2014!

A new year is upon us!  I honestly can't believe how fast 2013 went by, mostly because I was exhausted for most of it.  Last year really was the fastest year of my whole life and I think 2014 might just speed by as well.  But I am loving our life and where we are.  As a family, we've gotten used to the 4 of us and I am happy we are at the end of our time with newborns.  Even though they're cute and cuddly and require no actual parenting, I am happy to have our two big boys.
Logan turned one a few weeks ago and since we'd already had his party early, it was fairly uneventful.  Rhonda's holiday party happened to be on the same day, so he got to celebrate twice.  The boys wore their pajamas to daycare that day, so when we went out for dinner as a family, they stayed in their pajamas!  Luckily, we went to a pretty casual place that was not very busy yet.
Christmas and New Year's Eve flew by too.  James loved opening presents and Logan loved chewing on wrapping paper.  We are going to have an interesting time next year when Logan also wants to open presents and James is used to opening all of them.  But there are worse problems to have and James has gotten used to sharing (at least a little bit).
My 31st birthday is coming up, but other than that, life is pretty quiet.  I am glad we are done with the holiday madness and back to a schedule.  I haven't really made a resolution this year, but I did start the Couch to 5K running program again and am hoping to do another 5K in March.  Losing another 15 lbs is my ultimate weight loss goal, but if it took the whole year, I wouldn't be upset.  Last year, I said I wasn't going to talk about weight loss, I was just going to do it.  And I have managed that fairly well.  Also, going to the gym is my only quiet, alone time ever, so I will continue to embrace it!
In the Spring, we will make some decisions regarding James and Pre-K.  We are fairly sure that we make too much for James to automatically get to attend public Pre-K, but will still apply, in case there are extra spots available (HA!).  We have decided that a full day Pre-K program is probably not something we're going to do, but a half day program would present other challenges.  Mainly, it would mean that I would be using my lunch break to cart James between school and daycare.  But when we find out for sure about the public Pre-K decision, we will look at our options again.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday outfits from Nene

Jammies for Rhonda's holiday party (and Logan's birthday!)

Santa's Little Helpers

Easter

Logan's first Easter was a bit of a miserable failure from a mom's point of view.  I didn't have a chance to find a shirt that matched James' (matching outfits are actually the most important part of every holiday).  Mostly because Adam bought James' outfit at Sam's Club and didn't get Logan one that matched and then they ran out of said outfit and then the world ended.  Okay, not the last part.  And I didn't get any pictures of the boys together.  And the weather was bad so there was no outdoor egg hunt on either Saturday or Sunday.  And for the record, I'm not sure Jesus actually rose from the dead, but that's neither here nor there.
Anywho!  Now that that's out of my system.  Here are the two separate pictures that I did manage to get.  Note that James is wearing a long sleeve under his polo shirt because it was so cold!

Dirty O's hat...  Won't look at Mom.  Must be 2.

All business, all the time.

"I'm a Grandma"

