Monday, September 29, 2014

Weekend Update

Man, it was hot this weekend!  It's not supposed to be 81 in upstate NY at the end of September!  Of course, I am probably the only one complaining.  But I really like the cool fall weather!

It was a busy weekend.
Friday night I met a friend out for drinks and appetizers.  Then we headed over to Sommer's Stella and Dot party.  As usual, I bought too much!  Sommer had some delicious munchies and these gorgeous cupcakes:


Saturday morning the in-laws arrived for a visit.  After some coffee and chatting, we headed out for Nick's soccer game.  It was hot.  Very hot.  Like sweat dripping (pouring) down your back hot.  My mother in law and I even both got sunburns.  But as usual, it was super cute watching these 4 year olds run around and play.



After soccer we headed out to lunch at our favorite diner.  This has kind of become a tradition when the in-laws visit.  It's quick, family friendly, and there's a million menu choices so everyone can get whatever they really want.

After lunch, I had the most glorious hour and a half I have had in a long time.  I had a nap!!  A completely uninterrupted nap.  Just me and the kitty.  Oh how I miss my afternoon naps!  After nap time we took the kids to the school playground.








After playground fun, it was off to the grocery store and to pick something up for dinner.  I asked the boys if I could get a nice picture of them.  This is what I got...



Sunday was more soccer, followed by a trip to McDonald's playland and a Target run.  We played outside before dinner and then watched Toy Story of Terror with popcorn and juice (Nick's request).

By the way, do you like frittatas?  I have been making one every week!  I guess I am late to the frittata train, but oh my, they are so easy and delicious!  Last night I made a Greek frittata- feta cheese, spinach, tomatoes and scallions.  It was so good.  Next time I think I'll chop the spinach up smaller though,


Oh!  And I finally hung up the wreath I made!  It's hanging above the sink and makes me happy while I am doing unhappy things (like dishes!!).


How was your weekend?

My journey to motherhood- a grateful heart

We are a family of four.   Sometimes I am in utter disbelief that this statement is true.  When I was young, I had no interest in being a mom.  Or in being married for that matter.   I was not one of those girls that daydreamed about her perfect wedding or having a house full of babies.  I was dreaming about moving to NYC, living in a beautiful high rise apartment and having a career as a very prestigious attorney.  I figured I wouldn't get married, rather I would "play the field" and have several torrid love affairs (not at the same time of course).  Well, exactly none of this happened.

I don't live in NYC and I'm not an attorney.  I fell in love and got married.  My husband and I were both in agreement though- no kids.  We made it through a good 5 years insisting we would not have kids (despite our parents' continued pleas to give them some grandkids).  Then it happened.  The biological clock started ticking.  We started thinking maybe we SHOULD have kids.  And so we began to try.

A year and a half passed with 2 heartbreaking miscarriages and no baby.  I started to think I wasn't meant to have children.  Some days I was ok with that. Some days I wasn't.

We decided to give it one last shot.  If it didn't work out this time, that was it.
Well, it only took about a month and I was pregnant. It was a very scary first 12 weeks.  I analyzed every cramp, twitch and twinge.  I worried.  I didn't let myself get excited.  I waited.  Then I worried some more.

Time passed.  12 weeks turned into 14 weeks. 14 weeks turned into 16.  16 weeks turned into 20. And then the realization hit me...I'm halfway there!!  It was at that point I finally let myself get excited about the little guy growing in my belly.
I was fortunate to have a completely normal pregnancy.  No issues for me, no issues for baby.  And then on a bitter cold winter day, after 16 hours of labor, 2 1/2 hours pushing, and a visit to the OR for a c-section, I finally had my little Nickolas.  All 8 pounds 13 ounces of him!



We told ourselves it was "one and done." Just one kid to shower with love and focus our attention on.

Fast forward 2 years (those 2 years need their very own blog post, or perhaps their own blog...oh my how life takes you to unexpected places...but I digress). We started thinking about babies again.  Shouldn't Nick have a sibling?  Shouldn't he have someone to lean on when we are gone?   Wouldn't it be great to have another baby???

