Christmas Cards

First and foremost, I want to send a special thank you to all of you who have sent us the most adorable Christmas cards...and I'm going to apologize in the same breath for not sending out our own. Truthfully, I grew up in a house that never sent them out so I've never done them myself, but boy do I love getting them! I'm thinking next year might be the year I actually do them...until then, consider this a special Christmas greeting from us at With Wiz. Wishes for a blessed and merry Christmas, lots of love and joy in the new year and peace in your lives!

Dr. F looks like a creepster, I'm having an awesome hair day and LM, well his face says it all. PS. nice jeans, Santa...

S.A.D

This time of year usually feel a little bipolar...I love love love Christmas, the traditions, the food, the snuggly, sitting by the fire, heart full of love feelings I get when I think back to my childhood Christmases, but I also have this sad, depressed feeling around the holidays too. As intense as my joy is, my sadness at the knowlege of what other people, especially children, will not have is just as intense. I make sure to participate in the food drives and angel trees, but my heart breaks each year at Christmas as the weather turns colder and I know there are kids all over the world who have so much less, who need so much more, and I feel helpless to make a difference. If left to my own devises, I'm afraid we'd have a house full of abanonded kids and animails.

The last few years this has only intensified as I've watched my own child grow. I see how small and innocent and completely dependent he is upon his daddy and I. I am also plagued by the feeling that we aren't doing enough to make a change, but will it ever be enough?

This isnt uplifting or fun, but its been rolling around in my head for awhile now and I'm just not sure what to do with it.

Basketball, Babies & the Godfather

Before I get into today's post, I want to revisit my Thanksgiving post complaining about feeling large in my sweater dress. I loved the comfort the dress provided as I consumed mass quantities of food and will totally wear it and feel good in it again. Also, I can't wait to look preggers again, when I'm actually pregnant. I loved loved loved having a big belly and feeling all mother earth/fertility goddess... I guess I just still feel self-conscious about my weight now, even though Aidan is 2 yrs old already! Oh well....

This past weekend was busy and we like it that way. On Saturday we caught up with some friends in the city whose baby girl is almost 3 months old. Aidan was utterly fascinated by the baby and was totally fine with me holding her. YESSS! I am convinced that letting him play with a baby doll at home has helped. Dr. F and I even got to go on a date to watch an NBA game. I am not a big basket ball fan, but Dr. F is....so it was fun to have him teach me about the game and the stadium was pretty empty so we got AWESOME seats (like 4th row) for cheap!

It is so odd to be the more experienced mom of the group. I feel like I still have a "baby"!

And the highlight of the weekend was Dr. F's cousin's baptism. He was asked to be the Godfather. He was incredibly honored... and I was subjected to weeks of bad Godfather movie impressions...

Aidan with some of his cousins. He looooves them so much!

How to make whipped cream

At Pinch Me's request, here's how to make homemade whipped cream (OHMYGODITSSOGOOD)

1 carton of whipping cream
powdered sugar
vanilla extract
food processor/electric mixer*

A few hours before you want to get started, put your metal beaters & metal mixing bowl/food processor bowl & blade into the freezer. Something about using cold instruments makes the difference.

Pour cream into bowl, add a tsp of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla (I just use a regular spoon and often leave out the vanilla...this is all to taste anyway)

Beat the cream until it gets stiff (about 3-5 min).

Turn off mixer and lick beaters (this step is optional)

Serve immediately and refrigerate unused portion.

That's it, so easy and so good!

*I don't have an electric mixer, although I've asked Santa for one this year... So I improvised with my food processor and it worked like a charm. Necessity (or broke-ness) is the mother of invention after all :)

Its the most wonderful time of the year

Ok ok, I've been pretty uninspired to post anything lately, which could be due to my post Thanksgiving exhaustion. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast and I was (mostly) successful at keeping my mother and mother-in-law out of the kitchen. Whew. Let me tell you, that was NO easy task! Additionally, my spread sheet was the perfect kitchen companion and it all went off without a hitch. The turkey was moist, the sweet potatos were to die for and we will never buy cranberry sauce out of the can again (1 cup apple cider, 1 12 oz bag of cranberries, 1 cup of sugar... bring to a boil, then cook covered for 10 min till the cranberries "pop" let it cool then refridgerate over night. OMG soooo good!)

I also made Victoria's pumpkin custard pie. Seriously, this is part of the new tradition and I will make this multiple times a year it was so good.

