Flat lined...

Well, it seems I have flat lined in the world of blogging. I hate that so much time has passed since my last post-- over a month ago. :( I just dont seem to have the drive to blog like I used to. It makes me really sad to be honest. I used to love writing 2-3 posts a week, but now... I just dont seem to make time for it.

I might come back to it. I might not. We'll see.

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to be the gift that keeps on giving... so I am a day late! Ha!!

Christmas this year felt different to me. Liam obviously was much more aware of what Christmas means-- gifts, Santa, parties, etc. That all was SO exciting. It truly cements why I wanted to be a mom for so long. To see the excitement on his face when he says the word Santa, to see him searching around the house to look for his elf "Fred", to see him try to sneak a sugar cookie off the counter-- all those reasons-- those are why I wanted to be a Mom for so long. I LOVE it!! But having said all that, Christmas felt heavy to me this year. While the house was still quite yesterday morning, I came downstairs, made a cup of coffee and just sat and looked at our tree lit up with all the presents under it. Feelings of blessings overwhelmed me. I feel so blessed and so lucky to have my life. Before I sat down I turned on the Christmas music and the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" came on. The line "...And next year all our troubles will be miles away" sent me into the ugly cry. I don't have troubles, but I cant get the families of Newtown out of my mind. Not sure why, but I feel like the tragedy is REALLY starting to hit me. Don't get me wrong, I have felt it since that very tragic Friday, but I feel like with the holiday here it is hitting me at the core. It makes me play the "what if" game-- which of course is never good.

I don't know. I guess it just really gives me a reality check of what is important and what I want our life to look like. I am realizing the importance of appreciating every movement and living life to the fullest. Life is too short not to.

And onto a lighter note-- Santa stopped by our house on Christmas Eve... on a firetruck! It was SO awesome. Liam and the other neighborhood kids were SO excited. It was truly AWESOME!!!

As with every year, I look forward to Christmas eve night and celebrating with family. How can you go wrong with getting everyone together, eating yummy food, drinking yummy drinks and throwing a few yummy shots in there??? You cant. Always a fun time! 

And of course Santa made a big stop at our house!! Since this was the first Christmas that I felt like Liam was going to really get it-- I was SO excited!! I think he was a bit unsure at first, but it didn't take him long to get into it!!

Beyond wonderful Christmas!! Will take a year to recover! Wishes for a happy, healthy 2013!! 

Happy 3rd Birthday to my little man!

Sorry for the double post today-- the other post I wrote on Monday, but it wouldnt let me upload pictures. So I just tried again... it worked...so you get a double post! :)

My little boy turns 3 today! YIKES! I dont know how time has flown by like this... but it has. I am so lucky this little boy calls me his mama!





















Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Angel! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and are SO proud of you!!!

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So my mother has instructed that I NOT start this blog post with a statement about how much time has gone by since my last post. So I wont. :)

Just a quick catch up and we will move on. Alright?! So here we are-- the 2nd week in December. November was a complete and total blur. I have NO idea where it went. Gary left the 2nd week in November and anytime hes gone... while time drags, it also seems to fly by. I have a tendency to keep us very very busy... and well... as you know... when you are busy time escapes. This was no exception. Liam and I kept our weekends busy so that we wouldn't miss Daddy too much.

I have to say, I am glad this was Gary's last time out to sea EVER!!!! (With a year long maintenance period coming up for his submarine and his retirement next December 2013--this was IT!!!) Liam really noticed and questioned about Gary being gone this time around. At least 1 time per day he'd say something about daddy--i.e. "I'm missing my Daddy", "Daddy on his boat", "Daddy at work" and the worst "My Daddy is lost." Seems he was really able to notice the lack of Gary's presence this time around. I can only imagine that as children get older-- this gets worse. So glad I wont have to answer those questions in the future! :)

So my little booger turns 3 on Wednesday! OMG!!! How on earth did this happen? How do I have a 3 year old already. It truly is unreal to me. Gary and I are looking forward to celebrating with Liam on Wednesday. As much as I HATE Chuckie Cheese we are thinking it might be fun to take him to celebrate his day. I am hoping that it being a Wednesday-- it will be quiet and the germ count will be low. We'll see! I just want to be sure he has a great day and feels special all day! So excited!!

Next week Liam will be transitioning to the Pre-K1 class and while I am excited for him, I'm nervous. Saying Pre-K sounds so grown up to me. I just hate that he is growing up so fast. I really hate it. Recently a few of his close friends from school have transitioned, so thankfully he will be reunited with them. This makes me really happy. He is definitely the "big" kid in his class these days. Next week-- he'll go back to being the little one.

Well, here are some recent pictures. I promise I will post birthday and holiday pics... in a timely manner!

Trick or Treat

Despite the bitch Sandy blowing through town we were able to have a great Halloween. Our town recommended against door to door trick or treating, but as a neighborhood we agreed that we should proceed. So we did. The kids had a great time. Thankfully the weather was nice, not too cold and they were able to wear their costumes without jackets.

Since college or so I haven't been much of a fan of Halloween. I guess once I became too old to trick or treat it kind of lost its luster for me. I am not much into costumes, so other than candy-- I don't see much of the appeal. Now that we have Liam though and I am experiencing it through his eyes-- I am starting to enjoy it again. It was fun to watch him run up to the door to collect his loot!

