Thursday, July 28, 2011

Ack! Thursday already!

Sorry to our loyal readers who have been waiting patiently for an update this week....

We packed up the car and headed south to North Carolina on Monday. Henry was a super-traveler as usual. I spent part of the ride in the backseat with him so that I could help to entertain him for part of the drive since he no longer sleeps for most of the trip.

We got down to VA in good time and stopped at BDubs for dinner with the Rossettinis and Katie. It was a very tasty meal and it was good to see them all. After dinner Eddie and I hit up Target and Walmart in search of some items for Henry's upcoming birthday party. (Not much luck!) We then headed the rest of the way to my parents' house where we let Henry crawl around until his heart's content since he had been cooped up in a carseat or high chair all day! (My parents weren't home from band rehearsal yet.)

We spent Tuesday relaxing around the house until mid-afternoon when we headed up to Norfolk to the Botanical Garden for their 5K race. We got there early and got to pay a very small fee ($1 a piece) to get into the gardens and walked around a little before racetime. The Garden is located right next to the Norfolk airport and has a neat little observation patio where you can watch the planes come and go. Air traffic wasn't too busy at that time but we were able to show Henry a few planes taking off. It was pretty hot out and he was tired so he wasn't super-excited about it but it was neat. I would like to take him back there when he is a little bit older.

The race was H-O-T. Eddie was hoping to push me to a new 5K Personal Record but the heat and the lack of water at the only water station got into my head and we ran it in 31:30. Not my best but not my worst. The actual race course through the gardens was really neat. There were neat little fountains, terraces, gardens, bridges,etc. along the way. At the end of the race there was freshly cut watermelon, bananas, pizza, water and MILLER LITE!

Though I let my mental game bring me down a little I am still pleased to have another race under my belt and am looking forward to starting to add mileage to my training runs. I'm not wishing time away but I'm also looking forward to cooler temperatures!

On Wednesday we did lots of errand running to get things for Henry's birthday party. (We decided a while back to have a First Birthday Party for Henry down here just as a way for us to see friends and to have celebrate this big milestone.)

Today Eddie and I met up with Katie for a round of golf at the course in the neighborhood where my parents live. (We had a coupon.) It was HOT HOT HOT but we had a good time. Katie and I aren't really golfers but we managed just fine! I enjoyed it and improved a little as the day went on. Not a hobby I'll want to pick up full-time but definitely something I would enjoy doing here and there.

We have a few more days of relaxing before Henry's Party. We'll be heading back to NJ after his party but this time we only have a week before a family cruise!

I'll post some pictures when we return to NJ.

For now, ciao from NC!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Pic Update

It's been a while since I've posted pictures so here are some favorites from the last month or so:

First Family Picture at the New House:


Happy boy playing on the slide at our friends' engagement party:





During our last visit to my parents' house we had some friends and their kids over. This is the first group shot of the kiddos together. Ages range from 6 weeks to almost 3 years.




Pics from our stop in DC:





Henry was clearly excited about touching the Moon Rock:




Fourth of July in Ridgewood:






Henry wasn't so sure about the fireworks at first...

He calmed down and seemed to enjoy the fireworks once we moved up onto the porch.
View of the fireworks from the Seavers' front porch....can't beat it!



Friday, July 15, 2011

Getting back on schedule...

I've been a terrible blogger for the last month or so...aye aye aye. I'm not sure where the time goes because I feel so behind on so many things...I am in the process of uploading nearly 300 photos that I hadn't done yet, Henry's birthday invites haven't gone out, my side of the bed is a series of piles of stuff that can probably be tossed or put away, etc etc etc. But here I am now so...

Since our last entry we've started getting things done in the new house....nothing big but Henry's room is almost done being painted, our room has its first coat, we bought new electric outlet plate covers, new airvent covers, interviewed two contractors for kitchen/bathroom work, etc. I am really anxious just get everything done so we can get settled but I know it's going to take some time, especially with wanting to wait until the contractors are done with what they are doing, Eddie's work schedule, Henry's schedule, etc.

Eddie and I both traded in our outdated phones for smartphones last week. I didn't think I really wanted/needed one but after having it I've got to say that I am really liking it. I love that I can snap photos or shoot a video and then post it immediately to Facebook. Makes it pretty convenient to keep people up to date with what we're doing. I need to figure out how to upload those photos to the computer so I can load them here as well.

