Cannon Family

Winter 2013

2013-03-26T16:43:00.002-04:00

Yes, this post is titled "Winter 2013" because it is a huge dumping of random photos taken the past few months. Thought I needed some pics to go along with my previous post.

Now we are moving on. Spring is supposedly here.

6 month summary

2013-03-08T09:53:00.000-05:00

It has been forever folks. Whoops.
I don't believe in the catch up thing and doing separate posts of all the things I didn't write about. I just don't have the time or patience for that.
So I will do a one post summary of our past 6 months so it is not all completely forgotten. It was a pretty crazy 6 months after all.

SEPTEMBER-
I was super pregnant and uncomfortable. Over it to the max. We moved out of our 1 bedroom apartment. Then we were homeless for 2 days. Then we moved into our 2 bedroom apartment. Hallelujah! No more babies in closets!
Miles was born on September 21st. My mom and sister played with Eloise while I was in the hospital. I was so grateful that Eloise was having fun with people she loves. I was so sad and terrified to leave her. She was my baby. It feels weird talking about now that I know and am obsessed with Miles. But before he was here, I was so scared I was going to mess up the perfect thing me and Lulu had going on.

OCTOBER-
You know. Non-stop feedings, diaper changes, spit-up. Craig's mom came to visit for a week. I started ignoring doctors orders to take it easy because I can only do that for so long when I am the mother trying to take care of her home and family- So my incision came open while I was doing a Costco run (whoops). So then I spent 5 weeks or so packing my incision with gauze twice a day. (That means stuffing a long string of gauze into my incision with tweezers. Then pulling it out and doing it again to make sure it heals without getting infected) It was so not fun and I will need you all to remind me of this when I have my third. Because Im assuming "taking it easy" will be nearly impossible. My doctor was not amused that I chose to just stick a maxi pad over my C-section for a couple days before I decided to go in for an appointment. I mean... going to the doctor is just such a hassle sometimes.

In the midst of new babies and bleeding abdomen- there was a little thing called Hurricane Sandy. At first it was fun and exciting. At church that week, third hour was spent figuring out who lived in zone A and had to evacuate and who could house all of them. I volunteered to host some of my pregnant friends that all lived in the same building and all had to evacuate. We played and ate lots of food and were having a great time watching storm coverage (thank goodness I had gone to Costco after all) Well, it's all fun and games until the power goes out. So there we were on the 15th floor with no elevator, no cable, no cell service, no running water, no light. It was blackness. A few of us ventured down the flights of stairs to go look outside. It is so unsettling having no idea what is going on around you so we needed to check things out. When we got outside we were in for a rude awakening... the street behind me and our cross street were completely flooded. Flooded as in cars floating down the street. I was shocked. We started realizing that the power might be out longer than we expected. Anyway, this story could get long so- a couple days later my pregnant friends and me with my two kids hopped on a china town bus headed for Boston. Thank goodness. I was not physically or emotionally capable at that time to handle a week without running water or heat or light. I needed to get out of there. I think I would have had a mental breakdown.

Anyway, we survived Sandy. And Halloween was just kind of skipped over... we dressed up for the ward party I guess. Thank goodness for that. Eloise was a cute little doctor. That is the ONLY thing she wanted to be. So random.

NOVEMBER-
I stayed in Boston for as long as I could. I waited until Craig could get our car out of the garage and come pick us up. Also, my friends had to get back to, you know, have their babies.
Nate and Linley had planned a trip to visit before Sandy hit and thank goodness everything was back in working order when they got here! It was so fun to party with them.
Right when they left it was Thanksgiving. We had friends over to our place and had such a yummy and fun turkey day.

DECEMBER-
I remember I had ordered a lot of stuff on Black Friday for Chrstmas gifts and also to decorate my apartment. I had been kind of ignoring our apartment because there hadn't really been time to decorate since we moved in... So Black Friday kind of got that rolling. I threw a "Favorite Things" party at my place. We had a Mexican Fiesta on Christmas Eve Eve. We had a low-key Christmas Eve with Shake Shack and picked up Levain Bakery cookies for Santa. Christmas morning was fun. Eloise loved all her presents. And Christmas night we had friends over for a yummy dinner. A couple days later we took off to Phoenix to see Craig's family for a week. Maya was blessed and sealed and it was great to be there for the special occasion.

