My Our Parents are TOTAL Nerds

Summer daze..

2011-09-11T09:10:00.009-04:00

I can't believe I didn't take the time out from all the summer fun to make one single post...Geez. All in all, it was a good summer- good weather (except for stupid Hurricane Irene), lots of fun times at the boards and beach and overall, a happy time had by all. It's now September 18th, the eve before our 8th wedding anniversary, and the school year is in full force. The boys are adjusting well to being back in school and as the weather starts to turn cooler, we are heading into fall like gangbusters. That being said, we spent the morning on the beach in Belmar eating breakfast treats from The Scone Pony, so I guess we're still holding onto summer a little bit, ha ha.

Great Adventure
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Summer silliness

Squan 2011

Zoo (Turtleback and Popcorn Park)

Fish Hat Parade

2011-06-12T08:07:00.004-04:00

Here's a few pics from the fish hat parade- a coastal pollution awareness parade to benefit Seaside Park Elementary School (my friend Jill invited us)- the boys loved it, as did Poppy.

Spring Soccer- Riley is digging being a "soccer star" so we're hoping he stays interested as I'm down with him playing anything that doesn't involve football (ha ha).

In other exciting news, Griffin said "Riley" this week for the first time- he usually says "bro bro"..it came out more like "Eiley" but he was very proud of himself nonetheless. He calls himself "Gruff" when asked his name- haw!

8 more days of school left..summer is so close I can taste it! Wooo!

Summer has begun...

2011-05-30T16:18:00.006-04:00

3 weeks of school left for me and the Memorial Day weekend festivities have all of us itching for summer fun. Of course, as we joked for the last few months, Jim just started a brandy new job (insert raucous applause here!!) just in time for the summer to begin so our dreams of going to the beach every day with the boys this summer were quickly squashed. I'm thinking next summer will be a bit easier to be out and about in the surf with the boys by myself because currently it is a pretty tough gig without the extra set of hands and eyes, and even then, it's still challenging. Luckily, Riley is attending two weeks of semi-intensive swim classes at the end of June so I hope this raises his (and ours)confidence in the water a bit. Griffin, on the other hand, is a total water baby and seems to already believe he is Aquaman, which is on one hand awesome and on the other, absolutely terrifying. Aside from the beach, we are hoping to hit up Great Adventure as much as possible plus try to complete all of our summer fun "bucket list"- this is a list Riley and I are working on, hee hee.

A few pics...
Mia's 4th bday:

Griffin tuckered out with a Spring cold/flu:

Snugglers:

Memorial Day Weekend:

Bday Party Fun

2011-04-07T09:38:00.007-04:00

Griffin's Party was a Blurry Blast...he was so proud to have a party that was for him that he just went around all day/night pointing to himself and cheesily grinning "Meeeeeeeeee"! Griffin has been 2 for over 2 weeks now and he's pretty proud to tell anyone who asks that's he's 2...which is good since he prior to turning 2 he was telling everyone "fi" with an outstretched palm. ha. He's learning new ways to get his point across every day (woooo!) and for the most part, is a super happy little dude with one awesomely cute smile.

Little Gym Party Pics:

Present Opening at home with Grammy and Poppy:

Griffin's Zoo trip...

2011-03-27T08:06:00.005-04:00

We went to the Philly Zoo (despite the chilly temps.) with Uncle Greg yesterday to celebrate Griffin's birthday. He loved it. as did the rest of us. Here's a few pics to tide you over until we share pics of the craziness to ensue this afternoon with his party at the Litte Gym.

Last pic of Griff's "oneness"

Betta Fish from Riley

Elmo Hands from Grandma

Zoo..

Post-zoo lunch at Silk City

Happy Birthday Little Guy!

2011-03-26T21:45:00.002-04:00

2 years sure does fly by.

day 2 of the weekend birthday celebration is tomorrow.

1 week left..

2011-03-19T07:49:00.005-04:00

Griffin is in the last week of being ONE! Sadness! In the last month or so, he has skyrocketed into his "2ness" as he nears the next big milestone. He's attempting to say more words and is getting more comfortable with pronouncing words people besides Jim, Riley and me can interpret (GO, GO, GO Speech Therapy!) He just move up to the "2" room at school but he is only going 1-2 half days a week so most of his learning these days is through "daddy daycare", and uh, Elmo. Yes, The boy has finally noticed the tv and has a scary obsession with Elmo, which is funny since he used to shake in terror over Riley's dancing Tickle Me Elmo doll.

Pudding..

2011-02-28T17:18:00.003-05:00

Pudding is a huge hit in this house (Jello or homemade, it don't matter)

This is what happens when the pudding bowl is empty:

So much snow...

2011-02-20T17:50:00.010-05:00

It's the last of February and we can't WAIT until March and the spring weather comes out to play. Riley and I sometimes spend our car ride chats together talking solely about the beach and what we're going to do once the sun comes out again. Griffin is nearing the one-month countdown of being "two" and we are working hard on getting him to show us on his fingers how old he will be come March 26th. He moves into the "next room" at school in the next two weeks which is sad and exciting all in one..we love his "old" teachers and know and LOVE his "new" head teacher as Riley started there in this classroom, but man, two years is flying by fast. With each week, Griffin is getting better at speaking (even though we're pretty much the only ones who can decipher for him 90% of the time) and he is still just a super happy little dude. Riley is loving learning to write and loves playing "rhyme games", counting and puzzles- so far he loves homework and Jim and I always joke about when that sentiment will end, hee hee.

Some snow pics...

Please Touch Museum in Philly

Little Gym Season Finale

Just hangin' at home..

2011...

2011-01-23T08:45:00.007-05:00

So, collectively, 2010 can suck it. Sorry for our candor, but Team Awesome is hoping that 2011 is a much better year than last year! Griffin is nearing the end of his 2nd year and that just seems crazy as we all remember him being such a little nugget. He's getting more active every day and is starting to talk (especially with some help with his weekly speech therapy sessions) and he absolutely adores his "Bro Bro". Christmas was a blast this year with both of them opening presents as Griffin realized this year that the toys inside the presents were better than the actual gift wrap and its taste. Jersey has has snow on the ground for almost a full month so that's been somewhat fun for the boys...somewhat since we can't go to the park but they both love playing in the snow and sneaking handfuls to chomp when we are not paying close enough attention. I'm hoping to update more often as we've been laying a bit low on the posting...here's some pics to tide you over until the next update.

Holidays...Cooks, Garveys and Home..

Snow..

Random...

2010-11-22T06:12:00.001-05:00

Cool guys on a Tuesday morning...

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Halloween

2010-11-20T08:16:00.006-05:00

A few pics from October Pumpkin/Halloween Festivities...and yes, we STILL have candy.
Pumpkin Picking-

Pumpkin Carving-

School Parade-

Trick or Treating

Who Loves Pumpkin Pie?

2010-11-13T07:54:00.003-05:00

THIS GUY Loves Pumpkin Pie...I made Mommom's pumpkin pie and while Riley wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, Griffin thought it was the best treat ever!

Bday Fun....

2010-11-13T07:42:00.010-05:00

We had Riley's party at the Little Gym this year and it was great! Both Riley and Griffin go there for "gym" classes each week so we are super comfortable with the staff plus all the mess and fuss stays out of the house, ha! Here's some pics..

Birthday cake at home (yes, it's a Pepperidge Farm cake- embarrassing, yes, but I just made a batch of cupcakes for school and was looking at 50 more for the birthday party, plus it was "gym night"! Uncle Woobs phoned in and sang happy birthday on speaker phone!