We had a great time this weekend at the pumpkin patch.  We went to Weber's Farm, which is only 10 or so minutes from my parents, and I think James thoroughly enjoyed himself.  It was pretty insanely crowded, but we really tried to over look the lines for everything and have fun with James.  That can be difficult, because even not pregnant, I am not a patient person.  But we looked at animals, went on the slide, and ate lots of snacks.  The sheer amount of people also lead to James wanting to be carried more, a task which fell largely on Adam, since the boy is a bit heavy for me to be packing around at 7 months pregnant.  The line for the hayride never quite subsided, so we passed on that attraction (James also told Adam repeatedly that the tractor was going to get him, so I'm not sure what that was all about.)  All that aside, we came home with lots of goodies: gourds (James decided pumpkins were too big), apples, apple cider donuts, and a couple of pies that I could have really done without.  Things seemed to be calming down a bit as we were leaving around 4 PM, so perhaps that is a better time of day to go.  In a perfect world, we could take off work on a weekday and go then, but that is probably not in the cards for next year.
Something a bit odd happened while James, Adam and I were looking through the pumpkin bins though.  It was a nice fall day, but James and I have both had a tiny bit of a runny nose.  I had a bunch of tissues (I initially forgot them, but stole a box to take with us from my mom) in my pocket.  James was digging through the bin, so I couldn't see his face.  Out of nowhere, an older woman (definitely older than my mom, but not ancient by any means) hands me a napkin and says "Here, I'm a Grandma".  I took the napkin, but gave her a puzzled looked.  She proceeded to tell me that I needed to wipe my child's nose.  When I looked at James, yes he did have a little snot coming out, but it wasn't anything crazy.  So I said thank you (At least I think I did, at that point, Adam and I were kind of looking at each other like, "Huh?")  I couldn't even get out the fact that I had a ton of tissues with me, just couldn't see his face, etc. before she launched into her 4 grandkids and all but showed me their latest report cards.  I know she was trying to be helpful, but I was a little taken aback.  I just can't imagine my own mom, who is also a grandma (duh, Chelsea), handing tissues to someone she didn't even know.  I mean, I'm sure if someone asked, she would be more than happy to help out in a pinch.  Maybe that's because my mom actually understands normal (well, fairly normal...) social interactions.
I guess the whole "I'm a Grandma" explanation annoyed me a bit too.  Like, does this lady know she's a lot of other things besides a grandma?  Maybe she's not, maybe she's a Grandma spyborg sent to Baltimore, MD from outerspace.  Overall, not the worst thing that could happen, but I thought it was an overstep.

27 weeks

The baby is the size of a rutabaga this week.  I've never really encountered a rutabaga, I think its a root vegetable?  Not so sure, but that's what in the womb this week.  I've noticed that the last few weeks have listed the same general sizes for the baby, but we go on the 24th for another growth ultrasound.  At that point, I will know more about exactly how large (and knowing me, he's a big boy!) Baby Bednarczyk #2 is.  Also on the 24th is the official start of my going to the OB at least every 2 weeks.  I will be getting blood work that day, but I do get one small perk of already being a diabetic - I get to skip the gestational diabetes testing!  I've heard how awful it is from several moms, so I will take the little (tiny, minuscule  minute) bonus wherever I can.
This weekend we are taking James to the pumpkin patch with my mom, step dad, and step grandma (oh divorce, how you complicate familial titles).  We are going to a new place, since we just went to the petting zoo at our usual patch a few months ago.  The new place also has a bake shop and I am looking forward to getting an apple, caramel, and walnut pie!  Yum!  James has been reading his Little Critter The Fall Festival book over and over (and over, since I read it to him 3 times this morning alone...), so I know he will be excited to go on a real hayride.

Father's Day Weekend

Wow, another weekend has come and gone and this one was particularly busy for our family!
We spent Father's Day weekend with as many fathers as we could get our hands on.  On Saturday, we went hiking with Adam's dad and other various family members and on Sunday we went to see my mom and stepdad.  James had a fairly good time hiking with the family, although he was very tired and grumpy around mid-day.  He took a snooze in the stroller on the way back to the car and was back to his perky self in a few short minutes.  Sunday, James also had a great time, hanging out with Grandma, Poopaw, and Bailey dog.  Poor Bailey, I never know if he loves kids or hates them, but he always comes back for more "love".  For some reason, maybe because my mom's living room is bigger than ours, James always does this funny run and jump game when hanging out with Grandma.  He also knows that Poopaw is never short on snacks and managed to eat several varieties of cookie.  What are Poopaws for, if not handing out sugary snacks?
After bedtime for James, I called my own dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day.  It sounded like his day was full of manual labor, but around his place that is no surprise!  I like to think I would enjoy living in the country as he does, but really, I think I'm much to lazy to keep up such a large piece of property.  I will take my row home in the suburban sprawl for now.
In other news, we are looking for a new light weight/umbrella stroller.  After hiking this weekend, I've determined that ours is too short.  At the mall or for other short trips, this isn't a problem, but hiking with a too short stroller caused a lot of lower back and leg pain the next day.  Unfortunately, I think this is going to mean spending a bit more money, but I will see what I can find.

Mother's Day Weekend

This weekend seemed to fly by!  We celebrated Mother's Day on both Saturday and Sunday and overall it was a great weekend.  

