The Birthday Girl

Reflection of the last 21 months
(9 months in, 12 months out):
First there was the pregnancy- 9 months and 40 extra pounds of growing discomfort. Then of course, the short term and long term recovery of my body. There were/are the sleepless nights, the extra time it takes to leave the house, the sore arms from carrying her for extended periods of time, the fun events missed because of naps and/or bedtime, and lastly, the added cost of living.

Of course, these "sacrifices" are insignificant when I think about all that we've gained- our baby Afton. I'd like to think that I would have willingly gained another 100 pounds if it meant having this little girl. That I would be willing to forgo even more sleep and miss out on more activities. I love my children more than I can express. I'd like to think that there isn't anything I wouldn't do to have them.

And what really surprises me are the moments I find the most rewarding. The pats on my back when I pick up this baby. The way her eyes widen and breathing speeds up when she is excited to see me. Her excited squeals. Her growing independence. The list could go on.

Happy Birthday Afton! We think the world of you!

Let it snow!

The above picture shows what I found last week after I put Afton down for her morning nap. It had been snowing all morning, and the boys decided to get themselves dressed so they could go outside to play. They obviously were trying to sneak out, because rather than using one of the doors, they decided to use a window. If you look behind Sam (looking fairly guilty) you will see Luke (still in his footed pj's, without his shoes on) trying to make a run for it.

This was quite the contrast from last winter, when we had a newborn and lived in our 3rd floor condo. Because I didn't want to take the baby outside in the cold, or send the boys outside alone, they never got a chance to play in the snow. This time, however, I was able to bundle those crazy kids up and push them out the back door while Afton and I stayed toasty indoors.

I hope the boys enjoyed it- this may be the only snowfall we get all winter.

Why We Believe

There seems to be a growing trend of parents choosing to tell their children the truth about Santa. I don't want to bash non-Santa believers, but in our household we believe! Of course we teach our children about the true meaning of Christmas (Christ's birth), but we also embrace Santa Clause and all of his goodness.

So, here are my top 5 reasons of why we believe:

5. Santa is unavoidable.
During the holiday season that man is everywhere. He's on TV, in magazines, at the mall and in most homes. To me it just seems easier to go along with the whole Santa story, rather than trying to explain to a 2 year old that "Santa is a made up lie that all adults tell their children. Oh, and be sure not to tell your friends".

4. Santa is an excellent disciplinarian.
What child doesn't stop dead in his or her tracts at the threat, "I'm going to tell Santa!" I can get my kids to basically do anything just by uttering his name. I use this to my advantage ALL season long. I love the song "Santa Clause is Coming to Town", particularly the lines, "He sees you when your sleeping. He knows when your awake". I feel like that song writer and I are kindred spirits.

3. I defer all toy decisions to Santa.
With the gluttony of toy marketing during Christmas it seems that my kids are contiually whining for some new toy. My response? "We'll see what Santa brings you". End of discussion.

2. I love conspiring with my husband.
Andrew and I work together on mostly everything with our children, but making Santa come alive is different. I love keeping his identity a secret. I love making cookies and setting them out with milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. I love setting up the toys and filling up the stockings with goodies after the children have gone to bed. But most of all, I love seeing my children's faces Christmas morning, and then looking at Andrew and knowing that we have successfully pulled it off.

and the #1 reason...

1. Santa adds a special magic to Christmas.
I grew up believing in Santa. I was completely fascinated with the North Pole, elves, Mrs. Clause, Santa's reign deer, and catching a glimpse of Old Saint Nick himself. I think one year my dad even dressed up as Santa, and my mom woke me and my brother up to take a peek. I was half asleep, but I remember seeing him crouched over by the fire setting up something. Before we had a chance to catch on, my mother quickly whisked us away. That is a memory I will never forget.

The Christmas Tree Debate

For years Andrew and I have debated over buying an artificial Christmas Tree (Andrew is pro-real tree, I'm pro-artificial tree). Andrew's main argument is that the smell of a real tree is a major part of Christmas. My argument is that you can get a pre-lit artificial tree and a scented candle. Plus, our trees always seem to die about 2 weeks before Christmas, which forces me to vacuum up mounds of pine needles each day.

Well, this year Andrew won out and I think he may have won for the long run.

Rather than heading to the nearest Home Depot for our Christmas tree, we decided to go to a local orchard and cut one down ourselves. It was wonderful. Andrew was able to pretend he was a mountain man, and I was able to pose my children and take a billion pictures. It really was fun, and the boys loved choosing the "perfect" tree. The weather was spectacular and to top it all off, the orchard market served hot cider, hot coco and donuts.

