Visits from Family

This is such old news, nevertheless, it is news. Since living out east we have been visited by many of our family members and it has been so much fun. In June we met up with my in-laws in upstate New York and visited several church history sites in Palmyra, Fayette and Pennsylvania. My favorite was the Sacred Grove and standing on the Susquehanna river.

In July we had a surprise visit from my sister and niece. The moment we picked them up the two girls were giggling and screaming with excitement. I guess they missed each other. It was fun having them around all day and night playing, watching movies, grocery shopping and the best of all was the picnic and concert in the park the night before they left. There was a country band playing that night and both the girls were up front and center dancing and singing. We sure miss them a lot!!

In August my parents came for a visit and tried to squeeze as many fun things in as we possibly could. The best part of the visit was going to Boston for the first time to see a Red Sox game as well as walk the Freedom Trail. I've missed going to baseball games with my dad during the summer so this was a treat since it was in Boston and in such a historic stadium. During the game the fans started doing the wave which our little girl loved joining in on. However, when they stopped she kept looking in the direction that it was supposed to come from and kept saying and signing "more". It was the cutest and saddest thing ever. I swear she kept looking and asking for 5 minutes so we decided to do our own little wave for her enjoyment. The Freedom Trail was incredible. The two stops that I really enjoyed were the USS Constitution and the Old North Church. We took the guided tour of the USS Constitution by an active-duty sailor in an 1812 dress uniform, it was totally worth it. We heard stories of "Old Ironsides" and how it never lost a battle. The best part was watching as my dad had the opportunity to raise and fly the American flag he had just bought over the USS Constitution, then lower it and fold it with one of the sailors. He was like a child at Christmas time. It was priceless!!

We made a couple of pitstops along the trail to enjoy some ice cream, chase pigeons and play at the splash park.

I'm still here

I am writing this post to let all of you know who do look at my blog from time to time that I am still alive and doing well. I would like to say that I am SO busy that I don't have time to post stories, pictures or recent happenings, but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I am busy teaching, playing and running after my daughter, working part-time, trying to keep up with the house and my husband as well as being involved in the youth group at my church. I guess that does make me a little busy. Hopefully in the very near future I will post about the visits from my sister/niece and my parents as well as other exciting things, so stay tuned...you won't be disappointed.

Small Town Fun

Today was a proud mommy moment for me. A week ago I was told that I should enter Emmie into the 4th annual Miss Strawberry Shortcake Pageant as part of the Strawberry Festival in South Windsor, CT. Basically the idea was to dress up your kid with a strawberry theme and the winner would be chosen for the best look and appearance to go along with the theme of the festival. I'm not a super creative person but I had an idea to make a strawberry tutu and make that the main focus of her outfit. The night I finished the tutu I was giddy and super excited about how it turned out. This morning was the pageant and it was a lot of fun. There were 21 contestants in Em's age group and she was part of the top 6. I think she should of won, of course, but even though she didn't I was so proud of how well she put on her show for the judges. I literally was in tears because she was so cute. Now that I know what the competition is like I will be better prepared for next year. Enjoy the short video below of Emmie's pageant debut.

I Am A Bad Mom (we all have those days right?)