On Saturday, Adam, James, and I took my mom and step dad out for lunch.  We went to one of our favorite places in Catonsville, Matthews 1600 and it was a nice time.  James was well behaved the whole 2 hour lunch and the food was great.  

On Sunday we had planned to take James to get new shoes and check out a few sales at the mall, but in the morning we spontaneously decided to go to the Orioles game instead.  James hadn't been to a baseball game yet and the weather was great, so off we went to Camden Yards.  While James was not a fan of getting on the Light Rail, he loved the stadium.  James can get a little shy in crowds and not want to walk, but he did really well, holding onto both of our hands and walking around like he owned the place.  And since popcorn is one of James' favorite things in the world, he sat happily and watched the game while munching on his snacks.

Although the Orioles didn't pull out the win, we still had a nice family outing to the ballpark and we are excited to take James to another game soon!

The scooter

In our St. Paddy's Day green

This weekend we ran a lot of errands.  Since I was in California last weekend and the boys were bachelors, we had a lot of things to do.  So Saturday morning we went to Sam's Club, Home Depot, and Babies R Us.  James was in a good mood, so we knocked all three trips out at once.  At Sam's Club we got diapers, at Home Depot we priced out some patio furniture (patio furniture didn't make it into our budget last summer, but we are finally getting some!), and we went to Babies R Us for a potty and some other little things.  Yes, James picked out his own potty at Babies R Us and has been carrying it around the house ever since.  He loves it.  Sometimes he will sit on it, but since we aren't actively potting training just yet, he mostly just plays with it and puts the bowl part on his head like a hat.
We also got James a scooter to play with outside.  It can convert from a ride on toy to an actual stand up scooter and James just loves it.  We played outside with the new scooter on Saturday and then brought it in so he could practice scooting inside.  Well after awhile James just wanted us to push him around on it.  And he kept whining and whining to be pushed.  He finally went to bed and I meant to put the scooter out of sight in the basement.
But of course I forgot.  So Sunday morning, James immediately upon waking up started to sit and whine at the scooter.  I picked it up and moved it to the basement and that is when all hell broke lose.  You would have thought I broke his arm the way James was crying.  He even woke Adam, who was sleeping in, up.  Oops, little bit of a mommy fail there.  He eventually got over his tantrum and we did play with the scooter later that day, but lesson learned for this mom, move the toy when he's not looking...

So happy on his scooter!

Another cold

Just when I was thinking that all of us were on the mend and cold free, it looks like James has the beginning of another cold.  Starting the day after Christmas, his little nose has been running.  He won't hold still for the nasal aspirator anymore, so we've just been wiping it and using ointment to keep it from getting too sore.  This morning I'm noticing a phlegmy cough as well, so I'm hoping it doesn't get too much worse.
Adam was joking that its not the Christmas season if Justin, my nephew, doesn't get us all sick, so I guess he's living up to that with his cold this year.  The back story to that joke is that 4 years ago on Justin's first Christmas (he was 9 months old), he had a massive blow out diaper.  His parents had to cut him out of his clothes and there was Christmas poo everywhere!  We all had a good laugh, blamed it on feeding him too much adult food and went home.  The next day, I flew to California and didn't really hear from anyone.  My mom had shoulder surgery the day after that, so I didn't really expect to hear from her.  As it turns out, everyone had gotten a horrible stomach bug and was hugging the nearest toilet.  When I finally got a hold of Adam I learned that he had been so sick that he went to the ER to get IV fluids!  My mom was well enough to have her surgery, but my step dad was very ill and trying to take care of her.  For some reason, I didn't get sick.
Anyway, none of us are that sick, but it looks like there was some cold sharing going on at the Gill family Christmas dinner!  But after today we will be home for 4 days to relax and hopefully shake this cold!

