The big dig, Linus style

Ryan was telling me that linus has been digging in the backyard and that I wouldn't believe what she had done, i THOUGHT he was exaggerating...here are the pictures and since I took these yesterday she has done MORE and deeper. You can see the brown in the grass, well thats dug up yard. I don't know what she is digging after...bugs maybe?? She is going to ruin our yard though if this keeps up

Survivor: Nicaragua #2

I"M OUT!!! I can't even believe it...that sucks, the old people are just plain dumb.

Becky: Alina & Tyrone
Carrie: Chase & Jimmy T
Cath: Kelly S & Dan
Dave: Kelly B & Wendy
Emily: Shannon & Jimmy J (paid)
Faye: Fabio & Jane
Junior: Sash & Holly (paid)
Mike: NaOnka & Marty
Ryan: Brenda & Yve (paid)
Sarah: Benry & Jill (paid)

A Look Back at the Summer

I feel like the past 8 or so months are one big blur. I keep thinking of things we did and then thinking no that was in the last few months because ethan was born. The days before he was born I can't even recall. its so strange but its happened a couple times this week. In the last 5 months or the summer of 2010 I've:

Sold a house

Sold a Car

Bought a house

Quit a job

Got a new job

Moved into an Apartment

Moved into a house

Redid 25% of the house

Put up a fence

Got a new air conditioner system

Went on a week vacation in VA Beach

I've been to VA Beach 3 other times

Went to a wedding in the Chesapeake Bay

Went to Baltimore for a yankees game

Not all in that order...

I am seriously ready to just not do ANYTHING for a while. I feel like I've missed a lot of ethans "moments" because we have spent so much time doing other things and trying to keep him occupied so we can get it done. he has spent many many hours in his stroller watching, which I guess surprises me that he is so mobile now.

This Little Guy is Eight Months Old Already!!

Survivor: Nicaragua

Wendy was the first one out...sorry Dave. She WAS a strange one.

Tribe: La Flor & Espada

Becky: Alina & Tyrone
Carrie: Chase & Jimmy T
Cath: Kelly S & Dan
Dave: Kelly B & Wendy
Emily: Shannon & Jimmy J (paid)
Faye: Fabio & Jane
Junior: Sash & Holly (paid)
Mike: NaOnka & Marty
Ryan: Brenda & Yve (paid)
Sarah: Benry & Jill (paid)

Let's Play Ball!

We went to the Yankees-Orioles Game Saturday Night. Here are some of the best Pictures I got.

There were hardly any Orioles fan, 90% were yankees, I kind of felt bad for them. we had a great time though and the kids had a ball too. we left in the 5th inning but it was so worth it.

We Have a Tooth!

you can just see the little white part, i think the one next to it is coming very soon too












And Ethan has been pulling up on everything now, he looks way too small to be doing this already

Survivor Picks

Tribe: La Flor & Espada

Becky: Alina & Tyrone
Carrie: Chase & Jimmy T
Cath: Kelly S & Dan
Dave: Kelly B & Wendy
Emily: Shannon & Jimmy J (paid)
Faye: Jud & Jane
Junior: Sash & Holly (paid)
Mike: NaOnka & Marty
Ryan: Brenda & Yve (paid)
Sarah: Benry & Jill (paid)

Fence

Before

Before

After

After











We originally hired someone back in June to do our fence. After a couple months of excuses and poor workmanship we fired them and decided to finish it ourselves. we are 95% done with it, one gate still needs to be finished but the fence is working, AKA our dogs can be let outside without a leash. And this is what I am most happy about. it has been a long 4 months of taking them on leashes between our move into the apartment and here at the new house. Luckily it wasn't 95+ degrees this weekend but it was still very sunny and pretty hot.  Throw on top of 10 hour days of working on the fence trying to take care of two babies equals one busy labor day weekend. I am exhausted, sore, and very excited about going back to work tomorrow.

Chiropractor

During our latest (and last) move to Virginia by left arm and hand went numb and tingly for almost a whole day. So at the point I made the decision that I was going to go see a chiropractor. So with all the moving chaos and starting a new job we finally made the time to find one. Ryan went a few weeks ago and he is a chiropractor pro, this is his 3rd or 4th chiropractor. He has had chronic back and neck pain starting from his early childhood football I presume, but in his alumni football days he injuries his neck and that is why he is going and will have to go for the rest of his life. Anyways the point is after his first appointment here he said this is the best feeling he has ever gotten from a chiropractor before. I decide that I will make an appointment too knowing they are good. They spent over an hour with questions, x-rays, and all sorts of other tests. They stated they wouldn’t touch him until they got the results back. So he is on a plan of 3 times a week for a while, then down to 2 times a week for like 10 weeks, and 1 time a week for 40 weeks. Who knows when he will be able to go once a month. So with all this I am thinking well I am fine I have never had back pain so mine is going to be in and out no big deal. Well I went today to get my results and treatment plan because I did my tests Monday. I am in much worse shape than I thought I was. So I will be seeing the chiropractor 2 times a week for 15 weeks then reevaluated. I was very nervous to be 'adjusted' today just because I had no idea what to expect but it went pretty well. My hip bones are not even (5mm difference) and after some adjustments he said they were back even, but as I go about it will probably go back as they were. Hence having to come back every week. I guess with all these adjustments my body will start to go back to the way it should be. I learned a lot.