JANUARY-
A couple days after we got back from AZ I drove to Boston because Tanner and Heidi were taking a last minute trip there and I still had never met their 1 year old twin girls. So I had to go see them. Eloise had SO much fun playing with Oscar and Ollie.
January was full of baby showers. I threw one for my good friend Leah. What else happened in January? I can't think of anything.

FEBRUARY-
We took off to California to visit my sister and to get some sunshine. My BFF Meagan drove down from San Jose. We went to Disneyland for day. We even went to the beach twice while we were there. Beach days in February- not fair. It was heavenly. It was nice to have nice weather and a backyard. Eloise had so much fun with her cousins. The time change was really rough but other than that the kids were great. Miles is basically the perfect baby- except he is gross and spits up non-stop. Hoping he grows out of that soon! He started rolling all over the place. He is seriously so cute and happy.

MARCH-
We just got back from a quick getaway to Boca Raton, Florida. Craig had to go for a work conference so we tagged along. JT and Lizzie had the same idea. (actually they had the idea first. we totally copied them) So Lizzie and I lounged by the pool with the kids all day while Craig and JT went to a super exciting insurance conference. It was awesome.
And now I'm back to trying to entertain my kids inside because there is crazy snowing going on outside.

Im sure there is a lot that I left out- but this is better than nothing. The adjustment to 2 kids has been hard. But they are both good kids. Most of the time. we have moments every day that I want to go lock myself in my room. The apartment is usually a mess. And I usually look like a disaster. But other than that we are doing great and I feel like a quasi normal person again... I just need a little more Diet Coke than usual. :)

Miles Q

2012-10-14T20:50:00.001-04:00

I have been so bad at taking pictures of Miles but here are a couple from the hospital for those that haven't seen him yet. He is my sweet little man.

He really likes to eat and seriously freaks out if you delay meal time.

He spits up a lot and is a gassy little guy.

He is very kissable and I cuddle with him most of the night and day.

Eloise has warmed up to him and thinks he is cute and funny.

These past 3 weeks I have felt very exhausted and very blessed- for my kids, for my family and friends, and for my husband. I am one tired lucky girl.

Thank you little Miles for teaching me that there is no limit to how much I can love and please forgive me for not having as many pictures of you as I do of your big sister. We love you so much.

Spoiled Rotten

2012-05-15T17:26:00.000-04:00

The past couple of months we have been spoiled rotten... :) Time has been flying by because I feel like life has been full of fun things to look forward to. Ultrasounds, parties, vacations... life has been good!

- Eloise and I tagged along on Cooper and Crew's spring break vacation to Puerto Rico. Awesome.
- Eloise went on her first sailing adventure in the Caribbean and even went snorkeling with me. It was so fun. She also had her first pina colada. She loved it. I'm creating a monster.
- I got to throw my good friend Lizzie a baby shower (I finally get to meet her sweet baby James tomorrow!)
- I went to my first Tribeca Film Festival with my good friend Laurel.
- Lots of ultrasounds. So far so good!
- We found out we are having a boy! (which included an awesome rooftop party thanks to Lizzie and Jenna)
- Eloise and I went and explored Savannah, Georgia and then met up with Craig in South Carolina at the tail end of his work retreat. Spouses were invited to come join for the weekend. It just so happened to be the #1 resort in the country. It also happened to be mothers day. It worked out very nicely for us. Remind me to have a lot of money one day so we can go back... :)

The whirlwind has stopped. We haven't made our summer plans yet so who knows when it will start back up again. For now we are happy to be home to our awesome friends and our favorite city. I guess I should say we are always spoiled rotten.

For all you non-instagrammers... you know who you are... here are some pictures

IT'S A BOY!

2012-05-06T08:36:00.000-04:00

Well, the time was quickly approaching my 20 week ultrasound- AKA when I finally would get to find out my baby's gender. And then... as I was crossing days off my countdown, 2 of my good friends Jenna and Lizzie decided that they were in the mood to throw a "gender reveal party"

At first I was like- A) I don't even know what that is and B) I am super excited to find out at the doctor so no need to plan a party for the occasion.

