Happy Valentine's Day!

Nicky and I spent Valentine's Day together since Daddy had to work at the firestation.  We both slept in a bit - Nicky was pretty tuckered out from Kaylee's Birthday party, and from playing at his preschool all night the night before!  Momma and Daddy took advantage of the school's "Parent's Night Out" on Saturday, and headed to see a movie (Valentine's Day - very appropriate, don't ya think?!  and a pretty good movie to boot!), and then to grab a few adult beverages. 

Daddy and I decided we weren't going to exchange gifts for such a silly holiday, yet somehow still managed to do so, and made each other very happy in the process.

Daddy got a nice hour-long massage...much needed and long overdue, and some chocolate covered strawberries.  Momma got an over the tub thingy to rest a book and cocktail on while taking a bath.  Here's a picture since my words don't do it justice...

On top of that, Kris even got me a bottle of my favorite wine, and remembered that it was one of the ones we had at our wedding!  How sweet is that?!

Anywho...Nicky and I had a nice dinner date at the local Burger King (hubba hubba!), and then headed home to snuggle on the couch a bit before taking a bath (Nicky first, then Momma later after getting Nicky to bed...had to test out her new caddy thingy!).

Thank you, Granny and Poppa for the yummy cookies and money!

Thank you, Nana and Pop for the fun toy, candy and money!

We hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day! 

(ps...no, Nicky didn't fall and hurt his face again.  He gets these horrible sores on his face due to the cold weather and dryness from the heater, etc.  Poor little guy!)

Yay Snow!

It's 5:19pm and the snow is still falling!  This is craziness!  It started snowing this morning around 5:30am and it's not supposed to let up until at least midnight.  And I'm not talking little flurries...I'm talking about nice, big, fluffy snowflakes, leaving 5-ish inches on the ground.  Apparently DFW has not gotten this much snow since 1978.  I feel like I'm back in the midwest!  Only difference is, people up there know how to drive in this weather.  Here people are either way too cautious, or way too brazen.  But, this blog is not about that, so let me get back on track...


Yay snow!  I woke Nicky early enough to catch a glimpse of the fluffy white stuff before I took him to school.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to get off early enough to come home and play, so I wanted to take him outside for a bit. 

On the way to school, Nicky told me "look momma!  the trees painting!".  Took me a minute to figure out that what he meant was "look momma!  the trees look like they've been painted white!".  As we pulled up to school, Nicky became excited again and shouted "look!  school painting too!".  Pretty cute.


After feeling like I was in a snow globe all day, (watching the snow fall from the warmth of my cubicle, through a window in the wall of the office in front of me, through yet another window), I finally decided to leave work around 3, and picked Nicky up for some fun.

He was a little hesitant at first.  The snow that he got on himself (from either touching it, or it falling from the sky) was quickly wiped away and he was upset that he was "getting dirty".  That didn't last long before he was licking it off his mittens..ew, but oh well...at least it wasn't yellow snow!

We built a snowman in the backyard (luckily there was enough snow on the ground to hide the "land-mines" (you know - stuff left behind by the dogs).  We found a few sticks in the front yard for his arms; a carrot for the nose; and a few almonds for his eyes.  He didn't turn out too shabby, if I say so myself!

Nicky decided that having a snowball fight was much more funner, so I said "game on!".  Can you tell who won?

Mean Momma...picking on the little Russky!  It's really not what it looks like - I was throwing them at the house above his head, and they were breaking apart and falling on his head.  Nicky laughed big contagious belly laughs as the snow fell all around him.  After my victory lap around the patio (what?  ok, fine, yes, I am gloating about the fact I won a snowball fight...against a preschooler...what of it?!), I gave the "5 minutes until we need to go in", warning.  Here's a picture of Nicky after telling him it wast time to go inside...is that a pout I detect? 

We both peeled the layers of clothes off and enjoyed some yummy hot chocolate.  This is Nicky showing off his new fake smile...what he's thinking is "enough with the pictures lady - let me drink my cocoa in peace!" 

Nicky then came to lay on the couch beside me and watch some tv...and fell asleep! 

I'm so glad I decided to spend the afternoon with my little noodle.  It was a lot of fun, and who knows when the next snowfall like this will occur.  The only thing that would've made the day better - the addition of Daddy.


***update...we ended up with right at a foot of snow - a new record!

I Need A Change

Those of you who have visited our humble little blog before might notice something different.  I got tired of the blue/green template I had been using.  For no particular reason really.  My favorite colors are blue and green.  If you were to walk through our house you would see that everything is some shade of blue and/or green.  I started blogging about a year and a half ago and I chose the original template based on the fact that I like blue and green, and since this is a blog mostly about a little boy, I figured colors like pink and purple would somehow not be appropriate.

