Crazy House

2013-02-27T14:53:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe I live in California. Ten minutes from the ocean. Ten minutes from San Francisco. I can't believe I've been here for six months. Someone told me that time stands still here. Because there aren't any seasons. I get it. It feels like spring time. Like we just skipped winter. It's odd. I'm still adjusting to it all. Moving across the country. Being a stay at home mom.

I feel like I'm on an extended vacation. I'm starting to miss my friends and family a bit. I'm a planner and I feel good when I have some things on the books. We have the whole demolition of our new house coming up so that's exciting. But I like to have trips planned and purchased. Dates when I know that I'm going to see my family or friends. I have nothing planned. So I've been pestering my family. Course, the whole demolition of our house is going to happen in the next week or two so it's really not a good time to have a lot of visitors. Hopefully living without a kitchen for a few months will keep me busy and I won't miss my family so much.

The One with the View

2013-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Before I get into pictures of our house...let's talk about the view. We bought this house for a lot of reasons...but the view was at the top of the list! Photos do not do it justice.

This is early morning.


This is mid day.

Early evening.

The One with the Adjusting

2013-01-31T15:59:00.005-08:00

There are some things that are different in California from Ohio. And some of them are a little harder to adjust to. Maybe it's just me but some of these things are just bizarre!

1) Motorcycles. There are a lot of them. And they drive higgly piggly through traffic. They freak me out coming up the middle of the highway. Geesh! I used to try to avoid motorcycles. I'd stay back as far as possible or pass as quickly as possible. But there's no getting away from them here!

Maybe its that I was in a horrible car wreck flying through the air on the interstate...but I always think of the worst case scenerio when it comes to motorcycles. A small pebble. A little wobble here or there. And then I run over a body. It's one thing to hit a car on the freeway...but hitting a motorcycle. I couldn't handle it. They would have to take me away in a white coat. I'm not adjusting to this one. At all!

2) Drive thrus. Come on! People in Cali have cars. Why aren't there any bank drive thrus? Why aren't there any Starbucks drive thrus? They're all over Ohio. Those peeps in Seattle know they work in Ohio..why not Cali? People have kids in car seats in Cali too ya know! There are random McDonald's drive thrus...and your Jack...whatever restaurants...but I need caffiene!! And a bank every now and then. This one's not easy either! Update - I enrolled Max in a preschool...the only one that had availability. Guess what, it has a drive thru! I can't believe it. It's genius but I still can't believe it.

3) No rain. It seriously hasn't rained since we've been here. One day of sprinkles...and it wasn't enough to send Hugo running. It's been total sunshine for 2+ months. I can live with this one! Update - We're now in the rainy season. It's still been like 10 random days with loads of sunshine in between. I'm loving this one!

4) Shopping mall. I'm in need of a shopping mall. I'll be driving to Concord tomorrow for a shopping mall trip. I'll let you know how it goes. It's 20 miles outside of Emeryville. Seems odd to me coming from the land of retail. I'm adjusting...though it's weird. Update - Now that we're in God's Country (aka Marin County) there are mountains, ocean, the city and...MALLS! Nice ones! Yay!!

5) Grocery stores. I know I've complained about this one but I just haven't found the right place. Yeah...there are Whole Foods everywhere. And the Berkeley Bowl..(which is fabulous in its own right) and Trader Joe's. But we're feeding a family of four here. And $5 for a gallon of milk that lasts about 3 days just ain't happening. So I've been going to BB, TJ's and Pak N ~~Stab~~ Save. I hate having to go to 3-4 different places to get what I want. Although the fresh fruit and veggies are fabulous! I'll adjust..eventually. Update - In God's Country there are better Safeway's and a great Trader Joe's and Mollie Stone's (even more expensive than Whole Paycheck) but I still miss my Market District Giant Eagle.

Overall, life is good. Being a SAHM is great. Now if we can just find a house... Update - We found a house! Yay! More of that to come. Now that we're somewhat settled, hopefully I'll post some more!