And then when they pushed back, I caved because then I thought, What the heck...

and as I look at these pictures it makes me happy I did.

This pregnancy has been SO different for me than with my first.

With Eloise I thought of her all day and night and just knew from the beginning it was going to be baby Eloise. There was no doubt in my mind.

This second time around I have had zero intuitions, and feel badly because truthfully, I think about this baby rarely...(sorry baby #2), and spend my day taking care of my crazy almost 2 year old. Maybe I could describe it as distracted? Maybe it was denial? Who knows.

Anyway, I was extra excited to find out the gender because I was really wanting to stop calling this baby "it" and was looking for this pregnancy and this baby inside me to all seem more real.

(As if the gigantic middle section isn't enough?)

Anyway, like I said, I have had zero intuitions. Craig thought FOR SURE it was a girl. I just simply had a hard time picturing a boy because I picture my baby as baby Eloise naturally. It is hard for me to imagine anything different.

As you can see by the chalk board... Most everyone else was hoping for a boy

And indeed it is a boy.

And we are in a little bit of a shock.

And we are ridiculously excited.

To answer some questions:

We had the nurse seal the baby's gender in an envelope.

The envelope was given to my friend Jenna who was just planning on dropping it off at the bakery but then my sister Ashlee demanded that Jenna open it and tell her first.

So then Jenna and Ashlee and the bakery knew my baby's gender... oh and my doorman apparently because Jenna opened it in my lobby and screamed "AH! ITS A BOY!" haha. love that.

Then the bakery made cupcakes with blue frosting inside so when we bit into it we got a little blue visual of the baby boy inside of me.

Anyway, it was something I would have never thought of on my own and I'm grateful for friends that are more fun than I am. This made my weird denial pregnancy feel more real and a little extra special. Baby boy deserved a little special attention and I'm so happy he finally got some. :)

Name recommendations anyone??

oh ya...

2012-03-19T20:59:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention in my "updates" post that we are expecting a baby the end of September!

updates

2012-03-18T10:02:00.000-04:00

The past couple weeks have been sprinkled with some cold days and some gorgeous days. I'm talking 70 degrees gorgeous perfection. Those days have been the best.

Eloise has been a handful this past week. I'm giving her the excuse of teething for now... but I also bought a couple toddler parenting books online the other day during a particularly low point. So, hopefully she gets a couple teeth soon so I forgive her for all the horrible things she has done to me. And hopefully I will realize soon that I have to stop laughing at all of the naughty things she does. That might send some mixed signals. Poor confused naughty sweet little girl.

Also this week, Craig had a lot of extra curriculars. Knicks games (I believe he went to 2 games this week), playing on his basketball team, March Madness... basically all basketball related. Poor tired mommy.

Fortunately I have learned a valuable lesson from my mom and sister- Instead of getting mad or feeling bad for yourself- make it a win, win. I remembered this lesson by Friday night when I was so over the cranky baby and my messy house and feeling bad for myself- I decided Saturday was going to be my day. And it was. It was a nice break. I also negotiated a few things that should make me very happy come bonus season. After realizing what I gained from him going to another basketball game- it was totally worth it. Win win.

Eloise is growing up so fast. She finally says her name and it is SO adorable. Eloise. Love it. (no matter how hard Craig tries, she refuses to say Lulu. Hilarious)

Her current obsessions are her sunglasses that some street vendor gave to her the other day after she tried to steal a pair. Great life lesson by the way. :/ She is also obsessed with bubbles and being a super picky eater. All day long she says "more" and I have to try to guess what she wants- and she usually wants nothing I am offering. It is so fun.

Anyway, I am SO grateful for the sunshine we have had- otherwise I would have been extra cranky with the 2 peeps I love most. If we couldn't have gone to play at the park and run around outside, both Eloise and I would have gone crazy. And thank goodness we didn't. We actually had a lot of fun. We got to do our favorite sunny day activity- walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, play at the park on the water, get pizza from Grimaldi's to go eat on the grass and get an ice cream cone before you leave. The best. We had a day in Soho shopping. We had park days and play dates. So I guess I will stop complaining. :)

zona

2012-02-24T17:09:00.000-05:00

Eloise and I went to Arizona for the past 2 weeks. It was such a nice warm getaway.
Unfortunately Eloise had a bad cold/fever and we had to take a trip to the pediatrician. And of course my sister and her kids all caught her illness. Somehow I avoided it... such a mystery to me.