Anyhow...I needed a change.  

Perhaps it's because before Nicky, we could paint a room in the house and not have a little guy wanting to "help" (um, don't need your handprints on the wall, no matter how cute they are) or do a remodeling project without having to worry if Nicky could get hurt in the process. 

Maybe it's because instead of looking for cheap flights for 2 and being able to fly off at the drop of a hat (not that we ever did - but we could have), we now have to spend countless hours researching and planning for deals for 3. 

Maybe it's because I realize that I'm no spring chicken anymore - I'm getting wrinkles and I can say things like "20 years ago we didn't have cell phones" - but no gray hairs yet...we're going to ignore the fact that I color my roots though! 

It could be because I'm not the biggest fan of my job (I have an effing MBA and I'm an Executive Assistant/Office Manager for goodness sakes!).  And even though I have somewhat of a plan to remedy that, I know that it will be another 3-4 long years before I have the career that will bring me satisfaction.  If I have to hear another person in my office call me to complain that a shelf on her bookcase is screwed in and she wants it to be moved, but can't seem to figure it out herself; or, an "I know I asked you to order this supply, but I really meant this one"...as if I care (same person as the shelf issue), I'm going to explode!  What am I...your personal office monkey?!

I'm not quite sure what it is exactly.  Maybe it's just that time of the month.  All I know is I need a change.  And some days all I feel like I have control over in my life is this little piece of the blog-o-sphere, and it makes me happy.

Jade's 2nd Birthday Party

A few weekends ago Nicky was a hot commodity - in the little girl's birthday party arena that is.  We had back-to-back parties - Sophie's on Saturday; Jade's on Sunday.  Little background info:  Jade is the granddaughter of our good friend, and neighbor, Sue.  Her daughter, Lauren, her husband and Jade (and now new addition Tyler who's soo cute!) moved in with Sue last year after he lost his job.  Sue's son also lives at home, so I'm sure there's never a dull moment in their house!  Here's a pic of the birthday girl and her Momma...

And one of Momma snuggling with the sweet baby (3 weeks old at the time of this pic) Tyler (and, no, it does not make me want one...don't even think about asking!)...

Anywho...Jade's birthday was the exact opposite of Sophie's shindig.  Where Sophie's had music and jumping and climbing and running and general amounts of ballyhoo.  Jade's was quiet, laid-back, mostly adults with a smattering of little ones - like this cutie here - don't know her name - she was one of Lauren's friend's little girls (got that?)...

Sophie's had water, and cake, and snacks, and the dreaded clowns.  Jade's had wine (don't worry...we only let the kids have 1 glass each...KIDDING!), and pizza, and salad, and cheese and crackers.  If I had to sum it up in a word - Jade's was quite sophisticated!  I suppose when you're two, that's the kind of party parents can have.  I wish all Nicky's parties could be like that.  But, alas, he's already told us he wants several of his friends to attend the big #4 (yikes!), and he wants either animals or boats involved. 

Here's Nicky sporting the pizza we somehow failed to wipe off his face after dinner...

Don't get me wrong, both parties were a lot of fun, but I guess if you had to ask either Nicky or me which one was the best, you'd probably get 2 different answers. 
  

At least there was cake...Nicky's favorite thing to eat right now...he even had cupcakes for snack the next day at school! 

You're So Vain

Lately everything Kris or I talk about these days will elicite a "who me?" from Nicky.  At times it can be quite annoying - as in I'm talking to Kris on the phone, trying to explain what the furnace fix-em-up guy told me and Nicky hears "he said" and I hear a little proud "who me?" chirping from the back seat over and over until I answer him!

Then there are the times that are really sweet, and I'm telling Kris how agreeable Nicky is being, and that he's loving on me and giving me kisses and Nicky says "who me?", as he kisses my hand or gives me a hug.

Of course, the most hilarious, if not a tad awkward, are the times when Blitzer gets a bit, well, we'll just say "excited", and follows me around wanting a piece of me.  I'll tell Kris "Blitzer has been humping my leg all night!"...yep..."who me?".  Um, no son, definitely not you...who do you think I am, Woody Allen?!

Not to worry, my good friend Dr Spock (by way of Jean Piaget) assures me that Nicky is not selfish, he just "can't take on anyone else's perspective".  And it's true, if we hurt ourselves or need anything, he's right there to help and comfort us.  He's just experiencing that little bit of egocentrism that goes along with the normal preschool psychological development.  Apparently this will last until about the age of 7...gee...can't wait!

Whew...and I was worried that we were going to have a little egomaniac among us!