The One with a Little Messy Marvin

2012-12-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

It's inevidable. We're at a restaurant and we sit down to eat and Max has to go potty. EVERY. TIME. It's especially fun when it's just me and the boys. On this occasion I put Jonah into the stroller and left our food walked toward the bathrooms only to realize that there were stairs and I had the stroller. So we went back to our table and I got Jonah out along with the diaper bag. And we walked up the stairs only to realize that the bathrooms were closed. We could go to the bathroom in the mall. Back at the table and I put Jonah back in the stroller and handed him his cup of milk with a straw. I started packing up the food and look over at Jonah with the straw in his mouth and the cup tipped all the way back. Milk flowing all over his face, neck, shirt, pants...everywhere. Until it was empty. Then he looked at me and caught his breath and said "Molk". Yeah buddy...that was milk.

Off to the bathroom and fortunately I had just bought some clothes for the boys. I changed Jonah into a new shirt and a new diaper...but I didn't buy pants. So there we were walking through the mall with no pants on Jonah while he ate his burger.

Good times.

The One in Emeryville

2012-10-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

So we're in our new apartment. Open living room/dining room/kitchen. Two bedrooms. One with a master bath. Another bath in the hall. And really that's it. But WE. HAVE. TWO. BATHROOMS! AND. A. DISHWASHER!!

Aww..it's the little things. I started thinking about how long it had been since I lived somewhere with a working dishwasher. It's something like 12 years or so. I'm loving the dishwasher.

So most of our days are spent like this:

But we've started a gymnastics and an art class. And we also joined a play place called Studio Grow.

And on the weekends when we're not looking at houses, we're doing fun family things.

Now if we can just find a house and a babysitter...I think things will be good!

The One with the first week.

2012-10-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

Finally. We're in California. It seems like it took forever to get here. And I'm sure there's lots more work ahead!

We landed and still had to pick up Hugo and pick up my car. We had it shipped earlier so that we would at least have one car. So the car service drove us to the storage and Andrew drove my car back to the airport to pick up Hugo and meet us at our temporary house in San Rafael.

It was a cute little house with a great view.

There was a hiking trail at the end of the street and a cute little park with a playground only two blocks away. We liked it!

The house itself was small and had lots of nick-nacks but we made due. We had to take AB to the ferry every day since we only had one car and there was definitely some adjusting to the new time zone but a few day time car trips helped out with naps. And it made for some good sight seeing for me!

We went to the park almost every day.

There were sequoias in the park...so lovely!

We even started seeing some of the same people every day and I'm sure if we'd stayed we would have made some new friends. I think Max was adjusting perfectly. Which made it hard to leave.

After 10 days, our moving van arrived and we started moving into our apartment. We were excited to get our own stuff and looking forward to adjusting to our new neighborhood.

The One with all the Running

2012-09-11T11:43:00.001-07:00

So before I get to where I left off, I'd like to tell another story about a trip to San Francisco.

When I was pregnant with Max, Andrew owned his own company and had planned on taking a few weeks off after I gave birth to spend as a new family. Well I didn't have the most story book birth experience. (Jonah's birth experience was as close to perfect as anyone could ask for. I only wish that every first time mom could experience what I did with Jonah.)

Aaaanyway...(I say that a lot in my story telling), Max was three weeks early, and Andrew had a photo shoot scheduled in Minneapolis or one of those cities in the middle of the country. He was ready to cancel so that he could be with us but I insisted that he keep the photo shoot. So instead we decided to take a trip to San Fran during my maternity leave. I mean if we're all going to be hanging out doing nothing but spending time together, we might as well do it in a fantastic city.

So when Max was 10 weeks old, we flew to San Fran. The trip was awesome. Max was great on the plane and during all the walking and we even had a babysitter one night and went out for a fabulous dinner. It was a really great vacation....until we came home. I remember sitting at the gate and our plane was obviously late and they finally made an announcement that the plane was late and listed all the final destinations that needed to come up to be re-routed. Columbus was not on the list. But we knew we had a tight connection in Phoenix...and I had to check the stroller so I went up and asked. She was one of the rudest and most annoying people. She looked at me and said.."Was Columbus on the list?" I said no and she said then we did not need to be re-routed. I looked at the girl behind her and she agreed. So I checked the stroller. Looking back, I should have ~~pushed a little more~~ punched both of them. So of course you know the end of this story. We get to Phoenix and me and my 10 week old ran. We ran as fast as a new mother holding a 10 week old could run. AB stayed back and waited for the stroller. Once he got the stroller, he ran. I could see the gate up ahead...two nicer ladies waving their arms..."hurry, hurry". I got to the gate and said..."my husband is right behind me. He had to wait for the stroller." They told me that I could get on but that they couldn't wait for him. Ha! So you expect me to get on the plane with my 10 week old and leaving my husband here?! That's funny. I waited and waited...and then they closed the gate. And then I waited and waited and then we saw him running. I started walking toward him so that he would at least stop running. We couldn't believe it. They would not hold the plane for us. I seriously wanted to punch those first two ladies. We went to the counter and explained what happened. There were no other flights that day. We had to spend the night. They put us up in a hotel and gave us some food money and some incidental money. And then I realized...I had packed my breast pump and didn't have it with me. Anyone that has ever breastfed knows how horrible this is for an exclusively pumping breast feeding momma. WORST! NIGHT! EVER! I tried my hardest to get Max to feed. I tried whatever I could to relieve my pain. But nothing worked. I had a hard time with milk production and this was no help at all. Moral of the story, always carry on your pump. You never know what could happen.

