The New Normal

For the next 9 and 1/2 weeks (so few already??), this is the new normal. I'm sitting downstairs, ignoring a fresh pile of clean laundry, watching my son nap on the baby monitor. He just stirred a bit, but he has about 9 more minutes before he wakes up and realizes that he is HUNGRY.

Yes, my awesome kid is already on that much of a schedule. I love it.

I'm going to try to get better about posting now that he is here and life is beginning to slow down again. If nothing else I can at least throw up a picture or two on occasion. Forgive me if I fail, I promise I'm trying!

So, here are some pictures - these are from the past 20 days and mostly taken by my mom since I was too preoccupied with feeding him and getting as much sleep as I could while mom was here.

I swore I'd never post the "I just had a baby" picture, but thanks to Little Man's 10 minutes of active labor, I think I can confidently say that I do not look like I just got hit by a truck as I crossed the finish line of a marathon....so, here it is.

Here is the part where I get to fall in love with Frank all over again as he begins his new role of "Daddy."

At home and napping in the moses basket made by Grammie.

He makes awesome faces.

Already a tradition, LM's first I would say - passing out on Dad while watching baseball. Here's to a summer full of these kinds of naps!

Need. More. Sleep.

The title of this post was actually a tweet I posted the other day, and is still true.

Last night I went to bed at 9:30pm (immediately came home from small group, went upstairs, brushed teeth, put on pjs, got in bed) and slept until almost 8am (made the morning rush to work a little more rushed, but it is raining and that slows down everything anyway). Do the math with me - 9:30pm to 8am... that is 10.5 hours of sleep.

I will say that I feel pretty rested today, but it is only 10:30am and I'm not sure how long this feeling will last. There is a good chance that my body will go into Nap Mode around 2pm, between my two lunches.

This whole 'growing another person' thing is really tiring!

I'm doing my best to get to bed on time these days. I've given up all but one tv show that I watch on a weekly basis - and it comes on at 8pm! All other shows have been relegated to Hulu when I have time.

I've always needed more sleep than the average bear, but this is a new experience all together. Before, I would just need to sleep in once a week or so to catch up on my Zzzs, but now I'm falling asleep at my desk in the afternoon, falling asleep at the end of small group, falling asleep during the 9th inning of the Braves' must win play off game! (I almost missed the end of Bobby Cox' managerial career - for those of you that know me AT ALL, you know how insane that is)

Anyway, I'm trying to roll with the new 'normal' and get the rest my body is demanding. I know it is for a great cause, so if I need to go to bed at 9pm every night so be it.

I just hope this kid I'm cookin' is as good of a sleeper that I was, and still am.

Home, for now

We're back in the weekly routine at home after a successful trip to Charleston, SC for my friend Adair's wedding. Not even the threat of hurricane force winds and rain could keep us away - though it did alter our travel plans a bit. Worked out, though, we got to spend the night with T & Lisa in NC and the hounds got to hang with Guinness, the largest lab they've ever seen.

Here are some pictures of the weekend. We hit the Charleston Riverdogs game on Saturday evening with Hillary, Abigail and Jason. Then the rest are from the wedding itself (which was at the SC Aquarium, sweet!)



Adair and her husband, Dave, dancing at their reception.


Yes, Abigail and Shannon are wearing life preservers. Yes, all three of them look uncomfortable. Blame it on the "Shark Attack."


Frank and me at the reception.

Already Worn Out

Too tired for words, here is a photo montage of what we did last night and today.

Crossing the Mason-Dixon

Frank and I set out for a northern adventure on Friday, complete with visits to Gettysburg, Vestal, NY, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gettysburg was a surprise stop, we didn't realize we'd be driving right past it on our way to Vestal. We hopped out of the car and into the visitor's center for a bit, then drove out to the eastern side of the battlefield. After walking up a small hill we found ourselves on cemetery ridge, the position of the Union Army, looking down onto Seminary ridge which is where Pickett's charge originated.

It was neat to see the actual layout of the battlefield, though it seems impossible to comprehend 6,000 men charging from the other side of the field.