Little Gym Party:

New Bike and BDay Morning:

Griffin loves bday parties even more now since he had his first juicebox:

Annual Trip to Great Adventure for "Fright Fest" for Riley's Bday..

Happy Birthday Sweet boy!

2010-10-03T19:14:00.002-04:00

....We are in utter disbelief that nearly 4 years have passed since Riley was born! I can't believe our "little" guy is going to turn 4 tomorrow! Happy Birthday- you are and will always be AWESOME! Xoxoxo, Daddy, Mommy, and Griffin "Super Rhino"

Pics from Riley's last day being 3- spent at Great Adventure with Poppy!

Summer is officially nearing its end...

2010-09-18T08:04:00.008-04:00

So, the summer was AWESOME..especially our 3 weeks at "the beach house"! September is slipping by fast which always makes sad, but I LOVE fall and long sleeves so we'll deal. Not to mention, Halloween is my favorite holiday and we have some cute costumes cooking up this year (thanks Becky!)! Some exciting news for the new school year is that both Riley and I are playing soccer- Jim is coaching Riley's pee-wee team and I'm playing (for the first time ever) with a crew of ladies that I am friends with from work. In work news, I am part-time this year (Thanks Christie you fat effer) but we are focusing on the positive aspects that I am able to stay home a little later in the morning with the boys and pick them up in the early afternoon!

Update...um, SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY OVER, which is why it takes me 3 weeks to compose a site update post! (Wahhh!) I think Team Awesome is ready for Fall though- pumpkins, Halloween candy, apples, good sleeping weather! This weekend, Griffin turned 18 months- that in itself, is simply sheer craziness because I can't believe the next big milestone for him is turning 2! (well, and maybe starting to talk is the next big milestone- we'd love hear his "talking" voice- I'm putting my money on a "husky" voice! heh heh) This week is Riley's last week of being 3! He's having his birthday at the Little Gym (we have gone there for gym class since he was 4 months old and Griffin takes a class there too) and then we will also go to Great Adventure this weekend with Poppy to celebrate! Somewhere amongst "birthday season", we will also try and hit up the local Pirate Ship Adventure as Riley really wanted a Pirate Ship party this year.

Some 'Squan pics....

Beach it up...

2010-07-29T16:29:00.005-04:00

In preparation for our 3 weeks on the beach, we've been trying to get there as much as humanly possible. As you can see, the boys really detest being at the beach...

First Haircut

2010-07-15T07:45:00.004-04:00

It was time...I tried to keep his cute little curls going strong, but the hair stylist (yeah, that's right, he's 15 months old and has a "stylist") told me he would end up with a mullet. Business in front, party in the back! I was fine with the mullet (ha ha) as Riley requested and was granted his summer "mohawk"...what's wrong with two kids with "ironic" haircuts? ha ha

Griffin proved to be just as awesome as Riley is in the haircut chair (really, a little truck)and seemed to appreciate his new 'do.

Post-haircut mohawk party (and nose picking silliness)

Sneaky Weasels

2010-07-11T18:28:00.005-04:00

Story Outcome: Sometimes our parenting skills are downright weasel-y.

Story Preface: Riley is usually extremely awesome at changing plans (ie- we're out having fun somewhere, say, the park,and Griffin craps through his diaper- we need to make a quick getaway, Riley is on board without much fuss). Now, we almost always "sweeten" the deal by giving him something special in return for being so flexible- say, we'll play Play Doh that night when Griffin goes to bed, or give him the opportunity to get his Betty Crocker* on by making brownies with me-see, sometimes it's win-win for the whole family, ha ha!)

Story of the Day: We had a good outing at the beach with Poppy and even a little post-beach visit so there was no napping to be had for Riley. He is starting to outgrow the afternoon nap *shudder* but he's almost always pretty good, for the most part, even without the nap. We had an early dinner and realized that we probably needed to fill some of the post-dinner time as Riley has taken advantage of the Daylight Savings Summer hours and likes to hit the pillow around 8:30 these days. We figured a quick trip down to the park after dinner would suffice to burn some of the post-dinner energy. We normally keep these types of plans on the down low but in an effort to bribe Riley to eat a few more green beans, we spilled the can of worms on the park trip. Then, Griffin started mushing bread and apples into his head and we quickly realized that bathtime would have to eclipse the park departure. Riley was not enthused and by not enthused, I mean he started to get real punchy (literally) and we could tell that going to the park was going to be a nightmare. Ugh. We tried everything to divert the park idea to something as equally pleasurable...
"Let's play Toy Story in Griffin's room. Mommy can be Jessie, Yee Haw! and Daddy can Be Zorg"
"Daddy and you can go get scratchies and get a special ice cream from the store"
"We can go pick up Doodle's medicine at Walgreen's"...okay, that was a long shot, but sometimes one cannot perceive what an almost-4 year old might think is fun.

Needless to say, it didn't work as Riley had his eyes on the prize and nothing was going to change his sun-drenched, sea-salted, no-nap, mind. Here comes the weasely part- I said I think I might hear rain and Jim went outside to investigate (he really went outside and turned on the house and splashed water (think typhoon) on the windows). Poor little guy dropped like a ton of bricks in my arms (so sad, yet I was stifling my urge to giggle) because he knew that we wouldn't be able to go down to the park as planned. We couldn't believe it worked, and although we feel like deviant parents, we will be eating warm brownies once I finish this post and basking in the fact that we headed off a potential stop at Melt Down City on the way to or from the park.
P.s.- as I type Riley is laying on Jim's lap and I don't even think he's going to make it up past 7:30.
*Trader Joe's brownie mix is the new Betty Crocker in this house, so decadent and they only make 1/2 a pan, so they don't stick around too long.

Tubes...

2010-07-08T07:51:00.007-04:00

So, the little guy is following in his older bro's footsteps by getting his very own set of ear tubes yesterday! Griffin made it through the surgery/anesthesia/recovery much like his brother too..super quick and without much fuss (although the "coming out" of anesthesia was rough for him, he was pretty much fine by 9am)! Hopefully, now that his ears are unclogged, Griffin's speech development will move forward (*hope*). *Riley is "dying" to have Griffin call him by name and Jim and I wouldn't mind hearing his husky little voice say something besides Mama and Dada! Here's a few pics of Griffin pre-surgery (he's a little loopy in some of them due to the Versed)

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T09:51:00.003-04:00

You Rule! Xoxox, Riley, Griffin and Alison

More Florida Pics..

2010-06-19T08:33:00.007-04:00

4 more days of school....WOOOO HOOOO! Here's some pics from our visit with Grandma in Palm Beach!

Easter egg dying, hunting,and loot hoarding:

Lake Worth Beach (my old childhood stomping grounds):

Palm Beach Zoo:

Random Pics:

Florida..

