What Up Dog?

Happy 4th Birthday Maverick Bear!!

He couldn't wait to get to that mound of peanut butter! And for the record...I did not sing to him! Thanks for being my loyal pup!

Bonding, Bands, and Birthday Dinners

Wow, what a wild and wonderful weekend it was.

Tommy and I were on our own Thursday, so we spent the day bonding. We lounged around the house in our pjs, played outside for a while, and laughed laughed laughed! He's such a clown, I love it. I am happy to report he is no longer sick, and has gotten his full appetite back. I am so relieved.

It was a hot and humid day here in New Jersey, so during Tommy's afternoon nap I decided to set up his new sprinkler pool. The set up took me about 35 minutes (the pool was a little heavy and I couldn't seem to hook the hose up correctly). Once Tommy was up from his nap it took me another 20 minutes to lather him up with sun block lotion, get on the special swim diaper, and get his bathing suit on. Finally after the hour or so set up we were outside, the little pool was all filled up and ready to go and Tommy happily stepped in to play. At that exact moment, the sun - which had been shining since earlier that morning - slipped behind some clouds, and the chilly water coming out of the hose attachment became less inviting than it had a few moments earlier. Never-the-less, we spent a nice 5 or 10 minutes in the little sprinkler pool with the sun peaking out once or twice. The time it took setting up and cleaning up afterwards, was totally worth it. Tommy loved the little pool, and I enjoyed being a part of something that made him so happy.

Friday night my MIL stopped over to babysit for us so that we could see my favorite band in concert. 38 Special, Styx, and REO Speedwagon were together at the Borgata, and I was beside myself with excitement all week. I had missed the last show when Styx was here in 2008 due to mandatory bedrest just before giving birth to Tommy in April. I know I was hormonal last year, but I was truly upset at having missed the concert...so Tony and I immediately purchased our tickets for the "Can't Stop Rockin'" tour the morning they went on sale. We arrived early to the show and met up with a friend for a drink (I had the strongest Mojito EVER at the Gypsy Bar...yikes!), then proceeded to the show. 38 Special were pretty good. It was my first time seeing them. They had a lot of energy, and you could tell they were enjoying themselves. Next came Styx. I had worked my way up to the "second row" (standing room only, but you get the gist) by the time they came on. I proceeded to have the time of my life. I sang as loudly as I could, danced, and even caught a large mesh Styx logo bag which was thrown out into the crowd (and yes, I already used it, today in fact, when I stopped over to pick up groceries - Go Green!). Too quickly their part of the show was over, and to my surprise (and great luck), the man standing in front of me left and I moved up to the front row just before REO Speedwagon came on. REO was wonderful as well. Dave Amato's microphone was in front of where I was standing, and he was kind enough to throw me some smiles, and a few guitar picks (FUN! Thanks Dave!!). During the last song of the night both Styx and REO performed "Can't Stop Rockin'" together. It's a great song, and the perfect ending to an amazing night. I truly do not think I could have had a better night...well no I'm lying...it would have been even cooler to meet them...perhaps some day. Anyway, I Loved It, and I highly recommend getting out to see them during this tour (ahem...this means you Kristy!!) If I can find a way to see them again during this tour, believe me, I will! It was fantastic! I will post a few of the pics I took...the rest are on my facebook page.

Styx

REO Speedwagon

Styx and REO together...check out the latest video on Styxworld.com

Most of Saturday we spent laying around and recovering from the previous late night (no such thing as late nights anymore with a 14 mo old in the house! haha). Thankfully we were able to get ourselves cleaned up in time to enjoy a delicious birthday dinner in honor of one of my closest friend's 40th birthday. We had a great time celebrating with her and the other guests. Happy Birthday Tana - I still don't believe you're 40 years young...you don't look a day over 25!!

Today we relaxed and spent some time doing the boring yet necessary household stuff we'd neglected the rest of the weekend. We had such a great weekend, truly one of the most fun we've had in a while. Tony and I really needed the adult time out and about, though it was also very nice spending some time with our Tommy.

You can see just how tired I look in this pic (I also think I look like I'm twelve, haha). Tired, but so so happy - and how cute is my Tommy??!! Life is good!

Roseola Infantum

Since midweek last week Tommy has been sick. At first we just thought he had a cold, then diarrhea began, then a wicked high fever came on and he stopped eating and drinking. We took him to the doctors but the best they could tell us at that time was that he had "a virus." Tony and I don't normally allow Tommy to sleep in our bed with us, but we were so freaked out by his lethargic behavior and him not eating that we held him cradled between us all night Thursday and Friday night. He lay clinging to my chest all night, with one hand clutching Tony's shirt, my poor sweaty baby. On Saturday, we had high hopes that he was beginning to feel a bit better, he ate a little breakfast, and his fever was not as high... but then all of a sudden we noticed a rash had begun to appear... three days later (yesterday) the rash had spread all over his stomach, chest, neck and face. Luckily his fever was gone by Sunday... but the rest of his symptoms have remained. We ended up taking him back to the drs yesterday afternoon and found out he has roseola infantum. It is a virus that many infants/young children get... but is one of the lesser known viruses. It is highly contagious, and there is no medicine for it. It can last up to three weeks!!! Hopefully, Tommy be back to himself (at least eating) by the end of this week. Here is some information for those interested. It's just one of the articles I've found on the virus. I found it most informative. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/threedayfever.htm

How Does A Big Boy Spend His Day?

