Monday, December 10, 2012

One Day in NYC

Two weeks ago, I took a bus trip to NYC with some girlfriends for the day.
There's way too much to do in one day!
We did A LOT of walking around in the city and just took in all the sights and sounds (and not so pleasant smells) of the city.  It's so beautiful this time of year.  I loved all the holiday spirt.
 
One of my friends had a cousin who lives in the city and he was able to show us around.  He was such a nice guy to spend most of his day showing us tourist around!  We all fell in love with him  because he was such fun loving guy. 
 
The pizza from Angelo's was oh SO yummy!
And the cupcakes from Magnolia's was devine!  

 
 

Thanks NYC for a great time! 
Until we meet again.
 


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Who's Looking Dapper?

My little guy.
(21 months old)


I think I'm slowly realizing that he's growing up.
Especially when I see him in pictures.
A toddler now.
No longer a baby,
but will always be MY baby.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Always Be Grateful



We had a great thanksgiving weekend with Steve's entire family.
We ate.
We laughed.
We ate some more.

I'm grateful everyday for ALL of my many blessings
(even trials can be blessings).

So, Always Be Grateful
(no matter what your situation is).

Monday, November 19, 2012

Life Lately....



  • I get overwhelmed with Life. So much to do, not enough time to do it. You know what I mean?? I feel like I blinked and it's Thanksgiving! And I feel this rush to get ready for Christmas because if I blink again, it will be here and I won't have a single decoration up.  Such as life...

  • After four months of being on the  market, we took the house off the market for the holidays.  Better luck in the spring?! I can breath so much easier now that I can resume my regularly scheduled life (instead of trying to keep a house clean all.the.time!).

  • The week before the house listing was to expire, Steve got a new calling at church.  Elder's Quorum President.  I KNEW there was a reason why we haven't sold our house!  So, on top of work, school, volunteering as an EMT aide and trying to make time for family, he will be very busy with serving in this new calling.  BUT, I know he will learn and grow a lot and we will be blessed as a family.  You can't go wrong when you are serving the Lord.

  • Matthew is growing up right before our eyes.  There's not a day that goes by where I don't say to my husband, 'I can't believe how much I love that kid.'  It's true.  He makes my heart grow bigger and bigger every day. 

  • Looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending time with family.  We are doing family pictures on Friday with Steve's entire family (I think there's 27 of us!).  Wish us luck!  And do you know how hard it is to find a purple shirt for a toddler this time of year?!  Looks like I will be making a purple bowtie for my little pumpkin.  And hopefully I can get around to updating my blog header since those picturs are from a year ago.

So, that's been our life lately.
And here's my handsome little man before church yesterday.

 

Friday, November 9, 2012

Fabulous Fall Family Fun

Pictures from a few weeks ago.
(Cause we try to squeeze as much in as we can in the month of October!)
We went to our second pumpkin patch of the season. I think I enjoyed the cow ride more than Matthew!  

Fall Foliage!
I took Abbey and Matthew to the park by our house so we could play in the leaves. It was a beautiful day to enjoy all the beauty around. 
Then we went to Bear's Den Trail center and took a little hike to an overlook where the view was just amazing.  Ah-maz-ing!

Matthew found a little tree stump just his size.
Matthew - the tree worshipper?

 
See the view behind us?
Ah-maz-ing!

I'm so glad we were able to enjoy all this beauty because a few days later, Hurricane Sandy rolled in.  Now there's probably not a single leaf on those trees. 

The days are getting chillier and some days you can feel old man Winter looming in the air. As we get ready for Thanksgiving, it makes us reflect on what w are grateful for in our lives.  First and foremost, I am grateful for my family and my faith. 

I'm grateful for fabulous fall family fun!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Hap-BEE Family

 The original plan was I was going to be the Queen Bee, Steve the Bee Keeper and Matthew the baby bee.  We didn't have time to get the bee keeper outfit so we just ended up being a Hap-Bee family. 
 Our costumes were made with a roll of yellow duct tape.
Matthew's costume was bought last year on clearance.  He did NOT want to wear the hoodie part.

Nieces and Nephews before we went trunk or treating.
 This was the first time Matthew could actually go trick or treating.  He had SO much fun.  He couldn't say 'trick or treat' so we had him say 'pees' (please) and 'tank Q' (Thank you).

I put him in his wagon and took him around the neighborhood a little bit.  Then we came home and passed out candy.  He really had fun giving candy to all the trick or treaters.  It's fun to watch him enjoy Halloween.

I love my little hap-BEE family!

Monday, November 5, 2012

20 1/2 Months - What Matthews Been Up To

This post is way overdue.
(Better late than never).
 
Matthew's 'touchdown' pose.
 
This little munchkin is still climbing all over the place and keeping us on our toes.
He's getting smarter by the day.
 
He has perfected the sounds of a cow, sheep, horse and dog.
 
He loves Mickey Mouse, Elmo, Handy Manny and Doc McStuffins.
 
 
When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he says is 'ipa, ipa' (iPad).  And before we can get to the Disney Jr app, he's saying 'Manny, Manny' (Handy Manny) or 'MiMe,  MiMe' (Mickey Mouse).
 
He also likes Little Einsteins and Imagination Movers.
 
He is only taking one nap a day now and by time seven o'clock rolls around, he's already yawning.
He's been feeling a little under the weather this past week so he's been getting up every.single.night.  Not fun at all for mommy and daddy, especially when he wants to watch the 'ipa' at 2:00 AM!

 
We transitioned his crib into a big boy bed!
The first night we put him in it, he rolled out within an hour.  But he didn't wake up at all.  Now we  put a long pillow in the bed to block the opening a  little.  He hasn't climbed out of it, yet. 
He still likes to climb up onto the changing station if we take too long to get him out of his bed. 
No worries though, we make sure to get him right away when he gets up.
 
 
 
Matthew is a healthy and happy (most of the time) toddler.
We are SO grateful!
 
Just when we think that there's no more room in our hearts to love this child, he makes our hearts grow even bigger with love!