So anyway
of course our last couple of days Eloise was finally healthy and happy.
And then we had to leave. Tragic story.

Some exciting events happened while we were visiting-
My best friend Katy got married. My nephew Cason turned 8 and had a fun all boy birthday party. My nephew Dre turned 6 and had a Mexican Fiesta. My brother in-law John and his wife Stephanie flew to Hawaii to pick up their new baby Maya. The Cannons hosted us for a fabulous Sunday dinner. We got to meet baby Lauren and twin boys Cole and Crew.
And of course there was a lot of Mexican food and sunshine.

We always hate to say goodbye. There is never enough time to see everyone as much as we would like.
But we also couldn't wait to get home to Craig. 2 weeks is our limit.

I will do more pics another time. nap time is over apparently.

don't want to forget...

2012-02-01T23:05:00.001-05:00

Eloise standing on the sidewalk with an outstretched arm screaming "BAB!" over and over again as loud as she could. (that means cab) And everyone stopping to watch her hail a taxi all by herself. (of course I had my hand up in the air but she definitely did all the work.

Every time we pass Wendy's (which is every time we come and go because it is basically next door) Eloise stops and asks for fries. I guess she does that even when we don't pass Wendy's...

She knows where people live now. If I walk by my friend Amanda's building Eloise starts saying "baby".
If we walk even remotely close to her best friend's building she starts asking for Elle... and I need to video her saying Elle because she sticks her tongue all the way out every time she says it.

All day long she says "daddy bye bye?" and "Elle?" over and over and over again.

She has begun to throw things. This week I have been hit in the face with a remote and a glass cup. Fortunately neither left a scar.

She has discovered that she can climb out of the bath tub.

I could not wait until the day she would sit and watch a tv show. I never thought it would happen. Now she says "show!" nonstop. I hope this means she will be happy on our long flight to AZ next week.

She stubbed her toe really bad this month and had to get antibiotics and I had to clean and bandage it every day. She was obsessed with it and was constantly trying to tell me she needed a new bandaid. Recently her toenail fell off and she points to it frequently throughout the day and says "ow" with a sad face. I painted her remaining toenails the other night and now she points to all of her toes and says "oww" with a sad face.

She kisses random things. Like her arm or her stroller or the bath tub or her sandwich. So funny.

She wants to walk everywhere. Sometimes she is good and cooperative but I would say that most of the time she does not want to hold my hand... which is obviously not an option for a 1 year old in New York City. She goes completely limp if I try to hold her hand and lays on the nasty ground and then tries to get up and run away. So then I have to carry her kicking and screaming back home to get the stroller... or just give up and stay home instead.

She loves singing "popcorn popping" and "once there was a snowman"... over and over again. Sometimes we will throw in "head, shoulders, knees and toes" if we are lucky.

I noticed that if the song "If I Die Young" comes on she starts singing "uh oh uh oh"... listen to the song and you will know why. I was shocked. It just randomly comes up on my iTunes sometimes. Made me realize she is always paying attention!

She screams my name when she is looking for me "MA MA!" she learned that from taking showers with her dad and him screaming for me to come get her out.

She very much enjoys reading books, doing animal noises, pointing to her body parts (she especially likes to poke your nose or your eye and tell you what it is)

Her dancing is just standing in place and bouncing... sometimes adding strange head movements. Arms bent, elbows in.

She randomly starts trying to jump and screams "dump! dump! dump!" while she flops around like a crazy person. I don't see other people's children doing this...

If Daddy puts gel in his hair... Eloise would like some too. Which means that diaper cream or body lotion or soap usually mysteriously finds its way onto her head.

I guess I could go on and on and on....

