Six Weeks One Spring

Love

2012-02-12T21:41:00.004-05:00

I dedicate this entry to LOVE. The following is what comes to mind when I think of "love":

Love is my husband giving me the green light to get out of the house early to get fresh tracks and enjoy a few rare hours to myself.

Or better yet, Love is being able to sneak out for a Friday afternoon backcountry "adventure" with my sweetheart. Even with conditions marginal, just being able to skin up and chat with my favorite playmate reminds me of why we got into this "mess" in the first place.

Love is being able to get the whole family out enjoying a sunny Sunday ski tour to Underhill State Park and watching Cally ski down on her own (note the tiny skis in the back of the Chariot). Reminding me that outdoor adventures certainly don't have to end when you have kids!

Love is planning to move wood while the kids sleep, but when its clear we have a "No Nap Nelly and Ned", having them join us and really seem to have fun participating!

Love is seeing a little kid jump at the opportunity to learn to do yet another winter sport and hearing her say she "loves" it.

Love is having a helper in the kitchen. Who clearly feels so happy being able to help.

Love is seeing this little spirit light up a room. He's hardly thwarted by a broken leg........ crawling fast, climbing stairs, and showing us more and more personality everyday.

Love is seeing the kids that have more and more fun together every day that they are on this planet.

When Cal was sick with the stomach bug last week, we tried to keep the kids apart and realized how close they have become. He wants to be with her as much as she wants to be with him.

Love is hearing Cally say, "we want pancakes for breakfast or we want to go for a walk at Mills Riverside Park" and when asked who the we is that she's referring to, she says, "me and Hazen, of course".

Love is what has developed between the kids and the animals. Cally tells Zephy she loves her all the time and calls Lobby "sweetie". She puts blankets on Lobby and she just sits back and lets it happen. Hazey lights up when either come into the room.

But the real love is in our bedroom every morning when both kids are in bed with us-- snuggling, laughing, playing, and just feeling love all around us. Hazey usually joins us around 6am, but nurses and sleeps until we hear the pitter patter of two little feet, a bright "Hi Mom" and a climb into bed by Cally anywhere between 6:30 and 7am. Whatever time it is, we always have time to hang out in our lovely bedroom, talk about what we'll be having for breakfast and what things the kids want to do that day. Then Cally takes off and dresses herself..... with intense independence, she insists on putting everything on herself. It's my favorite part of the day and can make even a tired mom feel ready to take on the world.

Happy Birthday Mr. H!

2012-01-31T22:32:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Hazen! You are simply amazing. Even with a broken leg, you don't miss a beat. You are crawling around with your gore-tex cast, pulling yourself up to standing, and make it hard for anyone to know that you are actually wounded. I hope this "go get 'em" spirit is never lost. May you continue to give big smiles, snuggle big snugs, blow lovely kisses, and go with the flow. You make our world a much better place. Thank you for making our family complete exactly one year ago. We love, love, love, love you!

To celebrate Hazen's special day, we made homemade chocolate buttercream cupcakes with white chocolate frosting. Hazen's special "Godparents", Tom and Cara joined us for the celebration. Cara just got back from almost a month in Central America, doing great things for people who need great things in their lives and she is sick as a dog, but she wouldn't miss her special guys 1st birthday.

And to wrap it up, John and I took the kids to Mad River for "Roll Back the Clocks" Day. Lift tickets were $3.50. We each got to take three runs and Cally took her first run all the way down the double with her Dad.

All this and we made it back to Hazen's 12 month check up just in the nick of time. He's still in the 75th % for height and head circumference. His weight is a bit of an unknown b/c he came in at 20 lbs. 12 oz., but has a cast on, so we aren't sure how much that weighs. In any case, he's a healthy little guy-- growing as he should and not letting a little leg injury get him down.

What are the odds?

2012-01-27T22:14:00.000-05:00

If I got a nickle for every time that John or I said "I feel so lucky", I'd be rich. We have two amazing kids, a gorgeous house, a fantastic network of friends, great jobs, wonderful family, etc. etc. etc. But every once in a while, something unfortunate can happen where even the lucky ones feel like the odds are against them.

On Sunday morning, John was carrying Hazen down the stairs and he slipped. He slid on his butt down about five steps, all the while, doing his best to protect our precious little guy. I saw the whole thing happen and was most worried about his head, but that seemed fine. Even so, I couldn't get him to stop crying. I lay him down and tried my best to do a secondary survey of possible injuries. Something was obviously wrong, but I coudn't pin point what it was. Our usually mellow little guy, who hasn't been known to cry for more than a few minutes, just couldn't be settled. After 20 minutes of Cally trying to give him stuffed animals and play peek-a-boo while I rocked him in the glider, nothing could avert the tears, so we decided to load and go to the hospital.

By the time we got to the hospital, Hazen had settled down and we were able to get a better idea about what was wrong. He clapped his hands, smiled, and wiggled one of his legs, but his right leg remained shockingly still. I didn't think it possible that we could have another leg injury within a year of Cally's femur incident. An x-ray and consultation with an orthopedic resident later, it was clear that Hazen had a buckle fracture to his lower femur. This would not require the full body cast that Cally had on her for four weeks, but it would mean a big leg splint none-the-less.

Words can't really express how badly a parent can feel when their child is hurt as a result of their actions. And how do you explain it happening twice within a year to one family? We were sure Child Protective Services would be knocking on our door. But accidents happen. There are few people who can say they have never fallen down some stairs. Accidents have nothing to do with what kind of a parent you are. They have nothing to do with how much you love your child. Most of the time, they just happen, and you move on, as best you can given the circumstances. To dwell on the "why me/us?" things, is counterproductive. But it's also a real bummer to feel judged or unsupported by other people. That just feels yucky, but I guess that is the way some people are and there is nothing we can do to change that.

Meanwhile, Hazen is doing great. Within hours of being home from the hospital, he was finger painting and back to his old smiling self. He's already figured out how to get from here to there. He does a sort of "wounded animal" crawl and is even trying to pull himself up on tables and chairs again. We go to a pediatric orthopedic doctor on Friday morning to get a real cast (right now he has a splint with padding and an ace bandage around it). Cally has been a really supportive and helpful older sister.

Ski Like a Girl!

2012-01-19T22:30:00.002-05:00

As anyone who knows us understands, we love winter and we love skiing. In other words, we have an agenda for our children. That is, we want them to love winter and love skiing, too. So far, things seem to be going along that trajectory...... the first morning that Cally saw snow this winter, she said, "Look Mom &; Dad, it's snowing! Now we can go skiing!". Like proud parents, we gave each other the wink of pride.

Cally put in some time at the Magic Carpet at Smuggler's Notch last year (both before and after the fated femur incident) and was quickly ready to take it to the next level of riding lifts. At two years old, she was proudly loading the lift and skiing with the assistance of our vital "H Bar". This X-mas, when we went to Smuggs, she watched other kids skiing on their own and she said she was ready to try it. However, we've got a girl who isn't afraid of speed. And so, she's perfectly willing to just bomb down a hill. As educators of high school and college aged people, neither John nor I are "qualified" to teach a three year old how to ski.

Admitting our weakness, we sought out the experts. We looked into our options, acknowledging that Cally is on the young end of the ski lesson spectrum, and decided to do Parent/Tot lessons at a little tiny hill in Richmond (all of 10 minutes from our house) with a total vertical drop of 500 ft. Cochran's is a quintessential "Mom and Pop" ski area. It has a tow rope (the kids call it the "carrot lift" b/c of the orange handles you grab), they serve hard boiled eggs and have a pot of hot dogs boiling on the stove in the lodge, and they breed some of the areas best skiers. Not that we want to be parents of a ski racer, but the convenience and low key comfortable atmosphere made it work.

Cal took to her first lesson like a champ. I'm not going to lie, I had a small bag of skittles to "reward" her, but she stuck it out for the entire two hours (and because we were late signing up, her lesson is from 11:30-1:30 which means she's skiing during lunch and the usual map time)! Because I have to ride the tow rope with her between my legs, I think I might have been more exhausted than she was after a dozen laps on the bunny slope. And she was pretty exhausted, too!

But the next day, she was ready to go for it again. John and I skied all morning at Stowe and were ready to take off (because the conditions weren't all that great) and she exclaimed that she, too, wanted to ski before we left. So she and John took four laps on the bunny slope

Last week, it was all of 8 degrees F. John was out of town for the week teaching a Winter Skills class, so I asked Uncle Scotty to watch Hazen while we went to the lesson. I packed a small thermos of hot cocoa and resupplied the skittles coffer, telling Cally to let me know if she got cold at all. She amazed me, she was pumped for her lesson and only needed to go inside for a quick hot cocoa break and was anxious to get back at it again.

And even though she still just wants to go straight down the hill, she is learning to turn, fall, and do the snow plow. She already can't wait until Saturday for her next lesson. Yesterday (Wednesday), she asked me if it was time for her ski lesson yet. Mind you, it's been really cold, then rainy, and now freezing again (conditions are looking grim). But as long as she's having fun, we'll keep at it.

It's been the perfect year to put in our time at the bunny slope because our winter has been so pathetic and the parents aren't missing out on our own fresh powder.

Nana & Grandpa to the Rescue

2012-01-10T22:07:00.000-05:00

The week after the holidays, Tammy, our beloved daycare provider had to close up shop for a few days for some scheduled medical procedure. Because it was our first week back at school after the holidays, neither John nor I had the flexibility to take three days off. So, we called in the reinforcements and with pleasure they arrived. Nana and Grandpa are just those kind of Grandparents. The ones who will come up at the drop of a hat to help us out.

They arrived with a home cooked meal for us, voices ready to read many books to the kids, energy to deal with two little kids for two days, and a willingness to bring them to the local libraries story hour and a trip to the bakery.

And after spending two full days with our kids, they gave John and I the opportunity to go on a much appreciated dinner and skating date.

I say this all the time, but I feel so, so lucky to have family who can help us out during a busy time and offer so much unadulterated love to our children. They have more patience, understanding, and encouragement for us than I could ever ask for. Thank you Nana and Grandpa!

X-mas Love

2012-01-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

Here's our brief Holiday Recap:

We drove down to Darien right after school got out on Thursday, Dec. 22nd. Cal and her Dad had spent the morning skiing and then John came home to miraculously fit 10 pounds of "stuff" into our proverbial 5 pound car...... boxes of gifts, luggage, eating seat, pack-n-play, stroller, dog...... somehow he did it. Because that apple doesn't fall far from his father's tree!

Friday morning we boarded the 9:04 train to Grand Central Station. Cal was fired up from the get go:

And these country bumpkins were very much in awe of the lights and action:

After a stroll up the Rockefeller Center and a glimpse of the skaters and tree (before it got too crowded). We headed to FAO Shwartz, where we told Cal she could pick out one "item" for her birthday. For the first 20 minutes that we were at the store, she was dead set on a $9.99 panda. Even when someone showed her a furrier, softer, or bigger animal, she didn't budge........ but then we went upstairs and she saw the dolls. Ever since Tammy, our daycare provider started watching a new 3 month old baby named Callah, Cal has been pretty into dolls. John wasn't too keen on the idea, but once you tell a kid they can have whatever they want (under $25), you kind of have to stick to it. So, Cal chose Tess, a sort of non-descript plastic doll.

