Christmas Tree

Madison didn't want any part of the mittens or blanket covering her hands.

 We went to see the Christmas Tree in Princeton at Palmer Square after we decorated our tree at home. It was COLD, but we enjoyed some hot chocolate from The Bent Spoon and it made our hands and tummies toasty.

All decked out in lights and wreaths

 All the shoppes had wreaths and lights, and it was so much fun getting to see it at dark. As the parent of two young kids, going outside after dark is a rare thing..lol.

Christmas Tree in the square

What a great way to in the Christmas spirit!! I can say that I am looking forward to looking at lights in neighborhoods inside our warm car.

Daddy and his girls

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was a little bittersweet for us. We were thrilled to be in our new home, and I was super excited to be cooking my very first turkey. However, we missed our family and friends back home with all the favorite festivities. Needless to say, we will happily fly home for future Thanksgivings, and I am absolutely fine with being a chef-in-training under my Grandma for a few more years :)

Lulu and Daddy watching their annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving cartoon.

We had a wonderfully relaxing day, and promised each other we wouldn't do anything home-owner related, except for cleaning up the kitchen after the meal.

Finally got to bust out my corningware from when we first got married...8 years ago!!

I made a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and didn't try anything new, mainly because it was the first one and we wanted all the favorites: Cornbread Stuffing (I made the cornbread from scratch), Candied Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Turkey, Grandma's famous Cranberry Orange Relish, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. Yum. Totally carb overload.

Our 16 lbs Tom Turkey

Lindsay was a great helper, and together we make our pumpkin pie the day before. Afterwards she told me, "Mama, I think we need to taste it. Just a little tiny taste, that's all."

Mmm... this girl ate her share of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Shhh... don't tell... we sampled our pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving eve.

We celebrated Madison's 1st Thanksgiving... her gobbled up anything we put on her tray. She ate stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams and of course, some pumpkin pie!

Sweet Little Turkey

I thought the look she gave me was too funny... "Mama, don't bother me. I'm eating."

We are so thankful for all the blessings throughout the year of family, friends and the source of all that is good... Jesus Christ!!

Nine Months

Madison Grace, 9 months

Sweet Girl is 9 months (actually closer to 10 months now that I am finally posting)! Here are her stats:

15.8 lbs

26.5 inches long

*Eating machine! Maddie LOVES to feed herself, and prefers to eat savory rather than sweet. We can get her to eat some pear and blueberry yogurt or oatmeal in the am, but after about 10am, anything sweet she will turn her nose. Still nursing 4 times a day and 1-2 at night. She is great at chewing, and would rather feed herself than you spoon it for her. Already so independent!

*Sleep... She has been waking up a ton at night, partly because she is teething, and partly because she began CRAWLING!! Sweet girl was so ready, and after she took her first few crawls, she got the hang of it fast. She tries to pull up on everything!

*Fine Motor Skills.... Madison is great at anything fine motor, including feeding herself and uses her left finger to press buttons on toys and to point. She uses her right hand most of the time, and we think she will probably be a righty.

 

*Barefoot Princess...She doesn't like wearing anything on her feet, and will constantly pull off her shoes, which is fine in the summer but oh so cold in the winter!

*Teeth! Maddie has two bottom teeth, and her top two are just about ready to come in. She has bit me a couple times, but hopefully no more.

Doll Baby

Thank you Nonna for my cute Halloween shirt!!

 

We were excited to capture the first crawl with Daddy's phone. She was in Sissy's room going after the Noah's Ark toy...

First Snow

It began to snow late in the afternoon, and the next day we woke up to a winter wonderland!

Exactly one week after we moved into our new home, we got to experience a magical first snow of the season!! This was particular thrilling because it was Lindsay and Madison's first time EVER seeing snow. We got just enough snow to be pretty and melt off fast, without inconveniencing people's lives too much. Jarrett had practice shoveling our driveway. He is looking forward to many more snow days... just kidding ;)

"It's crunchy!"

Daddy and Madison

Our little snow bunny!

We went out first thing in the morning, and the snow plough came by before 9am to do our roads... getting to work on time will be possible!

Thank you Grammie for the snow suit and boots. They came in handy just 3 days after you got them for me! 

Snow Angel

We attempted to make a snow man, but I wasn't wearing gloves. We got two snow balls and found some leaves for ears and Volia! a snow bunny was created.

