The Presidential Box

Well, as far as birthday surprises go, Joe has peaked early in our marriage. My birthday is tomorrow, and for the BEST birthday present ever, he called in a few favors to (awesome) friends and got tickets to a musical at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts...in the PRESIDENTIAL BOX...i.e. where the President sits when he goes to any show or does the Kennedy Center Honors. WOW! Luckily, he (the President)was not interested in seeing Legally Blonde: The Musical so that we could! So, on Sunday afternoon we got a taste of the high life and have decided to post a list of the Top 10 Perks for watching a show Presidential Style.

1. Easy to remember your seat number: Box 1.

2. Enclosed with your tickets is a friendly reminder that as you are considered guests of the President and the First Lady, you need to act appropriately towards the performers. Whew! That saved us a lot of embarrassment.

3. The only box that allows drinks and snacks. We know this because the sweet usher lady, upon seeing our tickets, said,"Oh! You get to go in the one with the refreshments!"

4. The bathroom might as well be a bulletproof saferoom. It is soundproof, probably because it might be awkward if dignitaries heard each other going to the bathroom.

5. Red, white and blue Presidential M&Ms in their own special box.

6. The people in the boxes around you think you have obviously done something pretty special to be sitting in THAT box.

7. Special Korbel Champagne with the Presidential seal on the bottle- Joe, at least, enjoyed that.

8. Before the show you get to hang out and hear war stories from the Secret Service guys. (Just kidding, no Secret Service for us)

9. Obviously, the BEST seats in the house!

10. It just feels good.

Outside the entrance to the box

The view when you walk in

The entrance to the theater from the inner box- can't take pics out there

Special Presidential Champagne

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yea for blogs!

We would just like to say thank you to those of you that have blogs. Over the past few months we have really come to appreciate them. We have noticed that they help us feel apart of your lives more than just occasional emails and phone calls. Because we live states, or even countries, away from most of you, we miss out on so much, especially with all the growing babies now! Reading about important moments, seeing pictures and being able to comment on them is such a joy for us and something we look forward to.

And hint, hint, if you don't have one maybe you should think about it...:)

Tour de South

Before Christmas, we were thrilled to be able to take a quick road trip down South to visit some dear friends before Grayson comes. We went to a baby shower for Sara and Allen, as well as our old church, Shandon Baptist in Columbia, SC. Then onto Atlanta to see the Bagwells' growing family and Betsy and new baby Ellis. Finally we drove back through Charlottesville, VA to see UVA and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. We did it all in 5 days, and EVERY part was perfect, although short. We are so thankful to have seen all of you and miss you already!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sick Boys

I just couldn't help it. Joe came home early from work today with a bad cold. Him and Hank promptly curled up on the couch to nap it out. So now I have two pitiful boys to take care of, which makes me feel good because they have been taking extra special care of me for over 7 months now.

p.s. Went to the doctor today- everything is ship-shape with Grayson. His head is already down and I will now start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. We're getting close! (at least that's what they say- I feel like I have been pregnant my entire life at this point. :)

Christmas Catastrophe

(Well, I guess it was technically a day after Christmas.)

Last night, I was giving Joe a haircut in anticipation of a mini-road trip we were supposed to take today (Sorry Tom and Jenny!). Hank heard someone walking by, and ran downstairs as usual to bark at them in his best guard dog voice. However, this time we heard a loud CRASH! He had broken through the window at the bottom of the stairs that he likes to jump on and paw at. If you know Hank, you know he is easily scared (yes, I know this doesn't line up with his guard dog persona) and he immediately ran upstairs with a terrified look on his face. As we petted and soothed him as he trembled, we noticed the blood on the carpet. We carried him to the tile in the kitchen to examine his little paws. One of them in particular bled quite a bit very quickly. Joe did some excellent doctoring (that may have included duct tape) to last through the night. Hank on his part had the most pitiful look on his face all night, and barely stirred at all. This morning we took him to the vet to see how deep the cuts were. Of course he needed to be put under to get stitches, recieved a cone for his head and an unbelievable vet bill, so much that Grayson probably can't go to college now. Post-surgery he is groggy and wants to be very close to mama.

The window

After being doctored by Joe- note the worried look on his face

Back home from the million-dollar vet's office

It will be an interesting week with the cone, as every time he moves he bumps into something which frightens him and makes him jumpy. The stairs are a nightmare, as he hasn't learned to pick his head up yet, so he gets scared when the cone hits a stair and then he won't move AT ALL. (And for those of you who have not been to our place, it has 3 stories). Good times ahead!

Wide Load...

Everybody watch yourself- there were TWO pregnant ladies on the prowl this weekend. One half of our BFFs came into town this weekend (Ash is writing this by the way, Joe doesn't approve of boys calling each other BFF). Sara and Allen live and work in the Middle East and are home for Christmas. We have been so thrilled to be pregnant, both with boys, at the same time. Little Ben is due about a month after Grayson. I was figuring that when Sara and I first saw each other that the babies would leap in our wombs, kind of like when Mary went to visit Elizabeth when they were pregnant with John the Baptist and Jesus. But, alas, not so much.

We shopped until we dropped (see pic below) this weekend- 2.5 hours in Target alone- and attracted quite a bit of attention with the both of us waddling around. There has been a large amount of chocolate, cake, and food in general consumed in the past 72 hours- and Joe has been a great sport putting up with the physical complaints (me) and emotions (Sara). However, I think that he will be glad to share the joy with Allen next weekend when we are all in Columbia.

We made it to Target within 2 hours of her plane landing in the states.

Grayson (30 weeks) and Ben (26 weeks) meet for the first time!

The current view in the Dickerson living room

To our South Carolina peeps (and the Bags)- we can't WAIT to see you in just a few days!!!

This weekend we got to go to Junction, TX where Joe's mom lives. Joe went hunting for a few days with his dad and brother, we spent time with Joe's mama, our sister-in-law Wendy, our precious nieces Anna and Sarah, Aunt Zee, and my parents, who were kind enough to join us there. We ate, played outside, walked to the river everyday, had Christmas and plenty of merrymaking. The girls are so sweet and snuggly, and love teasing us- it is always hard to say good-bye when they are growing so fast! Wendy is also pregnant with their third- a little boy that will be only 2 months apart from Grayson- talk about double trouble at family reunions! :) My parents brought Aggie (our old dog that couldn't handle city living in DC) and she had a great time swimming and chasing all the deer out of Donnette's 40 acres.

Wes and Bert with their spoils of hunting
I (Ashleigh) wash my hands of the whole affair :)

If you live outside of Texas and can name these items that you can buy at the grocery store in Junction, we will send you a prize.

Omi D with Sarah and Anna. Now that she works the land, she is rockin' an authentic rancher's hat.

Joe and the swollen one with Aggie.

That small black dot is Aggie. When she saw the river she got so excited that she took a flying leap into it and swam like she was on fire towards the other side. We had to call her back before she made it to the Gulf of Mexico.

Aggie and dad with Tex the horse in the background. Aggie maintained a respectful distance around the horse.

Anna and Sarah making Christmas cookies.

Our trip was such a blessing. We miss you all already!