Sholes Synopsis

A New Look

2012-02-15T16:48:00.005-05:00

I tricked you didn't I? You probably thought I was referring to a new look for myself but alas I'm only referring to the blog! A blog that I have neglected for quite some time. Why, you might ask? Honestly, I have no idea. James and Ethan keep me busy but not so much that I can't write. :)

So I'll keep trying to keep up...

James had his first dentist appointment in January. Though he look terrified in this picture, I think I just caught him off guard. He was the BEST! The dentist looked, cleaned and polished his teeth. James sat quietly and very still through it all, never cried or appeared to be on the verge of crying. The dentist said she wished she could video him because she'd show it to those 8 year olds who still cry. He was excited about his new toothbrush and stickers and he's excited about going back!

James loves his little brother and since Ethan is becoming mobile and less frail/infant-like James is a little rougher (as is Ethan) and they roll, hug, and play. I love to watch it. (Until there is an injury and then we have to wipe tears and move on to something else.)

And James started a 3 day a week program at 74 Street Magic. It's a preschool alternative for just 2 and a half hours and I can't tell you how much he LOVES it. He's upset when I pick him up, not when I drop him off. He has made a new friend who he says he misses when we are a block away from school. It's been so good for him and when it works out that Ethan will nap during that time it's nice for me too.

January and February 2012 have been good to us so far!

I have no excuses

2011-12-06T21:31:00.003-05:00

Don't get me wrong I like to blog, I like telling stories about what I do (or don't do, or do badly) and especially like posting adorable pictures of my boys. I can't make an excuse and say I've been too busy, I honestly just haven't had much to say.

We've been back in NYC for almost 4 months and it's so lovely to be home. WOW. I can't tell you how much better it feels to be here. Ethan is almost 6 months old! Another Wow moment! He's growing so fast. Already sporting 2 tiny teeth, developing a little personality and falling in love with that big brother of his.

James has shown us a side of him I didn't think I'd see. It was either the 3's kicking in, the addition of the baby or something I'm missing but that boy has been testing my patience, my nerves and everything else. Tantrums, defiance, outright misbehavior... geez. I think I need to do some reading on discipline or something! In any case he still has a sweet side, he loves his little brother and loves that he can make Ethan laugh harder than any of us!

The Big News

2011-08-29T22:18:00.003-04:00

Maybe you've heard the news already... after 10 LONG months in State College, PA we are moving back to NYC! I can't tell you how excited we are and how ready we are to move.

Jay has been traveling back and forth to NY over the last 2 months for interviews and was finally offered the job as Director of Enrollment Services for the NYCDA (New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts). It's a great career move for him and although we originally never thought we'd want to live in NYC for any great length of time we found, after moving away, that it had really become home. So, Friday Sept. 9th we'll pack up our truck, make an out of the way pit stop in VA and head to NYC :)

So much to say...

2011-08-29T21:59:00.004-04:00

Things have been so crazy this summer. It's been almost 3 months since Ethan joined us and we seem to have stayed very busy.

Ethan is growing like a weed. He went through a big growth spurt and in the last 2 weeks has slowed down a good bit. But we have affectionately called him "chunk, chunk" or "chunky monkey." He doesn't seem to mind. He's such a good baby, has been sleeping through the night for quite some time now and really tolerates his loving big brother!

I took both boys to VA to see family and friends. We went to visit Melanie and her 3 kiddos. Melanie and I have been friends since Kindergarden and we love that we both have 2 boys who are no more than 3 months apart! (I skipped having one in the middle though!)

Here we are trying to get a picture of all of us. Kaysen, Melanie holding Kooper, Kaden, James and me and Ethan!
Then we went to NY to visit my cousin and her wife, who have twins 2 weeks before Ethan was born. Actually, we pretty much switched due dates. Here is Ethan, Beatrice and Asher. Obviously Ethan is a little bigger than his older cousins.
Early August we all went to the beach, except Jay who couldn't take the time off. It was a long trip to Myrtle Beach but we had fun. I took my 2 nephews Jude and Alex, and James to a pirate adventure! It was very neat and I think they had fun.
James really loved the beach this year :)
This is the "treasure" he found. A huge thing of seaweed that he loved very much and wanted to bring home. Thankfully he was okay with burying the "treasure" and leaving it behind.
We also took James to ride Thomas the train. He thought it was awesome, even though mommy and daddy and 4 week old Ethan were very hot and thought it was a little bit lame. It made James smile and he talked about it for a long time, so it was worth it!

More updates to come...

Introducing Ethan

2011-06-24T14:03:00.003-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to our newest addition... Ethan Warren Sholes. Born June 13 (yes, 10 days late and I was finally induced) weighing 8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long.

Ist family photo. James loves his little brother and

wore his "I'm a big brother" t-shirt for 3 days!

You may remember that we took a picture like this with James' build-a-bear too.

Here Ethan is a week and a half old. He loves to lay on his side and he's such a good baby!

We're so blessed to have these 2 wonderful boys!

James and Mr. Man

2011-05-25T08:46:00.006-04:00

I meant to post these pictures after James' 3rd birthday but I forgot. They are just so cute though! Mr. Man is the bear we built for James just before he was born (actually 2 days after his due date while we waited.) It's his buddy, not a security blanket but the one stuffed animal he likes to have with him.

Here is James with Mr. Man in the hospital when he was just a day or two old!

Mr. Man and James on his 1st birthday!

2nd Birthday

And the cheesy grin I couldn't get him to go without, on his 3rd birthday!

He's growing up so fast and now he's about to be a big brother!

Trying to be Creative!

2011-05-03T09:08:00.006-04:00

We've chosen the name for our 2nd little boy, and I decided to do his name above the crib like so many others but it can be expensive so I decided to do it myself.

I started with blank canvas and painted them navy blue.

Then I drew on the little animals that go with the letters of his name.

Then I added detail to the animals and wrote his name... Ethan! His full name is Ethan Warren Sholes. Warren was my dad's name so it was really special to me to be able to use it for this little boy!

Here's the boys' room. James' name isn't nearly as creative, but maybe I'll do his next :)

Random

2011-05-03T08:52:00.005-04:00

Once again, I've gotten pretty good at updating this blog very little. It isn't that things aren't going on, it's just that I don't find them interesting enough to write about or I just don't make the time. I'm sure you find this happens to you too!

I don't take many pictures of myself, but here I am at 35 weeks. Bulging, I know... some days I feel like a whale and other days I feel pretty darn good!

One one of the few days we've had without rain, James got to paint outside... which, by the way is much less stressful for me since I'm always worried about him spilling paint inside :/

And here's a pretty bad picture of me with my handsome little boy- Again I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and that's why James is sitting up on top of the bump :)

April

2011-04-11T15:20:00.005-04:00

So apparently I'm pretty good at updating my blog about once a month, maybe skipping a month here and there.

It's April already.

I'm almost 33 weeks along and this baby boy is active and doing good. Growing right on target.

We haven't been terribly busy; still waiting patiently for warm, spring like weather around here. Today is warm, but very rainy so I feel like it's right around the corner.

We've had a few trips here and there- to visit Nanny and family in VA, to visit Jay's parents and family in WV and a trip back HOME to NYC to visit friends and family.

Here are some pictures from over the last couple months.

Not much to update, but there is a certain little boy's birthday coming up that will deserve a special post very soon!

James and I went to visit my mom in VA and this is James and Bear. Sadly the day we left Bear had to be put to sleep. She was about 15 years old and suffered from various problems. It was nice to get a couple last pictures of her- she'd been such a great dog over the years!

This is James spinning on the sit-n-spin at the indoor playground we go to twice a week. He loves that little thing!

I gave James a haircut. Doesn't he look thrilled!

More to come! :)

Food Battles... please help!

2011-02-22T09:11:00.002-05:00

Neither Jay or I are really picky eaters but somehow we created a very picky eater. As an infant James ate what I gave him, then he developed a mind of his own, began picking up what he wanted to eat and skipping over the other things. He doesn't eat much meat- it has to be chopped up very small in spaghetti sauce so he can't really see it and he'll typically eat Chick-fil-A nuggets, but no other type of chicken nuggets (I've even tried re-using the box).

I'm really at a loss. His menu of what he'll eat and what he wants isn't exactly the greatest. He used to eat Peanut butter but it seems to be falling off the list too. I've taken him to the store to help me pick things out he wants to try but that hasn't resulted in anything other than him choosing muffins or cereal or snacks.

In the past month I've done a few things, taking cues from the Supernanny and others. Whatever I made for dinner for Jay and I, I also gave to James and asked that he take at least a bite. He refused, throwing a fit, ended up sitting in the naughty seat (time out) about 9 times until we hit bed time then he went to bed without even trying it. Then I tried the same thing again, but also gave him a few other things along with the "main dish" like fruits and veggies I knew he'd eat, and once again he threw a fit and refused to even try it.

Then, sadly, I gave up. He was going to bed hungry and I was spending the whole evening, and sometimes the whole day, frustrated. He's very strong willed apparently.

He's a good breakfast eater... likes oatmeal, cereal, waffles and pancakes. He likes fruit and he eats a good bit of veggies, both raw and cooked (likes the raw ones especially with hummus). But it's the meats, the main dishes that we are struggling with. He won't try grilled chicken, any other pasta except spaghetti, any meats, sandwiches, mac-n-cheese, or practically anything that doesn't look like something he knows about.

Am I choosing the wrong battle? Am I forcing him to try too early, to sit at the table and take x number of bites before being excused? Any tips to help expand his eating habits without constant time out, tears, and him saying "I don't want to, I don't want to" over and over again!

oh sigh!

Gratitude

2011-02-14T13:44:00.003-05:00

Even though I just posted about the books I've read, here is another one. You may have heard about it, you may even have been encouraged by it already. I'm talking about Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts."

I can't say enough about how her search for grace, for joy, for completeness led her to a place of gratitude in all things. I could type quote after quote from her book that's really spoken to me, but I will just encourage you to pick it up yourself. Well here's one from the page I just read...

