Introducing...

...the NEWEST member of our family, The BOB Revolution Duallie Stroller AKA the best flippin' thing I have ever bought!We went for our first walk today and at this rate I will be back to my pre-preggo weight in no time. Leah slept the whole time, so she approves and Seth talked minimally. My mom and I walked out little hearts out. Bring on the good weather and we will walk daily! Thank you to my hubs for letting me buy this amazing stroller! You rock!

The funny part is that the Voss' have the same stroller, but in orange so we could walk around SU campus and fit right in together!

Maple Days

Saturday was the most beautiful day we have had so far this year so we took full advantage of it from the moment we woke up until it was dark outside.

First, we headed to Fort Drum to Maple Days. Our friend Rod works for the Forest Management Program and they were teaching and showing how maple syrup is made. It was the perfect opportunity to learn something new and be outside in the beautiful weather.

The kids were excellent listeners.Beautiful walk in the woodsTasting fresh maple syrup.

After Maple Days, we took the opportunity to have a picnic lunch outside and while the kiddos napped Roland and I worked our butts off outside. I raked and shoveled snow off our front lawn and Roland painted, hung new shutters and hung a new flag bracket. We finally feel like we are starting to get caught up around the house.

In the evening we had friends over for dinner and the kids enjoyed the weather and played outside some more. It was an amazing spring day and we can't wait for many many more just like it.

Spring is here, break out the scooters finally!The kids even wanted to eat outside.

Leah was so tired from all the fresh air she got all day long.

Friday Fav's List

I have officially been on maternity leave for 3 whole weeks. It is really hard to believe as the time really has been flying by. I can honestly say that I am not sleep deprived at all and we have all adjusted beautifully! So today I'm making a week in review, Friday Fav's list...

~ Play dates with friends at McD's on cold spring days.

~ How much Seth LOVES our cleaning lady Marion and wants to help her clean and just chat with her.

~ Girls days with Leah while Seth is at Pat's.

~ My lunch date with Jen on Tuesday while we scarfed down endless bowls of chips and salsa at a local Mexican restaurant as we chatted face to face and not via text!

~ Getting my haircut by my sister as Seth and Sue played rock band downstairs. PRICELESS MEMORIES!

~ Taking both kids to Target successfully and rewarding Seth with a little treat after in the cafe.

~ Typing right now one handed as Leah checks out her new surroundings in my arms.

~ Making Easter crafts with Seth, watching the excitement in his eyes as he cuts and glues.

~ Getting little gifties in the mail just about each day this week. We are so loved!

~ Having dinner made for us once again! Thanks Kristen!

~ Visits from out of town family members. Thanks for the visit and the gifts Aunt Sharon!

~ Hearing that one of Ro's Aunts is getting married to the nicest man after being a widow for many years. Congrats Aunt Jan we are sooooo happy for you! Herbie is so great!

~ Feeling overly grateful for everyone in our life. Thanks to everyone who comes to visit us weekly (sometimes daily, you know who you are!!), who text me daily to check on me and who want to get together with us on the weekends and brave the fussy time of the night. We are so lucky!

~ That it is Friday and Ro will be home with us for two days of fun!

~ That my hubs is letting me buy a ridiculously expensive stroller so that Seth can be comfy in it and not have his legs up in his chest. Love you Ro!

HERE IS TO 9 MORE WONDERFUL WEEKS OFF OF WORK!

Bring on the WARM weather!

Love it!

I guess since not everyone responds to the blog I have never known who truly reads it, but since Leah has been born more and more people are responding who I never imagined read it and for that I am so excited! Thank you to everyone who reads my creativity outlet and loves us enough to let us know you are there! Also to those of you who we know read it, but can't quite figure out how to comment!

Happy 3 week Birthday to Leah today too!

Bewitching Hours

Dear Bloggie Moms-

I'd like to know who invented the bewitching hours for babies? Seth had them and Miss Leah sure has them, but WHY? All day long, we sleep, eat, poop and play a little, but there are no hour long screaming sessions and the day is pretty relaxed. It is like a switch is flipped and our sweet little girl changes when the sun goes down. There is very little we can do to soothe her so we take turns walking and rocking and trying everything in our brains to make it stop! I don't know if she is sleeping too much during the day and early evening or what. I'm the kind of person who figures things out, fixes them and then moves on. Or so I desperately try to. So at this point I'm not sure if we are doing something wrong or if it is just a phase and will pass. If, so hopefully soon. I'm beginning to hate that word phase! I realize that it is a phase, she will get bigger and grow out of it, but if any of you have gone through this and I know you have, you will agree with me that it royally stinks and that is putting it politely! So for today, just writing about it makes me feel a tad bit better, but when it does pass I will feel worlds better! Here is to scream free evenings!