We also celebrated the Little Man's 2nd birthday, Dr. F's almost 30 birthday and my Mother-in-law's bday.  At first I didnt want to post these pictures because my sweater dress and poor camera angles makes me look preggers, which I assure you, I am not...but eff it. We had a blast!

LM got the world's largest rubber ducky for his birthday

We also went to his favorite place on earth, the museum!

Don't hurt yourself!!

My dad, the Little Man, Dr. F and my bro

not the most flattering angle.... but we sure do look happy

My "little" bro making fun of my regimented turkey basting schedule

But it was soooo good.

Thanksgiving prep

I was really starting to feel overwhelmed with the magnatude of prep work/grocery shopping that needs to get done before next week...not to mention that our bathroom is still sans a mirror or finished lighting. Oh yeah, and in addition to the Little Man's birthday tomorrow, the Big Man's birthday is Tuesday and my MIL's is next Saturday. Do you know I've only got LM's present and have NO IDEA what do to for the other two. UGHH.

What's a girl to do? Make a spreadsheet, of course! Behold, my Thanksgiving week spreadsheet:

PS. Any present ideas are welcome and encouraged!! I've had their personalized cards for about 2 months, but no presents. Thank goodness its Friday at least.

Its almost Friday

I've been absent the last few days and with good reason...

We have been redoing our bathroom taking it from this:

To this:

A work in progress...

Its a beautiful pale "tiffany's" blue

We have been trying new recipes (hello pizza bites!)

Thank you for the idea, MF!

  Dr. F was on the other side of the knife getting his wisdom teeth removed.

That's right, I ace-bandaged ice packs to his cheeks. I'm such a good nurse :)

And we've settled on a new color for our bedroom (to be painted next week!)

Oh yeah, did I mention Little Man's 2nd birthday is SATURDAY? OHMYGOSH! and relatives are descending on our house in a mere matter of days for Thanksgiving?! Yeah...we've been a little busy and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Keeping up appearances

I am just going to come out and say it. I feel frumpy and like I'm just getting by. I miss feeling cute and pulled together. I miss having somewhere to go, getting dolled up and that powerful "I am a confident, together, sexy woman!" feeling. These days between a 2 yr old, working full time outside the home and being a full time mom and wife, I feel like its all slipped away...and I can't quite figure out how to get it back...and I'm only so willing to sacrifice the precious little sleep I already get.

It doesn't help that my office is business professional, as in a suit and pantyhose kind of dress code ( i.e. we're not allowed to show toe and heel at the same time...so peep toe slingbacks are out). I don't mind dressing up, but I sure as shit hate the dry cleaning bill and cant afford to buy a ton of those kinds of clothes on the little salary they're paying me. Top it off with the fact that I'm never going to fit into the nice dress clothes I wore to work when I was 23. Hell, I'm not going to be 23 again either. So now I'm rocking ill fitting dress pants and hand-me down sweater sets from my mom.

Now, let's address my hair, shall we? It is long and I like it that way and Dr. F likes it that way. But you know what, its getting cold waiting for the train every morning and wet hair isnt exactly professional. I've rocked a bun almost every day since I started way back in June because I dont have time to dry it (hello 20 min!) and straighten/curl (30+ min) everyday between getting myself and the Little Man out the door.* I'd love to chop it off and can't help but think a short style might actually make me feel like my appearance is visually interesting...but then I loose the bun option... plus with short hair that isnt tamed on a daily basis i look like this (a little less curly, a lot more frizzy):

Basically, I'm over here having a pitty party for myself, which is ridiculous because there are people who have much worse things to worry about...like keeping a roof over their heads or not having enough food. I'm sorry and I'll try to pull it together. Anyone have any tips for keeping up a stylish (not trendy!) appearance?

*side note, I have a LARGE forehead and a hairdresser recently told me I should never have a style without bangs...yay self confidence!

Thanksgiving part I

As this is my first year making Thanksgiving dinner and I'm slightly nervous about it... I've started planning everything and even made my apple pie last night and threw it in the freezer. So far I've got the apple pie and cheesecake made...only pumpkin pie to go and dessert will be covered. Wahoo! Getting there, baby steps at a time :)

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving recipe you'd be willing to share with me?

What happens when you Google Map Japan to China directions

Happy Halloween!

I have always loved Halloween and now that I have a child, its even better! I'm starting to realize one of the biggest joys of having a child is the opportunity to relieve some of your favorite childhood memories and to help create new ones for your own child. Plus, its pretty great having a pumpkin of candy to poach from once a certain dragon goes to bed :)

We had a great time last night with the cutest dragon in the neighborhood. He never quite got the words "trick or treat" out until we were at home opening the door for other kids, but Little Man sure understood what getting candy was all about!

