So much celebrity death!
Ed McMahon-sorry dude. you were cool in your day.
Michael Jackson-I was never really a fan. yes, someone once bought me the Thriller record player when i was really little, but he just wasn't for me. I mean, who doesn't love a little ABC, but that's about where it ends for me. I have enjoyed watching people's facebook statues in the last week as they battle about MJ good or evil.
Farrah-Sorry you got Mother Theresa-ed. Mother Theresa-ed? That's when your awesome and you die and it should really be all about you, but someone more famous for less good dies and you lose all your time. A little death of Princess Diana and suddenly all we remember from Mother Theresa's death is a fly being on her head during the service and the nun bun. oh the nun bun...that was a fun night in college with Chris and Christine!
Billy Mayes-bought a big tub of Oxiclean yesterday in your honor. Pitch it in heaven baby! Favorite Billy Mayes joke "deaths usually come in threes. Leave it to Billy Mayes to through one in for FREE!" Terrible, but funny!

Enjoying my time off this week with my little Grant man. Friday and Monday were "Mommy Days". I've also got this Wednesday and Friday. I could literally spend every day snuggling on the couch and watching Super Y with that little bug. He's a disaster this week with falling down. Took two nice digs off the outside steps over the weekend and totally wiped-out in the driveway sunday night. Of course, he had a doctor's appointment yesterday and I was sure I was going to get questioned on the bruise on his head and cut on his nose. turns out, this is what little boys look like-they didn't even blink an eye!

been feeling nostalgic for Machias recently. My brother is there this week with my parents for the first time in a million years. and, a prom picture of me has appeared on facebook this week. has had me thinking about the fun time. don't get me wrong, i wouldn't go back to high school if you offered me 10 million dollars, but i did have so real friends and we did have some good laughs. far from Laguna Beach, but fun times all the same. I'll have to dig out some of my own pictures for a few laughs. at least by junior year I had lost the glasses...or maybe that was the prom i just decided to be blind at...it is amazing how time blurs the edges of memories and makes everything a little sweeter and softer.

Welcome Samuel Horatio!

My sweet new nephew is just a peanut! 6 pounds 2.5 ounces and just a hint shorter than baby Grant at 18.5 inches. Jenny and Brian are truly blessed. Nothing is more amazing than a little boy. I sure thought Moxy was a girl, but Grant couldn't be happier for a little boy to play with. I can see the two of them, barely 18 months apart, growing together and getting into all kinds of trouble! Tormenting their sisters, frogs in beds, running around the beach house each summer, riding space mountain, Popsicle faces, chasing girls, the list goes on and on! I'm so proud of JJ-she's going to be the most amazing mother and I can't wait to share this amazing ride with her!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I slept through much of the first birthday, even forgetting a few times it was my birthday in all of the post reunion exhaustion. I took a mulligan and decided to actually celebrate Friday as my birthday. Taylor took the day off (I already had the day off), so we sent Grant to daycare and headed out to do a multitude of errands. We hit 4 different furniture stores in search of a new family room set. We had one picked out and hit a quick lunch at "Red Robin". I know, Red Robin isn't all that fancy, but I do love a really good burger, so it was my birthday treat of choice. Then, we did the unthinkable-we saw a movie! It was awesome! Second time since Grant has been born-so this was a very special birthday treat. We saw Star Trek-yup-I'm a geek and loving it! Sadly, with about 15 minutes left we got the phone call every parent dreads-Daycare calling to tell you to come pick up your sick kid. Grant spiked a fever of 102 and this has been the way of life for the past 5 days. I'm home with him again today but the fever is finally gone and he's just at the cranky phase. I think he'll be able to go back to Laura's tomorrow and I'll be able to hit work again. The good news is, it wasn't last week when I couldn't be out. The bad news is, having a baby with a high temperature is so sad! Poor kiddo didn't want to do much of anything, so we just laid low all weekend. Grant discovered a Jon and Kate Plus 8 marathon on TLC and fell in love with "the babies". Every time it came on, he would cheer and yell baby! baby! it was adorable though 4 days of this can get old fast. He's not usually a tv kid at all, but this weekend he really wanted a few breaks to just sit and be still. we took the cuddle time when we could, but are happy to be getting our little guy back to his little busy self. Oh-and we did get to go out and get a new family room set on Monday morning. 4 to 6 weeks before it gets here-yeah comfy couch!

Happy Birthday Julie!

And a Happy Mother's Day to all! Hug a mommy today-even if it isn't yours!

Hi Friends,

I've been a very bad blogger lately. I'll simply remind you that it is May. If you know me, you'll know that means I disappear for a length of time because it is Reunion. I'm about two weeks behind where I would like to be, a combination of a vacation in February and an illness that took the fam down for 10 days and an awesome wedding last weekend that took me away at the most inopportune of times. If you think I'm being a bad blogger, know I'm being an even worse mother. I missed putting G to bed the last two nights, tonight by mere minutes. I have so much mommy guilt when I'm away and so much work guilt when i'm here. Somewhere out there, I assume there is a balance-I hope someone teaches me all about it someday. I'm sure there was a memo about it I was too busy to read or a mommy and me class that I had to miss for work!

More in June!

Happy Birthday Princess Emilie!

Hope it was a great one!

Happy Anniversary to Taylor and Heather!

Wait, that's me!

Happy Anniversary Taylor-I love you!

Thanks for five great years!

World's Cutest Story!

Grant is a little boy who is busy busy learning about the world around him! We’ve been teaching him to point to all of his different body parts and he’s picking them up pretty well. He’s great at finding him foot and his nose, for example. Last night we were all up in this room playing and I started asking him to point to different thing. I started with his nose because he always gets that one and it is good to start off with a slam dunk so he doesn’t get frustrated. After a few parts, I asked him if he could point to his ears and he stuck his little finger up in the air, pointing at something randomly over Taylor’s head. I thought he was just losing interest and so I asked again and said “Point to Grant’s ears” and again he pointed to something random up over Taylor’s head. The third time he did it, Taylor started cracking up. Yup, we’ve raised a true dork. He was pointing to his ears…his Mickey Ears! They are sitting on the top shelf of his bookshelf and he knows what they are and where they live and how to put them on his head. He didn’t seem to understand why we kept asking him to point to his ears over and over when he was clearly doing what he was told. It was a hysterical!

I'm thinking that since there is little interest in trip reports, I'll probably end now. And blog posts will continue to be spotty until we get our new computer. Stupid virus!

Friday, February 6

Today is the day! Grant’s first trip to the Magic Kingdom. Since you all know our family, you know this is a super big deal. We were up with the sun and off to the Ticket and Transportation Center to take the monorail to the park. Taylor and I love “power hour” and had a plan to get through fantasy land before the sleepy head guests even rolled out of bed. We arrived in time to see the little opening number with the train and the characters and headed “Right down the middle of Main Street USA!”. We didn’t stop for photos or enjoying the sights at all, but instead made a beeline for the promise land—DUMBO! I admit it, I love Dumbo. I love all of the “spiny rides” and so taking Grant on Dumbo was something I was really looking forward too. Plus, he was Dumbo for Halloween this year, so the significance of taking him there first was big. We got two elephants together so Pam and David could record this important moment for posterity. As with most plans, this one was over done. We didn’t account for spending the bulk of the ride trying to figure out if David had his finger in front of the lens of the video camera, or for the fact that Grant never once would look up from the up-down controller of the car for Pam to get a good family photo from above. Still, we got some cute footage and checked Dumbo off the list of things to do for the trip.