Sooooo, back to our moving story. We get to the airport and there were again some delays. And we had another close connection. I started to get worried. I did not want a repeat performance. And we were flying through Detroit! At least when we got stuck in Phoenix, my friend James came over for a visit. But Detroit?! Argh. We finally got off the ground in Columbus. It was short flight but we were worried. Once we were closer to Detroit the flight attendant started giving out gate locations. We scouted out our gate on the airport map...it was going to be tight! We put a plan together. I would stay with Jonah and wait for the stroller. Andrew and Max would run. It's funny. We had this plan of grabbing some lunch and taking it on the plane. Didn't happen. As soon as I saw our stroller, I strapped in my 25lb child and ran. My flip flops made a really annoying "clip clop" noise and it echoed throughout the airport. It was so loud and annoying that everyone would stop and get out of my way. Just imagine hearing a really loud "clop, clop, clop, clip, clop" and turning and seeing a 30ish (I like to think) mother running while pushing her bushy top blonde boy in a crappy stroller. Ha! I guess I would get out of her way too. We had to run from one concourse to another. There is a shuttle tram but it wasn't there when we got to it...so we kept running. Jonah saw the tram at one point and pointed and said "choo choo". Too bad we didn't get to ride it. We got to the gate and they were announcing last call for boarding. There were around 8 people standing around trying to get on our flight stand by and she said if we did not board, they would give up our seats. Shew....we had BARELY made it!

We were off to our new home. Sweaty, tired, hungry and with a leg cramp. But dude we didn't have to spend the night in Detroit!

These two crashed once we got off the ground.

PS - I added a few pics on the last post.

The One with the traveling and moving.

2012-08-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

So the last few weeks have been a whirl wind. It began early on a Monday when the movers showed up before we were ready. I'm not even sure we were dressed...I just remember my sister putting on clothes in the living room with men walking in and out. We got the boys up and ready and sister took them to the zoo for the day. (She's my sister not The Hooker when she takes care of the boys!) :) I thought the packers would be done quickly...but I don't think anyone realized how much stuff we have. We also had the closing that day. My sister had taken my ID to get into the zoo on our family pass and at some point I realized I would need that at the closing. I thought about getting my passport but it was in the safe and the key was at the hotel that we were staying at. She put the boys in the car and met us at the closing to hand off my ID. Shew. Crisis averted.

When she left, I knew she would be sad but I powered through...but I think she saw Andrew and they both said goodbye in tears.

We spent the night in the hotel and heading back to the house to meet the movers. They loaded the truck which again took all day long. I took the boys to a playground then we met up for lunch and then drove around during nap time. We were feeling a bit homeless at this point so we called Billie and Willow for a playdate. We enjoyed the cool air and a birthday cupcake.

We went back to the house and met up with Catelyn and she brought over her vacuum and finished up at the house. The house was empty. I had never seen it this way. Andrew bought the house before we met. I wasn't in love with it...but it was still where our first kiss was, where we made our babies, where we brought them home. A lot had happened in that house. Lots of family and friends and lots and lots of love. But still I was ready to move on to our new adventure. We said a big goodbye and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning was a scramble to get Hugo to the airport first. His flight was at 7a. Ours was 10ish. We got everything together and made it to the airport and AMB met us there to take our car back. It was a little teary but not too bad.

And after a few delay's....we were off the ground. Shew. But the crazy had just started....

to be continued....