Sitting at her table drinking hot cocoa... Doesn't she look too grown up?!

 The best thing about playing in the snow.... Drinking Hot Cocoa afterwards!!

"Yummy!!"

 

Halloween 2012

Happy 1st Halloween Maddie Girl!!

The day we moved into our new place was October 31st, and NJ wasn't feeling much Halloween spirit due to super storm Sandy.  The Governor of NJ officially re-scheduled Halloween until Monday, November 5th, so the girls had the opportunity to dress up twice! My Mom and Dad flew out that evening, so they got to see the girls all dressed up in their feathered finest.

Lulu the Peacock (2 years 8 months) and Maddie the Owl (8 months)

 Lindsay was the one who came up with the bird costume idea. We were in Party City looking at costumes, and I held up the Owl costume and Lindsay said, "Mommy! I want to be a bird too!!". I was fine with two Owls, but it didn't come in her size. Then Lulu spotted the Peacock costume and she got SO excited about the sparkles and the hat. We lucked out and the 24 months still fit her. Birds of a feather!

 We went trick-or-treating on November 5th, and we made it to a couple of houses. A lot of homes were still without power, and it was really dark and COLD!! We met some of our neighbors and they seemed great!

 

 Fall Fun! We cleaned up the yard one morning and Lindsay had fun playing in the leaves. Maddie had fun scooting along in her walker. Lovely shady trees = LOTS of leaves for raking. I am thinking of adding a leaf-blower to my Christmas list..lol.

Loving autumn on the East Coast!!

Home Sweet Home

We're IN!! Finally in our new home. With Internet and cable. Whew! It is truly a miracle that can call ourselves homeowners. We were scheduled to close on the October16th, but things always delay closings, and it ended up being re-scheduled for the 19th. And then it was delayed again. And again. Until finally we were scheduled to close on October 29th. And what do you know? Hurricane Sandy was forecast to hit MONDAY October 29th. Eek! This posed two problems: 1. Our mortgage company let us know if we did not close on Monday, we would have to wait two weeks until after the storm hit for the inspectors to re-assess the home and see if it sustained any damage. 2. We had to be out of our rental on Oct. 31st, so if we didn't close and move before then, we would be homeless.

So with torrential downpour and crazy wind, we drove to sign the papers and get the keys on Monday with the title company, who was only open due to our real estate agent calling in some serious favors. We were thrilled and a little nervous to become new homeowners in the worst storm in 75 years for NJ. Later Monday night we lost power, and were sunk into darkness until Tuesday evening. Trying to pack is pretty hard by camping lantern, but hey, you do what you gotta do, right?

 On Tuesday, we emerged from our rental without power to what looked like a war zone. Fallen trees, closed roads, downed power lines were everywhere. Every home was dark, and forget about any grocery stores or fast food. We drove to our new home to assess the damage. It took us literally an hour to get there with all the road closures (think 4 miles). Our hearts sank when we saw this as we tried to turn the corner to get to our house...

When we were able to see our house, and that no trees had fallen on it, we shouted, PRAISE GOD!  Besides leaves everywhere, our home sustained no damage. Our poor neighbors had four trees fall in their yard, and there was downed power lines up and down the street. We moved into the house the next day, without electricity. But we didn't care. We were/are still so completely grateful that our little family is safe, and in our home without damage. It was only days later when we were able to read the paper we saw all the other folks throughout the state who were devastated by the storm. Our prayers and hearts go out to them.

Here are pics of our new casa... a work in progress! We were so so so grateful for my Dad and Mom who flew out the day after we moved in to watch the girls and help us get settled. Despite the threat of potentially no power for the duration of their stay, they still opted to come. Thank you!! We couldn't have done it without you!

Here is pic from  earlier in the year, from the MLS.

Backyard, looking at the back of our house. See why we were so worried about the storm? Thankfully, that big bad tree didn't go anywhere.

Stripping wallpaper... welcome to our foyer!

Living room... I fell in love with the built-in bookshelves in the back. 

Dining room.. still unpacking. It is amazing the amount of stuff you accumulate after 8 years of marriage.

A room with a view... what I get to see while I do the dishes, or rather put them in the dishwasher. Score!!

 We have made a ton of progress, and are finishing up painting and hanging curtains and pictures. I will post more pics after we get semi-finished, hopefully after the Thanksgiving weekend. One thing is for sure, home buying isn't for sissys!