Class of 2027?

Go Generals?



All that missing is the beat up old NB sneakers.

ps to Mart - that is the shirt you bought for baby bean when you found out I was pregnant! :-)

Cross Country Elena

On March 2nd we had 6 inches of snow. School was canceled and it was a blue bird sunny day. While the college kids sledded down the park hill in canoes, baskets and trash can lids, Elena took her cross country ski's out for a spin in the backyard.




Not bad for the first time!

The little bear said roll over

On Monday Egan performed a new trick for Jake, he rolled from his tummy to his back! It has not been repeated, although he likes to lay out naked in the warm sun promising to do it again.




(not photos from real event, dramatic reconstruction

4 month stats and a parent teacher conference

Little Eeg's (as Jake calls him; he blames it on meegs) is packing it on. Up to 13 lb 8oz and 24 inches long. He's still in the 20-25th percentile. Our only challenge is that right now it appears that he is sensitive to something in my diet. So I've cut out soy, dairy, and caffine. Yes, I'm quite chipper in the morning enjoying my granola with rice dream 'beverage' and decaf tea while attempting to bake with no butter or milk and only canola oil. I will say this - Rice dream is no dream and I'm not sure I should be drinking something that involves a patent on the box, let alone two, I find patented food a bit scary. But while we figure this out, it is better than the crazy expensive hypoallergenic formula which, no doubt, involves more than a few patents itself. Luckily Egan's cheery disposition (and growth) are not being affected at this time. So we hope to have it under control soon.

Today was our semi annual parent-teacher conference to learn about Elena at school. We are so proud of her. Jennifer commented that she has stepped into a role as one of the leaders of the class and plays with all the different kids often coordinating the activity. Jennifer said she is one of the more empathetic kids in the class - checking in on sad kids or the new kid who doesn't speak any English yet (boy do we feel for his parents...been there, done that, it sucks.) They noted that she is a bit territorial when someone cuts in line or moves on to her circle spot. I have to say, I'd rather her slightly aggressive than a wall flower, but glad that its 'nothing to worry about.' She's doing great on all of her skills and is deemed well on track for kindergarden. Her parents, however, remain in denial that she will ever get on a school bus and ride off to kindergarden lunch box in hand.....As with her other preschools, they work on an amazing book, chronicling her growth and experiences. It will be a treasure for her whole life.

Take the Grandparents to WV

Batting clean up on the holidays still...

The day after Christmas, my parents arrived from Texas. It was so great. We loved being home for Christmas (actually we loved not flying with two kids) but were really happy to have some family arrive. We spent a great week hanging out and going on new adventures.

We waited to open our Christmas presents until they arrived (we really tried to spread things out). Elena got an easel and LOVES it. 'Aren't I a good artist?' She and little Opa got to put the whole thing together and then she set to work on painting up a storm. In addition, we took walks and ate burgers at 5 Guys.

Then we headed over to Lewisburg, WV for a few days of something different. We stayed in a nice house on the Greenbier River. We went into Lewisburg (quite a nice town! Good art, nice resturants) and hiked along the Greenbrier trail. It was so much fun, we were wishing we were staying longer almost as soon as we arrived. We drove back to B'burg on New Years Eve day in the snow! Then Jake and I got a real treat of babysitters on New Years Eve and actually went out!

Gram and opa left on Jan 2nd. It was a great visit! Highlight included discovering beaver sticks, eating 'excellent' lunches, watching football, driving around Blacksburg looking for an open resturant on New Years Eve, and Elena's personal yoga lessons!
Check out wegodutch.shutterfly.com to see all the photos.

4 months!

Time flies! And we are such bad parents for not updating frequently on Egan. What a second child!

