Happy ?? Holidays.

It's been a little rough around here lately. I've been struggling; Noah's been struggling; we've been struggling to like each other all day long. We dealt with some major jet lag for at least 6 days after our return to NC. Right after Noah started sleeping through the night again, he stopped napping. UGH! If there is one thing I cannot muster through it's a no nap day. Noah has never been a good napper and if he doesn't nap no one in the S household is happy- NO ONE.
 
I take Noah not napping very personally. It's anyone's fault but Noah's. For more than a year of his life, I was convinced the reason he didn't nap was because the front door opened too loudly, the Editor walked up the stairs too heavily, I didn't bounce him on the God-forsaken exercise ball long enough, I turned to the left instead of the right when I put him in the crib. Now I pretty much know he doesn't nap because he needs to take care of some bathroom business that he likes to do in his crib. (Potty training is still going well- an accident every 7-14 days but we are not nap or sleep trained... because we haven't even begun to go there yet.)
 
I want the Holidays to be fun and jolly and for us to do fun things together. But when Noah hasn't napped in 6 days he doesn't like me, I don't like him and we are both misbehaving and it's not fun. I've felt like the fun things I've planned go unappreciated (hmm... by a two year old- do they appreciate?). It's not fair to anyone.
 
So I've been trying to set up some fun activities in the morning before we can both go off the deep end.
 

Fingerprint Candy Cane & Reindeer Feet (courtesy of Pinterest)

I have to include some throw back photos just because I love looking back at my little boy.

 

Last year we made salt dough ornaments.

Salt dough doesn't taste good...

We actually decorated salt dough magnets at a JCC Hanukkah function this year too; but Tucker ate them (anyone remember my post on how Noah & Tucker are very similar, yup I still stand by that).

 

This year we made cinnamon ornaments.

Noah wanted to wear an apron, just like Momma. He was so excited.

excited face

And our finished products. We haven't painted them yet, but I think we will some morning soon.

And for the record, Noah did nap today and yesterday! I think we've hit either 5 or 6 naps for the month of December now and we can have a pleasant afternoon.
 
Salt Dough Recipe
 
Cinnamon Dough Recipe
The cinnamon ornaments are more fragile than the salt dough. A few of mine broke before I could get them off the pan. I also had a hard time making holes for the ribbon with the cinnamon ones so I bought some magnets to put on the back. But I found the cinnamon dough easier to work with initially. It's more fun to use applesauce and to shake in the cinnamon.
 

And Now We Can Go Anywhere

This is literally what I said on Saturday when we were in the Fast, Park, & Relax van back to our car, "Well now we can go anywhere."
 
We flew from Raleigh Durham to Dallas-Fort Worth to Kahului in MAUI HAWAII! With Noah at 27 months. And then we sunned, beached, Luau-ed, snorkeled, parasailed (well just me), swam in the Pacific, and played in the Pirate Ship for 7 days before we flew from Kahului to Honolulu to Dallas-Fort Worth to Raleigh Durham.
 
We've been planning this trip for a good 10 months with full on discussions if we should even be going with a two year old. It's a partial work trip for the Editor (four 6-8 hour days of working away from us- not out of the hotel room) and we have been before. When you only have one child it's impossible to know what kind of 2 year old you'll have when your kid isn't even 18 months old yet. Plus the flights. Honestly, a lot of it was the flights. But in the end we just said, "We should go while we can go, you never know what the future brings." Before we left I emailed my mother-in-law that it would be the best vacation if 1- Noah doesn't pee on me on the plane and 2- Noah doesn't wake up at 2:30 in the mornings (it's a 5 hour time change!).

So excited to get on the plane.

Well I just want to brag and say Noah is a rock star on vacation. The Editor and I woke up at 5am and we got Noah up at 6 on the day we left for "the beach." Our flight to DFW was really pretty good; Noah & I were separated from the Editor on all our flights out. It was actually Noah's longest flight to date at around 3 hours and we landed around lunch time. And then proceeded to get delayed while a woman told me not once but twice that Noah "is quite active isn't he?" At this point Noah had not used the potty in 7 hours! The Editor and I took him to the potty at least 7 times in DFW before we had to get on the 8.5 hour flight to Maui and he did NOT go. So I put a pull up on him while he cried. I had extra clothes for both of us, but I do not want to get peed on like one of the Butler assistant coaches' wife was by her daughter on our flight. And you know what, Noah did pee in the airplane bathroom! Every single time. He kept the pull up dry. He also managed to "call the lady," as in press the flight attendant button every.single.time we were in the bathroom. The one thing Noah would not do in the pull up or airplane bathroom was #2. The only time we had any issues on the flight was for about 12 minutes when he HAD TO GO but didn't want to. There were some tears but once I gave him permission to go in his pull up we were good. Noah even clapped when we touched down in Maui around 5:15pm local time (10:15pm EST). To this point he had still never slept on a flight.
 
The best part of the flight was when I realized that you not only have to BUY/RENT the movies from Amazon but you have to download them, taking about an hour, while connected to the internet, before you can actually watch them. I researched movies and rented them and then never downloaded them so Noah had no movies for the flight! He watched a 4 minutes clip of Thomas the Tank Engine countless times and played lots of apps.
 