"The real problem of life is never a lack of time.

The real problem of life - of my life - is lack of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks - take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks - and He miraculously makes it more than enough.

I am a mother-tired, but when my soul doth magnify, my time doth magnify."

and she goes on....

Pick it up. Be encouraged. Create your own list of One Thousand Gifts.

Reading galore!

2011-02-01T12:25:00.002-05:00

My husband says I'm a nerd. I guess because I read a lot and fast and quickly run out of books to read and have to, I mean HAVE to go out and buy new books. I do enjoy getting books from the library but I'm a bit of a collector and I love to have shelves and shelves of books (though most of ours are currently in storage.)

Anyway, here's what I've finished this year so far...

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen- soon to be a movie starring Reese Witherspoon and the vampire guy from Twilight.

"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison- a classic that is currently on the banded book list

"Room" by Emma Donoghue- a 2010 hit! Written from the perspective of a 5 year old who was born and raised in a 11x11 room.

"The Invisible Bridge" by Julie Orringer- a novel debut. She is the author of "How to Breathe Underwater" which is my favorite book of short stories.

"House Rules" by Jodi Picoult- the first I've read by this author, but I was interested because the main character has Aspergers syndrom, which is what my nephew has- but not nearly to the degree that this character does.

All good reads and I'd recommend them to anyone!

Oh BOY!

2011-01-13T13:32:00.004-05:00

That's right, we are expecting another little BOY.

I hope these pictures don't weird you out. Some people find them strange and a little gross, but this is our baby, so of course I don't.

James is going to have a baby brother and he's excited... well I won't say excited because seriously I don't think he understands, and we aren't really pushing the topic because it's still months away. Currently my due date spans between May 30 and June 3.

While I'll admit I was hoping for a little girl, I'm now looking forward to having two boys. We're still working on names for this baby but in the mean time I'm beginning to feel better, feeling the little kicks and punches here and there, and growing little by little.

Seeing this tiny miracle is just amazing! I'm so thankful for the blessing and for this healthy pregnancy. :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T15:57:00.002-05:00

I've never been big on celebrating a new year, or staying up to watch a countdown and crystal ball fall down a 10 foot pole. It's just not appealing to me. So, I celebrated by sleeping. You may call me lame, but that's just the way it is. My son gets up by 7 am every morning and wakes me up with his crazy dreams throughout the night!

In any case, I'll welcome 2011 with open arms. Last year was a rough one, but there were also some smiles and laughter through the tears. I still have a hard time believing my dad is gone sometimes. My mom's house has been renovated pretty dramatically and I know that helps, but even at Christmas this year I expected to see him driving down the driveway or sleeping on the sofa. It's still a strange feeling and something that lots of my family is still adjusting to.

Here's what I have to look forward to in 2011:

On the 10th of this month we find out if this baby is a boy or girl
Finding a church here in State College
Meeting some friends
Having a baby
Adjusting to said baby and having James adjust as well
Possibly sending James to a preschool

I'm sure there will be a lot of unexpected things to come this year and I'm ready to take them on!

Happy New Year to all of you :)

It's been a while

2010-12-16T13:19:00.004-05:00

Hey there... remember me? It's been while, but I'm finally getting back around to blogging and hopefully I'll do it more often... if not I'll just delete it :)

Here's the townhouse we are renting in State College, PA.

And here's James waiting patiently to go outside and play in the snow.

Things have started to quiet down a little for us (except that the Christmas is around the corner and we'll be traveling). We've gotten moved in and settled. James has adjusted beautifully, even moved into a twin size bed and loves the space in his room to play and pull out his toys. The space in the house is nice, but takes longer to clean than the 6 or 7 hundred square feet we were used to :)

We haven't found a church yet and decided to wait until after the holidays to start trying again... it seems we may not find what we had in NYC. We're thinking of looking for a part-time preschool for James, and in the meantime we're finding some indoor play activities for him... the benefit here is that they don't cost nearly as much as they did in the city.

I'm beginning to feel better... I am 16 weeks along now and baby is healthy. Started showing already, which was disappointing but whatever... I'm joining a gym soon and it has childcare!!

All 3 of us (Jay, James and I) are getting over Strep throat but we are all on the upswing and ready for Christmas!

Here are a few other pictures from the last couple months :)

James was Mickey Mouse on Halloween. We missed trick-or-treating here but the Greek Houses with Penn State had crafts, games, and candy for the kids so the trolley took us door to door at the Greek-or-Treat!

Below, is James helping me pack up our Christmas shoeboxes. He did a great job, and didn't mind too much putting the toys in the box for someone else. He'll get it eventually :)

James has also gotten fully potty trained. If you remember we were having some problems going #2 in the potty... the rewards weren't helping much but finally we found something that worked. First, he likes his privacy and second he likes it if he thinks you are in the other bathroom going potty too. He also got to wear the Mickey Mouse costume after he went and that seemed to help too!

That's all for now. If I don't post again before Christmas... Merry Christmas to you and your family!

New Things on the Horizon

2010-10-14T19:45:00.002-04:00

First I'll apologize to the very few people who actually read my blog for not being present the last few weeks. So much has been going on and thus the length of this post.

First, James and I went on a short work trip with Jay to Harrisonburg and Charlottesville VA, then we headed to Lynchburg to my mom's house for a while. Jay went back to NY and James and I stayed with my mom for a while. She just did a major renovation on her house- mainly her kitchen and living/TV area and we went to help her finish it up and put it back together. She had a lot of mixed feelings throughout the process, thinking about my dad and all, but in the end I think she absolutely loves it. It really changes the house and makes things easier for her! I love seeing her happy about being home again.

Secondly and sadly, after 3 + years we are leaving NYC. Jay landed a job with Penn State University so we are headed to State College PA at the end of Oct. Scary! Next week we are headed there to find a place to live, hopefully we'll find something nice to rent and I'm sure it will have more room than what we currently have :) I'm sure I'll write more about missing NYC later, I'm not sure I want to get into that right now.

Finally, our last bit of news came as a surprise and came under not so great conditions. When we first got to my mom's house I was having some "problems" and called my OB here in NYC who suggested I take a pregnancy test. Much to my surprise it was positive, but we couldn't celebrate because I was sure I was miscarrying. Because I was out of town, the only place I could go and not pay a fortune, was the ER. So every two days I went to the ER for the same tests and exams until they could see the baby in the uterus. And finally, there it was with a little heartbeat and I was tearfully rejoicing. I haven't had any more bleeding and will go see my doctor here on Tuesday. I think that appointment will make me feel even better. We are very excited and hoping for a healthy pregnancy. I'm only 7 weeks along, so that's still super early- but it was hard to hide when I was spending so much time at the ER while visiting my family!

Some of you know that I have frequent/chronic migraines and when I found out I was pregnant I immediately stopped all the meds I take. I knew this would be bad, because these are things I should really decrease over time... and so I've had a headache since the day I found out. Some days it's not so terrible I can't do anything, but it's tough to deal with. And now I'm dealing with the flu/or a bad cold... I don't know. It's miserable. But I'm miserably happy- for the most part... I'm already missing some very very special friends I have here.

I'll have pictures to post soon. Sorry there aren't any this time. :)

More Big Changes for James

2010-08-30T09:20:00.003-04:00

Maybe I should have thought about all the changes I was bringing on at one time, but James seems to have taken them all in stride and is doing great.

He has a sticker collection here- he gets a sticker for eating well (which we have to encourage sometimes) and for cleaning up his toys.

He has another new sticker chart for going potty. As you can see he's caught on quickly. I'd say he's just about 100% pee-pee trained. When he fills a chart he gets a treat (a few M&M's).

My problem is that he doesn't want to poop on the potty, so he holds it and eventually gets a stomach ache because he's constipated (sorry if that's too much information). I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to revert back to diapers, though he is wearing pull-ups some of the time. I try to encourage himwith an even better treat for doing #2 in the potty, I let him watch Mickey Mouse on the iPhone while he's sitting there, hoping it will distract him, but so far nothing. Tips?

The other big change for him is the introduction of this big boy bed! He loves it- was not at all sad about seeing me take apart his crib. He wants to show it off to everyone, loves to sit on it and read his books, or play with his toys. He's sleeping great, doesn't get up after I put him to bed and stays in his bed until we tell him it's okay to get up. Hopefully that won't change. :)

Experiencing Another First

2010-08-23T16:39:00.003-04:00

Remember those curls on this boy?

They were sometimes messy, sometimes a little nappy, tangled, and at times (particularly after nap time) seemed to resemble a birds nest. Someone called him a girl last week and I even heard the word mullet mentioned, so we thought it was time.

He had his first haircut on Saturday. We went to a place called Carousel Cuts. They had a playroom and little carousel horses and bunnies to sit on complete with videos to help distract little ones. It was cute (a bit expensive for a child's haircut, but a good 1st experience).

My mom and niece Gabby were visiting and after a day of walking around and taking a short nap in the stroller we had his hair cut, he was such a good boy all day that he got this prize (from his Nanny)! He was SO excited to open them and he played and played and played.

Doesn't he look cute?

If you are worried about the curls... they are still there. When his hair gets wet or in the humidity they show up! He looks even more like a little man now.

Stuck

2010-08-06T12:56:00.003-04:00

Typically I don't change James' diaper in public, but it's tough to find a decent changing facility in the city sometimes. Not very many places provide a space for us moms. So... that led to today's excitement. As soon as we got to the park this morning I recognized that all to familiar stance and expression on James' face and knew he needed to be changed. So I did what any mom would do, I found a empty bench where I wouldn't expose my son too much and started the process.

You know how park benches are, right? There's a gap between the seat and the back rest and guess what, James found out that his head just fit in there; then he turned his head and guess what, he couldn't get it out. So here he was with his bottom exposed, shorts around his ankles, and his head stuck in the park bench. He was crying, scared and tense- so he was working against me trying to turn his head. And for a moment I had two thoughts 1. I'd be a horrible mom right now if I stopped and took a picture and 2. am I going to have to ask for help or even worse call the fire department?

