We are Having a Flippin' BLIZZARD!

This is no ordinary Sunday, this to me is the Blizzard of '07! I have been documenting the weather through pics since 7:30am this morning and it just isn't letting up. There is no unecessary travel, but of course we had to go to Price Chopper so we took some great pics to and from the store. It was very dangerous, but amazing to be out in it! Ro has already plowed once and helped out the neighbors, but he will have to go out again IF it ever lets up. I'm thinking...SNOW DAY! So here are as many pics as this thing will let me upload!

7:30am

Rocky was not too crazy when I made him go out this morning!

11:00 am -Looking out into our backyard!

11:30 am- My Brave Snow Warrior!

1:30pm- Stupidly Driving Down Arsenal Street!

2:00pm- Picking up Grammy P who was going stir crazy at home! Grampy was shoveling like a champ!

3:00pm- Pic of my GOOFBALL Mom and how she actually leaves the house! We love her anyways!

So it is now 4:19pm and we are in for the night. We are completely stocked up on food. Ro made homemade pizza's for the Super Bowl. I am making a hot taco dip and I made homemade carrot cake as well as strawberries and pineapple with chocolate fondue! We will eat our hearts out, maybe I can even talk the hubby into starting a fire in the fireplace. I'm getting right on that!

Hoping everyone is home with loved ones, warm, and snuggly! We hope everyone is able to dig themselves out, but if you can't I can send my hubby over with his four wheeler, he will use any excuse to go riding!

Hot Off the Presses

I have been very negligent about posting recipes lately, but I have a brand new one courtesy of my friend Lori who hosted girls dinner at her house this week. Her theme was seafood and she made the best Seafood Stew along with sweet shrimp along with fresh veggies along with Heath Bar cheesecake along with homemade salsa and chips. I left a very happy woman! So here is her very easy recipe for the stew...

Seafood Stew

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.

Add cubed potatoes and turn to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Add a jar of spaghetti sauce and seafood. (she used shrimp and scallops)

Add 1/2 cup of white cooking wine,

diced peppers, onions, mushrooms, or anthing else you think might be good.

If cooking in a crockpot you can throw it all in together instead of boiling the water and such.

I haven't tried making it myself yet, but it is on the menu for next week. So Seth's newest word, a really tough one it's..... hi! I was on the phone with Ginger last night and he said hi into the phone, we both got a big laugh out of it. I was finally able to call and apologize for forgetting her birthday and she was apologizing to me for forgetting Seth's so we were even. She doesn't know it but I have a gift for her the next time I get to see her. SHHH don't tell!

Tonight we have to drop my car off to get a recalled part fixed and then I made corn and potato chowder, so yummy on a cold night like tonight will be! Plus BONUS... Grey's Anatomy is on and it's new!!!

Tomorrow night we need to show for Uncle J's birthday gifts and then on to the weekend of more birthday fun!

Obsessions

I have talked about many obsessions lately. Fountain soda, Panera Bread, make your own sundaes from Stewart's, homemade rice crispy treats, taking pictures... I have a brand new one. I went to a cookie swap in December and each person had to bring a number of items to the party, one of which was a bottle of wine. I decided to broaden my horizons and try something new so I tried a wine from the Finger Lakes called Red Cat. Now I just love it AND my sis-in-law Sheryl bought me the magnum bottle for my birthday. It is so great, but Ro likes it so I might have to hide it from him!!!
She gave me the bottle of wine in a gift bag with the best quote on it, it is my new favorite saying!

A real friend

knows

when to listen,

when to stop listening,

when to talk,

when to stop talking,

when to pour wine,

when to stop pouring,

and when

to just hand over

the bottle!

Speaking of REAL friends, I have been the worst this past week and I'm hoping that Ginger reads this. I am soooooo sorry that I completely missed your birthday. I took a look at my datebook today and said oh shit Ginger's birthday was last Friday. I apoligize 10x over. I could make many excuses for myself, but I won't. I promise to make it up to you!