The One with the Countdown

2012-07-31T15:50:00.001-07:00

Eight days and counting. The house is ready for closing. The utilities are scheduled to be turned off. The mail has been forwarded. The movers are scheduled. The temporary house has been rented. The long term temporary apartment has been rented. Airline tickets have been purchased.

Still to do: Hugo's airline ticket and crate. Car shipping. Packing. Relaxing. Eating all the frozen food in our freezer. Drinking all the open liquor containers. Should be fun.

I'm feeling a little like this:

The One with the Night Out

2012-07-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

The Hooker and I are close. She comes up and helps with my boys and they love her. She's like a sister wife...but better because we don't share a man.

But recently I was trying to help her out. Trying to find her a date. It was a memorable evening with the Hooker and her best friend, Susan.

Photo bombers in the back! :)

So we were in our hometown in West Virgina and we saddled up to the bar. I was chatting up the guy next to me...but he was with someone so I didn't think much about him. He later told me that she was just a friend. He had dark, curly hair and a beard. Both had specks of gray. He was nice, funny and charming...even if he was totally decked out in 80's gear. Dress shorts, pin striped button down which I believe had a big RL or Polo logo on it and brown loafers..with no socks. But I had hope. Clothes and hair you can fix.

We continued chatting about my husband and kids and his daughter. He asked me about The Hooker. I told him she was definitely single. He was interested. She was interested. And so they began chatting. And his sister's were there pimping him out. We were discussing the high school he attended so I asked what year he graduated. He said '83. My sister and I looked at each other and it was like a choir was in the background singing HALLELUJAH! We almost immediately said.."you look good"...our math may have been off since Hooker looked liked this:

But I was certain he was older than us! He told us his sister was 28 and I said.."wow big age gap there" and he agreed and said..."long story". We proceeded with the chatting. And we also chatted with the photo bombers. They were hilarious!

At some point Susan was talking with his sister and then the wispering started. He looked at me and asked what was going on. I had no idea. Finally Hooker told me he was BORN in '83! She was out of there so fast. He said, "she's not going to talk to me again is she?" I said..ah No! And you don't look so good for 29! LOSER! (Ok..so I didn't say those last two things until we left!)

Regardless, we had a good time. Such a good time that we ended the night at Taco Bell at 2a...with a broken purse.

Good times...good times!

The One with the News

2012-07-17T13:06:00.001-07:00

We've done it. AB accepted the job. We're moving. West Coast in the houuzz! We're leaving our comfortable Mid-West life and starting a new life somewhere in the Bay area.

We've had so much going on the last few months. In March, he had the phone interview. April we went to visit and just think about the possibilities. May was a lot of negotiating. And thinking. And we did a little NYC trek. One day I would be totally against it but Andrew was full throttle. The next day I would think, "he's right" and jump on the band wagon. The next day Andrew was worried about my sister and her relationship with the boys. And I would convince him she'd come to visit and their relationship would be even more special. We would go back and forth for days. One evening I couldn't stop crying. Thinking of the worst things that could happen. My parents. It still chokes me up. But I know they want me to be happy. I'm not even sure when we made the decision to go forward. It just kind of happened and we started making the plans. Getting the house ready to sell. Mapping out the dates to give our notice. It just all started taking shape.

The best part of this for me is that I'll spend every day with my boys. There were days that I would go to work and just feel so guilty for having someone else watch them. It's so important to me to teach my kids..and I was letting someone else do it for me. I don't think daycare is a bad experience or horrible. In fact, I think it's pretty awesome. But I want to be productive in their world and some days I really didn't feel up to it...and really wasn't doing anything I felt good about. I was doing a job. And although I enjoyed my job...it wasn't fulfilling any thing for me.

The next best part is that I will be fulfilling a life-long goal. When I was in high school I wanted to live near the beach. I wrote in my high school journal that in 10 years I wanted to be living on the beach, working in fashion...maybe married. I didn't mention kids because I wasn't sure about kids until I was around 25. So I've worked in fashion for about 13 years. It was a good run and some day...I may go back. But now...it's time for the beach and my boys! I can't wait!

The One with NYC

2012-06-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

NYC. I think it's my favorite city. And I really got to see a lot of it. I wish I had been able to take more pictures...but when you're riding a bike through the city with 30,000 other people it's not always easy.
We had entered a lottery to ride in the 5 boro bike ride.

