Am I There, Yet?

O.K.  So, I'm exaggerating a bit.  I didn't cry.

Today is the first day of school...Lilly's first day of 2nd grade and Titus' first day of kindergarten.



Aren't they adorable?  (Notice Titus' new haircut...we fixed the hair fiasco mentioned in the previous post.)

Yesterday Titus had Kindergarten Orientation.  We met his teacher and his classmates and got to tour his new classroom.  He's pretty excited about today.  He'll do great.



So...it's now just me and Lydia at home.  It's awfully quiet...

Josh had the last two weeks off for vacation.  We had a great time together as a family.  It started out with two of Josh’s brothers coming for a visit.  We had plans to go to a Yankees/Royals game and a Phillies/Nationals game. 

 

The Yankee game was on a Friday night and we heard reports that there were going to be scattered thunderstorms.  We ignored the reports and continued with our plans.  We got to the train station around 3:00 and immediately heard an announcement that the 2:48 train was running 15 minutes late.  I thought, “Great!  We’ll be able to catch that one.”  Well…every 15 or 20 minutes we heard similar announcements.  The 3:13 train is running 15 minutes behind.  The 3:46 train is running 15 minutes behind.  The 4:11 train is running 15 minutes behind.  At around 4:00 we figured out that no trains were coming and they really didn’t have a clue when one would show up.  So we decided to drive.  We started listening to the radio on the way and all of a sudden the weather report turned from scattered thunderstorms to flash flood warnings in The Bronx and Manhattan and a tornado watch in north Jersey and The Bronx.  Since things were so uncertain, Josh and I decided not to take the kids and baby to the game.  I dropped Josh and his brothers off and drove back home with the kids to watch the game on TV.  (I should mention the ride home was scary…at one point my entire windshield lit up from a nearby lightning strike and I couldn’t see a thing for a few seconds.  The NJ Turnpike is not a place where you want to go blind for a few seconds!)  The game was 90 minutes late in starting and didn’t end until midnight.  So…the choice to take the kids back home was a good one…but, we were still disappointed. 

 

I let the boys use public transportation to get home…I’m not that good of a wife and sister-in-law. 

 

The kids and I didn’t get to go to the Yankees game, but we did make it to the Phillies game and had a blast…even Lydia.  She spent the entire game flirting with the boys sitting behind us.  She’s our little social butterfly.

Lilly and I at the Phillies Game.


Titus & Lydia enjoying the game.






Home Run Phillies!
 

We had a great visit with Josh’s brothers.  We spent some time in NYC and Philly.  We hung out at the pool and played lots of Wii.  (Both brothers are deprived…neither owns a Wii.)

Lilly, Titus, Lydia, Josh and the uncles in Central Park




What a cute family!




Lilly & Titus telling secrets to Hans Christian Anderson






"Uncle Geoff...will you buy us some ice cream?"






Strawberry Fields


Chinatown


Hanging out in Philly




 

Once the guys left, we hung out as a family.  We swam in the pool.  We went to the zoo.  We went to the shore.

The Philadelphia Zoo (The first zoo in America.)








The Jersey Shore (Point Pleasant)


Lydia enjoying the beach.


Wait for me, Dad!




 

Last Thursday we got in the car and drove to Iowa.  Josh’s parents and younger brother hadn’t met Lydia, yet.  It took us 18 hours and we drove through seven states.  Most of the drive was night driving so the kids could sleep.  They did great. 

 

For those of you who are familiar with a map will notice that you only have to drive through six states to get to Iowa (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.)  Well…I’ve never been to Michigan before and if you notice on the map, I-80 takes you right along the Michigan/Indiana border.  Since we were so close, we took a detour off an exit and drove into Michigan in order to say I’ve been there.  I know…I know…it’s such a geek thing to do.  But, it did make me laugh enough to keep me awake a few more hours so I could drive.

Lydia is not quite four-months-old and she's visited 9 states...including Michigan. 
 

We had a great visit.  We didn’t tell Josh’s parents we were coming.  We’re kind of mean like that.  We gave his mom a heart attack when we showed up and we broke her heart when we left.  I think they had a good weekend.

The kids with their grandparents.


Lydia charmed her way into Grandpa and Grandma's hearts.


Titus and Lilly with their cousin, Lucy.


Titus asked Grandpa for his hat and Grandpa couldn't turn him down.  


Lilly and Grandpa at an Iowa Cubs game.


Des Moines at night.






 

We’re home now and getting ready for school.  Titus has kindergarten orientation tomorrow and school starts on Thursday.  Last night Titus decided to cut his own hair.  I knew that at one point in his life he would try that.  Call it mother’s intuition…or whatever.  However, I didn’t expect him to do it two days before his first day of kindergarten.  I have to try to find somebody who can fix it…but that might be difficult to do without shaving it all off.  His hair was pretty short to begin with.  *sigh*

 

In other news…Lydia has a tooth popping out.  It’s the cutest little tooth I’ve ever seen.  

All for now.  Now that we're back in the school year I'll get back to blogging.

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't you just hate it when people walk in front of you while you're trying to take a picture?


 

Here's the shot I was really trying to get:





I have tons to blog about...but haven't made blogging a priority.  Sorry!

I'll be back soon.

O.K.  So I haven't been blogging.  But, I have been reading other people's blogs.  I thought some of these were too good not to share.

Here are some of my favorites (aside from my friends' blogs):

Cabs Are For Kissing -- I love this one.  It's written by a NYC cabbie who is a great story teller.