I think we may have just started another holiday tradition.

Our tree selection, I don't know why I'm smiling at the tree.

Andrew looking very pleased with himself (and his hot coco)

Thanksgiving 2009: a repeat of 2008

One of the 4 tables- it was a large crowd

I was tempted to simply post this title and leave it at that, but there were two major differences between this and last year's Thanksgiving. The first is that this year my wonderful in-laws invited my wonderful parents and sister to celebrate at their home. We felt extremely fortunate to have both of our families together. The second is that I was not 8 1/2 months pregnant. I only mention this because being that pregnant severely limits how much food one can consume. Not that it ever stops me from eating less, it's just that I make myself sick. As someone who LOVES food, I was happy to eat my share of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey, stuffing and pie. It really was a wonderful weekend filled with delicious food, golfing (for Andrew), black Friday shopping (for me), and best of all, family.

See, 50 really is the new 40 Mom!
(*To save my life I must note that my mom is not yet 50)

The sisters-in-law, doing one of the things we do best- gabbing

Some of the cousins doing one of the things they do best- quietly watching a movie in the basement

Random Moments Monday- Jill Edition

Every year one of my best friends from high school takes a few days off of her life to come visit me. This trip usually happens in the fall, and this year it was planned around the opening weekend of the second Twilight movie, New Moon. That's right, we're that lame.

So, in honor of Jill, I am dedicating this week's "Random Moments" to her, and our wild, wild, weekend together.

New Moon, I actually liked you! This is a stark contrast to my feelings for Twilight, which I still think may be one of the worst movies I've ever seen. (Click here to read my thoughts on that movie.) I'm not saying that New Moon is going to be nominated for an Oscar or anything, but this movie was a dramatic improvement over the first. Nothing can be done with the main characters (except maybe getting some hair wax for Edward), but I was pleasantly surprised with the rest of the movie. What really made it fun for me were the girls who shrieked every time "Jacob" walked on screen (Jill this sadly includes you) and my friend Merry's moans of disgust throughout the entire movie. Can't wait for the 3rd movie!

Jill at the movie with her "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" candy. She is a maniac.

We were quite possibly the oldest group in the theater

My kids love to torture our house guests, especially those without kids. What can I say? My kids love to get a reaction. The image of Sam posing with nothing but his underwear on, saying "Heeeyyy Jiiiiilllllll!" will be forever ingrained in my brain.

When I say "lets shop till we drop" I mean it! The problem is that I have the shopping stamina of a 95 year old woman. After about 1 hour of shopping in TJ Maxx and Homegoods, I plopped down on a chair and declared our shopping trip over.

You can shop at TJ Maxx and still look incredibly trendy and cute. Trendy I am not, but I do aspire to wear cute clothes. Everywhere we went Jill received compliments on everything she wore. I'm talking complete strangers who would come up and give her compliments! Jill's response was always the same, "I got it at TJ Maxx!" Looks like I know where I need to start shopping.

True to form, our weekend contained lots of mishaps (most being out of our control). Our visits are usually filled with some kind of drama, and this time was no exception. The two biggest things this time were that (1) Jill found out her cousin-in-law was killed in a car crash, and (2) there was a slight collision with Jill and my neighbor's car which was parked across the street. The phrases "train wreck" and "for Pete's sake" seemed to be thrown around a lot this weekend.

I am missing nothing by not having a car radio. My minivan has been missing an antenna for a while now, so I've been way out of the loop when it comes to new music. However, this weekend I drove everywhere with Jill who has Sirius radio. Here's my question- when did music get so crappy? Do you want to argue with me on this? Just try and defend the song "Fireflies" by Owl City. I'm sooooo glad I got to hear this song several times this past weekend...

Laughing over old pictures and memories will never get old. It is amazing how hard I can laugh when this girl comes into town. I don't think I will ever get tired reminiscing over people and stories that we haven't thought of in years. Thanks for being such a great friend Jilly!

Random Moments Monday II

"Mine's the best right mom?" This is Luke's new favorite phrase. Anything that the boys do together (making art, building with blocks, climbing trees...) is immediately followed by Luke asking, "Mine is the best, right?" or "I am doing it the best, right?" This has to be a textbook warning sign of "middle child syndrome".

Sam brought home yet another field trip permission form. Its not like I'm keeping track here (all right, I am) but Sam's field trip total is up to $30. Again, can I emphasize that it is only November and the kid is in kindergarten? I signed him up for public school, not private school. We're not made of money here elementary school!