Next we headed downtown to have lunch at Bryant Park. Within minutes of getting there, both kids were asleep.

But, Cal did wake up so she could ride a carousel with her grandma:

And the lunch that Bumpa treated us to was delicious:

We got home on Friday afternoon, just as cousin Will and Aunt Jenn and Rob were pulling into the grandparents house. The cousins had a blast jumping on the trampoline, sharing snacks, and putting cookies and carrots out for Santa and his reindeer:

Christmas morning was crazy. The whole thing was pretty surreal and overwhelming for all. Makes me wonder how the heck we got caught up in this whole present madness.

We got out for a playground adventure with our friends Tim, Sophia, Beckett and Iris who were visiting family the next town over:

The day after X-mas we headed north to visit the other grandparents. Nana and Grandpa were kind enough to watch the kids so we could visit with Lynn and Mark. Mark was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and had started chemotherapy. Because of the need to stay as healthy as possible, it didn't make sense to expose him to our kids petri dish of ailments. Mark seemed great. Keeping his spirits up and in awe of all the outpourings of support.

Somehow, Nana and Grandpa were able to get our "No Nap Nelly" to take a nap (we were 0 for 3 during our visit with the other grandparents) and the kids were fired up to continue the gift insanity:

We feel so fortunate to have such amazing family. The kids are so well loved and adorned with toys and clothes and fun. Below is Cal playing with the dollhouse that Bumpa built for Aunt Nif, wearing a crown that her thoughtful Aunt Paula gave her:

And Hazen, hooting it up with his new blocks:

She's 3!

2011-12-18T21:58:00.001-05:00

This year, after John went to a 4-year old boy's birthday party with Cally & Hazen (while I recovered from a flu-like virus), we decided to keep Cally's birthday very simple. We'd invite three friends (b/c "they" say you are supposed to invite a kid for each of the years old a child is turning) and do the party on a Sunday morning so that people could get on with their days.

As it turns out, the friends we invited for Cally are also our friends, so we figured we should serve a nice brunch..... and then, I decided we should probably have some sort of "activity" for the kids. I thought about decorating gingerbread cookies, but then got a wild hair and let that escalate to gingerbread houses. I grew up decorating a gingerbread house every year at a neighbors house. Mrs. Kellogg would invite all the neighborhood girls over and we'd hang out, eat candy, and make some pretty memorable creations. But I digress........ In order to make this "party idea" of mine happen, this meant that I spent two hours on Friday night making the double batch of gingerbread dough and then at least three hours on Saturday morning cutting out and baking the parts of the house and then at least an hour that afternoon involved assembling the houses (because that's beyond the capabilities of a three year old). Oh, and because siblings were coming, I had to make seven of these structures. John was cursing me about the whole thing, mostly because I made a big mess of our kitchen........... but also because it took up so much of my time.

Cupcakes were made, frosted and decorate, the house was cleaned, egg strata was put together and we went out for the evening on Saturday. John wondered why we had just spent eight hours preparing for a two hour party and I sort of did too. We woke up late on Sunday (of all times), made a fruit salad, cooked the egg strata, and whipped up some gingerbread house frosting before our first guests arrived. I botched a pot of coffee, but we otherwise managed to throw a pretty good party. Bloody Mary's were available for adults, strata's were delicious, and the kids had a blast decorating the houses. All that effort was totally worth it because of the permanent smile on Cally's face! And in the end, John "ate his words" about the gingerbread houses and admitted it was a great addition to the party.

But we couldn't have done it without the help of dear Addy and Claire. These almost ten year old gals helped me serve the kids breakfast, cleared plates, set up gingerbread houses, cleared them off, and helped serve cupcakes.

And then, Auntie Cara and Tom made sure Hazen had a good time, helped us clean up the mess, and read stories to Cal:

We wrapped up a lovely party with a family hike up to the Sunset Ridge Trail on Mt. Mansfield.

The celebrations continued last night with a visit to the Swimming Hole and fun with cousin's Kesley & Jameson. And today, Cal is off for a ski at Smuggs with her Dad (a tradition I hope we can continue for a long, long time). We are off to celebrate with Grandma and Bumpa tonight and headed into New York City for the final celebration.

Perhaps we are going a little over board for this kid....... but the world has been a better place since this little one came into our life. She's given us so much joy and reminds us everyday about the wonders of discovery, the importance of being goofy, and the importance of having an imagination. She has turned into a really articulate, empathetic, spunky little person. She wakes up everyday ready to take the world on. She knows what she wants and doesn't like to take "no" for an answer. She loves people and has the memory of an elephant when it comes to remembering everyone she has met or even heard a story about. When she pinches or bites her brother, she never tries to hide it. She admits she did it and usually smiles (until we send her to the "brown couch" for a little time to think it over). She can already spell and write her name and really likes to draw and hear stories (from books and from people). She loves to help (in the kitchen, checking on her brother, etc.). And she talks A LOT. In fact, it is difficult to get her to stop talking........ She's got a lot going for her and she's not an "easy" kid, but we are so, so proud to be her parents. I know we say this every year, but she really was the best Christmas present we could have asked for three years ago.

Addy said it best here:

And a birthday week wouldn't be complete without hugs and a swimming hole visit with the cousins!

Oh, and a quick update from the pediatricians visit:

Cal is weighing in at 28 lbs (25th percentile)
and 37.5 inches (60th percentile)

It's Begining to Look a lot Like Christmas

2011-12-14T22:21:00.001-05:00

So fun to have two little Abbott's partaking in this year's holiday madness. We were short on snow in early December, but still managed to use the sled to get our tree:

Cal was into helping Dad cut the tree down:

And decorating the tree:

Making Cookies:

Hazen is on a tear. Crawling everywhere at the Holiday party thrown by Tammy, our daycare provider (magician and all).

And so, with the tree decorated and snow on the ground, the kids are pretty fired up for the holidays-- celebrating a certain birthday, visiting family, and seeing what this Santa guy is all about.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-25T21:31:00.001-05:00

There is a lot to be thankful for this year........ First there is this little addition to our family:

Then there is this one, who recently got her health back. You'd hardly know that she has pneumonia in this photo. Yup, the poor girl had a nasty cough and fever that stuck around for eight days! A doctors visit on day three led us all to believe that she had a virus, but on day eight, some crackling was heard in the upper left lobe of her lungs. Through it all, Cal kept her sense of humor and spunk.

And while we are on the subject, we are sooooo very thankful for our pediatrician, Dr. Parker. Whether making time to see us at the end of a busy day or coming in to the office on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon because he is concerned about Cally, he's always patient and kind. And Cally loves her visits with him!

I'm thankful to have this beautiful house that we can call our own. If you look carefully at this photo, you can see John on the roof taking on the role of "Chimney Sweep".

This guy, who celebrated his birthday the other day (he says he's now closer to 60 than 30), really is something to be thankful for. If he's not playing handyman around our house, he's inspiring college students, being a devoted father, or challenging people to be better.

To celebrate his birthday this year, we took a quick trip up to Montreal. The kids were incredible from being patient for sit down meals where service is a lot slower than it is south of the border to being flexible about sleeping. I'm not going to lie, the four of us in one hotel room isn't all that fun at this stage, when it comes to sleeping, but "no pain, no gain".

bundled in the Phil & Teds double stroller

checking out the view from the "high rise"

kicking it at the Biodome

Checking out the subarctic

loving the penguins

I'm thankful for Hunter's Breakfast (an annual fundraiser at one of the local churches)

I'm thankful for hikes with friends:

And thankful that UVM won their first hockey game of the season while we were there to witness it:

I think their win might have had something to do with our little kitty who was fired up to get her face professionally painted in a pre-game alumni event. Check out the transformation:

I'm thankful for our first snow:

and Thankful for incredible friends with whom we've shared this special holiday for the past four years........Ten adults, eight children (two more in utero), five inches of snow to sled upon, and lots of incredible food made for an excellent gathering. I felt like I was on vacation. The older kids swept my kids up as soon as we arrived, other mothers were thrilled to hold and hug them, and we all had a very fun time.

H took a little of everything!

I'm really thankful that I've had this week off with my family. It's been such a treat to sleep until 7:00, hang out in bed as long as we want, eat a long lazy breakfast, get things done around the house, and celebrate all that we have in our lives.

Nine Month Check Up

2011-11-13T20:36:00.001-05:00

What a treat it is to get to know this fine fellow! Every day, a little more of his personality comes out and we thank our lucky stars that he is ours! To see him giggle and begin to babble is such a treat.

The stats:

weighing in at 19 lbs 2 oz. (25th- 50th percentile)
standing tall at 28 3/4 inches (50th-75th percentile)
He's got two teeth, smiles a ton, and is frequently heard saying "Dada"
He's not officially crawling, but gets around via a backwards shimmying sort of thing.

And the girls (or Esme) can't seem to keep their hands off of him. And he only takes being pulled around and bitten, for so long.

We can't wait to see what kind of a guy you turn out to be (our prediction -- a mellow fellow, who likes to laugh, takes it all in, and goes with the flow).

Our Lion & Dragon

2011-11-05T23:29:00.004-04:00

Harvest

2011-11-05T23:26:00.001-04:00

October was a busy month. Between the Farmer's Markets and our Farm Share, we spent a lot of time celebrating the harvest:

Chocolate Faced Girl post Pain au Chocolate at the Burlington Farmers Market

Kickin' it with old buddy I.Z in Burlington.

Oliver and Hazen reunited

Playground Fun

The foliage has been incredible this fall-- later than anticipated, but gorgeous none-the-less. At some point during the peak of it all, Hazen's "God parents" e-mailed saying that they needed some red-headed Abbott kid time. With exercise having sort of flown out the window lately (just not enough hours in the day), John and I took Tom and Kara up on their offer and had a lovely ride in the shadows of Mt. Mansfield. And the kids had a lovely time with two people who adore them!

And for all my complaining about not exercising, I did get up to Camel's Hump with the kids and my dear friend Bo. Bo was in the are from Boise, ID, helping his dad recover from a bike accident. Bo is the kind of friend I am so honored to be able to introduce to Cally and Hazen. He exudes great energy and fun. He has a friendliness and enthusiasm that are infectious and a heart of gold.

Every Tuesday, from late May to mid October, we pick up our farm share at Arcana Gardens in Jericho. It's amazing how exited Cally is to eat anything that comes from the farm-- especially if she has picked it herself. And this includes brussel sprouts! Every few weeks they have crafts for the kids-- t-shirt dyeing, gord decorating, and harvest hat assembly were all a hoot. Below Cally is wearing one of her crafts, along with the costume that she wore almost daily this month:

After years of looking at a house wrapped in Tyvec and months of dipping shingles and listening to the drum of John hanging them, we finished the siding project! I'm so proud of John and the countless hours he put into making our house look so beautiful. There certainly was no rest for the weary this fall. When the weather was clear, we didn't have guests at the house, the compressor was usually humming and John was dangling from some portion of the house or another. Meanwhile, I put in some hard time with the kids so that Dad could "get her done".

Looking at our newly sided house from the neighbor's fields

Next spring or summer, we'll do something about that porch..... oh, and those horribly inefficient windows. But for now, whenever I drive up to the house, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride in what we finally were able to accomplish.

Cal and Hazen continue to be so adorable with each other. It's not uncommon for me to see the following site when I look at the back to check on the kids in the backseat of the car. They really are adorable and I need to document how lovely they are together, so that someday, when they aren't feeling so "lovey dovey", they'll know that there was a time......