We hurried through all of the rides in Fantasyland. Grant liked rides, but wasn’t squealing with delight like we might have hoped. He seemed to really enjoy The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and his mom’s favorite, It’s a Small World (no Krissy and Jen, we didn’t pick out a Grant. We can’t do that without you guys!). Grant was definitely tired that day and so as we rode on the Haunted Mansion, he was out before we saw our first Grim Grinning Ghost. This was defintily a good thing because as many of you know, I am a firm believer in naps and worried about him missing his morning nap each day. So Grant and Mommy road Haunted Mansion three times around! Grant was able to catch over 30 minutes of good sleep and I was able to enjoy the changes to the ride since it had been rehabbed. I thought they did a good job enhancing the story of the ride, though still though you needed to ride it a few times before you were able to get a feel for what the story was supposed to be about. I was happy that they didn’t touch my favorite hidden Mickey in the ride on the dining room table, but mostly just happy that they were kind enough to let me keep riding. Grant could have slept for longer, but I just didn’t feel right riding around and around while others waited in line, so after 3 spins we were off to catch up with the group and head out for lunch.

Lunch on Friday was at a favorite of ours, The Plaza Restaurant. This is a hidden gem in the Magic Kingdom. It is a sit down restaurant with air conditioning (not necessary in the frigid weather we were enjoying, but great for most FL days) that is fairly inexpensive. It is mostly salads and sandwiches but costs hardly more than a quick service meal and you get a nice break. For Taylor, this place is a little extra special because it is a cousin to the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor where he worked when he was their doing his College Program in the summer of 2000. Taylor and I both enjoyed a burger while David had a ruben (I believe) and Pam had the meal that gave me food envy for the rest of the trip, a Chicken and Strawberry salad. It looked so good! We couldn’t resist partaking in a little ice cream since it is the house specialty and all shared a brownie Sunday and a banana split. Yummy lunch!

Immediately following lunch, I was overruled on timing, and Grant was headed back down Main Street to the Barber Shop for his first haircut. It was very close to naptime I and thought we should wait it out another day or so and go back at a time when he was less likely to have a melt down. It turns out, I was worried over nothing. We waited while a little girl got her first hair cut. We had hoped to have Michal, a good friend of our dear friend RJ, but he had a line so instead we hit Miss Diane’s barber chair. What’s amazing to me is this is just a little hole in the wall in the middle of the Magic Kingdom. There are only two chairs in the whole place and it is just as cute as could be! When it was our turn, we dropped Grant in to the chair and let Miss Diane work her magic. She pulled out her roll of stickers and loaded Grant up! He must have had about 9 on him-arms, torso, and legs. This kept him so happy that he didn’t notice the spray bottle of water coming out or that she was brushing his hair for his very first haircut. Taylor kept the video camera rolling and while I had planned on doing stills (you know me, I have a certain series of shots in mind at all times-it comes from all those years of doing yearbook), someone had to keep on hand on the baby and that is certainly a job for his mom. Pam was nice enough to take over the duties of the camera and got a ton of wonderful pictures. Miss Diane got the first curl clipped and kept right on moving. She trimmed up his long hair on his neck (and just so we are clear, Grant really didn’t need much of a haircut at all. He got it because it was how we could justify taking a 15 month old to Disney World. If we were just getting it cut here in MA, it would have been months before I was willing to part with his sweet baby hair.) and shortened up the long stuff on top as well. She asked if we wanted her to use the clippers as well and we said, sure, why not. It seemed to us like we should do the full deal since this was the showpiece of the vacation. She was sweet-putting the clippers first to Grant’s back so he could become familiar with the vibrations. True to form, my little boy thought it was hilarious and giggled through the whole process. She was able to trim him up far better than I think she anticipated. It was over as fast as it all started. Grant played with his stickers, a dump truck and a comb and couldn’t have been happier. Miss Diane gave him his very special first haircut ears, but he decided to hold them instead as to not knock any of his super cool confetti out of his hair. To be true to the integrity of the story, I should mention that I shed a few tears. Okay, I’ll be honest, I cried from the second he sat in the chair until I got to pick him back up at the end. This really shouldn’t be a shock to any of you as you know that every milestone along the way has been a tough one for me. My little boy is growing up too fast. He’s not a baby anymore at all but runs fearlessly about in the way toddlers do and I can tell you that all too soon he’ll be running out the door to get in a car with friends on the way to his high school graduation. Those of you without kids are laughing at me, those of you with kids are silently nodding your heads thinking that I’m just at the beginning and I have no idea how true a statement this is.

Post haircut, Grant and Mommy when back to the hotel for a much needed nap! It was late in the afternoon and while G likes to nap around 2, it was closer to 4 when he finally laid down. My kiddo is a trooper! After an hour of rest, we went back into the big blue world to catch up with the rest of the family, who had moved to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Taylor had my park pass in his hand, so he came out and met us outside of the gate and we ventured in to show Grant his first glance as DHS. Unfortunately for him, it was merely a passing glance. Taylor had decided that we would see Fantasmic, the light and water spectacular. This was one of his favorite things to do when he was working at the World. The place was packed even an hour before the show and we had to sit in the second to last section, but were happy because folks who arrived 5 minutes after us were standing! Grant stayed with the Grandparents and Taylor and I ventured to the food line in the back of the park. This was a huge letdown! We ended up spending over $40 on hot dogs and soft pretzels and yes, I had to feed my kid his very first hot dog. Good news was he loved it, bad news for him, he won’t be having that kind of junk again for a long time! Grant friended everyone in the surrounding area, especially the guy in front of him who he kept grabbing his shirt and lightly pounding on the back. Thank goodness everyone in Disney is always in a good mood and most people love little kids! The show started and while Grant liked it, he wasn’t totally in love. We think he’ll like it more on his next trip. Taylor and I are Fantasmic geeks (we used the music at our wedding reception!) and so we noticed Disney cutting some corners with the number of character boats used in the show, but I think that Pam, David, and Grant all thought it was cool. Getting out of the show was a bit of a disaster as usual, but this time we had to venture into the dreaded stroller parking lot as well. Taylor took one for the team and went in to fight his way out with the super Maclaren stroller (yes, the best stroller to take to Disney by far!). We wandered slowly through stores and headed out for the night even though the park was open for a bit longer. We would be back to the Studios and were all tired from a long day. It was a good day, and we would all have a good sleep!

Disney 2009 Trip Report

Please note, this trip report is many things to many different people, so if there are items you find boring, feel free to skim and skip ahead. Believe it or not some people really do want to know where we had our meals! This entry will be done in installments, as Grant doesn't often give me much time to sit and write for any length of time these days. If you would like to see our photos and didn't get the email to see them on Kodak, please let me know and I'll pass the link along to you. I decided the whole world would be bored looking at our 200+ pictures.