How does a big boy spend his day?

He wears polo shirts and giggles a lot,

He makes funny faces, just like PopPop.

He reads many stories from ole' mother goose,

Then sits on his bum to drink all his juice.

He practices eating at the big boy seat,

And at the end of the day...makes sure he has clean feet!

Six Lovely Courses

I talked about the six course meal we enjoyed on our anniversary, but didn't get a chance to post pictures earlier... so here they are. I truly had a wonderful relaxing evening with my husband. And the food was truly delicious.

Course #1 - Sauteed mushrooms with arugula served over a crusty tuscan bread with cream cheese.

Course #2 - Potato leek soup with bacon and carrotsCourse #3 - Pesto pasta with roasted tomato and asiago cheese

Course #4 - Raspberry sorbet with blueberry champagne drizzle

AND a quick wine tasting

Course #5 - The entree's. Mine: Filet mignon with spinach and truffle macaroni and cheese

Tony's: Shrimp and sea scallops with roasted fresh vegetables

Course #6 - Salad with sliced red grapefruit and cracker with blue cheese

Dessert - cause I just HAD too! Vanilla and chocolate tiramisu with a cappuccino

"A June Bride Is A Bride For Life" - Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, 1954

This past Friday was our fifth wedding anniversary. Originally, we wanted to go away for a long weekend somewhere tropical, but neither of us wanted to leave Tommy for that long, not to mention we're trying to be smart with our money in this economy and not be too frivolous - just in case. Instead we did something we've been talking about doing for years. We looked up a few wineries on the way down the shore, and off we went on a wine tasting and touring adventure. We didn't have a game plan per-say, which was different for us...we almost always have a plan.

On the road we chose the first of three wineries we were to visit that day. Sharrott Winery http://www.sharrottwinery.com/ located in Winslow, NJ is a newer winery, and has only been open for a couple years. Despite this, they are already masters of the grape (ahem - and the blueberry)! Upon arrival, we were immediately greeted with a welcoming smile from the owner, whom is a wealth of information - and university trained. He not only served up his best wines - the smooth and breezy award winning un-oaked Chardonnay being my personal favorite, along with the delicious apricot noted Vignoles - but also taught us how to properly "taste" the wine (using both your nose and your mouth), the importance of the right wine glass, and some interesting facts about sugar. By the time we left the winery I had been able to correctly guess the hidden flavors found in several varieties of wines. We truly enjoyed every moment at Sharrott Winery, and I will be practicing my "vino nose" for future quizzing! We hope to go back and visit them again soon.

We had such a great experience at Sharrott, that we decided to immediately head over to Tomasello Winery for another tasting. Tomasello has been around for more than fifty years, and I had heard several accommodating references from people whom had been there for weddings and other special occasions. Immediately upon arrival we noticed a big difference from our first winery experience. The air seemed somehow stuffier, the customer service colder, and the whole place had more of a corporate feel. They were not rude, per say, but we could tell that no sooner had we arrived than the woman who served us two or three tastings could not wait to usher us back out the door. She was a true saleswoman who told us the price of each wine we tried, and not much else. Needless to say, we did not stay long. We did however try their Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, and ended up purchasing a bottle with friends over dessert sometime soon.

Lastly, we arrived at Renault Winery http://www.renaultwinery.com/ - a resort boasting a wonderful gourmet restaurant, two pools, a bar, and a golf course. The grounds were lovely, and the room we rented for the evening was spacious and comfortable. We spent the rest of the afternoon on a relaxing and informative tour and tasting with our personal guide Richard. He knew so so much about wine, the history of not only the vineyard but also nearby Atlantic City, and during the tour encouraged us to try several different wines at once so that we could try and taste the differences in them. Our personal favorites were the Fresello and the Royal Rouge - since you can only purchase Renault's wine at the winery itself, we made sure we picked up a bottle of each for some time in the future. Admittedly, we were feeling quite loose by the time evening rolled in, so we quickly went back to our room, changed, and went for a delicious six course dinner at Renault's gourmet restaurant. The food was amazing. The only thing we chose was our entree, the rest of the courses were at the discretion of the chef, and I found it to be delightful anticipating what mouthwatering surprise dishes he would serve. One after another, we were not disappointed. We spend the walk back over to the resort talking about just how much fun we had during dinner, how truly delicious the food was, and how happy we were to have chosen to spend the day as we did for our fifth wedding anniversary. It was perfection.