Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Move over Seattle, in the last two weeks The Silversmiths have experienced rain like never before.  It is hard rain that lasts up to 24 hours and creates floods and road closures.  This is not good when the roads are already bad in this area.  The reason I loath the rain today more than any day is that I had to take my children to Urgent Care and I forgot to bring a jacket. Asher woke up at 3 am last night screaming and the screaming woke Orli up. The entire Silversmith clan was up at 3am and all of us were fairly miserable.  Asher proceeded to tell me that an elephant or maybe 10 hyenas were in his ears, he wasn't quite sure.  We needed to get those hyenas and/or elephants out and so in the morning I packed up my kiddos in the car and headed to the nearest Urgent Care.  Asher has a double ear infection (poor guy). However, when he found out, he jumped for joy.  The doctor laughed out loud while Asher exclaimed, "I have a BIG elephant in my ear and it's not hiding!" So, in the rain we trudged on to the pharmacy. Orli in her stroller and Asher holding my hand. What a hassle and I was wearing a white shirt--truly a mess of a day. Now, my two children are sleeping at the same time that is something to celebrate.


Here are some pictures taken last week.  They make me laugh and I need that after today.

Asher got a gorilla costume from his Bubbie last week, he loves it.

When Asher dresses in his costume, Orli gives the best belly laughs I have ever heard. 

My little gorilla

Orli is 8 Months!

Yahoo! Orli is 8 months old.  Her new talents include: Waving at everyone, babbling up a storm, eating bananas (from a jar), sleeping through the night, and sitting up solidly.  Orli also thinks her brother is very silly and laughs at everything he does. In return, Asher performs for her all the time.
One of my favorite pastimes is dressing her up. We have a growing collection of headbands and bows for her. I know that one day soon she will rip them out of her hair, so I have to get in all my pictures while I can.  She also wore her first tutu last week--these are BIG milestones, friends!

Tutu!

Always happy, more bows!

I love Orli's expression. Asher wanted to do tummy time with her. 

Playing together

 Until I was a Mom, I never dreaded 4 o'clock...You have to be strong to survive it now.

Philadelphia

The Silversmiths have officially arrived in the City of Brotherly Love.  We are enjoying getting to know this part of the East Coast.  There are a lot of things we like (friendliness and less stressful) and some things that make us miss DC (cleanliness and no potholes), I guess that is just part of the deal when moving.

We were so grateful to have help during the first week. Bubbie and Nana sure helped us get settled and we are able to get to know our new town.  Asher has enjoyed our membership to the Philadelphia Zoo, the oldest zoo in the United States. He managed to take both Bubbie and Nana to the zoo. In all,  we went 5 times in 2 weeks.  The zoo is only minutes from our house which is a great thing when your toddler can't get enough of animals and carousels and pony rides and train rides, oh my! It is definitely Asher's paradise.  We also went to another zoo about 25 minutes away that Jed and I liked better because it was smaller, had a farm where you feed the animals, and several capybara.  Needless to say, we are discovering the area.

Asher also started school which is connected to our synagogue.  It is huge and much different from his former school.  They have an indoor pool and all! Asher will be going to Summer camp at the same place. The first week of school he was asked to bring in something that represented Israel.  He brought in an Oryx, of course. The teacher didn't know Asher very well at this point and she didn't know how to pronounce Oryx.  She assumed that I had bought it on-line just for share. I told her that Asher already had this one at home. I am not sure she believed me, but I know Asher will show his knowledge and love of animals very soon.  On my way out of the school, Asher kept saying, "I brought an Arabian Oryx to school!" He was very happy with himself.

Finally, Asher has been making up new names for our family.  Last week, I was Tucklevania. Asher was Leo, Orli was Bee, Roswell was Peacock, and Jed was Crispy. He would only call us by these names.  Today, he decided we needed new names. I burst out laughing when he revealed them to us.
Asher is grasshopper, Orli is snail, I am Ladybug, and Jed is still Crispy. Poor Daddy.

Asher loves the pony rides! 

Asher peeped his head through and became some kind of tamarin.

