2012 got off to a rough start for us. We brought a cold back from Texas and were all sick for New Year’s. The boys went to bed early, and Jonathan and I barely made it up to watch the ball drop in New York before turning in for the night. I think it’s the first time since I was a kid that I haven’t stayed up until midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The following weekend Nana came up for a visit. She babysat the boys Saturday night while Jonathan and I photographed a wedding in Seattle. And on Sunday morning we celebrated a belated Christmas together.
We spent the next weekend stimulating the economy at Ikea and U Village. Actually, we didn’t end up buying very much, but we did a lot of looking around. It was a good thing we left when we did though. On the way home from Seattle on Sunday it started to snow. And snow. And snow.
Turns out, “snowmageddon” was here. Over the next few days we got well over a foot of snow, most of it came in the beginning and just hung around all week. We didn’t even leave the neighborhood until the following Saturday! Jonathan worked from home Mon-Wed, and when he could he took the boys outside to play. One downside of being 7.5 months pregnant when it snows is that you can’t really go play like you normally would. Then Wednesday night we got more snow, a lot of wind, and on Thursday morning we lost power for 57 hours.
I recall shortly after our last big power outage (when I was pregnant with Avery) Jonathan went out and purchased a generator. I believe I may have given him a hard time about it. Let me just publicly state that I am so thankful my Eagle Scout husband got that generator! Talk about being prepared. It was so nice to have a cold refrigerator, a decent cup of coffee, run the toaster oven, and especially use my blow dryer. I really did not want to air dry my hair in our freezing cold house! So babe, I just want to say, “I love you, and you were right about the generator.”
Unfortunately we weren’t able to hook up to our furnace, so it was pretty cold inside, especially the second night. But it wasn’t so bad, it was just starting to get “not fun” when the power finally came on Saturday night (just in time to heat up the house before the boys went to bed). I was so excited, I ran the dishwasher, the laundry, and the vacuum with the disturbing enthusiasm of a Stepford wife. Over the week, the boys (mostly Avery) fit in a lot of sledding, hot chocolate drinking, and playing with Daddy. It was nice having Jonathan home for a couple of impromptu days off, sort of a cold stay-cation. And it was fun to go back to basics for a little while, but it is great to have the things we take for granted back! Here’s hoping we have a more relaxing February before the baby arrives!
This large gift bag once contained a gift for little Jonathan
Our pirates opening their bounty
When Jonathan picked this out for his parents, he almost got one for himself too. I told him to put it on his Christmas list. It all worked out end in the end!
Blueberry pancakes on the griddle
The boys relaxing
Avery trying his new kid-sized yard tools outside
Kieron at Land of Nod
Staying dry with Avery
Time to play in the snow!
Giving the snowman his nose
Avery joked that the snowman had a baby in it’s belly
Brothers
Avery sledding down our hill
Mommy & Kieron at the park
In the back yard
Our icy trees
Playing inside
The view from our front porch
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