My husband already blogged the mood very well, so I will stick to the facts...

American Museum of Natural History...

  

 

John's Pizza for dinner...

A good, snuggly night's sleep...  (well, a few hours anyway - before they were both in our bed!)

Easter Breakfast...  Room Service Style!



Egg Hunt at Auntie Frannie & Uncle Carlos'...

In short - it was a weekend of family, tradition, good (really good!) food, memories made and remembered and so much love.
I don't have the words.  I just love my family so much.  I am so blessed, so grateful and so, so happy.

Wednesday of this week is the last day of March.
March is always such a long month.  Nothing to do, nothing to see, crappy weather.  But I really loved it this year.  It seems to have flown by, our social calendar was pretty busy and with our "sell the house" initiative shaping up, I've not been bored at all!
So, it's almost over now and then comes April with it's buds and green and sunny afternoons, cool evenings.
This will be my last Wed AM weigh-in for March.  I did ok this month.  I did not lose 2 pounds each week but I lost at least 1, sometimes 3 and I'm ok with that.
I plan to hit the gym every day this week since I will have a very food-filled weekend coming up.  Plus, I haven't seen my family since Christmas so I want to feel super-strong when I see them on Easter and hear them ooh & ah over my hotness.

Easter Weekend will be spent in NYC.  Marriott Marquis on Saturday, Auntie Frannie's on Sunday.  If the weather is nice we'll stroll through Central Park, maybe hit the zoo.  I am not a fan of "the zoo" in general but I've never been to the one in Central Park and it is a very "kid-friendly" thing to do.  If it is cold, rainy or if we just would prefer it, we'll go to The Museum of Natural History.  I think we're leaning that way anyway, what with Wyatt's devotion to all things dinosaur-related these days.
Honestly, if you have never been to this museum, you need to get in your car immediately.  It is, by far, the greatest non-art museum in the world.  Kids of all ages, seriously, get out of your house right now.  The whale alone is worth the trip.

My parents will be at my aunt's for Easter.  Nice since we haven't seen them since their trip south just after Christmas.  I don't miss them much during the winter because I talk to them all the time and I'm pretty used to them being gone.  But in the last week or so of their retreat I miss them terribly, probably because I know it's only a few days till we see them again.
But, as always, I will see them for 20 minutes, see that nothing's changed and be ready for another 3 months to go by before we meet again.
I kid.  I kid.
Sort of.

I am totally swiping this idea from a friend, but it suits my mood - and while I've done it before, I don't think I've done it this well!
Loved her post today!!

Things that make me feel happy:

• getting Abby to school on time, with breakfast in her belly.
• hearing Abby & Wyatt playing together.  Even when laughter turns to tears or screeching, it's still awesome.
• my mom-friends.  Far & Near, they make me feel normal and grounded...  even when I am pretty sure I am insane and flighty.
• having the cabinets & fridge full of food that everyone likes, the laundry done & put away and the house clean.  All at the same time.
• exercising.  I would never have thought that, but getting sweaty and feeling strong leaves me feeling very happy and confident.  
• the sound of my husband's footsteps coming towards me, be it up the stairs or down the hall - I love to know he's on his way.
• shopping.  I know, it's so cliche but it's really true.  Buying stuff makes me happy.
• packing and organizing.  labeling.  throwing stuff out.  giving stuff away.  It's all the same, it's very therapeutic.
• feeling understood.
• eating.  
• sitting on the couch, watching tv, doing nothing.
• drinking coffee.
• Easter.  Not only because of Spring and NYC and family but because of what Easter is, what it means.  It is an awesome celebration.
• Book Club.
• House Hunting.
• Yoga.

There's probably more and I may do these more often...  Life is Good.

Just over 3 weeks ago my BFF had another baby boy.  Once again, she was a trooper and pushed that little man out with no epidural.  This is an amazing thing to me.  As it should be to you.
Speaking as a woman that couldn't make it beyond 4 centimeters without caving and begging for drugs, seeing my tiny friend squeeze 2 fat boys out with no more than moral support and the stubborn will that God graced her with pretty much blows my mind.
I have a lot of opinions on the whole "second baby" thing.  The way people treat you when you're pregnant "again" versus the first time around.  The way people treat the new birth.  The way people treat the first baby once the second baby arrives.  And one day, I might blog my opinions on these topics.  If you are a mother (or maybe a father) of more than one child, I am sure you have your thoughts on the topic and I am not in the mood to be controversial at this time.
My point is this - it's been over three weeks and despite three attempts, I still haven't gotten out to NY to see my new little love.  I am so sad that I haven't held him, smelled him, hugged my friend and looked her in the eye to tell her how proud I am of her.
I already love him - I have since the day her #1 told me that there was a baby in his mama's belly, in my parents' yard on my birthday.
I'll get there and I know she understands.  But I can't help but think that she feels the same tinge of sadness that I do for having missed our visits thus far.
This is the only picture I have so far, but it says it the best, I think:  A loving, devoted mama with her boys.  I don't think I need to say more.  Just look:

 

In other news...
It's worth noting that my husband has reinvented his website into his own Blog.  He has noted what a therapeutic effect it has on me and thought that, perhaps, he would try his hand at blogging.
He thinks that he has nothing to say,  I said that he has plenty to say, he just doesn't care what other people think of it.
He thinks he's not funny.  I think he's hilarious and his writing style is very much the way he speaks.  Dry sarcasm mixed with witty intelligence.
Don't trust me on this.  After all, he is the smartest, handsomest, funniest man in the world as far as I'm concerned.  Go check him out.  It's still new, he hasn't been writing it for more than a few days, so - Congratulations - you'll be in on the ground floor.

Over the past few years we have celebrated Christmas with my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins on the weekend prior to the actual holiday.  That day was this past Saturday.
It used to be that we ("we" being my family pre-marriage - parents & sibs) would gather with my mom's family on this weekend.  Then, after we all had kids of our own and sort of spread out across the states, it became our only day to celebrate together.
That has made it the official "Christmas" with my parents and siblings and a day that I truly treasure.  I absolutely love the day with my family.

If it snowed, we'd be crazy to drive in dangerous conditions.
But we'd be crazy to want to cancel our day together, too.
So - we gathered earlier than planned.

Our party was supposed to start at 3 with a kick-off (of appetizers and gifts) at my Aunt Carol's at 11:30.  The whole day was planned.  The gifts were wrapped, the cookies were baked.  I made a pie and a salad, Jay made (awesome) sausage & peppers.
With the impending blizzard - my aunt graciously allowed us to cancel our plans there and we headed to my parents' house for 11.
Everyone was there before noon (we were actually there by 10:30!) and the day went off without a hitch!

We sang our carols, ate our chow, opened our gifts and really enjoyed each other for a good, long time.  And then we all got home safe & sound in time for what promised to be (and didn't diappoint in this neck of the woods!) a fabulous snow storm.

The thing about my family that makes it so very special is so very simple:
We really like each other.
The enjoyment we get from just being together is priceless.

Sometimes,  you have to take a step back, really observe what is right in front of you and realize - honestly and deeply - how luck you really are.
My family loves me.
I love them.
And we had the merriest Christmas.

Abby said it best - "I got everything I ever wanted!"

So did I.

 

A very special Thank You to OmaReenie for the Mets glasses.

To quote Jay, "I just hope we don't choke when we drink out of them!"

Gramps.  Our patriarch at 90-somethin' years old.  He's gotten considerably quieter & the ride to Brewster isn't as esasy as it once was, but his presence is still lovingly anticipated and appreciated.

I just realized that "A Quart" is one QUARTer of a gallon.  Should I be admitting that?
I mean - I always knew it was 4 cups, and I knew there were 16 cups in a gallon...  I just never "got it".
Sort of like, "Trust Sleepy's...  for the Rest of your life."
I have been hearing those commercials for what seems like decades but it was only recently (maybe a year or 2 ago) that I really "got it".
Rest = Sleep.

One of my favorite things about Christmas time (and believe me, the list is too long for just one blog entry) is my annual trip to the Hallmark store.
I love choosing the cards that we send to the parents, Godparents, grandparents...  some years I go a little nutty, some years I keep it simple.  But I do love choosing each one.
I also love picking out an ornament for each kid - I try to pick one that symbolizes that year for each kid.  Last year Abby got a Disney Princess ornament, Wyatt got an Elmo.
This year they will likely get Diego & Dora.
Let's face it - they could get Princesses & Elmo again - but I try to change it up.
I have a few gifts that I choose each year for special people, too.  I could order them online but I enjoy going, by myself, choosing, paying and walking away with a bag or two.
I love Hallmark.
I know I could do Carlton or even just the local pharmacy for my cards and probably get away cheaper - but it's all about traditions this time of year, isn't it?

Another favorite thing about Christmas is what seems to be becoming my Annual NYC Bus Trip.  Living up here in the sticks, I am surrounded by people who have never even been to New York City.  And there were a few years after getting married where I didn't get there.  But in the past 4 years or so, we have made it a priority to get to NYC.

