Tuesday, May 31, 2011

21 weeks


This litle boy moves quite a bit! I'm a little nervous of what's to come!  Oliver is always on the move and ALREADY it feels like Owen has him beat (compared to what I was feeling at this point with the last pregnancy).  Oh yeah, Owen will be our baby's name.  Owen Maxwell, little brother to Oliver Mason.  


Courtesy of BabyCenter.com
"Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot"

What a Weekend!

WARNING: Now that I have a camera again, my picture taking obsession is back in full swing!

Nate and I decided to surprise his family this weekend with an unannounced trip to New Hampshire.  Our sister in-law had planned a memorial for her father who was taken by cancer last fall, and we felt we should be there.  We were successful in surprising everyone, and Oliver had a blast!


There was a small slope on one side of the park and Oliver made a game out of walking up and running down it!  He was CRACKING UP!




PBGV puppies Pepper and Pretzel.  They were soooo stinking cute!




He tried taking the slope a little too fast and tripped.  He even did a little roll... he wasn't sure how he felt about it but I promised in a few years he would love rolling down hills!


Someone LOVES his daddy!




Pepere teaching Oliver to take pictures.


The next day we took a trip up to Barrington, NH where my husband's family has a lake front cabin.  It is such a beautiful place.  This will be Oliver's first mobile summer so I am both excited and nervous to see how this goes.  This weekend was supposed to be spent opening camp for the season, but an unfortunate accident cut the visit to the lake short.  My mother-in-law received a phone call while we were there that her father...her hero... was being airlifted to Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.  With no other details things were very scary.  My father-in-law rushed her back to her mother's house and we stayed put so Nate and his younger brother could finish putting in the dock;  it was very important for them to keep busy and be productive and helpful.  Oliver had a tough time being kept away from daddy, but I'd say he had an enjoyable first taste of summer at the lake.








 We learned a little while later that Bub, my husband's 80 year old gradfather, had been up on a ladder (a homemade, straight ladder) getting a flower pot from the loft space above the garage and fell about 10 feet, basically landing on his face. He is currently in the ICU and will be needing extensive plastic surgery in the future. He is stable but in critical condition. We are all very concerned and saddened to see such a strong and independent man in such a fragile state. All prayers are welcome!

Monday was a tense and emotional day, with more information making its way to us regarding Bub's condition and the extent of his injuries.  We did visit with Ga, my husbands grandmother, late in the morning and it was clear that the events were taking a heavy toll on her.  My heart is heavy imagining the situation she is in- this is the man she has loved for decades and he is in a hospital bed, a shell of his usual strong self.  I'm just happy that we could bring Oliver to her for a few smiles.

After his nap and lunch we walked Oliver to a playground.  It was soooo hot and sunny...I'm thinking Oliver may have got a nasty diaper rash (possibly a yeast infection, going to he pediatrician in a bit) from all the sweating he does.  BUT he had a blast playing.



We teetered and tottered and enjoyed the one area of shade in the whole playground!



Friday, May 27, 2011

#4 Most Dangerous City in America

I get all my news from Yahoo! and Facebook, (our TV is soley for DVR'd kids shows, hockey playoffs and trashy reality shows), and both sources were abuzz with this little piece of information: New Haven, CT ranks #4 on the list of Americas Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities.  Full article here.

New Haven is right behind freaking Flint, MI Detroit and St. Louis.  It's that bad? Seriously?  That's just lovely. 

I would like to clarify that I do not live in New Haven, but in New Haven COUNTY.  I'm not a fan of going into New Haven only because I hate traffic and grid systems (one ways bother me, if I drive down one street I want to drive back on that same street!).  And no, I wouldn't walk around there too late at night, but I didn't think it was worthy of #4! 

I'm a Jersey Girl, and quite frankly, I'm surprised that none of Jersey's more nasty cities didn't make it on the list.

I love the area we live in, and we are a hop skip and a jump away from New Haven, maybe closer.  My degree (from the University of New Haven) is in Criminal Justice, and to be honest I think little of stories like this.  The area they are considering is so concentrated that I think it's unfair to paint such a bad picture on an entire city.  I mean, there are areas of New Haven I would sell a kidney to live in...seriously, I'd have to in order to afford these homes (I could probably find a buyer downtown)!