To warn all who read this, my thoughts for this post are kind of scattered and long winded....but please keep reading if you want to feel my pain and then tell me I am not alone!
Yesterday was a long, rough day for us. Ever since we moved to CT I have been working part-time from home. It has been great for me because it pushes me to think, I get to have more conversations with adults, it also gives me something fun to do (besides housework) when Em is sleeping, plus I am learning a lot. Well for some reason yesterday was not one of those fun days. Maybe it was because I worked for 7 hrs in the morning when I am only supposed to work two; the two hours while my baby is sleeping. Or maybe it was because Em was crying A LOT which she doesn't normally do, or maybe it was because there were a lot of "stupid" issues I was dealing with that shouldn't have needed dealing with. At the end of the day (after my second shift of work) and once Em was asleep, I broke down and felt SO guilty for how the day went. I can't recall spending any quality time with my baby, I worked while tears flowed down her cheeks, and I may have been a little frustrated with her. At first I thought she was just wanting attention (she should have my attention), but then I noticed that she kept biting on her fingers and pointing to the back of her mouth and she really only acts up when she is teething, but I thought she had all of her teeth in. After speaking with my wise friend Anne I realized that she could be getting her second molars, and sure enough I felt in the back of her mouth and her gums were swollen and I could feel the teeth below the surface. Wow, drive the dagger into my heart a little further. Not only was I not playing and spending precious time with my daughter but I was also making her suffer through the pain of getting teeth in! See how the guilt kept coming as I reflected on my day. I know I am not the only one that has felt this way, I guess we have these kind of days to remind us of how much we should treasure the time we have with our children; teaching them, laughing with them and watching them discover new things. I love my daughter more than I can express and made it a goal of mine for today (one day at a time) to give her all of my attention and to make it a special day for the two of us. Even though I still have to work, I have made sure to play and laugh and soak in the JOY of having my daughter around.

Happy Birthday to Me

This year I got the best present for my birthday, a trip to Mexico with my husband and our friends. Ok, so the trip wasn't specifically for my birthday but it was included in our "celebration" trip. Two years ago before we started graduate school we made plans to go on vacation after graduation to celebrate and it just happened to be planned two days after my birthday. We left Em behind with grandpa and grandma so that we could truly relax and have some alone time. Turns out she had more fun without us be around; she made it clear that she didn't miss us when we asked her. Mexico was great. It was everything that we wanted in this trip; to do nothing but relax and hangout with our good friends. We laid on the beach, drank our fruit smoothies, swam in the pool and ocean, kayaked, played beach volleyball, played games, watched movies and I actually read an entire book in 4 days (over 500 pages). The only time we got away from the resort was to take a trip to the Tulum Mayan ruins; it was so beautiful there. I couldn't believe how many of the buildings were still intact. I felt like I was on site of a Hollywood movie like Indiana Jones; it was incredible. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was the heat and humidity. My hair was a puff ball after the tour and I felt like I had taken a bath in my own sweat. Gross, I know. This trip made me realize that it is important to take time for myself every once in awhile and how wonderful it is to get to spend some romantic alone time with my husband. We held hands, cuddled on the beach while listening to the waves hit the beach, gazed at the stars, and danced the night away with a local band. We are already planning our next vacation, is it going to be Hawaii or Europe?

A Chapter Ends, A New One Begins

Yesterday was a big day for all of us. Joey graduated with his MBA!!!! Although the ceremony was a little too long for Em I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I am so proud of my husband for all that he has accomplished and love that I was able to be by his side supporting him the whole time. I didn't think I would be as emotional as I was; I started crying while taking pictures before the ceremony even started. And the tears didn't stop then. They flowed when all of the spouses and children of graduating students were asked to stand. It was a long road for all of us with many things sacrificed but it was worth it and I love him all the more for his dedication and all that he was able to achieve.
I know what I am about to write will be hard for some of you to believe/understand but here I go. I can't believe I am actually going to say this, but I am going to miss Provo. I know it is crazy to hear that from me especially if you go back to the post I wrote two years ago when we started our grad school adventure. I will miss Provo for these few reasons; I loved the townhome and community we lived in and my neighbor, you know who you are, as well as the BYU MBA program that provided my husband an all around education and opportunity to succeed in his career, and lastly I will miss Provo because of the MBASA (Spouse Association). This association saved me during the two years my husband was MIA. Although I didn't go to every activity and become best friends with everyone, I did get involved as much as I wanted to and made several really good friends that I will remember always and hopefully keep in touch with. I feel like I am leaving my family and going far, far, away. Wait, I am leaving my MBASA family, my immediate family and moving far, far, away. However, I am looking forward to it and I am getting excited about the idea of visiting so many beautiful and historical places.

BBQ with friends to celebrate the end of two wonderful years

Before graduation at the Marriott Center