Then I turned his head and slowly pull him out. He said "shew mommy" between cries and I stifled a laugh, hugged him, then I finished the job and sent him to play.

Toddler Speech

2010-08-04T16:44:00.002-04:00

Have any of you other mothers encountered sudden stuttering from your 2 to 3 year old boys? Suddenly James has started stuttering on certain words, mostly at the end of words or combined words like outside- he says out-t-t-t side and Sept-t-t-ember and take-k-k-k. I read that it's common, that we shouldn't try to correct him, or ask him to repeat it correctly, or bring any attention to it. It can be brought on by lots of excitement (we just went to the beach and he was enamored with my nephews, ages 6 and 7) and it should last 1-3 months. Already it seems better but of course I worry :)

Today also marked a few important day in our lives... James has begun asking me "why" after everything I say. Oh the joy...

Beach Trip

2010-08-02T13:01:00.002-04:00

Coming back from vacation is always difficult. It's hard to get back into the normal routine and out of vacation mode. My mom rented a beach house and took 6 of her grandchildren to Myrtle beach for a week- Max, Lauren, Gabby, Hunter, Alex and Jude. Jay, James and I flew there and joined her the next day plus Jay's parents came. So we had a full house! I love my nieces and nephews so I was looking forward to spending some time with them. Unfortunately 4 out of 6 are in that tween/teen period and didn't really hang out with us, plus they don't have a 2 year old that gets up at 6:30 and takes a nap mid-day: so our schedules didn't always coincide.

James had a good time though- he loved the water. Showed no fear at the beach, in the pool, or at the waterpark. Here's a few pictures:

Okay, so this isn't a great picture, but the sun was SO bright. This was a morning walk on the beach. This was a day after I rode the banana boat with some of the kids, we fell off, I lost my glasses and had to find a place in Myrtle Beach that could do 1 hour lens. Geez.
Overall we had a great trip. I am so thankful for the trip and for my family!

Most Recent Happenings... in no particular order

2010-07-12T08:40:00.005-04:00

It's been a while, but I thought I'd tell you about a few of things we've been up to lately.

James went to the firehouse! He was in heaven. Here he is with his cousin, Alex, standing on the front of the firetruck.

We went to the Bronx Zoo! Here's James inside the prairie dog exhibit in the children's zoo. He was having a ball and liked watching them close up.
He didn't quite measure up with the Tigers and really didn't get to see them much either. They were sleeping.
After the zoo we headed to see the Intrepid. A naval sea carrier. It was pretty cool - you can see some of the airplanes there on top.
It was a busy June. I turned 32 on the 30th. We celebrated Father's Day, which was a little difficult this year, but I celebrated Jay and what a good daddy he is. We've been staying in some, trying to stay out of the extreme heat but we head to the park to play in the water or Barnes & Noble to play with the trains for at least a little while during the day.

Coming up... we got new furniture in our little space. It's not all in yet, but I'll post pics when it's complete. We're thinking of moving James to a big boy bed. We're heading to Myrtle Beach at the end of the month, so we're looking forward to that! Jay's still putting out applications... we're praying for a positive lead and that we feel God's guidance while we make a decision.

More to come.

The Past Meets the Present!

2010-07-07T13:00:00.003-04:00

A little trip down memory lane:

This is Jay and his dad standing at the corner of 5th and Central Park South somewhere around 1980, which makes Jay about 3.

And here is Jay and James standing on the same corner in 2010. They've changed a few things... the signage, added the glass Apple store in the back and you can see where they've updated the bottom of the building in the background- BUT there's a horse and buggy and a bald man!

Cute right?

The Park

2010-06-09T08:01:00.004-04:00

We are enduring the summer heat in the city. Though the temperatures aren't reading 95 + the humidity here kills me. It radiates off the tall buildings and concrete sidewalks- and keep in mind we walk pretty much everywhere we go! Even James said it was hot outside. He can't go outside now without wearing his sunglasses... he says "outside too bright mommy." :)

So to cool down we hit the park pretty much every day! Most of the playgrounds have some kind of water sprinkler feature for the summertime. The day I took my camera they didn't have the water turned on yet, but this is one of James' favorite parks- 96th St and Lexington Ave. I'll have to take some pictures of him playing in the water sometime soon.

We had a little picnic in Central Park with some friends on Memorial Day. Here's Jack and James.

We're so blessed to have such an incredible church and to have made some incredible friends here in the city.

Proud of my Man!

2010-05-31T09:07:00.005-04:00

Introducing Dr. Jay Sholes! He doesn't want to be called Dr. Sholes (because of the feet people) so he says he'll go by Dr. J :)

I can't tell you how incredibly proud of him I am! He's worked so hard, put in many hours and finally it's done. Since we've been together, either one or both of us has been in school and now we're done.

Now, he's applying for jobs. He's applying in the city and as far away as FL! So we are praying that God leads us in the right direction and opens up doors for just the right opportunity.

We celebrated with Jay's parents and aunts and uncles at a cabin in WV! No TV, no cell service, no internet. James loved having so much time to play outside :)

Gentleness and Counting

2010-05-13T12:49:00.004-04:00

Seriously, could he get much cuter? He's so good with little ones, and now that our friends are having babies he's had some opportunities to show his gentleness. Meet Maelee, new daughter of Steve and Becky Mason. She's really little- here about 2 or 3 weeks old and weighing in under what James was at birth!

LOVE

And here's a video of James showing his counting skills.

I swear he sounds as if he's been raised in the south!

Missing Gunther

2010-04-27T21:10:00.004-04:00

It was Easter Sunday, just a few weeks ago, when our beautiful German Shepherd, Gunther, died. He died from causes of Bloat and cardiac arrest. :(

this is him as a puppy

he was very good with James and all the kids, but sometimes forgot they were small :)

He was big, he shed long black hair constantly, and although he was 90 pounds he believed he was small enough to sit in your lap. Gunther would have been 5 in June and he acted every bit of a puppy as he did the first year we had him.

in central park, nyc- his ball at his feet

Everyone commented on how beautiful he was, how rare a solid black shepherd was, and it was nice to walk him here in the city and know that people would leave me alone. Little did they know he was no guard dog, he was a sweet loving dog who loved to play ball anytime and all the time.

After living with us in the city for a while, Gunther had moved in with my parents. He loved being outside all day and we realized that our small apartment with Gunther and James wasn't going to work out very well. Growing up, we had a lot of dogs and we lost a lot of dogs, but this one was different and I miss him.

this past Christmas at my parents house

He's TWO

2010-04-16T11:07:00.003-04:00

We started with this in August 2007

On April 16, 2008 we were blessed with our 8lb 3oz bundle of joy!
My dad called him "sweet baby James" and loved to listen to James Taylor's lullaby.
Here's James on his 1st birthday. Bald and beautiful
And here's our grown up little two-year-old. The time has gone by so fast and everyday I love this little guy more and more.
Thank you Lord for blessing us with James and for allowing us to care and love him. Happy Birthday baby boy!

(I'll post pics from his party later.)

Our Delayed Vacation

2010-04-08T12:51:00.002-04:00

I had planned a vacation for Jay in February and when my dad's health really declined we were forced to postpone. We couldn't cancel because we would have lost the money we'd already paid. So, we scheduled the vacation for March and invited my mom to go with us.

We flew to West Palm Beach Florida, visited with our friends Joe and Tara and their little boy, Tyler. Then we flew to New Orleans because we'd never been there and always wanted to go. We had a great trip, great weather, and enjoyed getting away and spending time together!

Here are some photos from our trip :)

(this is the first time I've done slide show with pictures, so I realize that the song isn't necessarily appropriate for cute vacation photos, but I just wanted to get it done. Next time I'll work on finding the right song.)

Backtrack to Valentines Day

2010-03-24T12:53:00.002-04:00

I wasn't actually here on Valentines Day. I was in Richmond, Jay was in NY- however when I returned from VA this was waiting for me...

That's right. A little blue bag!

And this is what was inside.

There are 2 keys... a little one from James with his birthstone on it (a diamond) and the other one from Jay. Isn't that sweet?

It's my first little blue bag gift and while I would never expect it again... there was something pretty exciting about seeing it :)

I also have loads of pics from our postponed vacation. I'll get to that post later. My mom ended up going with us, our flight our of NY was cancelled so we left a day later but the weather in West Palm and New Orleans was beautiful!

Why I've been MIA

2010-03-05T15:11:00.005-05:00

I'm not even sure where or how to begin this post. Maybe I shouldn't even try but oh well...

Some time ago I mentioned my dad being sick again. Well, on Feb. 11 I took a late flight out of NY and went to Richmond VA where my dad was hospitalized at MCV. He had a kidney transplant there a little over 3 years ago. I won't even try to fill you in on any details, his diagnosis changed every day it seemed. But, there came a point where my family, my mom and brothers and I, had to make a decision to let him go. After moving him to a Palliative care unit, 2 days later on Feb. 26 he passed away with my mom and I sitting by his side.

There's so much I could say about the man my dad was, but I'll save it for later. I know he loved me, and in the last conversation we had I told him I loved him. He was tired, and sick, and was calling out for us to let him go, for Jesus to take him home.

I'm back in NY now, thinking and praying for my mom everyday.

Brief update

2010-02-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

I'm in Richmond VA now at the MCV Critical Care hospital. I took a late flight in Thursday night and left James for the first time. He's with his daddy though!

My dad was transferred here to have immediate surgery to remove the transplanted kidney's. But after getting here they've changed plans (more than once) and they are trying to wait until he's stronger before attempting surgery. His body is full of infection- in his blood, urinary tract, lungs, heart, and kidneys. The kidney's have to come out, but the surgery is so intense and risky that his chances of coming through if they did surgery now would be slim. Continue to pray for him. I am returning to NY tomorrow and will make plans to come back to Richmond as I can. I hate seeing my dad like this, he's really miserable and doesn't want to be where he is. No one would. I'm glad he's in Richmond though, as opposed to Lynchburg General.

