for everyone to meet her!

Snow!

Snowsuit

Heehee!

Snow Day

We got about 4 inches of snow from the big storm that made its way from the south to the northeast last night and this morning. It was a little disappointing since they had built us up for 6 to 10 inches--and because although I had the day off Dean had to go to work--but still pretty.

About two hours ago, I was working on the computer and heard a knock at the door. I knew it was someone wanting to be paid to shovel our sidewalks, so I scurried to the bathroom and hid till the person went away. I only have about four dollars in the house, plus we have our own snow shovel now. After a while, I went out and shoveled snow myself--quite the burst of energy for someone who had two naps this morning. I also shoveled our neighbor's steps--he's very old. The only problem is that we must have had sleet before the snow, since there was a very thin layer of unbreakable ice underneath the snow. I guess we need salt. Still, I feel proud because the sidewalks in front of our house are safe for travel!