Sunday, Springtime and Snow pants.......

Playing with Daddy and Snow pants

Eating and Snow pants

Playing train and Snow pants

Painting and Snow pants

Painting more and Snow pants

Doesn't everyone's child in 50 degree weather where their Snow pants inside?? And even take their naps in Snow pants because Nico says it's the latest fashion statement!!!! He insisted on wearing his Snow pants when I was just about to put them away, and when I took them off to change him, and until I put them back on he screamed "Snow pants, Snow pants". I am beginning to wonder about the boy...........

Until our next adventure.........

Attitude of Gratitude: March 27th, 2009

Can you believe it's Friday already, and another week has passed?? I can't but of course I have a lot to be thankful for and here's my version of A of G!

1. For a husband that even though leaves his uniform in the kitchen to drive me crazy, took the time yesterday to rip up the linouem in the Laundry room without complaining.

2. For a son who always can make me laugh, and who's laugh can make laugh with him!

3. For birthday parties, who can believe it's already been a year since Rocco was born and it gives me an excuse to shop for dresses!

4. Nights out with my cousin Julie, who is always a lot of fun even in our power shopping nights!!

5. Swimming class, I can't believe Nico is old enough to be in swimming class by himself!

6. Prayers for Stellan, even though none of us have met him we all have connected with his story.

7. Athena, I love my puppy to pieces and even though she is 9, she is the biggest baby out there!

8. Tea pot, I love my tea pot and since they don't make them anymore I am going to be SOOOO sad if something happens to it!

9. Flavored Tea and Chai Tea....my favorites, I could drink them all day!

10. Days off..so glad Bryan has Saturday off and we actually got the vacation time we asked for in September.....Crayola Company here we come!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Until next time...

Stellan's Name Gallery

To show our support for such a precious baby, Stellan who has touched our hearts this is our version of Stellan's Name Gallery.

If you want to participate, head over to McMama's Blog here.

To you Stellan, from Bryan, Nico and Kelli in Ohio:

Praying for Stellan

As some of you may or may not know, one of my favorite blogs that attributes to my "Not Me Monday's" is McMama's Blog who has 4 small children under the age of 4. My friend Jennifer, who also blogs got me interested in this blog and Stellan's journey as he was originally diagnosed to not survive to his due date, but miraculously did. And when he was born he was healthy, but 4 months later he has had a few problems with colds and respiratory issues. And now he is back in the hospital with SVT, which he was originally diagnosed with and his heart rate seems to be out of control. He is not someone I have ever met or ever will, but I have had a connection with his family through their blog. McMama has touched my heart and Baby Stellan's story has brought faith in me I never knew I had.

So what I am asking all of you is to take a minute and say a small prayer for Baby Stellan as he is fighting for his life. And even though I personally would be angry, McMama seems to have a calm that if God forbid I was ever in her situation I would have. I know a lot of people prayed for me this past year, and I just want to pass on the favor to their family who need all the support and prayers they can get.

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On a related, but unrelated note. Once again Jennifer is also walking in the March of Dimes, March for Babies on May 9th for Baby Rocco if you all remember who was born March 12, 2008, 12 weeks early. If you are interested in seeing Rocco and reading his story, click here. Our family thinks this is a great cause and if you are looking for a charity to donate to this is something that has touched my heart, and I am sure Jennifer would appreciate any donations. Her blog is Mommy of Three and you can click on the March of Dimes icon to make a donation.

Sorry for those of you who were looking for another funny Nico story, but don't worry I am sure there are many more to come!

Until our next adventure........

Attitude of Gratitude: March 20th, 2009

Here we are again, another edition of what little or big things we are grateful for!!!

1. Mike & Ike's: Yummy candy or sweettarts my favorite

2. Smoothie King: I love all their yummy smoothies!

3. Nice weather: Those couple of days of nice weather was so much to play outside with Nico.

4. Nightlights: with the week I have had with bedtime, Nico's nightlight has been a Godsend!

5. DVR: Without out I wouldn't be able to see any of the last season of ER.

6. GoGurt: How much easier they are then Nico eating regular yogurt.

7. Playdates: Having Chay over to play is so much fun, and allows me not to have to play another round of trains!

8. Online Banking: How much easier it makes my life then trying to balance an old checkbook register.

9. Cuddle Time: How much fun it is to cuddle up with Nico and watch yet another episode of SpongeBob.

10. Rec Room: I hate to admit it, but I have really enjoyed our new living area in the basement!

Happy Spring to all!

