Quaken, not stirred

So we had our second earthquake in about a year around 1:50 p.m. this afternoon. We had a 3.6 in July of 2010 which was just a tickle compared to today's outright shove. The quake last year was 20 miles from home and today's was about 90 miles southwest of D.C. and lasted about 30-40 seconds.

Everyone in Patrick's office flooded out into the street, like nearly everyone else in every other local office. Our trusty home shook pretty hard but Patti got the kids on the floor and protected them. One of our light knick-knacks came off the wall but that's it (thankfully). Will kept asking "why home shaking Mom?" but when Patti asked if he was scared he honestly answered "why?"

Here's Will's description of how the house shook today.

Patti's BFFs

Tonight we hosted Patti's BFFs from her time at Peace Corps HQ. Patricia (center) is living in Mozambique but she's home to have her twins. Jen (right) lives in DC with her husband and daughter.

These three probably never thought when they met that they'd have six kids between them...

Our poor table

Our highchairs for the girls finally arrived and the timing is great. They fuss at dinnertime every night but they're finally able to sit up unassisted in a supporting seat and they're so much more happy watching life around them, especially Will. They LOVED sitting the table tonight watching Will eat and smiling at us.

With Maggie and Stella on the end of the table, Will has been moved to Patrick's side of the table. Our big boy took the move in stride and he loved being able to look out the window. A big rabbit was bouncing by the window when Will sat down and that was all it took for him to like his new place.

So this is life at the Carey table for the next few years. Three meals a day, seven days a week, every month....

Carson Street Camping

Patrick has been crazy busy at work so he and Will planned to camp out in the backyard on Saturday night. Will "helped" put the tent together on Monday and they talked about it all week. Of course it poured all Saturday but Will kept talking about it - "Will and Dada sleep outside in green thing?" It stopped raining right before Will's bedtime so they gave it a shot.

Will did such a great job! We read a few books with our flashlights, Will looked out the windows, and we listened to all of the neighborhood bugs. Patrick had to make a quick run to the house for Will's new train, but once he had that (and 30 minutes of tossing and turning), Will went right to sleep.

The rain held out until around 6:00 this morning and Will slept peacefully. Then it got hard enough that it started getting in the tent so at 6:30 we proudly ran back into the house.

Will was quite the happy, huggy little guy in the tent and he told Patrick (in the tent) that he really liked sleeping there. Of course when he was snuggled up to Patti on the couch, Will said that he wants to sleep in his bed in his room. So we're all happy with how things turned out.

Good kid day

Today was one of those 40% chance of rain days where it just poured all day. So more time inside, but the kids were great today.

Stella and Maggie played nicely together in the co-sleeper...

They chilled out during dinner time in their color-coordinated Bumbo chairs...

Will was cracking up Stella after dinner. He danced around like a crazy man to Patrick's 1980's mix (coincidentally, please also see the "One Night in Bangkok" video in Carey Shorts), he read her some of his books, and he amazed her with his ability to launch space shuttles from her food tray.

All the while, Maggie was practicing striking an imaginary soccer ball with her left foot. She kicked and kicked and kicked as she watched the action unfolding on the floor. If this keeps up, she'll be the jock and Stella will be the girl who knows all about police boats...

Imagination required

No photos this time, this post requires you to create a mental image.

We're getting out of the house more these days partly to avoid going stir crazy and partly out of necessity. But, as you can imagine, some outings are a bit challenging. Take for example grocery shopping....

The adventure starts with getting everyone ready to leave the house. First, pack the diaper bag with size 2 & 5 diapers, burp cloths for Stella, pink and purple pacifiers, a toy for each car seat, water and snack for Will, cell phone and wallet, grocery list and coupons. Then, feed the girls so they're happy for at least 2 hours, just enough time to get to the store, do a complete shopping, and get home before the next feeding. Next, change everyone's diaper and clothes. Then, get the girls strapped into their car seats inside the house. Will goes into the car first since his car seat is in the way back of the minivan, then the girls' car seats get snapped into place. Away we go the store...

Arriving at Giant, I grab a cart (most recently I used the cart with the special kid car in the front) and start loading the kids. Will in the front car, one baby in a car seat in the cart area, and another baby wrapped to me. I place a hand basket under the cart to place the vegetables in and tow another big basket on wheels behind me. There's groceries everywhere...next to the car seat, under the cart, in the baskets, and sometimes Will even holds some items (especially his treat). It's a long parade and apparently a sight to see based on everyone's stares and comments as I stroll by.

The checkout clerk sometimes looks annoyed at how slow I get the groceries onto the belt from every crevice of the cart. The bagger looks dumbfounded as to where to put all of the bagged groceries. I end up getting a new cart and the bagger helps me out to car. They load the car with groceries, while I load the car with kids. Away we go home, where I manage to get the cold stuff put away before the girls are chirping to be fed.

Sounds exhausting right?!? And, it's only lunchtime by this time of the day.

More cell phone pictures

We still haven't bothered to replace our camera battery, so here are some more cellphone pictures of the girls.

Patti gave Stella and Maggie a sponge bath in their co-sleeper (we don't usually let them lay around naked). They really seemed to like rolling around in their sleeper.

Stella is smiling more and more every day.

Maggie and Stella tend to end up rolling onto one another, kicking or pushing off of the other, or munching on each other's hands. Then it's a race to see who cries first.

Our friends let us borrow their Bumbo so that we can let Stella and Maggie sit around for a change. What a difference! They could look all around the room, see each other, play with things on their trays... We'll probably try setting up their high-chairs soon so that they can watch us at the table. Dinner time is when they seem to fuss the most but when they can see us, they tend to stop. You should see them smile, coo and laugh at Will when they sit with us at the table.

Cell phone heat beating

This week continues our trend of 90-100 degree heat. Too hot to take the girls outside when they're fussing and too hot for Will to play outside. The heat index has been over 100 for what seems like two weeks straight.

Here's how we've been beating the heat - all taken with our cellphone cameras....

Stella and Maggie have been chilling in the AC and watching our tree out the window.

Will has been playing ice cream truck with what used to be one of his firetrucks. He brings his schoolkids from another toy up to the truck and they take turns asking for ice cream. It's pretty awesome.

The girls have taken an interest in books (and anything else within a meter or two of them).

This morning, Will and Patti made cookies together. Will LOVES helping in the kitchen. Coincidentally, this is about the only time today that Will didn't have a bloody nose from picking...

Stay cool everyone!