Wednesday, February 5, 2009

We left Sturbridge at 4:30 am in the snowy morning for Providence to pick up the Grandparents. After some delay of getting 5 adults, one child, two car seats, and a ridiculous amount of luggage in the car, we were on our way. This was Grant's first flight, so we were a bit nervous, but he did very well on the flight down. The flight wasn't full, so we were able to carry his car seat on and use it on the plane without buying a seat. this is a really good tip for all you parents and would be parents out there-worth saving $200 on a seat for a baby. Worse case, you gate check the seat and still save the money of renting a car seat at your destination. We'll be doing this on most trips! We got to Orlando and quickly found our car and were on our way. We went straight to Downtown Disney to get our credit card points transferred to our rewards card. This was key as we haven't been to Disney in two years and had a nice chunk of points to spend. This process we quick and we were hungry, so we hit our very favorite sandwich place in the whole world--Earl of Sandwich! I'm not sure what about them makes their food incredible, but the Original 1776 is the greatest roast beef sandwich on the planet! After a tasty lunch we headed to our hotel.

Because we were making such a last minute trip and were looking for multiple rooms, we ended up staying off property. I know, this sounds like a sin, and we were worried, but it really worked out great. We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana just outside of Downtown Disney in a two bedroom condo that we got a sick deal on. We had two bedrooms, two baths, a living room, kitchen, and screened in porch. It was perfect for our needs. They had high chairs and cribs, so we only needed to bring the baby for a perfect setup. Grant had the living room to himself and all of the adults had plenty of space to themselves as well. we also had a washer and dryer, which is key when traveling with a toddler.

G and I stayed in for his nap while everyone else went to Shades of Green to pick up our park passes. Taylor's dad is retired military, so we got ridiculous ticket deals. All 5 of us went on five day hopper passes for a total of $375. For comparison purposes, a normal 5 day hopper for one is about $300. See why we couldn't pass up a trip with deals like this?

We all met up later and had a nice dinner off property at some local Chinese place that we found in the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. If it is good enough for Testa, it is good enough for us. A quick stop at Super Walmart to load up on diapers and bottled water and we were back to the room for a good nights rest (well, for everyone except Pam who came down with the stomach flu and spent the night in the bathroom--at least it was a nice bathroom!).

Thursday, February 6, 2009

Up with the sun, Taylor, David, Grant and I were off to Epcot to start our trip. We had planned on doing the Animal Kingdom first, but it was so cold (like 40 for the high kind of cold) that we decided there would be very few animals outside so we amended our plan. We hit Soarin first for fastpasses and a ride for the dads of the group. Then it was off to Grant's first ride, Living Seas with Nemo and Friends. He liked his journey in a clamshell. What he liked a lot more than that was the aquarium inside! He didn't want to leave all the fish and loved being able to just touch the glass with them on the other side. He actually cried a little when we took him away. We enjoyed our morning, including 3 trips around on Spaceship Earth for me, as Grant fell asleep on that ride and I just kept riding so he could get some good rest and then had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. We like it there because there is good variety and it was easy to find something to share with the little guy. We bounced around the parks a little longer before Grant and I headed back to the room for his rest and to check on our sick girl Pam.

After a good nap and Grant and I headed back to the parks. Pam was feeling better but decided it wasn't worth coming in to the park for a few short hours to watch us have dinner and be freezing cold. She rested more and would join us the next day. Once back in the parks, Grant and I found the boys and walked through World's Showcase a bit. We listened to Off Kilter in Canada for awhile-they are always good for a rest and some fun music. We were having dinner at the Rose and Crown that night, so we checked in and got our beeper and decided to walk around the shops of England. We saw Mary Poppins in the back of the toy store (it was too cold for characters to be outside-did I mention it was the coldest day in FL in 10 years?). We thought it would be good to try Grant out on her as a character. As we were getting in line she was all finished and was going away. It wasn't a big deal really, but as we looked around for a moment more, Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger came out. We were second in line to see the trio. Grant got to watch them interact with the family in front of us and was able to see what it was all about. when it was his turn, we decided to just put him down and wait to see what he would do. It was hysterical. He took about 4 steps towards them, then turned back to us and started laughing. He then went a few steps more and did it again. I gave him some help moving closer to the characters and he was so excited to see these giant stuffed animals! They were great, all getting down on their knees and trying to motion him over. Pooh opened his arms, Tigger waved, and Eeyore kept covering his eyes with his ears playing peek-a-boo. When he got over to them, he snuggled in to them and just kept laughing. It was such a riot that even the people in line behind us with their own kids were busy laughing at Grant and didn't care how much time he took with the characters. We were excited that he liked the characters so much and ended up incorporating a lot of character time into our trip. Here is a photos of him with his new pals!

We had a rather uneventful dinner that night at the Rose and Crown. We were on the patio, but ended up being under two or three heat lamps and so it was the warmest we had been all day. It was a very disappointing moment for me when they brought out rolls and butter but it was just normal butter, not the incredible Guinness Butter they had on our last visit to the restaurant. Our meals were good, two fish and chips, one bangers and mash. We were all happy with our meals but declined dessert. We ended up going back to the hotel shortly after this because it was simply too cold to have Grant out (even in a onesie, shirt, pants, fleece, hooded sweatshirt, winter hat and blanket). We were out of the park and back in the hotel by 8:30 for a quick bath and night nights to rest up for our big day the next day in the Magic Kingdom!

Family Mac!

You've just survived 14 months of parenthood, moving into a new house, starting a new job, and most importantly, the first months of winter in New England!

What are you going to do now?

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

The Perfect Family Weekend

who needs to date when you've got the worlds cutest toddler!

Saturday

Sunday

The Office is freakin hysterical tonight!

I want some ice cream. I think we have some cookie and cream. I'm really cold though and I'm snuggled under a very warm blanket and I don't want to get up to get it. Taylor's currently watching season one of 24 and I know I can't convince him to get it for me.

I'm super tired right now. Keifer was far cuter in Season one than he is now, but I really miss Chloe. And, it is amazing how annoying Kim is--we haven't gotten to the trap, but I hope that this time the damn mountain lion eats her!

I'm again obsessed with Roller coaster Tycoon. Next in a slippery slope is likely to be Toon town. I can't fall victim to that again!

these people are stupid...if they ask you if you want a lawyer present, you should always say yes...always!

Did anyone see Heidi of Speidi's new nails? she is so ridiculous!

I'm excited that Jen and Ben had another girl. They're good Boston people and I have hopes that Grant will someday marry little Violet or the new little Aflick baby someday. The cutest kids on the planet, next to my own of course!

Sorry for the stream of consciousness-just my mood for the evening. First full week back at work is always exhausting and I feel like I'm fighting a bit of a cold. I think I'll forgot the ice cream and just go to bed.

snow snow and more snow. so much snow. more snow than I've ever seen (okay-well that isn't true, but still a LOT of snow).

The storm came in around 1:00 pm on Friday and it stopped snowing at about 7:00 pm on Sunday. That's three days of snow and what I'm guessing is just under two feet of the white stuff. You know what would really stink to have happen on a weekend like this...for the snow blower to stop working, and yet that is exactly what happened! It was pretty light snow, but so much for shoveling. It is tough to shovel with Grant because we can't leave him inside alone. His room is totally Grant proof and he would be fine to play there for 20 minutes alone, however he wouldn't put up with being left totally alone for that long and the crying isn't worth it. So, Taylor was on his own for much of the shoveling and I was able to help out during nap time.

