The Webers Take North Carolina

Each year over Memorial Day weekend, The Webers pack up the car and head on down to the family cabin located in Lake Toxway, NC. D & J have been making the trek almost as long as they've been together and have created so many memories there. The birth of our children has ushered in a whole new era at the cabin. We're most definitely enjoying creating even more memories with the newest Weber generation. It may not be the glam and glitz of Manhattan, or have the mystique of some tropical island, but we call it our home away from home.

We had an extra special time this past Memorial Day as The Cabin played host not to D, J and The Dynamic Duo of Norah and Natalie, but to Grandma and Poppy as well!

Dan and his dad left in the middle of the week to open up the place, do a little fishing, and oversee the re-siding and roofing project that they had initiated. (The cabin was woefully in need of some repairs. See the before and after pics....) This left J at home alone with both girls for the first time. All in all, she did a great job as a 'single parent' for a few days.

J & Grandma then packed up the kiddos and headed out on a 'through the night' drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains (Driving through the night is MUCH easier to do with the kids at this age). The girls did a wonderful job in the car (especially seeing as how it rained to beat the band for the first 5 hours of the trip, and J was a nervous wreck behind the wheel). Two stops and a few diaper changes later, we arrived safe and sound at about 3 a.m.....to a cabin with no electricity!

The power went out at about 7 p.m. and, despite the assurance from both Dan and Poppy that they were, in fact, totally in the dark, the folks at the Haywood Electric Corporation just couldn't figure out why there was no power at our little hideaway in the mountains when their computer system said that there was. This confusion led to a delay in sending workers out, and power wasn't restored until 8 a.m. (All things move a little slower down in the mountains, you know).

It was all fun and games after that little obstacle was conquered.

We all had a great time; especially Ms. Norah. She got to collect rocks and take in the scenery on our mile hike in the mountains, got ewy-gooey sticky all over enjoying the lollipop that Daddy bought here that was as big as her head, had fun eating watermelon with Grandma & Poppy, caught her very first grasshopper and enjoyed her first campfire and S'mores! It was so great seeing her having such a good time, and we know that these are just the first few in what we hope to be a lifetime of memories at the cabin for our little girls.

All good things must come to an end, though, so the Webers packed up and headed back to civilization after our brief little getaway.

As a side note, most of you know that we lost our first 'child' this past April when our beloved boxer, Angus Argyle, passed away. Angus enjoyed the cabin as much as his human counterparts. He was always allowed to romp around off leash and accompanied us on many a hike and overnight camping trip. He was our little Mountain Dog. We found it only fitting to spread his ashes at the place that he truly adored. RIP, Bubba!

May I Have This Dance?

Ask any dad how he feels about having little girls and, you'll get a myriad of responses. Some may say that they're cute until they get that 'teenage mouth' on them. Others will state that they immediately wanted to go out and buy a gun rack and some sawed-off shotguns. Still others will fret and worry about how they're going to pay for prom dresses and weddings (Dan fell in to this category when we found out we were having Norah). No matter the type of dad you ask, though, be he big and burly or quiet and reserved, each of them will admit to having a soft spot for their sweet little princesses. And no matter how much trouble little girls may be (or get in to), one of the best things about having them is that Dadddys ALWAYS get the first dance.

Whirlwind

Okay. We admit it. We're a little behind updating all of you on The Webers' Big Adventures. Hey, we've been just a teensy bit preoccupied, okay?!?!?!? I mean, it's not like J is sitting around with a quart of ice cream watching daytime television, here. (Man! That sounds totally awesome right about now! :-) We've got two children to tend to. We've had play-dates, swim class to attend, baptisms to plan, a house to try to sell and Easter eggs to hunt. In a word, we've been swamped.

Despite the hectic pace of life, however, we realize that we've got an audience out there that wants to know about life at The Weber Inn. We can't let you all down. :-)

We'll let the pictures and videos do the talking for this update. Hopefully, this will get us all caught up, and the next update will be in 'real time'. Enjoy!

Sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who has a sibling knows that it ain't always easy. Whether it's dealing with the theft of toys, clothes and (gulp) boyfriends or girlfriends by that pesky younger brother/sister or it's putting up with being picked on, beaten up and berated for being an annoying tattle-tail younger sibling, isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

But, there is a silver lining to having a partner in crime in the family, too. There's companionship, sharing and the unbreakable bond that gets forged between two people within a family unit.

We know that our Dynamic Duo of Norah and Natalie with probably experience all of the ups and downs that come with being sisters, and we're probably looking forward to it as much as they will one day.

Norah was somewhat....ohhh...shall we say....pissed when her little sister finally came home for good. After all, she'd just gotten over being horribly sick and loved and pampered. Then, Mommy and Daddy brought home this screaming little demon that she couldn't touch (Doctor's orders) or interact with. Not to mention the fact that it cried and took up tons of Mommy and Daddy's time. (Time that used to belong to Ms. Norah). HOW DARE THEY! :-)

As time has moved on, however, Norah has taken a bit more interest in Natalie. She's asked to help with bottles, given Natalie kisses, and has even held her a time or two. We guess that she just figures that, if Natalie isn't going anywhere, she might as well try to interact with her.

