the Holiday's are here

It's hard to believe it's Christmas eve eve. Silly, I know, but when I was little I would get so excited and say "Tonight is Christmas eve, eve!" As an adult, Christmas is still my favorite Holiday. Lately I've been trying to focus on enjoying the Holiday season as much as possible while getting things done, without getting too stressed out. I've always wondered why Christmas has become so stressful and this year I've realized why. Most everyone has high expectations of the holiday that only comes once a year. With those high expectations comes the need to make things perfect "it's only once a year!" I've tried to keep the stress to a minimum this year by sticking to my year long slogan 'keep it simple' you can add an extra S, to make: 'keep it simple stupid' but I prefer to not verbally bash myself.

I probably won't have time for another post until after Christmas. I still have another 5 batches of cookies to bake. I've already baked 5, and a batch of cupcakes (with a couple ice cream cone cupcakes in there, per Owen's request!)

Until then, everyone have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Buffalo Chicken Enchilladas with Creamy Ranch Sauce

This is a favorite of Brian's. I think I made this for the first time about 5 years ago, and it's been a favorite ever since!

prep time: 25 minutes
(ready in 1 hour 10 minutes)
Servings: 6
(2 enchilladas each)

Ingredients:
1 can (10 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup purchased sour cream ranch dip (I used ranch dip w/ a spoonful of sour cream)
2/3 cup chopped green onions (about 10 medium)
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
3/4 cup purchased buffalo wing sauce
1 package (10.5 oz) flour tortillas for soft tacos and fajitas (twelve 6 inch tortillas)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (12 oz)
~ ~ I also used a bit of cayenne pepper, some chili powder, and garlic powder because we like a little bit of a kick.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13x9 inch (3quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl mix soup, dip and 1/3 cup of the onions. In large bowl mix chicken and buffalo wing sauce until coated.

2. Spoon 2 tablespoons soup mixture down center of each tortilla; set remaining mixture aside. Reserve 1/2 cup cheese for garnish. Top each tortilla with about 1/4 cup chicken mixture and scant 1/4 cup cheese. Fold sides of tortillas over filing; place seam side down in baking dish. Spoon remaining soup mixture over filled tortillas. Cover tightly with foil.

3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly

4. Remove from oven. Uncover; sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup cheese and remaining 1/3 cup onions. Return to oven; bake uncovered about 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!! We're having leftovers from last nights dinner, for lunch today!!

every which way

Last month Brian, Owen and I made a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana. A 'no strings attached' trip provided by Brian's company. It's pretty overwhelming because even though we loved so much about the area, there are still things we have here that we won't be able to have there. You have to give up some things, to get others, and that's what we're having a hard time with. We haven't made any definite plans or decisions. We have pretty much made plans for if we stay here, and plans for if we go there. We have definitely grown out of our house here in NY, so if we stayed, we would build a house. If we moved to Indiana we would most likely build there too. We did see a bunch of houses we really liked while we were there that make it tempting to not have to deal with the stress of building a house. There was a 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 3,140 square foot house that I'm in love with.... with a heated pool in the backyard and full sunlight basement (which is on our list of musts) and it's only about 10 minutes from where Brian would work in Fort Wayne.

Other than that, we've just been enjoying how Owen hasn't had any nasty school illnesses lately (because he only went to 1 day of school in November- because he was sick for a little over a week, we were in Indiana for a week, and he had a week off for Thanksgiving) He went to school today though, so keep your fingers crossed that he didn't pink anything gross up today!

I have all of my Christmas presents wrapped but unfortunately that isn't as good as it sounds because I'm not done shopping. Yuck. I will be doing 99.9% of my Christmas shopping online to take advantage of no lines, shop when I want, and free shipping if I can.

All of you stay warm and have a cup of hot chocolate and stir with a candy cane!!! This is my favorite time of the year, for sure! =)

Opportunity, and escape while you can

Someone once said something about acting when opportunity strikes. Well, our family has been offered a great opportunity. One that we had been wanting last year. It's tough because now I'm in a position where I am in love with our house, community, neighborhood, and basically everything about living here. We've just gotten to the point where we have done a lot with our house and met a lot of great families in the area, and now we're probably going to move.