Once we got in the rental car (a sexy Ford Tarus thank you very much) and headed on our hour long drive to the hotel, Noah passed out quickly. Once we got to our hotel, got checked in, we parked and unloaded all our bags and then tried to find our room. The resort was huge and we got horribly lost. Noah was so out of it, it was after midnight EST. While we are running around and asking people where to go Noah's pull up exploded on the Editor. I felt so bad for Noah but I don't think he even noticed. He didn't say a word while we looked for our room, got in, gave him a super quick rinse in the two person jetted tub that only Noah got to use, and got him into the pack and play.
 
The weirdest part of this whole thing is as we step off the parking garage elevator absolutely exhausted and loaded down with bags and a half asleep toddler two people say to us, "Did you go to Carolina?" We thought they were being smart asses because we couldn't find our room. Turns out I went to college with them and the wife lived in the apartment below mine for two years. We ran into them and others from college all week long. Turns out they left their two kids at home.
 

We went to bed at 9pm local time, which is 2am EST and woke up at 7:30am local time tired but adjusted. Coming home... not so much!

Looking out our window our first morning. Happy to be at the beach!

How did we travel? I had a suitcase, handbag, Lands End Large Tote, and Noah in the Ergo. Noah had an adorable Skip Hop Elephant backpack, and the Editor had a suitcase, Pottery Barn Kids duffel bag, laptop bag, and insanely heavy carseat. We don't travel light!

18 hours into our travel day- landed in MAUI

Noah did sleep on the way back home and I did download a few movies for him too. The gate agents felt sorry for us this time too and we actually got to sit together on all three flights. We left Maui at 5:15 Friday night and arrived back in our driveway at 12:30 Saturday afternoon. But we cannot wait to go back and even though we've been jet lagged it was worth it- absolutely, definitely worth it!
 

The hits just keep coming

I haven't updated Sandy Pages in a long, long time. Partially because we got hella busy in the Fall with all the fun fall activities (pumpkins, hayrides, Halloween, Homecoming, football games) but partly because I spilled coffee in my netbook computer's keyboard and it promptly died. The funniest part is later on the same day, I tried typing and was getting all sorts of gibberish. So I restarted the computer, and tried all sorts of other things. Later that night, I complained to the Editor about it. And only then, 12 hours later did I actually say out loud, "Oh well, I did spill coffee in the keyboard this morning." Um yeah, that would be me.

So I was without a computer for a few days, and then began the learning process on a new device. Of which I still haven't mastered by any stretch. I did join the Editor on the Apple bandwagon and our house is now PC free, though. Not sure how I feel about this yet.

But then we had some other happenings at the homestead. One involving the Editor being stuck on the couch for about 4 hours with a back injury. It involved frantic calls to doctors, chiropractors, friends who were doctors, and knocking on neighbors doors. Luckily it did not end with us calling 911 or an ambulance but we were almost there. Noah took most of it in stride as we tried to keep everything light and calm. Two of our neighbors pulled the Editor off the couch and helped him make a very slow walk to the car. The babysitter, who graciously dropped everything, was still a few minutes away. So our neighbors stayed with Noah for those few minutes. Now Noah knew them but they haven't spent a lot of time together, and certainly none alone. The Editor and I left with no tears from Noah. But apparently when the babysitter arrived and the neighbors went to leave, Noah started to cry. Not only did he cry, but he grabbed one of their legs and wouldn't let go. Of course, today we walked past their house and they were outside. I said to Noah, "Look there are your friends," and he could care less again. Kinda hilarious! The Editor is getting better every day, but definitely still in recovery mode.

And then today, I go to heat up something in the microwave and I keep adding time, and adding time. Before I realize it, I've been trying to heat up the same water for about 5-6 minutes. It's still ice cold. So yeah, now we need a new microwave? Add dishwasher to the list bc that POS hasn't worked correctly since we moved in.

So that's what's new in these parts. I will go back and detail our Fall fun because it was a lot of fun and Noah is just too cute to let all the fun Fall photo opts go unblogged.

 

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

This week has been busy.  And as with most weeks, there was the good, the bad, and the even worse.  

Two goods this week though:   A few weeks ago I was working on a Shutterfly Photo Book for Noah's second year.  Literally from his first birthday to his second birthday.  I spent a lot of time on it; like close to 30 hours.  And I spent a lot of time whining about it; like probably 30 hours (Here & Here again).  I got an email saying it was going to arrive sometime between today (Saturday) and Thursday but it came yesterday! And it looks amazing.  It looks exactly like it did on the computer, the fonts, colors, photos, sizes.  I worried that after putting in so much time that I would be disappointed.  But I'm not.  I love it.  I'm glad I did it and stuck with it after I nearly quite 100 times.  Though I should probably start working on Noah's 3rd year now...

