Apple Picking at the Orchard

Last weekend we took a trip to the apple orchard with Grandma. What a grand way to kick off our most favorite season...We were the first ones there when they opened in the morning, so we had the whole place to ourselves for a little while! The day started off cold and cloudy, but soon the sun broke through to give us the most beautiful fall day.

We shared some hot cider and sugared donuts before we made the trek down the dirt road to the little red barn so we could visit the animals. Mostly Norah just wanted to see the brand new "baby cow", but the miniature pony and big soft bunnies won over her heart.

After we said hello to the animals we climbed half way up the haystack mountain, played at the playground for a bit and then took a hayride through an enchanted forest to the orchard. We spent hours meandering the rows and rows of apple trees while my little apple picker carefully tried to twist each apple off its branch just as we'd been instructed to do. She chose the teeny tiniest apples because she thought they were cute, and because they fit in her shirt pockets :) I think the biggest grins appeared when Colin lifted her up over his head so she could reach the apples at the top of the tree!

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Love ~ Renee

Ghost Lake Lodge

The week before labor day we went on a little vacation with Nona and Grampa up to Ghost Lake Lodge. It was glorious... neither Colin or I had to cook or clean for all 4 days and had all the time in the world to relax! Norah was having the time of her life fishing off the dock with Grampa and cooking with Nona :) She even got a few boat rides and splashes in the pool in between digging for worms (yes, real worms!) to put on her hook and mixing pancake batter. 


This was just the break we needed to get us through until the baby arrives.  Day by day I'm starting to get more and more excited! Reading my Bradley books over and over again so that maybe this time things might go a little smoother. Gathering all of Norah's old baby things from storage and making them new again, and organizing our teeny tiny house so that toddler toys and baby gear can live in peaceful harmony. Sometimes I wonder what I have gotten myself into! Most of the time though, the thought of our expanding family makes my heart a flutter. 

Love ~ Renee

A New Kind of Greek Fest Fun

Colin comes from a family that is very proud of their Greek heritage, so every year we go to Greek Fest with his parents, Nona and Grandpa! We usually just eat too much, shop for jewelry and watch some fun dancing, but this year some new elements of fun were added... bouncing and giggling :) 


Norah has yet to learn how to jump, but she is learning (video):


and she had a really great time knocking Grandpa over... and then the rest of us! (video)


Love ~ Renee

The Birthday Party!

So it took me more than a week, but better late than never right? 

We had a great party last Saturday... all of our friends and family were there and although it was sweltering outside, the kids kept cool with the pool and slip 'n slide and they kept us cool with their squirt guns :) Norah had so much fun that she's been talking about it every single day! We are lucky to have such great friends with kids that are all oh so sweet.

Thanks to my wonderful in-laws we had a gorgeous backyard to celebrate in. They decorated it to the hilt, they made games for the kids that were a hit, and they even put Martha Stewart to shame with a yummy spread of picnic food. I just spent the morning making the cake and Colin took care of whatever else there was to take care of. They made it so easy, we might just have to celebrate there every year!

Love ~ Renee

Words to Live By

What happens to you is not as important

as how you react to what happens.  

- Thaddeus Golas

I adore this quote. Because it is absolutely true. Because besides love, hope and dreams, life is made up of reactions. If only I could bottle the inspiration this short string of words brings me so I could carry it along for when I needed it... for when the stress of our hectic life come to a rise and yet one more thing has been added atop it all. I could open up my bottle, breathe in my inspiration and maybe react a little differently.

Don't get me wrong... I am loving this little life I have. I feel lucky. Lucky that out of all of the places in this universe I ended up here, with people that fill my soul with such love and happiness. Which is precisely why I'd rather not have those other things that don't really matter sprinkle haste reactions here and there. What does it really matter if Norah goes to bed late 3 nights in a row? Will anyone really notice if I am a few minutes late to work once in a while? What good does it do to worry about how tired I might be the next day, or about what might happen in the future?

As Colin would tell you, I've been a little uptight lately, and he's right. This is my latest struggle. I have a hunch that a cocktail of pregnancy hormones, a 2 year old toddler and a stressful work environment may have something to do with my frantic nerves lately. It's funny how a few words can put everything into perspective, and they couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I've only got 3 short months until bambino #2 arrives, and I've got to be relaxed by then! 

In slightly related news, Colin just accepted a new job! A job closer to home with regular hours... my dream come true :)

Next up: The Birthday Party!!!  Until then, check out THIS reaction... she came out the other end crying! Poor thing really hates water on her face!



Love ~ Renee

Happy 2nd Birthday My Love!

The last year has gone by in the blink of an eye. It truly feels like it was just yesterday that we celebrated Norah's first brithday and watched in amazement as she took her first steps. Now she is running around like a little mad woman, bossing us all around and singing every song under the sun!

 Yesterday was her birthday, and it was a a fun-filled day to say the least! Sadly, I had to work, so Dad took his favorite birthday girl on a trip to the Children's Museum and then out to lunch for some "mac cheese", chocolate milk and ice cream. Colin said after all that she conked out as soon as he buckled her into the car seat :) After driving around for an entire nap, they stopped off at the salon for a haircut, which Norah just loooves because they serve chocolate lollipops to thier littlest clients!