Let me back up. About a year ago, we were REALLY frustrated with NY taxes (not that we aren't anymore) and we were looking for a way out. We pay almost 7k a year in taxes for our house. Brian said to me "Essex (the company he works for, Superior Essex) has a headquarters in Fort Wayne, Indiana. And the cost of living is pretty low there" So, I started looking into it. We then discovered that we could buy our dream house for around $200,000, which is what our current house is worth here in NY. If we bought our dream house here in NY it would cost well over $450,000. And this is what started it all. Brian started finding out ways to move there and in the tight job market he knew that he would have to keep his eyes open for a position with his company, but at their Fort Wayne site.

Six months went by, and nothing was really coming together with finding a position that was available in Indiana. We kind of gave up on the idea, and continued settling into our house here. People started getting laid off gradually at Essex, Clifton Park NY where Brian works. About a month ago everyone at Brian's work was told that the plant was closing in January. It was clear that they wanted to keep Brian and...... guess what? They want him to work for them in Fort Wayne. Just what we had wanted! Then why does it feel so sad? I know it is a wonderful opportunity for all of us. There are so many reasons to love Fort Wayne (I've done SO much research)

With getting promoted, and living in an area where the cost of living is low, we would really be able to save a lot for retirement and that would be awesome. Buying our dream house in our mid twenties- also great. Moving away from friends and family is what makes it bittersweet. We'll probably be going out there soon to check out the area, so maybe this won't feel so wrong.

When my mom told my grandfather about Fort Wayne, he said, "They should.... escape [from NY] while they can"

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

The Magic of.... a cookie cutter.

Anyone with a toddler knows how picky they can be when it comes to eating (the can is italicized because those of you with toddlers also know how they can be VERY adventurous when it comes to eating)

With that said, Owen has been going through a stage where there are only a few things that he likes. Apparently he hasn't been getting bored with his same meal every other day, but I am.

The solution to that is pretty cheap and simple, and all it takes is a cookie cutter. Turkey sandwich? YUCK! Turkey sandwiches made into little trees? YUM! Tuna sandwich? YUCK! Tuna sandwiches made into fishies? YUM!

Owen's Autumn Mix

Tomorrow is Owen's turn to bring in snack for school.

We decided to make fall trail mix!
It looks yummy, and Owen is SO excited to bring it in....

Ingredients:
pretzels, candy corn, chex cereal, cranberries, goldfish crackers

Nut free school = no peanuts or peanut butter chips, like I was going to put with apple chips. That would have been delicious.

Lazy days

This past week was SLOW and tiring, even though we didn't have much going on. I think that might be why it has been so slow and tiring. We're usually out enjoying the weather, or meeting up with friends at the park, shopping, going for a walk around the neighborhood. This week though, we had a few things going against us. 1] Owen had/has a cold and 2] the weather has been less than desirable (rainy, chilly). Yesterday was actually sunny and warm while Owen was at school but literally as soon as we pulled into our driveway, the clouds started rolling in and rain drops began falling. Not that Owen would have wanted to play outside anyway. He's usually tired after school, and especially this week. All Owen wants to do is snuggle and be held. On Monday we went to the apple orchard (yep, the one right in our back yard) for Owen's first school field trip! I had been debating whether or not to take him, because of his cold. I figured the fresh air would be good for him and since he got the cold from kids at school, and they wouldn't be in close quarters playing with the same toys anyway.... that it was okay to bring him on the field trip. I think he enjoyed himself! Especially the tractor ride.


Fall is such a great time of the year for kids. This weekend I plan on raking leaves into a big pile with Owen so he can jump in them. He loved that last year. He had a little taste of playing with leaves again yesterday after school. It was one of those perfect autumn days where the air is crisp and the sun is shinning. Enough of a little breeze to make the leaves dance. And of course, the smell of apple pie cooking, from windows cracked open.

And sweater weather!

So much to love about fall.....
- the roast beef supper at my parents church tomorrow night
- making an apple pie this weekend
- Brian sealing the driveway (not so much love to do, but love that fresh black!)
- Brian building the front porch! (again, not so much the building part.... tracking in dirt and dust from construction.... but the enjoying the finished product product)

Cowboy Biscuit Bake

This was a big hit in our house tonight, so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey instead)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
- 1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (16 oz) chilli beans, undrained
- 1/3 cup chili sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (add more or less as you please)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dry ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 can (12 oz) Pillsbury golden layers buttermilk biscuits, or flaky biscuits

