And the verdict is...

...a BOY! And, boy, was I mistaken about this little guy. I was certain he was a girl. My morning sickness theory (that bad morning sickness means girl) has been blown to pieces. We're all delighted :) He performed for us on the ultrasound, yawning twice in full view and looking at us head on. We're already in love.  David: "Now I'll have a boy-friend! I'll show him my toys and he'll slobber on them." Yes, indeed, little guy.

Beautiful sunny snow day

A wee eskimo emerges.

Fat cheeks come in handy in sub-zero weather.

The long, slow shoveling. Dave's fitbit had an impressive reading at the end of the day.

Taking a walk up the road to survey the neighborhood. 

Another cute little Inuit.

Inside the igloo!

A chipmunk popping out from his hole.

Just chillin' in the igloo, literally.

The storm has come, the storm has gone. We are now left with the wreckage, which takes the form of huge drifts and embankments that cut wide streets down to tiny arteries. Our 20 week sonogram was scheduled for this morning, but the doctor's office was closed, along with everything else in the D.C. metro area it seems. No school today or tomorrow. We're planning for a Wednesday sonogram re-schedule, so stay tuned!

Snow!

David testing out the head-flashlight the night the storm started. 

Late night snow fun.

Not good...after one afternoon of shoveling.

Waking up to an impressive winter wonderland...every child's dream, right?

Before...

...after. As I write, only the tip of her head is sticking out.

Snow fare.

Packing down the igloo before hollowing it out.

David with exuberance: "I slid into thorns Mommy!"

Saying good-bye to our neighbors who visited during the storm.

This igloo is 4 ft. high and 6 ft. in diameter...inside! Someone could live in this thing.


The snow is still coming down strong, and we have over two feet. The wind picked up today, making it much more of a "white-out" experience when you look out the window. All day we've watched deer down the gully in our back yard pawing out holes for themselves and sitting in them, poor things. They look like big dogs curled up down there. So thankful for no power outages and our cozy, warm house with big windows to see all the action. Hoping everyone's able to enjoy this epic storm!

This and that

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe we're well into January, with a snow storm looming around the corner. We celebrated Dave's 33rd birthday on the 14th, and continued the celebration over the weekend with a fun visit from Lolo and Lola and by seeing Star Wars up close. By up close I mean in the front row, looking directly up, because we managed to get there a little late and the theater was full except for the front row. I will say that since it was less of a visual experience I was forced to actually concentrate on the plot and scenes more than I would have. I would rate it a solid "good".

David got his first barbershop haircut. Dave said the woman not only shaved his little neck stubble with shaving cream and a flat-edged razor, but she also wrapped our little guy's head with a hot towel and massaged his neck. Oh to have been there. David seems only to remember that she gave him a mint.

In the kitchen, we've been having fun with Jeff and Kate's Christmas present: a sous-vide cooker and a vacuum sealer (see sous-vide carrots above). Thanks guys!

Off to read books to the littles. I'll post an update Monday when we find out the gender of baby Cook at my 20 week sonogram.  Any predictions? I can take bets...