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!)