We decided to return at a later date, when we would actually plan to see the entire area - also maybe in the fall or spring when it isn't a billion degrees plus 100% humidity.

Back in the car we continued our trip up to Vestal. We were headed up that way to celebrate Aunt Pearl's 70th birthday with Frank's dad's family. It was fun to see everyone, most of whom we hadn't seen since the wedding. It was a really nice gathering, complete with a performance by a female barber shop quartet (one of AP's favorite hobbies)! We got to hang with the family a little longer at Aunt Rene and Uncle Rick's after the official party.

Frank and I called it an early night, though, and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day's adventure: Cooperstown!

We drove to Cooperstown to the Baseball Hall of Fame around 9am. It was a nice drive through the mountains and a few cute towns. Cooperstown (technically a "village") is adorable! Clearly exists only for the Hall, but the stores and restaurants are well kept and tourist friendly without seeming too tourist-trappy.

The Hall was pretty cool - we got the AAA member discount of $1.50 off - full of old memorabilia and educational displays. The two upper floors are a baseball museum; pictures, letters, bats, paychecks, and jerseys everywhere. It was really neat to see the evolution of the game right there in front of you. The actual Hall of Fame is on the first floor and holds all of the plaques. I was amazed at how consistent the plaques seem to be, even though they have been in production for so long!

It was a great day, and a great weekend, but we were glad to be home after that 8+ hour drive!

U! S! C! Goooo Cocks!

My brother sent me this picture today: it was taken by a friend of his at a Walmart in South Carolina.


I guess winning the College World Series makes you twice as valuable according to Walmart! Oh, and while I don't think it was intentional, having the USC chairs labeled as "unbeatable" is pretty hilarious after they upset the No. 1 seed and beat Clemson TWICE in a row to get to the finals where they beat UCLA in two games!

Go Gamecocks!

I'm Excited About: Stitch 'n Pitch Edition

Tonight is the Washington Nationals' first annual "Stitch 'n Pitch" night! That means that tonight, during the game, there will be an entire section of tickets sold to women (and their spouses in some cases) where they will be encouraged to knit, croche, and sew throughout the game.

Yes, the Nationals will do anything to sell a ticket. But, I think this will be fun, too!

There are 4 of us girls going (I have yet to decide if I'm bringing anything to sew) and 3 of the husbands are accompanying us. The Nats are taking on the Orioles so it should be a fairly good crowd, in addition to those attending for the "stitch" part.

It is times like this that I feel so badly for those people who are real deal Nationals fans, but at least I can confirm that this idea worked! I can honestly say that I don't think my friends and I would be attending this game if it weren't for Stitch 'n Pitch!

Oooh Oh Oooohhh, Oooooh Oh Oooooh

The Braves were in town last week, and unfortunately they dropped 2 out of 3 to the Natinals which has them firmly planted in the last spot of the division.

Frank, Matt, and I went to the game on Thursday evening and had partially obstructed view seats in left field. Who knew Nationals park had Obs View?! Anyway, it was a pitchers' duel for the most part. Around the 8th inning, Frank made a comment about how the Nationals pitcher had made eye contact with Destiny and she was walking over to him.

A no-hitter was in progress! So, I did what any rational Braves fan would do in that situation: I started talking about the no-hitter, I was tweeting at Bill Simmons trying to get ESPN to cut in on the game, anything I could think of to spoil the no-no.

It worked!

I'm all for great pitching, and I'd love to see a no hitter in person some day - but not against the Braves!

All in all it was a fun evening, we even got to see Jason Heyward come out of the dugout to pinch hit and drive in a couple runs.

The best part of the evening was a group of 10-12 year old girls about two sections over from us. They were obviously on a field trip of some kind and they were from the south. We know this because A) they were either wearing Braves shirts or pink & green attire B) a few of them had sunglasses on croakies C) they cheered and chanted and tomahawk chopped for the Braves all night! It was wonderful.

Go Braves!

