Heck Yeah WMBG!!

This sums up WM like no other:

GO TRIBE!!

Dear Baby Einstein,

This is why I love you:


The 15 min of peace I get to do simple things like a take a quick shower, make the bed or go to the bathroom are wonderful...all while the Little Man is learning colors while listening to Mozart and Bach and looking at Van Gogh paintings.

Thanks again!
Jenna

Remember you are dust...

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Aidan and I went to get ashes (Mr. F was in the hospital all day) and I was reminded of one of my favorite parts of Ash Wednesday, seeing all of the other people on the street with ashes and watching people's reactions to my ashes. Some stare openly, some snicker, and one time in high school some kids called me a devil worshiper. I found that last one ironic and humerous and learned along time ago to ignore the defamatory remarks and use the opportunity to be a silent witness to my faith. This season of lent is always a time of reflection and prayer and every year I find myself at a different point in my journey. This year is no different, but I must say having a child has changed my perspective on lots of things, my relationship with God chief among them.

So this year instead of adding prayer time to my daily routine like I have many years past, I'm returning to giving something up like I did as a child. This year I'm giving up dessert. I remember the nuns saying it was kind of cheating the purpose to do something like giving up dessert to help reach a diet goal instead of increasing your relationship with God, but this is truly going to be a struggle for me AND I'm hoping to see waistline benefits. Besides, when self-control fails, there is nothing quite like good old fashioned Catholic guilt, right?

Love is all you need

which is a good thing because we have NO heat in our apartment and the elevator is out in our building and we live 6 floors up. UGGGGHHHH.

However, I'll focus on the positive... like the continuation of one my favorite Valentine's traditions, Mr. F making me a fabulous dinner and bringing me pink tulips! :) This year I got to pick out the menu and I chose rosemary potatos, steak and mussels with a bottle of delicious red wine my parents gave us. One awesome thing about Philly is Reading Terminal Market. This place has so much fresh produce, sea food, meat and flowers, just to name a few things, and at amazing prices (we had a 3lb bag of mussels for $9.50!!) After Aidan hit the hay we had a great romantic date and since Mr. F cooked, I cleaned and then we snuggled on the couch and watched Wanted (a total NOT-chick flick...marriage is all about compromise, right?!)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day full of love (and I'm not just talking about the romantic kind!)

Busy Bees in Philly

I can hardly believe how long its been since I've written and how much has happened! House hunting is in full effect and we're getting so excited. Its alot of work, but I know it will be worth it when I can paint the walls any color I want and we'll have a place to call ours.

I'm also learning how to knit and am working on my first afghan. Its going to be a purple and grey rugby stripe pattern.

The Little Man is getting more active and its getting harder and harder to keep up with him. He can walk so fast its almost a run and just the other night he was walking backwards across the kitchen and giggling a la Michael Jackson's moonwalk. He's also obsessed with books, which I love, but I wouldnt mind reading more than the 3 he constantly brings me... he's got plenty to choose from, but its always the same 3 over and over and over and over....

Speaking of over and over, LM has graduated from the baby playground the intermediate playground but refuses to go down the slides. He will only run back and forth across the bridge:



Aidan is also learning to make animal noises and point out parts of his body (see video below). He's becoming more and more vocal and quite the little Napoleon. We have to brush teeth every time we go in the bathroom and the minute he wakes up he starts demanding MUP!!!! (aka, milk).

We are also enjoying being snowed in like the rest of the mid atlantic and the snow is taller than Aidan and still coming down! :) Hope everyone has enough bread and milk and toilet paper!! :)

And the winner is...

Philadelphia! Yep, after all that heart ache and traveling to 14+ interviews, we got the great news last Thursday morning at 6:45am that Mr. F matched at his first choice for residency. We are thrilled and although we still plan to head back to VA after residency, I'm so proud of him for working so hard and earning a spot in a top notch residency program.

Now, since we know we'll be here for at least the next 4 yrs, possibly 5-6, we are seriously considering buying a place of our own!! After doing the math, we realized that paying rent would be almost the exact same as paying a mortgage on a 3 bedroom house in some of the more neighborhood-y areas of Philly. Holly cow, I'm busting at the seams with excitement! Just last week we didnt know where we'd be living and this week we're seriously investigating neighborhoods and taking recommendations for Realtors! So here is my question, anyone out there in the blog world have advice for first time home buyers? Anything you wish you knew? etc. And we are def having an inspection :)

And in other exciting news, Aidan is growing so fast and just this morning he started singing "Row row your boat" along with one of his toys. It was AMAZING! He just busted out with the whole first line of the song! On top of it, he takes bath time seriously as you can tell by the video below... :)

Catching up

The last few weeks have been great and I hope everyone had a restful and wonderful Chrismahannakwanzika and New Year celebration! We were down in VA for almost 3 weeks and while it was awesome having willing babysitters in the the grandparents, it was equally awesome to finally get back to our own home in Philly. Yes, thats right, I just said it was awesome to get back to Philly...

I'll spare you all the details of Christmas morning with the Little Man, but lets just say it was fun and I know its only going to get better. He has grown up so much in the last few weeks, its mind boggling. For instance, he now can point to his belly, head, teeth, ears, feet and nose when asked. He has also figured out how to climb on furniture and says about 15 words or parts of words. Screw "your baby can read," my baby is a genious at not even 14 mos! (ok, indulge my motherly bragging for a moment :)

Here are some pics and videos of the last few weeks.

In December we had Mr. F's annual fraternity Christmas party. What a blast!!



My childhood best friend also got married!



And finally, we had a great break at home!







Aidan got obsessed with a dancing Santa...