quiet time at home

Since I am on "vacation" this week, Esme and I have been spending a nice quiet couple of days at home. She's been trying out all her new toys and I've been taking pictures of her and watching movies. Since it is still quite snowy here it's been nice to be able to stay inside where it is warm and dry.

Like mother, like daughter! 

A Wonderful Christmas with Family

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful and very busy day! Ethan, Esme, and I spent a nice morning together. Later James, Sarah, Jera, Charles, Dylan, my mom, and Donna came over to have dinner with us. It was great to see everyone and Jera and Esme played especially well today in Esme's playroom. Ethan has tomorrow off and we plan to spend a quiet, relaxing day together before he has to go back to work on Monday.

Another one of Esme's favorite gifts was her doll stroller! 

Esme loves to draw so we got her the DoodlePro. She started using it right away! 

More on the Sit N Spin 

Esme is already having a blast with the Sit N Spin my mom got her - I can't believe how fast she got the hang of it! 

Esme opened this huge gift from my mom - a Rocking Horse! 

Tis the Season

Tis the Season

We have begun the holiday rush! Yesterday we went to CT to visit our friends for Christmas. We went to Edwina and Wolfgang's house for a nice, relaxing afternoon. It is always a pleasure to see them! Later we went to our annual Christmas party with Lisa's family. We really look forward to this party and of course we had a great time. This was the first year that Dylan and Roxanne joined us!

One of my first digital photos of my happy happy baby and her daddy! 

A Very Busy Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! During the day we received phone calls and photos from my mom and Charles who were enjoying themselves at the Macy's parade and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York. My brother James also called to wish me a happy Thanksgiving. I made dinner and we had Donna and Edwina & Wolfgang over to share it with us. I am very thankful to have such wonderful people in my life!

Friday morning I woke up just after 5 to hit all the Black Friday sales. I got some great deals! Friday evening I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Bushnell with my friend Lance. I hadn't seen Lance in a very long time so that was nice, and the show was just spectacular! Ethan had Kyle over to work on some music they've been collaborating on recently.

Saturday we took Esme and met Lisa and her family at Santa's Land in Vermont. We all had a wonderful time. Esme's favorite parts were the rides and the huge slide! My favorite part was watching Ethan and Esme together. I am so thankful for what a great dad she has!

By Sunday we were all exhausted and slept most of the day away!

Autumn with Esme

Esme and I have been having fun raking in our new yard this year. She has a mini rake and drags it over the leaves and grass trying imitate me. We have a ton of leaves as we have 5 maple trees in our yard. We've had snow once and we're all prepared for our next storm with shovels and salt. My brother Charles is giving us a snowblower so we should be all set for Winter!

Our home is filling up now! Edwina and Wolfgang gave us some beautiful furniture that belonged to her mother. If we could just get rid of the weird flooring we'd really have something going!

We Are All Sick

ooooh poor us! Ethan and I had a heckuva night last night and now all three of us have colds. Sniff sniff! Cough cough! Hopefully it will be brief and we'll be in tip top shape for Dylan's baptism.

Esme has been enjoying her own new house in our new yard! 

settling in

Well we are completely out of our old apartment and settling in to our new house. We finally have our computer back up and running thank goodness! Now if we can just get our washer and dryer hooked up we'll be all set!

We are Homeowners!

It's done! Our house is finally ours! Yay! Now if we can just get moved out our apartment we'll be all set!

Home At Last!

Well the big day is almost here! We'll be signing paperwork late tomorrow or early Thursday and getting the keys to our new home! Yay! We'll be out of our current apartment by Sunday and into our beautiful new home. We can't wait!

Signs of Fall...Esme in a a sweater with a tiny pumpkin! 

Esme enjoyed visiting the pumpkin people in Turners Falls yesterday with her Aunt Stephanie and me! 

I love this photo of our happy baby! It was taken just a couple days after she started walking! 

Exciting News

Last night Charles asked Jenny & I to be godparents for his son Dylan. This is a big honor and we are very excited! It means a lot to me that Charles would ask us. We are looking forward to being a big part of Dylan's life.

Nonna's backyard is a baby's paradise! Esme loves to play on her big toys and is getting great at climbing on them all by herself!  

Esme decides to walk.

Well this Monday Esme decided it was time to start walking. She is 17 months old and has been very cautious about it so far, even though she can pivot, climb, etc. She started walking almost all the time she wants to travel on 8/30 and has mostly given up on crawling except when she wants to carry something. She hasn't got quite that balancing with some extra weight thing yet. I guess when it's time, it's time!