1) Heat oven to 375. In skillet cook bacon over medium-high heat until crisp; drain. Add ground beef and onion; cook, stirring frequently, until beef is cooked.
2) Stir in all remaining ingredients except biscuits. Cook 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until hot and bubbly. Spoon hot mixture into ungreased 13x9/3 quart glass baking dish.
3) Separate dough into 10 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Arrange biscuit pieces cut side down, on top of hot beef mixture.
4) Bake 25 minutes or until biscuits are deep golden brown

Enjoy! =)

Past, present, future

8.14.04

A few weeks ago Brian and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! We took a trip out to Lee Massachusetts (No, not to go to the outlets there lol) We had a nice lunch there and checked out the Norman Rockwell museum (briefly, because.... well, you know how it goes with kids) But we had a nice drive out there and back. Car DVD players are AMAZING if you have kids!! By the time we got back to NY it was almost time for our dinner reservation. We went to this great restaurant called Waters Edge, that we had gone to before with Owen. We wanted to go back and enjoy the restaurant just the two of us, and sit outside instead of inside. The outside seating was right alongside the river and looked really romantic when we had gone there in July, so we knew that when we came back for our anniversary we wanted to sit outside. So, we showed up on our anniversary, a half an hour before our reservation and the hostess told us that there was a 30-45 minute wait to sit outside. We decided to go to the bar and get a couple glasses of wine and enjoy the beautiful evening outside, and wait for an outdoor table on the patio. What a GREAT decision. That one decision made our anniversary perfect. As we waited, couples were seated basically all around the waiting area, close to the restaurant (not with a good view of the water) and Brian and I joked about how if they decided to seat us close to the restaurant we would wait for a better table, closer to the water. Well, we didn't even have to do that. When they called us, we followed the hostess and we kept going..... and going.... and going... until we reached the furthest level forward and down. It was perfect. It was a little landing with a table for two that pointed out towards the water. It felt private and romantic. We finished our wine, enjoyed our meal of an appetizer, salad, filet mignion, and ended it with a delicious piece of chocolate cake and a champagne toast to our commitment and love. And of course the past 5 wonderful years we have been married. When we got home there was a rose bush waiting on our door step (from Brian =) and inside, a box of my fave Godiva chocolates mmmm and a Willow tree statue for our collection, called "Promise" Then..... Brian gave me the ring he picked out for me. It's perfect, just what I wanted. I'm so lucky that he has such good taste.

Right now I'm just trying to organize EVERYTHING in the house. It's tiring, and annoying. Sometimes I seriously feel like renting a storage unit just so I can get all of the things we don't use, out of the house. I feel like if the stuff is out of the house then I can get rid of it easier without feeling attached to it, or needing it. Upstairs across the hall from the master bedroom is a bedroom that we're going to use for baby #2, but right now it has all of Owen's baby furniture in there (which will stay in there anyway) along with A LOT of boxes that we just threw in there when we first moved here like TWO YEARS ago!! I haven't even looked through them so who knows what we even need (doubtful that we need any of that stuff if we haven't cared about it so far) But the hardwood flooring needs to be put in there, and the walls painted. I'm such a spaz that I always need everything done way before it's necessary.

Owen starts preschool next month! It's exciting and scary all at the same time. I know it will be amazing for him (and me!) but I'm just glad I'll get to meet his teacher before he goes to school. I think that Brian is going to be taking the day off from work so that he can go check out his school too. With school, comes fall. I can't believe it. It feels like this summer just flew by.... much faster than last summer.

Better late than never!

Owen's 3rd Birthday was over a month ago but with the craziness (written briefly in previous blog) I never really got around to writing a birthday blog for Owen. So here goes!

Owen Alexander
June 20th at 10:53 am
7 lbs 9 oz, 22 inches long

My beautiful baby boy minutes after he was born

and... My beautiful BIG boy on his third birthday!

Gymbucks!

So anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a complete Gymboree fanatic. One thing you should know about Gymboree is that they have "lines" of clothing that come out every so often. The line is named, for example, this month is "Mighty Dinos". Everything within a line is coordinating. If you have a shirt, of course you need the socks, and matching hat, and coordinating pants. It's addicting. It's safe to say that I'm hooked. I've been a Gymboree fan since Owen was about 3 months old. I LOVE their newest line "Mighty Dinos". Maybe it's because some of the lines within the past year have been disappointing. Anyway, tomorrow is Gymbucks redemption and here are the goods.... I'm pretty much just sticking to one line because I love it so much, and I have all of the items I want from the other lines. Also, I needed some fall clothing for Owen especially since he's starting preschool in September.