We used the snowy weekend for much Christmas prep. I wrapped and packaged up all of the items to be shipped for the holiday. yes, they will probably be late, but my girls love me and won't mind and my niece and nephew don't really know me and really don't care when the loot comes, just that it comes. So, since Taylor isn't working again this year, tomorrow he is off to the post office.

I also got all of our Christmas cards ready for mailing. I ordered the with plenty of time, but apparently they got lost at the UPS location in Texas (it is always Texas with me!) and so just got here on Thursday night. They came out really crummy, so I'm disappointed in them (very orange for some reason) but given the amount of money I spent and the proximity to the holiday I decided to send them anyway. Please note when you get your cards that Grant is so very much cuter that in that photo. I even sent out extra prints of other cute photos to some people who don't get to see him often so they could recognize his cute factor. Yeah-I've got a problem.

Cookie baking was also on the menu for the weekend. Tomorrow is Grant's treat swap at daycare. I didn't make my award winning macaroons (I can say that now that I won best taste in the first annual bake-off challenge at work) because I'm not really sure kids are down with coconut, so I went with a chocolate chunk cookie and my grandmother's favorite cream cheese and jam cookies. It will be 10 years ago this week that she died, so it somehow seemed fitting to make her cookies, even though I've never really liked them myself. I'm thinking those cookies will be hit in the under 5 crowd at daycare.

We spent some quality time having a snow party at the neighbors on Friday night. No one could get out, so we all grabbed a bottle of our favorite holiday cheer and came together to sit around and catch up one last time before we split for the holidays. What a random group of people, but we do really have a lot of fun together. I really do think we live on the best street in America!

So, it was a productive weekend despite the fact that the laundry isn't folded and I didn't watch Pulp Fiction, an assignment from a coworker. Hopefully your weekends were productive too and if you live in the Northeast you are dug out of the storm and have your power back from the dreaded ice storm! Oh, and Go Patriots, Go Jets (boy-that feels so wrong to say) and Go whoever is playing the Ravens!

Happy Birthday to my boys--Taylor, Alexander, and Golic!

May you each enjoy every moment in the year to come! Hugs all around.

Sad day for the Moon Pies. I finished the season in a very disappointing 6th place this year due to the early season loss of Carson Palmer, the knicked up Reggie Bush, and the old age of Torry Holt and Marvin Harrison (both of whom were benched after two weeks). I'm embarrassed to have done so poorly this year and embarrassed by/for the other ladies in the league as well, as the Gold Stars and Altitude are also out of the playoff hunt. Tough season. Julie-I told you that loss was going to come back to get me! Oh well, only eight months until we draft again!

Thanksgiving was super fun this year. We went to PA to be with Alex and Emilie. Emilie made an incredible dinner, taking traditional dishes and putting a spin on them. It was a lot of time in the car, but it was well worth it for the yummy dinner and family time. Grant did well in the car going both ways, mostly because we drove at night and let him sleep. He loved playing with Barley and Tiller and even took to letting Tiller eat right out of his hand. We took a fun trip to Valley Forge on Friday and I was able to get a few cute photos of my favorite Mac boys. I love these:

And one with my favorite Mac Girls too!

My friend Erin did a great blog listing all of the things she was thankful for on Thanksgiving and I thought it was great. I should have done the same thing, but we are well into the Christmas season now, so instead I thought I would put out another plug. Jen and Brian have "adopted a family" for Christmas. This is pretty much as it sounds, through an agency they have found a family in need and bought this family gifts that they both need and want. I think this is a super great thing to do an encourage everyone to do something similar. I remember being about 11 when our family was "adopted" for Christmas. A bag appeared on our porch on Christmas Eve and their was a gift for each of us, simply labeled mom, dad, girl, boy. I don't remember what my mother or brother got, but my dad got a really nice heavy shirt and I got a board game. It wasn't much but that was a really tough year and we didn't have much of anything (except Turkey-we got LOTS of turkeys that year in food baskets). Of course, my parents had found ways to get my brother and I a few things, but I'm sure those gifts were some of the only they received that holiday. You may not think that giving the toys for tot gift or the giving tree gift at the mall makes much of a difference, but I'm here to tell you that it definitely does. So instead of telling you what I'm thankful for today, I'll tell you what I know my mom was thankful for when she had an 11 year old who wasn't getting Christmas, and that is the kindness of those more fortunate and the strangers that "adopted" my family. I know the economy is in the crapper and we're all holding onto our pennies a bit tighter these days, but try to give what you can and help when you can. I'm thankful for Jen and Brian for reminding me of that Christmas so I can be extra thankful for all the blessings I have today and so I can help pass these lessons again to Grant! And as always, when I think of those super tough years, I'm extra thankful for my mom and the amazing was she managed to keep us all together and all safe. Now that I'm a mom, I can make boo-boos better, but try as I will, I'll never understand how she got us through-that is real mommy power!

I just got my nails painted Double Decker Red. I feel like I need to announce this for two reasons: I never do anything as girly as get my nails painted and so this is truly a newsworthy event in my life and OPI has such good color names that I like to document them. Probably not worth caring about, but they do crack me up!

We are out of sugar in our office. This is catastrophic for me. I want coffee, but can't drink it black. pooh.

Feel like I'm getting sick. My body is a bit achy today. Taylor has been fighting something and Grant has been sick as well. I think both boys are on the mend and I REFUSE to give in. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and even though I'm going to spend most of it in the car, I don't want to spend it in the car sick. I want to eat and enjoy and pretend that their is no seafood in the stuffing!

Fancy new colors! Fancy new slideshow! Fancy new Heather's Daily Rant!
Hope you enjoy!

My baby turns one tomorrow. How is that possible? I can tell you exactly what I was doing a year ago tonight, in a world before I met Grant. I had dinner with friends. I wanted to have the baked brie, but soft cheeses are a no-no when pregnant and even though I knew I was having the baby the next day, I didn't want to take the chance. I went to the mall, I did some laundry, and I packed and repacked and repacked my hospital bag. I snuggled with the cats. I sat on the exercise ball.

Flash forward a year--tonight i made cupcakes so Grant would have cake for his birthday (he already had his real cake during his party, but everyone deserves cake on their birthday), I did laundry so Grant would have the cute boy jeans that match his special "my birthday" shirt from his Auntie Kriselyn, I played, went to the grocery store for YoBaby Yogurt, play played, and read books and snuggled with my baby on his last night as a baby.

It goes so fast. I know that in the blink of an eye, he'll be starting school, dating girls, and driving cars. Taylor laughed at me on the ride home from the hospital last year when I said he would be going to college before we knew it-but I don't think he would laugh now-because the first year went in seconds. Tomorrow my baby becomes a toddler and I'm almost guaranteed a few tears. I'm going to go sneak into his room now to check on him, sleeping in his snugly footie pajamas with the space shuttles on them, passed out on his tummy, head resting on his taggie blanket, dreaming the night away!