Until our next adventure..........

Bedtime

So finally last night after 5 nights of fighting, Mommy and Daddy put Nico to bed with no problems and NO fighting!! Of course I am sure over the weekend we'll start up again but I'll take it for now!!!!

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On a totally different topic, I guess Nico's Adventures have gone Global. We have had four hits in Sweden, United Kingdom, France and Canada!!! I guess everyone around the world is as interested in Nico's life as we all are!!!

Until our next adventure....

BEDTIME WARS: PART 2

Here we were again, it's bedtime last night and I am thinking I can't go through another night of screaming, yelling, crying, stomping (again, him not me) so I did what I thought would be easiest. I let him run around the neighborhood from the time we got home until 7ish when it was time to come in for dinner and bathtime. I thought for sure this had to tire him out, right??? We'll kind of.........so we came in and turned on Shrek 2 for the millionth time and then while I made his favorite meal of Mac-n-cheese, he played Playdough. So good so far except for the screaming fit he threw when I made him put his wagon away and come in the house, but I guess what do you expect from a 2 year old?? So anyways, we had Mac-n-cheese and then applesauce, and I am sitting here thinking OK it's 7:30ish time to start the bath. Thinking another half hour in the bathtub, and then it'll be snack time and by that time it'll be at least 8:30ish we can start our way up to our bedtime routine, right? I am thinking we had a great night, played outside this is going to go smoothly...........I am still encouraged, and we turned everything off put stuff away, collected a million cars/trains that we have to take to bed and we were off upstairs....but it started, the crying I want to go upstairs...........Nico we are going upstairs, no downstairs. So we get in his bathroom, brush his teeth, I gotta go potty...really Nico you have to go potty, NO see he has figured out if he says the right things it'll stall more! Smart little booger! Then we were off to his room, turned on his lamp at his request and said our prayers got our ritual of organizing the cars/trucks, Georgie and Mr. Bear and I said " I love you Nico, it's time for night, night". And to my surprise, he said No but didn't start crying or getting up so I thought I am going to do a few things and then go downstairs to watch my TV that I am 4 weeks behind on.....so off with my cup of tea I went. About an half hour later, I hear the crying, screaming and I am thinking you know I am just going to let it go and can you believe after about 20 minutes, he figured out I wasn't coming back and fell asleep with his cars lined up on the floor, one inches from his nose, sleeping. (Thanks, Terri for the advice and even though I knew it, after you telling me when it happened, I remembered what you said and made sure I stuck to my guns by not going back in) I guess he just gave up! So of course I put him back to bed and turned off his light, and he still wasn't awake when I left this morning!

So, I am a little nervous still about bedtime tonight but at least Bryan will be there to see what I have been going through....but we all know that Nico will probably sleep like an angel at 8:30PM and Daddy will say I am crazy!!! Let's hope there isn't a Part 3 to this story!

Until our next adventure.........

BEDTIME WARS

I know that sounds harsh, but lately that's what it has been in my house since Saturday. Nico has become a monster when it's bedtime and I know that the time change has effected him some what but lately I have been letting him stay up until at least 8:30PM. I have also been trying to figure out what has changed, and the only thing I can come up with is that they are building two houses behind us and the street lights aren't as bright, so to solve this problem I turned on his little lamp...that helped for a minute but then we were off again fighting, screaming, crying, yelling, stomping (him, not me) and I am going to our family room trying to drown it out. So to give you an example of how our night went...this is what I heard:

Nico: "Night Mommy". I close the door and walk downstairs.

Nico: "Mommy help!!!" while crying and pulling the door handle and shaking the door.

Mommy: Walking into the room, "What's wrong Nico?" He was standing by the door, screaming, crying and stomping.

Nico: "Mommy, upstairs"

Mommy: "Nico we are upstairs, you mean downstairs. Nico it's bedtime, you have to stay upstairs but let me go get Thomas"

Nico: "Thomas the Train, downstairs"

Mommy: "Yes, Nico it's downstairs" Putting him back in bed, "Stay in bed I'll be right back!"

Nico: After returning, "Mommy lay in bed with me, please."

Mommy: "OK, Nico just for a minute though"

After laying in bed for a few minutes, now mind you he has a toddler bed and his Georgie, Mr. Bear, pillow and 10 cars and trains are in bed with us too.....not much room left for me! I said....