Update on James (and more)

2010-02-06T13:35:00.003-05:00

After a week of thinking we'd be seeing a pediatric oncologist we are praising God that James does not have anything serious. Actually we don't even know what it is he has (or had). The lymph nodes were swollen and he had one type of white blood cell that was elevated slightly but everything pointed to it being something viral. It's odd that he hasn't been sick at all, but he did have that car-sick-in-a-taxi episode, so a violent vomiting event could have caused the swelling. It's not necessarily comforting when the doctors call it a mystery, but we are pleased to know it's not cancer. He'll go back in April and if the abdomen is still swollen I'm sure we'll have tests again, but for now I can't tell you how good it felt to hear them say he was healthy.

Now, if only my dad would stay healthy. They moved him to a rehab unit and for a while he was doing okay, trying to get his arms and legs back to strength, but now he's sick again and today they took him back to the hospital to Medical ICU. I hate not being there, but I also know that other than being there for my mom, there isn't anything I can do- except pray.

And, can I just tell you that I'm SO ready for spring. I actually took James to the park yesterday (for just 10 minutes) because we both needed to get out and he needed somewhere to run and play (other than our hallway and apartment). He was bundled up really good, but wouldn't keep gloves on and, to my surprise, there were about 15 kids there. I am really looking forward to some warmer weather. I think I've got a case of the winter blues.

A Prayerful Week

2010-01-30T15:27:00.002-05:00

This has been a week full of anxiety, prayers, and doctor's visits. 2 Wednesday's ago, at a regular 21 month check-up at the pediatrician's office, James' doctor felt something swollen in his abdomen. So the following Wednesday I had to take him in for an ultrasound. He lay there for about 15-20 minutes, his hands up by his head, while the technician probed around and took almost 170 images. Another doctor came in to look, then they said my pediatrician would receive the report and get in touch with me. Within an hour of getting home, she called. They'd found a strand of swollen lymph nodes. So we began to worry. I knew what it could be. At first they said to have another ultrasound in a month to see if the nodes had decreased in size, if so then it was most likely caused by a virus of some sort. But James was healthy, no diarrhea or anything. Then our pediatrician spoke to a specialist who recommended blood work as soon as possible. What we didn't know, was that every doctor in the office was looking into this for us, they all knew about the case, they all gave input etc. So, Friday we took him back to the doctor for blood work. So sad to see them hold down his arm and draw a couple vile of blood. Of course he screamed, but otherwise I have brag that he is the best patient. Our pediatrician thinks he is hilarious because he likes being examined. He lays on the table, wants her to use the stethoscope and the thing to look in his eyes and ears. It's pretty funny. Anyway, after we talked to her for a while we went home and waited. This morning they called to say that his first round of blood tests came back normal, which means he most likely doesn't have a type of cancer. Praise God! More blood results come back Monday so we'll wait until then to see what our next move will be. Please pray for James, that these swollen lymph nodes are not serious and that they will reduce in size. James is smiling and laughing like normal. He hasn't the slightest idea what is going on, and I guess I'm glad for that. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Cookies & Praise

2010-01-26T16:09:00.003-05:00

Let me just tell you that I didn't expect tantrums until after the age of 2. I was wrong. Somehow, somewhere James learned how to properly throw a tantrum. What helps me is not to see it as pure misbehavior but as frustration on his part not to be able to tell me what is wrong, what he wants or needs, or what is going on. Still, standing in line at Barnes & Noble is not a place I wanted to deal with a tantrum. But I did. I haven't read books on how to deal with misbehavior (yet) and I haven't read an awful lot on parenting in general. Maybe I should, but here's something I KNOW works. Praise! What a different kid he is when I praise him, even with the little things he does. Like scribbling on his coloring books pages, or picking up his legos and putting them back in the basket, or putting mommy's keys back where he found them etc. So, here's a photo of James gleaming over the beautiful coloring he'd done. What's funny is that everytime he'd add a new color, he'd look to me for praise and then he'd give me a hug. I got about ten hugs in a row- and I didn't ask for a single one! It was a good moment.

On a sweet note... James was introduced to Oreo's... and he likes them! I didn't give him any tips on how to eat one, we thought we'd let him experience it and find his own way to eat it and he choose... to split it apart into 2 half's (while rubbing it all over)! Fun times!

Tomorrow morning James can't have anything to eat or drink until after his ultrasound which is at 10:15. This is going to take some ultimate distraction techniques because even though he's not a big eater, he's ready for breakfast and especially his milk when he gets up which is usually around 7:30! Geez! He's having an abdomen ultrasound because the pediatrician thought she felt something odd and wanted us to get it checked out. I will keep you posted :)

An assortment of activity

2010-01-13T15:06:00.003-05:00

This is a post with various topics, thus it might be long:

First- I want to share with you an amazing story that a friend of mine posted on her blog. Actually I'll just let you read it here.

Second- I'll just tell you that I had quite a morning. And you'll be very glad I didn't take pictures :) James and I rode the subway with Jay to work because the stop where he gets off there is a Kmart. We got what we needed, then got in a taxi. We all know that taxi rides are not always smooth, and I didn't think much about it until James began throwing up all over the place. And when I say all over the place, I mean all over himself, me, and the backseat of the cab. When we got to our building, I carried James inside, the cab driver carried my bags inside the door, I ran upstairs and stripped James down, re-dressed him, then took a roll of paper towels and clorox wipes back down to the cab. I offered to clean it for him, but he was so sweet and understanding and said he didn't mind doing it. I gave him the roll of paper towels because he said they were handy and he should carry them with him. God blessed me with a nice and understanding driver and I was so very thankful!

Third- I'm blessed with amazing godly women around me that encourage and uplift me. I was invited to join a few women in our church in memorizing scripture. Honestly, I think the last time I memorized scripture may have been AWANA. Seriously. We are not only memorizing the words, but learning to internalize the meaning, to really study the Word with a heart and mind focused on Him. And what a place to start: 2 Peter 1: 3-11 "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

And finally- I'm not one to set new year's resolutions, I've tried and always failed before, so I just don't do it. However, seeing as how it's January, this goal of memorizing scripture is essentially a resolution. So while I'm at it I might as well tack on a few more. #1 Exercise. I've successfully completed 1 week of a RIGOROUS work out that I wanted to quit on day 1. It's 60 days and I WILL complete it. When I get into exercising, I really get into it, sometimes I probably go overboard, but there is something about feeling that exhausted, that much pain, that sore that makes me want to keep doing it. And I like checking off the box that says complete at the end of the day. # 2 Writing. And by writing I mean a complete piece. I write, but because I lack confidence, I don't complete the process. Everything stays in the draft or possible idea phase. I'm joining a writing group. I'm putting ink to paper (or in this case fingertip to key). # 3 Socializing my child. James needs to play with other kids and learn to interact with them more than 1 hour a week during nursery. So, I'm looking for playgroups (that don't cost an arm and a leg) or may consider having my own here at our place during the day. Just a thought...

And to top all this off I surprised Jay with a planned trip which we'll take in February. We're heading to Florida to visit his best friend who we haven't seen in over 2 years then we're going to New Orleans where neither of us have been before. We are taking James with us, so right now I'm sorting out details with not having a car seat on the trip, and we are searching for all the fun things we should do. If you have suggestions... send em this way!

I'll leave you with James' new word- Peace. Which he learned from Sesame Street- it's how they end the show these days. :)

Nothing but Love

2010-01-09T21:36:00.003-05:00

This kids cracks me up. James is at the point where he does things and I think "where did he learn that." He will repeat pretty much anything you say or at least try, since we've been back from our trip over Christmas/New Year's his appetite has increased- which is a good thing because he was hardly eating while we were away, and he's just cute.

This is James having yet another snack. Which he decided was good to have on the recycling bin. We don't have room for a kitchen table, so he'll use anything.
Anytime I pull out the camera or flip recorder he smiles like this and says cheese, which I'm pretty sure I've never told him to say but he picked it up somewhere.
And then I caught him doing this, got my flip camera and asked him to do it again. Seriously, you would think I shop a lot, but other than grocery stores and CVS, I don't. He has to turn on the little fake (and broken) computer, then slide the card.

I'm sure I'll have something else to write about later, but for now, since we mostly stay inside because it's really cold, James is my subject.

A Holiday

2010-01-04T13:11:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (a little late)

We've had quite an adventure of a holiday! First off, can I just tell you how much I love this little guy! (see pic below) He's such a sweet boy- and super cute too.

So, we planned to leave for VA on the Saturday before Christmas but changed plans because of the big snow storm and left Friday afternoon instead. But, we didn't quite make it. We got stuck in Charlottesville, just an hour outside my parents home in Lynchburg, for 2 nights. I'm not sure that the area even owned a snow plow or maybe they didn't know how to use it. Luckily a grocery store opened for a couple hours and the snowed in residents of the hotel were able to stock up on food. We made the best of it though, and had fun!!

This is James standing in the window of our hotel :)

This was Christmas morning. James has a huge, happy smile on his face because there was an ambulance with lights and sound in his stocking. He was so happy and excited about everything.

You can tell the difference in James' real smile and his "cheese" smile below. I missed getting his face when he actually opened this firetruck, so this was after the fact. In any case, he loves it -and even got a matching one from the other grandparents :) He likes pretending they are the ones outside our window, and parking them in the station side by side.

We took it easy with Christmas this year. Didn't buy a lot of gifts for each other or for James. We got him one thing and stuff for his stocking and TRIED to limit grandparents to one gift, but of course they didn't listen exactly as planned. My parents house was a little crazy too. My dad has been sick for a while, ended up in the hospital the weekend after Christmas and is still there getting better. A 24 hour stomach bug went around and at least 7 people were sick all at different times. We left the day after Christmas and headed to WV to stay with Jay's parents until after New Years.

