Thursday, December 31, 2009

Looking Back

2009 has flown by so fast that I can hardly believe we are right back in my living room for another New Year's Eve. This time last year I was 7 months pregnant, excited to meet my new daughter and very large and uncomfortable. We celebrated New Year's with our close friends The Voss' and The Richard's and we played Rock Band for the first time as it was a Christmas gift for Roland. The kids acted as dancing groupies, the wives laughed and the men rocked out! Let's see if I can remember some of the exciting events of '09.
In January we took Seth to his first "show". We drove through a snow storm to see Disney on Ice in SYR. He loved it of course and it will always be a priceless memory for us. Seth also turned 3 and we had a Diego themed birthday party.

In February I continued to grow larger and larger, but thankfully my friend Beth was growing right along with me so that I didn't have to feel like the only big pregnant mama! We took Seth bowling for the first time also.

In March our beautiful daughter graced us with her presence a few days early. She knew that her Mommy was very uncomfortable and so she arrived on March 5th, but only after she let me work three days with full on contractions. ha! March was a month of adjustment and change,but the best change we could have ever asked for. We were blessed to have the best family and friends who showered us with meals, visits, love and support. We will forever be grateful! I didn't let any grass grow under my feet and immediately I was out and about with the two kids. The memories that I will always remember from my maternity leave were lunches at Kristen's and lunch out with Jen just about once a week. They fed me well my entire pregnancy!

In April I took Seth to see Playhouse Disney Live while Roland stayed home with a one month old Leah. In April we also purchased BOB, our double stroller and the way that I got my body back. BOB is well worth every penny and I am able to now push 70lbs with no effort at all.

In May we went to The Irwin's 2nd Annual Shrimp Boil and ate our hearts out and I also went to Ithaca one last time to celebrate Justin's graduation from Cornell. I tried to soak up as much of the campus as I could one last time. It is an amazing place.

On June 1st reality hit and I had to go back to work for 25 days. I counted down each and every day until it was summer vacation and I was back with my kids for two more months of fun! June was full of fun with The Castana's 1st BBQ, letter boxing, Gramp's birthday, strawberry picking, Aunt Jan's wedding and an ice cream social at The Richard's.

July was jam packed with firsts and with family adventures. I took up golf and started lessons with Kristen once a week from July to September. I am not the best golfer by any means, but I really enjoy it and in time I hope to improve. Each week was a new summer adventure we would go to the farmer's market, art classes for Seth, Kidnastics, walks with Mom, story time and any parade we could find. In July we also took our first family vacation as a family of 4 with our friends The Castana's to PA. We drove to Kristen's parents house and then on to Sesame Place and The Please Touch Museum. It was an amazing four days and a wonderful sense of accomplishment that we travelled with a 3 year old and a 3 month old with little to no problem at all.

In August our BFF's from Massachusetts came to stay with us for three days of hanging out, letter boxing and lounging at the lake. It was truly a memorable few days. Seth was also able to see a Laurie Berkner show as well as meet the band in August. He was in seventh heaven and asks to see Laurie all the time. Roland and I were also able to go white water rafting with some close friends and my brother in August. It was a kick butt day that we will all remember and we can't wait to make it a yearly event.

September brought forth many changes as I went back to school for good and Seth started Nursery School. He loves school and learns new things daily. September was also an important month because Roland fulfilled a life long dream and he bought our family a boat. We have been talking and dreaming about getting a boat for years and we finally just did it. We now have a slip in Sackets Harbor and if you want to find us next summer just check Lake Ontario and that is where we will be.

October was an amazing month filled with fall firsts and a new beginning. I was able to have the most amazing experience of my entire life as I watched a life being born up close and personal. I was able to watch my god daughter brought into the world and it was life changing event. In October we also took many trips to the cider mill, Seth was invited to numerous birthday parties, Boo at the Zoo, haunted houses, a trip to SYR to visit our friends The Nagraj's, Mall-o-Ween and finally Halloween.

November slowed down a little, but we were still out there living life to the fullest and giving our kids the best we could. We took Seth to see The Imagination Movers Live in concert, bought skis for the whole family, became god parents and hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the 3rd year.

December wrapped up the year with a trip to the hospital to get tubes put in Leah's ears. We call them magic tubes as they have helped her in so many ways. We also took a trip on the Polar Express and met Santa, went to a winter parade, to my Gram's chorus concert, the annual Pepsi Christmas Party, floor seats at the SU game and tons of time was spent with family and close friends. We feel so very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

We are looking forward to Seth turning 4 in 22 days and Leah turning 1 in two months. We are also looking forward to our next family vacation this summer to Massachusetts and Lake George. We plan to soak up as much time with our family and friends as we can too! We are so lucky and so blessed to have such wonderful role models for our kids to grow up with.

We are also going to enjoy each and every day with our close close friends The Castana's as this will be the last year that they will live in Watertown. This time next year they will be in Kansas. We will also be linked to them in so many ways and we will talk, text and see them as much as we can. Jacob and Leah share a birthday and we are Lindsey's god parents so they will never be rid of us!
** I have tried to insert pictures into this post for 2 days and it just won't work so I apologize for the lack of photos.
Here is to a fun filled, happy and healthy 2010 to all of the wonderful people in our lives!

Monday, December 28, 2009

1st Trip to the Dentist

Monday morning bright and early we headed to the dentist for Seth's first official checkup. He wasn't nervous at all, Miss Peggy said that his teeth spacing was perfect and that he was doing a great job brushing his teeth! Yippeee another hurdle over with!
She did a really good job of explaining all of the equipment before she did anything with his mouth.
That was the extent of excitement for our Monday!

