Visit from Chuck & Nancy and Business Travel

We didn't do anything for the 4th of July. We thought about going to the fairgrounds since they had kids activities (face painting, etc.), but they were calling for storms that evening and Chuck & Nancy were due in the next day. So, we stayed home to get the guest room ready and clean up a bit. I'm glad we did since storms came through around 6:00 and we would have been caught in it. And, we were able to get just about everything done that we wanted to that day. I feel a bit like a "lame" mom for not doing something for the kids, but there is always next year.

Chuck & Nancy arrived around 3:30 or so on Sat., the 5th. Lacey was quite excited to see them. Leah was a little unsure. We had a yummy (if I do say so myself) meatloaf dinner and relaxed for the evening.

Sunday was Leah's birthday party, so we were at Dad's all day.

Then, it was off to work for me on Monday while Butch got to deal with bagworms. Yep. Disgusting. We had noticed on the 4th that our spruce seemed to be dying. Nancy noticed that there were "things" hanging from it and they were.....moving. Yuck. So, Butch headed to the nursery on Monday morning to find out more about getting rid of them. He had the fun job of picking/knocking them off the tree....then burning them. Gross. Then, he sprayed the tree (and others around the house) with the stuff he bought at the nursery. (Yesterday, I realized there are still some alive, so he gets to have fun with this again, too.)

Wednesday, I headed to New York for a short business trip -- just lunch with a client, so I was up & back pretty quick.

I took Thursday off so we could enjoy some time with C&N. We went to Solomon's Island for lunch.
On our way home, we stopped at Bruster's for ice cream. Yum-o. I'd never heard of it, but it started in PA, so Nancy knew it and when she saw it told us how good it is.

After heading home, to drop off C&N and Leah, we headed up to Waldorf to pick up my rental car for my business trip to Philly.

I left for Philly on Friday morning. The first night or 2 was okay. Having "me" time isn't something that I really get. And...the ability to sleep through an entire night isn't something I get either. So, that was nice. I had a nice dinner on Friday evening and a good night of sleep. Then, I got to work 9:00 to 6:00 standing/sitting in a booth all day. By myself. Blah. They brought in food/drinks at 4:30, so I had a nice glass of wine. Then headed to my room for PJ's, dinner, 1 more glass of wine and a movie (Made of Honor). I did the same thing on Sunday night, too. This time the movie was 27 Dresses. By now, I was ready to come home. But, I still had to work Monday (9:00-6:30) and Tuesday (7:30-1:00).

C&N stayed until Monday morning to help Butch as needed. He did pretty well, though. Leah was good and slept pretty well. She woke up once each night and he gave her a bottle. She should be fine all night without eating, but I usually nurse her at some point in the middle of the night, so it was only fair for her to expect something while I was gone. We'll need to fix that soon.

As soon as I could jump in the car, I ran. :-) Made it home in a little more than 3 hours -- plenty of time to go with Butch to pick up the girls from Miss Lisa's. They were both as happy to see me as I was to see them. It was a little tough getting Lacey to sleep last night. She didn't want me to leave, so I caved and fell asleep in her room for a few min.

And, today....I'm working from home - mainly so I can return the rental car. Back to the office tomorrow.

Leah's B-day Party

Look out...this one is full of pictures. :-)

July 6 was Leah's party at Dad's. We combined it with Kristina's celebration (her birthday is the 9th), too, so in addition to the "regular" group, Kristina's parents, sister, BIL and niece were all there.

I made a chocolate cake for Leah in the shape of a number 1.



Leah was not a fan. Guess I just have a daughter that doesn't like cake. (Huh?)
Then, we opened some gifts.

Not only did Kristina's mom (Heidi) and sister (Karin) get gifts for Leah (which was unnecessary & I didn't expect), but they got Lacey some things, too. Very sweet.

And, this pic is here just because I love it so much!

Leah - 12 Months Old!

I never did get around to uploading the comparison pics last month. So, I'll post 10, 11 and 12 months here. Well........and how about her very first pic in the chair?

One Month

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year Old!

Leah's First Birthday

We started off the day with Lacey singing Happy Birthday to her sister and HUGE smiles from Leah. (She adores Lacey if you didn't know.)

