Mini Vacation

Since Jas is starting with his crazy travel schedule again.  I decided to squeeze in a few days away before jumping into full mommy mode during the week.  I headed down to Baltimore to catch up with friends, visit my favorite restaurant, and attend the annual bullroast for my old autism program.  Despite the fact that I crammed a bunch of stuff in, it was a relaxing two days.  

Took myself to Clementine for brunch for a Korean Hot Pot.
Weeped about missing Hamilton burgers.
And enjoyed walking to our old favorites

It was weird staying in our old house.  I miss walking to places, seeing the girls, and fresh local food.  We will be back down soon!

This Much I Know...

I Know This Much is True...

1)  One child is enough for us right now.

2) Triplets would be crazy

3) I could never run a daycare center

Last week we had a playdate with my roommates from college and their girls.  Three two-year olds(Chase almost) are definitely a handful.  At one point us moms sat in the kitchen as the kiddos ran circles around the first floor.  Toys were strewn everywhere, screaming and chaos ensued.  Thankfully there were no injuries to report!

Getting some fresh air.  Sesha called it our park.  So cute!
 She lives in Manhattan so it is like a park to her.

 I am upgrading to a larger sandbox tomorrow.  Now we will be able to have more than one kid in at a time!

Picture attempt #1

The best I could do

And they're off!

Not too much of a mess in Chase's room yet

This kept them occupied for a hot second

One monkey is enough for Mommy!

Cape May Zoo

My next few posts may be short on words, but filled with pictures.  Since last week I've taken nearly 300 pictures!  Crazy right?  Here's our trip to the Cape May Zoo from last week.  Awesome zoo, and it's free!

We were attracted to this goat.  He seemed like a loner, and had crazy eyes. Thankfully I had hand wipes. 

Still getting used to trying to shoot in manual mode

Was it bad that I told Chase we might have buffalo burgers for dinner?

Getting a tan

This giraffe would not turn around to look at the crowd 

 And some Instagram shots:

Mr. Independent

I Love Spring

So, fall has always been my favorite season.  Don't get me wrong, I can sit on the beach for hours, enjoy playing in the snow, and cherish the beauty of new buds popping up after a long frost.  There is just something about the Fall.  This year however, I may be changing my tune a little.  We have had an unseasonable warm spring so far(these recent normal temp. days are driving me crazy), and this first spring season in our house has been awesome.  On a daily basis I discover new plants and trees blooming in the yard. You can't help but smile. It is also still a boatload of work.  Jas already had poison ivy again a few weeks ago!

 The previous owners put a lot of love and time into the yard, and now it is our job to maintain it, and make it our own.  Already blooming this spring are hyacinths, daffodils, and a few tulips.  We have forsythia and azalea bushes, hypericum shrubs, aucuba, magnolia, dogwood, and cherry trees.  Slated to come in that we know of are a ton of rhododendren, hydrangea, a fig tree,  and butterfly and lilac bushes.  So pretty, and the reason spring may now be tied with fall as my favorite season:)

Yay!  You know its spring when Mr. Softee starts up again

 My goal this year is to keep the deer from eating the hosta.  Wish me luck!

Here is a five foot area by our garage.  Clearly its been years since these hosta were split.  I think there are  at least one hundred plants.  They are even growing through the cracks in the sidewalk!

Gimme the Pink Stuff

Chase made it almost to his 2nd birthday without needing antibiotics, or even having any real illnesses besides the occasional runny nose.  Since we've been spending lots of time outdoors I thought maybe his recent grumpiness and runny nose was just from allergies.  He however started running a low grade fever, was tugging his ear, and developed a little cough, all warranting a call to the pediatrician.  The only other time he's been to the doctor outside of our well-checkups was last summer when I thought he had poison ivy.  Pretty good track record right?