Mommy: "Nico, I love you but it's time for bed. Mommy is going to sleep in her bed."

Nico: "Mommy, sleep in your bed"

Mommy: "Nico you know you are not allowed to sleep in Mommy's bed, you have to sleep in your bed"

Nico: As I am walking out the door...."Mommy, Mommy, Mommy"

And then finally after an hour and a half of drama, Nico finally ends up on the floor with the lamp on and no cars in sight! Gosh, I hope this isn't the start of what's to come in the future. I don't know how many more drama exhausting nights Mommy can take!!

Until our next adventure...pray for a good sleeper tonight!

Well here we are again, another edition of all the things that the "Perfect" Mom I am would NEVER do!! Head over to McMama's Blog to read about other "Perfect" Mom's!

I certainly didn't let Nico play Moon Sand this past weekend and leave the mess all over the kitchen floor, table and then let him run his cars through it and found more Moon sand all over the house...NO NOT me, I certainly pick it up and clean everything off instantly.

I surely didn't pass off last week's leftovers for dinner on Saturday because I wasn't feeling well and thankfully Taco Bell is still open for Bryan to stop!

No way did I keep telling Nico after playing for hours of Trains that it would be just a few more minutes and I would play again....I always tell the truth and never fib about playing trains.

I am certainly right now not blogging at work because I certainly never do that...that would just be totally wrong!

And finally, I am surely not 3 weeks behind on all my DVR'd stuff and am watching an hour a night to catch up instead of cleaning the 3 bathrooms that need some TLC........no not me, I always keep up with everything in my house!!

Well guys there you have it! Hope everyone has a great week!

Until our next adventure!

Attitude of Gratitude: March 13th, 2009--Vacation Style

1. On time airplanes: For the first time in 2 years, we were on time both to Atlanta and home....can you believe it?? I know I can't!

2. Portable DVD players: This is a must for traveling with a 2 year old!

3. Nice weather: We sure did have a lot of nice weather last week in GA!

4. Aquarium: Even though it was a little disappointing that it was under construction, seeing Nico's face with all the "fishies" as he calls them was pretty awesome.

5. Kenny's Driving & God: I have to say when we almost died on the way to the airport because someone cut us off, God was definitely with us and Kenny's driving saved us!

6. Lauren & Haley: They sure did entertain Nico and let him play with his toys and sleep in their tent.

7. Speaking of the tent: That was a great idea by Aunt Adriane to keep Nico contained.

8. Aunt Adriane: who put up with us destroying her house and even when Nico spilled his drink she didn't even skip a beat.

9. Word Twist: How much fun was that to play when we were sitting next to each other and I actually won..only because Adriane got a phone call!

10. Fun Family time: We sure had a lot of fun spending time Adriane, Kenny and the girls, and wish Bryan could of been there but hopefully in May we'll be able to see them again!

So there it is, my edition of Attitude of Gratitude...Vacation Style!

Until our next adventure...........

"Fireproof"

Not sure of how many readers of mine know that Adriane and I also have a Book Club that we choose different books to blog about. It has been a lot of fun, and we have read some really good books. Although, as the title of this entry is "Fireproof" is a book we both read not as part of our Book Club, but as something that I think at least I feel a lot of couples should read. It has great meaning and if you are interested in reading my thoughts on the book, head over to our Book Club Blog at BookClub-101. If reading isn't something you love to do, like we do the movie is also available on DVD. Just a great movie to spend time watching or reading with the one you love.

Until our next adventure.........

Polls Closed

We'll I have to say that I am very glad everyone agreed with me that designing the perfect baby is not the way to go. We can only do so much, why mess with something that has been and should continue to be in God's hands. I would of been shocked to have anyone vote anyway else because all of our children are perfect the way they were made!!!

Although how much more perfect could you get??

Until our next adventure or poll.........

Yes, I know it's not Monday anymore but I wanted to get my "Not Me! Monday" in anyway...so here we go.....


I certainly didn't selfishly take the later flight home on Saturday night because I wanted to spend as much time with my family as I could....no way, I would always take into consideration of bedtime at 8.


Of course I didn't let my child eat Poptarts the whole time we were in GA because that's what he wanted and he kept asking me for Poptarts in that cute way......


I certainly don't have laundry in both the washer and dryer, and am sitting here at work wondering if I am going to have to re-wash both because one might smell and the other one is robably too wrinkled to wear!