2010-06-06T10:43:00.006-04:00

It's been awhile..with all the craziness of Spring(yay!) and also just the nuttiness of life with two kidlings, we have forsaken our family blog. Hopefully, as the summer approaches and we have a little more time on our hands, Jim and I will get back to being more avid posters.
The day after Griffin's birthday party, we headed down to Florida for a visit with my mom and also a side-trip to Disney. All in the all, despite an hour on the runway and a rather squirmy Griffin, the trip down was pretty good but the ride home was awesome. The plane ride back to the North was so early that the boys wore their pj's and pretty much snoozed through the whole flight. A big shout out of thanks to Poppy who drove us back and forth from Philly airport during our travels! One of the coolest things happened on our way home- we got to see one of the last Space Shuttle launches out of our plane window- sooo cool (I think Jim almost soiled himself with geekish excitement!)
Disney was better than we had hoped- we stayed in a Disney hotel so we got to get into the park an hour early (before the riff-raff, heh heh) and it works for our early bird tendencies as we would hit the park by 7am, and by the time it would get a little crowded, meaning the lines were getting longer, Griffin was napping and Jim and I would just take turns going on rides with Riley. We'd be back to the hotel before the crowds and the Florida sun got too intense and we'd have lunch, a swim and naps before heading off to another park in the early evening for more rides and dinner. We cracked the seal on Disney a bit earlier then we had planned so now when we mention Grandma's house in Florida, Riley associates it with Mickey Mouse, ha ha. Eh, I guess there's worse things to be thought synonymously with, right?
On to the pics...
Family shot at Animal Kingdom

Griffin really liked this menu

Riley and the bat he won all by himself that he has slept with ever since

Griffin loved the Epcot playground

Griffin and his fez in Morocco (we ate Moroccan food for dinner and LOVED it!)

Magic Kingdom!

Stroller cuteness at the Magic Kingdom

Pluto!

Riley and Nemo

Griffin and Stitch

Riley and the sword and the stone

Riley, Senor Donald Duck and the belly

Me and the boys in Epcot

Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse

The wait to meet Minnie and Mickey is over...

Riley and the Splash Park (as you can tell, he didn't like it very much)

Next up...pictures of our visit to Grandma's neck of the woods

365 days old...12 months...or 1 year

2010-04-08T11:16:00.004-04:00

However you put it, our little Doodle is a year old! Wooo! He's a walking fool these days and loves playing with his brother, snuggling, sleeping, exploring and of course, eating. Pics below of his 1st birthday & party and a post to come (maybe this weekend?)about our trip to Florida to visit Grandma and Disney. *Griffin was a real champ for his birthday as he was diagnosed with a double ear infection that day AND had four teeth coming on at the same time!

P.s.- Thanks Auntie Heather for the awesome cake! As you can see, Griffin LOVED it! Oh, and I didn't get a pic of it before Griffin destroyed it, so send it my way, if ya got one, eh?

364 days...

2010-03-25T22:12:00.002-04:00

enjoy your last hours of being no years old, little buddy.

2 week countdown

2010-03-14T09:55:00.003-04:00

Yup, 2 weeks from now, Griffin will have been 1 year old for 2 days and we'll be off on his first plane ride to Florida for a week's vacation, hopefully it will be sunny in FL as we're all really sick of the cold, snow, and rain. I'll take any weather that allows me slip my piglets into a pair of flip flops. In other Griffin-tastic news, he is walking like a champ (when he wants to), has moved into the "toddler room" at school, waves goodbye, gives kisses, and can eat his brother under the table any day of the week. I bet you're all very surprised about the last statement given Griffin's petite presence, ha ha ha.
Riley is really excited that Griffin is acting more like a "big boy" like him every day, which is cute. Last week, while I was driving, Riley was cracking him up in the backseat and it was absolutely adorable. Hopefully, Riley will still enjoy his "big little brother" when he realizes he has to start sharing his toys and tv time.

Here's a few pics (emphasis on the few) of the last couple of weeks including Abram's 2nd bday party and a visit with Aidan and Sierra.

Happy 11 monther Doodles!

2010-02-26T06:27:00.007-05:00

Yup, the little butterball is 11 months old today and the nickname "Doodles" still sticks..poor little guy is going to have a tough time in high school if we keep it up. Griffin is still holding strong at 25 lbs, but he's been thinning out quite a bit (well, he's still a chubster) since he's becoming more and more active every day. He's getting more adventurous with his cruising and can stand up now on his own and he gets so excited about it, that he usually snorts and then falls on his keister. He loves to jump and of course, his favorite part of the day is mealtime. He will pretty much eat anything and wants to eat anything we are eating- when we don't give him a tastes of something, he gets mighty aggravated, but nothing a few "puffs" or Cheerios can't fix.
We can't believe it has been 11 months since Griffin was born and even more scary is that he'll be hitting the 1 year mark next month! Eeek! Two days after Griffin turns one, we will be hitting the airways on a trip to Florida to visit Grandma and Mickey Mouse! Woot! Riley is, of course, beside himself about everything entailed...the plane rise, Grandma's pool, how the Easter bunny will find us in Fl, which princesses he will meet in Disney (hee hee), the zoo by Grandma's house, etc. Jim and I are simply excited about seeing some sun as the Jerz has had a pretty oppressive winter season, even as I type this I home for the umpteenth day because of the snow. We are all dying for some Spring weather, so let's hope we are rain-free for our week in Florida.

SNOW!

Random Winter-time Pics..including Griffin's first pudding free-for-all

Spaghetti Boys...

2010-01-31T18:52:00.003-05:00

The crew enjoying their spaghetti and turkey meatballs this evening... (psketti and meatbulbs)

Seriously? 10 months has gone by that fast?

2010-01-24T07:49:00.005-05:00

Jim and I constantly say that we can't believe Griffin is going to be 1 year old in a couple of months- absolute craziness. He's been on a milestone tear this past month and although he hasn't mastered crawling yet (still army crawls with half of his body looking paralyzed), he has learned he can sit from a laying down position, call us Mama and Dada, stand up, creep, and has also stood for a little bit of time without any support. He's still up a bunch at night but he goes back to sleep quickly...one day we will have a baby that sleeps through the night, I hope.
Riley is well, he's Riley...sweet, crazy, athletic, artistic, and a total sassy pottymouth! Well, not really, but the last few weeks Jim and I have been battling the "toot", "heiny", "poopy" talk. In fact, as I type, Riley has lost the privilege to play with both his Bat cave and his Duplo blocks because he thinks it's hilarious to say the word poopy over and over. To be honest, it IS usually funny, but we have to be parents, right? Riley is loving school and is a master letter tracer...and all we hear is "X" is for Xander, who is one of his buddies at school, whenever he sees the letter X. ha ha.
This month brings us a new challenge as Jim had arm surgery this past week and is pretty much incapacitated for most of the daily ongoings of the boys and the house since it is his right arm. However, once he gets the bandages/stitches out next Friday, I think he'll feel a bit more human again. He should be good to go to hold the boys in a month (eek!)...as his one major restriction is not picking up anything over 15 lbs.

First Swing (Griffin was wholly unimpressed)and Riley (yes, he is THAT kid at the park)

Laundry Basket Boys

Cheesey Monkey Face (he LOVES Ginger)

The Holidays are over...how soon is summer?

2010-01-02T09:09:00.004-05:00

Yup, another holiday season bites the dust. It's 2010- wooo! Christmas was great- Riley really had a great time opening gifts (he was extremely patient and loved everything (even the clothes)!) and Griffin just enjoyed all the hub bub of the holidays (well, and gnawing on wrapping paper and bows too). The Monday after Xmas, we took the boys into the city to the Museum of Natural History with Poppy! Both boys were well very well behaved and aside from a poo-'splosion in the parking deck of the Museum from Griffin...it was a perfect day! No traffic, no meltdowns, a sleeping Griffin during an awesome Mexican feast post-Museum and it was pretty neat to see Riley get excited about all of the dinosaurs.
The rest of our winter vacation has included lots of playdates with friends and running around town as the weather has been nice and the boys have been raring to go- every morning, Riley tells us that it is not a school day and then asks what are we doing today? ha ha. He's in for a rude awakening come January 4th (as are we, I suppose) when we all go back to work and school.