Spring Means

1. Baseball - The Webb family celebrates baseball the way that America's Favorite Past Time deserves to be celebrated. We go to games, we watch as many games on TV as we can, sometimes we even plan vacations to include a visit to new (to us) parks. According to MLB.com, there are 7 days until Opening Day - a national holiday if you ask us.

2. Cleaning - (sorry, Mom) but I love spring cleaning. For us it includes shifting our wardrobes, getting rid of things we didn't wear, organizing closets, cleaning floors, opening windows, and a few trips to Goodwill to drop off our excess 'stuff.'

3. Gardening - I have my humble window boxes and soon I'm hoping to have a plan for them. They will either be in a window, on a stand, or possible transferred into straw bales (crazy idea, if it pans out I'll be sure to document it). This year, gardening will also include 'lawn care.' Frank has decided to put some effort into our lawns so that we don't end up with dust and mud like so many others. Lucky for us, Hamilton isn't into digging or running with enough speed to tear up grass. That will make lawn care easier, and worth it.

4. Sunshine - Frank and Hamilton already make good use of our back yard and patio areas. I'm looking forward to spending more time out there in the sunshine. We're hoping to add a grill and maybe even a furniture set so we can dine al fresco when the temperature allows. I also love that we've already done the 'spring forward' bit so the sun stays out longer, making it more fun to have friends over for impromptu back yard happy hours.

5. Celebrations - our anniversary, Easter, and my birthday are all spring time events in our house. Such a treat!


I love spring time! It is such an exciting thing to celebrate, especially following the long, cold winter we had this year.

Yankees 1, Red Sox 14

Last Saturday, after hanging around Boston all day we headed down to Yawkey Way to see the Red Sox play the Yankees.

This was my first official game at Fenway. We came to tour Fenway a couple years ago, but when we got there there was a game going on - it was the "Futures at Fenway" game, a double-header of minor league Red Sox affiliates. So instead of a tour, we bought tickets for $5 and sat in right/center field for a few innings. This was different, this was Red Sox v Yankees, and it was awesome!

The game started at 4:10pm, which made it a hot one for those of us in the outfield seats. The infield was in the shade for the entire game...the sun set on us around the end of the 8th inning, and even then it was only behind the park, not entirely down. I wore sunscreen, and even reapplied a bit somewhere in the 4th inning.

When Frank bought the tickets he bought 6 seats and parking - that was the way to get the best seats at the most reasonable price. So we set out on a mission to sell the other four seats. The day of the game we sold two seats to a nice couple that we arranged to meet in Boston Common, we sold the parking to a guy about to pull into a garage further away from the park, and the other two tickets...well, we sold them to these yahoos:

Jenny Orr and Megan Ratley! Jenny works at Salem Academy now, but I've known her since the mid/late 90's as she was the intern with my church's youth program back in the day. Megan graduated from Salem a year after me, and also works at the Academy now. These crazy girls bought tickets from us, booked air fare, found a hotel and flew up to Boston on 2 days notice! They even bought Yankee-hater shirts just for the occasion!

It was a successful day and a winning game for the Red Sox - lucky for us, too since they dropped the other two games to the Yankees that weekend.

It was an exciting game full of high-fives and new friends in the seats around us. And it was worth all of the heat when the last out came and "Dirty Water" blasted over the speakers, followed by a very current version of "Tessie."

And for a little more perspective, this is where we sat. We had our share of the Dunks that weekend, too. Somehow it is imperative to go to DD when in Massachusetts even though there is one across the street from us here in Alexandria.

"Prepare to be underwhelmed"

That is what Frank said to me as we drove to Plymouth Rock on Friday. While he was right about the rock itself, the area was very cute and we had a great time with my in-laws!

No one in the Carolinas ever told me that people took pieces of the actual "Plymouth Rock" home as souvenirs in the 1800's, but that is the story and now the rock is approximately 1/3rd the size that it was when the pilgrims landed on it in 1620.

I took multiple pictures, the one up top is of the entire rock from 10 feet above; and the picture below shows part of the numbers and a penny, for scale.