I went to Gymboree and had everything set aside and ready to go when I go in tomorrow to redeem my gymbucks, and I'm glad that I did because the dino hoodie (light blue, at top left) is already out of stock on the website and that's pretty much my favorite piece, so I'm glad that it's reserved for me at the store.

Absent

I think many of you have probably noticed how I haven't been keeping up to date on here. It's been hectic around here to say the least! From my grandmother passing away around memorial day, Owen getting a huge gash on his head a couple days later and getting stitches, to my diagnosis with mono a few days after that... I haven't been able to catch up. JUST when I thought that maybe I would be able to do an entry in here, it was my birthday/Owen's birthday and vacation a few days after that. Alright, so we get home and there's more drama before I can even think of blogger whatsoever. Brian has Lyme disease.

When will I get a break and get to enjoy my summer?!? =(

weekend fun or weekend work?

Today, during the 85 degree weather, we took Owen to the Rainbow Play Systems showroom. We thought it would be a good idea to let him play on the equipment before taking the 2k plunge. The whole process of looking for playgrounds has been really stressful... and I'm glad we have found the one we're getting. I probably won't be 100% sure of that though, until it's here and assembled. It was so cute though because Owen kept saying "I'm a pirate!" when he was up at the top, looking out the telescope and turning the wheel.

After, we went to lunch, picked up our pool and came home to assemble it. We had to clear out the area to put it, which took almost the rest of the day. Now we have the hose in pool, and it will be in all night. Who knows if it will be full by morning. Brian said it contains something like 5k gallons! Ahh. I sure hope that the pool is full by morning because it's supposed to be 92 tomorrow and I have a little boy who was saying to me all afternoon "is the pool all done yet?"

the Spring projects have BEGUN!

It can't be spring without the Spring projects and, well.... lets just say our projects are a definite sign of Spring. We have already laid out a bunch that we will be starting soon.

I wanted a pond when we lived in Virginia but everytime we anticipated buying the supplies, there would be something to tell us it wasn't a good idea. The main reason we never were able to put in my pond was that our yard flooded several times a year. We would end up with blue crabs walking across our yard sideways haha... but anyway, it would have been impossible to keep everything IN that we wanted in, and everything OUT that we wanted out. Our poor fish would have washed away and into the salty bay, which they wouldn't have enjoyed I'm sure. Plus, I don't think the crabs would enjoy being in a pond. So, with that said, it was on top of my list of things I wanted to do with the next house we bought. I have a place picked out in the yard and have started digging so that we can do the project in time for Mother's Day.

The only problem with the pond situation now is that the dog/the kid are going to be fascinated with it. The only solution for that would be to have water that they COULD go in. We've wanted a pool since our last house (and the flooding situation made that dream impossible too) so again, we decided we would do that with our next house. I just can't see myself having time to maintain a huge pool right now, plus, we're going to be at the lake a lot this summer so that makes it even more impossible to maintain it when we're 45 minutes away. Since it's so important to us that Owen keeps up with his swimming, while enjoying the summer, we've decided to get one of these until we have the time to build and maintain an in-ground pool (when our kids are older and less crazy as the toddler stages most likely!)
We had a pool just like this in Virginia because with Brian going out to sea so much, and me going to NY ocassionally while he was gone, it made sense to have something carefree. I used it throughout my pregnancy and even our dog enjoyed it! It was pretty durable too, we never had any problems with it. We actually ended up putting it out by the curb before we moved because we couldn't take it with us. Someone picked it up like 10 minutes after we put it out there haha.
So now I just have to dig out the ground and level it up a little bit so that the pool will be on completely flat ground without any sharp roots or stumps sticking up.

Last but not least, the playground for Owen. Many of you moms have probably noticed that you don't get much for the money when it comes to playgrounds/swing sets. A lot that I've seen are just so flimsy looking that I can't imagine having it hold up to a boy. Plus, do I want my son on something that doesn't seem safe? Luckily, my husband is really handy. He built such an elaborate deck at our old house. The building inspector said that the house would be gone, but the deck would still be there. After looking at some playgrounds, Brian decided he was just going to build one himself. He is SO excited to get started on this project. My dad is probably going to come help him with it, so it will be nice for them. This is what it's going to look like:


Brian just picked up Owen to go put him to bed and Owen said "Mommy, I can't wait for my playground! Playgrounds are so fun!". I'm sure the rest of the neighborhood kids would agree....