Some pics...Pre-Xmas and Xmas Day

Natural History Museum

NYE at the Stoudts' shore house!

separated at birth?

2009-12-27T21:08:00.002-05:00

3/4ths there

2009-12-26T23:19:00.002-05:00

wow.
9 months already?? where does the time go?
happy nine months birthday little guy. (sorry xmas clouded the celebration)

First bath...

2009-12-21T10:02:00.003-05:00

After their day in the snow (well, minutes, really), the boys took their first bath together. Griffin is "out" of the baby tub, sniff! sniff!! Riley was really excited to take a bath with Griffin- we'll see how long the sentiment lasts!

In other BIG news, Griffin actually lost weight this month...woooo! We're holding on to our shread of hope that he won't have to wear "Huskies" as a toddler! He is crawling up a storm (but just army crawlin') and just started pulling up in his crib this weekend during our snowy shut in. He's just on the verge of saying "mama" but for now, he is content with verbalizing the "ba's".

SnOw!

2009-12-19T16:37:00.002-05:00

First Snowfall of the year...Griffin was wholly unimpressed but Riley, as expected, loved it. Next up, we need to buy real snow boots and get Riley a sled or one of those snow saucers!

Maybe tomorrow, the snow will more "packable" for a snow man of some sorts!

Its begining to look a lot like...

2009-12-13T21:20:00.006-05:00

With 12 days to go (insert 12 days of Christmas here), the Christmas spirit is in full swing. We got the tree up and decorated, the outside lights...well, some of them up, visit to the mall Santa done, and a visit to the Santa train done. Whats the Santa Train you ask? Well apparently Allaire State Park is the home to some kind of train preservation society, and they have a train ride where Santa comes down the aisle of an old school steam train car and wishes the kids a Merry Christmas. I know FUN.

Anyways, we rode the rails this past weekend with Riley's pals Deville and Luca (and mom and dad's pals Karen and Dave). I think Griffin was the only one excited to see Santa.. probably because his beard looks like cotton candy, not that he's eaten that.

waiting for SantaI've Got a Golden Ticket
I'll distract him, you grab the bag

And as an added bonus, here's Riley singing a Christmas song he learned at school

We have to start writing this stuff down..

2009-12-06T07:56:00.002-05:00

A few days ago after I finished discussing with Riley that I had to go back to work that night for parent-teacher conferences:

Riley: Mama, what kind of creatures are we?
Me: Wow, what an awesome word! Well, we are humans! You, Mommy, Daddy, Griffin...We're all humans.
Riley: No, Mommy, you're not a human, you're a WORKING GAL!!!

Ha haaa haa

Thanksgiving...

2009-12-06T07:35:00.007-05:00

Thanksgiving was quiet, but fun. Griffin had more holiday yummies (He is eating up a storm!) than Riley as he is still in a relatively fussy eating kick (Riley had mac-n-cheese while wearing his Indian headdress, ha ha). Jim's birthday was Thanksgiving weekend so we spent the weekend visiting family and friends (Happy 1sty Dorian!) and stuffing our faces some more. Here are some recent pics of the boys...

Thanksgiving:

Riley's cousins were up from Virginia for a week so here's a few pics of when Aidan came down the Shore for a visit:

Miscellaneous Pics.. Griffin uses his new hat as a sleep-mask and Riley got in a pickle with his undies

Happy 8 monther Doodles!

2009-11-26T05:58:00.003-05:00

That's right...our little 25 lb turkey is 8 months old today! Happy Thanksgiving!
P.s.- at school, Riley was asked what he was thankful for and they wrote the responses on a big piece of paper and he said, "Halloween, Daddy, Griffin, and Mommy, and Chuck E. Cheese", that order. At least I beat the big stuffed rat.

Better late than never?

2009-11-14T08:25:00.009-05:00

We had Riley's 3rd Bday party this year at a bouncey house place..then, the next day, we continued the tradition of going to Great Adventure for the second year in a row- this time with Poppy and Uncle Woobs! Here are some pics/videos of the festivities:

Halloweenie!

2009-11-01T07:43:00.004-05:00

Beautiful day for Halloween...high 60's and sunny! Griffin was a champ- even though he was getting over being sick he managed to suck it up and enjoy watching his big bro trick or treat for a solid hour before getting needy enough to warrant some holding by either Jim or me! Riley walked the whole time and even managed to make it up to ring a few doorbells by himself! Dinner consisted of non-candy based foods so all in all in was a good day!

Comparisons...

2009-10-12T09:10:00.008-04:00

We hear constantly how different Riley and Griffin look and for the most part we agree but c'mon...look at the similarities when they were both around 3 months old!
RILEY:

GRIFFIN:

Happy Birthday Our Little Big Boy!

2009-10-04T07:05:00.005-04:00

Riley is three today! Wooo! Hopefully, the day at Great Adventure won't be as nutty as the day Riley made his grand entrance into the world!

Here's a few pics of Sir Riles from the last couple of months to tide you over before Jim and I post the birthday weekend pics!

Happy 6 monther Griffin!

2009-09-26T20:18:00.003-04:00

I promise to compose a post tomorrow and upload pics, but we just wanted to wish the "little" chunk-a-monker a Happy 6 month birthday!! We love you Doodlebug!

Update...Geez, who knew this going back to work thing would eat up all my "extra" time? ha ha ha. It's been a little nutty around these parts since I've gone back to work *(earaches, flus, etc.) so you'll have to forgive the delay in making any posts lately. Griffin is still a beast- he had his 5 month appointment last week and he is in the 95% for both height and weight. In other words, he's enormous, but such a sweetheart. We have not had any sleeping through the night but he's such an easy midnight snacker that it really isn't so bad. NO crawling yet either, but he's trying to wiggle his chunks around. Jim and I are both okay with Griffin not getting his crawling down yet b/c we remember what it means- little dirty knees and constant floor cleaning! *Plus, hawk-like supervision since Riley has so many toys and whatnot that I'm petrified that Griffin will eat. On the eating front aside from rice cereal, he's digging bananas,carrots and peaches and we might get crazy tonight and let him have some pureed green beans! ha ha. He has three teeth, all on the bottom which makes me giddy since I don't want him to lose his gummy smile yet!

Various Griffin Pics from the last month:

Riley did this too him, naturally

5 month photo shoot:

6 months!

Beachin' it up on the last day of summer:

First eats:

Random:

Swing Swing Away..

2009-08-24T13:11:00.004-04:00

Griffin's favorite past time at "The Beach House"..

Beach, Beach, Beach!!

2009-07-31T10:03:00.008-04:00

So, tomorrow we head down the shore (ha ha, 10 minutes from our house) for a week to stay and then a week to visit for day trips. Riley has no idea what is in store with full days at the beach with all of his favorite peeps in the world...and Griffin, well, let's hope the salty air and sea breezes tucker him out so Mama can get some swimming in! Here's a slew of pre-vacation summer pics to tide all 5 of you over:

Sesame Place Pics (my favorite is Olivia weaseling her way into Team Awesome's photo op)

First day at the beach, when the rain finally stopped!

My birthday *yup,the boy loves his "chock-oh-laht"

First Baseball Game..Go Blue Claws!

