Two hours.

It's cold and rainy out today but that's OK because...

1. Thanks to said weather we had a two-hour delay this morning; I certainly do love me a bit of extra sleep!

2. Maybe more delays tomorrow? 

3. Baby is being hilarious; always fun!

4. Parks and Rec comes back this week!

5. I'm loving the slippers my dad gave us for Christmas; it's like walking on pillows and they're so cozy...thanks Dad!!!

Happy Monday y'all.
xoxo, natty ♥

An easy read.

I started my new "book" on Tuesday's snow day and am over half-way; I recommend it if you at all like Amy Poehler.

And the weekend is just about here on a breath of FRIGID air. It's seriously cold and dry here, but beautiful and sunny and the days are getting a bit lighter each day now.

Here's to Thursday.

A bit of sun.

The clouds parted a bit today and it was lovely. We picked up Uncle and all had Greek for lunch in the city.Then after getting home at around 3 some fog had crept in.

The view from our roof-top.

Then it got really thick. It's dark now and as it's gotten later the fog has actually thickened; I've never seen it like this! I'm thankful I don't have to drive to work in this soup tomorrow morning. And kind of spooked by this eery weather!
xoxo, natty ♥

Wild, Wonderful.

No, we're not in West Virginia - I'm referring to the beautiful thunder storm outside our window. 

Let's hope it helps this heat break - today was gruesome. But! A former student/amiga and I met up for a zoo visit...despite the temperatures we had a wonderful time and even got to see the baby panda, Bao Bao...it was a sleeping ball of fur. By the way, check out the panda cam 24-hour live stream HERE - your tax dollars hard at work {& I say that with complete sincerity; I love stuff like this}.

Thanks, friend, for a great day and Mother Nature for a beautiful storm!
xoxo, natty ♥

Is this summer?

It got warm here today!!

Which I would previously have loved but when I need to get out for walks with a small baby, it complicates things a bit...at least it's not full blown humidity and just a bit of a heat wave for now.

Is it warming up early where you are Reader? After a winter like this one...

xoxo, natty

Hey-o hey-o hey-o.

We just put my stepmom on the curb at the airport and we're really sad about it so let's think of something good...

1. It's a gorgeous day out and we'll hopefully make it for a walk.

2. Our hot-water heater got replaced last week and there's a really nice handyman currently making some small much-needed repairs here and there...yippee for a new and functioning shower handle vs. just using pliers like we had been doing for way too long.

3. It's Marathon Monday! And a gorgeous day for the many runners out there slogging through 26.2 miles. One day maybe I'll be amongst them?

4. There's a long and somewhat shaggy dog on the couch next to me.

5. And a beautiful baby asleep {& probably ready to wake-up} in the other room..and she's mine!!

Hope your Monday is treating you well dear Reader.
xoxo, natty ♥

Snow baby?

We've had a long 24 hours hoping our little one would come along and it turns out she's not ready; what a time taker!

So let's hope that we actually don't end up having to drive through tonight's predicted snow for a little girl who changed her mind all of a sudden.

Here's to good thoughts and waiting until the roads have cleared!

xoxo, natty

Maybe this was our last Saturday?

We are still parents-to-be and doing very well at it. I'm feeling antsy but physically doing extremely well and enjoying time with just my husband. 

Today we actually celebrated parenthood with some sweet friends and their five-month-old whom we met for the first time. They are in town for the weekend and it just worked out perfectly to have a nice lunch/catch-up time with them and then a walk around our neighborhood. The walk, though super pleasant because it was beautiful outside today, wasn't very relaxing because we veered off into a busy area when we could've stayed on some quieter streets. But oh well, we had great company and, again, the weather was delightful.

Tomorrow brings some more friends and maybe a bit more nesting {although at this point it's more like re-nesting}...and a drastic cool-down from today {womp} {but then it warms up again on Monday?} but it's lion/lamb weather so it's OK.

OH! And I just remembered, that car seat finally got installed and I even took it to the police department to have it inspected - we got a certificate! #winningatparenthood
xoxo, natty ♥

Geared up.

Except for our horribly belated/delayed car seat installation {it hasn't happened yet}, we have our baby paraphernalia all set up.

Tonight, in between Seinfeld and Rocky III {IV is on the docket for tomorrow}, we assembled both of our strollers {one's smaller and less bulky}.

Then we tried Guinness in one.

Also, our cloth diapers are all laundered and stuffed and ready to be used, though the little one won't be big enough for a few weeks.

There are other things done and some that still need to get done {see: car seat} but we're feeling naïvely ready for this baby. It's good enough timing considering tomorrow is my due date.

And something else we're ready for? Warmer weather - today's highs were in the 30s; bring on spring please!

xoxo, natty

Cabin fever.

Thankfully it will be nice outside soon {yes?} because after two days of pre-baby-maternity leave, I'm ready to get out. 

Granted...

They were snow days which means that driving was out.

It was COLD and icy which means that walking most places wasn't the best idea.