Some pictures from the day:

Liam's school did a little costume parade in the afternoon and parents were invited. One of the reasons I love Gary so much-- he makes it a point to be there. It was very important to him that he be there and he was genuinely very sad for the little kids that didn't have costumes or parents there. He's got a Daddy's heart that is for sure! 

Liam with some of his buddies. 

Liam and Norabelle

Spidey is on the lose in the neighborhood

Making our first stop

Had to pick up our buddies the Ninja turtles (seriously--do these boys get any cuter??)

And because I always like to go vintage:

2011:

2010:

And I just stumbled upon this picture--my first baby:

Hunkering Down

Well, we are hunkering down to wait out Hurricane Sandy. We are hoping it isnt as bad as they have been predicting, but right now-- it looks like it is going to be bad. I have to say-- having a child makes me more nervous for situations like this. I feel safe in our home, but the fact that there is a little child that is counting on you to protect them and keep them too safe is a big weight to bare. Always wanting to do right by Liam, I can only hope we are as prepared as we need to be. I am expecting that we will just be out of power for a few days. Hopefully it isnt too bad. We made out really well last year with Hurricane Irene and the October snowstorm-- we only lost power 1 day with both. Not bad and I am really hoping we make out as well this time.

I am going to maximize on this time trapped inside and use it to work on our potty training efforts with Liam. Using the potty really isnt the issue-- him telling us when he has to go is. I could tell him to use the potty all day long and he will go, but I need him to get to a point where he recognizes he needs to go and tells me. Hopefully focusing on it for the next couple days will make it click for him. I've got my stickers and M&M's ready.

I want to share about the fabulous day I had with my Mom and Sister last Friday. We made our second annual girls day trip to NYC. We went last year and had a great time. We never really have a huge agenda, we just like to go, walk around, eat some yummy food, have some yummy drinks and enjoy each others company. We had fabulous weather this year. It was around 65 degrees and just perfect for walking around. We window shopped at Bloomingdales, walked around Macy's, visited the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museaum, walked through Times Square, had dinner at Eataly and then met up with my cousin for a drink. We did a TON of walking. I loved it! Here are some pictures of our adventure:

On the train heading in

Picture op in Times Square

Hanging with Whoopie

Renee rubbing elbows with Brad and Angelina

There were many laughs (to tears) and "takes" to get this picture. 

My Mom working an IPhone is pretty funny! 

It was another great trip and I am so fortunate that I have such a wonderful sister and Mom. I truly enjoy spending time with them and I am so glad they are willing to go on adventures with me! 

Whoa! Seriously?

It has been 1 month to the day since I last posted. How the heck did that happen? I think the last time I was off that long from posting was because I was pregnant and not wanting to let the cat out of the bag. I can assure you that is not the case this time around. Sorry Mom! I have just completely lost track of days. We've been busy with just every day life that I have lost the ability to make time to write. It makes me sad. I think about posting multiple times a week, but then I always think I will do it tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and I dont do it. I really do need to catch up!

Liam is amazing and such a fun and special toddler. I honestly would never be able to put into words how much I love this little boy. He makes me smile every day and I am so thankful God chose me to be his mom. He is doing great at school and it is funny to see that he is now one of the older kids in his class. When I drop him off in the morning he looks so old/ big next to a majority of the classroom. He will be moving to Pre-K at the beginning of December and he will be back to being the young one.

We're still not potty trained. :-/ I honestly havent been pushing it. I know he will be ready when he is ready and that he wont go to college in diapers. :) He does very good when I tell him to go-- it is just a matter of him identifying that he need to go and telling us that we need to work on. Gary did say that he told him the other day, but he didnt quite make it to the potty in time. I'm sure it is just a matter of a month or so and we will be there.

Here are some recent pictures:

This is what I end up with if he gets a hold of my iphone- 35 copies of a picture just like this. 

Hanging out one afternoon at Lowes. 

Powder Gate 2012. One night after Gary put him to bed he got up, took off his PJ's and found the baby powder. :-/ 

Supporting me in my 2nd 1/2 marathon effort!! 

Grocery shopping with Daddy

Out enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

Our house suffered a big loss last night. We had to put our cat Tupper to sleep. :( Tupper was my first baby. Gary and I adopted him 2 months after we got married. I feel like he has been part of Gary and I forever. This all came on very sudden last night and with no warning. I went outside to let Tanner potty and when I came back in I could hear Tupper meowing/ crying. I thought maybe he was trapped in the basement. I opened the door and he was just laying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs not moving. Just meowing his cry over and over and over again. I called Gary down from the bonus room and he went down in the basement to check it out. I think I was scared to go down because I could tell something was wrong. I am not exactly good in those situations. Gary assessed that something was wrong with his leg. We thought maybe he had tripped getting out of this litter box and hurt his leg. Figured it was best to take him to the vet. So off Gary and Tupper went. I was not expecting Gary to call me and tell me that it was really bad and that the vet strongly recommended putting him down. :( His condition is called Saddle Thrombosis. Basically a blood clot that stops blood flow to the back legs. It is a fatal condition. 

I didnt say goodbye. I never in a million years thought he wasnt coming home. I did sit and pet him for a while while Gary was upstairs changing but I would have savored the moment more had I thought he wasnt coming home. I'm sad. Gary's sad. Liam hasnt noticed yet. Tanner and Pamper are sad-- I can just tell. :(

R.I.P Tupper

10-23-12

I promise it wont be a month before I post again!