Trip to Turtleback Zoo

Random

Last shot of Ol' Mags (We miss you baby girl!)

Sleep Deprivation Experiment

2009-07-30T08:00:00.003-04:00

I think the boys are running their own sleep deprivation experiment- they've banded together to see just how little sleep their mom and dad can handle before losing it all together and start giving Riley M&M's for breakfast and letting Griffin eat cheeseburgers (he's been eyeing up our dinner like a lion eyes up a gazelle). Both boys go to sleep beautifully, in fact, on a ordinary night Jim and I have both boys tucked snugged in their respective bed & crib by 7:45- the problem is keeping them there! Griffin gets a "hall pass" b/c he's still little, but he's still up every 2 hours (on the dot, people) to eat, which is wearing down his poor mama- I don't know how this feeding frenzy is going to work when I go back to work in September. Riley is currently scared of everything and will bed to come out to sleep on the couch, which is fine because this usually happens in the middle of the night and he passes right back out and Jim comes back to our bed. However, lately Riley wants Jim to sleep out there with him (note: not comfortable for Jim) and he's been getting up earlier and earlier each night- oh and he FREAKS out if we try to get him back into to his bed. Anyway, so the nights have not been long for us and we're tuckered out, so hopefully, the boys will make the switch to a better nighttime routine soon, hopefully within the next 2 weeks since we're going to Manasquan! Woooo, beach, beach, beach!

Happy 4 monther Griffin!

2009-07-28T20:31:00.003-04:00

Wow, 4 months! I wish I had more time to post Doodle's day-to-day accomplishments but in a nutshell, he's reaching all of his milestones (and a few more for a beast of his age) and has been teething for a month with no teeth to show for it yet. He's a sweet boy, who likes to sleep like his momma but unfortunately also has an appetite like his mama so there's no long stretches at night yet. No laughing yet, but he's close to it...but he gives smiles for miles. We love you little buddy!

Visit from the South..

2009-07-21T16:34:00.007-04:00

My Mom brought up the gorgeous weather when she visited last week...we were out and about quite a bit so Riley and Griffin were in heaven having their Florida Grandma around. Here's a few pics to highlight her visit!

First Griffin holds:

Point Boards:

Lunch & Allaire State Park (well, the train part)

One of our many visits down the street to the park

Cooing...

2009-07-20T10:26:00.003-04:00

In lieu of the post(s) I've been meaning to compose, here's a video of Griffin's coos- we finally caught 'em on tape!! Hopefully, I'll make some time to post some summertime pics before Fall, ha ha ha. Xo, A

June...

2009-06-27T09:56:00.007-04:00

So, school is out for the summer (even though I've been on maternity leave since April) and the weather is finally turning the corner *hopefully*. Maybe we'll even get to the beach one day soon as Riley is really itching to hit the water and the sand. Riley is still being a really good big brother! He's been really patient, especially when it's just me, him and Griffin. He still loves going to "school" but squeals with delight on the days he gets to "stay home with Mommy and Griffin". He's talking like crazy and will say words like "Madagascar" and "scone" with awesome diction...and his memory is insane. If Griffin's memory is half of what Riley's is, we're screwed. ha ha ha Griffin is still a beast, but a good beast as he really rarely cries and is pretty good about sleeping, although he still is up 2-3x/night. Then again, unlike Riley in the wee hours of the morning, Griffin is "all business" and then passes back out, so it's not that bad. That being said, I would give my left arm for a solid 8 hour clip of sleep. ha ha ha

Anyway, here's some recent pics of the boys:

He was shocked we actually allowed him to splash in the puddles..but it was an hour of sunshine sandwiched between 72 hrs of straight rain
The face that inspired the "Mr. Ferley" nickname- if only I had a 70's polyester suit to outfit him in, ah haaaaaa haaaa
Flirty Face
Griffin and Grammy
Riley loves taking care of his baby doll..we caught him reading his "2 stories" before nappy time one day

3 months down

2009-06-26T12:55:00.002-04:00

eep! Time sure does fly.

Happy 3 Months Griffin!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T12:48:00.002-04:00

We love you Daddy! Love, Mommy, Riley and Griffin

Hello Summer!

2009-06-13T07:31:00.002-04:00

The month in review

2009-06-06T11:49:00.006-04:00

I'm not sure I even really remember what has actually happened in the last month or so as we've been keeping busy or we've been sick. Griffin is apparently our next little germ catcher as at 2 1/2 months he has his first cold and was so congested in his lungs that he's been rocking out at the nebulizer just like his big brother has this month with his allergies. Riley had a double ear infection to start out the month of May, as his ear tubes have fallen out- he hated taken his medications but M&M's are the way to his heart and we figured out that 2 measly ol' chocolate-y disks are fantastic bargaining tools. Jim also been suffering from allergies/sinus issues all month so that about rounds out the medical needs of all of us (I've been surprisingly okay on the illness front, just sleep deprived as Griffin is a midnight snacker and is often up 2-4x/night still).
Riley has been a really good big brother, now 2.5 months into it all- he is rarely jealous and only swats him occasionally. He loves hearing him cough/whine/cry in the morning- it usually sends him running down the hallway into our bedroom with a "Good morning Doddlebug" or a "Doodlebug Woke Up, Daddy!!". Yup, The Doodlebug moniker has stuck for Griffin- sometimes we just call him doodle or various nicknames with doodle at the end. "Cheese-doodle" for when we find milk crud in one of his chins, "Stink-doodle" for when he's particularly unpleasant to the nose, "Foof-doodle" if he's ripping a few, "Snug-doodle" for when he's snuggling in and "Chunk-doodle" for when we are marveling at the sheer brawn of Griffin. That's right, Griffin is a "BIG" boy..weighing in at a whopping 15.2 lbs at his 2 month check-up and measuring at 25 inches. In other words, he's a beast, but a cute beast nonetheless. We actually got full (well, we meaning "Jim and Riley") smiles from Griffin this past weekend- of course, we only got a measly representation of one on film, but hey, at least we are posting a pic of him looking happy, as he really is a happy little guy most of the time.
As you'll see in the photos below, Riley LOVES "going in the cribbie"- we have our rules that he has to get a clean diaper/undies (potty training is still on slow-mo, but he does really well at whizzing on the potty at school) and that he has to be gentle, no jumping, yadda yadda yadda, but he loves spending time with his bro in the crib. I'll admit that I really expected bringing Griffin home to be a much more traumatic effect on Riley, but so far, he has taken to being a big brother in great stride. Then again, Griffin "lets" him play with his toys without any fuss and just lays there as his kissing target/punching bag so he might change his tune once Griffin starts to be more mobile in the upcoming months.

Oh No You Didn't...

2009-06-05T18:50:00.004-04:00

... Oh yes we did

With summer coming, and Riley's crazy hair in general, we decided it was time (overdue) for a haircut. For those that remember (or those interwweb savvy enough to go through the old posts), Riley used to have a pretty sweet mohawk back in the day, mainly due to his male pattern baldness that kept the sides of his hair from growing in. We felt (well, Alison took him for his haircut) it was time to bring back the FauxHawk for Sir Riles.

Apparently Riley was an angel getting his hair cut, although I heard that he horrified some preppy mom with his new 'do. But the hair stylist was so impressed that he had to take a picture (supposedly she never take pictures of kid's cuts when she's done). Riley was so proud of his new cut that he even got a tad upset coming into the house as a couple raindrops got on it, prompting a whine of "Mommy, my hair"

Big Week Ahead...