LUCKY

Could I be any luckier? Seriously, even when we have rough moments, I realize that I am the luckiest woman in the world. I have a wonderful and supportive husband and two happy and healthy kids.

Today is all about organizing the house and cleaning up the toy room. Marion, our cleaning lady is coming to scrub the house so I took the opportunity to do some organizing early this morning while Leah hung out on the floor and watched her crazy mom! We are heading to McDonald's in a bit for a play date too!

Lucy's Birthday

Yesterday we drove to SYR for Lucy's birthday party at Syracuse Tents and Events. We were all very excited to see what this place had in store for us and it did not let us down. It was by far the most amazing place to hold a birthday party as I have ever seen. Seth had so much fun and his cheeks were beat red from all the playing that he did. Actually, Roland had a blast too, he got in on the jumpy action too! Leah on the other hand, slept the whole time and missed the party entirely!

The largest jumpy we have ever seen!Slide Racer JumpyDino Jumpy!Action Shot of SethRoland was "helping"(having more fun is more like it!)Group ShotAfter Leah's bottle she went right back to sleep

On the way to Babies R Us we drove through the ghetto and had to take a picture of this wonderful little establishment!

We had a great day, enjoyed the party a ton and bought our double stroller on the way home. We even walked over to the playground and met MJ last night to play. Now, today on the other hand we are a little mad because we have awoken to SNOW on the ground. YES, snow! That is not part of the plan now, it is spring, we don't want any more snow! If we could possibly put in a request it would be for 50 to 60 degree weather for the spring!

Crafty Mom

I'm not always the craftiest mom, but I would like to be so we have been doing all sorts of pre-schoolish things this week at home!

I'm trying to make Seth's time at home with me as exciting as I can and I'm trying to take this extra opportunity to teach him a few things too. We went to Pre-School story time at the library and he loved it. Since he is now 3, he is old enough to go to the older story time where they not only listen to stories and sing songs, but they also get to do a craft at the end. He LOVED it!

We also finally got out the scissors and started practicing cutting for the first time. It was an interesting experience trying to teach a 3 year old to cut (god love you Mom for what you do daily!), but we are improving and learning how to hold the scissors. He was pretty proud of himself and so was I. We will keep trying!

Way to go Seth!

2 Weeks Old

Can I just say holy crap!! I can not believe that Leah is 2 weeks old today. If this is any indication of how quickly she will grow up, I don't like it at all. I don't know where the last 2 weeks went. We have had lots of visitors, outings and family fun! Keep the visitors coming too because we do get lonely and love the company!

Uncle Justin has been home this week also and we have been spending a ton of time with him and loving every minute of it. We have seen him almost everyday and will miss him so much when he leaves on Sunday!

1st Day Alone w/o Seth

Tuesday Seth went back to Pat's for the day and at first the house was far too quiet, but then I realized that for a little while it was a very relaxing quiet. Leah and I had a very fun day. We got some chores done around the house, ran to Walmart for some odds and ends and then met Justin for lunch at Panera followed by a recheck at the doctor for Leah. She has gained weight so we are extremely happy about that. We don't have to go back until she is a month old now! Today we are headed to story time at the library for Seth and Justin is coming for dinner tonight! Another fun filled, work free day for us.
This pic was taken on Monday at Jacob's. Lee chose to eat with the boys so I had to take a pic of the 3 boys.

Almost Spring

We have had a serious case of spring fever around here. When the temp reaches above 40 degrees you would think that you gave us Northern New Yorkers a million dollars. People wear shorts, no coats, etc. Anyhow, we have been soaking up as much fresh air and sun as you can possibly imagine.

On Sunday we broke out the deck box, the picnic table and all the bikes and we were outside for the longest time. It is amazing how the weather can lift your mood right up.

I even bundled Leah up in her snowsuit and put her in the front carrier and went for a walk. It was the best. This weekend we are heading to SYR for a birthday party and stopping at Babies R Us to purchase our double jogging stroller. I can't wait to get outside daily with both kids!

Yesterday we had a play date at Jacob's house and Lee spent over an hour outside with the boys, taking hikes and riding bikes. Seth had the best time!