New Haven is a cultural melting pot, not to mention an area with historical value as well.  To be completely honest I have spent almost zero time there, and Nate and I have said several times we need to explore the city more, being so close to it and all.  But we really aren't much of city people to begin with, and on top of that we are total homebodies.

Why am I even writing this?  I'm not even sure.  Maybe because my blog has "New Haven" in the title.  Really, I'm just throwing it out there for anyone in the area or in another dangerous area.  Are the places to avoid? Absolutely.  Would I consider this when making a real estate decision? Totally.  Do I think media likes to put a scare into people? Oh, yes.  But really, anything can happen to anyone, anywhere.  Stay away from the sketchy places and you ought to increase your odds for safety.

And by the way- the number of murders for New Haven in 2010 was 22.  In Baltimore (#8 on the list) the number of murders in 2010 was 223.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

A Thousand Words Thursday (updated)

I got my camera back today!!!! Actually, I got a BETTER camera back today!

Oliver was really quite thorough in destroying the last one; luckily we had bought the 2 year coverage that got us a replacement camera.  We were able to get the updated version of the Cannon I love so much AND another 2 year protection plan AND $3 back in store credit.  Much better than having to pay a difference in price which is what we originally thought would happen.

Now that I have my favorite accessory back I figure it's a good time to start a weekly post theme. Plus I'm tired and this ought to be easy. 

A Thousand Words Thursday- our day in pictures.

Let me know what you think (I love comments!).  Worth another installment?

I am so proud of myself that I even tried going out for 10am after Tuesdays nap issues, and even prouder that not only did we attend a story time, we made a trip to Best Buy AND Oliver napped for over 3.5hours!  There was some extra cuteness after that monster nap!



I have a ton more pictures I wanted to add but Blogger is giving me problems.  I tried to save time by grouping pics into one like I was able to do with the 4 above...but there are endless problems with the rest of the pictures I want to add.  Very upset and very tired.  I'll try again tomorrow. 

Ok- It is no longer Thursday, but I'm still working on this post.  I figured out a way to get the pictures I wanted on here, but the quality isn't too great.  I'll work on figuring that out (any suggestions?).

Clowning around at snack time.  He really turned on the cute for me to celebrate having my camera back!


Oliver playing with daddy at the playground in Orange.  We love this place!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Asleep by 8:30...here's why-

Yesterday I woke up from night 2 on an air mattress thinking, "ugh, better than the first night I guess."  It was grey, foggy and humid and I had committing to meeting up with our besties for a playdate during Oliver's nap time. 

Oliver's morning nap is verrrrry important to him, unless it's Saturday in which case he doesn't seem to need it.  This nap needs to take place when the rest of the mommies and babies seem to be doing all sorts of fun things: playgroups, story times...well whatever other activites they do, seeing as I always miss them and have no idea what they are.  Being a lazy bones myself, I would rather have Oliver sleep so I can lounge, and I have never been to motivated to try and break him of his routine.  But I know that this kid needs more socialization opportunity (I'm still bothered that he's not using words despite what everyone says about him being right on track...my kids a genius and should be talking!) and that opportunity is 10am.  If he is stimulated enough he can usually make it through postponing a nap anyway, so I decided we'd go for it.

It didn't go so hot.  I had a cranky pants before leaving the house, I had a cranky pants in the car, and I didn't know where I was going.  I had a vague idea of where this playground was, but I was very distracted by the angry toddler in the backseat.  Luckily, I've realized that Laurie Berkner's "Moon Moon Moon" is not, in fact, a lullaby, but a magical incantation that calms my shouting baby.  So I had that to sing over and over until he calmed down and fell asleep.  Which is when I got the voicemail that the playground was  a no-go, still wet from then night's rain, and we'd probably meet at the mall instead.  Such great news! I took my time weaving through back roads to get to the mall so monkey-boy could sleep and I even sat in the car in the parking garage for a little bit while he snored away.