2009-05-31T21:22:00.003-04:00

We're dropping Riley's "school" hours this week down from full time to 2 1/2 days/week...Eeek! I haven't really been alone with both kiddies for an extended period of time yet (meaning a whole day) so wish me luck!

Griffin's not sure of a whole full two days with Riley "The Hellion" Cook without Daddy being around either..look at the pitiful look!

P.s.- Happy 2 monther ya little piggy!

LEAF fest

2009-05-28T16:58:00.006-04:00

So, we went to this Festival last weekend nearby our house..it was a charity organization that was having a small outdoor fest on some dude's private property in the woods. It was pretty cool..but mostly b/c Uncle Woobs and the Croccos came too, oh and there were two bounce houses, which is all the rage these days for Sir Riles.

Uncle Greg and Riley..riley stole our cookies

Cookiemonster stealy face

Cute Dorian!

Boy hugs

Ferley face

SeeSaw Fun..seriously, what park has seesaws anymore??? Notice Jim's lopsided seat- it also had a big wad of bird poop on it..what a great Dad, huh?

Visit with "Baby" Ben

2009-05-28T16:49:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure why but I can't not (ahhh, two negatives...) use the word "baby" before my friend Kristi's son Ben. Here's some photos of our recent visit- Griffin is 4 months younger than Baby Ben yet looks like he's about to eat him for lunch.

Long time no blog...

2009-05-18T13:52:00.008-04:00

As expected, time is moving fast and although I don't feel very accomplished (besides being mainly responsible for growing the super beast that is Griffin!), I sure don't have the time or the energy to post much these days. Griffin is a beast- he is almost 8 weeks old (wow!)about 14 lbs and he's got more rolls than a bakery, ba dum dum. He's almost earned his "Frequent Flier" card at the pediatrician since we've been there for various issues (herniated belly button, blocked tear duct, etc)- nothing serious thank goodness! Other than that, he's starting to bear all of his weight on his little tree trunk leggers and also is getting pretty good at holding up his head- we're dying for some smiles but we only get those accidentally sometimes when he drifts off to sleep.
Riley is doing great- talking a mile a minute and is almost always a good big brother (We still have our occasional battles). He's obsessed with Monsters Inc.(seriously, we already watched it twice today since he's home sick with a double ear infection) and had a love affair with a "bounce house" this weekend at my school's annual carnival. At his doctor's appointment today, we learned that he is 31 pounds (getting lean!) and 36.5 inches tall!

Our camera is acting craptastic, so here's a few pics of the kiddies and whatnot:

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Playmat fun

This playmat sucks, Mom!

Daddy and the boys

Park Playing

Griffin vogueing

Griffin chillin'

Riley being all cute before bedtime

Happy 1 monther Griffin ( 2 days belated)!

2009-04-28T09:13:00.006-04:00

We've been slacking on the posts for sure, but free time is fleeting these days. Griffin is a beast- he's nearing 11.5 pounds and is already wearing 3 month clothes at just a few days shy of 5 weeks. Goodbye newborn goodies (so sad)! So far he's a good sleeper, although he is still waking up 3-4 times/night to eat and isn't a big fan of his bassinet, so the mommy/daddy mattress is his "bed" of choice. In the last couple of days, he has discovered the little bear and rabbit that hangs off his travel bassinet (he will sleep in that at night for a little bit, which is a lifesaver) so he's becoming more active in checking out his surroundings. We have a million nicknames for him already..most notably Furley (Thanks Kar!) and Quato since although he is really cute, he makes some seriously heinous faces.
Riley has done really well with Griffin (he saves the majority of his hitting for Jim and I, which sucks, but were thankful that he saves his unsavory behaviors for us and is usually very loving and careful with Griffin)- he hasn't shown much jealousy towards him (yet..), which was something we were expecting.

Riley and Griffin's first Ag Field Day

4 weeks old today (Poor Griffin- he's a tad puggy and cross-eyed in these shots but they're the only 1 monther pics we took last Sunday)

Feetsers for Liz (p.s.- Griffin has huge monkey feet)

Nice outfit dude

Relaxin' during Dora

Riley's new "Camera" Face

Overdue..

2009-04-20T09:44:00.005-04:00

Not sure if I have time for an actual "written" post as Griffin is napping and ya never know if you're going to get a 3hr bender or a 30 minute cat nap. So, I figured I'd post the pics first (since who cares about my ramblings when there's pictures to view):

Big Yawn...

First Bath

Riley holding Griffin

Riley and Griffin on "their pillows"...bro-time

Maggie's new role as Griffin's bassinet protector

Poppy and Griffin

Visit with the Catalano Crew:

Some random pics..

A good run...

2009-04-16T07:48:00.003-04:00

Well, we had a great run of Riley being sick-free only to have him come home from school early yesterday with a stomach flu! Ack! So, Jim and I got a crash course in taking care of two kiddies- Jim got the raw end of the deal with Sir Pukey and I got Sir Grif-dawg since we are petrified that the little guy (3 weeks today!) will get the bug. Anyway, Riley seems to be on the mend this morning as he ran down the hallway screaming "I ALL BETTER!" so hopefully, we'll be all back to normal by tomorrow!

PPB Egg Huntin'

2009-04-08T11:46:00.008-04:00

So, last weekend was the BIG Point Beach Egg Hunt..weather was gorgeous and even Griffin and I made the trip out to enjoy the day's festivities (who could pass up Joey Tomatoes?), even if it was just for a short outing. We were smart this year and brought a few of our own filled eggs since last year we had a tough time finding 'em in the sand. Riley had a blast staying a bit later with Aunt Leah, Grammy and Poppy, especially since it involved rides and Kohr's frozen custard. Thanks Lea for all the great pictures! I did bring my camera but it never left the diaper bag.

Anyway, some more Griffin pics and and a "newbie" update soon...

Egg Hunt craziness (this is just the 0-4 age group)..we thought it was crazy last year but with the amazing weather, out came the people in droves

Hunting on the beach

To The Victor Goes the Spoils (the spoils being the kit-kat filled eggs we smuggled in with us!)

Rides!

What Riley thought of the egg hunt:

What Griffin thought of the egg hunt:

Aww Shucks...

2009-03-27T18:45:00.004-04:00

We done and got ourselves another mouth to feed.
Griffin James Cook joined the Cook family on March 26th at 8:53AM.
He weighed in at a whopping 8.5 pounds, measuring in at 20.25 inches. we breed em big in these parts. Mom and Griffin are doing great.
Here are some pics to hold you over until i can think more wittily.

Here's Griffin at about 20 minutes old

Griffin trying to get some rest in the room
Riley checking out Griffin for the first time

Sleepland

Last Weekend?

2009-03-22T18:45:00.007-04:00

Last Weekend with only one kidling? Eeek!
We had a great weekend- Luca turned one and his p's threw him quite the fest in Maplewood! (See Pics below- Thanks Pierces! We forgot our camera) Riley is still jabbering on and on about the party. Today, we hit the boards after our (Riley and my) nap and Kohr's was open for business so that was exciting as frozen custard simply screams that the summer is approaching..even though I know it only turned to Spring a few days ago. Jim and I excelled at the crane machine and for 2$ we won 2 Shrek plushies and one Puss and Boots- Riley was excited, not so excited that I have one of the Shreks away to another little boy, but whatever, I hate clutter, especially of the plush variety. Riley played his game of choice- Deal or No Deal and I kicked some major butt in Galaga- level 10 on one quarter, oh yeah! Oh, and we also had two nights of being back in toddler bed bliss, although by typing that out, I probably just jinxed tonight and the rest of the week.