Cake Wrecks -- I just found out about this one.  I laughed so hard I cried...literally. 

Found Cameras and Orphan Pictures -- This one is interesting.  Whenever people find cameras, photos or photo card they email this guy and he posts the pictures for others to see with the intent on returning the pictures with their owners.  I peek on here every once in awhile to see if I know anybody in any of the pictures.  It's a good Samaritan thing.  :)

OfficeTally -- no explanation needed.

Slashfood -- everything food.  Downside?   Makes me hungry.

Delicious Days -- another foodie blog.

That's all for now...that should keep you busy.  I have quite a few more on my list, but thought I'd share those another day.  I love to read new blogs.  Please share some of your favorites...which blogs entertain you?

Wow...I haven't blogged in almost a month.

This has been a crazy month.  We stayed at a friend's house while our bathroom was being remodled for the first couple weeks of July.  Then the kids and I flew to Oregon to visit my family and friends.  Josh couldn't come with us because it was bad timing for him and work...so we went without him.  Yes...I'm a superhero.  I flew across the country with two kids and a baby all by myself.  :)

We had a great trip and have been back since Saturday.  This week is our church's version of VBS, so the kids are busy and I'm hanging out with Lydia.

I have lots to blog...but no time to do so.  So I wanted to post some pictures of our trip and call it good.

 





















O.K.  Back to real life.  Back to Eastern Time Zone (the kids have adjusted much faster than I!)  Back to school supply lists and clothes shopping (where did the summer go???)  Back to doctor's appointments and housecleaning.  Lydia's fussing...so I gotta run.

 

I took Lydia to the doctor today.  She's doing really great.  She's gaining weight and developing very nicely.  However, I was concerned about a bump on her head that showed up a few weeks ago and has grown instead of going away.  It looks like a blood blister.  The doctor told me she has a Strawberry Hemangioma.  I, of course, immediately did some internet research the moment I got home.  That may be a good thing...or a bad thing.

Here's what I discovered (by asking my doctor questions and doing some internet research):

A Strawberry Hemangioma is a birthmark more commonly found in female babies with light skin.  It's a cluster of blood vessels and is technically a tumor...although it's not cancerous.  They grow and grow until they plateau and shrink.  This could take seven to nine years.  Fortunately, Lydia's strawberry is on her head and not face.  I was O.K. with all this information until I did a google image search of this condition and these birthmarks can get HUGE.  You can go ahead and google image "strawberry hemangioma" to take a peek...but, it's not pretty. 

I'm soaking all this in.  I'm glad it's a minor thing and won't affect her development.  She's so beautiful to me and will continue to be beautiful...even with a growth on her head.  I'm not going to get worked up about the "maybes."  I don't know how large this thing will grow, so I can't let my mind go there.  Plus, it's on her head, so by the time it does subside, her hair will cover any residual scar.  I guess my concern comes from what other people will say to her or about her.  How big will it be when she's in school and what will her peers say to her about it?  I can't ask myself those questions, yet.  We'll just have to wait and see and take it one day at a time.

Here's a picture of Lydia with her "strawberry."  It's still small right now.  You'll notice it on the top of her head:

I wonder what would happen if Dylan Lauren and Max Brenner got married?  That would be pretty sweet (pun intended).

Yesterday we went to the city because...um...well...I can't really think of a reason.  We went to NYC because we can.  I just wanted to share some pictures from our day.

First of all we went to FAO Schwarz and goofed off:











We went to Serendipity 3 for lunch and had some of their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate:



Then we went crazy at Dylan's Candy Bar:



After that we went and chilled out at Central Park.  We hung out on the lawn and played with Lydia, we explored the park, the kids rode the Central Park Carousel (it's been there since 1871!) and we rode a horse and carriage.



After all that, we had to go to Times Square to eat at ESPN Zone.  I know, I know...there are probably thousands of restaurants in Manhattan alone...and we always seem to go to the same one.  My husband, whom I adore, is a creature of habit.  He was such a good sport when it came to doing all the things the kids wanted to do that he deserved dinner at ESPN Zone.

It was a fun day.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Last week was a good week.  Some friends of ours heard about our housing woes.  They were going on vacation and offered us their house for 10 days.  It was really nice living in a house with no mold and mildew issues.  It felt like a vacation for us, too.

We're now back.  So are the allergies.  Titus woke up with asthma and I woke up with a sore throat and headache.  The construction on our bathroom remodel hasn't begun, yet.  We just found out this morning that they're coming in on Thursday to rip out our shower and replace it.  No mention about ripping out the moldy drywall or carpet.  On top of that, we got a notice in the mail that our chimney is being ripped out and replaced beginning today.  I have to remove anything hanging on the walls and secure anything that's not secure.  That means I have to empty out my bookshelves and move them as soon as I'm done with this.

I'll be glad when this week is over.

You know you watch too much Food Network when your 7-year-old daughter starts to use words like "fantastic", "amazing" and "brilliant" to describe some of her favorite meals.  Last week I was making Lilly a ham sandwich and she asked for mustard because "it increases the flavor of the sandwich."

You know your husband watches too much CNBC when your 5-year-old son spots Jim Cramer out in public.  O.K.  Maybe it wasn't the real Jim Cramer...but it sure did look like him.  We were driving in Princeton yesterday and Titus spotted a bald man driving a BMW and said, "Hey!  Jim Cramer is behind us!"  Josh looked back, and sure enough...there was a Jim Cramer look-alike driving behind us.