A year has come and gone, and how fast it has passed! A year ago today, at 5:10 PM I gave birth to Erik Joseph, via emergency cesarean section. At first look it seemed that Erik was a clone of his big brother, but today we see he has developed his own look, and personality!
Erik has been a great sleeper since day one. He slept through the night (seven hours) at one month old. Today he sleeps eleven or twelve hours at night and naps two or three times a day. He really enjoys his sleep!
Erik now has eight teeth- four on top, four on bottom. He uses those teeth to feed his growing appetite. While he is not a picky eater he certainly prefers meats over vegetables.
While pregnant with Erik his nickname was 'Pumpkin,' but now Chatterbox might be more appropriate. He has quite the impressive vocabulary- around 15 words. He even has 2, two-word phrases- "Hi, Dad!" and "Touch that." He babbles plenty still, and I love to listen to it!
Erik not only walks, but he runs and climbs! I have a feeling that he will be my escape artist! I guess it is because he has his big brother to catch up with! I really enjoy watching the two of them interact. You can already see the bond between them, and that they are the best of friends!
It has been an amazing year watching Erik grow and learn. I look forward to all the years ahead! Happy birthday, Erik! Mommy loves you!
We celebrated Erik's first birthday party this past Saturday with family and friends! Despite some yucky weather (cold, rainy, & windy) we all had a good time! Erik was loving having everyone over (Nicholas was a bit overwhelmed at his first birthday party) and spent most of the day walking around and playing with the other kids. He did not make much a mess of his cake...mommy was a bit sad about that! He got some great gifts and has been enjoying his new toys quite a bit! Hopefully I can post pictures soon!
In other news, I'm headed to Texas on Wednesday! A much needed mommy vacation! I can't wait to hang out with friends, eat lots of good food, and maybe catch up on some sleep!
Honestly, I know some of my friends we dreading the big 3-0. I wasn't. In fact, I was actually kinda looking forward to it. I survived another year, and I am grateful.
Today was a relaxing day. Hung out at my parents house with Mom & Dad, Ken, Nicholas, and Erik, and my cousin Jonathan who I haven't seen in six years. I got to take a nice nap, we played some dominoes, ate some good grub, and just had a good time. On Friday night I had gone out with some friends...had a REALLY good time, and we'll just leave it at that!
On Saturday is the big birthday extravaganza. My best friend and I will be having a girls only party to celebrate our birthdays. For the record...she's older than me by 4 days. I don't let her forget it! The party should be a great time!
Anyway- here's to my next thirty years! May they be even better than the first thirty!
Have you ever done (or not done) something, and think...wow, that couldn't have really happened? Believe me, you're not alone! That's what Not Me! Monday is all about! It's a blog carnival started by MckMama, and you can head over to her blog to read what she (and others) are NOT doing!
Well, let's just say that I did NOT have a crazy day yesterday. I mean, Sundays are meant to rest, spend time with family, and do some cleaning around here. So when I went to go put a Christmas decoration away (that I most certainly DID NOT leave out until 5 months after Christmas) in our storage room I was NOT greeted by water leaking from one of the pipes- mere inches away from all of Nicholas' birthday party supplies! Nope, NOT ME! And while Ken was getting ready to walk out the door to get the part needed to repair the leak the power on our block DID NOT go out. And it certainly was NOT almost 90 degrees and quite humid! And later that evening we certainly DID NOT discover that the fan and light fixture in our bedroom was broken. Nope! All of those crazy things could NOT possibly happen to us in a mere six hours!
Also, throughout the week I certainly did NOT do anything that would be worthy of posting here on NMM, and then I forgot to write it down to remember. I mean, I have an impeccable memory and would certainly remember everything I'd want to write, right?
But on a final note- I definitely, can NOT be the mother of a THREE YEAR OLD! It can NOT possibly be Nicholas' third birthday today. It certainly can NOT be three years since I became a mother. No, I will NOT believe it! And I definitely do NOT get all teary eyed thinking about the day he was born. Nope, NOT ME!
Three years ago today I became a mother. Just two days before my due date I went into labor, and at 3:46pm I gave birth to my first son, Nicholas Kenneth. In the past three years I've watched you go from a smiling, giggly baby to the goofy little boy you are today. You are definitely a comedian- you are always trying (and are usually successful) to make us laugh. This past year you also became a big brother- and you are a wonderful, caring, and loving big brother. And of course, you can always get Erik to laugh!
You definitely love your sports. You love watching the games on TV, and in the fall you know that Sundays are football days. (And you sing along with the commercial- "Feelin' kinda Sunday...") You enjoyed watching AND going to the Phillies games, and I love hearing you scream HOME RUN! And this year Daddy brought you the Wings games to watch lacrosse. He tells me you sit there with your box of popcorn (your latest favorite snack) and would watch and cheer. And of course you love playing your sports, too. You love to play baseball most of all lately- whether you're just playing catch or hitting the ball. And you're already doing a great job of hitting a ball pitched to you.
