with winter in virginia
proving once again to be nothing
but very cold weather and ice,
we signed up for little gym classes
for hutch since we weren't
out and about with his usual playmates.
it was chaos,
and i was crying i was laughing so hard
at the weirdness of it all.
hutch loved it, so we will continue doing it,
but the class was really one of those things
that makes you realize you are truly a initiated
into parenthood.
this photo of another parent infatuated with the springboard
says it all.
and you KNOW alex had a lot to say
about this
when she came flying past him.

qUIet TIme witH ElsA

in an effort to have one-on-one time
with the kiddoes every day,
elsa goes to bed a couple of hours after hutch.
that way, we get time with her in the evenings,
and some qt with hutch in the morning.
our gal is four months old, sweet and cuddly,
and marvels at the lights of our tree.

Goin' oN a TRee HUNt

while living in colorado,
we usually cut our own tree down
outside of winter park.
this year we found our tree virginia-style.
at james monroe's 3500-acre estate, ash-lawn highlands,
you're allowed to hike in and cut down your own tree.
so armed with a saw, a toddler, and an infant,
we drove the fifteen minutes with the usual
family combo of enthusiasm and poor-planning,
and hiked and scouted this year's Jehle Christmas Tree.
there were a couple of hitches-
we didn't realize how much walking would be involved,
and forgot the hiking backpack to carry hutch
(find the picture of him bawling),
and his need to be held made for a couple of
safety hazards in the actual cutting of the tree.
however, it was the first beautiful day
we've had in weeks, and it was great to be outside.
just making commonwealth memories, people.

i've been tagged...

I've been tagged!
Here are the instructions:
1. Go to your pictures
2. Upload the fourth picture in the fourth file
3. Post the pic
4. Tag four friends

hmm..i tag mer, katie, annie, heather

hutch snooping in a gift bag and rocking
his wrist bands...he still wears all 6 of them at once
almost every day.

haPPy gOBBLe '08

this year we decided to stay put in charlottesville,
and have thanksgiving with our neighbors, the robles
(aka 'the family with five'...soon to be six!).
our childrens' age to states visited ratio
is ridiculously high (hutch-15, elsa-5),
and after a stressful few months of
a newborn, interviewing, and test-taking,
thanksgiving proved be a peaceful
time of healing for our little family.
the strains have been and will be worth it
for our the upcoming chapter of our lives,
but i can't tell you how happy i am they are behind us.
here's a combined look at our turkey day and
our beautiful elsa's 3-month pictures.
she's a rollin' over, giggling, smiling, cuddling ball of joy, with
a healthy dose of tears mixed in when the situation calls for it.
we are so thankful.....

AdA

i felt compelled to post this picture
because there is a little boy
who asks about his ada
not once in awhile,
not daily,
but hourly.
ada's visit a couple of weeks ago
is vivid in his memory,
and he talks often of ada
going bye-bye on the airplane
to go home to mcmomma.
hutch lists his relatives several times a day,
and post colorado,
although pretty shy around the colonel and hayes,
has worked the 'corn and ayes' into his list of peeps.
but that ada, he's the man of the moment.

rocky mountain high

our final stop
on the interview tour 2008
was ft collins over this
past weekend.
friday and saturday
were spent in denver at
er and mer's house,
sunday at the coors
for a reunion with the coors,
bakers, and trotters,
and monday and tuesday we were
in ft collins where alex interviewed and
we lollygagged around the charming town.
we loved, loved, loved seeing everyone and being
back in that great state.
sadly, my camera was out of batteries and i didn't get to capture
all i wanted to, like addy's killer smile (happiest baby ever),
and miles and hutch reuniting.
this photo, taken by liz,
is the only one, but what a pic it is.
**WARNING**: you are about to see an extreme overload
of CUTE kids, and one cute alex (and minus one cute johanna blake).















of course, my kids aren't even close to looking at the camera.
thanks for the good times as always, folks. miss you already.

bRanDY sTATion

with alex tied up with the Big Test last week
(thanks for all of your prayers)
and a convention this week,
my dad cashed in his free plane ticket
to come keep us company.
it was finally a visit that didn't involve
to-do projects or having babies,
we were able to visit some civil war battlefields.
the weather has been amazing
and brandy station proved to be a little boy wonderland:
lots of open space to run, grass to uproot, and most importantly,
the culpepper county airport was across the dirt road,
so "airpins" were abundant in the sky.

the big halloween deal in charlottesville
is to take your kids trick or treating
on the lawn at uva campus.
whilst we didn't give hutch
the opportunity to actually
obtain candy,
he had a blast taking in the sensory overload.
it was such a beautiful day, and uva
is one of the most amazing campuses i've
ever seen.
in spite of the kids' nasty colds,
we had a great time.

