Turkey Day 2008!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone! This year we are thankful for so much. As always we are most thankful for our friends and family. We are so happy to be sharing this holiday and the beginning of the Christmas season with you. Blessings to you and your family. We're hoping you all have a safe and delicious day!

Yay Disney!

I just finished up the Disney character lawn decorations for our Christmas display. I was too excited to wait until tomorrow to post pictures of them.... here they are!

(For reasons I can not figure out, blogger keeps turning Mickey & Minnie, and Donald even though that is not how they are saved to my computer...I can't figure out why... so you'll just have to look at them sideways...sorry.)

Mickey & Minnie Caroling

Donald Duck (He will be wrestling with lights wrapped around him once we set him up outside)

Baby Mickey

Baby Pluto

Will post more about our weekend tomorrow... including Tommy's visit to Santa, and our Double Date Monday night.

Flurries & Coffee & My Cute Little Munchkin

Tommy will be 7 months old tomorrow! I can't believe it! Time flies when you are enjoying every moment of your life.

Yesterday was a great day. I had an interview with someone interested in the MMM program (crossing my fingers because I think it went really well!). Early in the evening Tommy and I got into our pajamas and watched a Baby Einstein movie. He's really into the ones with animals...it will be interesting to see if he continues to be fastinated by them. I know he loves his dog - maybe he'll be a Vet someday?! Last night, while I waited for Tony to return home from work, I was working on crawling with Tommy. I got him to push himself up on his hands and knees, but he was confused as to how he got there, and what he was suppose to do next. It was cute.

Tommy is having a bit of separation anxiety. I know that this is normal for the age, but I feel bad. He just crys and crys whenever someone other than Tony and I are holding him. It's heartwarming that he wants his Mommy and Daddy, but frustrating as well. We went to a Beef and Beer Benefit this past weekend, and all Tommy did was cry and cry and cry for my poor Mom who was watching him.

I'm getting pretty psyched. Twilight comes out in the movies tomorrow. It's a vampire saga which is a popular novel series amungst teens, but many adults have been enjoying the books as well - and I am one of them! I'm going to go see it on Monday with my girlfriend Tana, and possibly our husbands... Yay! Double Date!?! :) I am so excited!

It flurried today for an hour or two, so I sat with Tommy watching the little bits of snow falling while I sipped a Mocha Spice Latte from Dunkin Donuts (YUM!!!)... it reminded me that we are getting ever closer to the holidays...one more weekend to prep for our light display then our Christmas 2008 extravaganza can begin!!

"Baby, It's Cold Outside!"

I can't get that song out of my head. I must have heard it a dozen times over the weekend. (We have Christmas music tuned in our radios).

Can you believe Thanksgiving is the end of next week?? That’s crazy! I have a couple projects lined up to do with Tommy and his friend Christopher, who I have been watching once or twice a week. Tommy really likes having a friend around, and I’m enjoying having Christopher here too. The two boys are learning to play together, and Tommy doesn’t seem to mind sharing toys with his buddy. I think Tommy will learn a lot from Christopher. Already since I’ve been watching him, Tommy has begun to try and hold his bottle just like Christopher does, and he’s trying more than ever to learn how to crawl. I think it’s only a matter of time before he does. This past week I did some Christmas shopping, but mostly I was looking around for decoration ideas. I found a tablescape online that I really love, so I’m going to mimic it…of course I’ll add a thing or two to make it my own, but basically this is how it’s going to look. Pretty right!
Tony and I started working on another set of display items for our outside decorations. As many know, we are really into those twinkling lights, and we go over-the-top every year. This year we are adding a small Nativity scene we bought at the end of last year, we’re also adding a collection of Disney characters we began making over the weekend. I drew out the characters on plywood, Tony cut them out using a saw (or something…I know nothing about tools), and I’ve been painting them during Tommy’s naps, and when he’s in bed at night. I really like the way they’ve been coming together, and I can’t wait to see them completed. Last night I mentioned to Tony that I thought it might be cool to sell things like this… but I’m not sure how much demand there is for these sort of things…especially in this economy. I think they will look fantastic in our front yard!! I’m so excited! This is me painting Mickey & Minnie (they are caroling), we also have Donald who’s wrestling with lights, Baby Mickey playing with a toy train, and Puppy Pluto wearing antlers. I’ll be sure to post pictures of them once I finish.
While Tony, Tommy, and I were out and about Christmas shopping and whatnot this week & weekend, I came across the best Santa Claus book I have ever seen. If anyone is looking for a unique gift to give a young reader (or family), I highly recommend it. It not only talks all about Santa, but it has long descriptions of his home, work shop, and even information about the north pole. It’s a lovely book. I got it at Target for $25, but I just saw it on Amazon for $14. The authors have another book on the Reindeer too, but I haven’t read that one yet. http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Claus-Rod-Green/dp/1416927581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226931614&sr=1-1 We were out looking for a stocking for Tommy, but haven’t found one we like yet. We did pick up a Santa Hat though. It is slightly big on Tommy but absolutely adorable. We finally picked out an outfit for Tommy for Christmas. I pieced it together from items I found from several different stores. I was disappointed in the selections at most stores, especially Babies R Us. They had really cute dresses and other things for girls, but when it came to cute outfits for boys they were lacking. Everything was black, brown, and navy blue with some hints of green. Not what I would call Christmasy. I did find a couple cute sweaters that I’m adding to Tommy’s pile of presents (he doesn’t have many clothes for 12 mos +). I’d like to think I’m done buying things for Tommy for Christmas…but we’ll see…there are still many shopping days left.