 

1. good posture is very important and can correct a lot of my back/neck problems
2. there are 3 stressors - physical, chemical, emotional and all affect your body health
3. sleeping on your belly is not good. Back is best, just like for babies :)
4. Water consumption is very important.
5. My chiropractor is against medicine.

 

Favorite Quote on the wall

If all the medicines in the world were thrown in the ocean it would be good for humans, bad for the fish

We're going to Virginia Shore...B*tch

Audrey at the beach
















Ethan














Audrey and LV at the aquarium



















Family Photo, came out not too bad since both kids are pretty sick by this time

ebates!!!

If anyone is interested in signing up for ebates- where you get $ back for online shopping, and it is true I have gotten about 4 checks now. Use this LINK and signup through me...thanks!

playset building

Recently the fence the people came and showed us where our property line was, showed us that the previous owners grossly overestimated where their property ended. There is a sprinkler head in the neighbors lawn, half of the playset (as seen below, the yellow rope shows the property line) and the horse shoe pits are on our property but you can't stand next to them anymore with the fence there. lovely!















so then we moved the playset and it literally folded over as we moved it, all dryrotted. i think the people we bought the house from laughed when we asked for the playset. we've been working on a new one and just need a couple more eyebolts and a tarp for the roof and its done.

woah...too long

I haven't posted in forever... but my excuse is valid, i've been busy. Started my new job. Its so strange, i've worked in manufacturing my whole career and this place a transactional, credit card company. soooo different, but some things the same. its an 'open' atmosphere, meaning everyone has a laptop, its all wireless and no set desks. so i have to bring everything home every night, that's not so fun. its pretty crowded in my area too so i have about 3 feet by 3 feet tabletop and that's it- no desk drawer, no filing cabinet, no shelf to put my frames or calendars.  There are alot of perks though, starbucks, chik fil a, sushi, all on campus. its too bad i started weight watchers the week i started working. Last week there was a snack cart that came around one day, and a breakfast sandwich cart the next day- all free mind you. its pretty plush compared to previous working environments, oh and the hours are 9-5! the job is not exactly as described, but i think i can get used to this. ha ha
meanwhile back on the home front grammy and grampy came to babysit for the week...here are some classic pictures.

Little E is 6 months!!

They teach them Young in VIrginia

We went to the tomato festival this weekend, it was pretty cool but we had 1) not brought enough money to do much but by some local honey and tomatoes 2) it was raining 3) we had a garage to get unpacking at home so we only stayed an hour. But next year I will plan to stay alot longer.
Here are some pictures of the festival, the traffic (last year 40,000 ppl came to it), the confederate lovers, audrey and daddy walking, the petting farm

Our Appliance Store

who wants to buy this moldy fridge??


(if you move and have stuff in storage, don't wait to the last minute to unplug fridge and freezer, because black mold WILL grow)

all clean though and ready to sell :)

We are selling this fridge, an old fridge the previous owners left, a washer, dryer, microwave, and two wooden shelves...hopefully we can sell them all as they are crowding our newly unpacked garage

almost complete

our dining room is done...still need to put up the door to office and finish the molding...that is tonights task. we got the new carpet yesterday...its all coming together. and tomorrow our stuff comes!! yeah!

hardwood flooring is HARD

We spent all day today putting in the flooring and chasing a toddler and tending to a baby...its TOUGH. but so rewarding when the room is finished.
We learned a big lesson doing our floors, to take out ALL the pieces and sort according to color, dont start a pattern if you are not certain you can finish it. let just say if we intend to sell this house there better be furniture in the rooms or the floors will look a little silly.

Todays Progress

All the walls are painted, the house has been mostly de-golded...who puts gold plated outlet and light covers up??? not me.

We got the bamboo hardwood flooring 3/4 of the way done in the dining room, here are some new pictures

House Projects

Here is an update on the house projects going on

View from kitchen -BEFORE

babes in richmond

With these two faces looking at you all day would you really be trying to get a job?? If only this was how they looked all the time...this is more like what audrey looks like most of the day...its an old picture but you get the idea :)

20 weeks

 Ethan is twenty weeks old!! he is growing much faster than I think Audrey did. Here is me trying to get a 20 week sibling picture, Audrey has been less than accommodating the last few days, I think the move is finally getting to her and she is acting out.