63 Ax hANdLES HiGH

happy halloween from paul bunyan...



















...and his blue ox, babe

Marine Corps Marathon

this past weekend my good friend erin
ran the marine corps marathon in dc.
the kids and i went to root her on
while alex continued cramming sessions
for the big test.
erin did an amazing job,
making 26.2 miles look like the easiest thing,
and the race had such a fun, 'proud to be an american'
energy to it that i found myself getting misty-eyed.
the kids were great sports about it all with the exception
of crying on almost the entire drive there and back.
hutch endured being in a stroller
way longer than any toddler should be expected to,
and i am eternally grateful to all of
the low-flying airplanes and helicopters
for keeping him entertained.
the only time he got upset involved
trying to exit the metro at the marathon stops.
it took over an hour to get out because of
all of the people. everyone was pushing
everyone else and the h man got
a little freaked out.
it was like a herd of cattle
and reminded me of a similar situation boarding a ferry to
vieques, puerto rico that prompted
eric to say, "pretty much don't like kids anywhere."
in short, was it a lot of fun? yes
will i go on a road trip just the kids and i anytime soon?
ummmm, no thank you.

yAy FaLL**

strolling along the rivanna path

GoinG PrIVaTE

we've decided to
make our blog
private starting next week,
which just means
we need your email
registered
in order for you to view it. (don't worry, your email will remain private as well)
we're adding all the family
and friends we
think like to look at the site,
but aren't sure if
there's other folks we may miss in the process.
if so, just email alex or i or leave a comment here and we'll add you on.
thanks for checking on our family.
love to you all.

i LOVE tHiS GUy!

looks like a mcguire,
acts like a jehle

TwO MONths**

our sweet bug elsa
is two months old!
lots of smiles and adoring gazes
radiate from her,
and she is a fabulous cuddler.
elsa is just
a perfect addition to our little family.
hutch constantly wants to know
where she is and is always
offering commentary of her actions:
'baby eat, baby cry, night-night baby,
eye off (her eyes are closed), etc.'
he certainly has moments of jealousy
(i don't think the baby hair bows i found in the
toilet this morning got there on their own),
but hutch seems to bond with her more every day.
we love our ladybug!

COOLEST GIFT EVER

courtesy of the bakers.
(a beautiful bebe and alice toy and a blanket were also included
but are in the room of a sleeping baby,
so i dare not go in to take a picture of them)

sUNdAY bESt

since we are living
in the land
where dressing up for church
is essential,
i couldn't resist posting
pics of the kids in their
finest.
forgive the deodorant in the picture of hutch.
the only way i can get him
to pose these days is
by bribing him with such phrases as,
"show mama the cool deodorant you have."

20 months and on the go

thanks to the coors
for introducing us to the
micro-scooter.
the kid
is in love with it and
won't stop
(until he hits the curb).
as our neighbor karen said,
"he's so young it looks unnatural,
like those talking baby commercials."

tx In REviEW

while alex worked and studied and studied and worked, the kids and i spent the past few weeks in texas. as i mentioned before, we came right after ike hit, so the first week and a half were spent with sean and tara in college station while waiting for power to be restored in lake jackson. they welcomed our brood open-armed and ready to entertain, and we love them to bits for it. tara captures it all quite creatively here. it was so wonderful to spend time with sean and tara since we don't get to see them as often as we'd like.
lake jackson greeted us with easy, breezy, cloudless days. our schedule involved lots of time outside, cocktails on the porch in the afternoon, and plenty of exploration time for hutch. between my parents' huge yard, shrimp boats, the zoo and mini-train, and the envoys of utility trucks in town, the kid had the best day of his life every day. it only would have been better if daddy were there.
now that we're back, hutch is seriously missing all of the attention he received in the weeks after elsa's birth from both sides of the family. he'll do roll call of every name he knows and constantly asks where everyone is. he has two adaptations of names that are the best and most appropriate i've heard in awhile. in trying to call my mom 'grandmommy', he says "McMomma," and our dog burt is officially "Burp." he's even been bringing me the camera and requesting the person he'd like to see a picture of. the kid's a people-person.
sweet elsa began smiling while we were gone and really hasn't stopped whenever she's awake. she's sleeping through the night, bless her soul, and continues to think her car seat is a torture device.
we had a great, great trip, and it was a huge chance for alex to focus on his test, which takes place in two weeks time--hey-o!