Once we found out that we were in, we started planning. We rented an apartment in the Financial District so that we could ride down to Battery Park for the start. Driving was our only option since we needed to take our bikes.


I'm still amazed it all fit!

We started our drive early in the morning. We stopped in Pennsylvania for lunch. AB was looking for a bank on the GPS and found that we were only 10 miles from the Flight 93 Memorial. We had to stop.

The Memorial was new and fresh and undeniably poignant. It's in the middle of no where. It's difficult to imagine what the locals saw or heard or thought or felt that day. Now it's just quiet. It's so peaceful and to imagine a huge jet screeching to a halt into a mountain...well I just can't. I can't feel or hear or see what they saw...I'm glad I don't have to..but I did try to imagine it. I've seen the movies and the courageous decisions that the passengers made. I've gone there in my head not fully able to process it all. But that day, I saw a new perspective. The locals, the rescuers and what they went through. And the people still there planting trees and all the effort behind the Memorial. It's touched so many people and will continue to touch them. Our boys are too young to understand. I'm not sure they will ever understand...until it happens in their generation.

We finally arrived in NYC late that day and we were ready to get into our apartment. We rested and were up the next day ready to see the city. We walked the entire day soaking up every morsel that we could. The boys slept in the stroller and played on city playgrounds. Max was so excited to ride the subway but it turns out he liked the cab ride better. Friday nights at the Children's Museum are free. It was a whole lot of chaos...but the boys loved it!

We visited Central Park and Times Square.

We took in Battery Park before the ride.

We wrapped our arms around the city and held on tight. We explored and found yummy places to eat and walked for hours. We collapsed every night in our apartment only to do it all again the next day.

Our apartment had this amazing view and it fed into what became our 9/11 Memorial trip.

This photo is blurry and couldn't possibly capture the view.


Freedom tower. Max loved watching it being built.

We visited the 9/11 Memorial site. It was crowded and the construction from Freedom Tower was noisy. But it was moving. Just a few years ago I stood on top of one of the Twin Towers. They were commanding. They were compelling. They were dominating. And now in their place were two giant water falls that flow into a large, gaping pit. It's difficult to explain the sadness. I personally didn't know anyone but there were people grieving and mourning. I saw the pain in their eyes. I felt their pain all around.

Race Day finally came and I felt like I had seen every inch of the city...but then you ride 40 miles and realize you haven't even scratched the surface.

The ride was fun until the last few hours. Two little boys trapped inside a Burley, longing to get out and run around while we waited hours for a ferry to take us back to the city. It was the longest wait EVER! But we survived. Until we got back to Battery Park and had to get back on our bikes to get to our apartment. My legs were jelly. I had gotten separated from Andrew and the boys at one point and they wouldn't let me ride ahead to catch up. I had to wait about 15 minutes and so when they did let us ride...I gave it all I had. We had been riding around 10-12 mph with lots of stops and breaks...(it gets crowded with 30,000 people riding)...so when I had an open road, I just gave it my all. I paid for it later.

Once we got back to our apartment it was dinner time and the boys still had a lot of energy. Mommy & daddy however needed a nap! We took the boys to another playground and had dinner. I think I went to bed before they did. :)

Our trip was so much fun and our boys were troopers. I think they loved the city as much as we did. I can't wait to explore the world with them!

The One with San Francisco

2012-04-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

We went to San Francisco. Did we leave our hearts there? Hmmm...not sure yet. I get butterflies when I think of all the adventure and possibility. I know there would be hard days. But I think they would be a different kind of hard days. Challenges that I would relish in. But maybe I have rose colored glasses.

Anyway...more about our visit...

We drove every where. From the airport through San Mateo to Burlingame. Into Milbrae and then onto the ocean side. We saw amazing views in Pacifica.

If we had not just had lunch (at a fabulous local place http://www.yelp.com/biz/charlies-taqueria-san-mateo) I would have had Taco Bell. Just.For.The.View.

This isn't the exact Taco Bell view...but so close.

Then we drove into the city...from the coast side. We went through Daly City, by the zoo and into the Sunset area. None of which was extremely nice. But still so fun to see this part of the city.

Then we headed toward our hotel via Cole Valley, Buena Vista and Noe Valley. We loved these cute little neighborhoods. But traffic in some areas was a little treacherous. We finally made it to our hotel.    AB had been on a week long trip prior to meeting here and the Marriott had given him two doubles every time. So he used this to get us a Jr Suite. It was super nice...and it was the same hotel that Julie and I had stayed in a few moons ago.

After a little relaxing, we headed out for dinner. AB had recently been on a beer/food tour of San Francisco for work..(at least that was BS he was feeding me at the time). He picked a few places and asked which one I wanted to go to. I picked Delarosa. http://www.yelp.com/biz/delarosa-san-francisco Good choice! One of the best meals I've had in a long time. It's in the Marina/Cow Hollow area which is super cute. Clothes shops, wine shops, bars and restaurants. Love it! We looked around a book store while we waited for our table. Then we headed to a cute little wine bar. http://www.yelp.com/biz/california-wine-merchant-san-francisco We had our glass and then they called us for dinner.

At Delrosa we had the Arugala & Fennel salad, Pappardelle napoletana (pasta with pulled pork) and Funghi
misti pizza. It was all so good. I'll be thinking of this food for a long time! Super YUM!

We took a long bus ride home...I think I even fell asleep on the bus. :)

The next day we drove some more. Oakland (Rockridge), Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Concord, Richmond, San Rafael and then Mill Valley....ahhh...Mill Valley. Maybe I left my heart there. Back to the hotel and then Sushi. http://www.yelp.com/biz/ryokos-japanese-restaurant-and-bar-san-francisco Yum! Yum!

We had breakfast (I won't mention the place...not worth the effort) on Monday morning and then AB had to work. I did some shopping and then met him for lunch. http://www.yelp.com/biz/palomino-san-francisco-san-francisco#query:palominos Yum!   A little more shopping and took a nap while waiting on his return.

Once he got back to the hotel, we took off for a little shopping and a hunt (with no real direction) for our last dinner in San Fran. We walked through Chinatown and got the boys some chopsticks. We made our way through Little Italy and opted for another Italian meal. http://www.yelp.com/biz/caffe-baonecci-san-francisco It has another name on the door...which I can't remember. We had the house wine, some pasta and some pizza. Yum! Yum!

We headed for bed pretty early since we had to get up around 330a for our flight.

I can't wait to see what the future holds for us. No matter what, San Francisco we will see you again!

The One where he tells the truth.

2012-04-06T06:07:00.001-07:00

Andrew's mom and sister are in town for Easter and for AB's birthday. He took the day off and they're all going to the zoo...or something fun. So for me...I get to get up and have a somewhat relaxing morning getting ready for work.

Typically, I shower at work after I go to the gym at lunch. I let my hair air dry and then put it in a pony tail. My hair is almost always in a pony tail. I wake up in the mornings and get the boys fed and ready for school while AB showers and gets ready for work. Then I spend an entire 10 minutes brushing my hair, pulling it back in a pony tail, putting on make up and getting dressed and out the door we go. I'm not really trying to impress anyone.

So this morning...I got to take a shower, SHAVE!!, blow dry my hair, actually style/curl my hair, put make up on and just generally fix myself up a bit. I go downstairs and Max says..."hi mommy!"...then he looks up at me and says..."Is that you mommy?" I laughed and he said "Is it...Is it you mommy?". I said yes it's me Max. Funny...maybe I should fix myself up more often so my children will recognize me.

The One with all the Thinking

2012-03-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of time to Think...but not a lot of time to do. Why is that? Why do I have time to Think about what I want but not do what I want? I Think I might be less stressed if I could do what I wanted instead of Thinking about want I want.

I Think we're in limbo. We got a lot going on...but can't do any of the things we want because we're waiting. I hate waiting and Thinking. I just want to get busy and do!

The One about Poop

2012-03-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was reading another friendly blog and they were discussing poop. So I thought I'd share my funny poop story.

Last year for Memorial Day we went to Andrew's mom's in Western New York. We took some flowers to the cemetery and planted them around Andrew's father's and grandfather's grave. It was the first time I had been there and it was a very nice day to share with every one. We got some great photos.

Max and his grandfather's headstone.

Max and his great grandfather's headstone.

I had just finished a three day potty training weekend with Max in April. He was a champ. And I swear by this method. It's amazing. We had very few accidents and was into underwear at the end of the weekend. Anyway, he was still getting used to telling us about going potty and had never gone outside. Here we are at the cemetery and he tells us he has to potty. So Andrew takes him over to the field near by and he goes number one. It went pretty well considering he'd hadn't stood up to pee and had never peed outside. He then goes about playing in the cemetery. Running around, hiding behind headstones and your general screaming that a 2 1/2 year old does. Then all of a sudden we hear a blood curling scream coming from behind a tall headstone. "MOOOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYY" This is what we see next!

That's shear terror on his face!

He couldn't quite tell us what was going on and then he stood right in front of me and I hear a huge gurgle...rumble...you know the sound. Like your insides are going to just explode. And right there we all knew what was next. Brown, liquid poo...squirting, oozing down his legs. Poor little Max was crying. He couldn't stop it. He had no idea what to do. Actually none of us knew exactly what to do. All I have to say is thank God for baby wipes!

The Hard One

2012-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things are hard. But I do them anyway.

I read a lot of blogs. Mommy blogs, house decorating blogs, cooking blogs...lots of blogs. A lot of people talk about doing things that are really difficult. Some worse than others. Two of my favorites are about Down Syndrome and death. I like to read about how people have hardships...it puts my life into perspective. I have it good. I mean REALLY good. Two beautiful boys. Loving husband. Great parents. Amazing sister. Lots of loving family members. And truly good friends. I'm very blessed.

But I still do things that are hard. Like waking up at 4a because someone has to potty and still won't get out of bed by himself. And not going back to sleep..but instead getting ready for the day and working about 8 hours and then another 2-3 when I get home. Like wrestling a 16 month old to change a poopy diaper with one leg over him while answering the 3 year old's very important question of "why is the carpet gray?" and fighting with the dog for the poopy diaper. Like cooking a healthy dinner for a house filled with testosterone while trapping children in the tv room only to find Jonah escaped and is pulling the cat's tail. Like working out every day so that I can set a good example of health and fitness. It's all very hard. But I do it anyway. You want to know why.....because cleaning up the poopy diaper from the dog and the carpet is even harder! ;)

The One about the Hooker

2012-01-20T13:16:00.000-08:00

I called my sister the other day and said, "Yo, Hooker!" She kept talking..saying about three more words and then she stopped suddenly and said, "Did you just call me a Hooker?" We laughed. The kind of laugh that only we understand. It was seriously a conversation of a couple of words then laughter...more words...more laughter. This went on for about 30 minutes. The words in between the laughter were really nonsense...all revolving around "Hooker". It was divine!

The night before Andrew and I had been watching some goofy new sitcom (that I'm too embarrassed to mention) and a teenage girl was calling another teenage girl "Hooker". To me..this was hilarious. Andrew...not so much. But I instantly knew that my sister (aka Hooker) would love it! Andrew thinks we're weird.

This is the exact reason I'm glad I have two boys. Having a sibling (and one that's the same gender) is one of the most amazing things and I love having my Hooker. She gets me..when no one else does. I hope the boys can call each other some terrible name and find it funny some day...even when no one else does.

The One with the Pajamas.

2012-01-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

My husband travels. Not a lot but every few weeks. Working full time and getting the boys ready for daycare can sometimes be a challenge. Today...was smooth sailing! I love when that happens. But part of the reason...Pajama/Pizza party.

IT'S THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD!

Jonah Bologna's class had a pajama/pizza party today. He wore his pj's in. LOVE!

I think every day should be pajama party day.

The One about being a lazy blogger

2012-01-06T12:03:00.000-08:00

I dream of blogging.

I dream of sewing. Of crafting...(the cool kind). Of painting. Of creating. Of cleaning..(yes, cleaning).

But I don't actually do any of the above. I want to. But right now I work...about 40 hours a week. And I have two of the sweetest blonde boys..that I take care of and miss terribly while I work.

So all of the things that I dream about are on hold. Even this blog. But some day....

The One with Tina Fey.

2011-11-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

A Mother’s Prayer for Her Child By Tina Fey

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

The One with the China

2011-11-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ok. I'm really wanting to make our house a little more functional. We've been in a holding pattern for so long and I'm just ready to have a more finished house. So I bought a china cabinet. Our china has been in boxes in our basement since our wedding in 2007.

Aww...