This is James and his 2nd cousin, Allie. They are 3 or 4 months apart, so cute together!

We stopped in a little antique store and saw this little fire truck. He was so excited- even though that's his "cheese" smile- where he actually says cheese. If our apartment wasn't so small and this thing wouldn't take up half the living space we might have gotten it for him.

The holiday's are always fun. I love Christmas, I love seeing family, and baking and wrapping- but I also love coming home. We had a day of rest after we returned Saturday night and now it's back to reality.

Part of that reality for us is figuring out why James doesn't sleep well, or soundly I guess I should say. He wakes throughout the night and spends 20 to 30 minutes crying and fighting to go back to sleep. He doesn't want to be picked up necessarily and I'm not sure that he's really fully awake even. It's difficult and of course makes for a long night and a long day for us. Along with that he's not interested in eating much, sometimes hardly anything. Those two things together make some parts of my day a little frustrating. I love him to death, but I do wish those two things were easier :)

Finding Joy

2009-12-17T09:31:00.004-05:00

"How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose… You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure… you who outshine all light… you who surpass all honor…O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.”

St. Augustine, Confessions IX-1

Jesus is not your God until He is your treasure

(from sermon at Apostles)

“Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us,

like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

CS Lewis, Weight of Glory.

This is the only way we will ever risk great loss for Jesus. When we follow Christ, we will be called to risk for him. He ask things of us and leads us in ways that challenge our comfort level and mode of self-preservation. Whether that is speaking the gospel to another person and fearing the loss of face or rejection, or giving generously to meet a need, or answering his call to put roots down in the city, or give your life to making him known among an unreached people, He calls us to costly things. There will be an assessment you will have to make. Is Christ and his Kingdom of greater value than my own safety, preference and comfort?

(from sermon at Apostles)

These are parts of the sermon from our Advent series at Apostles church. Sunday we lit the candle of Joy, and at some point I thought, how is this about Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I know Christ is our source of joy, or should be, I know he came to give us true joy, but it didn't fully click for me right away. So many people associate joy with the things they get at Christmas. Some are happy because they got everything they asked for, some pout when their whole list wasn't fulfilled. Why isn't Jesus enough for us? Why is His joy not sufficient enough? Because we are human, because our desires for things of this world are sometimes stronger than our desire for Him. This Christmas I want Jesus to be my treasure! I want to consider Christ above all else, and experience the superior Joy He offers to me.

Can't believe it's November already!

2009-11-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

We had some visitors this past weekend so it was an opportunity to take pictures! I can't believe it's almost Christmas and as you can imagine the city is coming alive with Christmas lights and decorations all over! Here we are at the M&M store.

Here's Jay and the little man, James in Times Square.
While Jay's parents and aunt and uncle were here, Jay received his NYU diploma in the mail. Although we knew he was finished I know it felt good to get that diploma in a frame! I'm so proud of him!
We also got to take a tour of the new Yankee stadium. It was a yucky day, but how cool is it that we sat in the dugout! Here we are with Jay's mom and dad.
And in Monument Park where tributes are paid to all the Yankee greats!
The first day of November was our 6 year anniversary and while I didn't take any pictures we had a great dinner on restaurant row at Bourbon and went to see Wicked on broadway! It's been a great start to November so far! Thanksgiving is next :)

Halloween- a long time ago

2009-10-28T09:59:00.003-04:00

My mom found this old picture from a Halloween, a long time ago.

Cute huh?

Here's what my mom learned that day-

Never grease back your son's hair with vaseline!! Bad idea :)

October's going by fast!

2009-10-15T13:53:00.003-04:00

I've been away for a while- mentally and physically.

Sometimes NYU sends Jay on short recruiting trips and James and I like to tag along. This year he had to go to JMU and Penn State. So, we went with him to Harrisonburg VA for 4 days then James and I went to Lynchburg and stayed until Jay got back from his Penn State trip. I love getting away, but I love coming home too.

While in Harrisonburg we found little to do, but we did visit the Luray maze. Jay says he didn't enjoy it, but I think he did. And at times James was scared because somewhere they were trimming the hedges and he didn't like the noise.

Then we went to pick pumpkins. James liked this one... but the one we got was much smaller!
In Lynchburg we took James to a little play park. At one point he fell face first into the dirt and ate most of it, but he had fun!
And we visited my friend, Melanie. Her little boy, Kaden, is just 3 months older than James and she just had a little girl (Kaysen) in September.
This is Melanie getting used to having 2 kids. One hungry and one crying because he fell down and hit is head!
:) I think we're done traveling for a while. It's cold and rainy here in the city and I think the cold is setting in, so we're pulling out our coats and scarfs. Fun!

Happy 4th Birthday to Apostles

2009-09-21T08:44:00.004-04:00

Our church celebrated their 4th birthday yesterday. I consider it a blessing to be a part of this church and to be part of something working to change our city. Apostles loves and serves the people of NYC. This beautiful song was sung yesterday and really speaks about what we can do in a city like New York. I wish I had a clip of the song live, but I don't- so just enjoy the lyrics.

"May we be stable, may we be steadfast

Not shift from the gospel we've heard

May we in Him, rooted within Him

and flee from desires of this world

Let's do what we're called to do

We're chosen to live the truth

As we walk the city we will love

As we walk the city we'll speak love"

September already!

2009-09-06T21:53:00.003-04:00

I realize that it's been quite some time since I've posted a new blog. I love to write but I just haven't had blogging inspirations or felt anything worthy of a blog lately. August came and went, we took an unexpected trip to visit family one week, but mostly we've sweated it out here in the city. This week however, it's been lovely- absolutely beautiful and I am eagerly anticipating the fall weather. I'm just hoping it doesn't jump right into winter!

James found that he enjoys standing in the rain very much...

He also seems to enjoy a DQ dilly bar... (and NO I did not allow him to eat the whole thing. He only had a bite)

Perhaps it's his age, 17 months, but he's taken to grand displays of unhappiness. Sometimes it's just a short outburst of crying (as pictured below when he was denied more salsa) and sometimes it's throwing himself on the floor as if I'd just done the unthinkable. I say NO about 50 times a day and I sometimes feel guilty, even though I know I have to keep him from harm. But he doesn't know that, he just knows I've hurt his little feelings and he doesn't like it. But he still gives me hugs and kisses! I read somewhere to learn to say yes instead of no, but geez it's a lot easier to say "NO James, don't touch the computer" than to say "Yes, James I know you like to push buttons, but those aren't the buttons you should push. Come on lets push the buttons on your piano/phone/computer." Oh well... I guess we are both learning! I think sometimes he's just bored and in need of further entertainment :)

By the way, we call this his ugly face and when James sees it he thinks it's funny.

We welcomed the start of college football this weekend, something Jay looks forward to all year. Yesterday Jay says to James, "What is today?" and James (after some coaching) says "game day." Too cute!

I joined a little book club, which I'm excited about, with a friend from our church. The two of us with two other girls who we found through craigslist :)

I read all the time, so it will be fun to connect with other people reading the same thing! We just read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by the same guy that wrote "The Kite Runner"- both of which were very good.

I'll try to write more frequently, if not for anyone else, than for myself. It's medicine for the soul.

the strength of our youth

2009-08-21T22:42:00.002-04:00

Very often I forget how powerful kids can be. They are aware of much more than I give them credit for. They know what's right and wrong, they know pain, they know justice, they know about humanity and can handle subjects I sometimes think they aren't ready for.

One of the blogs I follow and an organization I feel passionate about is Love 146, which I've mentioned before. I just read the latest post, called "Labor of Love" and was moved by the story. Check it out here.

How encouraging it is to know that young people are using their voices and talents to bring awareness to issues like this.

James in August

2009-08-11T08:31:00.005-04:00

Haven't had much to post about lately. It's hot here, we go to the park just about every day (unless it's raining) and James is becoming more and more daring. Here's a couple recent pictures.

James' latest obsessions: clocks and fire trucks. Whenever he hears a siren he get excited and wants to look out the window to see the fire truck pulling out of the station. This happens pretty often considering we live in NYC, so you can imagine how many times during the day we have to quickly look out the window. I took him down to the station this past week and he was so excited to see the truck. Not excited enough to get very close, but still thrilled. They gave him a fire hat and said I could bring him anytime :)

We've also been learning to use a spoon. I have to grit my teeth and let him make a mess so he'll learn, but I will admit it's difficult to see him scoop it up then drop it all over the place over and over again.

James is talking more now too. He says clock, tick-tock, up, yes, kitty-cat and does several animal sounds. This was my attempt to video some of the human tricks- of course he didn't really want to cooperate, but I tried.

For the love of his blanket

2009-07-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

My baby boy is attached to this blanket. It's kind of cute and I'm not opposed to it at all. I mean he didn't take a pacifier or his thumb, so I think it's okay for him to love a blanket. He was being super cute yesterday so I took a couple pictures.

He's getting so big; and more and more I see him becoming a little boy instead of a baby!

My Birthday, Friends, Family and little this and that mixed in......

2009-07-20T16:58:00.004-04:00

I guess it's been busy lately.

Let's see, my friend Hanna came for a visit at the end of June and my birthday just happens to be the last day of June, so it worked out well. Little did I know that my husband and my friend were in cahoots about a surprise! This was really unexpected because last year, when I turned the big 3-0 Jay surprised me with a big party, speakeasy style. This year he started a trend... and did it again except it was on the rooftop of our building! He planned the whole thing and really just had Hanna do all the lying :) I was doubly surprised again because not only did I have a party with lots of friends, but my mom and Jay's mom made it! I don't have any pictures of the party because I wasn't prepared. But it was fun, beautiful and reminded me how blessed I am!