The park ranger stationed at Plymouth Rock really knew his stuff; I came away assured that the pilgrims really did 'land' on the rock. It seems that the beach was entirely bare and the large boulder was the only thing on it, so they used Plymouth Rock as a natural dock of sorts and stepped out onto it from the smaller boats used to ferry people and supplies to/from the Mayflower.

He also told us that on the actual voyage across the ocean only one person died - but one person was also born! So when the Mayflower got to America it had the same number of passengers as when it left England - half of them died in the three months it took for winter to pass once they were anchored off of the Massachusetts coast, which really furthers my theory that they would have been better off somewhere in the Carolinas...but that is just my opinion...

There were gift shops, too. They reminded me of the Hammock Shops in Pawleys Island (especially the part where I bought too much fudge). Frank like the hats, and even got Chuck in on the hat action!

The Mayflower II is docked at Plymouth Rock; it is a replica of the original Mayflower and was sailed from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Rock, MA in the 1950's by a crew of 30 or 40 men. The coolest/craziest part is that they used only wind power and did everything as the pilgrims would have done it in the 1620's (the only exceptions being a few minor 'safety' features required by international maritime rules). We got to go aboard and it was as legit as can be! It even smelled like 40 dirty men had just been there!! Here's to historical accuracy.

The cannons on board and presence of lots of pirate stuff in the gift shops really got my attention - as Frank will tell you, I LOVE pirates, mostly Jack Sparrow. It took some restraint to not buy a bag of 'pirate gold,' but it seems that I have come to view gift shops as being full of "stuff I'll throw away in 2 years anyway." I am already beginning to worry about the angst my future children will cause me when they buy "stuff" - ugh! (sorry mom, sorry for all of the 'stuff!')

I would have bought this, if I had a boat and a pirate problem - or better yet, if I had a boat and I were a pirate!

We wrapped up the afternoon with D'Angelo's so that Frank could have his lobster roll, then we settled in for the Yankees @ Red Sox game back at Casa Webb. While the Red Sox took a terrible beating, we had a great time hanging out with my in-laws and, of course, Quincy (the wire-haired jack russell mix, of whom I somehow took no pictures) (we're best friends though, so I'll take pictures next time)

Shippin' up to Boston

We're off to Massachusetts tomorrow! Frank and I are headed up to visit the In-laws and to catch a Red Sox v Yankees game at Fenway Park. The funniest part is that when we bought tickets to the game, we actually bought 6 because that was the way to get the cheapest seats...well, now we're still trying to sell two of the tickets and a parking pass, and the other two tickets have been bought by my friend Megan (college friend, one year younger than me) and Jenny, who was the intern with the youth program at my hometown church a million years ago!! So, I'll do my best to take lots of pictures and have fun stories to tell when I get home - but for now I've got the giggles about going to see a baseball game in Boston with Megan and Jenny; what a random world we live in!

I'll leave you with these hilarious pictures of our dog. He has taken to walking into the curtains in the office and draping himself, oh so elegantly in the shears. Enjoy...

He'll stay like this until he has to go outside or eat

I wish I could tell you that I do this to him, but as you can see, since I can take more than one picture in the same position he is clearly happy with what he has accomplished.

Good night moon,

annie

Travels to South Carolina

Frank, Hamilton and I went to South Carolina this past weekend for my friend Carina's wedding. She and Jeff were married in York, SC so we got to stay with my parents and brothers in Spartanburg for the weekend! While it was really fun to see my parents and brothers, I think the happiest union (other than Carina & Jeff) was between Hamilton and Barnabas.

Here are the puppies playing at my parents' church in the *mostly* fenced in back yard. Hamilton is only 9 months old and Barnabas is 4 and 1/2, so there came a time when Barnabas had had enough but H kept on going until we put him in the car to drive back to Northern Virginia.

The wedding was beautiful, a lovely ceremony at a Presbyterian Church followed by an outdoor reception just down the road. It was fun to see Carina, and Carmen and Mary Kate were there, too - all three are 'little sisters' of mine from college.

We'll close with a picture of my brothers and husband at the Greenville Drive baseball game; the look on their faces is caused by the comment Frank made, "pastrami on white!"