Christmas has come and gone

Wow, Christmas really was a whirlwind this year.  I should have expected that, but now it has come and gone and I am back at work!  Boo!  We had a really nice Christmas this year, James got lots of presents and we saw lots of family.  James got to open presents this year, which was fun, if not a little overwhelming for him.  But by the time we saw his godmother on Monday, he knew exactly what to do.  We have lots of presents in our living room right now, I think I'm going to get a storage ottoman/bench to store everything in (and provide extra seating!).
So its Monday morning, I'm listening to all the new music I decided that I really needed to download off iTunes in my blissfully quiet office.  James is at daycare, he woke up really excited to see Rhonda, so I'm sure he'll have a nice day.  Some of the kids won't be there this week, but I'm sure James will be just fine with that.  He has a little bit of a cold now, mainly a very runny nose, so I hope he's not feeling too badly.

So close to Christmas

I've been thinking a lot about my own Christmas memories lately, it is that time of year and having a little guy tends to make me more sentimental than I might have been in the past.  I was never one of those kids that super loved Christmas, I've always been more of an Easter person myself.  Something about the candy was always so tempting, although Christmas presents are pretty sweet too.  This of course is extra hilarious given my religious beliefs (or lack thereof) at this point, but lets face it celebrating either a virgin birth or the resurrection of a guy who's been dead for 3 days is pretty crazy.  Unless you're into that kind of thing, in which case, carry on.
I won't even get into the "war" between Santa and the Easter Bunny that was waged through the notes they'd leave for me.  For some reason Santa always wanted a beer and not milk...  My father really is a character.
Where was I?
Oh yes, my Christmas memories.
One of my first Christmas memories involves my dad dressed up as Santa.  That pretty much put a wrench in the whole "Be good so Santa will give you gifts" idea.  I believe that Christmas we also got to see reindeer on the radar screens at his shop.  We were in semi-tropical Okinawa, Japan at the time, so it probably didn't seem too holiday-esque.   I don't remember much else from those Christmases.  (I just googled the weather in Okinawa right now and its exactly what it is here in Baltimore - mid-60's....  go figure the only difference is that we're at 50% humidity and they're at 72%).
Wow, I am prone to tangents today, aren't I?
Another thing I loved about Christmas as a child was decorating the tree with my mom, dad, and brother.  Every year I would be so excited to see "my" ornaments from years passed.  Almost every year my mom bought an ornament for Travis and I, so there was a good collection of them.  Even now when I look at those same ornaments on my own tree, I feel that excitement, if only for a second.  We always had fun putting up the tree, taking bets on which of our cats would climb it first, and making Christmas an exciting time.
Something that I didn't realize about my childhood Christmas experiences until I was older was that we were never with family during the holidays.  As a military family, we were always out on our own and while part of me envies that (because really, going to 3 different people's houses for the holiday is a bit overkill), but the other part marvels at my parents.  They always made the day special for me and Trav, but I know it must has been hard to forge ahead with new holiday traditions without their own parents.
I think that leads to a favorite Christmas memory - the scavenger hunt.  One year (after I woke my sleeping brother up, because he would have slept until noon without his nagging little sister) we found a clue, which lead to another clue, which lead to our present - two new bikes in the garage.  It was so fun to have to look around and find our clues, occasionally going to ask mom and dad for help when we were stuck, and then find our presents.  My mom will now admit that they thought it was a great way for them to sleep in a little longer!  I can see her point, I was definitely an early riser and eventually there was a "Don't wake anyone up until 9AM" rule in our house.  The next year we also had a scavenger hunt, I believe we found a Sega Genesis under Travis' bed.
So those are some of my Christmas memories.  I am so excited that I get to help makes these memories for James.  And since part of me is still a little kid, I can't wait to open my presents!

8 AM Target Trip

Wednesday is my usual work from home day, I drop James off at daycare and head home to do some work.  This week, I took a slight detour on my way home.  I knew Target was opening at 8 AM, so I went to get some last minute Christmas presents and it was magical.  Target at 8 AM is quiet, peaceful, full of friendly employees and very few other shoppers.  It was amazing!  I got a chai tea latte, perused the aisles and was in and out in 30 minutes.  I don't often go shopping so early or without James and Adam with me, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The only bad part was that the Old Navy next door wasn't open until 9 AM, so I didn't get to buy the shirt I wanted to get for James.  But I think I will sneak over there sometime before the 23rd.  So my advice for everyone who needs to shop - go early!