When I finally got home from work we went to our swimming lesson where my funny girl thought it was a riot to throw the rings in the pool and make mom dive down to get them over and over and over again! We had to do some heavy convincing to get her to come home with us to eat cake and open presents... and after only a few meltdowns we made it home. 

The previous night we setup the cutest foam playhouse in the living room, complete with a flower garden, birds, window boxes, a mailbox, a skylight and a chimney. What more could a girl ask for? We wrapped up her smaller presents, put them inside and covered the playhouse with some sheets. In the morning she came downstairs and exclaimed "Dat's a HOUSE!" and wanted to open it so badly. I even got a call at work from an upset little girl who reluctantly settled for waiting until mommy got home, so as soon as we walked in the door after swimming lessons, that is what we did! 

I've never seen her so exited about presents before. The biggest hit was new food for her kitchen! That is all she wanted to play with... she threw aside her new doggie and kitty shirts, forgot about the front-loading washing machine for her baby's clothes and ran out of the play house to her kitchen so she could make us some food! Maybe I should be calling her "Chef Norah" instead :)

While she was preparing a feast for us, I brought out a giant chocolate cupcake with a mountain of pink frosting and sprinkles and two glittery star candles. I wish I could have captured that moment in a photograph! The look on her face was just priceless, so amazed and excited and happy... it made my heart melt. She proudly blew out her candles all by herself and we all shared the enormous cupcake. 

Sometimes I wish there were two of me. One to capture all of these memories in photographs, and one to just be in the moment to soak it all in. Today I will settle for a few photos and whole lot of in the moments. 

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!     

... ok so I am having trouble uploading photos. I will have to add them later when Colin can figure out what the problem is :)

The Big Girl Bed & The Paci Fairy

This painful experience started out very innocently... we thought since baby #2 would be arriving in 5 short months and Norah would be turning 2 in a blink of an eye, that we should have the paci fairy pay us a visit and just get it over with. The sooner the better right? I mean that just gives Norah more time to forget all about the paci before her new little brother or sister has one.

While we were devising our scheme for paci removal we had a brilliant idea! Let's give Norah a big girl bed at the same time!! She loves sleeping on her cot for naps at daycare and maybe it will be so exciting to have a new big girl bed that she will not miss her paci quite as much! We thought this was such a fantastic idea that we could not imagine why no one else had thought to do it this way (at least no one we knew).

We took Norah on a trip to Ikea one Saturday morning and had a fun day eating lunch together and playing with all the kids there. Norah played on all the beds and was really excited to get one of her own! She helped pick one out along with cute new heart bed linens. We got home and Dad assembled the bed in the living room while Norah and I watched a movie (well, 15 minutes of it). After it was all put together she couldn't wait to try it out!

We had been talking to Norah about the paci fairy making a visit for a few days, so later that night when we asked her to gather all of her pacis up and put them in the beautiful glittery box for the paci fairy she was very excited and didn't hesitate a bit! We put the box on her dresser so she could see it from her new bed and told her the paci fairy would take the box and leave a present for her while she was sleeping. That night she went to bed like an angel... no crying, no fussing, not even a request for an extra kiss! We were so happy! I thought to myself that this is too good to be true, and I was right.

The first night was the only good night. By day two we were having 2-3 hours of "cry it out" sessions each for early morning wake-ups, naps and bedtime. These sessions all ended with one of us intervening, because instead of fading away to sleep, the crying fits would get louder and more anger-filled as time went on. We started asking our friends and family for advice on day 4 and everyone said we should stick with it; it's too late to go back now!

Well on night 13 of this horrid experiment we decided we should bring back the crib because she seemed to be fine without the paci. She only asked for it maybe twice and both times she was excited and happy that the paci fairy took her pacis in exchange for a very cool present (a bassinet for her baby doll). So we asked her if she wanted her crib back and she said yes with a big nod of assurance. Daddy did all the work of disassembling both the crib and her big girl bed so he could fit them through the doorways and as soon as he started reassembling the crib in her room she threw a fit saying "No Crib!! No Crib!! Norah Big Girl Bed!!" So I asked her if she wanted her big girl bed back and she adamantly said yes and the crying stopped.

After the beds were put back and all was settled, we decided to tell Norah that we found a paci that the paci fairy accidentally left behind (thank God we saved them!). This was our only hope of getting our lives back. We were all extremely sleep deprived and frustrated, and sleep deprivation is not pretty in a toddler or a pregnant mother of a toddler.

This all started on June 4th. It is now July 8th. We still have troubles at bedtime if Mom's not there to sing to her and kiss her goodnight, and we have new reasons to scream bloody murder when falling asleep or waking up... like her foot is not covered, or the monkey blanket is not over her shoulder, or her baby blanket is not right next to her face. She is still not getting quite enough sleep, but it is getting better.  I can see a dim light at the end of the tunnel that someday I will have restful slumber once again. But by then I am sure I will be losing sleep over something else entirely different.

To have children is to run the most exhausting, frustrating, emotional, patience-testing marathon that you cannot even begin to imagine. It happens to also be the most fun, exciting, rewarding, joyful, make your heart-a-flutter and hilarious marathon out there. So here's to sleep! May we meet again in 20-25 years!

A few shots of her new bed and just how much she loves it...

Happy girl smiling for the camera :)

Reading to Monkey & Bear

"Big Gueeze!!!" (Big Squeeze)

Whining

Whining some more

Monkey & Bear Love

Love ~ Renee