She wears me out. Yes she does. But every night when I lay down to go to sleep I am laughing about something crazy or naughty she did that day. So I guess I am lucky that at the end of my hardest days I am usually laughing harder too. I never did envision me with a quiet obedient child... don't think that is in the cards for me. but i think i just might prefer crazy. As long as I still get the sweet hugs and kisses and cuddles too.

funny face

2012-01-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

post nap time is my favorite time of the day.

eloise is either super happy or super cuddly

her hair is usually messed up and she is usually hoarding blankets and pacifiers

and after having a couple hours of alone time, I am usually pretty excited for her to wake up.

It is hard to portray how badly I want to squeeze and kiss her all the time.

or how crazy fun she is. or how silly she is. or how naughty or stubborn or stinking cute she is.

but here is a tiny glimpse of that face that keeps me grinning.

i am so happy i get to be the one to get her out of her crib every day.

that time of year...

2012-01-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

New York post holidays.
When it is just cold without any holiday cheer to make it feel festive.
Flu season.
Just cold.
And everyone is planning a warm escape.
My escape won't be until next month to AZ. And I can't wait.
And I just bought tickets to How To Succeed in Business without Really Trying to give myself something to look forward to this month.
I kept trying to go see it before Daniel Radcliffe was leaving- but when I realized that my favorite Glee character would be playing the lead in January I decided I could wait until after the holiday madness. But Harry Potter vs. Blaine... tough choice. I can't wait. I've heard raving reviews.

18 months

2012-01-02T12:15:00.001-05:00

Weird. Is it 2012? My mind is still in October. It felt weird that all the holidays were taking place in October this year...
Anyway, before I try to catch up with the calendar I need to document my wee one's 18 month birthday (which was on Christmas day) (she is special like that)

I cannot believe she is 18 months old. It is crazy how ridiculously fast she is growing up. When I stop to think about it I get sad. But mostly I feel so grateful that I get to enjoy every moment of raising such an awesome little girl. She is my little sidekick and my every day would be so lame without her. Watching her grow up would be so painful if I didn't get to see every second of it. Not to mention the older she gets the more awesome she is. We really can't get enough of her smarts and sass, her hugs and kisses, her not so large vocabulary, sesame street, bath time, picking up toys, saying prayers, going on walks, her naughtiness, chasing her down, her back flip attempts while we change poopy diapers, reading books, her disobedience, her curiosity, and her endless giggles.

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

Since our only other family picture was taken in the hospital when Eloise was born, I thought I should document that Eloise has parents. Just remember though, because you probably won't see another family picture until next Christmas.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! xoxo

2011-12-14T19:40:00.000-05:00

happy belated halloween

2011-11-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

All I can say is- I was such a sucker on Halloween. Eloise was way too cute and therefore she got to eat way too much candy and stay up wayyyy too late showing off her cuteness.

We went trick or treating around Tribeca to all the boutiques and restaurants. Eloise did a good job taking candy from people and waving bye-bye. In the beginning it was going very slowly because she wanted to stop and eat her candy each time she got a piece... And it took awhile for me to stop being such a push over. The parenting kicked in eventually and now there is still a little mini purse of candy hidden behind the blender that I am just now remembering as I type this... but I think that there is nothing good left... hence me forgetting about it.

After Tribeca we went to Elle's building to trick or treat some more. Two one year old girls running (I like to call it "trot-waddling") down hallways and knocking on doors and taking candy and waving bye-bye... I loved every second of it. And I am pretty sure they did too.

All of a sudden...

2011-10-28T12:20:00.001-04:00

It got cold.

Sad. Gross. No fun.

It is going to be a very cold winter if Eloise doesn't learn to love the rain cover...

Sticking your head out of it kind of defeats the purpose. :/

I am hoping as it gets colder she will realize how not fun experiencing the elements is...

Anywho

We are off to play in Chicago this weekend with Oscar and Oliver.

We have never been and cannot wait!

I am excited to go on a trip with Craig in tow.

It always makes it feel extra special when we get to bring him along with us.

Or maybe it just feels a lot easier...

Maybe I should switch my seat and take a nap. Or read a book. Or a magazine! Tell someone else's baby to be quiet. So many options!

Before I go, here are some instagrammers from the past couple of weeks.