The other good:  I ran a 5K this morning.  I haven't run a race since The 4 on the 4th race on... the 4th of July.  I've been running regularly (September runs) and running with Noah in the stroller since it's nicer out during the day and darker out when he goes to bed.  But since the American Tobacco Trail is closed, I'm having to run a tougher course (my hilly 'hood) with a 28.1lb toddler and a 25lb stroller.  My runs have been over 10 minute miles crossing the 11 minute mile mark! So a few weeks ago I was supposed to run a 5k and I totally backed out when I found out it started at 8am. This morning, I woke up at 4am to a crazy thunder storm, open windows, and a barking dog.  But I've only run 4 races where it hasn't rained, today's race started at 9am, and it's literally 8 minutes from my house.  Systems were a go!  The temperature outside when we started was actually pretty good, mid 60s but it was pouring about 3 minutes before we started. It rained off and on during the race, but only poured again once.  The temperature did continue to rise so it was warmer by the end.  I didn't really look at the course map before the race (I don't look at restaurant menus either) and didn't realize the race starts and ends in a weird spot, at least a quarter mile away from where the Editor and Noah were waiting for me to finish.  So I knew I had to save some energy to actually walk to the car.  I had no idea what my time would be, considering my training times were so high.  But I was happy with my time; really happy actually.  I finished 27:50 which is a minute slower than my fastest 5K time ever (Eve Carson Nov. 2011 26:53).  This is the first time I haven't improved my time from my last race, but it's been 11months so that's okay with me!

The Bad:  I didn't finish my book club book.  Nightwoods by Charles Frazier.  I know this isn't a big deal to most people, but it was really embarrassing to me.  I always finish even if I hate the book. I had 'READ" on my to-do list every single day for a week.  And I was hosting!  My book clubbers were surprised too.  One even said, "I would have thought you finished this book in an hour because it only took me a day!"  Frazier's writing style is hard for me to speed read my way through.  I'm not sure if I'll finish it or not.  I know all the details, and I got it electronically from the library (it's already expired, I just haven't turned my wi-fi back on yet) so I'm thinking I'll just let it go... I'm almost ashamed; more embarrassed and really disappointed in myself.

The Ugly:  As I was getting into the car  to go to the 5K this morning, I dropped a Nutragrain bar from my handbag and then another thud. I dropped my iPhone; 391 days after I got it.  In it's Otterbox Commuter case that had a piece break off of it about a month ago.   So the screen shattered into the craziest spider web I've ever seen.  Noah quickly caught wind of what was happening and said, "Oh NO! Mommy's phone is broken.  Mommy fix it!"  I tend to be the fixer of things in our house.  He said it so tearfully it was both sad and cute.  I'm not sure why it was so upsetting to him.  So if anyone is selling their AT&T iPhone 4 as they upgrade to a 5- let me know!  I'll buy it from you.   That's my plan I guess.  The Editor talked to the AT&T people and they advised buy a used one or wait until April when I get a new one.  Maybe this will help me un-plug a bit but it's really annoying!

Tailgating Argyle Style- UNC football

This might be the most harried photo/post ever.  But when I read Melissa's post today over at I Pick Pretty I had to fit time in to link up to What to Wear: Tailgate Edition.  (By the way- love that the ACC is represented in your link up!)

This is the first time in 5 or 6 years that we did not get season tickets to the UNC football games.  We'll still be at a few games but it's a little sad not to be there 6 or 7 Saturdays this fall. It's also a nice to have some of the time back at home.  Our reasoning was that Noah is now 2, so we either pay $50 for 7 Saturdays for him to have a seat or pay off our babysitter's college loans while she watches him for 7 Saturdays.  We just decided to revisit the situation next year and take a year off.  But since I am usually spending 6 or 7 Saturdays in Kenan Stadium at THE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill I do have a tailgate wardrobe.  

In Kenan if you are alumni you dress up. If you are a fan you dress more casually.  Or that's how I see it anyways.  I'm an alumni; the Editor is ... well more than a fan but not an alum.  Let's face it, Argyle is the color of UNC, we are a preppy bunch of people!  If I could I pull off argyle head to toe... well let's just say I'd try it.

The temperature ranges from 100+ to colder (45-50?) and of course, it could be raining.  Here's a few looks I pulled on tonight that I do wear to football games depending on if it's a day game in September or a night game in October/November. 

 I tried to smile in these photos, but I did not steam my dresses/skirt so I look messy!  And I'd be wearing my Rainbows in the barefoot photos.

 

November 26, 2011.  UNC vs Duke

Wearing the black sweater dress and boots from above with a Carolina Blue scarf from India 

(my brother actually brought it back from India)

And Homecoming 2011.  I usually dress down a little bit for Homecoming.  Whenever jello-shots are involved it's better to have jeans on.  Plus it was rainy and cold!  So I'm wearing a Victoria's Secret UNC jersey from their campus collection.  UNC quickly pulled their logo from VS pretty much right after I got it from the Editor years ago.  My accessory- argyle logo cornhole boards hand painted for me by a friend a couple of years ago.  I have never seen boards better looking than these (tho I might be biased).

Dress, tank top, skirt, white sweater dress- all from Banana Republic
Black sweater dress- Target
Necklace- Anthropologie
Earrings- Bridier Baubles
Boots- I think they are Steve Madden but I can't remember and I'm too lazy too go upstairs and check.

My next game, and first game of the 2012 season, will be on October 6th against Virginia Tech.  It's a 12:30pm game and it's a White Out (all UNC fans are to wear white).  We'll see what the weather brings before I decide what white with Carolina Blue accent I decide on.

