Joys In My Life

Sorry I've been so absent lately. Work has been very very busy, but great. I did get a promotion to Senior Manager just this week, although I've been doing the job for the past year. I'm very excited and we've been working on our goals and have been getting out more for dates. The boys are doing great. Tommy is starting to talk a lot. He says: Mommy, Daddy, Phoebe (Bee-bee), Liam (Ee-Um), Night Night, Lights, Shoes, Hello. It's so cute. Liam can say some words, but he doesn't like to let people see what he can do. He'll try to say: Big Bird, Hello, Mommy, Phoebe. They love to dance and play "Ring Around the Rosie". They also love pretending they are reading books. They got their hair cut at a kids hair cut place. Tommy did really well, but Liam didn't like it, so I let him have a lollipop through the whole thing. Liam had all his floppy hair cut off and it looks like Tommy's now. I love it! He'll never be mistaken for a ...

I'm off to a good start to the new year. Yesterday at work, I finished cleaning up my files at work, which means I put a lot of files in the shredder bins, LOL. I also got some of my tasks done that needed to get done yesterday at work and met with my new boss. At home, DH made dinner (menu plan for the week to come later today), the boys got a bath, everyone's clothes were picked out last night, the kitchen was cleaned up, coffee pot ready for the next day and laundry moving forward. But the best news of last night - I had my first piano lesson!!!! Phoebe's guitar teacher comes to our house every other Monday evening and he's our best friend. He came yesterday for Phoebe and said it was time for me to start! I was so nervous! I told him I hadn't played a musical instrument since 8th grade and that was guitar. I've showed Phoebe a few things on guitar over the past two years, and it's definitely come back, but piano is so different. It was fun! It...

I have to say blogging has helped me in so many ways. It introduced me to people like Marcia who inspire me to live a more intentional life. Yesterday, as we drove up to see my parents, which takes almost 3 hours to get to, DH and I took the time to discuss our goals for 2011. We have some really out there lifetime goals that we've worked on, but we decided, especially from Marcia's example to sit and think about what do we want to accomplish this year. I'm going to organize this better, but these are just some of the things we came up with, other than our exercising a certain number of days per week. 1. Put a certain amount of money toward our debt (yes we have some - I did a lot of IVFs and other holistic treatments, you know?) 2. Go to Cape May, NJ for our family vacation this summer 3. Put a certain amount of money in Phoebe's savings account. 4. Install 4 ceiling fans - 2 in upstairs bedrooms and 2 in the conservatory on the first floor 5. Make adjustments...

We bought more outlet covers, drawer latches and blind cord holders from the local Lowe's this morning after our eye doctor appointment. Don't get me started about the eye doctor appointment. It was like Christmas mass over again. Liam was an angel and Tommy a total devil. Poor kid is getting his eye teeth in now along with Liam and he gets so stubborn about wanting to do what he wants to do! Whew, does he tire me out! Thankfully, I have my ways of getting him to relax a little bit, like singing "The Wheels on the Bus" a million times, with hand gestures. After we got back from our morning errands, the boys wanted lunch and a nap. They slept really long this afternoon and DH was making dinner by the time they woke up, so we haven't had time to do the installations yet and take the sides off the crib. So this morning, I got up early and made sure I was showered and ready for my day before they were. I was waiting to hear them wake up on the baby monitor (...

Guess who climbed out of his crib after his afternoon nap today? Liam did. I'm completely not surprised, as I do call him my Monkey Boy for a reason. He might be smaller by Tommy by 2 inches and 5 lbs, but he's a climber. They were finishing up their nap this afternoon when all of a sudden I heard a really loud cry. I didn't hear a bump or a bang, so I don't think he fell hard. I ran upstairs, knowing this was not a normal cry and I found Liam standing in the middle of his room, crying and looking confused like, "What did I just do!!!!!" And Tommy was looking at him like, "Wow! That was cool. Can I try it?" We're going to take the sides off the cribs very soon. We need to get drawer latches to baby proof their furniture, otherwise we'll end up with clothes all over the room every day. Their sister never did that, but I know they will. I have a dresser near their cribs and the top drawer is now empty as they would empty that from ...

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We survived the holiday yesterday with our now three kids running around on nervous energy and not enough sleep. Now we're getting dumped with our first Noreaster of the winter season. For those not on the East Coast of the USA, that means we're getting dumped about a foot of snow tonight and it's really windy outside. I'm taking the opportunity to relax in the kitchen and bake up some pumpkins to freeze the mash for pumpkin pies, muffins or even pancakes. I've been so busy since we bought them, we're rarely ever home for enough time. So as I watch the snow fall and my pumpkins bake, here is the cup of coffee I raise to you all to toast the season. My special Christmas coffee topped with whipped cream and festive sprinkles. Enjoy!

Tommy was having a hard time falling asleep last night. I felt so bad for him. He was tossing and turning and moaning, not crying, just moaning and I could see he was tired. I gave him some ibuprofen and he fell asleep. Took him to the doctor's this morning. Wanted to get him in before everyone scooted for holidays. Sure enough. Both ears infected. He's now on Zithromax or whatever generic equivalent there is, and the mending will now begin. Poor guy. However, to celebrate the festivities of the season, I've been in the mood for a beverage that is red and not too sweet. I came up with this Cosmo-Style Pomegranate Martini that I think is quite tasty. Enjoy! 2 shots of plain vodka (don't use flavors, it makes it taste wierd) 1 shot of triple-sec or other orange flavored liquor 2 shots of pomegranate juice (see it's healthy! good for you!) dash of lemon juice Mix all ingredients in a martini shaker with ice and serve in a martini glass. Yum!