Voyages in Parenthood

Let me start by saying that Santa is one awesome guy! Only thing I really wanted this year was a win over the Cowboys on Christmas day, and did he ever deliver! I was a very happy Eagles fan! (that's not to say that I am not grateful for all the great stuff I DID get!) We had an awesome weekend over all! We headed north to NY on Friday night in the driving rain, but all-in-all the trip wasn't too bad. Arrived around 11 or 11:30 and Leda was back in bed by midnight. Up early the next day asking for "Pop Pa" and "Na Na" and wasn't disappointed when they woke up not too long after we did! Saturday was a pretty laid back day catching up with Grandpa and Nana and Nana Rose and seeing Aunt Stacy and Uncle Todd. And, checking out that HUGE Christmas Tree in the front hall. With all the MANY presents underneath - and Santa hadn't even arrived yet! (Gluttony at its best!) Sunday was another relaxing day - Leda played with Nana and Grandpa and Aunt Stacy and G...

As this will be the last night I have before next week to post, here's the annual Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays post... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Holiday weekend starts right after work tomorrow and I plan not to be anywhere near a computer for the following four days! I am SO looking forward to the time away! Here's hoping Santa remembers to bring me that extra special present on Christmas night...you know what I am talking about, that one that starts around 5PM on Christmas night and if my in-laws are so inclined to let me watch (I have promised to behave myself - as long as no one there is rooting for the cowgirls) will have me celebratin' real good by 8PM? Yep, that one. Else the next post here might not be so cheery! ;-) Happy and Safe Holidays to you all.

Wow, two weeks in a row only two posts. Gotta get better than that! This past weekend was a busy one! Friday night we headed over to the Shiers for the weekly get-together-for-dinner-so-the-kids-can-play-with-one-another-and-the-adults-can-have-adult-conversations or whatever we have been calling them - really, just a way for us parents to gather our children in one house and ignore them for a few hours! ;-) Leda discovered a rocking horse which she just thought was awesome! Saturday found us cleaning the house, readying it for putting Christmas decorations up and laying down our new carpet in the living room. We purchased the new carpet in the beginning of November, picked it up two weeks ago and finally found time to lay it down on Saturday. This is a big deal as we got a good carpet - plush and soft - AND padding for it! Leda has already tested it out several times and the "thud" is much less noticeable now! Also, Aunt Claire was coming for a visit!! Claire was in NYC this...

What a busy weekend we all had. Friday night we headed over to the Durhams to help Paige celebrate her 3rd birthday! Leda had fun playing with the kids and watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman with Sydney and her Daddy, John. On Saturday, we went hunting for a Christmas Tree. This year there was no snow, but the wind was cold and we had to go to a far away field on a hill to find a tree. Luckily it turned out okay, but got me thinking about getting an artifical tree here soon. Don't know if I will breakdown and do it or not. Gotta say, the smell of pine really makes me re-think the idea and I think we will head out again next year to cut one down! Saturday afternoon we all packed up and Leda headed over to our neighbors for the night and Brock and I headed down to Atlantic City for my company holiday party at the Borgata. Very nice place and we had a blast! Dinner was at Wolfgang Pucks and the food was great - the drink just kept a pouring, so I was pretty...

So, here's one of the last pictures taken with my old camera... Leda wasn't real sure about this Santa person. Out of about 100 people milling around at this toys for tots event, Santa was the ONLY one Leda had issues with - what is up with that, anyway? The old guy with the corvette is okay, but the big jolly guy in the red suit is off limits?? Anyway, we did get some pictures with Santa - albeit, Mommy had to be in the picture AND between Santa and Leda. These are some of the last pictures taken with my old camera. Brock was able to get the camera to give up the pictures, but in order for it to ever take pictures again, it will probably cost us a bit of money! Don't know what happened to it, but it just doesn't want to cooperate with us. I was pretty bummed about the camera. I mean, how can a camera give up just before Christmas? Does it not understand that yes, it is needed other times of the year, but Christmas is really when it is worth all the money someone spent...