Taylor and I must live on the greatest street in America! We had the best Halloween ever! We dressed up our littlest Dumbo and wandered outside around 5:00. All of our neighbors decided to come out into the street and sit together and hand out candy. Even the folks who hadn't been in on the initial discussion because we didn't have their email addresses came out dragging candy, kids, and lawn chairs. Many adults came in costume. Taylor and I came as first time parents :) We weren't the only family on our street in that costume, but we didn't mind sharing! Grant's little buddy Aiden was a cowboy and other adult costumes included a teacher, Batman, and Batwoman. Far and away, our favorite was the Pirate across the street. She decorated her house, played pirate music and brought her candy out in a treasure chest. She also made our street the place to be by bringing out a full bar into the street and handing out rum and coke to all of the adults who visited. Let's just say, we expect even more families next year! We had a great time and continued the night once designated trick or treat time was finished with a makeshift party at the pirates house. It was a great night. Grant was a trooper in his costume, which he never really fell in love with. He stayed in it until Mama decided it was time for him to get changed into something a little snugglier without complaint. Halloween, which has always been one of my least favorite holidays, skyrocketed up the list this year! I'm even more excited for the next big holiday in our world, Grantie's Birthday!

Grant helps Mom and Dad get ready for Halloween and our estimated 200 trick or treaters. 400 pieces of candy-well, maybe minus one!

• my cats are once again schizophrenic. Grant and I came home to the world craziest mess last night. nothing like keeping the cats locked in separate rooms to make a weekend fun.
• i want to learn to surf. okay, i really just want an excuse to go to Hawaii. Perhaps my college roommate will get married and invite me and we can take a family trip to the great island.
• less than two weeks until the NKOTB the sequel. this time, we're doing it like we're supposed to!
• my cake decorating career may be over. I'm not very good at it.
• HSM3 is out and I'm sad because I won't see it.
• Sarah Marshall is a funny movie.
• How I Met Your Mother is the greatest show on television.
• Holy rain storm batman.
• someone I went to college with just named her kid Grant. I admit it-it pissed me off.
• i had bunches more things to talk about, but now I forget them all. oh well...

Mommy's Big Big Fall Boy!

Well, it has been almost one week since my journey back in time to adolescence, and I have to say it was simply amazing. For those who might not know to what I am referring, I'm talking about my trip to Boston last Friday to see New Kids on the Block. I know, it sounds silly. And in all honesty, it sounded silly to me too, even the week of the concert. I thought it would be a fun night out with the girls and we would end up laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. But it wasn't. Yes, it was a super fun night out with the girls, but it was so much more! NKOTB put on the best concert I've ever seen. Many of you remember me going to see Madonna a few years ago and know that it was on my list of things to do before I die, and remember that while it was a good show, I was disappointed because Madonna thought she was in Boston despite being in Worcester and because I was sure she only performed half of her show. She only was on stage for under an hour. I think she cut her intermission and only performed a half show. Now, my tickets were free and they were good, so I didn't complain, but I was highly disappointed (ask poor Amy-she was stuck in the car with me!). NKOTB blew the Madonna show and every other show I've seen out of the water! They sang--and lets be clear--they were good! They danced and not like 40 year old men--they shook their money makers! Danny Wood did a breakdance solo that would put almost anyone to shame. They did solo songs, they sang together, the had dancers, they had the Celtics star Paul Pierce and the NBA Trophy for goodness sake! It was incredibly. It was over two hours! We forgot that we had been lost in Boston because Mandy the GPS doesn't do tunnels. We forgot that it was raining, that we had to pee super bad (well, maybe Teresa didn't forget that part), that we didn't get a real meal. We didn't care that we would have ringing ears for two days or that Natasha Bettingfield's mic was on too high and so she sounded like she was screaming. All we cared about was that we were there. It was such an incredible night. I would put it as one of the best nights ever. I lived a childhood dream. And I'm living it again! Yup-the show was so good that we're getting a second set of tickets. That's why living in NE is so awesome, we can get to many cities without much drama and will be seeing the boys again in a few weeks. How I love my life! And this time, instead of four, there will be seven, because the buzz is spreading and more and more want to see Joey, Donnie, Jordan, Jon, & Danny! Heather is Hangin Tough!

Goodbye Troy. You will be missed in the Mac Family on Sunday's. You're always welcome for peach salsa and pretzel bits at our house-we can play BINGO!

This is my 300th post. There is so much pressure to say something witty or be reflective in some way. Sadly, I've got nothing. I had just planned a little update on my last few weeks, but now...what to say?

Well, Grant is getting HUGE! In the last two weeks alone he has learned to crawl, pull himself up, he drinks exclusively from a cup and on and on and on. He took his first big car ride and visit to Grandma and Grandpop in the telephone. He was a rock star! He is a rock star. He is just the coolest kid on the planet and I suppose he is a perfect tribute for post 300!

It's almost comical at this point. Much like there never being a single picture of Me, Jeniffer and Kriselyn together when we see each other, there are no pictures of Me, Taylor and Grant. Quite literally, there are two "family" photos of us. One was taken in the first moments of his life. One was taken the day after we moved into our new house in February. Right now, in another window, I'm uploading 139 photos from G's Baptism yesterday. Photos of me and Grant, photos of the whole Mac Family and Grant, but no photos of just the three of us. A dozen adults, three cameras, zero photos!

Are you ready for some football? I've got my lucky underwear on, jersey is ready for game time. Grant's jersey-despite being two sizes two big is ready to roll and he's wearing his Patriot's onesie. Taylor's off to the game (and a big thank you to me for not only getting them tickets, but giving mine up for the good of the cause) and is (at last phone call) sitting in Norton waiting for the rest of the Mac Clan to show up. Too bad no one realized you can't buy beer in MA on Sunday's until 12. I've got a fridge stocked full that I would have been happy to send! Oh well! Me and my littlest boy are spending this most perfect day together. We're going to run some quick errands, pick up lunch (chips and mango salsa will have to wait for another weekend) and get back in time for game time. After that we're taking a nice long walk and will try out dad's cool new hiking backpack. Hope you and your families get you perfect fall football routines back on track today too!

Puffy Hand league is up and running. I'm the underdog today, but think Peyton could pull out a win for me. I'm taking on the Proud Papa's (my boy will take on all 2.5 of your kids today Janus!).

In my Survivor league I've got the Eagles beating the Rams. Hard as it is to say, "Go Eagles!"

Happy Sunday!

Oh Happy Day!

Grant's Baptism

September 6, 2008

Six years ago today Taylor and I got engaged at WDW. I wish we were there right now! We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom in the rain, went back to our room and got ready for dinner with Alexander and Emilie, had after dinner drinks with Krissy, and the boys, and got engaged in front of the fountain by our room. Sounds like a great day, doesn't it!

Pet Peeve of the Day:
2:00 to ???
When you're inviting people to an event that doesn't have an end time, there is no need to put ???. If you don't list a time, the party will naturally decline as it should. Listing ??? is just silly. You look like an idiot. As a host, even if you don't list an end time for an event, you can steer the crowd very subtly to end at a given time simply by your movements. Slowly start to clean up dishes, stop refilling the food and wine, this isn't difficult. Listing ??? is just plain ridiculous. Please don't do it!

Pet Peeve of the Day:
People who don't RSVP. How hard it is? Pick up the phone and say "no, I'm not coming". I promise you're not going to hurt anyone's feelings. By not doing it you're just bugging them as they're probably waiting on numbers for seating assignments, caterers, favors, and the like. Trust me, I plan events for a living! It is a real pain! You can send an email or call and leave a message in the middle of the night if that makes you feel better, or just make up a stupid excuse. It just matters that you follow through when someone extends an invitation your way! Be considerate people as you go forward in your day today.

Poor Fuzzy. What a great dog. He will be missed.

If I were still at my old job, today would have been my favorite day of summer. The Feast of the Assumption! This is the day when the non-catholics of the office goof off for an hour while everyone else goes to mass, then you go eat a huge meal, then you go home at 2:00 for the weekend. Instead, I'm in my office, not eating anything because I have no lunch, and working until the normal end of a normal day. My favorite office mates are all on vacation so it is super quiet, and there will be no goofing off. Sad day for Heather, great day for her old friends. Jerks! You're all jerks!

I slept through the Women's All-Around competition last night. I miss the days of taped Olympics. Who thought live starting at 11:30 was good for anyone? I'm stoked for the girls though and cried this morning when I saw them on the Today Show. Grant had no idea what to think of a crying mommy. It was a bit of a role reversal!

Congrats to Jenny on the new house, Emilie on having her hubby in the country, and Krissy for the soon to be new store. Free fries for everyone!

I'm worried about Kerry Walsh getting a strange tan line from the tape/brace she is wearing on her shoulder. It looks something like an ink blot and once she gets lines like that, it is going to take months to get them to go away.

Shout out to Taylor. Word.

I'm obviously a very happy girl that the Olympics are on. Most of you know I'm a junkie and simply can't get enough. To that end, I watched team equestrian today for about two hours. Those crazy Australians are in the lead and team USA is out of it. My favorites are beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming...the usual. I also really like the random, such as badminton and white water kayaking. Thank goodness for the Greeks!

Grant popped another tooth this weekend. Poor kid had a rough day today-it hurts to push teeth out. I feel so bad for him :(

Retreat at work tomorrow-hoping their is ice cream involved!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!
Hall of Fame game is Sunday night between the Indy Colts and Washington Redskins.
What a night of celebration in the Mac house. Game is at 8:0o p.m. Grant is going to bed at 7:50! For those keeping score, the Patiots first preseason game is on Thursday the 7th. Outstanding. What a wonderful time of year!

Grant is 38 weeks old. This means he's officially been out longer than he was in, since my little bug was in such a hurry to get here and see his Mommy that he was delivered at 37 weeks. I can't believe what a big boy I have already!

Taylor has had an epiphany about work tonight while we were giving Grant a bath. I'm not sure I understand it, but he's a happy man, so that makes me happy.

I want to go on the record as saying I'm totally over Miley Cyrus. She announced she's not having sex before she's married. Haven't we seen this show before? Fast forward five years and suddenly one of the Jonas brothers in the role of Justin Timberlake selling her out on 20-20 saying they've been fornicating for years. Suddenly, people won't touch her with a 10 foot pole, she's married to Federline and has a reality show called Chaotic. Why Miley? Don't you learn? Don't people watch others and see them fall apart and think, "wow, I'll be smart enough to keep my bedroom to myself"? I guess not. She's a goner! Plus, she has recently recorded a cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I'm tired of that song in general, but I'm really not thrilled with a remake by Miley. She needs to go away. Bye-Bye Hannah Montana!

Time for some countdown updates:

Olympics start in 10 days. We'll be breaking the no television for Grant rule starting 8-8-08 as I am an Olympaholic! I'll even watched synchronized diving! I really love all the swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball (women's-and if you think it isn't a sport, watch Walsh and Mays-Trainer. They are incredible!). I'll watch anything and everything I can get my remote control on.

60 days until NKOTB! I'm looking for a great new concert outfit and I'm considering crimping my hair to relive the 1980's.

My life is AWESOME!

Emilie is mad at me because I haven't blogged in so long. Indeed, she is correct, I've been delinquent and so will give you a list of the randomness that has been my life and or thoughts I've had over the last few weeks

• I hate concentrated laundry detergent. I like to pretreat stains using detergent and when the detergent is concentrated I don't have enough to use on all of the stains...and with my boys, we have lots of stains. Can't I save the earth in some other way?
• Good Luck to sweet Jeniffer tomorrow. Just keep swimming!
• Alexander is back next weekend. How fast time goes.
• Chevy wants men to stop shaving and women to stop washing their hair. Honest.
• Grant has popped three teeth so far with one more on the way. He's been a great kid fighting through them.
• Taylor is really annoyed that it is shark week on Discovery channel. Still, we're both perfectly excited for the shark week mythbusters.
• the grass has been growing very well. we've been watering like mad people and have what can actually be called grass at this point! Take that Brian!
• Summer is going so fast-I couldn't be more depressed about it.
• Work is going very well so far. I really like the people I work with now. My transition has been pretty easy and I'm looking forward to getting more involved in projects.
• I had a great few weeks off. Grant and I had many adventures and play dates galore! Some of our favorites included Julie, Jim and baby Frances, Tina and baby Connor, and the Janus family.
• I really can't stand Manny. It isn't just because he's a Red Sox, because there are plenty of those guys I like and who I think have class, it's because he's a thug! He is just a pain in the rear! Ask Taylor about his theory regarding Manny's pine tar.
• I really, really, really (!) love my new car. I haven't been calling her Betsy as I planned. She still needs a name, but i think it will come to with time, just like Oprah did.
• we had a great weekend. Swim class was fun, as always, and then we were off to visit Taylor's family. Pam got a new computer (and may be our newest reader) and so Taylor wanted to help get her up and running. I was able to get some great shopping done at the same time. Grant got to go on his very first boat and seemed to enjoy it.
• Doogie Howser now does a commercial all about being a fake doctor. It was, as Barney Stinson would say, "Awesome"

Bed time! Night!

file this under the category of be careful what you wish for...

hydro seeding needs to be watered a minimum of twice a day. with the six hoses we use, that takes about 1.5 hours a time. my husband is a saint! I try to help-but he is really the man with the plan. think cool afternoon rain storms!

Hi Friends!
All is well in the world of Heather. I'm enjoying my time off. I consider this time home with Grant a little gift from the heavens! He's so much fun right now! He's also exhausting! I'm much more tired now being home with him full time than a "normal" work week! He's getting so big and learning new things every day. He's got two teeth now! He's still working on crawling-he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks-which we know is the step right before taking off! He's funny too! I hope many of you get to visit with him soon!

The house is getting busy! They've been working hard on our yard. We have a lovely driveway that has been paved. they finished the grading and have layed down the loom. they also run the rake thing over the finished area to get ready for the hydro seeding. I'm hoping they do that today and so we can be done with the construction zone! Grant and I have enjoyed watching all that is going on, but we've missed being able to sit out on the deck and the sounds of the noise makes it tough for the little man to take naps!

We start swim classes tomorrow. We're so excited! I've never taken a formal swim class, so maybe I'll learn something with the little guy! All the classes at the Y have funny little names and ours is called "Skip" class. Grant thinks "skip class" is the funniest thing he's ever heard-so if he doesn't like the class at least he's gotten plenty of giggles at the name. Worth the money and more! Hopefully we'll get some pictures to share.

Welcome Betsy MacFarlane! Betsy is our new car. She's about 48 hours old. Betsy is a 2009 Subaru Forester and I love her! She's silver (I know-why did I pick silver?) and the 2.5i premium. 2009 is a redesign for the Forester and it is a whole new car! I would have never looked at the old one, but Betsy and her friends are so cute! We're very happy together and look forward to a very very long relationship!