Yay Weekend!

This weekend was pretty great. We went to Aidan's day care Halloween party and a wedding of some good med school friends up at Princeton. We were even lucky enough to be able to spend the night away and really enjoy ourselves (translation...be mega hung over after only 4 drinks. i am officially a light weight...) Dr. F even indulged me and we walked around Princeton's campus before heading home so I could drool over all of the architecture.

Our little Dragon

Dr. F doing a little GaGa

Princeton's cheap knock-off of the WM Wren Building

The Real Deal

We're going streaking through the quad and into the gymnasium!

Princeton in the Fall

Political (UN)correctness

First I want to put this out there, I do not consider myself interested in politics, try to stay away from political discussions as much as possible and do not use this blog as a place to promote any political agenda. You may even remember how Dr. F and I voted in the Presidential Election in separate rooms and decided not to tell the other how we voted. However, as the midterm elections are a few days away and we get a barrage of Deleware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ads on TV and radio, I am getting really sick and tired of the nasty, empty campaigns people are running. Finally just a few days ago, NPR fired Juan Williams...the Washington Post wrote this article about it.

If my understanding is correct, Juan Williams simply said he felt nervous when someone who was dressed in easily identifiable Muslim clothing boarded a plane. He also went on to say he wanted to make a distinction that it was extremists and NOT moderates who were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Ok, let me get this straight, he simply expressed how he felt even though it didn't quite jive with what he knew intellectually. Furthermore, he was not on the clock at NPR and he is known, among other things, as

                             ... a longtime reporter, columnist and editorial writer at The Washington Post. 

                              He has written extensively on the civil rights movement, including a book on the

                             African- American religious experience and a biography of Supreme Court Justice

                             Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice. 

The backlash this firing has caused is actually heartening. Williams, whether you agree with him or not, is coming out smelling like a rose, while NPR, which we regularly listen to in the car, is facing some harsh, and deserved criticism. American's should be proud free speech, and it is a right that is threatened every day. Whether you like what Mr. Williams said is irrelevant. He expressed how he felt as an individual while not in an official capacity related to his employer, NPR. If these comments were hate speech or slander, they absolutely should not be protected under freedom of speech, but we have become a nation so obsessed with political correctness that is a burden just like all of those empty political ads that actually say nothing, I am afraid that we are tripping over ourselves so much that we can't actually say anything. Am I offended by a Menorah next to a Nativity set in December? Nope. I think its great to represent different faiths and traditions. In fact, bring on the Kinara (The Candle Holder) for Kwanzaa! I am not offended someone has a different belief than me and think this is a great opportunity to learn something new.

Another thought, and speaking as someone who has a degree in Anthropology, it is actually a survival mechanism to be fearful of something or someone different than one's self. It is a gut reaction. Have we intellectually moved on from this, absolutely! but let's not pretend that momentary reaction has been obliterated through evolution. Mr. Williams had the guts to say what so many of us think. You don't have to agree with him (isn't this country beautiful!?) but you have to respect the cajones to actually say what you think.

Finally, I don't particularly like Jon Stewart. Often I find him loud, obnoxious and too one sided. However, I think he may be on to something. Mr. Stewart, I don't like you, but I respect that you may have a different opinion than me, and that's ok.

Phillies Fever in our house

Its official...I'm giving in to Phillies Fever after 3 years of living here and I as much as I will never love Philly, I do want my son to have some hometown pride. So, after alot of deliberation and Dr. F's approval, I snagged some sweet Phillies gear on my lunch hour yesterday. Behold: F Family Fillies Foto Fun (yay alliteration!)

the three of us...and laundry waiting to be folded...

And just because I love this kid like whoa...here's the Little Man screaming "Go Phillies!" and yes...he falls at the end because he thinks it is funny to fall and then ask us "are you ok?"

sleep issues

While the last 8 months in our lives have been CAH-RA-ZY, one thing that seemed to finally settle down was the Little Man's ability to get himself to sleep at night. I mean, we'd do the bedtime routine that we'd done since the day after he came home from the hospital: bath, pj's, teeth brushing (once the teeth came in), read a book (yes, even when he was days old!), sing some songs, say some prayers and put him down for bed. It was tough for awhile, we finally got in the groove and eventually there was no crying and we could put him down wide awake and know that he'd pass out until the morning. ohhh sweet memories...