But 4 great months have passed since he literally flew into out lives. Right now Egan is discovering his hands. He loves to chew on them and 'pet' things from a blanket or toy to your arm while changing his diaper. He's also developed quite the nursing crawl, which isn't so popular with momma. Egan is starting to 'talk' and sounds like a yowling cat. He tried 'talking' to you to tell you what he needs. When you guess wrong, he notches it up a level - 'yelling' at you to try again. But when you guess right, like put him on the changing pad, pick up the sling, or I sit down with the nursing pillow, he gives you a big smile and flaps his arms. Sometimes he will get really fussy in Jake's arms or the sling and then will look at me and give me a HUGE smile. Then he turns away and gets fussy again, turning back to smile big as if to say, 'hey momma - it's chow time!' By far his favorite thing in the whole world, though, is his sister (Ok, maybe she is runs a close second to nursing at this point...) She comes flitting into the room and will read him a story, show him something (usually proclaiming, 'Egan you can't play with legos - you are too small!' and he just smiles away), she loves to dance for him or sing songs. She calls him 'little pinto bean' and thinks it is really funny that when he sneezes his legs fly up in the air. I don't think that Egan really understands that one day he will grow up big like her. It's as if he is visited by some sprite, some strange creature, who appears from another room to dynamically interact with him, then disappears again far away to the next room. He also likes going for walks in his stroller as well as being a sling baby (which is a function just as much of us being sling parents and requiring two hands!) He also likes his paci and has thankfully come to accept a wider range of music than James McMurtry - because we were getting depressed with some of those lyrics all the time. He likes his baths and is enthralled with the water coming out of the shower head. Elena is really excited for him to grow into bath toys and get big enough so they can take baths together. What doesn't Egan like--well, he doesn't like his carseat (or used to, but now he is OK with it). And he hasn't been liking these really cold days (it got down to 3F!) He yells in anger when he has to go out. We even have a carseat bunting but the wind just whips through him. He also hates his arms whacking him at night and so we keep him tightly swaddled. Sometimes as soon as he is swaddled, after just a few sucks on the paci, he goes right to sleep. Speaking of sleep, he sleeps from about 9 to 7. He usually wakes up a couple of times to nurse but goes right back to sleep, often not even needing a diaper change. For a while we were having some really fabulous runs of 11-6 straight! But he's a growing boy and now is going through a spurt that needs more night nursing. The best part, though, is that he does go back to sleep (unlike his sister...)

We've gotten out the highchair for Egan - not because he's ready for solid foods (not showing any of the signs yet at all), but because he likes to be up high and see what is going on. I guess staring at our bottoms in the bouncy seat during dinner would get old. In the last week he must have had a growth spurt - because he looks huge to both Jake and I. He is pretty much out of his 0-3 mo clothes. At his 2 month appointment (although it was really more like a 2.5 months), he was almost 11lbs 12 oz (5.7 kg) and 22.25 inches (55.5 cm). He's in the ~15-20% (for american kids, and notice the metric for my Dutch and scientist friends). We go in on Friday for his 4 mo appointment. Egan has a funny little bald spot on the back of his head. He's got the 'meaty thighs' of a baby but hasn't really gotten super baby chunky.

For the first 4 months, we have been really lucky to spend time home with Egan. Jake extended his tenure clock for paternity leave and I took partial maternity leave. We alternate being home with him and working while he napped. Jake was teaching so, I was home much more (which was really nice, as I very much needed a break from work). Since Elena is in preschool full time, we have had some really great one-on-one quality time with our little bundle. But with the start of the new semester, we both have masters students to graduate and time to focus a bit more on work. So we found a new nanny, Ashley, though a mutual friend who is the head soccer coach. Ashely is a senior and soccer player. Last week was our first week. The first few days were tough (they always are) but Ashley did great and Egan is now happy to see her. As Jake said, 'what's not to like, she wraps him up in a blanket and rocks him the whole time he sleeps!' And Mimosa, this is just as painful for us as it is for you to read...honestly for me the hardest thing about leaving Egan with Ashley is that she isn't Mimosa. Jake had to repeatedly remind me to get over it. Ashley is coming 4 days a week for 5 hours in the afternoon and Jake and I are splitting Monday and alternating the mornings home. The big difference is that now that we have Ashley, instead of trying to work while Egan sleeps, we do stuff around the house. Consequently, this weekend we actually had family time rather than laundry, dirty bathroom, cooking time.

So that's it. Four months as a family of four. As proof, we have no family picture...come on people, we've got two kids now!

We Wish(ed) You a Merry Christmas

Better late than never?

Our Christmas was very nice. It would our first Christmas 'at home' as well as Egan's first Christmas. He remained largely oblivious of the event, but the rest of us had a great time.

We started with a little gingerbread construction on the 23rd. Xander and Elena went to town. The motto was 'eat less, decorate more.'


I made them eat a bowl of grapes and drink a large glass of milk before starting to try and stem the sugar tide. It sort of worked.

Christmas Eve we cooked up a storm. And after a quick dinner dashed off to the Christmas Eve service at church. We weren't even late! And all dressed up without spit up in time to snap this photo.


Then, it was time to start some of our own traditions. Since we didn't have a large clan to gather with and eat soup (Jake's side) or party to do tequila shots at (my side....don't worry, there are for the baby Jesus, just ask Jane), we had to make our own fun. So we had a picnic on the living floor by candle and christmas twinkle light.


Then we played tiddlywinks (I'm not kidding) and ate Busch de Noel.



Elena wrote her letter to Santa.



And the stockings were hung above the credenza with care.