There are so many other things you enjoy- you've learned how to ride your tricycle, you love putting puzzles together, and of course you love to play! In the summer you love going on the water slide at Grandmother and Grandfather's house, you love to bounce on the moon bounce at Nana and Opa's, and you will take any opportunity to go to the playground or play outside.
It has been such a wonderful three years watching you grow, learn, and discover. I can't wait to see what this year brings! Mommy loves you, Nicholas. Happy third birthday!
I promise...I have not abandoned my blog! However, it is a crazy, busy time of year here! Nicholas turns three at the end of the month...birthday party planning is in FULL SWING! He's asked to have a 'Super Hero' party- aka, Spiderman, Wolverine, the Hulk, and all the other Marvel superheroes. So, invitations have been sent and we're working on the menu.
At the end of the month my aunt & uncle are coming out to visit from MN. They're flying into BWI to visit with my parents and I know at some point will come up to see us here. They haven't seen Nicholas since he was 14 months old and they will get to meet Erik for the first time. It will be nice to have them here for Nicholas' party and to celebrate Ken's birthday as well.
Erik is also on the move now. He's been rolling all over the place for a few weeks now and this morning he started to Army crawl. I'm sure within a few weeks he'll be all over the place and crawling on all hands and knees.
Our schedule is getting filled ever so quickly. Birthday parties, bridal showers, baptisms, weddings, concerts... We haven't even picked a week for vacation yet!
So, that's what's going on around here. I hope to keep this updated (as well as my 365 blog, which needs to be updated in a BIG way!)
It was certainly a busy weekend around here! On Friday night we went to my in-laws for my mother-in-law's birthday. Lately Nicholas has started to understand the concept of birthdays. By that, he knows you get cake! So at the beginning of last week I had told him I bought his Nana's birthday present he asked if she would share her cake with him. And then he decided he wanted to make her cupcakes. Pirate cupcakes. Don't know where that came from, but we made pirate cupcakes. Ok, so they were really Funfetti cupcakes with pirate stickers attached to toothpicks, but that was acceptable to Nicholas!
Here are a few pictures from Friday night's celebration.
Nana & her grandsons (it is QUITE difficult to get everyone looking!)
The Pirate Cupcakes-
Then yesterday we headed back to my in-law's for my husband's grandmother's birthday. (I guess that would make her my grandmother-in-law, but that seems to be a mouthful!) Anyway, this was more of a surprise party. She thought she was just going out to dinner with her two kids and their spouses, but instead all of her grandchildren, their significant others, and her great grandsons were all there. As we were walking out the door to leave Nicholas got a bit upset that we hadn't made G- MomMom any cupcakes, but I assured him that Nana had bought her a cake.
It was a beautiful day- mid 60s and LOTS of sunshine! We were outside the entire afternoon, and some of the boys (Nicholas included) hopped in the hot tub. We really could not have planned for a more beautiful day!
These are a few shots from yesterday's celebration.
My baby boy is TWO! I can't believe how quickly these two years have flown by! He is just getting to be so big! We were in Ocean City (NJ) and we had a fun weekend! Our friends drove up from Wildwood, so we took the boys to the boardwalk for some fun on the rides. Nicholas loved them all and would cry when it was time to get off! Glad we have a booklet of tickets- we certainly will make good use out of them!
We had a small celebration the night of his birthday. Ken grilled up some yummy filet mignon, along with corn on the cob, salad, and some other sides I have forgotten! Of course, this was followed by birthday cake. We decided on a small ice cream cake. The birthday boy enjoyed it! He got a few presents- some nice clothes from Nana & Opa, a truck, and some coloring books. He probably got more that I have forgotten already! lol
Still no belly! I have been feeling a good amount of movement though, so there certainly is a little pumpkin in there! I got Ken to take pictures- I think I need a new photographer. He just snaps off the pictures, didn't wait for me to be ready!
We spent the weekend in Maryland at my parents' house. Nicholas loves going there- a huge yard for him to run and play in without Mommy or Daddy right on his heels. He certainly tired himself out and slept well each night!
Other than that not much is new here. Mothers Day is this weekend, but we have no plans. Well, Ken is opening the pool. I will occupy Nicholas and keep him out of trouble! Last year it was warm enough to get in the pool by the first weekend in June- hopefully it will be the same this year. We will be going down the shore for Memorial Day (as usual), so Nicholas will celebrate his actual birthday there. I'm thinking a meal at Mack & Mancos is in order, plus lots of junk on the boardwalk. Probably more for me than him, but we still have to celebrate! Ken and I talked last night about doing a small family party sometime the week of his birthday, so I have to figure that out.
Well, here are the pictures for week 16. Maybe by week 20 I'll have a small bump!
I'm Gisela...a 30-something SAHM from Philadelphia. I've been married to Ken for 5 years and we have two boys, Nicholas (born May 2006) and Erik (born October 2008). Besides spending time with the boys in my life I love to read, discover new food, and travel. I also have dreams of winning the lottery so I can travel to all the places I dream of!
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