Celebrating My Birthday- Abroad Edition

Finally right?

When I went to NJ for my cousin, Kristin's daughter's 1st birthday party, we talked about going to Live! with Kelly a little bit.  She said she applied for tickets and I said if she got them I would definitely fly up and go.  Well in July she got the letter and sent me a message.  The Editor was out of town on business but I was pretty much decided to go a few minutes later.  Making it even more fun was the fact that the show we had tickets for was September 6th, two days after my birthday!  I booked my flights and then decided what to wear (thanks to everyone who voted!!), and hopped on a plane to Newark.

I'm not really one for surprises, but I don't like to ruin surprises either.  I'm kinda of a delay gratification type of girl.  Live! announces their guests about a week in advance but I didn't find out until Tuesday who the guests were on Thursday!  I did read all the spoilers about Michael Strahan being the new host though.  (And I'm  happy with that- he's great; Nick Lachey would have been good too).  This is Kristin & me's conversation about finding out the guests... (I'm the green, she's the white).

The guests ended up being Katie Couric, James Marsden, and two of the US Olympics Women's Soccer players.

The best thing about this trip was that I didn't have to think about anything other than how to get to Newark.  The Editor got a little more one-on-one time with Noah, though it broke my heart to leave him.  Especially at the airport when he said, "Baby going on the plane too?"  I had a few delays, but I was flying alone, with a carry-on only, and was reading Gone Girl so I was ok.  Another great thing about this trip was I got to spend time with Kristin's 15month old daughter, Paige one-on-one.  She's walking and talking and even learned how to sign 'more' while I was there.  So that was a lot of fun.

Thursday started early, I mean super early.  Our goal was to be in line around 7:30am.  Kristin's husband works in the city and takes the train every day.  So we were Going to Work with him and following his routine.  He got up around 4:30am, I got up at 4:45 and got in the shower at 4:50ish, and Kristin got up & in the shower 5-5:10am.  We were running about 10-15 minutes later than expected to leave the house at 6 but still doing great with time.  Kristin's mother-in-law watched Paige and arrived at 6am (Paige, like Noah wakes up at a more reasonable hour).  Before we left, I took our ticket to the show off the fridge and put it on top of all my bags.  We were going straight to the airport later in the day so I knew it would all make it into the car.

We drove to the Secaucus train station and got on a train for Penn Station.  While we were sitting on the train (still in the early early morn), Kristin started rummaging in her Louis Vuitton.  I had a feeling what was going on, but stayed calm.  I knew the Live! ticket made it into the car, certainly it was in her bag... or not.  So the ticket didn't make it with us into the city.  We got off the train and decided that Kristin's husband would go back to the car to look for it.  He had a monthly train pass.  So we stood around in Penn Station trying to be calm (not thinking that the ticket fell out of the car and blew away), trying to figure out what time we'd get to the studio, trying not to imagine having to sit (gasp) upstairs at Live!.  We decided that even if we didn't have the ticket we would go to the show.  We both had a photo of the ticket on our phones so we'd just give it a try.  No tears were shed but it came close.  In my mind I was thinking, "Really, I paid $250 to come here and not see Kelly???!!!"  But I tried to stay calm and blow it off like it was nothing.  This was a lot of thinking before 8am.  

We got a text that Kristin's husband had the ticket but the train wouldn't make it back to Penn Station until around 7:45.  We went up to check out the taxi line, ready to get in it and wait if necessary (luckily there was no line).  I texted the Editor (who was working before Noah woke up), and he Google mapped Penn Station to ABC Studios (1.9 miles, 10 min cab ride).  Still doing fine with time.

We got the ticket, got in a cab and started to have a little relief; expect for the damn seating in the studio.  We really didn't want to be upstairs, but at this point we were just happy to be going.  The taxi dropped us off in front of a line at ABC Studios and we jumped out.  Then I noticed the was for The Chew.  Seriously? Where was Kelly?  I remembered that when they show it on TV it's always on the corner so we went to the end of the street and got in line.  There were about 7 people in front of us and about 100 people inside the building.  It was 8:10am.  

Not too many people entered the building after us, which meant there were a lot of people in front of us.  We all got different colored tickets inside. What did the colors mean? Were some for upstairs?  Where are we sitting?  There were also two areas for people; one had about 50 people, the other was where we were with about 100.    One highlight of standing in line was Michael Strahan and his beautiful wife walked right by us (5ft away!).  So his hands are huge, but he's not as big as I thought he would be (but our family is really tall so 6'3" is normal).  Which got us thinking again... Was Kelly going to walk in too? Should we look out for her?  Just about now, Kristin let out a gasp.  Kelly?!! (Um, no! Of course, she was in hair & makeup already it was 8:15am).  It was  Rangers hockey player.

Waiting in line.

Finally the line started moving and we were going in!  (We did not volunteer to be bikini dance girls).  We were literally some of the last people in line and into the studio.  They handed out numbers for the phone caller to pick from 1-216.  We were 212 & 213.  But there were seats downstairs!!!!  We sat down in the front row, near the stairs where the guests come in from.  The audience director told us there were better seats, so we stood up and hunted them down.  But they were not next to each other (instead front & back).  So we returned to our original seats; we wanted to sit next to each other.  I knew the other seats were better, so I went back over and asked if anyone would move so we could sit next to each other.  One person said no but the other said yes!  We had great seats now!

best photo of the day taken by Kristin

Photos of the show: Michael Gellman, Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan, Katie Couric, James Marsden, Jeremy Irons, two US Olympic Soccer Players (I forget their names), Kelly pretending to be Gellman playing tennis, Kelly talking to the birthday man in front of me.