Almost Christmas

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas again.  This past year has really flown by!  I knew that it would, but I really don't know where the time has gone.  We are almost done with Christmas shopping, we just need to get one last thing for Rhonda and everything will be done.  Most of it is even wrapped too, so I'm feeling very on top of things!
Adam and I haven't ever really decorated for Christmas, I think I did back in 2007, but its never been a big thing for us.  So I'm happy that we're more in the spirit this year.  Also, for the first time since we've been together, we haven't given each other our presents early!  So we will actually have presents to unwrap on Christmas morning. Last year, Adam left the house briefly on Black Friday and came home with a laptop for me.  Merry Christmas! I didn't mind, but it was pretty funny.
We are going to have a fairly relaxing weekend, but we do have a little bit of running around to do.  My mom is coming to hang out tomorrow, which should be nice.  James likes having his grandma over and we don't mind either.  On Sunday we're going to have brunch with Adam's family.  His little step sister, Michelle, is going to be 16, so that's making both of us feel pretty old!
So we are ready for the holidays and in a few more day they will be here!  I can't wait to have a little time off work to celebrate.

Holiday Photo FAIL

Oh, holiday portraits...  Last year I cursed you.  This year I think I will curse you again.
Flash back to last year - we'd never gone to a photo studio before, so we book a session at 10 AM on Saturday, December 5th for our almost 6 month old.  There were screaming children, grumpy parents, and overworked photographers all crammed into a tiny store with the heat set to boiling!  It wasn't the worst experience, but James was always a very sympathetic baby.  If he heard another baby crying, then he was going to join in.  So we got some cute photos, but it wasn't the most fun.  A few times I was fairly certain that Adam's head was going to explode.  So we decided that we would always go to the photo studio (we prefer Picture People) during the week, in the morning, and well in advance of the December rush.
For James' 1 year pictures in June, we had a lot of luck.  James smiled sweetly, the AC was cranking (keeping us nice and cool) and the store wasn't crowded at all.  The key to this success, I now know, was that James wasn't walking yet.  We set him down, he fussed a little, we waved a sippy cup at him, and the smiles came pouring out.
Cut to yesterday's trip to Columbia Mall - We could only get an appointment at 4 PM.  I figured he would have finished his nap, eaten a snack, and be ready to go.  Adam and I get to Rhonda's to pick him up at 3 PM and find a sleeping James, totally passed out, pant less, in his pack 'n' play.  I should have just cancelled the appointment then.  So we get James dressed and out the door, after Rhonda told us that he'd had a rough day and only gotten down for his nap at 1:30 PM.  But we pressed on, giving him a sippy of juice in the car and Goldfish crackers as a snack.  But James wasn't having it.  There were no smiles to be had.  He barely stayed put - as soon as we'd set him down, he'd come running back to us, arms waving in the air.  We did get some cute shots, but he is smiling in exactly NONE of them.  Of course after the photos, James was in a great mood, we'd released him from his very tedious obligation, so clearly it was time to smile.  At dinner, James ate like a chow hound, so I guess the Goldfish weren't enough and he was just grumpy because his parents were starving him and forcing him to stand on a white backdrop with some guy named Ransom (seriously, where does Picture People find these people?) making weird noises to try to get him to smile.  At least his mom was hot, but you know, I can only carry the picture so far!
Maybe we'll have better luck with his 2 year pictures?
By the way, Adam's suggestion: That James' GrandBear (my darling father and wonderful photographer) come out and visit us in May.  That way, he can take the pictures in time for James' second birthday AND we can get a visit in.  Good idea, right?  (hint, hint.... Dad, I'm looking at you!)

Gobble Gobble

I completed my first Thanksgiving dinner!  There were relatively few hiccups and I was pretty proud of myself for having all of my menu completed and on the table at the same time!  I actually enjoyed making dinner, for the most part.  Usually I don't really like to cook, I much prefer to bake, but I think that has more to do with the outcome of baking.  But it was fun and I was happy to get dinner on the table.  The only real issue was the giblets.  I looked for them in the cavity of the bird, but they were tucked into the other end.  But they were wrapped in wax paper, so at least I didn't kill us with toxic plastic burned into our turkey.  Adam's dad and my brother joined us for dinner, even if some didn't stay for more than the meal and then skipped out immediately afterwards (cough, Uncle, cough).  Adam and John left around 6 for the Raven's game, so James and I hung out for awhile.  Then James headed to bed and I enjoyed some leftover Green Jello Salad and a little Riesling.  Overall, it was a nice day!