Mikey, even though he was home with me, has been pretty sick so he hasn't been motivated to do much beyond laze around.

I've had plenty to do around our home so it's actually been good to be here and get it taken care of but I'm ready to get out and do something. I think tomorrow's agenda will include a trip to a store.

And maybe a walk.

Anything is an improvement over only taking out the dog.

And in some other temperature related news, the prediction for peak cherry blossoms is slated for sometime in early/mid-April.

News Flash! #peakbloom predicted for April 8-12!! Thanks @NationalMallNPS #CherryBlossomDC
— The Official NCBF (@CherryBlossFest) March 4, 2014

So happy times are on their way! By that time I think/hope our little one will be big enough to go for a nice long walk down to the tidal basin {just about 1.5 miles}.
xoxo, natty ♥

Awards of snow.

We're watching the Academy Awards and hunkering down for tomorrow, what's maybe hopefully our last snow day {and please don't let it be our daughter's birthday}.

Stay warm where you are folks!

xoxo, natty

Vortex once again.

I talked about snow earlier this week and tonight the low temperatures are getting a mention {scintillating material on this here blog}; with the strong wind gusts we've been getting, it's low, low and arctic. And a shout out to my northern friends, I know you have it far worse than us; this is more of  a general "let's get winter over" plea/complaint.

In other non-weather but pregnancy related news, my midwife said to start drinking red raspberry leaf tea. I brewed a bit tonight to keep in the fridge and though it is only the leaves and not the sweet, sweet raspberry fruit,it smells so nice and in this drafty apartment I wanted to guzzle it all down. But I saved it in the fridge and I'm planning on drinking it from a water bottle tomorrow.

And on that note, here's to it almost being Friday!
xoxo, natty ♥

Some more snow.

It snowed again today. Out climate is so much milder than many others in the country but me thinks it doesn't normally go the way it's been going this year.

It certainly was pretty, though, from about seven to noon, while it came down hard and then it all melted to make the drive home manageable {remember that since it doesn't happen here that often it's always a nuisance and things start late or shut down}.

Apparently a bit more should come tonight. Then there was some forecasted for next week too. But next week also ushers in March {lion and lamb weather!} and that's a Good Thing.

After that scintillating information folks, it's time to get ready for tomorrow; goodnight y'all!

xoxo, natty ♥

Striations.

xoxo, natty ♥

Pothole season.

In southern California they have fire season towards the end of the summer/early fall when it's still warm and the hills have dried out and flames fly easily.

I've decided that around here if/when it snows/freezes like it has been the past month, it's pothole season. I think it's the changing temperatures, icy roads, and plentiful salt/moisture; whatever it is, it's wreaking havoc on roads that weren't that great to begin with. 

I can usually spot the bad ones and remember where they are so I can avoid them but after five days of weather my commute had developed some new doozies. I drove through/over what looked and felt like a four by two feet {& maybe 8 inches deep} chunk out of the road. I'm just waiting for a tire to pop.

I'm also curious about when/how they fill in these voids; do they try to do it over night? I certainly have noticed a wee bit of improvement {weeeeeeee}; the smaller ones seem to get filled but definitely not those big axle-ruiners.

However, I am grateful to make it to and from work/home safely. I'll continue to try and avoid those road ditches and also keep my eyes on the road.
xoxo, natty ♥

No wake-up call needed.

xoxo, natty ♥ 

Busy busy busy.

I spent tonight busily grading so that I can pass back some things tomorrow. Other than that, today was just a nice, albeit full, Tuesday. I suppose there aren't too many "normal" days like this left in our neck of the woods; how scary and exciting! 

If you're in the path of the south/south-east/mid-Atlantic/northeast storm, are you excited for snow? Or ready for the warmer days of spring? I'm feeling a bit of both I suppose, but it's mostly because I want to embrace these last few weeks of pregnancy and in spring I will no longer be pregnant {at least let's hope!!!}.

Goodnight folks!ran
xoxo, natty ♥

Small things.

Yesterday on my drive home I thought maybe it was a wee bit lighter than the last time I bothered to notice.

 

But it couldn't be...it's still January and I don't want to get excited about the very first harbingers of spring.

But I decided to look it up anyway; tomorrow's sunrise is 7:17 AM and the week we came back from Christmas break the sunrise was at 7:27 AM. The sunset tomorrow is set for 5:26 PM and the week we came back it was at 5:01 PM. 

So the morning difference is less than the afternoon difference, which is really interesting to me {why?!}. And I'll gladly take that afternoon difference of more than 20 minutes!

Stay warm tonight folks and keep your eyes out for those extra minutes of daylight.

xoxo, natty ♥

Vortex.

We're caught in another polar vortex and it's COLD outside!!! But it was so warm inside tonight with friends over for pupusas and cupcakes; yum!

I have some birthday musings rumbling around in my head so perhaps this weekend I'll get them written down for posterity's sake.

On that note, here's to Friday tomorrow.
xoxo, natty ♥

Gross!

It's not as bad as other places.

But it's still gross.

xoxo, natty ♥