The show was fun and Kelly is so beautiful and so tiny.  And Michael is so friendly and funny.  They shot the live show and then shot a video ad, pictures for a print ad, and then a guest spot with Jeremy Irons for the next week.   During commercial breaks they would come into the audience and ask questions.  When Michael asked about birthdays I wanted to answer but the guy in front of me was celebrating his 50th so he got attention from our area.   The guests weren't really friendly, in out and that was it.  Though the soccer players did take a photo with a girl in the audience.

In a blur it was over.  As we were leaving people were taking photos with Kelly and Michael and I wanted to say, "It's my birthday! Take a picture with me!"  Kelly literally walked right next to me as she was leaving the studio and said, "Bye, thanks for coming" looking right at me.  This was my opportunity to get a photo; it was my birthday after all.  But I totally froze.  I just starred at her.  And she looked at me and walked away.  And I seriously almost cried.

The Editor captured us on TV 5 times (of course, he knew what to look for).

But it was the best time ever!  And even though the morning started rough, it worked out perfectly!  We went to Macy's to visit Kristin's husband and out to lunch before getting back on the train.  I was at the airport at 1:30pm for a 3pm flight.  I didn't get home until after 8pm due to delays (again I was reading Gone Girl so it was okay) though I promised Noah I'd see him and I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I did get to talk to him on the phone.

I took a taxi home and when I walked in Noah was watching Sesame Street On Demand waiting up for me!  And he said, "Momma was at Kelly's house."  I wish!

I haven't been this tired in a long time

Not too many minutes ago I was standing in front of my toaster oven, heating up an apple scone I made for play group today thinking to myself, "I haven't been this tired in a long time."  I am super tired because I have been staying up to ungodly pre-child hours of 12:30-1am working on Noah's 2nd year Shutterfly photo book.  And after staring at the computer screen for 5 or so hours straight I can't fall right asleep like I normally do.  Normally if it takes me longer than 3 and half minute to fall asleep I am pissed; the past three or four nights it's taken me much longer than 3 and half minutes. (I am happy to say the photo book was finished and ordered tonight. I cannot wait to see it, though I am also over it! And also a bit pissed that it won't be here until October...  It is the middle of September but still... October?)

So while I was waiting for my scone to toast so I could butter it I had a flash back of one of the last times I was this tired.  It was October 2010.  I was a new mom of a two month old and I liked to have a little time for myself in the mornings and would set my alarm for 6am so I could do some emailing and such before Noah woke up around 7am.  Clearly I was yet to figure out what motherhood was all about if I was thinking time to myself was a 6am priority.  I thought it would be nice to make myself some oatmeal with toasted almonds and coconut. So I put them on a little baking tray and put them in the original toaster oven, set the timer and went back to email.  Who knows how many minutes later, I noticed a weird sound and smell.  The toaster oven was on fire, I mean en fuego!  Not just a little, but an actual pull out the fire extinguisher emergency.  Apparently coconut burns pretty easily... as do Black and Decker toaster ovens.  So my morning to myself was spent airing out the house and cleaning up the white fire extinguisher dust that was every where.  Not just where I sprayed it, but literally every where.

It seems weird how this memory just popped in my head, but I guess I was pretty much doing the same thing I was doing that day.  By the way, my scone was toasted to perfection tonight.

Actually not the first time I set something on fire (ACCIDENTALLY).  For Christmas my dad and mom go all out.  Like Christmas Vacation but with colored lights.  And we tested each strand and bulb (I have 4 siblings so this was mostly child labor).  My dad would string the strands out on the front lawn and plug them all in for us to look for bulbs that were out or broken.  In middle school or early high school, we were in the midst of this totally not embarrassing family activity when I got a phone call.  I went inside to chat (both me and my parents could tell you who I was chatting with), neglecting my strand.  As the story goes, my brother who is probably around 5 at the time kept telling my parents the yard was on fire, but they thought he was talking about the Christmas lights being on.  Not so, the yard was en fuego!  Something happened with my strand and it was on fire.  The fire extinguisher was used and until the pool opened for the season it looked like a space ship had landed on our front lawn.  There was a huge blackened circle pretty much dead center.  Merry Christmas!

My hair dryer caught fire at the beach this summer in our rental.  It's not a good story other than I was holding it in my hands when it was shooting sparks and starting to flame.  No fire extinguisher was needed in our 3 story, 6 unit rental condo- thank God!

Needless to say, I'll be in bed early tonight and I won't be waking up early tomorrow to write My Birthday Celebration Abroad post- but I will write it soon.  Promise.