Fall

2011-10-02T21:14:00.001-04:00

While there are days when I wonder how I'm going to make it through another day of this chaos--- lack of sleep, piles of grading, busy days at school, getting the kids out the door, fed, and happy, etc. etc., there are other days when I see my kids cracking each other and I hear Cal saying, "Hazen is my best friend". Those moments put everything in perspective. They make all the craziness fade away and remind me how lucky I am to have these two little gems.

And who wouldn't want this guy to be her best friend?

Speaking of friends, we've had a bunch of them visiting. Below is our good friend Mic, who came up to meet Hazen for the first time earlier in September. Mic and I met in Montana while we were both getting our Master's. He recently decided to go back to school to become a science teacher (his partner is a teacher and he always seemed envious of the teacher's schedule, plus he says that I made it look easy). He's going to be a fantastic teacher, but I think he's realizing that even though teachers get more vacation time, they definitely take more work home.

Then there was the annual fall visit from Nana and Grandpa:

Another visit from the Dormer's:

And finally, Bumpa and Grandma rounded out the visitors this past weekend:

And between on the visitors, we made it out apple picking:

note the "apple picking tutu"

And then a ride on a bicycle carousel at the Nor'East Fest in Burlington:

We love the visitors. They inspire us to keep our house clean and remind us how lucky we are to have what we have-- a lovely family with a lot of people who love us!

High Meadow

2011-09-13T22:25:00.004-04:00

We've had a hectic start to the school year........ the transition always seems abrupt, but this year has been especially hard. It feels a little like going from the "frying pan into the freezer" after having spent 24/7 with the kids this summer. Fortunately, the kids have taken to their new day care situation amazingly well. Cally loves Tammy and all the kids. She tells John to "hurry up" in the morning because she can't wait to get there. And Hazen is adored by all-- he's sort of like the mayor there!

Unfortunately, on Hazen's third day with Tammy, he got a fever. It being my first day with the students, I couldn't leave school, so I came to appreciate even more the flexibility that John has with his job. Because the next day, he also had to stay home.

We had plans to go to Lake Mooselookmeguntuk in Maine again for Labor Day this year. And we were even able to motivate the Ganz Clan. We spent much of Friday getting our camping gear organized and packing. We were optimistic that Hazen's fever was just a fluke.......... Unfortunately, Hazen woke up in the middle of the night spiking a fever of 104.7 degrees. After consulting with Nurse Ganzenmuller who happened to be in the ER, he advised that we come in. We called Uncle Scotty to see if he'd come over and stay with Cally while we went to the ER. He and Cynthia were over in minutes, but upon consulting with our Doctor (and the fever dropped a bit with tylernol), it was decided to go into the doctors office at 7am instead. At least we know that Scott and Cynthia are very dedicated Godparents.

Even when he's down, he looks pretty cute!

Hazen improved by morning, but he did have an ear infection, so the doctor put him on some antibiotics. She didn't really have a strong opinion about whether we should go camping in Maine, but thought we should wait until mid-day to leave. After a night short of sleep and our worries about being so remote, we decided to stay put. The only problem was that we had offered to let John's sister Lynn stay at our house with her in-laws who were visiting from Ireland. We didn't want to have to reneg on our offer and were fortunate to not have to because Uncle Scotty offered to let us stay at High Meadow.

High Meadow is a very special place for us. It's the place we called home for 5 months when our home was being renovated. It's the place we came home to with our beautiful new daughter. It's the place where I learned to be a mother. We've been fortunate to visit for barbeque's, swims, parties, and hikes over the past three years since we lived there. but we've never had the opprotunity to stay there again. Scott's offer was incredibly generous.

We ended up inviting the Ganz Clan and a few other families to join us for an impromptu "staycation" camp out. Five families (11 children) played "jump or dive" in the pond, played in a tree house, kicked the soccer ball, boated around the pond, and ate incredibly well before camping out in the cabin and on the property.

Being back at High Meadow brought back so many memories of being pregnant with Cally and how clueless I was about how my life was going to change. I had no idea what an amazing experience being a parent would be. What I mean is that I knew that I'd like having kids, but I had no idea just how much my life would change for the better. And it just keeps getting better everyday! Words escape my ability to explain just why I love being a parent so much, but being at High Meadow again made me feel it in a way that felt so powerful. Especially when I see how much fun my family has when we are there.

Connecticut

2011-09-01T22:15:00.009-04:00

While John was busy training Trek leaders, the kids and I went down to the land of "steady habits", a.k.a. Connecticut, to see the grandparents. Since it rained for the first couple of days that we were down seeing Bumpa and Grandma, we hit all the local hot spots for kids. First stop was the Maritime Center where we saw seals, otters, sharks, rays, touch tanks, and play areas:

Next stop was Stepping Stones where Bumpa hung out in the infant area with Hazen:

Cally played with water and all sorts of other cool stuff,

Next stop was the zoo in Bridgeport:

Cally's biggest interest was the two worms she found while walking!

And, of course, we couldn't skip another carousel ride:

We did also get a beach/pool day:

And played at the playground, on the trampoline, in the car, and read with Bumpa:

We wrapped up our trip with a visit to Nana and Grandpa for a few days. They took us for a swim at Stratton Brook:

Invited Chris, Catherine, Mark and Lynn over for a fun dinner:

And presented yet another gorgeous sweater to Cally (the one for Hazen just needs a button added to it).

Thanks family! We had a great visit. So nice to have your help while John was busy doing what he does best..... training leaders.

Parties and the Fair

2011-08-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

August is a busy time for the guy Cally and Hazen call Dad. He's busy getting everything in order for the biggest "event" of his year-- Trek (the orientation trips for incoming students at UVM). Even so, we did get out and about to enjoy Vermont and the great friends we have here. First there was Thompson's second birthday party:

Then there was High Meadow Farm Weekend with Uncle Scotty, his sister and all their friends:

We found a digger on the side of the road:

And then there was the fair, where we saw pig races:

Rode a pony:

Did a family carousel ride:

Went on various rides:

Cal even went on a ride all by herself!

And Cally was even quoted as saying "Hazen is my best friend".

Look Who's 6 months Old

2011-08-07T10:11:00.004-04:00

He's weighing in a few ounces under 17 pounds, he's 27 inches tall, he's almost sitting up on his own, he's eating carrots, bananas, sweet potato, and rice cereal, rolling over, and he's absolutely killing it with his charm! He'll let anyone hold him, he's got a smile that could melt a glacier, and he absolutely loves his sister (and she was recently caught saying, "Hazen is my best friend"-- let's see how she feels about him once he's on the move and stealing her toys).

Maine--Vacation Redefined

2011-08-01T22:15:00.016-04:00

It used to be that a vacation was all about recharging the batteries, but vacationing with a six month old and two and a half year old isn't really about that right now (especially when it involves numerous stops and camping). There weren't many books read, nor long slumbers, but there were lots of laughs and amazing memories were made.

DAY ONE: Sebego Lake

I can't think of a better place to spend the day, especially when the mercury was pushing into the upper 90s. Guy, Tatiana, and Lucas once again opened their lovely home to us. This place is a little piece of heaven. We ate well, went swimming under the stars, and felt relief from the heat.

DAY TWO: Sebego Lake and Cape Elizabeth

The heat broke and we made it out for a hike up Rattlesnake Look Out (near Sebego) to get a little idea of the surrounding area. Cally actually hiked part of the way (because we left the backpack for her back at the lake) and she did great!

We arrived at our gracious hosts, Alex and MJ's place near Portland just in time to go out on a date (they have teenage daughters who offered to babysit). We jumped in Alex's "new" convertible, grabbed some sandwiches, and hit the beach.

Our kids adore Alex and M.J (and their girls, Zoe and Isabel). They haven't had babies or toddlers in a while and both work with elementary aged kids. Whatever is the case, they have a whole lot of love to give Cally and Hazen.

DAY THREE: Cape Elizabeth- Camden Hills State Park

Once again, we got to sail on "Tweed", the sailboat that they have access to in Casco Bay. Most importantly, Cally got to see the seal island that we've been talking about since last year (every night before she goes to sleep she gets a story and about 75% of the time she requests that we tell her a story about seals).

A close second behind the seals, for best moments of the day, was Cally chomping into her first Whoopie Pie (the Maine State Dessert).

We waved farewell to our hosts as the sky started to darken and headed north. In order to get a campsite in Acadia, you have to get to the campground by noon, so we decided to head half way up towards the park to Camden Hills State Park.

DAY FOUR: Camden Hills State Park- Acadia National Park

We got up after a rainy night, grocery shopped, and pulled up to Seawall Campground a minute before noon. It turns out, there were plenty of sites to choose from on a Tuesday. We set up camp, hopped on our bikes, and headed out on a ride to the Bass Harbor Light House.

And ended the ride at the Seawall, where we had cheese & crackers and beers right at cocktail hour.

DAY FIVE: Acadia National Park

We had a leisurely morning, packed up our bikes and headed to the "nonquiet" side of the island to hit the carriage roads. We rode up Day Mountain, had a picnic lunch, and then hit Jordan Pond. The chariot was perfect, it seemed to lull the kids to sleep and carried all that we needed for the day.

DAY SIX: Acadia National Park

We spent the day at Echo Lake (where the water is warm and there are lots of things to do). We set up our umbrella on the beach at the lake, swam, hiked up to Beech Mountain, swam again, ate lunch, biked to Seal Cove while the kids napped, swam, and then packed it up and hit the lobster pound.

DAY SEVEN: Acadia National Park- Waterford, ME

We packed up our camp and headed out to Great Head and Sand Beach for a hike in the park.

Then we headed West to Dave and Bonnie's home for the annual Bates gathering. After almost five hours in the car, and setting up our tent in the rain, John was thrilled to eat be treated to a traditional Maine Lobster feast.

DAY EIGHT- Waterford, ME

The Bates crowd never ceases to amaze me. For the past four years, John's buddy Joc has coordinated a gathering of their college friends. The last two years, we've converged at someone's home where there are some work projects that are in need of being done. Once the location is determined, a date is set, and everything just comes together. Food accumulates and gets prepared almost magically, projects happen, and fun is happening all around. This year we went to Dave & Bonnie's house in Waterford Maine. The weather was perfect, the meals delicious, the comraderie unbelieveable. Cally immediately took to the kids (in particular 6 year old Ander and 14 year old Emily) and everyone seemed to take to Hazen. We worked hard, played hard, and had a good old time playing at the lake, making tie dye t-shirts, and catching up!

Phew! Another year, another trip to Maine. We love it, we'll be back, but now I need a real vacation....... that just might not happen for another five years! That said, the kids were troopers, they were in five different places in ten days. They slept in cars, backpacks, the chariot, nests in random houses, and our tent. It wasn't easy for any of us, but we are getting used to it. And sleep...... well, there will have to be time for that later.

Ricker Pond

2011-07-21T22:30:00.006-04:00

For the past four years, our dear friend Medora has reserved a bunch of campsites at one of Vermont's state parks. She makes the reservations in the middle of winter and invites all of the Wombats and their families. Last year we couldn't make it, but this year we needed an excuse to take a break from our siding project and join in on the fun. 9 families (18 adults and almost as many kids) all joined up at Ricker Pond in Groton State Park and we had an amazing time.