Hey Friends! I know many of you wonder why I haven't had too much to say in recent days. Things here have been rather stressful. Work for me has been a nightmare. But, the good news is that is all over! I've found a new job that I'm really excited about and yesterday I got to walk into the bosses office and hand over my letter of resignation and leave. I'm so excited!!!!!

So, now I'm taking a few weeks off before I start my new position. It is still in Alumni Relations, so I'll be similar things to what I was doing. I'm happy and excited and really looking to taking a little bit of time off to spend with Grant-man. So, if you're around where I live in the next few weeks and want to spend some time with me and the little dude, we would love to see you! We're going to work hard to finish getting the house unpacked and things put away, work on mommies tan and keeping Grant baby white, and having some fun!

The average American eats 160 bowls of cereal per year. I eat zero bowls of cereal per year. turns out, just like the song, I am anything but ordinary!

side note:Grant has started sleeping through the night! six nights in a row so far. He still wakes up sometimes, but usually just puts himself right back to sleep. last night, from 2:00 to 2:45 he played with his musical Ocean Wonders toy in his crib. I don't care if I never hear that song again! He's such a cutie!

If you get a second today, go online and watch Luke Russert on the Today Show this morning talking to Matt Lauer. What an amazing kid. Most of you know my fondness for Tim Russert and Taylor and Jen will tell you I spent much of my weekend watching tributes to him--even letting Grant be in the room with television so I could keep watching. When you see Luke and hear him talk about his dad you just feel so happy for him having 22 years of that incredible relationship and simply devastated at the same time knowing he has to make the rest of his life's journey without his father as a compass. Matt even called him "Tim" accidentally at one point and the kid took it in stride. The photo of him on the Meet the Press set Sunday is enough to make anyone's heart ache. I'll keep Tim as my news husband even though he has passed. Anderson Cooper can wait a little longer-Tim's shoes are far to big for him to fill!

I'm a sleepy girl! Grant has been doing some weird things with sleeping lately. The good news is, he's pretty much dropped that last nighttime feeding (or at least it comes after 4:00 am). He still wakes up around 2-3 every morning and on good days he goes right back to sleep and on bad days, like the last few, he's up crying his head off! Saturday night he was up from 3:30 until 5:00 and cried to the point that Taylor closed Grant's bedroom windows for fear of waking the neighbors! Kids got a nice set of lungs when the spirit moves. This morning he was up for the day at 5:00. I got him out of bed at 5:30 and he was more than ready for his nap when I dropped him off at daycare a little before 8:00. I wish I could have laid down for an hour or two of sleep too! Oh well!

Today is golf day at my old job. I miss it!

Happy Belated Father's day to any of my readers. Granty got Dad a tie. Daddy gets a tie for Daddy day. It is how it goes. He also made him this neat little thing of nuts at daycare that Taylor has been enjoying munching on all weekend. His big gift was this fancy sprinkler think that he wanted-though we still have no lawn. not bad for a little boy with no allowance!

we went to RI to visit with Taylor's family yesterday. we went to some seafood place for lunch (I happily had one of the few non-seafood dishes-the "Angus" burger!). G's doctor gave him the all clear to start trying some finger foods and so after his jar of "Country Dinner" (chicken and brown rice) he munched on the potato from some of my fries. He was so excited to gum on those bad boys! He probably got less than a half of a teaspoon of actual potato, but it help him busy and happy through most of the meal, and Grammie was excited because I let her hold him and feed him yummy fry guts too! He also tried his first cheerios this weekend and made quick work of those. watching his face as he tries new things is amazing! still, the best face was when he grabbed my mint chip ice cream cone on Memorial Day. The mint and the cold really shocked him but he was so excited and went back for as much as mom would let him have. Aunt Jenny has the photos on her camera (old school film!), so when they get back I'll share them with the group.

I skipped book club on Saturday to hang out with the boys and I just got an email that says we aren't meeting again until September because summer is too hard. I'm so bummed! I haven't been since October -mostly because we have had a bad time with scheduling. I've only missed two meetings. It seems so wrong that it will be almost a full year. I love those girls, but more the fun conversation that come with the group. Plus, i get to read a book for me! for fun! and it has no pictures! I think maybe Grant and I will go to the library tonight and look at books for mommy. Grant has a library in his room (seriously-the kid has well over 200 books on his shelf I would guess) and is about to inherit all of the books me and my brother Rob had as kids when we go to Maine in July. Holy Moly! We're going to need a whole new room just for books! We'll have to finish our basement sooner than we planned!

There is a random meeting in the room next to me right now about FBI background checks. I love sitting right next to the conference room!

how are you my readers? I miss you!

something to entertain the masses...

Hello Friends! Thank you all for the great birthday wishes. I loved the cards, flowers, and especially the awesome purse from my two boys. I was spoiled and thank each of you from the bottom of my heart.

Survived commencement this weekend. The Class of 2008 is in the books and my alumni group just got 200 people larger. I'm such a proud alumni momma! Hopefully they will come to all of my events and even give! we'll see.

Had lunch with some special gals on Friday. was nice to have the gang back together even for an hour, and was such a bonus for me since I didn't think I could make it. They are a motivating group of women. and, we went to Friendly's, so what could be better.

Getting ready for the fun wedding this weekend of Alex and Carrie. Nice to see that he got himself a nice Johnson girl in the end! We really are the greatest! I have no idea what I'm wearing. Anyone think that is a problem? What does one wear to a wedding at 10:00 am? I'm really looking forward to wedding cake...

So excited for the girls and their boys to come. Krissy and Matt will be here tomorrow and are even coming to an alumni event with me. work is so much more fun with friends! Jenny and Brian get here on Friday. What a fun weekend we will have, even with no chairs in our house!

I hate my hair right now :(

Grant is Half today! Yeah big boy!

Here is a photo of he and Mommy on Mommy Day Sunday

Not the best photo of his life, but the only one of baby and mommy from the day. Papa was a baby hog in OSV (which was fine with everyone involved-especially Grant!), so we didn't get tons of photos. Such a cutie in his whale finery! You should see his shoes (Thanks Auntie K!).

To Quote Mary Chapin Carpenter and my best friend from high school's yearbook quote
"Somepeople say that you shouldn't tempt fate and for them I cannot disagree. But I never learned nothing from playing it safe, I say fate should not tempt me--I take my chances!"
So screw fate-I bought my New Kids tickets! Seeing the boys in September! YAHOO!!!
It also seems like there is a great TWW quote about tempting fate, but I think it is in latin so...

I'm such a mommy-I just opened my purse for something and found a pair of Grant's socks. And I was excited about it. I love that kid!

Happy Birthday to Emilie and Julie! Two very special and important ladies in my life.

Fate is a cruel, cruel woman. New Kids on the Block finally announced their Boston tour date and I have to work! Life just isn't fair! I've been waiting over 20 years to see them in concert and it is the one event I just can't get out of! Not cool.

Like Father Like Son

We love the NFL Draft!

"If you want your life to be a great story, remember you are the author." -John Maxwell

G-man loves peas! Sweet peas are sweet when you're G! Yum!

We had a great weekend. Grant is so much fun right now. He just giggles and laughs. He beat tummy time this weekend! He kept getting in trouble for not spending enough tummy time and not rolling over. Well, Saturday he decided he knew how to roll over. He had done it here and there and with lots of encouragement. Saturday afternoon he just started doing it like a nut. He literally rolled over 20 times in a row. Now it is just a thing he does that is no big deal like he's been doing it forever. It is the coolest thing! I really love this kid!