Sunday is not Funday

I need to write My Birthday Celebration Abroad post.  I want to write it, I have written it in my head a few times.  I had planned on writing it this weekend.  Instead I have spent all of Noah's sleeping hours working on a Shutterfly photo book.  Almost 10 hours so far.  And I'm on page 45 ... of 100!  I want to push the lady in the tutorial video down a flight of stairs while she holds her perfect wedding album that took her 5 minutes!  I want to finish the project because I've spent 10 hours on it. But I also want to give up so I can get back to life outside of the Editor's office.  I cannot use my laptop (netbook) because the screen is too small for this project so I have to be sequestered upstairs.

I also need to be reading my book club book.  I am hosting on the 26th and I need to start the book!  I had planned on doing that this weekend too.  Especially since today is such a great rainy day for reading.  Instead I'll be spending hours in front of the computer screen.  While it's fun to relive Noah's life from his 1st birthday to his 2nd I'm getting over it!  By the way, it's funny how I completely forget some of the things we did together until I saw the photos; we fed the bears at Life & Science???  Yes we did!

Fair to say 32 is kicking my ass so far.  I hurt my back right after I returned from Abroad (NJ/NYC).  I can barely move if I've been sitting too long (like 5 hours straight in front of the computer).  I can barely run.  Which is great because I gained 3-4lbs during my birthday week.  Another reason to only celebrate your birthday for one day.  Metabolism at 32 is already much different than 31.  Oh and the Editor had his counterpart to his first surgery (in March) this past week so he's off of any heavy lifting Noah duty for 3 weeks.  

Yup that's me right now.   Is it Monday yet?

Celebrating My Birthday- At Home Edition

When I started to sit down and write this post about my birthday I realized I probably needed to separate it into to My Birthday At Home and My Birthday Abroad.  I am not one of those people who celebrates their birthday for a whole week; but since I have a Holiday Weekend birthday sometimes I get more than just one day or we celebrate on days that aren't actually my birthday.  This year my birthday seemed to stretch on for most of the week and it was actually a lot of fun.

Anytime Notes from a Mom in CH or The Stir Crazy Moms' Guide to Durham post about something Noah & I make it our mission to check it out too.  They have the best ideas and give you all the dirty details, so it's fair to say I hang on their coat tails often.   When one of them checked out Dead Broke Horse Farm I knew this is what I wanted to do for my birthday.  I rode horses from age 5 to 13 or 14 as my 'sport.'  I love horses and have ridden on my birthday with the Editor in the past.  Dead Broke Horse Farm is only 30 minutes away from us (toward Raleigh but actually a Durham address).  We bought a Groupon for a Hand Led Horse Ride and arrived at 10am on Sunday morning.  As far as you could see were beautiful rolling hills and horses!  Horses in pastures, horses getting saddled, horses getting sprayed down. They also had dogs, cats, chickens, pigeons, rabbits, mini horses, and who knows what else! You know how some people are dog-people or cat-people, but not people-people?  These people are horse-people not people-people.  We just looked around for about 15 minutes before anyone acknowledged that we were there and had us sign away our lives.  Finally it was time to ride.  We got Noah outfitted with a helmet (I chose to forgo... if I fall off while someone else is leading us I've got some issues), and I jumped up on Julie.  Noah immediately reached up his arms and said, "Baby riding too?"  We had been preparing him for this moment all week, "You are going to sit on a horse' back."  But you never know what you are going to get with a newly emotional two year old.  We seemed to have lucked out on this particular day.  Toddler was in!  

Dead Broke has big saddles and we both fit really comfortably into the saddle.  Noah was calm and so relaxed on the horse!  Bailey, our teenage guide, led Julie through the woods for about 40 minutes telling us about Dead Broke and all the horses (130 acres with over 100 horses!)  We went up and down hills and even got to 'jump' a fallen tree branch.  I had the best time; I really love horses.  It was also really nice not to have to worry about the horse at all because Bailey was in control of her; I only had to worry about Noah.  And bonus points because Noah loved it! He had a great time too and even a week later when I say, "We're going to do something fun today, " he asked if we were going to ride horses again.  The Editor could have ridden with us or walked beside.  He chose to walk and take photos.  There is no doubt in my mind we will be back.  I'm ready the next time anyone wants to check it out.  (For the 2yr old crowd you have the choice of doing Hand Led ride with a parent or a Trail Ride with your toddler accompanied by a guide.)

On Monday, I didn't do anything birthday related, but I had requested some homemade baked goods for my birthday this year.  The week before the Editor and Noah had a few quiet moments downstairs (I presume trying to decide what to make).  I don't love surprises and lucky for me when I came downstairs that day Noah proudly exclaimed, "Cake! Cupcakes!"  If I could just get him to be a little bit more decisive he'd be completely in my corner.  So on Monday I pulled my beloved Kitchenaide out with a few instructions to the Editor and retreated upstairs.  I heard a lot of banging and a few, "Don't touch!" but I was released about an hour later and the house smelled great!  Noah and the Editor baked Lemon Blossom cupcakes with a lemon drizzle on top.  And of course, we had to eat one right away.  They tasted great, especially since the Editor has never baked before.  I'd love for this to be a yearly tradition but I'm not sure the Editor agrees.