The last 4 weeks have been sheer torment. The kid is no longer falling asleep on his own, he's fighting to stay awake as long as humanly possible and screams "MOMMY" (and occasionally Dadddy) at the top of his lungs. We believe in letting him cry it out for the most part, but every night we go back into his room after about 30-40 min of crying  to settle him down and rock him/pat his back till he's asleep. Last night added insult to injury when jsut as we were heading to bed, he woke up and despite NUMEROUS futile attempts, he wouldnt go to sleep. So we laid in bed for an hour to sweet sweet sounds of MOMMY!!! Dr. F had to hold me because it was aweful. By midnight my body shut down and I actually passed out amdist the screams and Dr. F went in and settled him down. 5 min of back rubbing, he was out for the night. WTF?!

It may sound cruel to let him cry, but at almost 2, with a history of being able to go to sleep on his own and being clean, comfortable and well fed...I am at a loss. Please please please any suggestions. I'm on the verge of loosing it.

Flashes of Brilliance

Ok, well, brilliance is giving myself too much credit, BUT I have to report on my fabulous lunch run. As previously mentioned, I'm getting committed to getting off of my petite derierre and moving more. I told Dr. F this is the "i'm getting in shape by May and then you are to promptly knock me up again" training schedule which will culminate in the Broad St. 10 miler. Despite having run (sloooowly) the Marine Corps Marathon, I haven't really done any serious running since 2006! OH SHIT..,that was 4 YEARS AGO... so I googled a novice 5k training schedule, printed that puppy out and posted it to my cubicle wall. I am starting at.ground.zero. so I figured I'd work my way through that and then move on to a 10k training schedule etc. etc. I've following it pretty consistently and for the first time in years, I thought "I can't wait to go on my lunch run today." IT IS HAPPENING PEOPLE, I'm re-finding that inner jogger (runner would be too high a compliment).

On my run today I had one of those rare runs where it just starts out feeling great. My form was top-notch and I was running relaxed. The air was cool, but not cold and the sky was overcast. Perrrfect. I even put in 2.3 mi, which is about all I can do and not head back to the office sweating like a pig (we dont have office showers so I take my lunch at 3 so I only have to be sweaty for an hour).

So there it is... gradually getting back into the swing of things and pretty pumped about it :)

Columbus Day

Today has been kind of a slow day at work, probably because everyone and their mom has off because its a Federal holiday. Everyone but me. Oh you mocking Facebook statuses of days off and afternoon naps!

Because today has been pretty quiet around here, and because I know someone who dropped the coffee pot this morning (and it shattered EVERYWHERE), I had to go online to order a new one stat because we can't function without coffee in our house (and the free coffee at work is DISGUSTING). Well as we all know, online shopping for one item invariably leads to perusing the whole internets for random things we  may or may not need. So here I am, a serious amount of time later, trying to break my morning shopping spree by blogging about my favorite purchase of the day (with the exception the new coffee pot). Behold, window valances for the nursery!
 
When I was expecting Aidan, and before we know blue or pink, we decided upon a safari theme so it would be as gender neutral as possible, because while generic, it was cute and God knows I'm not buying an $80 nursery set that the child won't even remember if we should have a girl. We even painted the nursery in our house a cheery yellow and put up green curtains...but that is as far as we got, until today! Not only were these babies on sale at CSNbaby.com, but I also had a coupon. Now that's my favorite kind of shopping!

If you're off today, dont tell me... Happy Monday!

Conflicted

This morning I read this article on CNN.com. The article discusses how NY is removing soda and sports drinks from the Food Stamps approved foods list because of the correlation between those types of drinks and obesity/diabetes. As I read the article I found myself nodding in agreement, thinking "those things aren't food, they provide no nutritional value and they aren't necessary." The idea that reducing the amount of taxpayer money spent on those types of products might reduce the amount of taxpayer money later spent on health care related obesity and diabetes seems logical and positive.

Then I read the comments. Many were applauding this measure and talking poorly of all the people they see in the grocery store buying expensive pre-packaged, super unhealthy foods with food stamps. Many commentators were angry at the mismanagement of what is supposed to be a helping hand yet seems to be a long term way of life. I totally agree. I see it all the time in Philly. The designer clothes, the fancy phones, the cigarettes and brand new cars...

Yet as I was reading, thinking "cut the program!" I thought about the children who are at least eating something, you hope, because of government assistance. If we cut off the parents, how does that affect the kids who don't have a choice? And that is where my heart breaks.

Let me be clear, in no way am I supporting the abuse of a state supported (read: our tax dollars) system for people who need it. But I dont know how to even begin thinking about ways to change the system. Education is sorely needed, but how do you break a cycle that has been accepted as a cultural norm? Cooking at home is SO much cheaper than eating at fast food restaurants (ie. last night we had lentil soup that is enough to feed all 3 of us for two nights for less than 5 dollars total). The non-brand name jeans at Kohls are way cheaper than the Juicy jeans and you're not going naked either way and seriously, just get off the bedazzled phone and pay attention to your kids. It is so heart breaking and I dont know how to begin to be a positive force for change.

I dont want this to be an us vs. them post. I believe anyone could need a helping hand at some point in their lives... we certainly did when I found out I was pregnant and both of use were still in school. Trying times can happen to anyone at any time and thank God there are systems in place to help in those situations. It is a culture of entitlement and materialism that needs an overhaul, but where do we start? Can we even make a difference? It is so overwhelming, yet I feel compelled to do something, anything.

Any ideas on how to follow Ghandi's example and "be the change you want to see in the world?"

The ONE song

...inspired by One Lucky Monkey

This song doesn't make me cry, but it sure brings up so many emotions as it was our first dance song:

Lyrics:

Yes I understand that every life must end,
As we sit alone, I know someday we must go,
I'm a lucky man to count on both hands
The ones I love...

Some folks just have one,
Others they got none,
Stay with me...
Lets just breathe.

Practiced are my sins,
Never gonna let me win,
Under everything, just another human being,
Yeah, I don't wanna hurt, there's so much in this world
to make me bleed.

Stay with me...
You're all I see.

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool, you see...
No one knows this more than me,
As I come clean.

I wonder everyday
As I look upon your face,
Everything you gave
And nothing you would say (save?),
Nothing you would take...
Everything you gave.

Did I say that I need you?
Oh, Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool, you see
No one knows this more than me...
like I come clean.

Nothing you would take...
Everything you gave.
Hold me till I die...
Meet you on the other side.

So many things

I dont know why this continues to happen...I write a long post and then spend the next week thinking about the next one and mustering up enough energy/motivation to write it. Then, of course, I feel bogged down in the 20 ideas for posts I've had over the last week and can't seem to write anything other than a "lists" post... today is no different... :) bare with me.

This past weekend was AMAZING! Dr. F was actually off the entire thing and on a normal sleeping schedule :) On Thursday night we had torrential downpours like the rest of the East Coast and naturally train service was completely interrupted soooooo I had to take the bus...through some of the nicest areas of Philly. It only took me 3hrs to get to work. Then they were claiming there was normal train service for the afternoon commute. I arrive a few minutes before the scheduled departure to announcements of "passengers should find alternate transportation." SEPTA FAIL. So I was left with one alternative...ride the subway back to north Philly and take the bus home. It only took 2 hrs to get home. SWEET.

However, the weekend turned around when got home to dinner on the table courtesy of one Dr. Farah. He's a keeper for sure! After we got the Little Man in bed I heated up some fresh apple cider, spiked it with some whiskey and we had a little date in our back yard with warm cider, hoodies and white christmas lights. As I drank the cider and enjoyed the company memories of my 5 hour commute drifted away.  

The street was completely flooded out...

                                 

Saturday morning we hit up a local art fair in our neighborhood and I made pumpkin muffins. On Sunday after church we headed to the most amazing playground. Per usual, LM was obsessed with driving the fire truck. His latest obsessions are Thomas the Tank Engine and fire trucks so we've decided to get him a wooden train set for his birthday. One of the things I'm most proud of is the fact we went on a family run both Saturday and Sunday! Dr. F graciously let me set the (slow) pace and he pushed the jogging stroller. Since we're hosting Thanksgiving this year, we also decided we're going to invite our siblings to join us at a 5 mi Turkey Trot.

Aidan was more interested in putting the crayons away than drawing...

We danced to the live music at the festival

There was a 40 ft slide!

Dr. F... I think you're too big for this firetruck!

This morning was tough because LM started at a new daycare. This one is closer to our house and many neighborhood kids go there, so we're hoping this will be a good way for us to meet new friends too. However, the transition is never easy and this morning as he was screaming "MOMMY" with sad tears streaming down his face, it took everything I had not to quit my job and just take him home with me. :( I know it will get better, but oh the heart break...