We made it to the play space in the mall and things seemed to be looking better.  The power nap in the car had to have made some difference, right?  Well the attitude did seem better, but Oliver has a relatively short attention span for playing in there, as much as he loves it.  I need to take a minute to complain about the play space's design flaw: a wall right in the middle that is impossible to see behind, yet has things behind it to play with.  Oliver was spending a lot of time back there and I kept excusing myself from mom-versation to peek at where he was.  I saw him running around back there and figured he must still be playing at the mirror when I got up again to check..nope.  Gone!  He was no where to be found inside the play place!

My right brain immediately came up with 124,643,346,888 horrible things that could have happened while my left brain said, "check the quarter rides he's been trying to get to." Not there. "He likes the escalaters." (Right brain: "Oh, God! Escalaters!") Left brain again: "Pet store."  And as I started walking towards the pet store I see BFF standing in the middle of the play place pointing to the pet store and my barefoot brat a straight shot from the entrance, in front of the bull dog I've been pining for for weeks and the St. Bernard we played with the night before.



After that Oliver and I went to grab some greasy and delicious S'barros for lunch before meeting or friends back at their house where we'd spend the rest of the day.  Since we are living out of boxes right now and most of Oliver's toys are in a storage unit we were invited over for dinner and more playtime.  Things went well for a while, then another nap time came around.  After fighting with a pack and play we were able to get it set up in the nursery for Oliver to try and nap in...and he refused.  He cried and snotted all over utnil I gave in and took him out.  It was pretty down hill from there.  His attitude got worse and worse and culminated in a disastrous dinner time (thank God daddy had met us over there by then!).

We very rudely ate and ran, leaving our mess behind.  I was dreading the ride home and was close to beggin Nate to pop the car seat in his car, but surprisingly there was not a peep out of the boy and he was asleep quickly.  He was not happy getting out of the car, getting in the house, and while we had a few smiles with the mention of a bath, he was over it before we could wash his hair (yes, WE, it was a two parent job).  Bed was not happening without a bottle of water to keep him calm and hydrated, but somehow...we made it!

I was asleep before our first DVR'd program for the night was over!

On another note: I am halfway through my pregnancy! So crazy! I can't believe it's been 20 weeks already!
Courtesy of BabyCenter.com

Monday, May 23, 2011

Rock Star Hair Feathers on Etsy

Awesome new store on Etsy!



We are all aware of Rock-God Steven Tyler's amazing and unique sense of style (not to mention voice of course!).  Well, a healthy addiction to American Idol (and accessorizing) was all it took for this crafty SAHM (very close to my heart) to channel her inspiration and create :::drum roll::: ROCK STAR HAIR FEATHERS!

Allow me to introduce Susanne of Bloomfield Graphics, a graphics design company she started from scratch, as she embarks on her next self-inspired/self-started WAHM endeavor. 

Susanne (a.k.a Aunt Sushi!) sporting one of her beautiful clip-in hair accessories.

That's right this fabulous woman is my Aunt! Here we are in NJ in '88? 89?  Obviously she has ALWAYS been quite the fashionista!  Always in on the biggest trend!

My aunt has been my source of inspiration for all things crafty!  She taught me to cross stitch and scrapbook, and a variety of other crafty projects which she would have prepared when my sister and I spent weekends with her.  For a brief period we even shared a bedroom! We are very close and I love her dearly!

These Rockstar Hair Feathers are her latest brain child, and have been HUUUGE business for her locally.  She has had such high demand for them through friends and word of mouth that she has started cranking them out for craft fairs and now for her new etsy.com store (linked to the banner at the top of this post...check it out!)




How gorgeous are they!?  Order one yourself and pass the link along to friends :) I know all you blog mommies are cute and fashionable (when we actually get dressed, right? Ha!) and would look wonderful with these accessories.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

It's a BOY!!!

So here is the U/S picture I couldn't post or tease my family with since it's quite obvious-
Boy parts!  To the left side you can see a leg on the top, a leg on the bottom and a weenie in the middle pointing to the right.