Spring is officially here

And It's official because....

We went to Jumping Jacks today!

For all of you who aren't from this area, Jumping Jacks is a seasonal outdoor 50's style drive-in type restaurant that was built in the 5o's... my parents have memories of going there when they were younger, and I have so many memories going there as a kid. They have water ski shows in the Mohawk River that runs along side of Jumping Jacks. There is a huge park on the property with a playground, basketball courts, baseball fields and a beach that I remember swimming at when I was little. A stage that has free concerts... it's great.

It was opening day about a week ago at Jumping Jacks, but we were just able to get up there today for the first time this year!!

Classic

Owen has the whole sleeve rub across the nose thing down

back to reality

We got home from vacation on Sunday and I'm just now writing about it.... but not really, because it was such a great trip that I don't have time to write about ALL of it. We had a great time though, and it's always sad to come home from warm vacations to the snow. On the flight home we noticed that there wasn't much snow on the ground, as we got closer to Albany. When we left we had a nightmare-ish amount of snow in HUGE piles and because of the huge piles, the snow just wouldn't melt! Well we were pleasantly surprised that most of the snow had melted when we were in Florida!! Nothing better than coming back to that! So now we're just going through the whole transition from crib/toddler bed to big boy bed. It's been tough because Owen thinks his crib is broken with the outside railing off. (the crib was designed to transition from crib, to toddler day bed, to headboard for a twin size bed) .

Owen has been able to climb out of his crib since he was about a year old, but he didn't do it very often because he loves that crib. A couple months ago he started getting out regularly and then wouldn't get back in because it was more fun climbing out apparently.... so we decided to take off the railing. Well now he says "Owen's bed is broken!" and gets really upset, which disrupts his bedtime routine. So we've decided to buy him a kids bed. We'll have to get a twin size mattress too because it isn't a toddler bed. That's fine though because I think he prefers to stretch out in a larger bed anyway. I'd assume use Owen's old crib for the next baby and then maybe transition it into a day bed for that child. Hopefully he/she won't be such an engineer like Owen and think it's broken!!! haha!

After a lot of consideration, we decided to go with this bed:
This week has been pretty tough with Owen. I think mainly with getting back into his routine here and everything. I'm just glad we were able to go to Disney this year (and we're going again, same time next year as one last trip with Owen before baby#2 gets here) Just because I think it will be impossible to go to Disney with an infant. It's hard to be on vacation and nurse and have a bedtime routine and stick to schedule, which is so important when establishing a sleep schedule.

Anyway, hopefully the bed will arrive soon so we can pick it up. We couldn't find any beds in the stores, and we looked at about 10 stores, so we ordered it online. Owen is really excited and calls this his ladder bed =)

One of the best things....

.....about being a parent is getting to enjoy your childhood all over again.

I really can't decide who likes the table more, Owen or daddy!

I'm sure this theme will extend into my next blog too, because we're leaving for Orlando in less than 48 hours!! I'm almost done packing, it's just hard to remember exactly what 82 degrees feels like when you have snow outside your house. I thought I had over-packed cold weather clothes, so I took them out and realized that I didn't have enough summery clothes. So I started from scratch. Owen's suitcase was a piece of cake. I did his packing first. Brian had an easy time packing too. Such a guy mentality, he said "4 t-shirts, 2 undershirts, 5 polo shirts, 3 button up short sleeve shirts, sport coat, 4 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of dress pants, 2 pairs of flip flops, sneakers, dress shoes, 7 pairs of boxers (which I made him up to 8. the mom in me always comes prepared. you never know.... you could fall into the water or something haha!) 8 pairs of sox (that one was adjusted by me too), 2 pairs of pajama pants, DONE!" like he literally rattled his list off to me like that.

Guys...... =)

I never thought....

That we would even think about getting a van, but now we're considering it. We sold our Lancer a couple months ago. We only had it for just under a year and we weren't that happy with it. The Lancer just didn't seem as nice as our other two cars, nor did it have all of the high end features that they have. Sooo long to the Lancer! We're still deciding if we want to get a 2010 Ford Fusion, 2010 Ford Taurus, or a 2010 Town & Country. Basically we want to take our Mustang off the road next winter because it's been tough this year with Brian driving it in the snow (after we sold the Lancer, which actually wasn't any better in the snow, we got a lot of snow storms) So we'll be back to 3 cars again but it will be well worth it next winter when we can have two family and winter friendly cars, and put the mustang back on the road in the spring.