I was called out by the PTA. I don't know why, but for some reason I feel like the PTA is out to get me. I received a letter this past week, politely reminding me of all that the PTA does for my child and that they had not yet received my dues to become a member. Honestly, I know that the PTA is a wonderful organization, bla, bla, bla....but for some reason it freaks me out. Maybe its because I'm only 27 and I feel like the PTA is trying to steal my remaining youth.

The Phillies lost of World Series. Our family feelings? Andrew- devastated. Me- relieved. I really don't know how many more games I could take. I was sad for Andrew though, who seemed to take the loss personally.

My sweet Dad came to visit. My mom and sister flew out to Utah for my cousin's wedding this past weekend, so my Dad came down to stay with us. We had a wonderful time and the kids could not get enough of him. This morning when Sam woke up he said, "Why did Grandpa only stay two days?! I wanted him to stay 100 days!" I think that sentiment goes for all of us.

I was able to participate in Super Saturday. For the first time in years I had nothing to do with Super Saturday (aka- Mormon Craft Day). It was f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c! I sat at a table, made up all of my projects, ate and chatted. Now I know why everyone loves this day!

Sam had his first speaking line in the primary program. Given Sam's reserved nature, we really thought that he was going to choke at the microphone. To our surprise he delivered his lines like a pro! The singing? Not so much. He mostly bobbed his head up and down to the beat.

Book It! If there is anything that takes me back to my own school years it is "Book It". Sam is now doing this program and tonight we took our family to Pizza Hut so he could get his free personal pan pizza. Ahh, the memories.

Halloween Marathon 2009

The above picture is of one of my best friends Jill. She decided to dress up as "Aunt Karen" for Halloween. Who is Aunt Karen? Beats me, but I am her biggest fan. Jill did not go trick or treating with us, she wasn't even in the same state, but I still felt compelled to share this picture. Hilarious.

On that note, this year's Halloween festivities seemed never ending. Don't get me wrong, it was fun and the kids really enjoyed themselves, but it was exhausting. At least for me. There were parades and class parties (for both boys), a church "Trunk or Treat"/Harvest Festival, and then Halloween itself- all of which occurred within a 3 day span. Somewhere between all of this I forgot that we never carved pumpkins, so the kids and I quickly squeezed that in too.

Our church party was actually a lot of fun. There was a really cool "mad scientist room" and lot of games for the kids to play. One guy dressed up as a member from the band "Kiss" and I forced Luke to pose in a picture with him (Sam ran away screaming as soon as I made the suggestion to him). I need to remember to reward Luke for obeying me.

On Halloween we had a few of our friends over for chili and cornbread and then we all went trick-or-treating with both of Andrew's brothers' families. Ohh and our costumes? Sam was "Zorro", Luke was "Tigger", I was "Mary", and Afton was my "Little Lamb".

It really was fun, but now onto Thanksgiving!

Sam at our church party- I love his face in this picture.

Luke is trying really hard not to run away in this picture. And yes, the Kiss guy (I have no idea who he is) is wearing spandex AND platform boots- awesome!

The boys in the "mad scientist room"

Luke after his preschool parade

Sam at his school parade

Some of the cousins (plus me, Uncle Pete and Uncle Grant). PLEASE click on this picture to see Uncle Peter's costume- priceless!

Some of our other trick-or-treaters. Truman (Dracula) and little Pete (Superman) crack me up in this picture!

Baby steps...almost

During the past few weeks Afton has started to stand on her own. Granted, she only stands for about 3 seconds, but it is still fun for us to watch. She usually loses her balance by getting excited and bouncing up and down, or by clapping her hands.

She is such a cute little thing who is growing up way too fast.

looking up at Andrew for encouragement

falling

now she is coming to get me :)

Random Moments Monday

In an effort to write down more of the little things that happen in my family's life, I am introducing "Random Moments Monday". (Lori, this idea was stolen from you!) Look out, because "Dancing With The Stars" is no longer the best thing that Monday has to offer. I'm not sure what my format will be, or how frequently I will post this, but I guess that's part of the randomness…

$16- The amount I had to pay for Sam's Kindergarten field trip. Seriously, $16 for a field trip??? For kindergarteners??!! I can think of a million other things I would rather spend my money on, like treating myself to Chipotle. I did pay, (do I have a choice?) and Sam will be going to some local farm tomorrow. He did mention something about getting a pumpkin. Maybe it will be a magic pumpkin.

Phillies Games- Pretty much the only thing that has been on our TV lately. I believe this Wednesday is the first game of World Series...its about time we bought a second TV.