We didn't end up seeing our regularly doc, but saw someone else in the practice.  The doc actually grew up about a block over in our neighborhood, and he had a really great bedside manner.  I might even switch to him!   He wasn't overly concerned with Chase's congestion(I am not one to run him to the doctors for every little thing), and only saw slight redness in his ear.  Ultimately he called in the script and left it up to me to see if he was better by this morning to go ahead and start the medicine.  Monkey man continued to be pretty miserable throughout the day, so I bit the bullet and filled the script last night.  We are a generally healthy family, and don't really take any medicine, so I wasn't sure how Chase would do.

Well actually I should have know, because on Monday after I ran out and got more baby fever reducer(the one I had was expired-we had only used it one time since he was born!), taking the amoxicillin was going to be a bit of a challenge.  I couldn't for the life of me even get the acetaminophen in him.  He just hates sweet drinks! And the stupid stuff made everything taste like ten lifesavers coating your mouth. Dye free does not equal less sweet; if anything it made it worse.  Okay, maybe the antibiotics will be different.  I thought perhaps since I loved amoxicillin as a kid, and every other kid I knew also happily sucked up the fruity bubblegum pink drink, Chase would follow suit.  No dice.  Not in milk, not mixed with whipped cream.  Mary Poppins lied.  A spoon full of sugar does not help the medicine go down!  At least not for my child.

 After much pleading and "first/then", we bit the bullet and held him down with the syringe.  It was torture and messy. Snot, tears, and thick pink liquid everywhere  Why oh why, little man won't you just be like every other kid and like the pink stuff?   This would go so much better.  Mommy promises.

 Side note-Remember living for Triaminic that deliciously(now banned right?) orange syrup! I think we all turned out fine.    

I am happy to report Chase is much better today.  It was much less of a battle this morning.  Thank God....

Easter

It was a wonderfully relaxing day for our family today.  I know everyone can't share our sentiments, and a few of you were running from house to house to visit your loved ones, but whatever you ended up doing....we hope you had fun!  Here's a photo recap of Chase's day:)

Happy Easter Everyone!

Yep, this cookie is bigger than my head.  It was from my first visit to Mastori's.  Mommy grew up going there all the time.  She has also eaten quite a bit of cheese and cinnamon bread from there over the years.  And thanks to Uncle Shawn and Aunt Kristin we now have enough bread to get us through the end of the month. 

Can't every day be Easter?  This beats the heck out of Cheerios and blueberries! 

Look at that bed head

Chase's basket(sans candy)

 Time to dye eggs!

Wearing smock #2

Blurry -but squealing with excitement as he decorated

Guess who made which ones? You can't tell but a few are cracked.  Chase thought smashing them on his tray was hilarious.

Nearly every day Chase and Uncle Chris play with the fake lemons on the kitchen table

Doesn't that look say-"All for me?"

Just woke up from nap, still grumpy and clearly ticked that he had to wear the bunny ears

 Egg Hunt Time

Great Shot Daddy

Woohoo! This one had goldfish in it

Funny Instagram shot of Chase asking to ring the doorbell while on his hunt

Nope,  I am not wearing those ears for you Mommy

 Time to Eat

Today's menu consisted of blackberry glazed ham, garlic herb Hasselback potatoes, sauteed green beans with portabella mushrooms, and cinnamon apples.  A pretty simple and small spread compared to my usual standards, but it was only the 4 1/2 of us!  Oh yeah, and my mom brought enough dessert to serve at least 10 people.

So good, and a nice visual presentation.  These potatoes were two photo worthy.  

Summer enjoyed reaping the benefits

 After we ate is was time to relax a bit.  PopPop went inside to watch the Master's, Mommy and Daddy caught some rays on the patio, and Chase and MomMom decided to jam to some music.

Oooh, Otis Redding station.  Sweeeeet! 

He carries a beat much better than we do

Chase made up this move.  We call it "The Motorcycle"

Time to dance

 Capping of a great day was when MomMom and PopPop took Chase back to their house for a sleepover!

Easter 2012