Jen and Krissy and their boys all have plane tickets to come for Bricker's wedding. It's real! It's happening! We can't wait to see them. We're already making a list of all the things we need to do before everyone comes to the house. The first thing-TOILET PAPER HOLDERS (TAYLOR-PUT THESE UP!!!). It should be a super fun weekend.

So, it is 9:30 and that means my bedtime. I understand that makes me a loser, but ask that you understand that I'm up at least twice a night still with the kid. I haven't slept more than 2.5 hours straight in a very long time! Night Night!

Randomness...

• why does music sound better in the summer?
• I love my blackberries-I love my husband!
• first ice cold Nantucket Nectors Lemonade of the season.
• Feta Cheese is reason enough to have G be an only child.
• can't help singing along with my iPod today-my coworkers hate me!
• I have inherited a second job to do while doing my own. I'm trying to cut down my hours not increase!
• Julie is such a thoughtful friend!
• It is a Pina Colada on the deck kind of night. If only I had chairs on the deck, or in the kitchen, or at the bar, or really anywhere in my house!
• one hour until I get to go get my baby!
• birthdays galore coming up in May. may buy stock in Hallmark!
• Tina's having a boy and is naming him Connor. Glad she finally knows-I've known for weeks and been afraid I would tell her.
• I miss my old coworkers so much!
• Planning a trip to Italy that I'm not going on --yes--another one!
• rediscovering my love affair with flavored seltzer water. yum!
• blue raspberry jolly ranchers are the greatest.
• Everybody Hurts and Spilled Perfume are my Desperado.
• What's a Wicked Wango Card?
• I can't see a single space of wood on my desk.
• 80 degrees today. Grant didn't know the temperature went above 40 until last week. Gotta love New England!
• I think I might have a tape worm.
• I gave up the chance to have Del's today so I could wait and have it with Taylor. That's love.
• Remember when Alanis was angry? that was great!
• I'm making a to do list-but not actually getting anything crossed off. depressing.
• I wish I was puddle jumping at Wheaton with Jeniffer today. Why did we spend a day doing that? Taylor lost his jacket in Knapton that day because he was distracted by the wackiness that is me and J.J.
• I wonder when I started calling her J.J.-and why!
• Kellen Clemens kid got kissed by the Pope yesterday. Think that makes the Jets unstoppable this year? Nah-maybe if it was the good Pope...
• I love how country music is trendy now. where were all of you 10 years ago?
• If Grant were allowed to watch television, tonight we would be watching the Muppets take Manhattan
• Cleaned up on the chach at my benefits fair yesterday
• the baby is moving up diaper sizes this week. I think he won't be a "swaddler" anymore and will be a "cruiser". it is enough to make me cry. He's a "big big boy"
• Did you know Big Bird (and my new boss) are from Ohio?
• Time to find out what Barbara is having for dinner so I can copy cat (Pizza-easy enough)
• One of two left in the building.

Happy Birthday (and good job walking!) Fletcher!

Happy Anniversary Taylor. The year of fruit...

cake for breakfast... See-coworkers really do serve a purpose in life-it is to have birthdays!

there was a dump truck and a backhoe in my yard when I left for work today. this can only be a positive sign for the creation of my yard!

filed our taxes last night at 10:00. Keeping my money as long as possible before I give it to George and his boys!

I live in the middle of a construction zone! they aren't building houses right now...they are breaking apart rocks with a jackhammer on the front of a bulldozer. Yeah-that is about as quiet as it sounds. no big deal really, unless you've got a 5 month old desperate for a nap! He got a good 30 minutes in before they hit a really big rock and woke him up. Luckily, we ran some errands in the car, so he was able to get a nice rest there. Back home now (obviously) and we saw the rock breaker guy leaving for lunch. Grant is happy-as he is still napping! Thank god for small miracles!

Yes, it is Monday. Yes, I'm home today. Grant's daycare is having some medical tests preformed today, so I get a bonus day with the Babe! We've been productive so far today. We dropped off the dry cleaning, got the car inspected, mailed a package, went to the bank and had lunch. I've made brownies while he is sleeping and when he wakes and eats, we're off again visiting friends. Taylor will be at work very late tonight (it's that time of the month) so G and I don't even have to worry about getting home in time to make dinner. We're looking forward to some fun visits!

Speaking of funny-Grant started baby food yesterday. He had been having rice cereal and baby oatmeal. Yesterday we added carrots to the mix. He likes carrots about as much as I like carrots-which is not very much at all! why do people cook carrots? they belong raw and in the baby form. But, that is neither here nor there-he was super funny eating them. Taylor managed somehow to get some up his nose! he was covered in orange. Sadly for him, he's got 3-5 days of carrots before he gets to move on to the next veggie of choice. I hear they start to like things by the third day or so. I hope he does learn to like carrots-he's fighting an uphill battle with eyesight and could use all the help he can get.

remember when my blog used to be funny and cleaver? I miss those days too. Perhaps once i sleep in stretches that are longer than 2 hours I'll find the funny again.

Yes-there will be cake at the birthday party. It is a babes first party-there will be cake. there will be cake on the kid, on the floor, on the dog, you name it! I will be partaking in said cake and will be excited about it. I'll miss Jenny, who usually gives me the frosting from her cake (and admittedly, I sometimes give her the cake from my frosting), but we'll soon be caking it up together at Bricker's wedding! At least, I assume there will be cake...it is a 10:00 am wedding though...I'm calling for conformation later this evening! all of this cake talk is making me hungry! I'm going on a food hunt and hoping for cake in the dining hall!

G-man got invited to his first party! Friend Fletcher is turning one! What to bring for a gift, what to bring to add to the time capsule (that's the theme), what to wear! Such big decisions for such a tiny guy!

longest. week. ever.
I don't even remember Monday anymore. It is possible I'm wearing the same pants today that I wore then...they're clean so I guess I really don't care. Just an observation!

nothing big going on this weekend. one of Grant's little friend's and her parents are coming over tomorrow to get some boxes. they're moving because they're having a baby (she's secret baby 4-not a secret anymore) so I volunteered our boxes in an effort to force us to unpack. Sadly, we have a neat recycling program with our trash company where we get points good for gift certificates for the weight of our recycling. We would have probably received a ton for all the boxes, but it seems a better idea to actually save the earth than to just pretend to by recycling.

we bought school house rocks on dvd for Grant. We're trying to find out how to pull the audio from a dvd so we can play it for him on our iPods. Grant isn't allowed television, so if any of you know how to do this, give us a call and become our hero!

it's raining here and I'm tired of it. I love my super quick baby walks with G-man after work and we certainly can't get them in with weather like this. I think the air is good for him. Helps him sleep better-or at least pretend to sleep better! I think Sunday is supposed to be a better day. I long for spring!

wow! no comments on the eating picture. I thought that face was worth a million words! You should see the faces now-sheer joy! unfortunately, Taylor has trained Grant to hate the camera because he chases him around the house with it all the time, so whenever he sees it all of the joy slides away. We may never have a photo of him being a smiley boy!

NKOTB, by the way, is a reference to New Kids on The Block who are going on tour again after 20 years. I was their target market then and I am their target market now. They've got the right stuff, baby!