A Week With Nama and Dapa

Mom and Dad had a week off at the beginning of October, and they decided to spend the week up in New Jersey with us. I'm pretty sure it was because my mom was going into Michael withdrawal, but it's to be expected. :) It was nice to have them there, and Dad hadn't gotten to see Michael since the summer...about time for more quality time with Gramps!

My parents are such good sports. They drive 12 hours each way to visit with us, and what do I do? Put them to work of course. I had a whole slew of projects for my dad to help with...from fixing a broken toilet seat to installing shelves. And Mom was busy working on creating a new footstool for the mini-man. The help was MUCH appreciated...that to-do list was getting waaaay too long!


But don't worry, I didn't make them work the whole time they were here. There was still plenty of time left to hang out with Michael. We squeezed in a few cool outings while they were here:

We took a hayride at a local farm and went apple and pumpkin picking.

Mom and Dad took Michael to an indoor playplace while I had to work one day.

Michael played the part of Grandpa's Little Helper.

Grandpa taught Michael how to build an airplane.

Grandma and Michael even left you with a photo tutorial for how to make homemade sugar cookies. Just follow the simple steps below:

1. Measure dry ingredients.



2. Mix

3. Add wet ingredients.

4. Mix again.

5. Roll out chilled dough.

6. Cut out cool shapes using cookie cutters.

7. Have Mommy bake them in the oven. While cookies bake, do a happy dance on the chair. (No pants required)

8. Don't forget to give yourself a Hitler mustache with the flour. Why not liven up the party a little bit?

9. Time to decorate!

10. Most important step of all: Don't forget to sample your work!!

The Big Project

Well....a lot has been going on since my hiatus from the blogging world. First and foremost, the news you've all been waiting for....

It's another BOY!!!!

That's right ladies and gents! We went for the ultrasound Labor Day weekend (that's how behind I am!) and found out the exciting news. I will now be extremely outnumbered by males in my household, but I absolutely LOVE having a boy already...they are so much fun! It will be exhausting I'm sure, but we are looking forward to welcoming our new addition.

So, having heard this news, the next hurdle was going to be where to put the new addition to the family. We have 3 bedrooms, but I could not fathom living without one functional guest room for how often it is used. We decided, due to the change in decor on the new toddler bed we had introduced Michael to a month prior, we would just flip flop rooms. His current room was already decorated, and the landlord didn't want it touched, but it was not working with his new "Cars" bedding. Marion, however, was opposed to decorating a room in a house that wasn't ours, so I decided to take on the task myself when he went away on business for two weeks. Hey, he said he didn't want any part of it...not that I couldn't decorate...you must be specific with me people. :)

A few pictures of my big helper assembling his new bed:

And of course you have to give it a test run....that was hard work!

One of the first mornings in the new bed...I love this picture. :)

When I finally decided on how to decorate the room, I enlisted the MUCH appreciated help of Danielle and Adam that weekend. Danielle primarily helped me with the room while Adam graciously did babysitting duty. I couldn't have done it without them!!! Michael had so much fun spending quality time with his uncle...I heard about the fair Adam took him to for the entire week following!

Of course, due to my indecisiveness, the room wasn't completely finished by the time they left, but all the major work was done. After a few more online purchases and forcing myself to just make a decision already, the room was done!!! I couldn't have been happier with the results!!

Expecting...Again!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we are expecting again! Baby #2 is officially on its way!



I found out the Thursday morning before Memorial Day, a mere 24 hours before I flew out for my dear brother Kendrick's wedding. Therefore, there wasn't a heck of a lot of time to process the new info before I left. Marion was staying at home over the weekend with Michael, so it was going to be my duty alone to tell the fam.



I wanted to keep it quiet over the weekend, since after all, this was not my party. I did manage to tell Adam and Danielle on the way down and my parents at the hotel when we got there, and they all did an AMAZING job of not spilling the beans. This news is very hard for my mother to sit on, but she did so well. You're awesome mom. :)



Little by little, I have told close family and friends the news, and today we are announcing it to the world! I am sixteen weeks today, and am finally starting to get some energy back. F.I.N.A.L.L.Y.



They say every pregnancy is different, regardless of if the sex of the baby is the same or not. And no people, I do not know the sex of the baby yet. Yes, I am going to find out. And yes, I will let you know when I know. So....has this pregnancy been the same so far? Yes and no. I have been extreeeeeeeemely tired and have had to nap with Michael almost every afternoon just to function, but I experience this with the first one as well. I've had more frequent waves of nausea, but again never threw up. I am SO thankful for this!

But the worst part of being pregnant? My body thinking that it has to go through puberty all over again. It has no idea what to do with all these hormones and chemicals, and it is making me break out like mad! That can be done at any point, thank you very much. Went through that once (well, twice) already.

All in all, I have been blessed thus far to have easy, unremarkable pregnancies. I am just now at the end of my 'normal' clothes and the belly is just starting to make itself known. I've only gained 3 pounds so far, but this fat stage makes it seem like so much more! Guess all the weight is just shifting around to make room. And the world begins to revolve around the baby already....

I have about 3 or 4 more weeks until we have our anatomy scan, and then the real planning and prep will begin! We are excited to find out what the new addition will be to our family, and I think we would be happy with either. Just pray for a healthy baby! We will keep you posted as we find out anything new!