I'll be honest.  The thought of another child terrified me.  How could I function on even less sleep?  How would I manage 2 kids when sometimes I felt like I could barely manage 1?  Twice the stress, twice the work.  Twice the baths, twice the sickness.  Twice the crying, twice the diapers.  Twice the money.

But we went for it.  And 2 years and 11 months after Nickolas was born, on another cold and snowy winter day, our Alec was born.



Has it been easy?  Nope.  2 kids is a lot of work, especially when your closest relative is an hour and a half away.  But, it has been a lot easier than I expected.  Things go a lot smoother with baby #2 it seems.  I actually feel like I know what I am doing this time around!  Yes, sometimes I want to lock myself in the bathroom for an hour or two and escape the madness that is our home.   Sometimes I would like to be able to pee or shower without someone busting in on me.  Sometimes I would like to sit on the couch without someone climbing or jumping on me.  Sometimes I would like just 15 minutes of quiet.  And last but not least, sometimes I really want to sleep past 7am on the weekend.

But honestly and truly, I wouldn't trade any of it.  I can't imagine my life without these 2 boys in it (and I don't want to!).  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined loving another human being as much as I love these boys. They are my heart; they are my life.  They are what truly matters.  Thank you lord for blessing me with these two amazing gifts.  I am so grateful for our little family of 4!

I'm linking up today with EmberGray for her Grateful Heart series.
What are you grateful for today?

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Friday favorites: Very random edition!

Hooray, it's Friday!   Let's get right to it. Here are 5 of my favorites for the week.

1. These Toms!



This is my first ever pair of Toms and I am sooo excited!  I can't wait to wear them this fall!   And I got a great deal on them from Zuilly!

2.  This bracelet

This is the Strength Bracelet from Stella and Dot.   Not only is it super cute (who doesn't like pink elephants!), 100% of the net proceeds through October will benefit breast cancer research.  I'll be ordering mine tomorrow night at Sommer's Stella and Dot party (and yes, probably 1 or 2 or 3 other things)!


3.  This book



I stopped at the pharmacy on the way home from work the other day to pick up a prescription and happened upon this book.  Don't you just love random finds!?!  This is such a cute and fun book!  I think I might be enjoying it more than the kids!  I originally picked it up because of its Halloween theme, but it could definitely be read any time of the year.  If you have young kids, get this book!

4.  This planner



I have been in desperate need of a good planner.  I searched and searched and finally found this one on Etsy which I LOVE.  It came in the mail today and I am SO EXCITED.  I cannot wait to start writing it.  Why am I so excited about a planner?  I don't know.  Yes, I know it's weird.  Oh well.

5.  My entryway

I waited and waited for my awesome Plow and Hearth wreath to get here.  After 4 weeks of waiting, it finally came.  I put it on my door and guess what....I didn't like it!  Well, I liked the actual wreath, just not how it looked with my mums and gourds.  So to the basement I went and pulled out my wreath from last year.  I think it matches perfectly.   I love decorating for fall!  I'll also be putting out some Halloween specific items once we get into October.

I'm looking forward to a great weekend and hope you all have a great one too! Don't be afraid to leave me a comment if you have a minute....I love hearing from y'all!

Linking up with:



Monday, September 22, 2014

Weekending

TGIM and I can go to work and rest from the weekend!!  Anyone else ever feel that way?  :)

I started my weekend on Friday night with my girlfriend Sommer.  The original plan was to have some wine and do tons of apple baking.  Well, we had the wine...

And we had some delicious pizza which paired surprisingly well with the wine...

We got to baking....


Annnnd this was the outcome...



I blame it on the wine.  Or old baking powder.  Yeah, the baking powder. Definitely not the wine!
Side note:  As bad as those muffins look, they were actually really tasty!
Additional side note:  For an inexpensive wine, Barefoot is delicious!