That's about it for this bland Hump Day! Have a good one!

Party 'Til You Drop

Sorry for posting this late today. I worked at our BOCES scoring tests today. The good side of that was I was done at 1:30, went to Old Navy, and picked Seth up by 2 instead of 4! What a great day!

So I will back up a bit. Seth's big party was so great!!! The house was filled with all of our family, except for Justin, Krista and Luke whom couldn't be here! :( I just have to express how lucky I am to have parents that are divorced, but whom get along and can be at social events together. You would never even know. For that I feel truly grateful. So all the grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts/uncles/cousins were here and filled the house with chit chat and fun. Seth didn't know who to go to, so he milked it and took turns holding his arms up for someone/anyone to pick him up. I was also very impressed with how well he played with Lexy. It must be all the time spent with the kids at Pat's. They played so great together. Well, here are as many pics from the party as blogger will let me upload!

Seth's own cake, a mini Yankees ball!

Digging in to his cake. To quote my husband, he says to Seth, "Dig right in don't be such a girl!"

Ready to eat!

Presents, Presents, Presents! YIPEEE!

I'm sure that you can tell from these pics and all of the ones that I will post on our fotolog this week that we had just the best night. I think that everyone needed the boost in the cold and boring winter. Now we are on to my brother's birthday (tomorrow) and then my birthday next week. So basically we will be partying for 3 weeks straight and you won't get any complaints out of me!

Tonight I am off to my girls dinner for some food, wine, and good conversation! All Lori told us was that she was doing a seafood theme! Can't wait!

Paycheck

I have decided that I need to start depositing my paycheck directly to Kinney Drugs. We have been in that pharmacy more times in the past 2 months then I have in my entire life! Count it, I have my 4th sinus infection in 3 months. I am so flippin' frustrated with my nose that I want to rip it off! I think I made a record though, I could breathe for about a week and now I'm right back to breathing through my mouth! AHHHHHHHH! I went back to urgent care last night and talked with the doc about this problem. She said that the last med they put me on was the strongest, so this time she put me on one just as strong but for 21 days. She also suggested that I have a CAT scan done to see if there is a problem with my sinuses and if it is a chronic thing happening to explain why it doesn't seem to clear up. She wrote me a prescription to have that done at my leisure.

In other news, we are getting geared up for the big party. I took this afternoon off to make the ziti and get the house in order. Last night we dusted and vaccuumed. Then tomorrow we will decorate and finish up all the loose ends. I'm very excited to see everyone and have a house full of people. We love company!

Tonight we got Steph to babysit so that we can go out to dinner with Eric and Sheryl. We are going to Good Fellos and I can't wait to order my fried mozzerella salad and have a big glass of WINE!

Here's to a cake filled and family filling the house weekend! Pics to come!

Onward

Seth had a wonderful birthday and it isn't over yet. We still have the big family party on Saturday. He had a great time at Pat's yesterday. I sent cupcakes for he and all of the kids and asked Pat to take some pics with my camera, what she doesn't do for me! I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful sitter!

Seth with all of his buddies at Pat's

Seth wasn't so crazy about his cupcake AKA "the sticky round thing"

The whole crew enjoying their treats from Seth

Now I really need to get going on my report cards, but I'd just like to give a quick shout out to ALL of my family members and ALL of my friends that have been so wonderful to me this past year. It was the biggest change a woman can ever go through and I was sooooooooo very fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life to help me through all the trials and tribulations that have come with my man Seth. So thank you wonderful people, I am so lucky to have you all in my life.

PS: Make sure you go to www.fotolog.com/seth12306 for our photobooth picture from last night!