Cally loved being surrounded by all her "friends". She ranged around independently between campsites and was always being looked after by one of the adults or kids. And Hazen was never without one of his aunties to make him smile.

And even the dads did some bonding with group initiatives:

While at times, things got a little hectic, there is nothing better than being surrounded by good friends, the natural world, campfires, and a lake to cool off in:

And Thank you, ladies, for giving John and me another rare "biking date". You all jumped at the chance to watch our children and we were so appreciative of going on a ride together. Even if it did end with a crash where John's face made direct contact with his handlebars and landed him in the ER on Sunday. Even so, it was worth the escape and we knew our kids were in excellent hands

Having this community of friends is amazing. I feel so, so lucky!

Shingle Shin-Dig

2011-07-10T21:59:00.010-04:00

We live in a great place. We have great friends and a beautiful house..... that is so close to being done, but not quite there. For the past two years, we've gotten so used to the look of Tyvec paper as our exterior, that we hardly notice what is missing. Last summer, John tried to do the siding himself, but didn't get all that far before he realized he was in over his head. This spring, we hired two fine carpenters and a lift to jump start the project. Once the tough stuff was done and the coffers were empty, we tried to motivate to do the shingling ourselves, once again. But we needed something to jump start the momentum. Which is why, we had to call in the troops, once again, and ask our friends to help us make some more headway on our siding project. It's never fun to have to ask for help, but it's great to have it once you get it. A few weeks ago, we had a Siding Party. This is what our house looked like at 9am:

And this is what it looked like by 6pm:

Five fine men worked on a gorgeous day. My job was to keep these fine men fed, dip shingles, and do my best to keep kids entertained. Fortunately, the kids did a good job of entertaining themselves and a few of my ladies helped keep everything sane:

And since then, we've kept the momentum going. During the day, while the kids are napping, I dip shingles. When John comes home from work, he jumps on the staging, picks up the nail gun and gets going. Once the kids are fed and in bed, I get back to dipping....... and so that is how our summer has been going. I've got stain between my toes and the kids fall asleep to the sweet sound of the compressor and nail gun.

But we're getting there!

We can see the light and feel really good about what our families home is going to look like.

4th of July

2011-07-04T22:31:00.009-04:00

Happy Independence Day! We made it down to the Warren Parade for a fun morning of left leaning political floats and festivities with our friend's the Dormers.

Part II of the day included a hike up Mt. Abe with Tom and Cara (who even helped carry Cally up the steep section to the top).

LW & Silas-- Hilton Head Take II

2011-06-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

Here's to my youngest cousin Lindsay and her marriage to Silas! We did our best to get to their wedding. I won't go into the details, but let's just say it was a travel disaster and we therefore didn't make their nuptuals. We did, however, get to spend some time with them after they became Mr. and Mrs. Odell.

The guys all got to go for a kayak excursion:

Cally finally saw a real live alligator:

She got to ride in Uncle James' rented Mustang Convertable and wondered why the windows wouldn't go up:

And Grandma gave Cal her first pedicure:

And we all got to spend some time on the beach again:

And we all got to spend some quality time cuddling with his relatives:

Here's to the Underwood sisters, who continue the tradition of getting family together!

And here's to cute kids who aren't necessarily that much fun to travel with, but keep us smiling and feeling fortunate to be a family!

Look Who's 2 1/2 !

2011-06-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

Turtles

2011-06-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

Cally, John and Hazen has the opportunity to help release 50 threatened spiney softshelled turtles into Lake Champlain.

These little guys were brought to the ECHO science center in October and carefully cared for so that they could be released into the lake. Cally may not remember actually doing this, but hopefully, this sort of stewardship will become a part of who she is:

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-20T10:07:00.007-04:00

Every once in while, I hear Cally blurt out to her dad, "Dad, you're the best dad in the whole world". I'm not exactly sure if her two and a half year old brain really knows what she's saying, but then again, I think she does. I hope she knows how lucky she is to have a dad that arranges his work schedule so that he can stay home with the kids one day a week, who has a sit down breakfast with the family every single morning, who picks up toys for his kids at the freecycle zone at the dump, who gets a swingset on Craigslist and assembles it, who hasn't missed a single doctors appointment for either of his kids (even when in utero), and who loves his kids more than anything in the world.

Yesterday, on Father's Day, there wasn't a lot that was done for Dear Dad. We did, however, let him sleep in, delivered him coffee in bed, and made French Toast. Cally made a card and we had some photos printed for him. It's the little things that matter to this dad. He loved it all. And he's pretty sure that there isn't a dad in the world who loves his family as much as he does.

It may be a while before Cally and Hazen realize what an amazing father they have. It may not be until they have their own kids. But I know that he is pretty unbelievable. I know how much he's put on the back burner (powder days, international mountain adventures, epic mountain bike rides, music festivals, and more) so that his kids can be front and center in his life. And I know how innovative he's been to make it so his children can be a part of what he loves and represents. Right now, the kids are too young to really understand, and I know there will be a period of time where they actually resent spending time with their family, but they will never be light on love with this guy around!

Happy Father's Day, John!

Three weeks in Review

2011-06-16T21:09:00.012-04:00

Time seems to be slipping away. Here's a photo journalistic synopsis of the past three weeks:

Hazen turns 4 months! The stats: 14 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile) and 25.75 inches (75th percentile). He's smiling, giggling, and generally just a happy guy.

Crazy weather: We've had tons of rain this spring, combined with the run off from a big winter of snow means that Lake Champlain is at an all time high (in terms of flood level). We made it down for a wild afternoon:

Memorable Memorial Day with friends:

A fun Jazzfest weekend with a visit from the Dormers: Matt, Carlota, Boden (2.5 years old) and Skylar (9 months old) and the cousins in Stowe.

John's parenting leave is over, the kids are both with Meike for just another three days, exams start tomorrow, and I'm out of school on Thursday (just in time to jump on a plane to get down to South Carolina for Cousin Lindsay and Silas' wedding). Ahhhhhh Summer! So looking forward to it.

Congrats Dr. Abbott!

2011-05-23T21:41:00.005-04:00

It really is official! The diploma is in hand, we are so proud of our own Dr. Abbott!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-05-16T21:49:00.000-04:00

Can you believe that this lovely lady just turned 70 years old?!?!?!? I can't! She is one of the most active, fit, and fun 70 year old ladies that I've ever met and she's one darn amazing mother, grandmother, and wife.

I can't think of a better reason to celebrate this fantastic woman. And celebrate we did! The other weekend, for the first time since Hazen arrived, the entire PK Meyer brood got together to honor our matriarch. All 13 of us!

Not only is she a really hands-on grandmother, but she has equiped her house with everything an infant to eight year old might want to play with during a stay there--- bouncey chairs, high chairs, musical instruments, art supplies, puzzles, books, stuffed animals, exersaucer, trampoline, bikes, stollers, etc.

The grandkids have a ball together:

And the kids and partners do, too:

She should be proud of the life she's led, the kids she's raised, and the grandchildren she's made smile. Thanks for giving us a reason to get together and have fun!

Sun, Sand, & Surf

2011-04-28T20:54:00.015-04:00

For the past three years, we've been heading down to Hilton Head Island, SC. Every time we go to this place, it becomes more and more ideal for our current situation. Getting there wasn't all that much fun (three hour delay in Detroit because of snow), navigating airports and staying quiet on airplanes with two wee ones, but once we got down to this beach house, we were set.

This is the modest beach home that our family has been renting every now and again for 15 years. It's surrounded by "McMansions", but this beach house has remained largely the same since it was built back in the 50's. My Uncle George would spend summers at this house with his family and the family that still owns it. We packed 10 adults and 6 kids into the six bedrooms this year.

My Uncle Dick, who lives in Hawaii claims that this is one of the nicest beaches he's ever been to. It goes on for miles, there are great waves for body surfing, hard packed sand for running and biking, tide pools for kids to frolic in, and you are never far from napping kids, home cooked food, or a cocktail.

The Characters:

The Walker Family flew in from London. Amanda & Gregg are known for their great cooking, organizing activities, and love of fine wine. Campbell (5 1/2), Zoe (4), and Damon (2) are their spawn.

The Niquettes drove down from Baltimore, MD. They came with sweet Will (he'll be 2 in July):

Bobbie and Dick Walker: The parents of Gregg, flew in from their own little slice of heaven on the Big Island in Hawaii to do some Bargain Box shopping and spend time with their grandchildren who live so far away. Here is a picture of Aunt Bobbie with Hazen:

Lindsay (and her fiancee Silas) drove down from Charleston, SC. Unfortunately, we only got to spend one night with Silas, but he joined the naughty cousins in some pool hopping, so he's now officially initiated as a part of the Underwood Clan.

The Meyers flew from Boston with Kesley, the best caretaker of younger cousins ever (age 8) and Jameson (4).

And finally, the Masters of ceremony were Sherry and George Westerfield. They not only rented the house for us all, but got us bikes, sand toys, baby bouncer chairs, beach chairs, umbrellas, pack-n-plays, did our recycling, organized boat trips and river adventures, babysat their niece and nephews children, brought kids on "ghost crab hunts", cooked, and cleaned. And, they did it all with a smile on their face (even though I know they had to be sick of all the entertaining while they could have been planning more details for their daughter's wedding). Here is a picture of Cally giving Uncle George a big kiss for introducing her to crab meat for the first time:

And here they are, 8 of the 10 Underwood Great Grandchildren (from left to right: Campbell, Damon, Jameson, Hazen, Kesley, Will, Zoe, and Cally):

We spent a lot of time at the beach:

But we also got to go boating out to Palmetto Bluff on a refurbished tugboat with Captain George Hayward:

And go fishing, crabbing, and paddle boarding at the Cram's property across from Pinkney Island:

And decorate Easter Eggs thanks to Aunt Sherry organizing everything:

And hunt for Easter Eggs:

And celebrate a four years old's birthday:

And just hang out with cousins. Something that the Underwood grandchildren were fortunate to be able to do every summer as we were growing up. And something that we all value thanks to a tradition started by Great Grandma Isabel:

And here's to Mr. H. He rocked it in the travel department, slept like a champ, and even got to enjoy a little beach time.

Vacations as we once knew them to be have changed. There wasn't a whole lot of relaxing (I didn't crack open a book or magazine for the entire week) and traveling with two wee ones is nothing short of stressful, but we had so much fun and would do it again in a heartbeat (in fact, we are doing it again in two months for LW & Silas' wedding). Seeing all those kids, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles together creating new relationships and fostering old ones was what it was all about. There will be time to rest and relax later.

Come Hither Dear Spring

2011-04-17T20:57:00.007-04:00

All good things must come to an end........ For me, this means transitioning from a stay-at-home mom to working mom again. But before my maternity leave officially ended, I documented some fun times with friends and family.

We got together with Isaac, his new brother Oliver and his parents for a day at the Firehouse Art Gallery for fun with art.

We can only hope that Oliver and Hazen form as special of a bond as Cally and Isaac have established.

Cally's morning at the open art space has inspired her to take on a new medium-- water colors:

We got out for a family ski day at Mad River with the sun shining and the corn snow was delightful.

We also spent a great afternoon hanging out with the Ganz Clan, so their hot Mama could play in a national hockey tournament. As is always the case, the

And finally, we took a quick trip down to CT to see Nana and Grandpa, as well as lots of other aunties and friends.