The day Hanna left, the mom's moved in. My mom and Jay's mom stayed a couple days, then James and I went back to VA for a while. Jay's been completely overwhelmed with school work and needed the extra time to study and get caught up! This trip wasn't planned initially but I had to opportunity to see my niece Taylor who I haven't seen in quite a while and her little girl Layla who I had never met. What a joy! It's a long story, but I can say this: Prayers were answered and our family welcomed them with open and eager arms.

This was Layla's first birthday... she did an excellent job with the icing of her cake. Classic!

Layla looks so much like Taylor did when she was little and it was so fun to have Layla and James play together... or fight over a toy, whatever you want to call it.

Then when I left VA my other niece, Gabby, came along and stayed for a week in the city! We didn't do a whole lot but we did ride the Staten Island (free) fairy to see the Statue of Liberty- one of the few things she didn't do when she came last time.

I enjoyed spending time with her and she, in turn enjoyed the less chaotic household, for a time anyway. She was ready to go home so on Saturday we all went to NJ where Gabby was picked up and then spent the night there visiting with Jay's aunt and uncle, his parents, and an uncle from TX. So Sunday (yesterday) we got back to the city, back home, and took a deep breath. It's been a while since it's just been us and I have to admit it feels good.

English Blunders

2009-06-27T08:58:00.002-04:00

So here are a few examples of the stellar writing work that I often come across in grading papers- Enjoy!

"I will acknowledge that a child has church, youth, friends and the such like that they interact with."

"The American flag hang should show that America still to hang thought tough time and provide what their citizens need to survivor."

"When homeless included children sitting on their mother legs watch what is going on around them. People watching their belonging and keep them close to them. Most homeless people have little or no belonging of their own. Homeless people sitting on the sidewalk as dead people lying on the street. Homeless people watch as dead people lies right in front as the couple with what had happen to make them homeless."

"Is the prove of grade inflation in schools and college today compare to the old days."

"Some people do not think that the student who grade is higher does mean inlfation. Some students do turn in better papers than before because they have the use of computers that help with spelling and grammar."

"Some people see students putting little effect to receive a higher grade then they think that student deserves. Other people have different items to way student grades are higher today then they were in the 60’s and 70’s."

"Nowadays, in many cases households have both parents with have full time jobs and when their kids came home from school, the television was always there as people grew up even when their parents weren’t."

Sometimes this makes my job exciting and/or laughable, other times it's just plain frustrating :)

Friends, Parades, and Parks

2009-06-25T13:19:00.003-04:00

We've had a couple weeks of little things going on here and there, so I thought I'd briefly update via some pictures. Some friends that used to live here in the city came back for a visit and brought along their new addition, Will, who is 7 months old.

We made an attempt to take a pictures of the boys sitting with each other. Will cooperates, James- not so much.

But eventually we got one before James took off to get into something much more important.
We went out to dinner, using another one of our dinner cards (see previous post) and James and Will had their own table.
Along with the heat, the summer brings parades and street fairs. Both can be fun and exciting, but they can also be annoying, distracting, and loud. We live on 3rd Ave. and we got to watch a small parade go by. It was the Children's Evangelical Parade or something like that, singing and street preaching was mostly in Spanish and didn't draw a big crowd- at least in our area it didn't. All I know is that it was loud, it was a Saturday and it was nap time!
James liked watching it though.
Just about every day, or at least the days we haven't had rain, James and I visit the 96th street park. Because he's still little, he can't really climb up all the big play equipment, so he wanders around a lot, picks up sticks, climbs on little things and seems to be envious of some of the older kids. This was James watching some older kids in the school playground next door to the park. He looked so cute standing there!
That's all for now. Maybe I'll have something more exciting to share next time! :)

Max the Grad- a name he gave himself

2009-06-14T17:20:00.005-04:00

I feel like I have so much to blog about right now and I debated over lumping it all into one, but worried it would be way too long so I'll just post a couple different ones!

I have to go back to my nephews graduation first. Many of you will think, it's just a high school graduation, what's the big deal? Well I guess the difference is, you have to know Max (I'll try to make this concise). Max will be 20 in July! 20- I can hardly believe it. He was adopted from the Liberty Godparent Home in VA and we got him 24 days after he was born. Around 4 or 5 we noticed something different about Max and he began to be evaluated for ADD, ADHD, autism etc. etc. Long story short he has never fit into any one category. The closest diagnosis is Aspergers syndrome.

(below is Max with cousin Lauren and sister Gabby)

Max has never been withdrawn or unsocial. He is very sensitive and loving. He's mentally much younger than he appears and is immature. The thing that saddens me the most is that Max is fully aware of his differences, fully aware of how he "should" be, aware of the things he "should" be interested in, aware of the things he likes but knows he "shouldn't" like. He sometimes asks his parents why God made him different than other kids his age, why God chose him to be "special." This breaks my heart. When he was younger he would get obsessed with certain things and for weeks, months or years that's all his mind would focus on. One time it was train tracks and the light, once it was the goose plane from the movie Fly Away Home, for a while it was the spinning wheel in a Disney movie, and for the longest time it was mermaids. I'll admit this got pretty annoying. He was constantly drawing them or pretending or something that had to do with mermaids. It's like he has a hard time differing between fantasy and reality.

As he's gotten older and he's learned the things he "should" do he's begun to act as he know he should. He watches other boys his age and imitates what he sees. It must be frustrating for him to watch them and not understand everything.

Anyway, there is so much more I could say about him. At his high school he's the first to play a mainstream sport. He couldn't play football so he helped as manager, then he ran cross country and played lacrosse (a club sport) this year. He didn't used to be very coordinated, but he's really come a long way! And twice he was nominated for homecoming! He doesn't drive and will most likely always live at home (now he's got his own little apartment) but I'm so proud of him. It's tough for him and there is so much he doesn't understand, so much that frustrates him for not understanding, but he's doing well. When he walked across the stage, you could tell by the look on his face that he felt he'd done something completely amazing!! And I loved seeing that!

(I HATE that these are blurry but oh well!)

(Max with his mom and dad -my brother and sister-in-law)

It's a long one

2009-06-08T16:46:00.006-04:00

We've been out of the city for a while, at least James and I have, and we finally returned yesterday (Sunday). I had a great time visiting family and friends and thought I'd share some moments with pictures :)

First we surprised Jay's dad in WV for his 60th birthday party! James even wore glasses to celebrate the occasion!

This is Jay's uncle, Danny, James and Grandpa

On the porch at Jay's parents house... I think he is practicing his Babe Ruth shot, or he's pointing at a bird.

This is when Jay went back to NY and James and I went to VA. We said bye-bye to daddy :(

And spent time with Nanny and Papa in VA.

Played in little rain puddles

And I tried to make it to all my nieces and nephews multiple ball games. Lauren plays ASA softball so we went to Salem to watch her play.

James enjoyed it. He looks like some kind of manager making a deal of some kind.

Here, James thought it would be a great idea to play in the dogs water bowl- and by play I mean pour. He was soaking wet.

My sweet nephews Alex and Jude. They are cousins and great friends!

Here we are at Hunter's baseball game- this is my brother Bruce and James keeping an eye on the field.

Here's Hunter up to bat!

And my beautiful niece Gabby who helped me watch James!

We ended our visit in VA with my nephews high school graduation... those pictures are coming soon.

For now, it's great to be back home, back in my own bed, and getting back to our "routine" of sorts!

Hillbilly Hotdog

2009-05-29T09:13:00.002-04:00

You're looking at the outside of part of the "dining" area, and yes you are seeing correctly- that's a bus, decorated with just about everything. Shovels, mirrors, Mrs. Santa, old radios, etc.

This is another part of the place. There's a sign just above where the man in red is standing that says "order grub here." There are other hillbilly jokes around the place, but I didn't take pictures of them.

This is inside the bus you saw above. Notice the writing all over the place and the original bus seats.

And we couldn't leave without leaving our mark on the place. I didn't vandalize- it's encouraged! They provide the sharpie!

In case you are wondering, here are a few of the things you can order: (copied from the menu)

Hillbilly hotdog- deep fried beef weenie with homemade chili sauce, mustard and onions.

Taco dog- the weenie is covered with 4 jalapenos, nacho cheese, crunched up nacho chips, homemade chili sauce, lettuce, maters, picante sauce, sour cream and shredded cheese!

Barnyard bird dog- Fried chicken on a hot dog bun, with American cheese, pickles and bbq sauce.

You can also order Hillbilly Double wide burger or single wide burger- 15 lb and 5 lb respectively. On the Double wide there are 24 cheese slices, 24 maters, 2 heads of lettuce, 2 whole onions and 2 pounds of pickles!!!

AND you can try the "Home-Wrecker" - a 3 and a half pound loaded hot dog- eat it in 12 mins or less and you get a free T-shirt :)

(in case you're interested, there are franchises available) hillbilly hotdogs

On the Road

2009-05-24T21:24:00.005-04:00

Well, we left the city Thursday night and took the train to NJ to stay with Jay's aunt and uncle. Then Friday morning we rode with them to WV to surprise Jay's dad for his 60th birthday party. He was surprised! Success.

My parents also came up from VA for the party and spent the weekend here. If you've ever watched "Diner's, Drive-in's, and Dive's" on the Food Network Channel you may have seen a little hotdog stand in WV (near Huntington) called Hillbilly Hotdog... just wait until you see the pictures (I'll upload them soon). The "dining area" is inside 2 OLD school buses, it was quite an experience and I've never seen so many different ways to serve a hot dog :) I wasn't so daring!

One of the things I'll always remember about Memorial Day weekend is that 6 years ago I totaled my car on the WV turnpike while on my way to visit Jay before we were married. It was one of those times I can truly say God's hand was covering me and I'm so thankful for his protection. He has blessed me in so many ways.

I'll share pictures of our weekend soon :)

Punctuation

2009-05-18T11:11:00.003-04:00

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes toward the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

From the book- "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynn Truss.

I'm an English teacher and a lot of the students I have suffer from the inability to use punctuation or use it correctly. I wish I could make this book a requirement; it's a "zero tolerance approach to punctuation" which I think is great! I also wish punctuation was the only problem, but most of the time the grammar is worse. That's when I would like to recommend "The Elements of Style."