Saturday morning was soccer.  As was Sunday morning.  Our weekends are all soccer until the end of October!





Saturday afternoon we went to visit my parents.  We had a lovely visit which included dinner, playing in the clubhouse my dad built and picking gourds.  My dad also sent us home with some of his homemade strawberry grape wine.


Sunday was full of super fun things like cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping!  HA
I did snap this funny pic of Alec while we were grocery shopping.  He looks like such a little devil!


Well, that about sums it up! What did you all do this weekend?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Friday Favorites: All things vacation!

Nubble Light House
I’ll be honest.  Most years when we go on vacation I am ready to come home by day 3.  But this year it was just so nice to escape reality for a little while.  Between daycare stress, work stress and my mom’s heart attack, we really needed a break.  We actually DIDN’T want to come home this year!  We wished we had another week to enjoy the ocean, the good food, and the lack of responsibilities. 
But alas, all good things must come to an end and back to work on Monday we went (and maybe I did quite a bit of outlet shopping while we were there and was just about out of money)!

Today I am sharing with you my top 5 favorites from vacation.  I am also going to pretend I am still on vacation, OK?  OK!

Number 1:
Our vacation cottage
I truly feel there is no other option than renting a house when going on vacation with 2 young kids.  I cannot even imagine dealing with my two boys in a hotel room for a week!  Talk about losing my mind!  I found the house we rented on Homeaway and it was PERFECT.  Why you ask?  Well let me tell you! 
-It was walking distance to the beach. 
-It had a fenced back yard. 
-It was updated, nicely painted and had gorgeous wood floors. 
-It had perfect decorating touches- just what you would hope for in a Maine beach cottage. 
-It had an outdoor shower to get all the beach sand off.






2.  The beach! 
Well duh, right?  The weather wasn’t exactly beach weather (60s, maybe 70 one day) but we still beached it!  The kids had such an amazing time playing in the water and sand and looking for “treasures” (side note- why can I never find an intact sand dollar???  Is that so much to ask??).  I was just happy to have my feet in the sand and stare at the beautiful ocean.

Nick's Baywatch run
My Jackie O look- it was cold that day!
Bury me daddy!



Fun in the sand


Visiting York Beach and looking for treasure!


Seagull on Footbridge Beach


I took a strangely large amount of seagull photos?? 


Hooray we're on vacation!

My boys


3.  The Maine Wildlife Park
We visited the Maine Wildlife Park in Grey for the second year in a row.  Many of the animals at the park were brought there because they were injured or orphaned, or because they were human dependent.  The Park serves as a permanent home for wildlife that cannot survive in the Wild.
My favorite animal at the park is the Moose (actually they have 3 of them).  I LOVE Moose.   I hope one day I can see one in the wild.  They also have bears, deer, a bald eagle, bobcat, lynx, owls, turtles and lots more.  



Cool dude

Can you guess who was having a temper tantrum in this picture???

Love that moose!
Post-tantrum
This guy cracked me up!


4.  The Portland Children’s Museum
This was our first time visiting the Portland Children’s museum.  I would definitely recommend it!  They have a huge firetruck that Nick played in almost the entire time we were there.  They have a space shuttle, play grocery store, car repair shop, lobster boat,  toddler playground, Discovery Woods with its own “river”, bank, tide pool touch tank and more.  It kept the kids busy a good 2 hours and gave mommy and daddy some time to sit and rest!!  We could have stayed even longer but we were getting hungry.  We found this charming Irish Pub for lunch called Bull Feeneys.  Again, I highly recommend!










5.  Time together as a family
It was so nice to be together as a family for the week.  No work, no school, just time to have fun together.   I admit, the kids drove us nuts quite often and there were several tantrums and brotherly fights.  But it was still great.  I want to go back!!!!!




These 3 are my world



What was your favorite part of vacation this summer?  Or do you have any exciting trips planned for the fall?

Linking up today with these wonderful ladies... AndreaErika and Narci 

Momfessionals


The Life Of Faith