So I was wrong in thinking this was our girl.  When I first got pregnant I wanted it to be a boy very much, but once I thought that this pregnancy felt different than with Oliver, and the midwife put in my head that the fast heartbeat meant girl...well, my heart was set on girl.  Once I started feeling movement I began to change my mind and think "hmmmm...this one feels like it's moving more than Oliver did.  Has to be a boy!"   I've also been thinking that Oliver would enjoy a brother much more with such a small age difference, and it would make room sharing easier. And boy it is! Yippeeee!

Baby-Daddy-Natey-Poo has been very much looking forward to announcing the baby's gender the same way we announced Oliver's: with cake!



I made this cake around midnight last night and was tempted to throw it out the window!  I didn't have enough frosting and blue crumbs were starting to get all over the white frosting.  And then I remembered the box of Trix we bought (2/$4 with a $.55 coupon that doubled at Stop and Shop...Hollaaaa!) and used it to hide my cake's imperfections.  Not like I'm trying to impress anyone, just surprise them.  And it worked...with the help of some pink frosted cookies as a decoy.  tee hee heee.  I made sure the cookies were on the counter and when my sister said "Oh Pink! It's a girl," I acted surprised and upset that I had left stuff out by accident.  I guess my acting was so convincing that my sister picked up a girly onesie when she ran back out for a minute. 

 
Today was so wonderful!  Oliver was soooo adorable in music class this morning, our BFF's came over with their 3 young'uns, my mom made us a delicious baked ziti with eggplant, the "boy cake" surprised everyone, we got some packing and moving done, AND we got to see Oliver take interest in a newborn for the first time.  And boy was he interested! He looooved her!  He knew to be gentle and wanted to kiss her again and again.  It was so sweet.


Still limited to BlackBerry pictures, but here are some more of the moments that made today special:

Is that not the most adorable "Just tooted on daddy's arm" smile you've ever seen!?




Flashback: Oliver's gender reveal day :)




Friday, May 20, 2011

Feeling the Love!

Welcome to all my new followers! I love getting to interact with other blog mommies! Keep the comments coming! I love writing...and I do it because I enjoy sharing my day, but it's nice to see that what I put out there is actually read by someone other than myself.

So cute new habit of Oliver's- when I would ask him where the baby his I could see him think about it for a second and look at me quietly before moving on...the past couple of times he's come right over and lifted up my shirt to expose some belly when I ask.  Mommy is loving that! I feel like we are making progress in getting Oliver ready to make way for his baby SIBLING (Sorry...keeping mum til Saturday afternoon!!!!!).  He is almost ready to give baby a kiss, I can see the little gears turning in his head like he's workin on making sense of what I'm asking of him.

Here's my big boy chillin' with his babysitter (Handy Manny) so mommy can do some packing. 
Such a big help.  So was the three hour nap this afternoon!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Peek-a-Boo Baby!

So today was the big day we've been counting down to!!!

As soon as we arrived for our appointment we were brought in to the room for our ultasound. No wait is a great start! I mentioned to the tech (not the one I was expecting but she was great!) that we wanted a picture if she got a good shot of baby's special parts so she waited to give us the news until she could show us (she knew from the beginning after a quick glimpse).

Everything about this baby is perfect! Baby measures at 19 weeks 2 days which is exactly where I am. Baby was lying on it's back so the tech couldn't get a good shot of the spine, soooo we are going back for another U/S in three weeks. Darn (I hope you can read he sarcasm in my voice. As far as I'm concerned the more the better...I love every chance to see this little stinker!)

Thumb heading toward the mouth...

...thumb in the mouth!

Hands up on each side of face.

Hands framing the face.  Tech said like Home Alone. I say like Edvard Munch's The Scream. lol.

Perfect litte profile.  I see a nose like Oliver's.  I love that little nose soooo much!

We are anouncing the sex on Saturday so I will be sure to update then!

The GTT results came back normal!!!! woohoooo! For now anyway.  I'll be doing another test around 26 weeks.
Vote For Us @ topbabyblogs.com!