I couldn't possibly noticed that the rice Nico plays with is all over the kitchen floor and swept up only what anyone could see and let the rest of it hide, like I didn't see it either.....no not me, I always clean the mess up right away!


I surely didn't write these on Tuesday and try to pass them off for Monday....no way!!!


Well there it is my "Not me Mondays"! Hope everyone has a great week!!


Until our next adventure!

Vacation: March 2009

I know all of you have been patiently waiting for the tails of our trip to Atlanta/Ft. Benning, GA this past week.....especially you April!!! It was a great 4 days that was definitely to short, but well worth the trip. Thanks to Aunt Adriane, Uncle Kenny and the girls for taking such good care of us and making it such a fun time!!!

It started out great, with waking Nico up at 4:30AM to be at the airport, he wasn't cranky at all and was actually happy the entire flight. We made it there in plenty of time and didn't have to wait long until they boarded us. Nico sat in his own seat with his seatbelt on the entire time, and never got up or cried. It was a little scary when they said they had to de-ice the plane, I am thinking please Mr. De-Ice guy take your time, we are in no hurry and let's not cut corners...anyways, it was too cute when were ascending and descending, I could see he was a little nervous with all the noise so I said "Nico, do you want to hold Mommy's hand" and he put out his hand and held my hand until we were level again! At that moment, he could of had anything he wanted, he melted my heart.

Aunt Adriane, Haley and Lauren were at the Atlanta airport waiting for us, and we got our bags and headed out to breakfast while we waited for the Atlanta Aquarium to open....I got yummy French Toast and the girls got Mac-n-cheese at 8:30Am which I am sure if I would of gotten that for Nico he would of eaten it too....it was too cute! Who would know you could get mac-n-cheese so early in the morning?? Then it was off to the aquarium where we saw so many beautiful fish, sting rays, star fish, corral and even a Beluga Whale named Nico. It was a lot of fun, and watching the girls and Nico's eyes light up with all the colors and beautiful animals was great. I have to admit, I think I might of hyped it up a little bit as it was a little disappointing how much it was under construction. But still a fun day, and I think all in all we all were glad we went.

Then it was off to McDonald's for a quick lunch and back to Ft. Benning where we all were exhausted after getting up so early. We relaxed and unfortunately Uncle Kenny was in the field so we didn't get to see him until Thursday night. It was off to bed early, and Nico did OK sleeping in a bed with me, but we decided the tent was much better as we didn't wake each other up.

On Thursday, we got up and got the girls off to school all the while, Nico was yelling "Lauren, Lauren" for quite a while after she left, it was to cute! Then Adriane and I took Nico to see tanks and an old train on Post at the old Museum. To our surprise, Nico wasn't really interested in the tanks but he loved the old train and even though we weren't suppose to climb on them, Nico had to have a moment on the train! Luckily, Aunt Adriane caught Nico in time before the red anthill got him....since the soil is sandy they make mounds all over the place, and you don't realize you are in one until it's almost to late. Then we were off to the PX and Ranger Joe's, Nico got a Cami shirt and we couldn't find Daddy a wallet...we also couldn't find Cami's for Nico's Halloween costume but maybe online!!! After the girls got home, we went to the Park and waited for Uncle Kenny to come back from the field. Finally, we were off to eat Mexican and it was delicious but of course Nico was more interested in chips, then his chicken and fries!

On Friday, we weren't sure what to do it was kind of dreary day so we took a walk in the morning and then were off to WalMart to get stuff for our adventure that night at King's Pond. We got graham crackers for Smore's and Aunt Adriane got Nico a cute t-shirt. Then we decided to get lunch at Olive Garden, and I had yummy soup and for dessert Tirumusi!!! The girls came home and the kids played outside, and after Uncle Kenny got home we loaded the car full of yummy campfire food and were off to King's Pond. Uncle Kenny started the fire and we got our hot dog's on while the kids played on the playground and then we ate, and onced again since Nico ate all Uncle Kenny's poptarts, he was not into it....sorry Uncle Kenny.....then the kids played some more and took some cute pictures that I will post tonight. We ended the night with Smore's and tired kids! It was definitely a great time!!!