Now we are off to Hilton Head before John officially takes over as Mr. Mom and I hit the classroom again.

March Goes Out Unlike a Lamb

2011-04-01T10:46:00.005-04:00

Since the weather wasn't acting very lamb-like at the end of March, we decided to go see some lambs. Shelburne Farms has more than 90 new lambs, so we brought Bumpa and Grandma to see them. Cally loved looking at the lambs, but I think she liked getting her family members to grab chickens for her to pet even more:

As is always the case, Cally had a wonderful time with her Grandma and Bumpa. She coerced them into reading many books at all times of the days-- including the early morning hours, thus letting her parents get a few extra winks. She particularly liked playing horsey on her Bumpa's belly!

Speaking of Spring, Cally did some spring cleaning and got her first haircut. She opted to sit in the yellow car, but was tempted by the motorcycle. And her dad even got a cut after her.

And as promised, Cal was back in action at the Swimming Hole as soon as we could get her there!

And since the snow is still around and Cally has made amazing progress in the walking department, she requested that she return to the slopes:

A posting would not be complete without an update of the little man. At his two month appointment, we weighed in at 11 lbs and 4oz (50th percentile) and just under 23 inches long (also 50th percentile). I can't remember how big his head was, but that was also int he 50th percentile. He's doing really well, smiling a bunch, wiggling, and sleeping like a rock.

And finally, the double chariot is all set up so we can get out in a different sort of way as a family. But we'll have to stick to skiing until the mud subsides for the jogging attachment.

Thank You!

2011-03-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

How do we thank all the people who have come to our aid and rescued us during what could have been such a rough patch. We have been amazed by the selfless and amazing acts of kindness and generosity that have come our way. Having to ask for and accept help is never something one really wants to be forced to do, but we didn't have a choice and feel so fortunate to have as many willing and able people in our lives. Here is just a quick overview of the support we've gotten:

The night of the accident, John's sister and husband delivered Cally's favorite stuffed animals, fed our dog, and cleaned up our house.
While at the hospital, our friend Sandy bought a phone charger and delivered it to our hospital room so that we could maintain communication with friends and family.
Before we even got home from the hospital, our good friend Jen and her boys had dropped off a meal, a beanbag chair, toys and books for Cally.
The day after we came home, Krull came over to make us breakfast and then Rebecca and Chase delivered more books and art supplies, and spent a few hours playing with Cally. Then our friends Cynthia and Cara came by to read stories and deliver a few movies.
The next day, our friends the Krulls and the Aubins encouraged us to get out of the house and meet them at ECHO (a children's museum) where they helped us wade through the gobs of kids and made Cally smile.

One day the Roose family came by with play do and dress up clothes.

Sandy, Rowan, Nils, Willem, and Shae delivered more books and did some more reading with Cal so that Mom could go out for a special night with the gals.
Scott came by while John was away to read to Cal, carry her upstairs, and then hold Hazen.
Our neighbors, the Gardners, came by with chocolate and books.
Anton, Popkin, and Colleen came by to tell stories and sign Cally's cast.
Cath and Ty brought a toy and a book and read to Cal.
Bobby came by with Hazen and Milo to make Cally smile.
Medora, Addy, and Tanner came by several times with crafts and books for Cally and an eagerness to hold Hazen, thus giving me a much needed break.
John's parents came up for four days with meals, tons of love and support.
My sister and Will came up for another four days ready to read, fix lunches, and do dishes as needed.
And then there is the Ganz Clan. Upon hearing the news, they immediately sprung into action. They came by with a truck full of helpful things. Austin fashioned a moving dolly into a wagon of sorts, they brought a bean bag chair, a high chair, medical advice, books, flashcards, dinner, and tons of love. And for the next three Tuesdays, the Ganz Clan continued to show up...... wisking Hazen out of my arms, letting me (and John when he is around) go on a quick ski, making a home cooked meal, and then pulling Cal around in the wagon, doing puzzles with her, reading books to her, and making her feel so darn special. And it's not like these folks have nothing else going on..... Mary works four days a week as a post-partum doula for two other families, the kids have homework to do, and Austin has sap to collect, but they came every week making our life so much brighter.

I hope we never need to call in this sort of help again, but I know that all these people would be there in a second if we needed it. I just hope there is some way to reciprocate what has been done for us.

Cast Off

2011-03-22T21:49:00.007-04:00

After four weeks and one day, the cast has come off. We'd been counting down the days and getting all fired up for its removal. But before going to the doctor, we had to get a shot of the cast and the crawling that Cally was able to do with the eight pound monstrosity (keep in mind that she only weighs 24 pounds).

The removal went really well. Cally seemed pretty excited to get this thing off:

The loud "saw" made her a little concerned:

But she didn't shed a tear through the entire 25 minutes that it took to get this beast off:

However, as we had been warned to expect, she was really freaked out when it came off. She needed to be held and clung to us like velcro. When we got home, she wanted to be carried and didn't even want to try walking. Our cheerful, fun loving gal was a mess. She didn't want to take a bath (which NEEDED to happen given the skin collection on her legs), didn't want to eat much, and definitely didn't want to use her leg. There was nothing we could do to ease her through the transition back to life without the cast. She said her leg didn't hurt, but I imagine it just felt strange.

24 hours later, Cal was standing, cracking jokes, and learning to walk again. We pulled out the walker wagon from the attic and got back to basics. She wanted to have nothing to do with crawling (which the doctor said she'd probably do for a week) and she was ready to put the feet down and walk. She's still got a ways to go, but she's getting there and she has the will, so she'll find a way to get back running again soon.

Update: This morning, we woke up to a little girl who had walked from her bedroom to our bedside. She's one determined girl.

Whoa Is Me!

2011-03-08T21:04:00.008-05:00

So I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. My husband, coparenting partner, houseman, and ski buddy, left to teach a backcountry ski and avalanche course in Idaho on Saturday morning. I was very envious of the skiing he'd get to do in such a gorgeous place, but what I was most jealous of was the uninterrupted nights of sleep he'd get....... I knew I couldn't handle a 5 week old and an invalid 2-year old on my own, so we called in the reinforcements.

Nana and Grandpa were willing to do whatever was needed to help us out. So, they came up on Friday with a car full of home cooked goodies, a lot of patience, their best reading voices, and a great attitude. They welcomed Cally into their bed each morning, reading Curious George and other books over and over again, so that I could get coffee made, Hazen fed, and the day started. They helped us shuttle a car back from the airport and most importantly, they helped me survive a 30 inch snowstorm that surprised all of us. I'd been nagging John about teaching me to use the snowblower, but it just never happened. So, when I woke up to this on Monday morning:

I knew I'd have to figure it out. Fortunately, the snowblower had been given to John by his father, so Art was able to talk me through the start up. With Nana reading to Cally and tending to Hazen, I took charge of the snowblowing and after three separate snowblowing episodes, I got our driveway cleared. I'll admit, I felt pretty empowered and independent...... but I also was sore from using upper body muscles I had never needed to use like that before.

We didn't leave the house on Monday, but eventually, we could have. It felt good not to be stuck or "shut in". So, while many of my colleagues and friends were making turns in the gobs of snow that were falling from the skies, I was feeling sorry for myself about not being able to ski.... until my dear friend Mary called to see if I wanted to join her at Mad River while swapping off Hazen care... and then I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. And what a light it was! It was a feel good, bluebird day and ideal conditions. Plus, I got to ski with three lovely wombats (and some other their offspring) with whom I never get to ski these days and they fought about who would get to hang out with Hazen in the lodge.

On Wednesday, Cally and Hazen's dear Aunt Nif came to help out. She arrived with cousin Will and brought a wonderful attitude and horrible weather. They entertained Cally, cuddled with Hazen, and gave me the opportunity to get out and exercise Zephy.

And it takes a village....... other key players in helping me through my week of single parenthood were the Ganz clan (more on them later) who brought us dinner on Tuesday night, The Harris Plimpton crew who entertained us on Thursday night,

and Uncle James, Aunt Paula, Kesley and Jameson who entertained us on Saturday night.

I couldn't have survived this week without all the aforementioned help. I'd been nervous about my time alone before Cally even hurt hersel, but once that happened I wasn't afraid to ask for help. Fortunately, I've got wonderful friends and family members who could be there for us. That said, I'm not going to lie, I'm counting down the hours until my co-pilot returns!

Our Unsung Hero

2011-02-27T10:17:00.011-05:00

One week down, 3-5 to go. It is clear that one person is handling this whole collision of circumstances like a champion. Cally has been nothing short of amazing. She continues to smile often, tell us she loves us out of the blue, and crack jokes. We have been so fortunate to have friends, colleagues, and students help us by reading and playing with Cal, moving and stacking our wood, babysitting, offering to clean our house........ We are so lucky to have such a great community of people in our lives. It helps to have a dynamic daughter who has charmed folks enough to make them want to help out.

That said, there is one player in this family who has sort of taken the back stage but been a key player in this whole charade. Hazen Philip is incredible. Since this whole situation unfolded a week ago, he has rolled with it, brought tons of smiles to his sisters face and kept everything in perspective. Even before the accident a bond was forming:

When Cally came out of anesthesia after her leg was set at the hospital, grumpy as a bear coming out of hibernation too early, there was only one thing that made her smile...... not her mother, her father, her favorite stuffed animal. Nope, none of those things helped, what made her smile at 2:30am with a body cast recently wrapped around her agile little body, was her little brother, whom she'd only known for three weeks.

When doctors or nurses would come in and talk to us, she always wanted to make sure they knew she is a big sister and that her brother's name is Hazen.

When visitors come over, they are so good about making Cally feel special and of their utmost concern, but who can resist a little moment with an infant:

I'm not going to lie, there have been moments, when Hazen is hungry and is crying and Cally needs a book read and is whining and John and I look at each other and wonder how we are going to survive this month or so. But, we've learned to multitask and become number one fans of the Moby wrap. Yep, that's Hazen in the brown contraption on John's chest and Cally in his arms. Before all this happened, John wouldn't have stepped near the Moby wrap-- it seemed too feminine and complicated. That changed when Cally's Orthepedic Surgeon saw me wearing Hazen in the Moby at the hospital and proudly proclaimed that he loves the contraption and wears it all the time with his own 9 month old son. Now there aren't many daytime napping hours that pass without Hazen wrapped as snug as a bug on one of our bodies.

The moments of chaos are rare and most of the time we have nothing to complain about. Here's to the little man who continues to pack on the ounces (he weighed in at 8 lbs and 13 oz the other day) and helps put everything in perspective.

And here's to keeping our life as normal as possible....... like taking a walk down to the mailbox and getting the paper.

If We Could Turn Back Time.......

2011-02-24T09:48:00.009-05:00

If I could turn back time, we would have stayed inside all afternoon last Sunday. We would have kept our precious little spirit safe in the house. But we didn't stay inside last Sunday. We decided to go for a quick family ski in the pastures neighboring our house, a loop we've done more times than we can count. It was a bluebird day, but quite cold, so we decided to keep the kids close to our bodies to keep them warm. Hazen was in a Baby Bjorn on my belly and we decided Cally would be warmest if she was in an Ergo pack on her dad's back. We set out singing "Old McDonald", debated what kind of noise a rabbit makes, and talked about Peter Cotton Tail. We all felt better for being outside.

There is one small hill on the loop. In the days leading up to this fated event, the temperatures had gotten into the 50's and then plummeted to the single digits. Much snow had melted, subsequently frozen solid, and a dusting of new snow had sugar coated the terrain. Our neighbors sometimes drive through the snow in the pastures, so there can be some uneven terrain. We quickly talked about taking our skis off and walking down the small hill, but decided against it. I went first and stopped half way down the hill. Having metal edged skis, stopping wasn't very difficult. John and Cally skied past us, Cally with a huge smile on her face, laughing, and John with a clear look of concern. He was going too fast and knew a fall was in his near future. Having true cross country skis without edges, his options for slowing down were limited. Using his best quick judgement, he decided to try to do a modified hockey stop and fell on his butt (concerned about Cally getting thrown forward over his shoulders). Cally's laughing turned to a cry...... not a screaming cry, a sort of muffled sad cry.

We assumed she was just scared from the fall, but realized that there had to be something else going on. We asked her what hurt and she said it was her ankle. We quickly skied the 100 yards home, got her off John's back, brought her to the couch, pealed off her boots, snowsuit, and tights and assessed what was wrong. There was no obvious swelling, but she pointed to her thigh when asked what hurt and wanted nothing to do with putting weight on it. We immediately grabbed the diaper bag, a sling, and put both kids in the car heading directly to the ER in Burlington. Cally sat quietly in the car, not really crying, but not engaging in conversation either..... which is when we both knew something was really, really wrong. Having been a ski patroller and taken children off the mountain who had broken their femur, I knew that the tell tale pain wasn't necessarily as obvious for them. Because they lack the muscular development, the leg doesn't contract and convulse like it would with an adult.

We were admitted immediately into a room in the ER and within 20 minutes X-rays were being taken of Cally's leg. The nurses, doctors and staff could not have been nicer to us. No one ever shamed us for doing what we were doing and they all engaged Cally, making her feel special and of their utmost concern. Within an hour of being at the hospital, an orthapedic doctor had looked at her X-rays and broken the bad news to us. Cally had broken her femur and would need to go to the OR to have it set and place her in a spica cast (aka a body cast-- see photo below). They thought they could get her into the OR by 8pm. Meanwhile, Cally charmed the ER staff and patiently waited without any pain killers. This is a picture of the brave girl in the ER, showing off her brother to the staff.

By 9:30pm, it was clear that she wasn't going to get into the OR anytime soon, so they transferred her to the pediatric ward at the hospital. She was exhausted and would fall asleep, only to jolt herself awake every 20 minutes or so. We tried giving her pain killers, but she refused anything orally. At midnight, the OR finally called, ready to get her down there. She went into the OR at 12:30am. At 1:30am, the attending surgeon came to tell us everything went well and that she had come out of surgery just fine. At 2:30am she was transferred back to the pediatric ward, where we stayed together as a family in her room, John on a reclining chair, Hazen and me on a spare bed.

Hearing that your active, spirited two-year old has to be in a body cast for 4-6 weeks while also caring for a 3 week old infant is not the kind of news any parent wants to get. But it is what it is and you deal, you plow forward and you figure it out. I'm not going to lie, I was overwhelmed, devestated for her, and just wanted to cry. But, you can't. You have to keep it positive, because she is positive...... even when she has a body cast and can't practice jumping, go on "bear hunts", ski, or run fast. You wouldn't believe this girl. Yes, she's out of sorts and maybe a little whinier than usual, but she still has that wonderful smile, spunk, and charm.

And we're figuring it out and realizing that she still can do so much...... Thanks to a fantastic wagon that her Bumpa and Grandma got her for Christmas she can go on rides around the house and even went to ECHO, a children's museum, on Wednesday.

She can eat breakfast at the table.

She can have her toes "painted" by wonderful friends who come over and read to her.

And she can play, in a different sort of way.....

And even bathing is doable:

I know that 4-6 weeks is but a blip in time and feel so fortunate that Cally isn't faced with a permanent disability. I know that this is going to make our family stronger and prove to us that we can do a lot more than we ever thought we could. I know it will make us a little more aware of the risks involved with our active lifestyle.

But I also know that we couldn't do this with any other cast of characters. Cally is nothing short of amazing; Hazen, well, he deserves his own blog entry here because of how amazing he's been; John obviously feels horrible about what happened, but he's doing everything emotionally and physically possible to make this situation better; our friends-- it makes me cry just thinking about how generous they are with their love, time, books, and support; our family, for being willing to come up here and help. I know it could be so much worse, but I also know that there are a lot of really compassionate and wonderful people out there who aren't judging us for what happened and offering the love and support that we need.

Love is in the Air.....

2011-02-15T21:34:00.012-05:00

Monday was the official day to celebrate love, but lately everyday has felt like a day to celebrate the love that is surrounding our family. Between all the meals that the wombats have been delivering to our house every few days, the visitors, the gifts that arrive for Hazen, the phone calls, and the simple pleasure of our family growing together and feeling strong, we are feeling a whole lot of love.

(note the hat and afgan, both handmade for the little man)

FAMILY LOVE:

Over the weekend, Hazen got to meet his Nana and Grandpa. They are never in short supply of adoration for their grandchildren. Nana knit Hazen a little afgan blanket and another sweater for Cally (embarassingly, I've lost count of the number of sweaters she has knit for Cal....... I think we are at number 7!). They both read countless books to Cal, changed their fair share of diapers and did some quality snuggling with the little man.

SKI LOVE:

Most importantly, for our nuclear family, we've been getting out of the house to continue to do what we love most-- ski and be outside. After a few botched attempts (forgotten skins or one pair of skis), we've finally figured out how to make it happen. And it seems to make each of us happy--even the little guy, who seems to love being all snuggled into the baby bjorn.

BIG GIRL LOVE:

Ever since the little man came home from the hospital, a certain someone seems like a much bigger kid. She literally feels heavier, looks taller, and sounds more articulate. She's becoming such a great helper around the house-- grabbing a blanket for Hazen, finding a pacifier for him, reminding me to put ointment on my sore boobies, or insisting that she can make her little brother smile on the changing table.

A week ago, Cally went down for a nap. An hour later, I heard a big thump from her room and then a cry. Cally had fallen out of her crib and bitten her tongue. We'd been thinking about the transition to a "big girl bed", but didn't want to push it because of the other big transition in our household. When I asked Cally if she wanted to move into the bed, she eagerly agreed to give it a try. Our wise friend, Medora, recommended keeping the crib in the room, so that if the bed thing didn't work out, we could easily put her back in there. The first night that she settled into the bed, I cried. I'm in trouble if this is how emotional I get after each milestone is met and our little girl grows up so quickly.

CREATIVE LOVE:

Cally, Hazen and I met up with Isaac, his parents, and his 5 day old brother, Oliver for Tadpole Art in Burlington. The kids got to play with clay, paint, and make a collage. Cal loved every minute of it!

Husband Love:

And finally, here's to the love that got us into this mess in the first place!

This was our 5th Valentine's Day together and John surprised me with a date at the same place we've celebrated this special day for the past five years. The tradition started during the epic Valentine's Day storm of 2007..... I think it snowed over 34 inches that day and we'd had an amazing day of skiing at Mad River. The drive home was crazy treacherous and there were almost no cars on the road. Just about every business had shut down that day and we assumed our reservation at Sonoma Station had been cancelled. Alas, they were open and we dined with only one other couple (whom had skied to the restaurant).

So every year, John has made a reservation for us at this same special place to remind us of that very special day. This year, the thought of getting out on a date for Valentine's Day didn't even cross my mind. But, John arranged for Uncle Scotty to watch Cally while we took the little man to Sonoma Station. It was a flawless evening. Hazen slept the entire time, we had a delicious and romantic meal, and Cally was thrilled to have her buddy Scott put her to bed.

Love is clearly all around!

Hazen Philip Abbott Arrives

2011-02-09T12:59:00.007-05:00

Cally is officially a big sister!

Hazen’s birth story:

After a few false alarms, at 4am on Sunday, January 30^th, I woke up with what would become my labor with Hazen. John and I stuck it out in the bedroom for an hour, timing the contractions and trying to come up with a plan for Cally care and our trip to the hospital. Not wanting to disturb anyone else’s valuable sleep, we did our best to wait to call the doctor and our dear friend Medora (who had volunteered to watch Cally until her grandparents could get up here). By 5:45am, when contractions were averaging about 7 minutes apart, I decided I couldn't really wait much longer and we called in the troops. Our doctor encouraged us to stay home until contractions were 5 minutes apart, but by 6:30, I felt like I just needed to be getting the ball moving towards the hospital. We woke up Cally and had Medora meet us at the Cumberland Farms in Richmond. Cally didn’t seem to miss a beat and was thrilled to be spending the day with Medora, Addy, Tanner and Spencer.

John and I arrived to the hospital at 7:30am. By then, my contractions were just about 5 minutes apart (some a little more frequent, some less). I was hooked up to a monitor for 20 minutes and told by the nurse that I was in “early” labor. Even though some contractions were 2 ½ minutes apart, others were five minutes apart and the nurse explained that my body still needed to “organize” the contractions. At this point a resident checked my cervix and told me I was 4.5 cm dilated (considering I had been 3cm dilated for the past three weeks, this was disappointing news). I was also told that I couldn’t get in the big bath that I was dreaming about because it could slow down my labor.

By 8:15, my doctor arrived and chatted with me for about 30 minutes, coaching me through a bunch of contractions. Eventually, she encouraged me to get in the bath, so by 8:45, I got in there. Within minutes of being in the comfortable tub, my water broke. By 9am, I felt like I couldn’t handle the intensity of the contractions and cried “mercy” to my nurse, claming I wasn’t sure if I could do this (without an epidural). She told me we could talk about it after the next contraction, a few times. A little after 9am my doctor came back in the room and checked my cervix by using a mirror in the tub. At that point I was 9 cm dilated and she informed me that I’d be having this baby very soon. In fact, she wanted to be sure that I was all right having the baby in the bathtub. I labored for a few more contractions and realized I didn’t want to be in the tub anymore, I was overheating and kind of grossed out by being in the tub……. The doctor needed to drain the tub enough to get me out through a door, have a contraction, and then scurry to the bed. So, about ten minutes later, Hazen Philip was born.

We didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. Cally kept telling me I was having a girl, so I sort of let myself believe that. In any case, John and I were both really surprised when a little guy came out. What amazed us even more was the red hair! Not just the red hair, but the uncanny resemblance between Cally and Hazen. It’s pretty wild. Can you guess which photo is of Cally and which one is of Hazen?

Cally is so, so happy to be a big sister.

She was also so happy to have her Grandma and Bumpa around to play with her (they arrived on Sunday afternoon to relieve Medora and her family of their duties). They were incredible! Grandma got Cally up and dressed her for four days in a row…… letting her pick out outfits that clearly didn’t match and letting us catch a few more winks of sleep. She also must have done 10 loads of laundry and almost as many loads of dishes. Both of them made sure we were well fed, rested, and comfortable.

Cally really hasn’t missed a beat with the expanded family. She loves helping and she’s making sure she gets what she needs. It’s definitely a juggling game for us (especially, now that the grandparents have left), but she continues to make us laugh, express her love, and is learning to entertain her little brother.

And the parents are doing pretty well, too. We are getting some sleep, bonding with the little guy, getting great meals from friends, and John has even gotten some skiing in. And yep, that's me drinking a well earned beer!

Still No Baby.....

2011-01-22T21:04:00.004-05:00

Two weeks later, and still no baby. But things happen for a reason, right? Maybe the baby needed to wait for Cally to recover from a rotten cold or maybe the baby is waiting to for us to get all our little "projects" done or maybe the baby is just taking his/her time to come into this world.

Last week, I got a huge sucker punch regarding what it is like to be a part of this world and its been a pretty emotional time. A student at the high school where I teach walked into school on Tuesday with a gun and ended his life in a bathroom. I feel like I've gone through the gamut of emotions in the aftermath of this tragedy-- sadness for the student, his friends, his parents, and our community; anger towards the media for their coverage of this horrific event and people in the region who want to blame schools and teachers for anything they can; frustration that our sense of safety has been shattered; and relief that this student didn't have the desire to bring anyone else down with him. The whole situation has made me think so much about what it is to be a kid today.......... relationships are so different. Instead of communicating with your friends face to face, you text, twitter, and state your status on public Facebook posts. Kids have so many more "friends" these days, but I wonder if they really have people with whom they can open up and talk? This whole week has made me scared for the future of my students and child(ren). But, waking up to the beaming smile of our little red head and then seeing the community of our school come together in the subsequent days has given me hope. I hope that my students will learn from this tragedy and listen to friends, ask for help, and open up a little more. I hope that Cally will have relationships with friends, family, and teachers where she feels comfortable opening up and being who she is. Right now, Cally is open to almost anyone and anything. She loves to talk, she loves her relationships with people of every age (and animals, too), and when I ask her if she's happy, she say, "I'm SO happy". That gives me hope.

(Cally with "the boys"-- Scott, Tom, & Dad)

(Giving hugs to Zephy)

(seeing the joy she gets from skiing)

(Cally recently introduced to the wonders of Skyping her Nana and Grandpa)

Maybe baby has been waiting for me to process these events with my colleagues, be there for my students, and be hopeful?

Cally's Going to be a Big Sister

2011-01-10T21:37:00.004-05:00

Cally arrived 11 days past her due date. That waiting game was one of the most miserable mental exercises John and I had been through. The literature says you are "to term" anytime after 37 weeks and there we were well past week 41, twiddling our thumbs, doing everything anyone told us we should try to get the baby out before unnatural means/induction would be attempted (and trying not to have her birthday fall on Christmas day). But she came and she was healthy and happy. So, we just assumed that Babbott (Baby #2), will likely take his/her time, as well.

When John arranged his plan to teach his annual Winter Skills trip in the White Mountains for this week last summer (I'll be 38 weeks on Thursday), neither of us were particularly worried. But, as departure date got closer, I'm not going to lie, I did start to worry. In fact, last night, I grilled him about a) how I could communicate with him if I were to go into labor b)how long it would take him to get home and c) if he would be bummed if he missed the birth of his second child, he looked at me like I was some neurotic pregnant lady.

This is how the conversation went:

"What if I go into labor? How will I get in touch with you?" I asked
"You can call Pinkam Notch and they can radio up to the hut", he answered.
"Do they answer the phone at night? Does the "hut guy" answer the radio during the day? How do they find you if you guys are climbing miles away in a gulley?" I inquired.
"Good questions," he responded.
"And assuming they do find you at the cabin or on a climb, how long will it take for you to get back to Vermont?" I asked.
"Well, if I bring my skis, it'll take me 20 minutes to ski down and then 3 1/2 hours to drive back" he said calmly.
"But what about factoring in the time to get the word, pack up your stuff, etc.?" I asked.
"It's just not going to happen. You aren't going to have this baby early," he stated even more calmly.

So, when I went to my weekly appointment today, the nurse asked if I wanted to have a pelvic exam. During my pregnancy with Cally, folks advised me NOT to have the pelvic exam b/c it doesn't really mean anything. Of course, I had several pelvic exams before Cally was born (because I was late) and each time they told me that I had no dilation of my cervix. This time, however, I asked for an exam and explained our scenario. Upon examining me, the doctor, who had worked at the huts in the White Mountains said, "How important is it that your husband go on this trip? Because you are 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. Your body is ready to give birth and I wouldn't be surprised if you go any day".

At that point, John walked in the door. The doctor explained that some women walk around like this for a week, others give birth really soon, but whatever is the case, this second labor is likely to go a lot faster than the first (it took me 10 hours to get to 4cm with Cally). We all wish we could have crystal ball and could tell exactly when this baby is going to come, but our doctors words of advice were, "John, if you could live with missing the birth of your child, then go. If you couldn't live with it, then you should stay".

After some discussion, we decided that John will teach the class here in Burlington tomorrow and maybe go to Willey's Slide in New Hampshire for the day on Wednesday, but he won't be staying over night in the backcountry. There will be no radio calls, ranger hide and go seek, nor stressed out mothers.

Who knows, it may be another week or more, but you don't get to be there for the birth of your kid a second time. Plus, can you imagine the ammunition this kid would have as a teenager when he's mad at John and he says, "Yeah, but Dad, you weren't even there for my birth!"

Cally's Skiing By Herself

2011-01-08T21:25:00.003-05:00

Everyday this week, Cally has asked to go skiing or simply put on her ski boots and walked to the door. It's been amazing to see her get so fired up and see how much better she's gotten in just one week!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:04:00.009-05:00

Here's to a happy and healthy 2011!

We ended 2010 with some great visits with family. First, Nana and Grandpa made it up from the blizzard down south for a couple of days of celebrating with us. John and I both agree that we are knocked down to second and third draft pick when Nana comes into town. She indulges Cally in all the books she wants to read, adorable gifts, and lots of hugs. Meanwhile, Grandpa did lots of drawing with Cally on her new easel. And most amazingly for us, her grandparents indulged us by bringing up a home cooked dinner, letting us sleep in for two mornings in a row, encouraging us to go on a ski date, treating us to a celebratory dinner out, and later letting us go on a rare date to the movies!

Check out the new shrug that Nana knit for Cally:

On Thursday, Cally got to go back to the Swimming Hole with her cousins and exchange more Christmas presents. That afternoon, while she was supposed to be napping, before heading to Stowe, she was practicing singing "Happy Birthday" to Kesley. Kesley and Jameson couldn't be nicer to Cally. It's such a treat to be able to see them regularly.

New Years was spent at our house-- five couples, five kids, and four of the ladies are pregnant. The kids ate early and were put to sleep in every room available upstairs (including a bathroom) and the adults had a delicious meal which included salad, a rib roast, scallops, salmon, asparagus, various potatoes, and two delicious pies.

And most of us even made it up until midnight:

And the best news for Cally was that two of the families spent the night, so she got to play all morning with her buddies:

And, in between all these visitors, we've had some fun times in the snow, while it lasted.....

A Christmas to Remember

2010-12-24T12:38:00.011-05:00

We decided to hunker down and stay in Vermont this year for the holidays. With the second baby coming in a little over a month and family feeling like they wanted to stick around their own homes, it ended up being just our nuclear family. It did feel somewhat strange to be so close, yet so far away from family, but we managed to arrange for various engagements with friends and were really looking forward to the variety they would add to our traditional holiday repertoire........ This was to include a fun gathering of folks for a seven course fish dinner prepared by our friend Lauren who is a professional chef on X-mas Eve and a Turkey feast at our house with our friends Chris, Rebecca, and Chase.

As is often the case, it's always good to have a plan B........ It turns out, our gal Cal got her first stomach bug on Thursday night. She was as thrown off by the whole thing as we were. It needs to be explained that it is these such incidents that scared me the most about becoming a parent. Years ago, I basically made John sign a "pre-nup" that stated that he'd be the one to deal with these messes when they come. Alas, the time came and it became glaringly apparent that it helps to have a two-person roster on the clean up team--- one person cleans up the kid while the other cleans up the "site". So, even at 35-weeks pregnant, I managed to just deal with the situation with a lot less squeamishness than I imagined I would have had and John willingly dealt with more than his fair share.

Kids are pretty amazing. Cal woke up on Friday and she was pretty much good to go. She said she wanted breakfast and seemed to have her sense of humor and energy. Even so, we called our hosts for the 7 Fishes Dinner and told them we'd sadly have to decline the invitation. Later in the day, after consultation with a friend in the medical profession who said that if Cal was asymptomatic for 24 hours, she'd probably be good to go to the party and a call from the hosts saying they really were fine with us coming if Cally seemed all right, we decided to go for it. We loaded into the car, drove 40 minutes south, settled into their cozy house, accepted a glass of wine, and within 15 minutes, poor little Cally had barfed on the counter of their gourmet kitchen.

To say that we felt horrible is an understatement. We felt so bad for our little gal who was clearly not well and was so looking forward to hanging out with other kids, but we also felt like J.V. parents for having brought a sick kid to a family gathering. We deserve any razzing that they had to throw our way after that one.

Fortunately, I'd purchased a chunk of wild salmon at the store earlier in the day (thinking we weren't going to the party) and that was still in the fridge. So, upon putting our sick little girl to bed (but making sure that she left some cookies and celery for Santa and his reindeer before she retired), John and I actually had a lovely, intimate X-mas Eve dinner together.

Cal woke up early in the morning and asked to come into our bed. We had our reservations, but she was just too darn cute and snuggly, so we acquiesced and she slept until 8am. Even when we told her that Santa had come and asked if she wanted to see what he had for her, she seemed nonplussed and even uninterested. But we riled her up and brought her downstairs to see the loot. Poor thing had a hard time getting all too excited about things.

We figured a little breakfast would make her feel better........ But that didn't turn out to be the case, she got sick while eating her breakfast, told us she was hungry 20 minutes later, and then got sick again (yes, we officially are J.V. parents for feeding a kid right after she gets sick). With that, we officially postponed the feast planned with our friends and hunkered down for a lazy day:

trying hard to hydrate:

Alas, after a nap, Cal was back to herself and took some time to enjoy the loot that she could hardly acknowledge hours earlier.

While it wasn't really the Christmas that had been mapped out in our heads, it turned out to be very special and intimate indeed.

Oh, and here's Cally singing about one of her many gifts, a pair of red ski boots:

I'm Two!

2010-12-22T11:47:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that this girl is two! She's been acting like she's two for months, but now it's official! Already, we struggle about how we will honor her special day which falls so close to Christmas. We worry that she'll feel gypped by the fact that she only gets presents one time a year, that it'll be hard to gather friends for birthday parties so close to the holidays, etc. etc. But so far, she doesn't seem to mind at all. Especially when she gets to help bake her cupcakes.

This year, we decided to combine her birthday celebration with a welcoming of the winter solstice, the holidays, and her father's doctoral degree. So, we invited a bunch of our friends and their kids over to sled, eat cup cakes, and play. Cally didn't know what to think about all these people singing happy birthday to her. She actually looked sort of embarrassed.

I think one of her favorite parts of the party, was getting to hold Baby Milo (9 weeks).

Today, we celebrated with a birthday raisin bran muffin and presents in the morning.