We love going down for Easter weekend and were totally bummed last year when we missed it.  (Yes, I'm already looking forward to it this year and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!)
And this bus trip that my town's Parks & Rec department hosts is a great way to get down there, very easily.  And at $40 you can't beat it.  Gas, parking...  head ache.  Or train (plus driving and parking).  Sure, the bus may make me a little nauseous - but it's nothing a deep breath of nasty NYC air and a Dirty Water Dawg upon arrival can't cure.

This is last year with my good friends, Joanne & Debbie.

(I know - maybe I can find shorter, skinnier friends to hang out with, right?)

This is the year before with (l-r)

Frannie, Nancy, Stina, Gina, me, Stef, Doris Lynda

My baby boy will be two on Thursday.
And I will be married to my husband for 8 years the following Tuesday.
It's a pretty exciting time of year around here!!

Wyatt.
In 2 years this boy has completely turned my world upside down.
My daughter was calm and sweet and peaceful and social and happy - from birth.

My son is wild and willful and busy and challenging and charming and moody.  He wants what he wants and he wants it his way and immediately.  Then, once he has it, he will throw it aside and move on to the next thing that he wants.  He will do something naughty, like toss aside said object - whether it is a toy car or a banana or his grandmother - and when I am about to reprimand him he will cast a glance at me with such charm and 'tude that my heart melts and I feel my mouth turning up at the corners before the words of discipline begin to form on my lips.
He is adorable.  He is smart.  He is funny.  He is a charmer as if he invented the term.  And I am so unbelievably, upside down and inside out in LOVE with him!  He completely owns me.

Yes, I know it is my job to teach him to use his powers for good.
And each day I am trying to do just that.  I want this beautiful and perfect boy to be just that - and I love learning how to work him and mold him and make him the perfect being that he is destined to be but Boy!  It is hard work with this one!
For example - if he is doing something that he should not be, such as playing with a decoration or sticking his finger int he outlet, I will say "Wyatt, that is not a toy.  Get away from there!  Wyatt...   One...    Two..." and before I can say it, he will yell "THREE!" and run to me with joy.
So, I know that works...  but is it working the "right way"?  Does that even matter?

And when it doesn't work, and he is getting away with it - he knows that, too.  He sees me coming a mile away.  I count, he ignores.  I lower my tone to that "mom growl", he giggles.  I begin to move toward him to "remove and distract" and he takes off running, laughing and cackling all over the house.

See what I mean?  He is hysterical!  And that is infectious!!  He has fun with everything he does.  And that is a difficult kind of "difficult" to reign in.
So, I find myself getting more and more patient.  More and more lenient.  More and more "he's-a-2-year-old-boy-this-is-to-be-expected."

That boy will sit at the table, pick up his fork and then eat with his other hand.

That boy will say "excuse me, all done" and get down from the table then come around the other side and eat from my plate.

Phew.  What a boy.  I love that little man.  And I find myself loving my mother-in-law in a way that is very different than anything I ever knew before.  I see my son and I picture her looking at her son...  and I know.  I understand.  And I am grateful to her for being as good to me as she is.
Because ladies - whomever comes along and wins the heart of MY baby boy!!!  LOOK OUT!

Marriage.
and Connecticut.
My wedding date was October 20, 2001.  I always thought that was cool because the abbreviation was "10-20-01".  Get it?  10-2001.

This was us the moment we were introduced as "Mr. & Mrs.", we burst through the doors into the reception and I was so excited - yes, I was literally hopping.

Anyway.  I grew up in Brewster, NY and lived with my parents until the morning I left to get married.  I love that I did that.  I love that we waited to live together until we were husband and wife.
When we got home from Aruba on Saturday night, a week married, I walked into our apartment for the first time I could call it "ours".

I officially became a CT resident.

With my parents on my Wedding Day.

Here we are, 8 years later and I have lived in Connecticut long enough to only kinda-sorta-sometimes still feel like a New Yorker.  When asked "where are you from" I no longer say "NY".  I say "Connecticut".  And I am proud of being a "New Englander".

But it's weird.  Because I am not, technically, a New Yorker nor am I technically a "New Englander".

All of a sudden, at 33 years old, I feel like a transient.  Like I don't have a "from" anymore.
I used to take a lot of pride in being a New Yorker.  And I resented people who moved TO the greatest state on the Earth and called themselves New Yorkers.
I had plans to move to the city, work in restaurants and audition until my big break came.
I even had a deal with my BFF that if we didn't get married by the time we were 30 we would move together and live like old ladies in the city, sit on lawn chairs on the sidewalk and love life.
We did get married, we did have kids and we're still BFF's - but we'll never sit in our lawn chairs on the concrete.

Anyway - October is a big month here at 131.  I love it.
I love my life, wherever I am...  it's who I am with that makes it amazing.  And I am with amazing people.