We had pizza for dinner (which Leah decided she wanted no part of today) and cupcakes (which Leah didn't want any part of. Yes, that's right. She didn't like the cupcakes. Whose kid is this?

Lacey "helped" open up Leah's gifts from Aunt Annie and Miss Lisa. Then, we headed outside for them to see Leah's big birthday gift.....a playhouse.


Needless to say, Leah (and Lacey) were quite happy. I'm sure we'll be spending lots of time in the yard.

Dancin' Machine 2

Leah has started dancing recently and I finally managed to get it on video. We were watching So You Think You Can Dance (again) and she was feeling the music. I had to stop recording because she climbed too high up on the bean bag.

Girlfriends

Now that Leah is getting a bit older, I really want to find some good girlfriends who live around here! You know, someone you can call and say "let's go to a movie"! My friends are all thrown about the country and it's a bit depressing at times. My very best friends each live a few hours from here. Tonya is in SC and Agnes is in upstate NY. If either of them lived within an hour, I'd be a happy camper.

Others are in IA, CA, NV, FL, MO.....you get the picture. It's annoying. I do have some girlfriends that live in other parts of MD, but they are all at least an hour away. And, when everyone has kids, it's tough to get together. Especially since their kids are older and involved in so many activities.

Dee always tells me (and I know it's true) that once Lacey and Leah get older and involved in activities, we'll find friends down here easily. That's how they met many of their friends. It's just crazy because I grew up here. I knew lots of people around here 20 years ago. But, you lose touch with people and it's tough to reconnect again.

Anyway, I thought about all of this again because last week I went to see Sex & the City with Dee, Brianna (Dee's SIL, who I also happened to go to high school with) and Bri's sister, Holly. It was just nice to get out with the girls. Not like I have tons of time to do it, but it would be nice to be able to. ;-)

Leah's Birthday, Work, A Visit from Chuck & Nancy

It's hard to believe that Leah will be a year old in a few short days. Wow. She's going to have multiple parties like Lacey did, too. We're going to have birthday cupcakes on her actual birthday - just Butch, Lacey, Leah and me. The next day, I'll send cupcakes to Miss Lisa's. Yes, it's a day late, but I don't want her to dive into cake for her first time away from me. :-) Then, Sunday we are having her party at my dad's house. I'm going to attempt a #1 shaped cake. We'll see how it goes. For those of you that don't know, or don't remember, I made a caterpillar (from Baby Einstein) for Lacey's first birthday. I was quite proud of myself. I'm not exactly Betty Crocker.

This week is going to be a bit hectic. I have to work at a convention in DC and smile at a booth for a couple of days. Fun stuff. It's actually a very busy convention, so the time goes by somewhat quick. And, since there are several of us, we are able to take turns and not work super long days. I also have a cocktail hour on Monday night at late dinner on Wednesday night with this client.

Chuck & Nancy are coming into town on Saturday. We've been telling Lacey for so long that Grandma & Poppy are coming for Leah's birthday that she is probably starting to wonder if they are ever coming. Hehe. You know how a 3 year old brain works.

They are actually going to stay for over a week to help out while I'm on business travel. I have to leave on Friday, July 11 to head to Philadelphia for another convention. I'm not so lucky with this one. It's only me working our booth, so the days will be long. And, from what I hear (this is my first time at this one), it's not super busy since the attendees are in session quite a bit. The days are 9:00-5:30 for 3 days, then 7:30-1:00 the last day. Yuck. But, I will have the chance to sleep while I am there....you know....without Leah or Lacey waking me up. I plan to take full advantage of that. No late nights for me! (Not that I'll know anyone, anyway.)

I'm sort of a lame traveler on my own. When I go by myself, I'm happy to hang out in the hotel room, watching TV, reading and ordering room service. I'm not big on experiencing a new city by myself. Well....sometimes I do. I remember doing that when I was younger, anyway. It's just not as fun by yourself.

Back to C/N's visit. Since I'll be gone for several days, they are going to stay for a bit and help Butch out some. It will be nice to have some extra hands to entertain the girls and help out a bit. If nothing else, having adult conversation will be nice. I think that is the hardest part - for me - about staying home with them for a couple of days on my own. I'm dying for adult speak.

Anywho......let's practice....."Happy Birthday to you...." I'll make sure and post some pics from Leah's party when the time comes.