Finally Saturday morning, we woke up to dreary weather and Lauren had to go to a soccer game, but since it was so chilly and rainy, Haley, Nico and I stayed home but Lauren's team won 3-1 and she shot a goal!!! Great job! Then we relaxed and left for Atlanta about 3:30 so we could eat dinner at a cool place called Orient Express, which is inside a train car! The food was great and Nico loved the train that went by and the waiter who seemed to like playing games with him! It was too cute, when the waiter asked him if he wanted to stay there and Nico put his arms out to him! Then we were off to the airport, where of course the highlight of the night was riding the tram to board the plane. We have to take a moment to thank Uncle Kenny for saving our lives, we were driving down I-85, I think when a car decided in the mist of all the traffic to pull in front of us for no reason, and cut us off but luckily Uncle Kenny saw it coming and stepped on and off the break in time and the guy in the left lane saw us coming and veered off to the left. I truly thought we were going to be in trouble, but luckily again Thanks to Uncle Kenny's driving skills we were OK but all scared crapless and glad to park at the restaurant!!! The worst part of it all was the guy that cut everyone off had no clue.........don't worry we can him the you are #1 salute!!

So all in all it was a great trip, with no tears on the plane and we had a great relaxing time!! Thanks to Aunt Adriane, Uncle Kenny and the girls for letting us terrorize their house and taking such good care of us!!! Hopefully we'll be able to see them one last time until their adventures in Korea!!!

Until our next adventure..........

DESIGNER BABIES???

Here I am at work cruising the Internet as the time is ticking down until I leave for Georgia in the morning and come upon this article at MSN about Designer Babies. So of course it gets my attention and I can't help but click on the article to see what this is all about and to my surprise, it's not about designer clothes but designing the perfect child?? So normally my blog is about something funny Nico did or a family vacation, but this article really got under my skin and I thought more of you would be interested to know what the future may hold....take a moment and please read the article.

I am going to preface myself, as I normally don't opinionate myself on such topics and don't bring my beliefs into my blog because this is suppose to be a free spirited fun family blog where people come to hear the adventures of our little angel...but with that said.....

After reading the article I thought what the heck is wrong with people, as many people know or don't know I wasn't ever sure that we were going to get pregnant as it took us 13 months to get pregnant and about to give up, but God decided it was our turn and after 10 long months Nico was born. But in that time of trying to get pregnant or even after the fact I never thought gosh, I wonder how I can make Nico have blond hair or blue eyes, or make sure he is taller than 6'. I mean as long as he was healthy, which thankfully he was, I wasn't thinking about his eye color or how intelligent he is going to be and I certainly don't feel that we should play God. God never intended for us to be selfish and worry about eye color, what happened at just being happy the baby was healthy. Now I am not going to lie, Bryan was more than excited that Nico was a boy, but we would of never went to a doctor to ensure he was a boy because that just isn't right to play God. There are to many things that could wrong in a normal pregnancy, why would you want to put yourself up for more potential problems?

I wanted to have Nico more than anything in this world but I would never for selfish reason put him at risk, and to me this is what these people are doing putting their children at risk for very selfish reasons. Nico has the most beautiful blue eyes, but if they were brown or green or any other color, it didn't matter all that mattered was that he was healthy and that we loved him the way God made him. So I guess I ask myself and to all of you who read my blog, do you think it's OK for these people to play God and what I take as a selfish act to have what they think is the "Perfect" child?

Read the article I linked above and let me know what you think...am I crazy because this upset me or is this normal and I am just old-fashioned? What do you think?

Until our next adventure.........off to Atlanta in the morning!!

Here we are again, another week passed and it's time for another edition of "Not me! Monday"!!! So if you want to read about more "Perfect" moments head over to McMama's Blog!!!

I certainly could not have went to the drug store in my sweatpants and sweatshirt that I had worn to bed the night before...not me I always take a shower and get dressed properly before I go anywhere.

On the line of PJ's no way did Nico and I stay in our PJ's all day Sunday and not change until after bathtime and stay inside playing and watching movies all day, no way we are definitely about structure...ALWAYS!

It is not possible that I heard Nico open his dresser drawers while he was suppose to be napping and catch him in the act of climbing up his dresser....no way, not my child he knows better!! (Don't worry the dresser is bolted to the wall, and if the dresser comes down so is the drywall)

Of course since I am a daily user of my Wii Fit, since moving it to the basement of course every night I have been down there making sure I continually keep on my constant workout cycle of 5 nights a week!!!

Well it's not much but another week of cleansing my soul, and letting everyone else know that we all are perfect in different ways!!

Happy Monday!!