Tuesday was actually my 32nd birthday and we had a regular day planned, as in it was a Noah day.  We were going to give Kindermusik a try with a friend in the morning and had playgroup after lunch.  We did make dinner reservations at a favorite of mine, Acme in Carrboro.  Lucky for me, they have a Tuesday special, $12 Tuesdays where all entrees are $12 on Tuesdays (was that self explanatory?).  We started the day with presents, which is the best way to start! Noah gave me a book for us to read together about a day out with mom, Noah & the Editor gave me an inital necklace I've been eyeing for a long time with an 'N' in it, and Tucker got me a new vacuum.  I kid, I kid.  The Editor got me a new vacuum and yes I know as a woman I'm supposed to be disgusted by this blatant symbol of my role in the house blah blah blah.  But my vacuum has been slowly losing plastic pieces, and I've hated it since day one.  Honestly, I cannot wait to test out my Dyson Animal and have a whole new vacuuming experience.

Our day went really well until it was time for dinner.  We had the first reservation (5:30 pm) because we are taking a toddler to a more grownup restaurant.  Well we got stuck in some major traffic.  In fact it wasn't just regular UNC traffic, there was an accident.  So we were running way late.  We called Acme and they gave us their spiel about giving up our reservation after 15 minutes; if we got there after 5:45 they would seat us outside.  Okay, no problem, it was a gorgeous day.  Well we got there at around 5:53pm and they sat us inside with an "oh, it's no problem' attitude.  Good thing too because there were only about 3 tables occupied at the time.  Crab cake dinner was excellent and we did a little walk around Carrboro for ice cream after (let's face it the 6 cucpcakes were all but gone at this point anyways).  

 Stayed tuned for the Abroad Edition of Celebrating My Birthday.  And of course, by Abroad I mean New Jersey and NYC! Here are two sneak peak photos!

  

Fashion Friday- Help Me Decide

If you've been reading recently, you know that my cousin, who is like a sister to me, got tickets to Live! with Kelly (and co-host to be decided Tuesday) and invited me to come along.  I leave on Wednesday and we will see the show on Thursday.  I'm getting really excited but cannot figure out what to wear.  And I know it doesn't really matter what I wear, I am not going to be on TV but still!

Fashion Friday- Help Me Decide! Vote in my poll or leave me a comment below letting me know which outfit below (shoes/jewelry can be switched around or suggest me something!) you like best.  Excuse the hair (we have been at Into The Mist at the Life & Science Museum) and the 'I'm going to kill you' look (Noah did not nap today).

Which Outfit?

Thanks!!

In case you want to know where I got anything.

Outfit 1: 

Top: Gigi's Boutique Raleigh

Jeans A: Ann Taylor Loft 

Necklace A: Bubble Necklace somewhere online
Shoes A: Kelly Green Wedge Franco Sarto

Jeans B: Hudson 'Beth' Jeans Nordstrom

Necklace B: Britta Bead Necklace Bridier Baubles
Shoes B: Nude Wedge Nine West

Outfit 2:
Top: Banana Republic

Jeans A: Ann Taylor Loft 

Necklace A: Bubble Necklace somewhere online

Jeans B: Ann Taylor Loft
Shoes B: Nude Wedge Nine West

Outfit 3:

Top: Ellison Bevello

Jeans A: Ann Taylor Loft 
Necklace A: Bubble Necklace somewhere online
Jeans B: Ann Taylor Loft
Belt: Ann Taylor Loft
Shoes B: Nude Wedge Nine West

Outfit 4:
Pants: Banana Republic
Top A & B: Ann Taylor Loft
Necklace A: Britta Bead Necklace Bridier Baubles
Necklace B: Bubble Necklace somewhere online
Shoes: Nude Wedge Nine West

Outfit 5:
Top: Banana Republic
Jeans B: Ann Taylor Loft
Necklace: Coco Necklace Bridier Baubles
Shoes: Nude Wedge Nine West

What we did without each other

*I have a new new nickname for 'the Husband.'  I've never liked referring to him this way.  I finally figured out a more appropriate name- the Editor.  He is an editor and it just fits him (and my referring to him) much better.*

As many parents get their kids ready for the first days of school and pre-K, I too have come to realize that Noah can and did survive without me (and I without him).  Last week Noah traveled with the Editor to Boston without me (I blogged a bit about it HERE).  He existed for the good portion of 4 days without me knowing what he was doing every minute.  He came back seeming to me much older and bigger than when he left.

I did not sleep in; somehow I woke up by 8 or 8:30 every day (one day 7:30!).  I also got to video chat with Noah every morning, though many times Grandpa was much more interesting than me, but he did kiss the screen every day for me.  And I was only my control-freak self once via text to the Editor about open windows.  Coupled with my pre-trip hand holding advice, crazy only appeared twice and that's pretty good.

-Thursday I started a list and got right to it.  Laundry, errands to the tailors, making some yummy homemade granola bars.  I also went to the pool to finish my book, took a bath, got my eyebrows threaded (and by the way, the waxer asked me about my upper lip??? Do I have a mustache? I don't think I do; I declined but am now very paranoid.  If it needs to be done, I will do it), shopped, ran, and watched Project Runway.

                                      

-Friday I woke up not feeling so good- head cold, snuffly, coughing.  So I did a video chat with Noah from bed with bedhead and then retired to the couch for the whole rest of the day.  And I must confess that Tucker is one lazy ass dog because he parked on the couch for the remainder of the day right along with me.  I watched some trashy tv (Gossip Girls- how have I never seen this show before?)