I should share some of the hilarious mistakes but somehow that just seems wrong. There are days I really struggle to keep reading the essays they turn in. That's when I wander over to facebook and blogger instead!

(I am in no way suggesting that my use of punctuation is always correct... I have the book for a reason.)

Love 146

2009-05-14T16:34:00.003-04:00

I want for nothing, yet so many are starving, without jobs, a roof over their heads or someone to care for them. I often forget that I live in luxury compare to so many around the world. People struggle to live on pennies, to find food, clothing, shoes etc. I am reminded that my voice can be heard, and yet some people, even children, are given no voice whatsoever.

Our church has just begun a partnership with Love 146, an organization working to end child sex slavery, exploitation and trafficking. According to their web site- “2 children are sold every minute,” and “UNICEF now believes that the number of children trafficked annually is 1.2 million.” Love 146 is working to end this through aftercare and prevention, going directly into southeast asia. One of our pastors recently took a trip and saw these brothels where children are forced to “work.” It breaks my heart to think of children as young as 7 and 8 being sold, pinned with a number, then made to “serve” up to 20 clients a day. It’s something we don’t want to think about, it’s something I want to say doesn’t happen, but the truth is, it does.

I often find that I distance myself from things like this. Why? Because I cannot imagine the possibility of it and because I ask myself what can I really do about it? These social injustices sometimes feel so big and numerous, and I feel so small. I realize there are a lot of things I can do right now- support, pray, raise awareness. I know this is not an uplifting topic, but this burden is too heavy for one to carry alone. The organization needs our support, these children need our love.

Check out the Love 146 web site- watch the media videos- and pray for the millions of children, and others, being exploited and trafficked around the world.

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T09:11:00.002-04:00

I know that a lot of people will claim that they have the best mother, and maybe somehow we’re all right. My guess is that moms are meant for certain people- It’s just the way God tends to work. I always knew how blessed I was, even when I didn’t say it. Since becoming a mom I’m even more aware of how incredible my mom is.

There’s so much I could say about her, but I’ll try to be concise.

Somehow she’s managed to live amongst a lot of frustration. What I mean by that is two fold- first my dad can easily be frustrating (some may understand what I mean by that) and second since meeting my dad she started working with their family business which is now run by her and my 2 oldest brothers. It’s a rental business, so between constantly going to court to have people evicted to the shear pressure of dealing with people, it can be very hard. I never knew how hard until I got older and could understand.

My mom has a big heart. I’ve seen her compassion for people and I’ve seen her sacrifice for others.

She is patient. I think all I have to say is that she raised Brady and I- both difficult in our own ways. J There were a handful of years in high school that my mom will admit were our difficult years. I struggled with things and I truly believe that I chose to be angry toward the one person I knew would always love me no matter what. I wish I hadn’t gone through that stage, I wish so many things about that time of my life, but I am so blessed because my mom was there through it all- even when I thought I didn’t need her.

My mom is strong. Even before her battle with breast cancer I knew she was strong. She’s taken care (aka spoiled) my dad ever since they’ve been married. More recently, in the last 7 years he’s been through heart surgery, 3/4 years of dialysis, a kidney transplant and I don’t even know how many hospital stays. She’s been there for EVERYTHING. If there could be one thing I wish for her, I would wish that she didn’t remember the 3 days after the transplant. It was a nightmare.

We don’t make things easy for her either. I live in NYC- I’m far away and I know she’s always a little scared of what could happen and Brady is a police officer in Washington DC- also very scary!

My mom is loving. Just ask her 8 grandchildren- who have spent a lot of time at Nanny’s house (James is the only one not close by). She loves every one of them with a special kind of love and treasures the time they spend with her. She attends as many baseball, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball games as she possibly can. What breaks my heart right now is that she has a great-granddaughter who she doesn’t get to see and a granddaughter who has chosen to walk away.

Apparently I can’t be concise when it comes to describing my mom. She’s always called me her rock, but what she doesn’t know is that she’s the solid ground our whole family stands on- without her things would be so unsteady (Please know that I am not, of course, putting my mom in the place of God by saying she is our solid ground.)

So, today I celebrate the wonderful mother God has given me. Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday. I love you mom!!

What a week!

2009-05-05T10:26:00.005-04:00

We've had quite a week! It started off not so great because James was not feeling well. It's time for the molars to come in, and boy did those bottom ones give him some trouble. He had his first fever and the poor thing just couldn't get comfortable. We tried orajel, teething tablets, tylenol, motrin and prayer. Some of those at least allowed him to rest but at times I felt like we were back to the first weeks, waking up throughout the night, seemingly unconsolable. I felt so bad for him.

He would lay on the floor, then roll over and lay on another spot. He had a fever for a couple days then he had his 1 year check-up with shots and a finger prick. The next day he broke out in a rash which seemed to spread all over, but we found out it was because of the fever earlier in the week. In any case, he finally seemed to be getting better and just the last day or two started sleeping regularly again.

My friend Hanna came for a visit, so since James was on the mend, we decided to head to the Bronx Zoo. It was very fun, and James actually enjoyed seeing the animals. This is Jay and James riding the monorail.

He really enjoyed looking at the fish and watching them underwater.

Inside the children's zoo, they sat in a birds nest

and climbed through the log. At first he was a little unsure about it, but he watched a little girl go through and decided it was safe.

He also liked sitting in this play tree

and putting on fox ears.

We went inside the butterfly garden and it was very cool. Unfortunately this is when James decided to take a nap. You can't tell from the pictures but there were butterflies everywhere!

In this shot, you can't see them very well, but they are all over the place!

Then we rode the carousel, and James was a little unsure about how much he actually liked it.

Overall, it was a great zoo trip and we look forward to going again.

Short Post

2009-04-28T15:28:00.003-04:00

My friend, Katy, took a couple pictures of our big boy James while we were in Central Park last weekend. She pulled out her camera and James put on his smile.

He's a happy baby- but I assure you, he does have his moments.

That's all I have for now. Seems I'm at a loss for what else to say.

Happy Birthday James!

2009-04-16T19:41:00.006-04:00

Today we celebrated our baby's first birthday! James, of course, had no idea what was going on but first birthday's are so fun! When he woke up we let him open a couple gifts that Mama Sholes and Grandpa (Jay's parents) brought with them. Like many other kids I've seen there were times when he was interested in the paper and the boxes more than the actual gift.

Jay and I got him this little riding toy and he really seems to love it. He loves to put things in the seat and push all the buttons that make lots of noises. In our small apartment, no matter where you are you can hear Leo's voice over and over and over... :)

After we all got ready we took a long walk down part of 5th avenue then through Central Park. It turned out to be a beautiful day and I'm so glad to see the signs of spring coming through.

This picture was along 5th ave and you can see the ice cream truck in the background... along with spring come the sounds of the ice cream truck :)

I love taking pictures in Central Park. It's an amazing piece of artwork and I love to see it during this time of year! This is the boat pond... no dogs or people allowed :)

James took a good nap along the way- he's learned to nap well in the stroller and usually wakes up when I stop walking :)

This is the famous angel fountain that's seen in a lot of movies... I'm sure it has a official name, but I can't think of it.

Beautiful big trees along the mall,

and lots of blooms along the way.

Then we went to Mickey Mantle's restaurant, a request of Jim's (Jay's dad)- also in honor of opening day at the new Yankee stadium. There were lots of things for James to look at so that kept him busy :)

After lunch James had his 1 year pictures taken and mommy and daddy were suckered into buying more than we planned :(

It's so hard to believe that a year ago today we were at St. Luke's Roosevelt with our newborn baby boy. He brings so much joy to my life, so much love and happiness and I can't imagine our life without him. In the cab ride to the hospital last year I remember thinking that our life would be so different from then on, I just never knew how blessed I would feel to be a mom. I thank my Lord for so many things- among them my husband and my sweet baby James!

Holy Week

2009-04-06T10:16:00.003-04:00

Prior to being here in New York City the church(s) I attended never recognized the Lenten season and the Holy week leading to Easter. Our church here, Apostles, focuses heavily on the 40 days of Prayer during the Lenten season, which is a time for us to "reorient our lives with Jesus and His Kingdom." Yesterday (Sunday) was Palm Sunday the beginning of Holy Week- culminating with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.

Apostles church has been an amazing blessing to us. I am constantly encouraged, challenged and inspired by the words of our community and the life of Christ.

May you spend time in prayer this week focusing on the example Christ gave us, on the love he showed to all people.

I was struck by this prayer from the Common Book of Prayer:

"Oh God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Lunch in the West Village

2009-04-04T20:05:00.004-04:00

Today we used another of our great dine out cards and visited the West Village. We ate at a BBQ place called Bone Lick Park (I think). For NYC it was roomy and had a great brunch menu but we opted to order BBQ since that's what it was known for.

Jay felt the need to have a coke, but he didn't know why :)

and James ate left over pizza and some of my mashed potatoes.

Sometimes he didn't even use his hands.

Geez... I can't take him anywhere! But, as you can see, he was proud of himself!

A Fun Day

2009-03-27T15:34:00.005-04:00

After several days of cold weather, we finally had some decent improvement! So James and I were off to the park.

He's finally stable enough to walk around and explore. I kind of follow behind him with the stroller and let his curiosity lead. There isn't much he can actually do without help, but he still loves it.

Here he found the drain holes interesting (and dirty)

He watched little birds

He was a little hesitant to go out in the midst of all the big kids

and came back to look at the birds :)

This red rolling thing kept his attention for a while. In the picture he looks concerned but he was just squinting :)

This video was taken this morning. Jay and I began to notice how tall James was getting- he can reach the countertop and stovetop, and now we see he can reach the door handle. So, if I don't have the 3 upper locks locked this is what he does. Luckily he can't reach the elevator button!