Henry continues to grow and develop at an almost alarming rate. He's become a pro at climbing up steps (but not down), points at things he wants, is very expressive and is just a general fun kid to be around....despite his recent napping protests. He'll be turning 11 months old tomorrow, which just amazes me. I can't believe that he's going to be a year old soon. Time really does fly.

Yesterday we went to Adma's Farm in a neighboring town. I had seen it online in the fall when we were looking for a pumpkin patch to go to and when we got up yesterday it was a BEAUTIFUL and mild day so I figured it was a good day for an adventure. The farm has a greenhouse and lots of plants that we didn't see this time because we spent so much time looking at the animals. Henry thought the goats and sheep were hilarious. He was also very interested in the chickens until the roosters started going nuts and cockledoodledooing. It was fun to take him there and to see him react to the animals. It makes me excited for future trips to zoos.

Tomorrow morning Karen, Ellen and I are running a 5K at a local small airport. It's on their runway so it will be a nice flat course! I haven't run since the 5K on the 4th of July so I'm not really looking forward to it!

I'm going to get this up and posted and will do a separate catch-up photo entry this weekend once I weed through the ones I uploaded. Thank you, readers, for your patience with my unpredictable posting schedule lately!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

We're Still Here!

Thanks for your patience as we have had a very busy time since the last entry! Here are some bullet points to catch you up:

-I survived helping with four orientation sessions at CNU. The students and staff really came together to put together a fantastic experience for the incoming students and their parents. I am glad that I really got to be there. It was a little difficult to leave on my last day as my contract is up and even though I'm going to see most of the people fairly regularly working at CNU has been a great experience for me both personally and professionally. So for all of your CNU-ers that might be reading this...I miss you already!

-Eddie flew down to spend time with Henry and I. He had the chance to play golf, play kickball, see friends and relax a little. He even got recruited to help with parking for one of the orientation sessions!

-Henry had a super time with Ding Dong and Grandad. He went swimming, went on walks, worked on perfecting his coffee table cruising, ate meatloaf, practiced the piano and so much more. I think they all really enjoyed the time together and I'm glad that we were able to do it.

-On July 3rd Eddie, Henry and I packed up the car and headed back north. We stopped in Fredericksburg along the way to have lunch with a good friend from high school/college that I haven't seen in five years. She, her husband and little boy drove to meet us and it was a fun lunch. It's still kind of weird to me that we're old enough to have kids! After lunch we continued to DC where we had planned on meeting friends for the dress rehearsal of the Capitol Fourth concert. My family had done this for many years and so we thought it would be fun to do ourselves. (Great way to see the same concert without the crazy crowd!) When we got into DC we were able to walk around The Mall a little and then headed into the Air & Space museum to cool off. Good thing we did because a HUGE storm blew through town. Thankfully the storm let up before the museum closed so we were able to head back to the Capitol to meet up with our friends. We were sad to find out that they had closed the rehearsal to the public, probably to keep the lawn from getting too muddy. The rehearsal went on but it was too hard to hear from the closest we could get so we decided to head back to Jersey. We got in at 12:45 and were in bed a little before 2.

-July 4th started early (especially after an early morning return!) and included the Seavers Siblings running the Glen Rock 5K. We all did really well! It was fun to all run even if we weren't together (due to some runners being faster than others!). After the run we headed back to the house to get ready for the parade. The Seavers' house is right on the parade route so we just had to walk out the front door and grab a spot on the lawn to enjoy. Henry loved the parade and got especially excited when the different bands marched by. (This made me quite happy!) We spent the rest of the day hanging out, eating, etc. before the fireworks, which are conveniently shot off right across the street. The Seavers' lawn is the perfect location and was full of friends and family for the show. Henry had skipped his afternoon nap and was quite tired by the time the fireworks started but he was awake for them. He was NOT a fan of them at first when we had him on the lawn but we moved onto the covered porch and he started to actually enjoy them.

-House Update: I was able to get in to see the work that Eddie and his family did while I was away. It was neat to see the lack of wallpaper and start to really visualize what things may look like when things are done. We have some contractors coming in to look at the bathrooms and kitchen so we can get estimates on some updates we would like to do before we actually move in.

-Henry Updates: Henry continues to learn new things and be a great little kiddo. He's getting to be pretty good at cruising along tables, sofas, etc. He has started pointing at just about everything with his cute little pointer finger. It's really hard to believe that his first birthday is right around the corner!

Here's one of my new favorite photos of him: