Digging out

Well hello again! Its been a few days and I have finally surfaced. Part of it was I didn't feel particularly inspired and part of it was I've had a fair amount on my plate at work...you know, when I write allll of my blog posts...anyway...

This weekend was great! Dr. F was home and we had lots of family time. I can't even tell you how happy I was. We even took the Little Man to the pumpkin patch for the first time and while he was little overwhelmed by it all, he did LOVE LOVE LOVE the train. He also took advantage of some Daddy time by snuggling on the couch with Daddy, some snacks and football!

We also finally decided on our Thanksgiving plans. Dr. F is mercifully off on Thanksgiving! (although we have no idea what Christmas/New Year's will be). We are going to brave it and invite our parents, siblings and my grandparents and I WILL BE COOKING. Holy shit what did I get myself into?! I've mandated that my mother, mother-in-law and grandmother stay out of the kitchen. They will drive me up a wall without a doubt. Soooo that means I'm going to start making practices dishes which I will force my men to eat leading up to the big day and I started this weekend with fresh from the pumpkin patch apples in my very first apple pie! Pray that I am blessed with an abundance of patience. I will need it.

This is the chicken pot pie I also made, but the apple pie looked just like it :)

head in the clouds

This week has absolutely dragged by. I mean, time stood still and it killed me! This means I have had too much time to sit and think about anything and everything while tooling around on the internets, praying someone updated their blog or facebook page or online shopping (although through great self restraint I did not buy a single thing). I like to be busy. I mean head spinning busy and the times when I wish time would slow down (like when Aidan gives me a big hug or I'm snuggled up with Dr. F on the sofa), those times just fly right by. I try so hard to take those mental snapshots and store them away for a day when there isn't time for snuggling or when the kids are grown and we're old, for the days if Dr. F dies before me and he's not there to snuggle me (HOLY CRAP THAT IS MORBID, but I think about it nonetheless) and know just how few and treasured these moments are.

ANYWAY, this week has also been a night full of "I haven't slept this crappy since I was 9 mos pregnant" sleep. Dr. F has been working his tush off overnight in the ER all week and I just dont sleep that well when he's not home. To top it off, I've still got what I thought were hives and I'm dying of itchiness. (The doctor said I dont have hives, but some sort of non-contagious virus that makes my body react like I have hives and there is nothing they can do about it but let it run its course (up to 3 mos!)....at 10+ weeks later I'm still feeling...AWESOME) However, they did prescribe atarax to help relieve the itching overnight. Atrax is also used for anxiety...win win, right? Except for the part where it makes me feel like I'm underwater, groggy beyond all hope of coffee helping. All I can say is that I'm happy it's Friday and Dr. F is off tomorrow. on a weekend. for the first time in ages. Let's just forget about him having to work on Sunday, shall we?

I'm in love

In my search to take advantage of all the fall veggies and because I need to add some variety to our dinner menu,  I found this awesome website that is super healthy and has so many good idea. I've linked to the PUMPKIN page :) but you should check out the rest of the site too. Makes me want to quit my job and cook all day!

pictures :)

It's a miracle! I actually remembered my camera cord. This past weekend, as I mentioned, Jill, my college roommie visited, which was great! We relaxed, played with the kids and drank wine. PERFECT! It was also so much fun to see Aidan playing with another kid his age. Emma was super into her baby doll and wouldn't let Aidan hold her, so what did I do? I ran to the basement and dusted off my old cabbage patch doll from when I was his age. Since then he's been smitten. She sleeps with him, eats breakfast with him (complete with a bib and cup and bowl, and he gives her lots of hugs. It's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen. (Dr. F wasn't sure how he felt about a baby doll and suggested we replace her with a dog or bear, however I told him this was a good way to prep Aidan for baby #2... hehe, which got a lukewarm reception :)

Aidan and Cuddles Slipper (yes, that is why my 2 yr old self named her...)

Aidan and Emma got along wonderfully and it was so much fun to watch them play together. 

jumping on the couch (check out the hair in motion!)

playing at the kids' museum

So forgetful...or just exhausted.

We had a great weekend with my college roomie and her family and I finally thought I remembered to bring my camera cord to work to upload lots of cute/great/fun pictures...but no. I actually brought my phone charger cable. BOOOOO. So it will have to wait till tomorrow.

However, I can share a picture of one of our new night stands that is part of the same collection as our bed... holy shit Batman...we're real adults with a bedroom suite! And yes...that is MY powerdrill in the background :) I love power tools.

One down, one to go... and it only took me 3 hours to put together while watching and crying my way through Glee and Parenthood (when I was supposed to be cleaning my half of our room. (MF, your pile has NOTHING on mine). Oy vey.

Broad Street Run addendum

The run is Sunday, May 2, 2011 and registration opens in mid-Jan. And if its not too sorority of me, I think we should make a team blogging friends/tribe t-shirt. YESSS!! this is just the motivation i need!

And yes, if I'm not preggers next Nov I will totally do the 1/2 with you!

A whole lotta random

1. I have decided its time to get moving again and the isometrics I've been doing at my desk don't really count. I am going to run the Broad St. 10 miler in May. I was supposed to do this, along with the NYC marathon, with the one and only McV 2 years ago...but then I found out I was expecting the Little Man. So this year, before there's another bun in the oven, I'm going to do it. Anyone interested in running with me? *please note: I am VERY slow and actually cant even run a mile right now...hence training will begin immediately to give me the longest opportunity to get in shape

2.My college roommie is coming all the way from Richmond to visit this weekend with her husband and daughter. SOOOOO excited! The men will drink burbon and smoke cigars on the patio and Jill and I will relax watching Law & Order SVU in our pj's just like old times...except now we have husbands and babies... :)

3. I love love love mint.com. It is so easy to use and has really given me a great picture of our budget. For the first time I feel like the guess work is taken out and I have a real-time handle on our finances. Not to mention that we're going to itemize our taxes this year and this is going to make that sooo much easier!

4. Dr. F & I are NERDS. Our most recent Netflix queue has looked something like this:

Baby Fever

Ok, I just can't contain it. I've got baby fever and I've got it bad! Maybe its because after almost 2 years I've actually got my body as back as its gonna get or maybe its because my munchkin is calling me mommy or mom and not momma, maybe its because one of my good friends is due on Monday...whatever the reason I tell Dr. F that he better hurry up and knock me up again. Yes. In those words.

Its funny because right after the Little Man was born and we're talking right after (thank you two epidurals that didnt work!), I told Dr. F that he better love that kid cause he was the only one he's getting. I believe my exact words were something to the effect of "Never Again."

Oh Mother Nature you are a cruel creature. My memory of those long nights of uncomfortable sleeping/peeing every 20 min, waddling around and finally giving birth...seems to have faded to the point where I think, "oh that wasnt so bad!" Now all I can think about are cute maternity clothes, feeling a baby kick, picking out names and snuggling with a little little one.

It'll be a while before there's another baby F in our house, but ohhh how I long for it!

PUMPKIN PUMPKIN PUMPKIN

May I have your attention!

pumpkin cream cheese muffins are now available at Starbucks!!! oh fall how i love you!

Reading List

Rachel, you beat me to it!! I also had a summer reading blog post planned :)

One of the advantages of commuting on a train everyday is that I get 12 or so minutes each way to read a book and while the start of summer was a little slow in this department, I picked up the pace by July and have since tackled:

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Alblum
 - I highly recommend this book. Its a quick read and had me crying, laughing and left me thinking about its message for months.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
The Girl who Played with Fire
and just cracked open The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest
- These books are FANTASTIC. They are action packed and original. I may or may not have stayed up past my bed time several nights because I just couldnt put them down.

Water for Elephants
- This book is one of the most beautifully written books I've read since high school honors English. The first chapter took my breath away. I also found out they are making a movie with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson to come out this spring. I'll almost definately skip it because I don't want anything to take away from my own imaginings.Thank you thank you thank you MF for the perfect bday present!)

Potty Training Boys the Easy Way
- If you're not getting ready to potty train a little boy, you can probably skip this one:)

I also happened to scan through Time's 100 top books list and I'm kind of embarrassed by the low number of books on it I've actually read. I'm going to start making my way through the list this fall and winter. Are you reading anything good?

Baseball!

Aidan is learning how to do 2 things...count to 5, which he does correctly most of the time and play t-ball, which he loves, but doesnt quite get yet. Enjoy!