End of a trial

2009-03-25T08:38:00.003-04:00

Today I celebrate my mom's final chemo treatment. I wish I could be there with her but I know she is surrounded by family and friends who will celebrate the end of this very trying time. There is still radiation treatment ahead but the effects on her will be very different. Her hair is already growing in- and much to our surprise we think she'll beat James hands down in that department.

This picture was taken at Christmas, with 6 of mom's 8 grandchildren. Jude, Brady's boy, was not there and Taylor, the oldest, was not there. Mom also has a great-granddaughter! Taylor has a little girl named Layla, and even though we don't know Layla and don't see Taylor we all love her, pray for her and I think about her everyday.

Mom and James
This is Jude, Brady's little boy- he just turned five this week!

I'm so glad this is over for my mom. She's been through so many ups and downs these last couple months and I know when she walks away from that chemo treatment today she will feel a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Thank you Lord for the strength you give and for the wonderful model you've given me. I praise you for your healing power and continued provisions.

Blessings :)

2009-03-24T09:06:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted anything in a while because there hasn't been much going on. We had to opportunity to go to another basketball game at the Garden and James cheered on the Mountaineers! He also managed to charm some employees with his charisma and down right cuteness :)

We have been going for walks everyday, but it's still cold so James has to be bundled up. This is the coat uncle Brady gave him for Christmas. He is much more comfortable in this one than the one we used to put on him. The old one had a marshmallow effect :)
Believe it or not, James does have his cranky days. Sometimes I blame it on incoming teeth and other times I just laugh and tell him he'll get over it; that he can't have everything he wants- not the trash can, or the computer cords, or the camera. I know it's awful but he'll learn eventually!
And two minutes later, he's happy because he doesn't even remember what it is he wanted so badly. (In case you wondered... James enjoys giving himself a bath while drinking from his cup. He likes to spit it back out through his teeth and let it run down his chin. Thus the wet shirt.)
These are some of the greatest moments though- even the little tantrums. He's a sweet baby and I feel so blessed!
Changing subjects- Lately, some song lyrics have been on my mind. A couple weeks ago we sang this song at church- "A thousand times I've failed, still your mercy remains. And should I stumble again still I'm caught in your grace. Everlasting, your light will shine when all else fades; Never-ending, your glory goes beyond all fame. Your will above all else/ my purpose remains, the art of losing myself in bringing you praise. In my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control, Consume me from the inside out. Let justice and praise become my embrace, to love you from the inside out Lord."

Another song that I listened to this week is from an artist, Brett Dennen titled "There is so much more." He says- In a world of suffering why should I be so blessed? And that is often what I ask myself.

Date Night!

2009-03-10T15:55:00.010-04:00

Jay and I were over-due for a night out... way over-due! So, since a favorite actress of mine was making a debut in a broadway show, Jay bought tickets for us to see "Guys and Dolls." First we used a

nother of our Dinner Cards and ate at Nocello, a sweet little italian place in the theatre district. It was delicious and we even split some Tiramisu :)

Lauren Graham was Miss Adelaide.

This is after the show- She was so nice and

sweet to everyone.

It's always nice to find out that celebrities

you like, are actually really nice people!!

I loved the show! (Jay said it was okay, but

it wasn't really his thing I guess)

This past weekend we had amazing weather in the city! Finally it felt like spring :)

So Jay and I went for a long walk- from our place on 3rd and 101st to Park Ave and 57th street and back- a total of 84 blocks :)

We stopped by the 72nd street park at the entrance to Central Park and let James get out and walk around. The only thing he can really do is swing, but I think he enjoyed just getting out of the stroller.

He's such a happy baby!

My two favorite boys :)

On our way home, Jay got a hot dog from the famous Papaya King. A treat he enjoys occasionally- I was tempted to stop by Crumbs (a great cupcake shop) and Tasti-delight (for ice cream) BUT I didn't and it was hard to pass by!!

It was a great date night followed by a beautiful weekend... now I sit waiting for the rain to pass and spring to come permanently.

Play date with the Littles :)

2009-03-03T17:42:00.005-05:00

Our good friends, the Littles, had us over for lunch and it was a great time for us to see little Jack who is 2 months old. He's such a sweet boy, his cheeks are adorable and although you can't see it here he has the brightest blue eyes ever!

James just wanted to touch his face, especially his eyes. It was funny :)

They have a great playroom in their building so we took James down there for a while to play and he had a blast. It's so funny to look at little Jack and think James was that little just 8 months ago. They grow and develop so fast. Pete was asking us what stage we've liked most with James and I couldn't answer. Every stage is a joy and a learning experience. It's so fun to play with him now, to see his face light up when he sees us, to hear him really laugh, and to see him learning (or destroying) all the time. I'm sure I'll enjoy every stage he goes through (I'm not so sure about the teenage years, but I'll love him nonetheless). What a joy he is!!

These are a couple pictures from the playroom :)

He loved these foam play mats and loved playing peek-a-boo through the tunnel.

A Food Affair

2009-02-26T09:11:00.006-05:00

The sheer number of places to eat in New York City is over-

whelming.

Jay and I always have a hard time choosing one, and even though we have favorites I often feel like I should attempt to try them all simply because they're available.

This Christmas we were given a really neat gift. It's called The Diner's Deck. It's 52 cards, each one describes 52 different restaurants in the city, and each one is a $10 gift certificate. So far we've used 5- we try not to eat out much but we treat ourselves once a week (only because they expire at the end of 2009.) It's been fun to choose a card and try a new place- they're all different kinds of food- vegan, spanish, indian, american etc. in all different areas of the city. Yesterday we went to Union Square and tried a spanish restaurant called "Pipa." It was one of the most beautiful places we've been- exposed brick, exposed hardwood beams, and in addition to being a restaurant there must have been some kind of light shop in the back because hanging from the ceiling was a vast array of chandeliers. They were beautiful, antique looking, some small, some big, hanging at different levels all over the place. I wish I had been able to take a picture, but I didn't have my camera, so maybe I'll have to go back :)

Okay- that's it... more dining experiences to come.

(in case you are interested, Manhattan is not the only city they have... check it out www.cityshuffle.com)

A boy thing?

2009-02-24T16:41:00.009-05:00

There are times I think James might be trying to tell me something. For instance, when he tries to push the buttons on the DVD player or pull the books off the bookshelf and I say “James, No” in the most calm and assertive way possible (and yes those are words used by “The Dog Whisperer”) James looks at me with a grin, shakes his head back and forth and stretches his hand out toward me. It wasn’t until yesterday that I took that gesture to mean “stay where you are mom.” You see, typically, I’ll say no once and if he doesn’t leave whatever it is alone I’ll get up and move him away from it. He started saying no (shaking his head back and forth a long time ago) and for a while I don’t think he knew what it meant, but when I say no to him I shake my head, so now he shakes his back at me. He does it during meal time with certain foods, when I drain the water out of his bath, and when I get up to move him away from whatever no-no he’s into. Granted I think it’s funny, but I stifle my laugh and wait until the deed is done before I tell him how stinkin’ cute he is.

Here’s something else and maybe it’s a boy thing, but I don’t know. James dislikes order. I’m almost sure of it. He does not like his toys to be put away in the basket. He does not like his books to be on the shelf, or his clothes to be in the dresser, or the blankets to be in the drawer under his bed. If there is something he can take out of something else, he’ll find it and simply remove it. He doesn’t necessarily want to play with it, or do anything spectacular with it, he just wants it out of place. He also likes to open the kitchen cabinets- all of them that he can reach. Then he just looks at them. He walks from one end to other and just opens up the cabinet doors. Luckily there aren’t that many but still, it’s amusing. On an ordinary day, I will clean up behind him 3 or 4 times. I’ve considered just leaving it, but it gives him something to do and he isn’t really hurting anything. I just don’t get it. Now, if I could just get him to learn to enjoy putting things back as much as he enjoys taking them out I may be on to something. I think I’ll work on that!

On a different note- James is walking! He still prefers to crawl on occasion because it's faster, but he can do it when he wants to. I'll attempt to post a little video... and by little I mean my battery died so I only got 5 seconds.

Prayers are answered

2009-02-23T08:52:00.004-05:00

Sometimes people say "I'll pray for you" and while you know they mean well, most likely they won't remember when they get around to it. Over the last couple months when people have said to me, "I'm praying for your mom," I have believed every single one of them because I've seen what the power of prayer can do. In September my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. In just one year she developed cancer in the breast and lymph nodes- it was a rapidly growing cancer that surprised her doctors. Because of it, they decided to do chemo first and those 4 rounds of chemo were harder on her than any of us expected. She ended up being admitted to the hospital 3 times with pneumonia and dehydration. Once that was over she started on a different type of chemo. This was not nearly as harsh and difficult for her, but still had some side effects that leave her feeling not so great. During these 12 rounds they noticed some swelling around the breast and lymph nodes and decided to do surgery right away. So, without much warning she underwent a double mastectomy with removal of 1o lymph nodes under the right arm. She still has a long road ahead of her, but through all of this she is staying strong, has learned to rely on others, and has come out cancer free! That's the report from pathology and even though that's the case she still has 4 rounds of chemo, a month and a half of radiation, and 9 months of another drug which is injected every 3 weeks!

Prayer has brought my mom through so much, kept her strong, and allowed her to see how much she is loved! I'm so blessed and feel proud to call her mom.

This time around...

2009-02-19T09:29:00.000-05:00

I decided to just do it already and start a blog, everyone else is. Isn't that a phrase we all tried to tell ourselves we'd never give in to :)

I'm not sure what I'll tell you about- living in NYC maybe, the funny things I see every day on these streets, the not so funny things I think about, or maybe I'll tell you about James. He's 10 months old now and I love him more every day- even when we wakes up with poop up his back. Gross, isn't it!

There is no telling what I'll come up with for this blog- but I can assure you one thing... it'll be truth, sometimes random and not so interesting, but truth nonetheless. After all, would it matter otherwise?