We know that, one day, these two sisters may be thick as thieves, and we're trying to capture as many of these sweet moments as possible.

Without Further Adieu....

....we would like to introduce you to: Wee Weber Number Two!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our pleasure to introduce you to Ms. Natalie Jeanne (pronounced 'Jean') Weber the First.

Natalie was born on March 4, 2011 at 12:18 p.m. She was a healthy 7 lbs. 4 ounces, 19.5" long and was full of surprises from the get-go. SHE WAS BREECH! Yep! Our little dumplin decided to come into this world feet first rather than the traditional head-first approach. No big deal considering that her birth was a scheduled C-Section anyway. We just got a kick out of the fact that Natalie decided to be unique right from the start.

Speaking of starts: in addition to being breech, our second daughter's arrival began rather unconventionally. Big Sister Norah was still recovering from RSV (a rather nasty little bug that is really hard on the respitory system of toddlers but can be fatal in infants), so she was not allowed to visit her little sister in the hospital like most siblings do. Also, the day that J & Natalie were discharged and came home, Norah spiked a fever and developed a nasty cough.

Fearing that whatever nasty little buggers that had invaded Norah's body would come and attack the fledgling immune system of 3-Day old Natalie, Mommy and Daddy kept them completely separate from one another (quite a feat in a tiny little house) quickly moving to man-to-man defense with Dan staying in with Norah and tending to her and J breastfeeding and tending to Natalie.

By 11:30 p.m. that night, the new parents of two were just slightly overtired and overwhelmed tending to one sick toddler and one newborn. J was, after all, recovering from a C-Section, and in need of some assistance herself. Reinforcements had to be called in. And so, Grandma Weber was notified and came in straight away.

One long night of sickness, breastfeeding, baby-rocking and pain management later, it was time to take Natalie to her first Wellness appointment at her pediatricians office. Since J was not able to drive and Dan was still taking care of poor little Norah, Grandma Weber drove J & Natalie to the doctor.

Natalie was healthy as a horse (an appropriate description because she was eating like a small Shetland Pony). She had gained back, and surpassed her birth weight and was doing just fine. The same could not be said for her older sister.

The moment we pulled back in to the driveway, we were met by Dan who informed us to just pack a bag for Natalie and get over to Grandma's house because Norah was now vomiting. We did just that, and Mommy and Natalie spent their first few days out of the hospital with Grandma and Poppy whilst Daddy spent his paternity leave tending to Norah. It wasn't exactly your run-of-the-mill situation, but we made do and came through it relatively unscathed.

So, it is exactly 27 days later, and it's safe to say that life at The Weber Inn has been altered, for the better, yet again. We've now got two beautiful miracles to raise, teach and learn from every day. These two miracles are each unique and awe inspiring. We are truly, TRULY blessed to be the parents of Norah and Natalie Weber.

Enjoy pictures from Natalie's birth. We have many more stories and images to share, and will do so in subsequent posts.

Ready or Not.....

....here she comes! We can't believe that we've got LESS THAN TWO WEEKS before we meet the Wee'est Weber. This pregnancy has most definitely flown by, and Mommy & Daddy are in full prep-mode washing sheets, buying diapers and hunting down car-seat bases. All in all, though, we've done a pretty good job prepping for baby #2.

One of the main benefits of having another girl is the recycling/hand-me-down aspect of everything. Mommy saved everything (and I do mean EVER-Y-THING) from Norah's days as an infant and baby. From floral boppy covers to hand made receiving blankets to cute, ballerina-themed onesies, the Newest Weber has got it all. Plus, Norah will learn the ever-so-important trait of sharing, and Mommy and Daddy get to save a TON of money. Besides, we really don't think Little One will give two hoots where she gets all of her goodies.

Of course, Baby Weber does need and deserve SOME uniqueness, so we took great care to give her nursery, and new clothing, a new theme. As you know, we gave Norah's nursery etc.. a lamb theme; a beautiful fit for a beautiful girl. This next beautiful girl will have her own wonderful theme of...flowers and butterflies! And, changing the theme of the nursery from lambs to butterflies led us to move Norah into a brand new room with Big-Girl furniture.

As we have not yet sold the current Weber Inn to new owners (more on that in later posts), we were faced with transforming our guest room into a room fit for a toddler. We don't really anticipate being here too long after the new baby arrives, so we didn't spend too much time on a theme for Norah's new room, but we did go all out when picking her Big-Girl bedroom suite. It will,after all, hopefully last Ms. Big Sister well into her teens (And, perhaps, be passed down to a daughter of her own one day?)

(A quick side note on Norah's first experiences out of the crib and into a bed: She did really well. She did fall out of bed the first night, but has not done so since. We still routinely check on her only to find that she's turned around in her sleep, but she has really taken to the bed)

All in all, Mommy and Daddy are very happy with the girl's new rooms. We hope that they will one day look back on these pictures and feel the same way.