Here's a clip of her opening a present from Grandma and Bumpa........ please note, no one was injured by the bike seat being a bit too high:

This afternoon, we picked "Little Miss Sunshine" up from Meike's and drove through a snow storm to Stowe so she could go to the Swimming Hole (she only asks us about 10 times a day if she can go back there). She was in heaven........ I think she took twelve trips up and down the slide:

We met up with her "Uncle's" Scott and Tom for dinner in Waterbury, but within minutes of being in the restaurant, it was clear that "Little Miss Sunshine" was not feeling all that sunshinny......... she snuggled up with her daddy and actually fell asleep in his arms for most of the meal (which is pretty much a first). To bed, our birthday girl went with a 101 degree fever! Hopefully, this spunky little fire cracker will be back on her game tomorrow.

Congratulations Dr. Abbott!

2010-12-14T21:07:00.003-05:00

He did it! After all the hard work, John defended his doctoral dissertation on Monday. In front of his committee, colleagues, students, cohort members, and friends, he explained his research and answered some thoughtful questions before getting "grilled" by his committee behind closed doors.

With some moderate coaching, the first thing Cally said to her dad upon seeing him after the defense was, "Congratulations Dr. Abbott". It pretty much brought tears to his eyes.

We're both so proud of you, Dr. Abbott! We look forward to spending all sorts of family time together now that your eyes don't have to be glued to that enormous computer screen.

What a Long Strange Week it has Been

2010-12-05T21:49:00.004-05:00

Our week started out in a fairly predictable way. John, frantically continued editing "the beast" (a.k.a. his dissertation), Cally hung out with Meike and Nate, and I went to school. On Tuesday, I got the stomach flu (which stinks any way you slice it, but triply sucks when you are 8 months pregnant and have an almost 2-year old daughter who doesn't quite get it when she's told her Mom is "sick").

On Wednesday, I arrived home to this:

A huge wind storm rocketed through this part of the world, devastating tons and tons of trees and some unfortunate homes. One such tree happened to fall in our back yard-- within feet of our porch. Power was knocked out, school was canceled on Thursday, and the buzz of chain saws has been heard almost constantly since then.

John managed to finish his edits by candlelight on Wednesday and Thursday nights and submitted the beast for final review by his committee. With a huge sigh of relief and anxious anticipation of the defense next week, we both reveled in the idea of having some uninterrupted family time.

We've still got a long way to go with the clean up, but we did take a break to buy a Christmas tree with Cally on Saturday:

And somehow, amongst the chaos, this girl let us know that she can count to seven (though in this video she stopped at five)

Giving Thanks

2010-11-27T13:37:00.010-05:00

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Mostly, we are thankful for this spitfire of a red head who is almost two and continually making us smile. But we are also thankful for all the wonderful visitors we had over the holiday break.

Tuesday night, John's fantastic friend from his days at Bates, Alex, and his family came over to visit from Maine. They were heading up to McGill University so that their older daughter, Zoe, could check it out. They found a great hostel right off of St. Denis Street in the Latin Quarter, so we booked a room and joined them.

It was chilly up there, but we all bundled up and took to the streets:

We had dinner at a favorite Ethiopian restaurant and breakfast at a creperie. Both places were delicious, but as is the case with any culture outside of the US, the service was slow. Even so, Cally held it together for a 2 1/2 hour dinner and hour and a half breakfast.

We made it back to Vermont by 1pm on Thursday. Cally took a power nap and then we headed over to the Ganzenmuller's for the feast with the Harris/Plimpton clan. Two years ago, when Cally's arrival was imminent, we stuck around Vermont for the holidays. This year, John needed to keep his nose to the grindstone and write (t-minus 14 days until his big defense), so again we celebrated our day of thanks with our community of friends.

Cally got to sit at the kids table and was well taken care of all afternoon by Timmy, Augie, Tanner, Claire, and Addy. There really isn't anything cuter than a six year old boy putting Cally's shoes on for her or checking to make sure her bib is on correctly or just making sure that she's not left out.

As is the case with almost every gathering with the kids of the Wombat gals, there is a performance. This year, Addy and Claire practiced and performed a fantastic "play". It involved at least seven acts, costume changes, and lots of singing. Cally was pretty excited to get to watch.

Friday afternoon, another one of John's friends from Bates came by for a visit with his kids (he lives in Blue Hill, ME, but grew up here in Jericho, VT). That night, we took Cally to a UVM hockey game. She LOVED it. Not only did she get to ride a bus for the first time (from the parking lot to the game), but she got to see Rally Cat (the UVM mascot).

She actually did watch a bit of the game and she got excited when the fans cheered, but Rally Cat became her obsession. When she finally got to meet him, she gave him a high five or two, but got a little bashful about giving him a hug...........

UVM was playing Northeastern and it ended in a 2-2 tie.

Saturday afternoon, Micheal, Elizabeth and Dean came over for a visit (friends we recently visited from Brooklyn) along with our friends Jen, Nils and their boys. Cally was pretty excited to try Elizabeth's fancy boots on and play with Dean.

That night, our friend's Tom and Kara had offered to babysit, so we decided to go on a date. Cally ended up having not just Tom and Kara watch her, but Scott and Cynthia, as well. I guess she got to watch football and drink beer.

And now it's Sunday. Cally's napping and when she wakes up, we'll head over to Stowe to go swimming with her cousin's, Kesley and Jameson, return home to see Uncle Mark who will be staying the night after dropping her cousin Chris off at Champlain College, and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour so that we can all reacclimate to waking up early.

We really are thankful to have so many special people in Cally's life-- who visit us and add so much to our lives. Each morning, when Cally and I go on a walk with Zephy, she sits in the backpack and recounts the people she's seen. We feel fortunate to have so many people out there who add to the little spirit she is becoming.

Again, Daddy, Again!

2010-11-21T21:02:00.008-05:00

Some would say we are totally irresponsible........ others would say we are true adventurers. Whatever is the case, we certainly made John's 45th Birthday a special one.

Yesterday, our friend, Scott let us throw a family birthday party for John up at High Meadow-- the gorgeous spot where Cally got to spend the first two months of her life. Every time we drive up the long driveway to the property, I get a warm feeling. We were so lucky to be able to call this place home (while our own home was being built) back in the fall and winter of 2008-2009:

And so, it makes sense that when it came to celebrating "half-way to the grave" Birthday, he requested that we have a bonfire up at High Meadow. However, since it is November and some might consider it a little cold for an outdoor party, Scott offered up the cabin. 15 rug rats and 30 adults came together to honor this guy:

The guy that I only officially started dating four years ago, but who has continued to amaze me-- as a father, a writer, an outdoors man, beloved advisor/mentor, friend, and husband.

He'd do absolutely anything for his family and so this morning, when I asked him how he'd like to spend his actual birthday (the day after his very fun party up at High Meadow), he decided to combine his two loves: family and skiing. We've always said that we would never be those people who ski with their kid in a backpack at a ski area. It just seemed reckless-- the potential for someone else hitting you seemed too high. However, we decided that skiing at a ski area before it opens might be all right. So this afternoon we headed up to Stowe, where enough snow has fallen to make it possible to skin and ski down. We bundled Cally up in warm clothes, loaded her in a backpack and slowly trudged up the hill. Because I'm 30 weeks pregnant, slow was the operative word.

Cally loved the hike, but that's nothing new for her. The biggest surprise was how fired up she was about being on John's back for the ski down. If only we had a video to share. Alas, a written description is all we can offer. From the moment John started down, Cally was beaming from ear to ear and laughing with glee. When John would stop to "regroup", she'd immediately say, "Again, Daddy, Again". Her cheeks got rosey and her nose was clearly cold, but she was having so much fun!

Now the skiing itself-- well that was marginal, but just seeing the excitement in Cally's eyes made it all so worth while (core shots from rocks and all!).

We don't plan to do the backpack thing on the mountain once it's open, but now we are thinking that our almost 2 year old might be ready to give skiing a try this season. Before going to bed tonight she said, "Daddy, I love skiing". Now that is music to our ears!

Costume Gal

2010-11-08T20:54:00.006-05:00

Cally seems to like to put on costumes. While we deprived her of the opportunity to actually "trick or treat" and collect candy this year, she did get to try out a bunch of different costumes and see a lot of jack-o-lanterns. First she got in the spirit by carving a home-grown pumpkin:

Then, Addy and Tanner dressed her up as a cat for a barn party:

Then she went out to see hundreds of pumpkins with her buddies Isaac, Will, Thompson, Lily, and Crosby dressed like a chicken:

Then she had to try on her cousin, Jameson's bat costume:

And a week later, she tried on her friend Boden's giraffe costume:

It's a hard call as to which one was the cutest......... whatever is the case, she loved putting each and everyone of the costumes on.

And her parents even won "best couple" for their costume...... It turns out the theme of the party was "horror films". I sort of forgot to tell John about that part of the invite. So, when he arrived dressed as minimally as he was, he was somewhat annoyed. However, it was agreed that if you were a teenager, getting pregnant would be pretty "horrifying", so we weren't totally off base.

Fall Travels

2010-10-30T21:13:00.011-04:00

Last week, we took advantage of some days off from school to make the rounds and visit with friends and family. Our first stop was Rosendale, NY where our good friend's Tim, Sophia, Beckett, and baby Iris live. Cally and Beckett (almost 3 years old) have met several times, but this was our first introduction to Iris (4 months old). It was such a treat to see this family-- ever generous with home cooked meals and adventures.

We spent Thursday afternoon in Darien, visiting Bumpa and Grandma. It was a gorgeous afternoon and we visited a great playground at the beach.

Friday, these country mice, made their way into the Big Apple. We were lucky enough to find street parking within a block of my friend Pixie's apartment and spent the afternoon at the Central Park Zoo. This was Cally's first experience at a zoo. She was pretty fired up to see polar bears, seals, penguins, and a snow leopard:

Finally, Cally got to meet her "red headed soul sister", Skylar. Sklyar's mom, Pixie, is one of my dear friends from college and it was such a treat to get to see her and her family. Without any red heads in either of our own families, we were both totally surprised to have our own and couldn't wait to introduce the girls (Skylar is 16 months and her brother Jasper is 4 years old).

Next stop was Brooklyn where we were fortunate to park ourselves for most of the weekend. John's good friend Michael and his wife Elizabeth have a son Dean, who is a couple of months younger than Cally. They have a gorgeous brownstone and made us feel so at home there. Having never really spent much time in Brooklyn, we were both amazed with how "liveable" it is there........ tree lined streets, great playgrounds, grass, funky flea market, delicious food, etc.

Cally loved it all! She hasn't stopped talking about all the people and animals that she saw during our travels. We feel so lucky to have so many friends who are willing to open their heart and homes to us. Please know that visitors are always welcome in Jericho!

First Snow and Wedding Dances

2010-10-18T21:25:00.006-04:00

Saturday, Cally attended her second wedding. We had mixed feelings about bringing her to this wedding........ it's never a whole lot of fun for the parents to chase a 22 month old around and try to keep a chatterbox from talking during a bilingual ceremony, but Cally did a great job and the dancing made it all worthwhile:

We also got record snowfall in the mountains this weekend (18 inches at the stake on Mt. Mansfield). And so, yesterday, the Abbott family packed up the car with dog, child, skis, backpack, etc. in the hopes of getting some early season turns in (while some of us still can). The turns didn't actually happen...... most of the snow down low had melted. But, Cally was all fired up about the snow and the chairlift and couldn't stop talking about "kiing" (skiing without the s).

We're pretty pumped that Cally's even talking about skiing. Is two too early to make some turns?