I remembered this morning that I wanted to thank whomever gave Tommy this little football rattle. Whenever I put Tommy into his highchair for meals, be throws a fit. Loves to eat, hates the highchair. BUT ever since I’ve been handing him this football rattle, he seems to be doing so much better. He distracts himself long enough for me to put his meals together which is such a relief. It’s quite difficult to keep your head and heart in check while putting together a meal, when your baby is crying his eyes out. So thank you, thank you, thank you, to whomever gave him this!!

And Congratulations to Nicole and Jeff of the birth of their second daughter Julia this past week. She's a cutie! Tommy can't wait to meet his newest little girlfriend!

Nothing Constructive To Add...My Head Is Pounding

I'm not feeling well. I am pretty sure I've caught that stomach virus that seems to be spreading like wildfire. I'm nervous Tommy will get it too, thankfully he's doing just fine so far.

My cousin Jason and his family leave for China tomorrow. I am so excited for them. Not only is it wonderful to experience a different culture, but they are also realizing their dream of being parents to a little girl, Jaiden, whom they are adopting while abroad. I know how long this journey has been for them, and I'm so happy they will get the happy ending they deserve. I can't wait to meet Jaiden.

That's about it for me today. I need to go lay down while Tommy is napping. My amazing husband is coming home early from work to hang out with the little guy so that I can rest. Thankfully this virus seems to only be hitting people for a couple of days, so I should feel like myself again by the end of the week.

Here's are a couple pictures from this weekend. We had a nice romantic dinner on Saturday night after we put the baby to bed (pan fried shrimp "gambas a la plancha", grilled tuna steaks, Tuscan bread, & wine). And here's a couple pictures of our silly duo... Tommy eating his Daddy's head, playing on his mat (I think he looks like my SIL Diana in this picture) and Mav lounging in his little bed.

For My Girlfriends...

Because this reminded me so much of the conversations I had with my girlfriends this weekend @ Girls Night In.

I luv you guys & can't wait to see you again soon!

Monday Morning Moms

I know I hinted at it before, but I never did explain why I was looking for kids toys, etc. I am starting a day care out of my home with the help of an organization called Monday Morning Moms. http://www.mondayam.com/

They help Moms like me who love to teach (Am NJ certified teacher, First Aid/CPR certified, have had teaching experience, etc.) but also want to be home with their children - to have the best of both worlds. It’s a great organization, and a wonderful opportunity for me to incorporate two of the things I love into my everyday life. So far the people I’ve spoken with and met are great and I know I’m going to enjoy working with them. I’ve had a lot of fun transferring our second Family Room into a sort of “classroom” for Tommy and others to play in. There is so much more I could do with the room, but until I get a few little people to watch I didn’t want to go overboard.

For now, I only want to take in two or three kids – infant to 3 years most likely – at least until Tommy is a little older and able to do more on his own, then I may take on one or two more. Tommy will get great social interaction & I get to teach again! The MMM program really is for any couple who is looking to have their child in a smaller environment (more one-on-one) than the typical daycare or preschool. I’m just so excited for this adventure to begin!

Here are a couple pictures I took of Tommy playing in the room, I went to the craft store yesterday and picked up some baskets and other things, so its organized a little differently, but at least you can see what the room looks like. I'm proud of it. Also… I shared these pictures with a friend on mine who’s having twins. It made me think of her. Here, Tommy was playing with the “other” baby in the mirror. It was adorable.

Election Day!!

Don't forget to get out and vote today!! Tony and I took Tommy to the polls at 6:30 this morning...we cast our vote, and now we wait to see if the right man wins! Tommy and I had a great day together yesterday. He started playing with his brand new shapes toy we got him (instead of candy) for his first Halloween. He absolutely loves it. Basically he (and I) played with it all day. We went over colors, shapes, and motor skills (I showed him how to pick up the pieces and drop them into the bucket, once he masters that, then we'll work on putting the right shapes through the cut out holes.). I highly recommend this toy. It's by Fisher Price, and its good fun. Here's a little video for your enjoyment. Tommy wants to crawl so badly. We put him down in front of Maverick and say "Go Get Your Doggy" and this is what he does. Tony and I were almost peeing our pants we laughed so hard last night. You can sort of see Maverick sitting to the left of the screen - he was lying on his back sprawled out like "You can't get me kid," soon, very soon, he won't be so lucky! Hahaha

Wait where did October go??

Hellloooo November!!

Our little guy has been on the best schedule. He's been going to bed at 7:30 at night, and waking at 7 in the morning. This has been going on for about 2 months, maybe more - and I'll admit, I've been getting a bit spoiled by it. I'm sad to report that has all changed. Daylight Savings really screwed up Tommy's schedule. Now, instead of waking at 7am (thus giving me time to get up and get showered, etc.) he has been waking at 5am. Yes that's right - 5 AM! There isn't enough coffee in the world to awaken me out of sleep so early... its been a rough couple of mornings. I'm hoping that Tommy will get back on schedule by week's end.

On Saturday morning Tony discovered a local radio station that is ALREADY playing Christmas music. Can you believe it!! So... if you live in the Philadelphia area and are inclined to do so...tune to 97.5 for some fun Christmas tunes (warning: they play a lot of repeats).

We're already super pysched for Christmas. We have been planning out this year's light display (and a little something new we'd like to add to it), and I've been coming up with some cute craft and decoration ideas. I've been looking up some images online, flipping through old holiday magazines, and collecting pine cones out of my neighbor's trees. We always put a lot of thought into our holiday decorating, and this year is going to be spectacular!

I love thanksgiving and can't wait to decorate the house for Turkey day... BUT if it were up to Tony and I, we'd already be starting our Xmas holiday decorating. The only thing stopping us is that we don't want to be THOSE people....at least for a few more weeks!