Trains with Bubbie

I am including this picture because I realized that Asher wore this same sleep sack at the same age and I wanted to do a comparison photo. Orli is almost 8 months and Asher was 8 months old.

654 6th Street NE

Over the last two weeks, we have started to say farewell to our first home as a family.  We are planning to put it on the market in a few days. It was truly a special place.  We moved to DC and bought this house and then a few years later Jed proposed to me there.  We did countless renovations to make it our own. We started our new life as a married couple and then had two children who also called 654 6th Street NE their home (In DC putting your quadrant in the address is very important!) We called this place our home for a little over 10 years. As we have started to settle into our new place and begun to put things away, we realize how much that place meant to our family.  We will miss our little slice of DC.

On the last day I was in the house and before I said goodbye, I snapped a few photos. My last bit of belonging at the door, I walked around and noticed that the house held a lot of special memories!

The exposed brick was one of the first details I loved about our 115 year old rowhouse! Also, the light fixture above was picked out after countless hours at lighting stores, we finally ordered ours on-line.

Our little Hobbit door was really our only storage in the entire house!  Children loved to open the door and go inside whenever they came over.

We did our kitchen renovation during my 1st trimester with Asher.  Jed was conveniently out of town for most of it! 

I've decided to also include some pictures from the last few days of our move.

Orli helping me pack and grab her toes at the same time, she is so talented!

Asher's preschool class on his last day.  They had a stuffed animal party for him.

All the children ate cupcakes with their stuffed animals. Asher is clutching his new elephant.

My little loves getting some last minute cuddles before our move.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Asher having fun in the hotel we stayed at for 2 days before heading to Philly.

Orli, Roswell, and I driving to Philadelphia while Asher took a train with his Bubbie.

We hope that Philadelphia will be just as warm and welcoming as DC was to us.  Here's to cherishing our time in DC and the new possibilities that await us in Philadelphia. 

Let's Hear it for Our 7 Month Old!

I know what you are wondering, Why is she blogging when she has a million other things she needs to be doing? Well, it is because Orli hit a big milestone and I couldn't just let it pass without mentioning it.  Little Orli turned 7 months yesterday, right in the middle of our BIG move to Philadelphia!  I managed to get her photo among our many boxes and packing supplies. She definitely is not shy of the camera and is our little roly poly love bug.

Orli is alert, happy, babbles constantly, likes eating peas (just like her brother did) Unlike her brother, she is not a great sleeper. I think she would be a better sleeper if she wasn't being toted everywhere in her car seat. I have serious Mommy guilt over this and feel terrible that she is always running on someone else's schedule where we ran on Asher's schedule.  I guess that is what happens with a second child.

She is wearing 9 month clothing.

Helping us pack, what a good girl.

Family!

In the craziness of moving and trying to pack with an infant and toddler, I am reminded again and again how much I love my life....seriously! The 6 month mark for Orli has truly been exciting. She sprung not 1 but 2 beautiful teeth.  The two little jewels are popping out of the bottom of her mouth and we think it is adorable. Orli is also sitting up without support for a few minutes at a time.  Finally, she is starting to eat solids and sit in a high chair. What a big girl!

Even though we lost, she's still cute!

Highchair = big girl

Sitting up

Asher is also charming and warms my heart. He tries to make Orli laugh and takes care of her by bringing her things, he thinks will cheer her up when she is upset.  He is also a ball of energy and keeps us constantly on our toes. We are so very proud of his problem solving skills. He just completed a 52 piece puzzle of the United States all on his own and he can name most of the states (how many of us could do that now or even at his age).  I promise that I was not hovering around him and feeding him the answers while he worked.

Hanging out! You can't tell by this picture, but it was LOUD in the house.

We are at the zoo and had to see the gibbons.  Yes, this is one of  Asher's favorite animals. She is at the top of the fence staring down at us.

We are on a typical walk in the afternoon in DC.

Happy Half Birthday Orli!

Orli turned 6 months yesterday. I can't believe our little Orli girl celebrated her half birthday. She has found her thumb, loves to roll from her back to her tummy, squeal, laugh, play peek-a-boo, watch her brother and eat, eat, eat.  Solid foods start this month, oh my!

The riding pants on this outfit make me laugh!