Cold

Have I mentioned it's cold?  Tomorrow the high is supposed to be -2.  Yes, Fahrenheit.  So tomorrow we won't be going out.  I've decided 0 degrees is my cutoff. 

Today, however, it was a balmy 5 degrees.  So we went grocery shopping.  I'm pleased to say I cut our preparation time in half.  I managed to get my own boots on before dressing the girls.  That helped tremendously.  I wore Zoia in the Ergo, but constantly peeked down to make sure she was still breathing - I was worried I'd smother her!  Natasha went into the umbrella stroller with a rain canopy over it to block the wind.  We managed to get through the store without incident.  Somewhere between the store and home, though, Natasha lost a mitten.  I knew I needed to sew them onto a cord and thread them through her parka sleeves, but I was procrastinating.  Mommy fail.  Good thing I have a few back-up pairs.  I can sew them together tomorrow, since it will be too cold to go out.

Also, today I learned that they keep their caviar under lock-and-key.  And that's just your run-of-the-mill red salmon caviar.  They don't sell the pricey stuff at this particular store.  Guess caviar theft is a problem here.

No pictures at this point because wrangling two babies leaves no hands free for a camera.  Maybe this weekend.

We're back! Also, it's really freaking cold.

After a couple false starts, wherein Jeremy flew back to Moscow alone in mid-November and then returned to DC for 48 hours over Thanksgiving weekend to pick us up, we are all back in Russia.

Also, it is ridiculously cold here.  It was about 50 degrees when we left DC on Saturday.  Today it is 7 degrees.  And that's without windchill.

Our flight from DC to Moscow went about as well as we could have hoped.  No one was forced to pose for nude photographs or groped during our trip through security.  The TSA agents were very polite.  The flight was half-empty and Zoia slept almost the entire time.  Natasha didn't sleep much but only screamed for about 10 minutes.  All our luggage arrived and nothing was broken.  All in all, a successful trip.

This morning our layette shipment arrived.  Then Jeremy left for work.  I am proud to report that I did not grab him by the leg and plead him not to go, though I admit that I was afraid to be left alone with our daughters for the first time.  About an hour later, I decided that we were going to take a short walk, despite the fact that it was 7 degrees outside.  I figured that if I didn't do it now, I would never conquer my fear of taking them out in the cold and we'd be stuck inside for six months and this would officially be The Winter That Masha Went Insane.

First I had to get everyone bundled up.  That took awhile.  When I was sitting outside on the steps, wearing Zoia on my chest, trying simultaneously to put my boots on and preven Natasha from running off, tripping over her too-big boots and cracking her skull open on the concrete, it occurred to me that I need a better system.  Winter is going to be long, so I'll get a lot of practice.

We walked to the produce stand, which is only five minutes away, and which, I was delighted to find, is open even when it is ridiculously cold.  I bought a pound and a half of mushrooms, two heads of lettuce, four cucumbers, two zucchini, two enormous pears, two persimmons, a pound of mandarins and a pound of grapes.  It cost me $30.  I didn't even care.  I was just grateful that I didn't have to walk a mile to the Ramstore.

Jeremy should be home in about two hours, and there have been no catastrophes.

A good first day back, I'd say.

Back in DC ... here, catch!

We welcomed our new daughter, Zoia on Monday afternoon. She's a hefty 8 pounds (1.5 pounds bigger than her sister) and 20.75 inches long. So, we are already placing bets on if she'll play rugby. Training starts tomorrow with Lego block curls.

The last 48 hours have been a little surreal. I got off the plane on Saturday and by early Monday morning, Masha was in labor. Z wasn't expected until next Friday, but I guess she didn't want to spend any more time than necessary inside the womb. And apparently, N left detailed instructions for how to enter this world as Z came out with a hand on her cheek (N came out with two!). But the jet lag has been a blessing as I've been wide awake to to do the 3-5 AM living room walking tour with Z to let Masha sleep. No coffee needed.

Now we just have to convince our oldest that this strange thing that is taking all of mommy's attention isn't so bad. Exhibit 1: Upon seeing the baby laying next to Mama, N proceeded to grab her leg and pull her away from Masha. Result: N is rewarded with strawberries in the living room in an effort to separate the two siblings. Might not be the behavioral reinforcement we are looking for, but it worked.

I know you've all been waiting ...

So, I've been having a little bit of a rough time keeping up my end of the blog posts as my wonderful wife reminds me. Not really my fault as I didn't have a good camera to take any pics. So, unfortunately, no pics from the U2 or Pogues concerts. I do have a couple from my beer bottling (blond pilsner type beer), but I'll post those when I return to Moscow so I can include a couple from the beer tasting.

Speaking of beer tasting, a colleague of mine has offered to do a little cartoon drawing/logo making if I can come up with a name for the beer and beer company. Any thoughts on "Wife Said I Needed a Hobby Beer Company." Other ideas?

Natasha is 1!

It was pointed out to me recently that I haven't done such a great job at keeping up with the blog since leaving Moscow.  So here's a little update.

Natasha turned 1 on Thursday.  She also cut her first tooth about a week ago, and has been almost-walking for the past three or so weeks.  She does up to 10 steps at a time before falling.  It's pretty cute.

I'm due in less than three weeks and #2 is officially full-term.  So Natasha could become a big sister any day now.  Hopefully #2 will wait until Jeremy arrives on October 9, but I'm starting to worry that he/she plans to make an unfashionably early appearance.  Not much we can do about that, though, and it wouldn't be the first time a Foreign Service brat is born before Papa arrives ...

And speaking of Papa, he's been living it up in Moscow.  I've been telling him to blog about his adventures, but I guess he's too busy attending concerts (U2 and The Pogues) and bottling his own beer to fire up Blogger.  It's a rough bachelor life, I tell ya.

A few birthday photos, starting with Natasha wearing the same dress I wore on my first birthday (incidentally, my father was also absent - having moved to Washington ahead of me and my mother to start his Foreign Service training).  The cake is carrot (made using this recipe, which really is awesome - I just added vanilla and omitted the nuts).  We made sure Papa was part of the proceedings using the magic of Skype and webcam.  And Natasha ate her entire carrot cupcake (though unfortunately I had to give her dairy-free frosting as she is still allergic to cow's milk), but only after I took her out of the high chair and held her on my lap.  After that, it was meltdown city.

Ah, the first birthday ...