Update on the girls

Thought I'd do a quick separate post to update you on how the kids are doing.Lacey loves to play with her "dolly dolls" and lately wants us to play with her. It's hard when you are an adult to remember how to play. :-) She's learning more at Miss Lisa's. They focus on a couple of letters, a number, a shape and a color each month. She's known her colors for awhile now. Lately she is started to recognize the letters and numbers they are working with. Butch & I are trying to be better at focusing on what Lisa is working on so they we are consistant.

Leah hasn't been sleeping well. Teething is truly a frustration. I think that is a big part of her sleep issues lately. It's tiring. She's been cruising around for a while and is now taking 3-4 steps by herself sometimes. (We'll see if it leads to anything soon. Lacey was doing the same around this age, but didn't walk until 15 months.) Leah isn't much of a fan of being spoon fed anymore, so it's getting difficult. She's still learning to chew and learning to like certain foods, so it can be tough to get enough food in her. She loves cheese, cheerios and peas. :-)

Starting next week, Miss Lisa is closed on Thursdays and Fridays, so Butch will be with them those days. They are a handful, so I know he'll be worn out from chasing them by the time I get home. I'd like to be able to work from home on Friday's and take 1/2 day off. But, I can't figure out where I'd work and be left alone. I'm still thinking that one through.

Random Update

It’s been ages (or so it seems) since I’ve done much of a post. I’ve just felt overwhelmed with everything there is to do on a weekly basis - in all areas of life. How is there really time for everything? I actually realized tonight that I have started a few posts here & there and never finished them! Oh well. Here are a few random updates:

An Evening Out

A few weeks ago, we went to a dinner/dance with my family. Dad treated us all (very sweet). So, it was Dad, Frankie, Dee, Buck, Rick, Kristina, Butch & me. Jessica babysat for us and things went smoothly for her. We didn't leave until around 7:00 and Leah goes to bed shortly after that. So, that meant she really only had Lacey to watch for most of the time.

It was a lot of fun, but I think I was so excited to be OUT that I drank too much. I honestly planned on limiting myself to 3 glasses of wine and know that it all that I asked for/went to get. But, I think Butch and/or Rick and/or Buck brought back another glass or 2 at other times. I felt horrible the next day!

Anyway, there was a lottery type thing at the dance. Everyone had a number and if your number was called, they you were eliminated. It was fun, but it interupted the dancing. And, each time they did it, they turned the lights all the way up for all of us to read our tickets.

The band was pretty good. Dee & I danced a ton. Dad, too. I've said it before........when I'm 70, I sure hope I'm moving like that on the dance floor!

Last Weekend

Kristina's parents both turned 70 in recent weeks, so she & her sister hosted a pool party to celebrate on Saturday. It was the hottest weekend so far. Bad for being outside, but at least there was a pool! It was Lacey's first time in this year and Leah's first time ever. Both had a ball. This is Jessica (Steckita) with the girls:

On Sunday, we went to Dad's to cookout. The week before, he bought a swingset and had it all set up for Lacey (and Leah) when we got there. He put on a baby swing that we'd bought for Lacey when she was an infant. Lacey never liked it, but Leah loved it!

Lacey loved the pool at PaPa's house, too. She can touch the bottom now, so she feels like a big girl.

Air Conditioning

Well, our a/c broke again. Yes, you read that right. This is the 3rd time in a year. Last year - literally while I was at the hospital in labor - a new inside unit was being installed for our upstairs a/c. A few months ago, a new inside unit was installed for our downstairs a/c. And now....we've had a new outside unit installed for upstairs. We were without for about a week. This just happened to be the week that we had our first heatwave. Lovely. It was about 90* in Leah's room when she went to bed for 3 nights. And, humid. On the last night, we decided to try putting fans in the foyer and direct them toward the balcony to bring cold air upstairs and this helped a bit. I'm just happy that it's fixed now. We are all sleeping better.

Commute

For some reason....that I've yet to figure out....my morning commute has gotten worse lately. It used to take about 90 min. pretty regularly. The last 2 weeks, it's been about 2 hours. I know part of the problem is they have a road closed in DC that is causing others to take my route. But, that isn't the entire issue. Considering metro and commuter bus numbers are so high (thank you to gas prices), you would think my commute would be shorter. Makes no sense to me and it's making me crazy. Before kids, I was in the office by 7:30. After Lacey, it was about 8:00. After Leah it was about 8:30. With this recent issue, I'm lucky to make it in by 8:45. This is yet another reason why I love my work @ home days.