Buckingham Christmas

I completely dropped the ball or should I say camera on Sunday's Christmas festivities and I only took one photo at my Dad's Christmas. I was so busy eating and talking that I completely forgot to take pics. Anyhow, we had a great time seeing Ryan and the gang since we hadn't seen them since May. The food was delicious as always and I think I ate my weight in perch. We were also given a very cool Christmas gift. Since I have taken up golf, Roland of course loves golf and Seth is infatuated with it now my Dad and Sue got us a HUGE practice net for the backyard so that we don't have to go to the driving range every time we want to practice. It was a very thoughtful and creative gift and we can't wait until spring arrives to use it. That was our final Christmas and we are now taking our vacation day by day and enjoying every minute of it!

Charlton Christmas

Saturday night we celebrated our 3rd Christmas at Roland's parents house. Unfortunately Leah didn't take a very good nap and she was so tired and cranky that she and I left before 8pm. Next year will be so much better without an 8pm bottle and bedtime to worry about. Anyhow, the kids had such a great time together and we got showered with fun gifts from the whole family.
I'd safely say they all look like Charlton's!
Roland's Dad was in charge of wrapping paper and boxes, such a fun job, NOT!
Leah got all sorts of new clothes and toys. I would have to say that I was super excited by all of the clothes!
Lexy got a Fur Real Cat that she was in love with. It was so life like it's crazy!
At the end of the evening all the kids were pooped and snuggled together while watching a movie.
It was another great Christmas to add to our list!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started at 6:30am for us, but we are so used to getting up at the crack of dawn that it was totally fine. Seth was super excited and he was thrilled with each and every gift that Santa brought him.
Santa brought Leah her first baby stroller and she is bound and determined to walk her doll around the house. We think walking might be in her near future.
Seth loves to snuggle up with a blanket and pillow and watch TV so I made him his own Yankees blanket.
Roland and I decided not to exchange gifts this year since we bought a boat, but I couldn't stick to our agreement and I bought him a Depth Finder for the boat.
No matter what gift he was given, Seth still loves his drum set the best!
Our special gift to Roland's parents which we were then given a very similar gift from Sheryl.
We had Roland's parents over for breakfast and then made them work it off by helping to put Seth's Geotrax set together.
When it was completed Seth was so excited!
In the early afternoon we headed to Lowville to spend the day with the Mihalyi clan.
I think my aunt would have snuck Leah home with her to MD if she could have.
Roland and my Gramp hung out behind all the present opening chaos.
My Gram got a huge coupon book to Jeb's; their home away from home.
Leah got a very cool train that she can either sit on or push.
Every year all of the cousins get their picture taken together.
Seth was very content to hang out in the little room with the big kids and watch movies all day.
Must be the world was mad at my Mom because she was given the midget chair to sit in and it was hysterical to see how low to the table she was.
I would have to say that this was the BEST Christmas day we have all had in years. No arguments, no stress, just lots of laughter and smiles all around!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a whirlwind of cooking, cleaning, eating and finally relaxing and enjoying some time with family.
Leah has this new obsession with chewing on her hand in just about every picture we tried to take of her, but of well! This picture was taken right before Christmas Eve mass.


Yes I will admit that I was the crazy mom taking pictures of her daughter in church. I had to capture every moment of her first Christmas. Plus, her dress was so darn adorable that I couldn't not take pictures.
Seth knew that when he got home he was able to get his gift from Grandma and Poppy so he was extra good in church. He also had to close his eyes while they brought it upstairs.He was very excited about the "TA DA" factor...I don't think that he has ever loved a toy as much as this drum set.We tried to WOW Mom and Tom with their gift as well.We got them a photo blanket of the 7 of us.
Leah didn't really grasp the idea of ripping the paper off, but she liked the toys inside.
Next, we wrote our letter to Santa.
After Leah went to bed the rest of us snuggled together on the couch and watched a Christmas movie together.

It was a great Christmas Eve followed by more and more and more Christmas'!

Tom & Jerry's

Sorry it has been a while since I last posted, but we have been so busy having all sorts of Christmas fun that I haven't had time to sit down and update you all. Last Tuesday night we met some friends out at The Crystal and had our traditional festive Christmas drink. I was pregnant last year and could not enjoy one so I really loved having one this year. It was warm and delicious!
Eric and Sarah were not huge Tom & Jerry's fans, but that were good sports and tried to finish one!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Welcome Home Widrick's

Last night my favorite aunt and uncle and two cousins drove up from Maryland for the week. They do this every year and we have just started having them stop in Watertown on their way to Lowville so that we are able to spend some extra time with them. Last night was so much fun as always. Emily and Molly are so good with kids and Seth just loves to play with them. It was also their first time meeting Leah. We had pizza, wings and cookies and just sat around and caught up on life.

Seth couldn't wait for Emily to play the piano so that he could sing and dance along with her.

Even though my aunt had a broken tailbone, there was nothing stopping her from picking up Leah.

You can't tell because of the flash, but actually all of the lights in my Mom's house were off in this picture and there was only a flashlight on as Seth and my aunt recited "The Night Before Christmas".

PRICELESS MEMORIES!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Cookie Day '09

Every year my Mom and I make Christmas cookies and goodies and as the kids have been born we have added them to the mix. Seth really enjoyed himself this year and Leah took it all in and sampled a little bit here and there. Poppy Tom even came over this year and got into the action.
Getting ready to make Peppermint Bark.
Seth thought it was very cook to use his play hammer to smash the candy canes.
Leah was chilling with Poppy.
This is the outfit that Seth picked to wear for our cookie day.
Leah, you left a little chocolate on your face!
So attentive!
We decided to try our hand at making "white trash" this year.
In the end it turned out very yummy!
Sugar cookies!
Almost done, just frost and sprinkle!
We had so many sweets when we finished that I didn't even want to eat any. I wrapped a bunch up as gifts and to take to Christmas Parties!