So we busted out the boxes and got all the china out. I thought we were missing a few pieces...but I didn't think it was that many. But it turns out we're missing one dinner plate, five salad plates, two bread and butter plates and three soup bowls. So I looked them up online to purchase. Macy's no longer carries it. I did find it on another website and it's around $250 to complete the set. At least the set we have started...still without mugs, platters, sugar and tea...and lots of other accessories. So, I think we're going to try to sell it and buy something a little less expensive. So for now..this is what we have.

It's a little sad. :( But I'll work on it. We have lots of platters and accessories so I'm sure I'll have it filled soon.

The One with the Possum.

2011-10-21T05:49:00.000-07:00

We live in the city. Not skyscrapers kinda city but suburbia kinda city. Rows and rows of houses with small back yards all fenced in...all connecting to more fenced in back yards. There's not a wooded lot even close to our house.

So last night as usual after the boys were in bed, me and the hubby were watching some TV and I let Hugo out. It was cold, windy and rainy last night and Hugo does not like the rain! So shortly after I let him out, he starts barking to come back in. We try to be mindful of the neighbors...since we're so close. I got up and called for him to come in. Hugo had other ideas. He would not stop barking and was jumping around one particular area. I told Andrew that he found something. We both went to get our shoes. We walked out to the patio and this is what we saw.

YIKES!

Hugo killed a possum! What?! He's never killed anything...not that he hasn't tried. I think he tries to kill Bella all the time.

Just about that time...I see a little, tiny movement.

Mr. Possum gives us this look.

Double Yikes!!

What do I do? Run into the house. :) We try to get Hugo to come in too but he's so not having it. Andrew is running around trying to get Hugo into the house without getting Mr. Possum too upset. Andrew yells...get the treats...the treats!! I fetch a couple Hugo treats and finally...in comes Hugo. Now he thinks he's getting rewarded for his handy work. Let's hope he doesn't actually kill the next creature in our backyard.

And just think, Andrew and Max were sleeping in their tent back there last Saturday. I like my bed even more.

The Second One

2011-10-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I'm just starting this blogging thing and I'm really not used to posting frequently yet. I still need to get into my groove.

But just a short update. House plans are on hold. We've had a busy summer. We decided to be grown ups and work with a really great financial planner. So since then, we've assessed our needs, wants and must haves. Retirement and college tuition is up there. New house/new mortgage....eh..not so much. So we're going to do some work on the house and re-assess in a few years.

We also had a lot of fun on our first summer vacation as a family of four. We went to the Outer Banks.

We had a fun summer BBQ with a water slide of course.

a couple of birthday's happened.....but I'm not sure how it's possible that we only have pictures of Jonah's...I may have to confiscate the camera...

Jonah wasn't doing so well on his birthday. Later in the day I took his temp and it was 102. Boo! Must have been teething...he was fine the next day.

We also had some fun in Mimi & Papa's pool over Labor Day.

It's been a busy summer and we're very blessed.

So far this fall has been good too. My nephew just got married and Max was the ring bearer.

CUTE!

Max and daddy had a backyard camping trip...complete with a campfire and popcorn.

And Andrew was the lucky one who got to do this for 30 mins!

So there it is. The wrap up since my last post. My goal is to blog a little more frequently...let's hope it happens but I do have a crazy house to keep. ;)

The First One.

2011-06-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

5.26.11

I was single for a very long time. I lived alone for many years. I think I needed that break. See, I grew up in a house full of people, animals and lots of love. I have two older brothers and an older sister. And my parents which made a total of six. During my childhood, we had a rabbit, a bird, a hermit crab, a mouse/rat, a few cats and several dogs. Oh wait..some ducks too.

When I was 19, I moved out with 2 other girls and a cat named Puppy. We had several other cats along the way. And 2-3 other girls in and out of that apartment. After about 4 years, I was finally on my own. And boy was I ever excited.

For 12 years, I lived alone. It was fun and exciting. It was a needed break, I think to find myself. And ironic enough, after about 8 years I realized I wanted a loud house. That was what was normal to me.

I met my husband 6 years ago. And we currently have a crazy house. Two boys. An almost 3 year old and a 9 month old. A cat and a dog…(these two are on a mission to make our house as crazy as possible)!

And it's going to get even more crazy! We're (hopefully) adding on 1500 sq feet to our house. And it's an adventure that I'm really excited about.

We have our house plans. Which took about a year to finalize. Tomorrow we're meeting with a bank.
I'll keep you posted!