One of my latest scrapbook pages - I'm really proud of this one! 

no time to blog, too busy packing!

I can't believe how quickly our move is approaching! In less than a month we'll be in our very own home!! It's so exciting and stressful at the same time.

So, who wants to have us over for dinner?

We are working very very hard to get every penny saved for our house. My friend just pointed out to me that her wedding (which I am supposed to photograph) is the same day as our closing! Arrrgh! We have so much to do in such a short time.

Esme and I have been doing a lot of swimming lately. Yesterday our friend Clare invited us to a pool to swim for a few hours and Esme had a great time in the water and playing with Liam and Grace.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Today we went down to CT to go to Kaitlyn's 1st birthday party. She was so cute and full of energy today! She just gets cuter and cuter. Charles came and dressed up as Peanuts for all the kids' entertainment. I had fun watching Dylan even though the poor baby cried part of the time. After the party we went back to my mom's and ate Greenville Pizza. It was fun to hang out with Charles and Dylan, who was much happier once his Daddy arrived.

Ethan is starting his extra work for student rush already. It is hard to give up some of our time with him! But at least we know he'll be getting lots of extra time off to spend time with us.

Tomorrow we are renting the storage space to move all of our stuff into for the big move. It is hard to believe how quickly that is coming up! In a month in a half we'll be in our very own home! Even though I'm not looking forward to moving at all, I am looking forward to making our very own nest.

Mimi is a great Mother's Helper

I am trying to get organized before our move and Mimi is helping me out today by watching Esme. Esme just loves her and has been laughing and playing with her all day.

I can't believe we are moving on 10/1. We have sooo much to do!

30th Birthday Parties Galore!

Yes as of Sunday I am officially 30 years old! Ethan and my mom threw me a wonderful party with my family and some friends Sunday afternoon. Ethan had obviously put so much work into it - he made me feel very special. My mom made up a trivia game for me that I had fun playing and laughing about.

My friend Lisa and her family were away for the weekend so they threw me a second party today! I went to Lisa's house and they made me all my favorite foods and gave me lots of wonderful gifts. It was so nice of them and again made me feel very special.

This photo is of Esme on the swing at Eastern Point. I love to take her there with my mom and Aunt Cathy. She loves to sit in the water and to crawl around on the sand.  

We have found a house! Our offer was accepted Monday and hopefully we'll be moving by the end of Autumn!  

Esme has taken her first steps!

Monday afternoon Esme took her very first step while we were visiting our friend Ellen.  She's taken few more since then but has one little problem.  When we cheer for her she gets excited and wants to start bouncing, but when she bounces she loses her balance and falls down.  
 

I am back from CKU and we had a BLAST!! This photo is of me and one of my scrapping heroines, Becky Higgins! It was so great to share this experience with Lisa and Stephanie. I'm so lucky to have friends like them! If anyone would like to hear more about CKU please give me a call - I love sharing all my fun stories!!  

My mom got Esme a little rocking chair at a yard sale today. 

Esme in the pool, deep in thought. 

Back at my mom's this afternoon for pool party - here;s Esme about to slide into the pool! 

Esme got worn out after a while in the pool. 

Esme and I enjoy a few days together

While Jenny is at CKU, Esme and I have been having fun together. Thursday Ellen came up and visited. We played cribbage while Esme napped and then went to the Bluebonnet. Laster we went to my mom's and Esme played in the wading pool -- she loved it! Check out the pictures below. Yesterday we went to the library and spent some time outside. Today we are going back to the pool this afternoon before Jenny comes home. It has been great being with Esme but we both miss Jenny!

Esme enjoyed climbing in and out of her chair. 

Esme in the pool 

CKU Begins Tomorrow!

Whoo-hooo!! At long last - the day I have been waiting for is tomorrow! Stephanie and I are leaving nice and early from my house and we'll be meeting Lisa there. I can't wait!

Esme talked and sang with Liam and Grace and had a grand old time! 

Last week we went over to swim with Ellen at Joyce's pool. We had a great time with everyone and Esme loved floating around the pool independently in their baby float.  

Looking forward to this weekend...

...to meet the new baby in the family. Dylan is super cute. We are going to a family reunion this weekend in CT and it will be my first time seeing little Dylan in person.

Jenny & I had a nice time in Amherst on Saturday celebrating our anniversary. It was nice to have a few minutes to ourselves after a stressful week. It has been wonderful so far, life with Jenny is always great!

Here's a shot I took of my nephew, Dylan James.