In remembrance of this fantastic October...

We will miss bags of snacks. She has lost privileges.

My favorite was when she threw popcorn all over Banana Republic, and then J Crew, And then Gap.

We will miss brunching. Eloise is no longer invited to restaurants.

We will miss sunny Sunday strolls.

PS I have a love/hate relationship with our baby growing up. I took her on the subway yesterday sans baby carrier or stroller. It was fun just holding her hand. But she is growing up way too fast.

Most of all we will miss our perfect days at the park.

I do not look forward to fighting my daughter to put even more clothes on.

And fighting her to keep them on.

And I do not like runny noses.

I have a feeling the following months will have a lot more of this-

The Amtrak story...

2011-10-22T22:22:00.000-04:00

I was reading through old comments and remembered that I forgot to share my Amtrak story...
Are you ready for this ridiculousness?

To refresh- Cooper and Crew were visiting and I was going home to Boston with them to supervise while my parents were out of town...

We arrive at Penn Station early and get our tickets. I hand them to the boys and tell them "Do NOT Lose These." They are 16 and 18 years old so you would think they could follow simple orders...
The boys go grab some smoothies and donuts etc. for the train ride while I buy a Elle Decor and House Beautiful and then we wait to see what track we will be on.
Right when the track number is announced Cooper runs off to save seats on the train because we knew with the stroller I would lag behind. Crew and I are about to go down the elevator when he screams "I lost my ticket" and he runs away.
I am standing there by the elevator having zero idea of what to do next. Cooper is on the train. Crew is missing and so is his ticket. And if I don't get on the elevator now I will surely miss the train. Quite the predicament.
I get on the elevator and go to the train just in case Crew makes it down. I keep trying to call Crew to tell him to GET ON THE *(@(#(()($@# TRAIN! But I cannot get ahold of him. Have zero idea where he is.
I get me and Eloise on the train and start begging the conductor to hold the train for ONE MINUTE for my little brother. He says no. "PLEASE! Just one minute!? He is here and running down! He is only 15!" He says no again. "SERIOUSLY! JUST ONE MINUTE!!! I Can't get off because my other brother is on the train somewhere saving seats and I can't leave the other one behind! PLEASE!!" He says no again. "HEY EVERYONE RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU CARE IF WE WAIT ONE MINUTE FOR MY LITTLE BROTHER!!" people staring at me... "Sir, trains are late all the time. If he is not here in one minute I will get off the train." He shuts the doors. "OK LET ME OFF! I CAN'T LEAVE MY LITTLE BROTHER!"
Just as I go to get off the train I freeze... I am paralyzed. what if Crew runs down right this second? Then we both miss the train! Or what if he is already on the train and I get off for no reason?... SO I just stand there in the door and the conductor cannot shut the door on me and my child.
I am just standing there calmly. Just talking to Eloise ... Thinking I really hope Crew comes soon and they don't kick me off the train... (All of this happened in ONE MINUTE)
Then all of a sudden Crew jumps on the train. He saw me because I was standing halfway off the train...
When we get back on I realize the conductor is on the phone with the police complaining about a crazy lady blocking the doorway with her baby carriage (that is what stupid conductors call strollers. and FYI the stroller was OFF the train and I was in the doorway... just to be clear)
I say "Thanks for waiting 1 minute! We can go now! :)" The conductor says, "You say that now after I called the police" "Well that was unnecessary" Meanwhile a woman train lady starts yapping about what a horrible mother I am... I got a little Real Housewives at that moment and started saying things like "oh no you didn't!" (not really. well, kind of)
Then Crew and I leave the stupid conductors to go find Cooper and sit down. Then I tell Cooper what happened really loudly so the people of the train hear my side of the story before the police come find me and make the train even more delayed...
Then at least 10 police officers- WITH DOGS- start running around the train. One comes down our aisle and I stop her and say, "I think you guys are looking for me"... 5 seconds later the conductor comes in and screams, "THERE SHE IS! There is the crazy lady that needs a talking to"... Oh brother.
The police escort me off the train. I wanted to pull another reality TV moment and start screaming "GET YO HANDS OFF ME. DO NOT TOUCH ME!"... but I refrained and said "Are you kicking me off the train because I have a baby on board and cannot leave without her." But we just had a little chat. And the police just told me to apologize to the man so the train could get on its way. And I said "I am sorry. I definitely did not want any of this to happen. I just needed to get my brother on the train. I am really sorry I delayed everyone 1 minute. And I am sorry you called the cops and delayed everyone 20 minutes." He started going off about me putting my child in danger... and miraculously I stayed very calm and said- "You know my child was not in danger. you are just saying that now you are mad at me. And getting personal about my parenting is not okay with me."
Anyway, I went back to my seat. Next to my little brothers and my baby. And the train was on its way. Somehow we all made it on.... and somehow we didn't get kicked off. And luckily we didn't get kicked off again when the conductor came down the aisle and we had to explain that Crew didn't actually have his ticket....