Today Seth heads back to Pat's for the first time since Leah was born. We want to have him go at least once a week to stay in the routine or he will never want to go back. Leah and I have a lunch date with Justin and a re-check at the doctors this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be warm again so we plan to get outside this afternoon too!

What Grandparents Put Up With

My brother Justin is home on his very last spring break from college as he will graduate in May. Last night we had Justin, my Mom and Tom over for pizza as well as to see the kids and hang out. (Wow, when I say "kids" now it seems strange!!) Anyhow, it is too funny what grandparents will do to make their grandchildren happy. My brother was up in Seth's bed for heavens knows how long just playing Laurie Berkner, My mom was Bob the Builder, while holding Leah and I'm not sure how, but Tom avoided any major embarrassment last night but I'm sure his time will come. We had a great night and an extra thank you goes out to Tom for treating us all to pizza, wings and salad. It was delicious! Today, Leah and I are going to Beth's for a girls day AKA a purse party with some of the girls. We hope to find a cute new spring/summer purse to tote around.

1st Doc Visit

Yes, you read this correctly, we had to go to the docs this morning and it has only been one week. Poor little Leah has been having a tough tough time going to the bathroom and she has been awful fussy. Not like her sweet little self at all. I called her doc this am and described her symptoms and he wanted to see her right away. I was almost relieved because I didn't want to go through the weekend with this looming over our heads and her belly. She is definitely constipated and he listened to her belly and described it as "rumbling". So we have a new plan of action and hopefully it will relieve the pains in her belly and get her back on track ASAP!

Seth was the most amazing little boy as he tagged along with me on my first outing with the two kids without Ro. He was so well behaved and cute as can be. While we were in the exam room with the doc he remembered that Dr. Onkinko likes to give out stickers and he kept whispering to me that he wanted to ask him something, so when given the chance he politely asked him if he could please have a sticker. It was priceless. So here is a pic of my polite little boy who was soooo happy to get some new stickers.

1 WEEK

At 11:09pm tonight Leah will be 1 week old. What the heck? Where has the time gone? I could say that we are in a sleep deprived state and can't focus, but that is an utter lie. We have actually gotten more than enough sleep and I don't want to jinx it, but things are going really well.

It is totally hard to believe that one week ago I was on my way to work without a care in the world. I started having random contractions throughout the day, but that hadn't been anything new to me. I left work early with all sorts of notes all over my room "just in case" I didn't return. I had a 2:50pm appt and then my world turned upside down. It was a complete whirlwind and our Leah arrived later that evening. I never imagined she would make her debut in such a timely manner, but I give her kisses every day in thanks for such an easy delivery.

Now, one week later we are a family of four. Roland and I are such a great team and we tackle day to day life together. We have gone on little outings each day this week and I am probably gaining weight instead of losing it due to all the yummy food we have been given. Oh well, as soon as I heal fully I'll be out and walking like the old Jen.

Different

So far we are noticing that Seth and Leah are very different babies, BUT, I also think that I am a very different Mommy! Roland is, has and will always be a very relaxed person. He has been blessed with that wonderful trait. I, on the other hand am not, BUT I feel so much more relaxed this time around and I'm loving every minute of my time with my kids. I'm very excited about each and every milestone and I want her to grow very slow. Seth has been a rock star big brother and such a huge helper too!We have had a huge out pour of love and support too. At this rate I will not lose any of this baby weight any time soon either. We have been fed like kings on a daily basis and not had to cook at all. We have no idea why we even grocery shopped at all this week it all went right into the freezer. We are truly blessed to have so many special people in our life!

LEAH

As most of you know we kept Leah's name top secret. Too many opinions and such! We love her name and didn't want anything to spoil it. Anyhow, we ordered the letters for her wall about 6 weeks ago and couldn't wait for them to arrive. Well, low and behold, they arrived on Thursday just as we were headed out to the hospital. If that isn't good luck I don't know what is!

This pic was taken right after we got home on Saturday and Leah was pooped from the 1 minute car ride home!

I have to upload some of the latest pics taken from the past 2 days at home. We also had our first family outing today. We went to the docs and to Target for supplies. Both went off without a hitch!

We are COMPLETE!

After a whirlwind pregnancy and birthing experience we are home and adjusting well to the wonderful change in our lives.