We're just kind of stuck with our decision because we're not sure if we want/need another big gas guzzler. Baby number 2 is probably going to come in late 2010, but we won't have the "two kids and their friends" situation going on until a few years later. So do we need two big 7 passenger vehicles or should we stick to our SUV and get a Fusion or Taurus (both 5 passenger)?

We want to buy them brand new and sell them 3 years later after the warranty wears off, and then buy another car. So we could get a van at that point when our kids are 5 and 10 and both of friends to be carted around too.

Whatever car we get, it will be black like our suv... and both sedans would be 4 door.

Chrysler Town & Country

Ford Fusion

Ford Taurus
(We're leaning towards this car)

Anniversary bands

When Brian and I first got married, we decided that we were going to get anniversary bands on our fifth wedding anniversary. Well, that time is approaching... and will be here in a little less than 6 months, so I have been looking at a lot of different styles and think that I have decided on what I want.


I doubt that Brian has put much thought into what ring he wants, because that's just how guys are. I'm sure he'll just decide what he wants when we go to the jeweler.



So here it is!

Here's the link

Valentine's Day

I think it's safe to say that Brian and I have never been out on Valentine's Day once. We originally met a week after Valentine's Day. The following year Brian was on a six month deployment for vday. The year after is the Valentine's Day that we were finally able to spend together, and we just stayed at home. The following vday was 2006 and I was pregnant and alone for Valentines day because Brian was out to sea again. For Valentine's day in 2007, Brian had duty (which means he has to stay after work and spend the night, and get up and have a work day the next day too) But he snuck home to have dinner with me and spent part of the night, going back to the ship at 3am. That summer Brian got out of the Navy (thank god) and finally in 2008 we got to spend Valentine's day together. Depressing huh? And Valentine's day is exactly 6 months after our wedding day.

So this year won't be any different than any of those times (all two of them) that we've actually been able to spend Valentine's day together for the whole evening. Except, this year we'll get all day because Vday happens to fall on a Saturday.

I never, for one moment, take for granted being able to spend Valentine's day with Brian. I truly believe that all the time we spent apart really did put so much strength in our relationship because we know how empty our lives are when we're apart.

We don't need to go out to an overcrowded restaurant on Valentine's day to show eachother how much we care for one another. We're just glad to have eachother. Here and always. I'll never forget the time that Brian and I were saying goodbye on the pier (me with my 6 month pregnant belly) and I was crying, afraid that he wouldn't make it home in time ofr Owen's birth. And Brian said to me "I know it's hard to see it now, but when this is all over we'll look back on this time and it will seem like such a long time ago. It will be all over soon." I took comfort in knowing that this was only temporary and that it was something neither of us had control over and if we did we would obviously choose to be together. Not everyone loves someone enough to miss them when they're gone. So we had that, right? I mean really miss them. Miss them so much that it actually hurts. I remember not being able to breathe as I was driving away from the ship. It hurt so much to leave him behind. How do can you be okay with leaving your love behind? It's all over now. And we haven't spent one holiday, anniversary or birthday apart since. That right there will always be a gift in itself, every Valentine's Day.

Secret pleasures

Haha!! It's not as gross as it sounds. But, I have always LOVED bookstores. I could seriously spend all day there. Maybe it's because I spent all summer in one, one year when my mom was an artist at Media Play. Whatever the reason is, I re-discovered that love today while at Barnes And Noble's with Owen. In fact, Owen seems to share the same love as I do because he asked if we could go back tomorrow. Definitely! We're going for a change of scenery though. Tomorrow we're going to the Borders on Broadway in Saratoga. I don't think they have a train table like B&N did (which was a BIG hit with Owen- he played with it for like 2 hours) But, I'm mainly going to Borders to get a couple books I couldn't find at B&N. I also have an alterior motive... Borders on Broadway has a Gap in the same block, I think it may be nextdoor. So yeah =) There's a jacket I want to get, AND I'm looking for this shirt....Sooo if any of you find this in size 3t-5t at any Gap stores or outlets... get it for me and I'll $$$! A little background: my dad has a dune buggy that has become an obsession of Owen's. Obsession is actually an understatement. Buggy stuff is hard to find, and I always buy the dune buggy stuff that I see. I waited seriously like 2 days to buy this and when I went to buy it online, they only have it up to size 24 months! I hate when that happens!! ugh.