At Ethan's last appointment he is weighed in the 25% and his height was in the 75%, totally different from what Audrey was, I think was 50% all the way. He is long and lean. Hopefully he can stay that way.

Ethan tried rice cereal recently too, this is the usual face after I feed it to him, it does taste pretty gross, but hopefully he will get used to it and start eating it. I forgot how hard it was to get babies to eat.

Virginia is for Lovers!

Lots of things I love so far in Virginia

1. You can buy beer and wine in almost any store and it doesn't have to be a case.
2. The weather is pretty nice, I keep hearing about frost and snow in the north
3.

i started this post back on may 12th...i'm guessing there isnt too much more i am excited about then the beer and wine :) ha ha

no but really here are some more things


3. we get lots of yankees and red sox games on tv cause they play baltimore alot
4. milk is condsiderably cheaper - important with a child who guzzles it
5. most things are cheaper...ie daycare, dog kenneling, food, gas
6. we currently homeless, ie no mortgage so i dont have too much stress in finding a new job-which i havent yet
7. there was yummy festivals like the greek festival that we went to today that totally reminded me of syracuse.
8. there is no worrying about the best way to avoid traffic when going into the city
9. we have friends already! we went out to eat at a sushi restaurant/bar with friends ryan has met through work and i have visited a college friend already. cool :)
10. learning a new place is always fun!

Survivor Heroes Winner

Ryan is the winner!!! whoo-hooo!!! I'm so happy Russell didnt even get ONE vote! I have been watching ponderosa online and got the feeling that not one person was going to be voting for him, so I'm not really surprised. I wish he hadn't one the sprint player of the game though. I saw them on Good morning america and he was like 'america voted me player of the game, so what does that tell you'  oh i just cant stand him :)

Becky: Stephanie & Courtney
Carrie: Parvarti & Tyson
Cath: Candace & Coach
Dave: Randy & James
Emily: Rupert & Colby
Faye: Danielle & JT
JR: Tom & Amanda
Mike: Sugar & Jerri
Ryan: Cirie & Sandra
Sarah: Rob & Russell

Survivor Heroes vs Villians Update #14

So my first one is out...i dont think i'm going to win, was colby EVEN in this weeks episode???



Becky: Stephanie & Courtney
Carrie: Parvarti & Tyson
Cath: Candace & Coach
Dave: Randy & James
Emily: Rupert & Colby
Faye: Danielle & JT
JR: Tom & Amanda
Mike: Sugar & Jerri
Ryan: Cirie & Sandra
Sarah: Rob & Russell

Survivor Heroes vs Villians Update

I don't know why but I deleted the last update. I am soooo hoping not to see Russell in the last tribal again. I'm crossing my fingers that the no one else falls for his antics.

Becky: Stephanie & Courtney
Carrie: Parvarti & Tyson
Cath: Candace & Coach
Dave: Randy & James
Emily: Rupert & Colby
Faye: Danielle & JT
JR: Tom & Amanda
Mike: Sugar & Jerri
Ryan: Cirie & Sandra
Sarah: Rob & Russell

Munchkins

Here are some update pictures

Audrey is still pretty much not interested in Ethan, but once in a while she does get interested. Ethan is clearly not loving it :)

Here is ethan in his new hat from grammy...isnt it the cutest thing ever?

Survivor Heroes vs Villians Update #8

Oooohhh- WTF happened??? they did not show us all the plotting or parvarti and danielle turned on russell. did anyone else catch that?

Becky: Stephanie & Courtney
Carrie: Parvarti & Tyson
Cath: Candace & Coach
Dave: Randy & James
Emily: Rupert & Colby
Faye: Danielle & JT
JR: Tom & Amanda
Mike: Sugar & Jerri
Ryan: Cirie & Sandra
Sarah: Rob & Russell

Survivor Heroes vs Villians Update #7

I don't have much to say, cause i am so mad that rob was voted off and not russell.

Becky: Stephanie & Courtney
Carrie: Parvarti & Tyson
Cath: Candace & Coach
Dave: Randy & James
Emily: Rupert & Colby
Faye: Danielle & JT
JR: Tom & Amanda
Mike: Sugar & Jerri
Ryan: Cirie & Sandra
Sarah: Rob & Russell

Front door

Before













After

Ethan 11 weeks

 

Ethan is 11 weeks old now, I just can't believe it. He has slept 8-9 hours that last 4 nights, hopefully this trend keeps up. He is growing so much, getting very long. He is the sweetest little boy I know! His red birthmarks are still very prevalent but I'm hoping they will start to fade. We've decided that he looks like my dad, crazy how genes work, since its not like I look like my dad. I dont think he looks like audrey at all anymore. He has started to smile, but he does it mostly for his daddy...He smiles and coo's at him all the time, i'm jealous.