My camera is broke. Just decided to quit working. And with Santa pictures on it, no less. And three weeks before Christmas. Wanna talk mad?? Need to resort to the 35mm for Christmas, which means no one is getting any Christmas pictures anytime soon! Today, is not a good day. Don't even get me started on the approximately 3 hours of sleep I got last night due to one child who decided that 2:30am was a good time to wake up and NOT go back to sleep. Until 5:30am. Hopefully the week will get better. It can only go up from here (one can only hope!)

And, no, this is not a rant about the Eagles - although pretty darn mad about them too, but pretty much resigned to rooting for da Bears this year! No, this is about the freaking heron that has been hanging out around our pond for the past several days. Yes, we have a heron that has come by to hang out around our pond on occasion. Yesterday I actually saw him (no, I didn't take any pictures, sorry). He's huge - stands probably as tall as about 3 or 4 feet. Know why he's huge? Remember my fish? (If you click there you will learn all about my fish) Yeah, well, good thing I took a picture of my fish to remember them by because that darn heron ATE EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! Yesterday, when Brock came in to tell me the heron was back, we went out and he was standing at the middle pond (end of the creek just before it goes into the big pond) where we had had some fish hanging out - the heron flew away (low enough that he stopped traffic on the road) and I found NO FISH. I checked o...

You can't wait for the 5th year reunion because you want to see how everyone is out of college. The 10th year you wonder who got married and who has kids. The 20th, you are just hoping you look as good or better than everyone else. And, you hope that people remember you! And, that you can remember a few, too! Turns out, we all look pretty darn good and we all pretty much remembered each other, if not right away, after a few minutes or so! The name tags came in handy a few times! My 20th high school class reunion was this past Saturday. I was wondering to myself earlier that day how I was going to be able to spend 5 hours on a Saturday night hanging out with people I hadn't seen in 20 years since, well, I hadn't seen them in 20 years and, well, my bed time is a lot earlier on Saturday nights than it used to be! The idea that I might be up later than 10pm was daunting enough, but the reunion was scheduled to go until midnight, so I was wondering how I was gonna stay up 2 extr...

We had a wonderful thanksgiving this year. We had planned to be at home, just the three of us. Brock planned to make a 17 pound turkey that would keep us in leftover heaven for weeks. Our wonderful next door neighbor invited us to spend the day with her family and bring our turkey, so we did. Leda in her Thanksgiving outfit - her Grandma bought it for her! It was really nice. We had a wonderful time. And my pies, they went over really well. They actually tasted really good! If I do say so myself! Leda had fun playing with Connor and Katlyn (her sometime babysitters!) and eating lots of crackers and apple sauce , not so much room left for turkey. But she had some of Mommy's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie and she LOVED it! Oh, and the chocolate covered almonds weren't bad either... Today we hung out, cleaned the living room, took a nap and Mommy went shopping - yes, I ventured near to a store on the one day of the year that I shun going shopping. But I went late in the afternoon (arou...

I didn't mention it this year because, well, you all know how bad I am at birthdays and I just didn't want to rub it in. But, I forgot my niece's birthday. Again! Yes, Sami's 2nd birthday was last Friday. When did I remember it? That's right, Saturday morning! I was just reviewing the November2005 archive because I wanted to see what I wrote about Leda a year ago and I saw this post . It was such a sense of deja vu because, well, I DID THE SAME THING LAST YEAR! I guess that means we have to fly to Florida next year for Sami's birthday! ;-)

Apple Butter Pumpkin pie with pecan streusel topping: Grandma's Apple Pie: Hopefully the taste as good as they look. The best part - I didn't have to share the left over pie crust dough! ;-) But, I did, share it, with my husband (it was either that or eat it all myself!)

What a busy day today will be - not only do I have work to do (I mean, I am actually working today) but we will be going over to friends for dinner, then I have to figure out how to make two pies for tomorrow when we get home! And, I have a slight case of walking pneumonia thrown in for good measure! Yes, the hacking cough that has been persistant the past two weeks of my life turns out to be walking pneumonia - not serious enough to kill me, just keep me from getting any sleep and being a real pain in the you know what! But the great thing about the diagnosis is the DRUGS! Yes, that's right, I said DRUGS. I have never been so happy to get a prescription for drugs before. I think I almost hugged the doctor! I have had very little good sleep the past two weeks and my doctor, the wonderful woman that she is, perscribe me some cough medicine with Codeine so that I could sleep! Ah, how nice it was to wake up at 7 this morning knowing that the last time I was awake was about 12:30 when ...