Anyway, this is going to be a very weird week b/c I'm 90% sure we'll be meeting Clumpster this week at some point, whether I do this on my own or not.

Birthday Boy! Happy 1st Luca!

Deville not seeming so happy to share his new garden set from Grandma Huss!

Party Boy Riley

Gibson

Abram

Storytime

Dave and his boys...great picture Liz!

Nobody Wins the Over/Under...

2009-03-18T05:30:00.003-04:00

We have no more toddler bed sleeping...the boy only wants his "Cribby", so we have no idea what to do. The allure of being a "big boy sleeping in a big boy bed" has been decimated. Poor kid- he's getting a sibling within the next two weeks, his dog has two feet in doggie heaven, he's is in the process of moving up two a new "level" with new teachers (one of which he is not fond of) at school, he's attempting to potty train, and we just done blown up his spot by trying to get him into a new room AND a new bed. We knew the first night was a tease...it was too perfect.

What's the Over/Under?

2009-03-14T12:17:00.005-04:00

Riley slept in his "big boy bed" last night for the first time and it was a hit- he didn't even get out of this morning when he woke, just yelled for Jim to get him in his normal "I wake up Daddy" fashion. So, we've been wondering all day what's the over/under bet on when Riley will realize he can actually get out of the bed on his own? We hope he keeps the "novelty" factor of the big bed dream alive and stays put for at least a few more months, or longer. So, I guess Riley is officially moved into his new room, which now means we have to give a good cleaning to Clumpster's "slightly used" room!

Not too much going on with us..7 more full work days for me, unless I blow early, so that's exciting. We make the final decision about Clumpy's arrival (VBAC or Scheduled C-er) this upcoming Thursday as we're going to get a sonogram to see if this kid is as mammoth as Riley was when he was born. Who knows?

Anyway, here's a few pics of last weekend:

Riley and Poppy

New Room (Yes, Jim and I are insane for letting Riley pick out the color of his room, but it is certainly cheerful) and New Bed P.s- don't mind the ghetto curtains- his new blinds will be delivered this week sometime!

Bike riding to the park!

Pics update

2009-03-10T04:25:00.006-04:00

Not much news to report, just up at an ungodly hour and figured I'd throw up some pics. I'm huge (3 weeks to go!!), Riley's room is 90% done and he's in love with his new "big boy" bed but to keep us sane right now, we still have him sleeping in his "cribby". I think we try to make the ol' big boy bed switch this weekend, perhaps.
Happy Birthday Abram!

Loner McLoner at the party

"Juicebox pride"- we never give him juiceboxes so he about lost his mind when he saw these at Abram's party

Gibson!

Auntie Mush and Riley

Who is excited about a cupcake??

Deville gettin' down on the dance floor

Smiling at Clumpster (he still wants a sister)

Making Pumpkin Bread

New Shades

Dinner at Rob and Leslie's

Riley and his version of Spring Cleaning!

I apparently smell like poop

2009-02-28T05:28:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, when I was driving Riley home from school, he told me that "Poppy doesn't stink but Mommy does and she smells like poop". ?? I wanted to laugh but of course, but I did the right thing...and gently reminded him that it wasn't nice to say and it hurt my feelings. (Pffft, I've been called worse)
He is right about one thing- Poppy sure doesn't stink as he spent 2 workdays at our house this past week getting Riley's new room all painted up (such a bright green, but Riley picked it out and it fits with the manic paint colors or our house, I suppose)! Now, Jim has to lay the floor tiles and then we just have to load all of his stuff into his new room (including his new "big boy" bed) and prep his old room for Clumpster's arrival in the next 4-5 weeks. Eek! Riley seems to be excited to move into his new room but Jim and I suspect that he thinks he's now going to have "2" rooms in the house. Since we have moved the computer into the living room (hence the new living quarters for Sir Riles), he sometimes comes up to us out of nowhere and with the most sincere and sweet voice, thanks us for "his" 'puter.

Hmmm, not so much going on- just working my last few weeks before going out on maternity leave and trying to get all settled in before the newborn tornado hits us in late March-April. This weekend is pretty busy but we're psyched as we're going to get to see a lot of friends that we have been missing! Hopefully, we'll have some pics/videos to upload of all the fun- maybe I'll even get brave (or really, just remember) to take a picture of my ginormous belly and share it with ya'll!

Have a good weekend...

The Eye of the Storm

2009-02-08T20:15:00.008-05:00

I suppose the title of this post could be interpreted in two ways:

1) We are quickly approaching the Clumpster's arrival and although being preggo and keeping up with a 2 year old ain't no easy feat, the thought of having a real deal newborn to take care of in a few short weeks (6-8 weeks- eeek!) is downright terrifying. So, is this the eye of the storm that awaits us come March/April? We think so.

2) Riley has taken us to the pit of despair and anguish in tantrum-ville and back this week- not sure what happened but somehow he found his "evil" switch that seems to turn our sweet, fun-loving little guy into a downright little monster in the blink of an eye. It's been absolutely unbearable on some occasions but as of this weekend, the tantrum-fest is on hiatus? The eye of the storm, or perhaps our "tough love" strategies of just letting him freak out and not giving in, is working. Only time will tell I suppose..

Current exciting "Riley news"?

-Riley still wants a sister, unfortunately, he still wants that sister to arrive "with a penis"- he seems pretty excited, although we know he doesn't really comprehend what he is in store for once that little bean comes home! Jim brought up the 0-3 month baby bin this afternoon so we could wash/check everything out and he squealed, "I'm so excited"!
- He loves cooking- we made pudding this weekend and are going to attempt to make "X: and "O" sugar cookies this week for his Valentine's party on Friday at school.
- Apparently, the boy loves his shrimp as he ate 4 rather larger crustacean friends out of the pad thai Jim made for dinner last night and he couldn't get enough of my shrimp salad toast points at brunch today.
- Snow is pretty much heaven for Riley- unfortunately, his delinquent parents failed to buy him any proper snow gear this winter so we've been straight up WT-ing out on the front lawn! There is a cemetery by the school I teach at that has some awesome sledding hills, so next year, watch out!
- His current favorite tv shows/movies are "Toot and Puddle", "Snow White"- this was after a weekend with Grammy and Poppy while Jim and I whooped it up in Boston, and "America's Funniest Videos"
- He's talking up a storm- he's got a pretty solid vocabulary, which doesn't necessarily there aren't plenty times in the day where we don't know what the heck is saying/asking for, but our family, friends and even sometimes strangers comment on his verbal abilities, so it's kind of nice to hear.

Anyway, here's some recent pics b/c what's a post without some visuals, eh?
SNOW!

Visit with The Croccos and Wojciechowiczs! Riley still asks to see Baby Dorian!

Is Riley copping a feel or trying his hand at pickpocketing?

Baby John and his cheesy poofs!

Riley getting a kick out of cousin!

Potty cuteness...I wish there was more to discuss on the potty front but it's still sort of an after thought for Sir Riles. We don't push it and he feigns interest so we're waiting until he really wants to get going on the potty training front.