Alright I gotta go put the snuggle in the washing machine. It's chi tea time, then bed. Goodnight ladies! (and their hubby's)

Disney x 2

It looks like Disney is coming twice this year! We have a Disney cruise planned for December of 2009.... but it looks like we'll be going to Disney World in February too! It was really spur of the moment. Brian called me from work yesterday and said "How about we go to Florida in a couple weeks". It didn't really surprise me because he's been complaining about having the winter blues lately. He usually gets out of the winter blues when we go snowboarding, but with all of the hectic-ness going on with my grandparents, I feel bad having my parents babysit Owen while we snowboard. So, we haven't been able to go yet this year =( I'm sure we'll get to go soon enough though.

Anyway, this will be Owen's first time flying! We're probably going to get a direct flight from Albany to Orlando so that we don't have to do any of that 2 hour layover crap, and our flight should only be a couple hours. Should be manageable, but we're not taking any chances.... we're bringing a dvd player for him because I'm 99% certain that Owen will NOT sleep at all during the flight. At least we'll occupy all 3 seats and have the whole row to ourselves.

The next problem is just trying to figure out how we're going to get all of Owen's stuff to FL. Fortunately he's not a baby so we don't have to bring the bouncer, swing, portable changing table.... lol!! But we have to bring a car seat and stroller (definitely the umbrella stroller because I'm not even sure how much we'll use it, if at all)

Now to do inventory on our summer wardrobe.

Hahaha as I'm about to publish this I look over and see Owen holding my cell phone up to his ear and saying "Hello Mickey, this is Owen! Do you have a telephone? I'm on mommys telephone. Ok I'm going to sleep, I'm tired. Bye!"

It's official...

...my son is a big boy.

I remember when Owen grew out of the "newborn" clothes at Gymboree (which are 0-24 months) and he was then in the "baby boy" section. Well now Owen has grown out of the baby boy section and he's in the "Kid Boy" section! It really is crazy. Not only that but, today I was looking through a book of classes, deciding which to sign him up for after this session. Well, he's too old to take ANY of the classes we've taken this year and unfortunately a couple classes I wanted to sign him up for.

We went to the outlets the other day and I seriously was only able to find like 5 things in Owen's size at Carter's. I guess they tend to specialize in baby clothes, because the baby clothes are super cute (and I swear the baby boy newborn stuff has gotten cuter since I've had to buy it)

Owen doesn't even ride in the shopping cart anymore. He walks next to me and helps me shop. He goes and picks up things I ask him to find (bananas, apples, crackers, etc) and he also picks out his own stuff. I threw a loaf of bread in the cart and I turned for a second and not only had Owen taken the loaf out of the cart, put it back on the shelves... but he had chosen a loaf of bread that he wanted instead. It's so nice to have a kid who can just walk around the store with me, and not cry in the seat and get bored. He also understands the whole stay out of the road concept really well. If we're walking out of a store he looks towards the parking lot, turns back and looks at me, and reaches his hand out to me and says "cars coming. be careful" :) I finally feel like that 6 months of broken record has paid off and a light bulb went off. I think Owen is out of the terrible twos. Ahh the "terrific threes" are next, and I can't wait!

Cold enough??!

Alright, I am fully aware of the fact that I chose to move back here from the south. Totally regretting it right about now, just so you know!!! But in my defense I don't remember it being this cold! Maybe it's the whole southern thing, and not truly remembering how cold COLD really is. Ummm okay and I'm not even kidding but, when we lived there, and it was 100 degrees in the summer I said to Brian that I would rather live somewhere with single digit temperatures than in the triple digits. Oh man am I regretting that now! It was -5 degrees when I got up this morning. If that doesn't wake you up when you go to get the paper, then NOTHING will!

Although right now I'm wishing we hadn't moved North, this summer when our previous house in Virginia floods again during hurricane season, I will remember why we made the smart decision to leave the South. I think, natural disaster-wise, that the North East is the best place to live if you can deal with the snow. For the most part, you don't have to worry about hurricanes, tornadoes, earth quakes and floods. Now if we can just get spring to come a little early this year......

mmmm

There is only one thing better than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.....

A GIGANTIC Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!!!!

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/giant_reeses_peanut_butter_cup

I'm going to try this out, possibly this afternoon. I have been craving peanut butter cups lately (I've already raided Brian and Owen's stockings, and ate all of theirs haha!)