Yes, we have recovered (mostly - I am the lucky one to have continued with a cough that won't go away, but other than that...) Work is busy and I have promised two pies (yes - don't laugh!) for Thanksgiving dinner at our neighbor's house on Thursday. And, I have a slide show I have to complete for our reunion on Saturday night (yes, 20th high school reunion - how scary is that?). So, can you understand why I am SO looking forward to four complete days at home doing no work? Besides, I get to spend it with her: I mean, wouldn't that be SO worth it? Pictures will be forth coming - I mean, really, do you think I'd go to my 20th reunion without my camera??

Well, all of us are on the road to recovery - I hope! Let's see, recap of the sickness - Brock had a nasty cough that kept him (and I) awake most nights for the past two weeks. I caught the cold not to long after Brock did, which meant Brock AND I were up most nights coughing away. I subsequently lost my voice on Wed. It did come back (barely) on Thur and I was sounding like Brenda Vaccaro on Friday! Leda seemed to only get the runny nose, but then we noticed that she had gunk coming out of her eyes. So, for a few days, we were keeping an eye out for pink eye, which, luckily, never appeared and she seems much better now (except for the look like she went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali). We figure it was a sinus infection that just worked its way out. Anyway, we all seem to be better today. Brock and I did venture out last night for a concert - our first in MONTHS! We went to see Arlo Guthrie and Friends at a small local theater. We had great seats (about 6th row center - awesome!) Ar...

We are all sick here...well, some more than others, some less than others. Leda had a cold, I got it, Brock got it, Brock never really got over it, got bad again, gave it back to me and subsequently Leda seems to be getting it now, too! Can't wait until Spring. Seems that might be when the cold season is over. Yuck! Got pictures from my Mother of all the girls together when we were in Florida...sucks my arm is in the picture, but it's pretty good non-the-less. Leda kept trying to take Abby's hand off her shoulder, thus the reason for my hand! Then there are the set of Leda and Sami eating birthday cake...two of my favs: The best one...love the look on Sami's face! Hopefully we will all be back to normal here soon.

Technically, Leda's second Halloween, but her first shot at Trick or Treatin' and let me tell ya, by the third house, the kid, she was a pro. We headed over to Steve and Kate's neighborhood to go trick or treatin' since we really don't have a neighborhood to do so in. The Durhams and the Gabbs and the Shier kids all dressed in their finest Halloween outfits... (Thea, Brennan, Jane, Susy's friend (I didn't catch the name), Leda and Susy) We headed out and up to the first door. Leda went with Daddy and didn't seem to have much of a problem. I really thought she might not be very comfortable doing this, but by the third house, the one I went with her to, she walked right up, the lady gave her something for her bag and Leda watched her put it in, reached in, looked at it, threw it back in, the lady asked her if it was okay and she said, "No!" So the lady gave her another one, and off she went! It was hysterical! Each house we went to after that, Le...

We went to the annual Halloween party last night - this year, it was at the Durhams. (Sorry Kim, I was too busy chasing Leda and drinking good wine to take any pictures except for these two: (click to see bigger sizes) We did have one person in the family dress up for Halloween - Leda went as a Lion (a very reluctant lion!) Mostly, she just wore the body...she really didn't want to have anything on her head. We did get some pictures of her with it on before we headed off for the party: (click to see bigger sizes) We did have a great time at the party! Leda was up LATE! We figured we would get a little extra shut-eye today due to the lateness of her night, but she decided that 3:30 was a good time to wake up. Mommy slept (sorta) with her in the recliner until about 5 when she finally decided to go back to sleep. No more late night parties for our little lion! ;-) And, Brock made a pumpkin!

18 months ago tonight, I had just given birth to one incredible little girl. Little did we know that 18 months ago! Leda is getting so big. She had her 18 month check up yesterday and the doctor pronounced her fit as a fiddle! She's about 25lbs and 33 inches (give or take a sneaker sole or two!) She's about 50th percentile (for all of you keeping score, that would make her average!) She's got her 2yr molars coming in! We thought we saw a second set of molars coming in and the doc confirmed it. That would mean she's pretty much got all the teeth she should have by 2 years old! When we were flying home from Florida last weekend, we had one person on the plane ask us if she is always so happy. And, yes, she is. She is a very happy little girl. She rarely cries - mostly when she has hurt herself or we leave her with the babysitters. She whines-cries when she doesn't get her own way, but we are (hopefully) breaking her of that. She's more like her Daddy in that she g...