Luckily Eloise was smiley and cute to everyone so they didn't hate us even more for having a whiny baby on the train. (That was the train ride before when a woman made me cry and a nice man gave Eloise his iPad to play with because she was being so bad... and his kindness made me cry again)

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-15T20:09:00.002-04:00

I know this is Taylor's blog, but I just have one comment. I completely believe in the right to assemble and protest.

BUT, I just wish the "99%" would go ruin someone else's neighborhood. They smell so bad. Literally. They have not showered in weeks and the whole area has a terrible stench - it is where we live, and I wish they would take their protests to their own neighborhoods.

Instagramma jamma

2011-10-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

hey people
I apologize for the lack of blogging.
I have been busy cheating on blogger with Instagram.

The good news is- this means I have pictures to share :)

We have been up to no good as usual. Climbing stairs and slides and kitchen tables and toilets and drawers... Luckily Eloise has managed to avoid major injury.
We go to the park most days and most days we go with Lulu's BFF Elle that lives down the street.
We went to Boston for a week to watch Cooper and Crew while my parents were on vacation. Teenagers... (PS remind me to tell you about our exciting Amtrak drama... police were involved)
Craig got to come party for conference weekend. ( and to cheer on Coop and Crew in their basketball tournament- PPS Congrats to Cooper who just got offered a spot on BYU basketball team!! We are SO happy for him!)
And now we are happy to be home. Back to decorating, park hopping, and pumpkin cookie making.
(and messes and laundry and cooking for 1)
We just cannot get enough of October.

Last week/September 11th.

2011-09-12T09:35:00.001-04:00

I feel like the last week was a whirlwind.
I am not usually so booked... I like my free time. :)
But last week consisted of a baby sick with Hand Foot Moth Disease, planning and throwing Amanda's baby shower, doing pedicures at a fancy little girls birthday party, Fashion Night Out (remember how I said I was never doing that again? somehow I got talked into it ), Date night- BBQ and a walk down the Highline. (followed by wanting a cupcake from Billy's and Craig and Nate buying a whole cake), Errands, BYU Football, a yummy Sunday dinner with friends, and September 11th.

For those that do not realize- I live 2 blocks away from the World Trade Center. 2 short blocks. I look out my bedroom window and can see the Freedom Tower lit up in Red White and Blue. I can hear the construction out my window.
Most days it doesn't phase me. But this weekend felt weird. With the threats and everything- I left for church yesterday morning with morbid thoughts running through my mind. I was walking with Eloise and the street seemed empty. I knew there were thousands gathered just a couple blocks away- but my street seemed quiet. There were security guards riding around on golf carts. I walked down the subway stairs slowly and wondered if anything would happen while I was at church. While holding my baby, I realized this year I have far too much to lose. And it worried me a little bit. (not to be dramatic or anything)
This week in church I knew that nobody else was having a sacrament meeting like mine- we had 3 men speak that have lived here since before 9/11. One has lived here so long he watched the twin towers be built. And then watched them be destroyed. It was fascinating. And heartbreaking. Hearing their stories and descriptions made me very aware of how close we are to it all. My street would have been covered in debris. There would have been aid stations around my block. They told stories of hiking up 34 flights of stairs to check on neighbors and I started making a checklist in my mind of all my friends I would need to check on, knowing how close they are too.
I don't think any of us really thought anything would happen yesterday. We feel safe here. But in the back of your mind you remember that nobody expected that 10 years ago either. And then you can't help but wonder if something like that could happen again.
It is weird how days like that make you a little scared to live here and also proud to be a New Yorker.