First official ultrasound taken at 11.5 weeks

You can see the arms and legs really well in this one!

Weekend With the Girls

About a week after we got back from our extended summer vacation, Mom and Danielle came back up to my house and we prepared to hit the Big Apple for a girls weekend with the fam! We were meeting my two aunts and their daughters up there who we don't get to see very often, so we were excited to get to spend time with them as well.

Adam, the trooper he is, was on Michael duty for a full day by himself on Friday while we took off and Marion was at work. Everyone survived, and we are very appreciative to have such a good sport added to our family. :)

Well, the boys got to have a boys' weekend, while we got to have our girls' weekend. But this post isn't about the boys. ;) We took the train up early Friday morning and met the other girls at the hotel. As soon as we were all ready, we ventured out to see the sights. Now, I don't know why I have this luck with that city, but every time I go, it rains. Every time. So of course, we have planned to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge this day, so we get off the subway in Brooklyn, and guess what? Yep, it's raining. No, scratch that. It's pouring. We decide to trek to the famous pizza place first, hoping to miss some of the rain. After waiting an hr. to get in, we all enjoyed some scrumptious pizza, then hit the bridge.

In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that we ended up walking the bridge that day anyway, since the next day it was in the mid-90s. Good thing we spent the majority of that day indoors at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Later Saturday night, we went to the obligatory Broadway musical. You cannot go to New York and not go to a Broadway show. This is just not allowed. My aunt got us great tickets for "Wicked", and the show was pretty good! Of course, you can't end your night without a piece of New York cheesecake either. :)

Other things we were able to squeeze in in our short two days was a boat cruise, finding the Treat Truck featured on the Food Network, and taking a tour of Grand Central Station. We also got another nice surprise. My other aunt and her two kids just happened to be vacationing in the area at the same time, so we were able to meet up with them a few times which was nice. Ended up being quite the family reunion!

Summer Vacation 2010

Every time I begin a new blog post, I feel the need to apologize. For my ridiculously long absence. EVERY time. So again, my apologies for the extended hiatus.

We have had an extremely busy summer thus far. I finished work mid-June, and a few days later, the little man and I were off to Kentucky. Marion met us down there a few days later after making the grueling drive with the dog. Marion was lucky enough to get several weeks of leave at once, so we took full advantage. We began the vacation with Marion and I going to the wedding of our Best Man in Indianapolis. Marion got to see his old buddies from undergrad, and we ended up staying with my friend from college, so it was nice to be able to catch up with old friends. Mom and Dad were nice enough to watch Michael for the weekend so we could make the trip sans child (although that didn't take much arm-twisting!).

After we got back to Kentucky, we relaxed a little and took some time to hang out with family. My old roomate Laura and her husband even got to come down to visit for a few days, and we had fun winning money at Churchill Downs! We were able to spend the 4th with both sets of parents and Adam and Danielle, which was nice. Of course Marion and his dad supplied us with a nice array of bootleg fireworks to watch in the backyard. :)

After the 4th, we decided to pay our dear friends in Dayton a visit on the way back. We stayed with friends from Marion's program, and I got to meet up with my old Mom's group! After a day or two there, it was off to Adam and Danielle's in Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh, we met up with my parents once again and Adam's dad, and the guys went out for a weekend hiking trip in the wilderness. While they were out there huffing and puffing and eating nasty food, mom and I took the more comfortable route and stayed at Danielle's apartment with the little man, with short outings to the zoo and mall.

After all of our many stops and almost a month of being in beds and homes other than our own, we finally made it back to our humble NJ abode. We had a great time seeing family, but I do have to say it is good to be home!

TWO!

It is still hard to believe, but the little man just had his second birthday. TWO years old already...where in the world did the time go? It doesn't seem so long ago that I was in the hospital giving birth, but at the same time it seems like ages ago that he was that tiny, helpless newborn...hard to imagine him that small now as he's running around the house like a madman!

For his birthday party, we were lucky that Danielle, Adam, Laura, and Juan could all make it. We also invited a couple of Michael's buddies and some people from Marion's work. It actually turned out really well for how much procrastination was done. :) With the help of my trusty sidekicks Danielle and Laura, we worked diligently until 2am to get the monster of a cake done. It turned out really well (we were doing a "Things That Go" theme) for all the work that went into it! Much thanks to the sidekicks for their help with decorating!

My partners in crime....

The finished product...

For the party, it was going to be waaay too crowded in our townhouse for that many little kiddos and their parents, so I decided at the last minute to rent a moonbounce. Why? Because I'm the coolest mom ever...of course. It was a huge hit and the kids had a blast. Who am I kidding? We all had a blast!

We are always camera happy at this house, so I put the rest of the bday pics below. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! Now I just have to figure out where to put this massive amount of toys....

Calling All Moms With Picky Eaters!

Calling All Moms!!!!

Check out this new blog that I stumbled upon. It's devoted to making REAL, easy meals that are....get this, kid tested and approved! No more rotating between mac n cheese and chicken nuggets every night! (Although Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution has me rethinking which nuggets I buy...anyone watch that? Disturbing!) Anywho, back on topic here. Check it out. I haven't tried any of the recipes, but couldn't wait to share the site! If anyone tries anything on here that's a huge success, let me know!

www.tastebudding.com/recipes