Father's Day

We're going to the Optimist Club picnic tomorrow. Dad is a member and they have this annual cookout/picnic that we started going to a few years ago. Last year, I was 9 months pregnant and it was HOT. This year, we'll have 2 of them to chase around, but the weather is expected to be much nicer. They have a nice little playground for the kids. And, last year, they had buggies pulled by horses. Lacey loved it. We're hoping for more of the same this year.

I struggled with what to get Butch. I can't really post anything here in case he reads this before tomorrow. :-)

Well, I'd better run. After much time away, I feel like I've written a book. Hehe.

I've been tagged!

I feel bad! Allison tagged me a while ago, but because I've been so bad at keeping up with blogs lately, I didn't see it until today!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm. That would have been 1998. I had left KVI and was working at Seabury. But, at that point, I believe the companies had completely merged. So, I was probably working in Old Town Alexandria. I believe this was the timing of when I decided to move back in with Mom & Dad for a bit, too. The dad of the roomie I was living with owned the house and she really wanted to live by herself, so I was without a place to live and really wanted to save to buy something of my own. And, the timing was also good because it got me away from the boyfriend that I really needed to get away from. Leaving Northern VA gave me the space to move on from him permanently.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):Well today is almost over so I'd better give you a hybrid of today/tomorrow--
1. Watch Juno with Butch tonight.
2. Go to the Father’s Day picnic that the Optomist Club has.
3. Go to the grocery store.
4. Put away laundry.
5. Walk on the treadmill!

3) Snacks I enjoy:Cheese, cookies, M&Ms, peanut butter crackers

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:Set aside an entire college fund for our kids.
Set aside our retirement fund.
Make sure my entire family was taken care of (paid off houses, college for the kids, etc.)
Share the money with Best Friends.
Share the money with organizations that take care of children.

5) Places I have lived:Southern MD (Charlotte Hall and Hughesville)
VA (Alexandria, Springfield, Annandale, Arlington, Fairfax)
Salisbury, MD

Dancin' Machine

Need I say more?

A New(ish) Playhouse

I had been keeping my eyes out for some fun outdoor play equipment and found a playhouse through Craig's List locally. We want one for our house, too, but since we spend a good deal of time at Dad's during the summer and he doesn't have many toys around for the girls, I thought we'd set this playhouse up at his house.

On Sunday, we took the play house to Dad's to set up and let the girls play in it for awhile.

I'm keeping my eyes out for another local deal, too.

Daycare "Book"

The daycare/preschool theme from April was "Around the World" and the kids learned about different countries, the cultures, food, etc. It was cute. Well, Miss Lisa also helps them put together daycare books -- each child has a page of their own. Then, when it is complete, it's sent home to each family for a quick peak before sending it on to the next family. The most recent book that I've seen is on travel.....to go along with the Around the World theme.

Here is Lacey's page.

I can see Nancy's smile all the way from Pittsburgh!

Start of my Weekend

My weekend didn't exactly get off to a great start. I left the office around 3:30 in hopes of getting home by 4:45 and walking on the treadmill before dinner. Instead, I walked down to the garage to find glass all over the floor next to my car. It took a few seconds for it to settle in. Someone had busted my drivers side window. All they took was my iPod. The only other things worth anything were my sunglasses and my bluetooth, but both were still in the car. I was just going to get the glass cleaned up, call the car insurance and go home.

But, the property manager and garage manager had other plans. They wanted me to stay until the cops got there. Turns out that one other car had the same thing happen -- and they only took her iPod, too. By the way, our iPods were both out of sight. I think the jerk(s) just saw the power cords and took a chance.

My car was in a "safe" place of the garage, too. It wasn't in a corner or way in the back. It was close to the front and didn't really have any other cars around it. (I park it in the same spot each day - it's a parallel space.) Ugh.

Today, I learned that someone else had an iPod and a GPS taken. Her car was unlocked, though.

So, we waited for the cops and had a report written. The garage company wants to pay for the damages, which is fine, but it would just have been easier to go through my insurance. Instead of leaving at 3:30, I left at 6:00 and got home at 7:15 - just in time to get Leah to bed.