Our Friday positions

Even a squirrel attack couldn't get Tucker up.

-Saturday I woke up feeling better so I cleaned the house.  I took my time, I cleaned blinds and window sills, I cleaned the sides and bottoms of furniture with actual polish (not just the tops).  I made meringues and watched a chick flick.  I also found  a nice surprise on our front porch. A cat/fox/animal killed a bird/bunny/other animal on the porch leaving some fuzzy and gross remnants. 

-Sunday I went for a run and then went for waffles and coffee at Bean Traders with my next book.  Well they were out of waffles but that's okay. It was a beautiful day! When I got home I sat outside and read some more.  I roasted fruit for the meringues, took a shower, and it was 2pm- time to go pick up my boys!  And I checked everything off my checklist!

I got tons of texts and photo updates of what my little man was up to.

-Thursday their adventure began and Noah didn't even turn back to look at me as the Editor walked away curbside with Noah packed into the Ergo.  The Editor went out and bought Noah a new stuffed Big Bird and Curious George book for the flight (yes, the Editor did all the toy shopping, snack shopping, and packing for the trip though I was on call for tips and help).  Apparently the people behind them on the plane were a little tired of hearing the phrase, "Big Bird."  Grandpa picked them up and Noah actually napped after lunch!  That evening Noah and the Editor headed over to a friend's house who has a son a few months younger than Noah.

Happy traveler on his way to Grandpa's house.

Flying the friendly skies with Big Bird

- Friday Noah woke the Editor up bright and early at 6:30, and yes they were sleeping in the same room.  This is pretty unusual for Noah; he's a 7:30 type of kid.  After breakfast, they drove to the Editor's sister's part of town, jumped on the T with Aunt & Grandma and went downtown. Apparently on the T, you 'exit on the right' because I hear that phrase quite frequently now when we play with trains. They went to Frog Pond, went on the swan boats, rode the carousel (he chose the  chicken), and played on a playground before riding the T home for a nap at Grandma's.

-Saturday Noah started to get a little restless and there wasn't a huge plan in place for the day.  A trip to the pet store and a ride on the commuter rail into Boston and back again.  Noah did not nap and went to the library and ran around the high school football field instead.  And he finally asked, "Momma coming too?" Followed up by asking if his two besties would be there.  I guess they are the next best thing to me.

Finally picking up the exploding hand at the end of 'pounds.'
And what might have been the most exciting thing about Grandpa's house-
the mail slot in the door!

-Sunday morning was spent with a little park time before boarding the flight.  Remember to empty out those sippy cups before putting them through security!  This was the Editor's only flight hiccup and luckily they just ran the backpack/cup through the machine 3 times to iron out the details of the two sips of mystery liquid left in the sippy.  When I saw Noah walking like such a big boy through the airport back at RDU I was so happy to see him (and the Editor).  Noah, of course, didn't see me until we were about 3 feet apart- I guess he wasn't looking for me!

Ready to see Momma (and a burpie/paci appearance).
And no, despite those tired eyes, Noah has yet to fall asleep in flight.

The trip was a success and I think it was a great 'experience' for all of us. The Editor seems to think this is the first steps in me letting Noah go off to school where he won't be in my sights all day.  While it was a success and I'm so glad they went, who are we kidding, I'm pretty sure I'll be going to school with Noah when the time comes.

So What! Wednesday

Here's what I'm saying So What to this week with Shannon at Life After I "Dew'

- Every single time I vacuum (even in August) I still find little pieces of fake Christmas tree and garland on the carpet to suck up.

- I did not leave my couch at all on Friday.

- I haven't figured out what I'm going to wear to Live! with Kelly ... next week! (maybe I'll take some pictures and let you guys help me decide).

- I still haven't posted my 30 Day Challenge results (clearing my throat loudly for Shannon here) because I'm scared of posting the photos,  though I have written the post and taken the after photo.

- Noah acted like a complete crazy person today at a coffee shop (so much so that when I got home and told the Husband, he said that I shouldn't take Noah there to play anymore & they have a play area FOR KIDS), then he cried at the park ("Baby play in the tent?  Noah play in the tent!?"), and took 40 minutes to fall asleep for nap.

- I don't know what Noah should be for Halloween and I feel like if I don't decide soon all the good costumes will be sold out.  And it annoys the crap out of me that I have to make Halloween decisions in August!  Halloween is two freaking months away!

- I have only run once this week (Sunday).

- I've been playing around with adding my signature to the blog, but I'm not sure what I want it to look like and so there's one there, but I don't love it-love it so it will probably change when I have more time to play around with it.

- The Husband and I played SongPop on separate couches in the same room against each other for about an hour last night.  He is beating me 9 to 2 (he always beats me in everything but Rummy 500).  His strong point is 90's Alternative, I am decent in most categories, but Love Songs is my saving grace to beat him.

- I have 4 months left to complete a 50 Books Read in 2012 Challenge I signed myself up for and need to read 18 more books!  Though I am more than a little excited that Mrs. Kennedy and Me is waiting for me at the library after being on the wait list since May.