Maine

2011-08-28T23:56:00.000-04:00

My family decided to branch out and do something a little different this year...

We all went to a family camp in Maine! Oh ya.

We were all very excited and very skeptical at the same time considering we had never done anything like this before. We usually do villas near the beach- not so much cabins in the woods. I was laughing just at the idea of my family camping. Very comical. I have been camping with my dad twice in my life (daddy daughter) and both times we drove home in the middle of the night. I was sure someone was going to go check into the nearest hotel...

The cabins were very rustic- but in the cute kind of way- not in a scary kind of way. They were clean and had working toilets and showers so none of us had any complaints. We were on a little island on a gorgeous lake. You walk out the porch of your little cabin and onto your dock where you have your canoes and kayaks and can park your ski boat. The kids swim out to the little swimming docks, we canoed to other little islands to pick blueberries, we went tubing and wake boarding, we attempted fishing, we played tennis every day, boys went golfing, all the little cousins ran around all day and Eloise is convinced she is as big as they are. Our only responsibility was to show up and eat when we heard the clacker. Rough life.

Madness

2011-08-27T14:53:00.002-04:00

I have been in Maine all week with my family- parents, grandparents, siblings, neices, nephews. So much fun. (hope to blog about that some other time)
Craig had to leave early (as in Sunday... the day after we got there) to go back to work.
The rest of us just arrived at my parents house in Boston after our week of fun and we are already watching the rain pour outside and awaiting the mighty hurricane- trying to run some last minute errands and checking flight statuses, realizing we might be stuck here for awhile.
The timing is a little fishy to me because a few weeks ago Craig was asked by our area authority to give a lesson in church on emergency preparedness- more specifically hurricane preparedness. We thought it was SO random and I joked that this it was the first lesson Craig actually had to do preparation for. He couldn't wing emergency exit strategy.
Since Craig left us last Sunday night, there has been an earthquake and an approaching hurricane in NYC.
There are chains on the doors to the subway stations and restaurants are closed with tape on their windows. Nobody can get to work without public transportation. Half of our friends live in the mandatory evacuation zone and people are trying to find places to stay. A lot of people drove inland, a lot of people just jumped on a plane days ago to get away. And my whole family is together at my parents house- except for Craig.
Sometimes my imagination runs wild and I imagine horrible things (and that is why I made Craig get up to go to the bathroom with me our first night in Maine. The woods creep me out. whole other story) but I think I am just paranoid that things are abnormal- a shut down Manhattan, two natural disasters in a week, evacuation orders, etc,
I just keep thinking- what are the odds? That we had that lesson just a couple weeks ago. That there was an earthquake earlier this week. That I am with my whole family for once and we are awaiting a Hurricane.
I believe this is probably just going to be a hyped up rain storm (I hope) but the timing of everything just seems a little fishy to me.
And I am mad that Craig left Maine and that he wouldn't come back to Boston to meet us so I don't have to worry about losing communication with him. He is stubborn and a little too excited that church is cancelled and he has boxes of cookies and gatorade to live off of...

daddy time

2011-08-11T10:24:00.000-04:00

Whenever Craig is home before Eloise goes to bed (Saturday and Sunday)

He likes taking Eloise on neighborhood walks.

She LOVES walking around like a big girl

And she loves her daddy time.

It seems like she clings to him now on the rare occasions he is home with us.

And I enjoy that very much. :)

The Plaza

2011-08-11T10:17:00.000-04:00

We obviously do not have a yard...

So some nights before bed time we go to a business plaza around the corner so Eloise can run around and ride her car.

She chases birds. Attacks people's dogs. Tries to steal cell phones from strangers. Sneaks some leaves and cigarettes into her mouth...

She loves flirting and waving at everyone

And she loves running around like a crazy person.

She fits right in here.

California Girls

2011-08-01T15:08:00.000-04:00

Eloise and I had 2 weeks of perfection.

We went to the beach almost every day.

It was heaven.