Oh - and driving home with no window wasn't very pleasant since it wasn't very warm out. I had a rain coat, so that helped. And the heat helped when I finally thought to turn it on .... 20 min. before getting home.

Leah is 10 Months Old!

Wow...before you know it, I'll be planning her birthday party!

This is what we went through to get the 10 Month Pic!

Okay, here are the comparison pics.

9 Months

10 Months

Landscaping

Butch had a "free" day off work a couple of weeks ago because the Pope was in town and half of the student body was going to Mass. So, he did a lot of landscaping. The side of the house (the side that is seen as you drive up) had nothing.


And, now it has lots of shrubs and flowers. They are all fairly small right now, but it is such an improvement!

A Wedding = Adult Time

It's been a while since I've really had time to do any posts!


A few weekends ago, Butch and I got an afternoon out.....without kids.....for my cousin, Chet's wedding. The wedding (2:00) was full Catholic Mass and even though we aren't Catholic, the homily was pretty good. The reception (3:00) was at Olde Breton Inn (the same place we had our reception). When we came in, heavy hors d'ouevres were already being set out. Unfortunately, it seems they should not have been set out yet. The reception didn't include dinner, so really everyone should have waited for the bridal party before digging in. However....the wait staff was telling people to eat. We were still holding off at our table, but had decided (finally) since we were being told to eat, we should. While in line, the bridal party arrived....and I thought "this is silly, how can we see them be announced if we're standing in line". This is when I heard someone say "well they shouldn't be eating". So, the staff at Olde Breton Inn seems to have messed up. Oh well. There was plenty of food and the bridal party absolutely had enough to eat! By the way, we sat down after we heard the "well they shouldn't be eating" comment so we could see them walking in.


We didn't have a lot of time to really enjoy things since I wanted to get home to nurse Leah and get her ready for bed. We were initially trying to get home around 5:30, but ended up getting home around 6:30 or 6:45. (Kristin babysat.) There was a little time for drinks and dancing. Quite amazing watching Dad gettin' down. I hope I'm doing that at age 70!

Lacey & Leah's Well Visits

I took Lacey and Leah in for well visits a couple of weeks ago (April 1, actually). Lots of fun (sarcasm, sarcasm.....)! Lacey is quite afraid of stepping on a scale. No clue why. But, she won't do it at home either, so it isn't just the doctor's office. I finally convinced her to sit on the baby scale. Yes, she is 3 and she sat on the baby scale. I also had to really work to get her height. But....alas we did. She weighs 33 pounds and is 39 inches tall. Tall and skinny.

Leah was 19.5 pounds and 27.5 inches. She was also much easier to weigh. :-)

No shots for either of them...thankfully. However, I have lab slips (somewhere) for both girls...urine for Lacey and blood for Leah. I'm not rushing since I know how much fun both of those will be. (again....sarcasm, sarcasm.)

Of course, even though it was a "well visit" for both of them, they both had colds. Lacey walked out with a prescription for a boo-boo she had on her face. She had fallen face first into Miss Lisa's driveway a few days before and busted her lip and nose. The nose was starting to look pretty bad, so Dr. Jill fixed her up. After 1 application of the cream, the difference was noticable. After a couple of days, it was almost gone.

Maybe I won't need to go back to see the doc again until Leah is a year? Cross your fingers for me....

Kramer

Kramer (14 years old) has been losing weight. Yes, I have been thinking "here we go again". He used to be about 15-16 pounds. We noticed the weight loss couple of months ago, but since he was holding at about 10-11 pounds, I hadn't rushed him to the vet. There were way too many things on my to-do list. But, I finally got him in last Wednesday. They took blood and urine to run some tests. On Saturday, we found out he has hyperthyroidism. I was so relieved to here it is something treatable and that he doesn't have kidney disease. I've had enough of that.

They prescribed meds for him and since he doesn't do pills, it was called into our local pharmacy to be "compounded" into a liquid that tastes like chicken. :-) Of course, it's not like he'll drink it, but I feel better holding him down and squirting it in his mouth.

In 2 weeks, we have to go back for more blood work to make sure the doseage is okay. Sometimes they need to adjust it a bit.

A Dog on a Rainy Day

Yes, she got a bath. Need I say more?