8 pounds- How much weight Andrew gained during his 3 day trip last week. Andrew went to Connecticut to visit his friend Ryan and aside from playing video games and driving a Porsche (Ryan’s Dad’s), those two ate…a lot. The kids and I were supposed to go too, but with lingering illnesses we thought it best to bow out. Andrew had a great time and I was bummed we missed out on the fun.

35 Miles- The round trip mileage from our home to Andrew's work. Andrew bought a bike (not a motorcycle) a few months back, and he's been tying to bike to work twice a week. With the extra pounds he put on this past weekend, I think he is shooting for 3 times this week.

Not sure- How I feel about Andrew riding bike into the city.

A half eaten peppermint, fruit snack, cheerios and paper- All things that Afton managed to get into her mouth at church (none of which originated from our family). That baby is insane. At one point I set her on the ground, and the next thing I knew she was on her belly ferociously licking a peppermint which was stuck to the ground (I don't know how I missed it). Gross, but kind of funny.

12 recycling bags full of leaves and branches- How much I cleared out our yard this past week. I am dealing with a neglected yard here, so I’m really hoping that there won’t be so much maintenance required in the future. Here's to hoping!

Home Progress

\We've been settled for nearly 3 months now, and I'm happy to report that none of our rooms look like the above picture anymore (I cannot say the same for our closets). Since Andrew officially declared us "house poor", we've been taking it slow. Well, slow at least according to my standards (Andrew starts to hyperventilate if I even say the words "Home Depot", which I probably do in my sleep). I am grateful for his balance and perspective, as it has been extremely gratifying to see each little change take place. Most of our time and energy has been focused on cleaning up the outside, and one of my biggest regrets is that I did not get a "before" picture of the backyard. I have, however, been pretty good at taking pictures of the progress on the inside. So here you go-

Family Room Before...

This is what the fireplace looked like prior to our purchase. I used to salivate just thinking about tearing off the stucco.

After we got home from settlement I went straight to the house and started to restore the fireplace. My mother-in-law and friend Merry (both below) also came over and were a huge help. THANK YOU!

The Family Room After...

The Kitchen

Look carefully for the oven. Yup, that's it, on the ground in the eating area. Eventually we'll put the oven back where it is supposed to go (in the kitchen) but for the time being, it works just fine.

The Dining Room

Boys room before...

The Boys Room After...

My sister-in-law Jen put up chair rail in this room (I helped a little). She did a fantastic job and I love how the boy's room turned out.

Afton's room

And of course, we have Afton's room. When my mom first saw it she said, "Ohh wow! It's pink! I didn't think you were a pink type of person!" I'm typically not, but then again, a lot of things seem to be changing as I raise these kids...I guess that's life for ya.

Fall Happenings

Guess how many times we went to the pool this past summer? Twice. Guess how many times we went downtown? Zero. Guess how many times we went to Cape May? Twice. You get the point...it was a pathetic summer for us. Since we spent most of our time house hunting and then recovering from house hunting, I promised myself that once we settled in we would not spend all of our Saturdays doing home projects. So far, I think we've made good on that promise. We've still been busy with the home (pictures to come), but so far I think we've done a good job making up for this past summer. Here are a few of our weekend activities this past month.

September started out with a bang when my little brother Joe decided to come home for a quick weekend visit. He was gracious enough to squeeze in a trip to our house (with my Dad) and for the occasion we decided to hit up Great Falls. We love Joe and it was great to see him.

The man himself, Uncle Joe

A couple weeks later we went to the National Book Festival with some of our friends. This was our first time attending and I have to say it was pretty cool. There were a ton of authors (Shannon Hale, Kate Dicamillo, Judy Blume, Nicolas Sparks, Sue Monk Kidd, Jon Meacham...just to name a few) who were stationed at different pavilions throughout the entire National Mall. Of course with the kids we didn't get to see most of these authors, but we did see some. They also had a massive PBS Kids tent where the boys were able to meet characters like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Arthur. It was raining, and a bazillion people were there, but it still was a lot of fun. I'm planning on going next year, but with some girlfriends instead.

After the festival we went to the Natural History Museum where we were able to see the new Oceanic exhibit- it is pretty cool!

Sam at the Natural History Museum's new exhibit

Our latest family excursion happened this past weekend when went to a local farm to pick apples and pumpkins. 30 pounds of apples, a gallon of apple cider, some fresh produce, and six pumpkins later, I think we got our fill. The boys had a blast, and now I'm busy turning those apples into baked goods. Have I ever mentioned how much I love fall???