I would have to say that my pregnancy was not the easiest. Leah was a very busy girl inside of me and when I say that she wanted out quickly, I am NOT kidding you! I won't go into the specifics, but we arrived at the hospital around 5pm, texted my way through the evening and pushed her out in 3 minutes flat at 11:09pm. I am so grateful that it was quick, not painless by any means, but I will take quick any day! She came out so quick that it was surreal. After pushing for two and a half hours with Seth, this was the best gift anyone could have ever given me.

We had an amazing out pour of love on Friday at the hospital. We are truly fortunate to have a wonderfully supportive family and network of friends. If I am counting correctly, we had over 20 people come to visit Leah. She is going to be one lucky little girl with so many people to love her.

We are home now and adjusting. After 2 years with no bottles and a year with no diapers we laugh at how inexperienced we feel at times. It is like riding a bike and coming back to us quickly though. Roland and I are a terrific team and we are working together on every aspect of our daily lives now. I am so lucky to have him.

I have a ton more pictures that I will post throughout the week as well as a couple of videos. You can also check out fotolog for daily pictures. (www.fotolog.com/seth12306)

We would like to welcome Leah Elizabeth Charlton. She arrived at 11:09pm weighing in at 7lbs. 11oz. As soon as we can we will upload photos and more specifics.

39 weeks

Sorry, but this is NOT small! The lady who owns a local restaurant in Clayton told me this morning that I was tiny. I laughed in her face!

Quick Seth story... Wednesday night I was on the floor and I was trying to put some lotion on my feet, so I said to Seth, "Do you want to help put lotion on Mommy's feet?"

His response was as honest and considerate as he could be..."Um, No Thank you!"

Roland and I laughed so hard!

Taking Bets

Alright, so the waiting waiting waiting has begun and I'd like to take some bets on when you all think that Miss Charlton will arrive? Now PLEASE don't be cruel.

My actual due date it on Monday, March 9th. I was 2 weeks early for Seth, but we have far passed that so it looks like she is pretty happy in here.

When do you think she will make her debut???

If you read this you HAVE to comment.

No ifs, ands or buts...

Good Things...

The weekend was full of so many good things that I feel the need to share and spread the goodness.

* Friday nights dinner which included... homemade buffalo chicken pizza, pepperoni with fresh broccoli and pepper pizza, salad with plum tomatoes and avocados (new favorite salad item) and Newman's Own Dressing and chocolate covered strawberries and pineapple for dessert.
* Boys trying to play Rockband and making us all laugh and laugh and laugh.
* Listening to monotone moms try to sing.
* Seth trying to say the word Velocity, but it coming out more like Venosoleeeee. It puts a smile on your face instantly.
* 3 hour restful little boy naps as he catches up from his week, all afternoon on Saturday.
* The satisfaction my hubs gets when he is working on a project that he truly enjoys. He is currently working on the new back deck steps and planning for the new walkway and patio.
* Saturday nights dinner which included... chicken parm, garlic bread, tossed salad with tons and tons of good veggies packed in and once again Newman's Own Dressing. Also extra delicious because I didn't make any of it and it was eaten with great friends.
* Little souls watching and dancing to Mama Mia.
* Reinventing my blog as I reinvent myself here soon! After 2 glasses of high-test Pepsi and four hours of working on it I am pretty proud of the outcome. I hope that each time you check it a different song comes on and makes you happy!
* Sunday eats... breakfast at Longway's grease pit where I always order the exact same thing... 1 chocolate chip pancake and an order of home fries. Not so good for you, but who cares it tastes amazing! Sunday night eats... homemade chili, orange cream fruit salad and fresh Panera bread. Do you see a food pattern for the weekend???
* Numerous texts throughout the weekend from friends and family waiting and wondering about the arrival of Miss Charlton.
* Purchasing the babies brand new baby book and anticipating all the wonderful things that it will be filled with. First moments and pics...
* Talking with my little bro as he shares the good news that he is going to have a short story published in an over seas magazine. Way to go Justin we can't wait to see it in print!
* Hearing that my hubs was given YET another award from Pepsi, but even better than last weeks award. He was named the #1 FSR in his region! Way to go honey we are always so proud of how hard you work!
* Receiving a special care package from our favorite MA friends The Gilbert's. We loved every item in our special box. Thank you so much!
* Hearing Seth's new famous line..."I have a secret to tell you.... I LOVE YOU!"

I hope that your weekend was equally full of GOOD THINGS and if it was please share and spread it around!

NEW LOOK

I hope that you like the new look of the blog because it took forever to set up, figure out and tweak. I'm still not done, but it is definitely jazzier and I love it! I hope that you enjoy it too!