Pierce Play Date aka- Jam Session

2009-01-28T09:18:00.006-05:00

Riley got to play the drums and the guitar recently at Gibson's pad- he was so psyched and when we got home that night he was actually crying with the sad little whine of "I want Uncle Chrissssss". Anyway, here's my "stolen" pics from Auntie Liz of Riley's Jam Fest!

Riley and Gibson "post- jam" watching "do do do do do do do do doooo", aka- The Muppets!

CHEERS!

News in Photo...

2009-01-26T22:43:00.006-05:00

Not much time for a long-winded post about the ongoings of Team Awesome...(yes, I do know that I am a long-winded typer)but all seems to well in our world for the time being after a couple of weeks of nuttiness post Jim's knee surgery (poor boys had that nasty 24 hour barf-o-rama). Clumpster doing good..although he or she is loving giving me the ol' heartburn these days and is a big fan partying till dawn after sleeping all day.

Some recent pics (the most recent not uploaded yet from the camera)...

A warm day post-Xmas at the Jenk's Aquarium with Abram, Jonah, and Auntie Erika:

The boy asked for some pigtails- who I am to argue?

Palaitis Boys (and their p's, of course) Play Date!

"Baby" John's Post-Baptism Party

Did he plan the matching brows and shirt?

2009-01-10T21:48:00.003-05:00

During Riley's bout with bronchitis, he had to endure up to 6 "rock-concert" inhaler treatments/day and the "KISS Concert" vibe wore off him pretty quickly and he grew to be quite the pain in the tuckus when the "treatment" machine came out. Anyway, the following picture shows just how far we (including Poppy!) would go to amuse Riley through the inhaler treatments. I love it.

More pics and a lengthy update soon..it's been a busy week with getting back into the swing of the post-holiday back to work and Jim had surgery on his knee this past week! He was supposed to get it done in Feb. and an opening to get it done came about, so he's been on the the mend since Thursday with Nurse Poppy Nightingale by his side on surgery day and me and Riley for the last 2 days.

Baby Ben

2009-01-03T07:57:00.004-05:00

The day after Christmas (And pre-post-holiday ill-fest!), Riley and I visited my friend (my ONLY friend in grad. school) Kristi and her new baby Ben. Too cute- and of course, I forgot how small they are, when they're so "new". It was great to see Kristi and meet Baby Ben- it was an interesting visit since Kristi got to see a glimpse of her future, for example, Riley throwing turkey across the room, and I got to remind myself of how much babies sleep and snuggle...ahhh, I'm looking forward to that again, as is Jim. Ben is 7 weeks old in the pics below and as you can see, Riley warmed right up to him.

Unsure...

Hmmm, this is kinda okay...maybe I'll take a peak at him!

I LOVE BABY BEN!

Next up on our baby meetin' list?? We are dying to meet Baby Dorian and of course, visit with his lovely p's, as it's been way too long!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T14:11:00.006-05:00

Well, we hope you all have a great 2009! It'll be a big year for us since "the clumpster" will be arriving in the next 3 months- eek! A few pics of the holiday festivities below...which Riley LOVED, of course- I mean, c'mon, who DOESN'T Love getting presents! I just wish the post-holiday time was not "what it was" as Riley ended up with some crazy high fever virus for 2 days this past weekend and then had a 24 hour reprieve before his nagging cough (he and I have had it for a couple of weeks) turned into full-blown bronchitis in a matter of a few hours! So, he was sick as a dog (still is, but he's running a regimine of 5 different medicines as of yesterday so he's getting better, thankfully) for the last few days of 2008- looking on the bright side, it sure beats last year with our trip to the ER in the middle of the night on January 1st! Anyway, back to the well wishin'- Hope ya'll have an awesome New Year, filled with good health, good fortune, and all that warm and fuzzy stuff I'm so well known for bestowing, eh??

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T08:17:00.007-05:00

Jim just whisked Riley off to work for the day- Merrill always asks employees to bring in their kidlings on Xmas Eve for a day of breakfast, Santa, and other holiday-esque activities. I woke up with Riley this morning (Jim had a late night at the Court- yeah!) and he was an absolute angel for a good 1:15 hrs, until Jim got up and Riley apparently found his "evil" switch and turned it on to hyperspeed- hopefully, the car ride to Hopewell will return the sweet little guy we all know and love. My Riley-free activities will be baking 2 pies, 1 streusel cake, baked sweet taters, a batch of nut cup cookies, cleaning the bathrooms, laundry, and wrapping up some pressies. Ugh. Anyway, hope the holidays are awesome for all of you- can't wait to see MOST of you who read this thing during my break from teachin'! Wooo!

A few pics of Riley trimming the tree..he's been really amazing at NOT touching the tree, which has surprised both Jim and I.

A funny video of a frequent "post-bath" but "pre-jammie" game- we usually instigate the "hi-ya" game to redirect Riley from some irritating behavior just as trying to pinch us/kicking, etc...sometimes, he can be a real pain in the tuckus after his bath at night, but this little game seems to turn on the "sweet, giggly" Riley and all is right in his little world once again.

P.s.- Our "Frosty" watching count has got to be nearing 50 times in the last 2 weeks. I think I might have switched Riley over to at least incorporating "The Grinch" into his Frosty repertoire, but only time will tell...that, or Wall-E, which Riley got from "Santa" in Nutley last weekend.

Angry....

2008-12-22T21:00:00.003-05:00

I've been wondering where my Christmas cards were...ya know the ones I ordered on November 30th??? Well, lo and behold, stupid head up their butts VistaPrint (a printing site I held in such high regard until this morning) had an issue with processing my order but never contacted me, so our order just was sitting in limbo (I kept checking online but the status of "processing" led me to believe that they were just busy with the holiday season, as every one is, of course)...not to be printed and sent before (or ever?)the holidays. Anyway, so ya'll will be receiving Happy New Year cards from the Cook Crew this year...

Here's the "shot" you would have received, had VistaPrint not provided me with such shitty customer service:

This pic was cute too, but the clarity was not great for a Xmas card..

Anyway, tomorrow is my last day of teachin' until the 5th! Woooo hoooo! Hopefully, I will update more frequently in my "downtime"!

T-day Recap

2008-12-13T13:05:00.006-05:00

Since Christmas is quickly approaching, I figured I'd better get on the ball and post some T-day weekend shots (including some pics from Jim's bday!)

Daddy gets his annual "Daddy Juice" presents..Happy 37th Lovey!

The Birthday Grinch that stole Daddy's Jameson

How does one entertain a 2 year old at a restaurant? lobster bibs, maraschino cheeries, new foods like calamari (mind you, this is the child that nixed every single Thanksgiving meal option the day before in lieu of a cheese sandwich and some raisins), and grammy's jewelry!

Random Cranny moments that involved someone other than Jim and I entertaining the boy...Ahhhhhhh!

First taste of the seductive world of Entenmann's Crumb Coffee Cake:

Not too much else exciting to report..just crazy busy with wrapping up teachin' for my ginormous winter break (Dec 23rd to Jan 5th!)and trying to get prepped for the holidays without going schizo, ha ha ha. Riley and I have been sick, but nothing too crazy, but enough to throw a few kinks into the works. We're off to Cranny today to celebrate Poppy's birthday tonight and then Jim and I get to venture into the City tomorrow for brunch with my bro, Sean, Leah, and Chris so we're really looking forward to it. Riley will be spending the day in Cranford racing cars, playing knock hockey, and scouting for deer in the woods with Poppy and Grammy.

My Our Parents are *TOTAL* Nerds