Must have been why the Eagles did so bad yesterday - but enough about THAT! We were in Florida this weekend visiting the family - Abby had a fourth birthday party and we were invited, so we had to go! We had a great time. We flew out on Friday morning - scratch that, we flew out on Friday afternoon. We were SUPPOSED to fly out on Friday morning at 11:35AM - turns out the weather was pretty nasty here and our flight was coming from Charlotte, and a long story short, with my propensity for needing to be at the airport ten hours before the flight and Philadelphia's low ceiling, we didn't take off until close to 1PM! So, we spent some quality time in the airport! Luckily, we were flying out of B terminal which meant we had a mall to walk around (the mall is between B and C at Philly International) and a good selection of lunch to pick from. Of course, we had hot dogs! Side note; so we sit down to have our lunch, and I have cut up Leda's hot dog and she is sitting in her own se...

Yes, I promised posts and then didn't follow through. I suck. Sue me! Guess what? I don't plan to promise any posts for the rest of this week, that's what! If you are lucky, I might post something. If not, then tough. Wait until next week - there will be posting and pictures since we will be heading to the sunny and warm state of Florida to celebrate Leda's cousin Abby's FOURTH birthday. Wow! Until then, sorry. Will try not to suck next week. Will try to be good blogger and post once or twice (maybe even three times! Can you stand it??) Bu-Bye!

I know I promised some posts that didn't exactly get posted over the weekend...you try watching a 17 month old, working, not really sleeping and missing a spouse over the weekend and try to post anything to a blog. Besides, I had Talladega and Eagles/Dallas yesterday. Seriously, where did you expect me to find the time? I promise, posting will be more than generous this week. Just chill, okay? ;-)

A great big phat win like yesterday! Please, please, with a cherry on top? That was just so sweet! I'd love to do that again! In the immortal words of Forest Gump, "and that's all I have to say about that!" ;-)

I swear I turned around the other day and my child had gone from being a baby who needed to be carried everywhere to a toddler who didn't want you to pick her up, she can do it herself. How do you stop that from happening? Obviously you don't. But it amazes me how quickly she has grown. I see pictures of her from a year ago and it baffles me how I went from having a 5-6 month old last year this time to having a 17-18 month old now. And the difference a year makes. Leda will run when given the chance. And if we are outside, she will run with her head looking over her shoulder at us as if she's saying, "catch me if you can," with a giggle that indicates that she fully expects us to catch her and tickle her until she laughs a great big belly laugh. She's so smart. She knows exactly what we are saying, exactly what we are asking of her, exactly what we have told her NOT to do, and she does it anyway, with a smirk worthy of the most disobedient 16 year old! She can...

New look, officially not summer any more so Caribbean vibes had to go away (making me crave it too much, I spend half the day checking rates for trips to all-inclusives in the Caribbean!). Of course, leaves have just barely started to change here, so had to go abstract! Hope you don't hate it too much. I plan a couple of posts here soon - mostly background/history type posts, because I apparently can't find anything inspiring to discuss that is present or future! Oh, and a way over due Leda update. Check back by end of weekend! Should be lots of reading for ya then! Happy Fall!

She loves it!

Yes, that is the first discernible word our child has said. No. Okay, to be honest, this isn't the FIRST word. We are pretty sure she says "cat", "dog", "Duff", "that" and "Dada". "Mama" is iffy...she's only said it three times, and the first two times she was chasing after my mother. In the past two weeks, she has begun to say "no" and "more." "More" is a good word. It helps us know she want's more! "No" is a little bit of a pain! "Leda, do you want to go take a bath?" "Noooo," as she runs for the bathroom (she LOVES taking baths!) In fact, she spends a lot of time saying "No." Not necessarily as "no," but as a word to say to just about any thing we ask her! Also, she says "done." While taking her bib off. Indicating she is done her meal, thank you very much. That's pretty much it at this point. She babbles up a storm and...

Eight years ago... I love you more today. Happy Anniversary.