Our Thanksgiving menu

Turkey
Oyster Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes with Giblet Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Jello Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Crescent Rolls
Pumpkin Pie
2 Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
Tollhouse Pie

Sounds good, right??

Wednesday Weigh In (a day late)

I am back on track with my weight loss, although I'm a day late in posting this!  I am back down to 219, making me only half a pound over my lowest weight.  So I am feeling better about gaining weight back last week.  We will see how Thanksgiving goes, but I have all my weekly points saved up so I can enjoy my turkey, oyster stuffing, and lots of pies!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful

This time of year always gets us thinking about what we are thankful for.  And there are the usual responses, we're thankful for family, friends, health, and happiness.  Every year we go around the table, we give our generic responses, but I try to be thankful everyday.
I am thankful for:
My healthy, adorable, happy, crazy, energetic little boy who makes me smile everyday.  I am so thankful for his health, knowing that things could be a lot worse for him.  I'm thankful for his genetic makeup and the fact that he doesn't have our family's "bad gene" for muscular dystrophy.  I'm thankful his lungs took their 3 extra days to get strong in the NICU and haven't caused a problem since.  I'm thankful that we know about the hole in his heart and are watching it carefully.  I'm thankful that he has his dad's sense of humor.  I'm thankful that he loves our animals so much.  I'm thankful for his hugs and affection.  I'm thankful for him everyday, because of him I get to be a mommy, which is the best and hardest job I'll ever have.
My husband, who also makes me smile everyday.  I'm thankful that I not only love him, I like him a whole lot.  I'm thankful that he knows every thing about me and still loves me back.  I'm thankful that we work together and communicate, even if it takes so much work some days, it really is worth it in the end.  I'm thankful for his drive and motivation.
My family, which isn't perfect, but still made me the person I am today.
My job, because in times like these, there are so many people without them.
My health, even though diabetes is the most annoying thing sometimes, I can manage.
My friends, who are the most fun and supportive people I know.

I'm also thankful for the following:
Chai tea lattes
The snooze button on alarm clocks
Girl Scout cookies
Sweatpants
Cupcakes
Ponytail holders
Puppies
Reality television
Taylor Swift
Smartphones
cuteoverload.com

Birthday Weekend

Adam had a great birthday and we all had fun at his party on 11-11-11.  Perhaps a bit too much fun, as I was reminded on Saturday morning.  I am definitely not cut out to party the way I once was.  But we had a good time and I didn't feel too horrible on Saturday.  For his birthday, James and I gave Adam a new pair of jeans and a video game.  I know, not too exciting, but Adam is the kind of person that goes out and gets whatever he wants.  This makes it difficult to buy presents for the man.  Friday, before the party, we dropped James off in Bowie with Adam's dad and step mom.  James was fighting a nap before we left, but he stopped crying as soon as we left and took his nap.  Charlotte reported that he had a fun day, playing with Snow, going on a walk, and hanging out with his grandparents.  He went to bed promptly at 7:20 PM and slept until 7 AM the next morning.
On Saturday, we went to Bowie to pick James up.  Adam helped his dad rake leaves while James and I took a nap.  We had lunch and then headed home.  Mac usually goes with us to Bowie, but since Snow has a broken toe and is on limited activity, he stayed at home without us.
Its been a nice weekend and I'm glad we could celebrate Adam's birthday.  Today we are taking Mac to the groomer and watching football, so it should be a quiet day.

Monkey Man

James was a monkey for Halloween.  The kids at daycare dressed up and Kippy was a monkey too!  James pretty much hates this costume, but he's so cute in it.  He took a few pictures at daycare and we tried to get some at home too.

Such a serious face

Jumping like a monkey

"Mom, I am so over this"

Go Ravens!