O-N-E

I have a quick minute before I have to get to work so I just wanted to wish my little/not so little man a HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY! We have already had many many phone calls this morning and well wishes on our fotolog so the day has started out with a bang! My grandparents called and sang to Seth in between their evident tears of joy. They are so great! Plus Grammy P and Papa/Grandma Charlton called to wish Seth a great day. I can't believe that when someone asks me how old my son is that I can finally say ONE! no more months, just one! Ro and I reminisced a little this morning, we were trying to retrace our steps a year ago. What a whirlwind day it was, but look at what we have now. I remember saying that I wasn't ever going to have another baby after the pain I felt and a nurse said, "you'll forget". I have forgotten and there will be another baby someday. Seth has to have someone to play with!

Tonight we are headed to the mall for our photobooth pic so stayed tuned tomorrow so our 1st photobooth pic!

Here's to many more photobooths, smiles, messy faces, and LOVE!

The Year of Tornado/Lovebug Seth

I'm writing this post a day early because I don't think I'll be near a computer tomorrow, I have to score the ELAs!

LET'S TAKE A LITTLE WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE...
One year ago today I had no cares in the world, I was as big as a house waddling around. I can remember this day so clearly. Ro and I had gotten up and gone to Longway's for breakfast, I got my typical order of home fries extra crispy and one chocolate chip pancake. After breakfast we stopped at Pepsi to run some reports and I felt like I had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't go. I'd sit there and nothing would happen. DUH, I was having contractions. So we went home and I rested, took a walk, and rested some more. I had contractions 10 minutes apart all throughout the night and at 8am I called the doc, went in for a check and we were off on our wild ride of a day and evening until Seth Patrick Charlton was born at 9:34pm!
Here is a year in review for our little man...
sponge baths, 1st doc visits, getting peed on, sleepLESS nights, walks in the stroller, outtings outside of the house, 1st Super Bowl and Daddy's team wins, Mommy turns 28, meeting cousins and friends, losing belly button cord, baths, Crissy Beanz, godparents, shots, big crib, growing out of diapers quickly, changing formulas, Pat's, more shots, Lusy is born, Mommy postpones going back to work, dunkin donuts, 1st cold, easter with Uncle Eric and Aunt Sheryl, Maya is born, laughing, Taste of the town on Mommy's front, SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT, visiting Colgate, Lexy turns 5, rolling over, more shots, cereal, jumperoo, sunglasses, hitting the parade circuit, Great Grandpa turns 80, Mother's Day, Father's Day, baby food, pool parties, Mt. Carmel Feast, Aunt Dayna graduates from WHS, Gilbert/Charlton Reunion '06, farmer's market, baptism, playdates with Maya and Lucy, letterboxing, hair trims, more shots, Harborfest, tub ring, storytime at the library, bumbo seat, big boy carseat, lowering crib mattress, crawling, cookouts, holding own bottle, Bravo Fest, Daddy turns 31, rashes, cider mill, pulling up, saying Mamma and Dadda, Storm is born, teeth, family pic, Halloween, duck, ear infections, striderites, new balance sneakers, flu shots, Christmas trees, Luke is born, trying milk, pizza and wings, mommy locks Seth in the car (oops), chicken nuggets, french fries, kisses and hugs, meatballs... I know there is so much more, but this is what came to my mind for the past year.

One a funnier note, we hadn't bought Seth any boots for the winter because he really doesn't need them, but we were at Target on Saturday and they were on clearance for $4.48 so I picked up a pair just in case he needs them. They are a tribute to Napoleon Dynamite and I know he will want to kill me in the future for making him wear them.

Throw Back Friday

I drove myself to work this morning because my carpool buddies took the day off so I was actually able to listen to the radio all by myself and sing for a change. One of the stations was having "Throw Back Friday" and only playing tunes from the 80's and 90's which is right up my alley. I was in my glory and laughing at some of the requests. If there had been a hidden camera in the car you all would have gotten a good laugh at my singing! Anyhow, he are some of the songs that people requested and I CHALLENGE you to think of your favorite 80's or 90's song and share it with me today!

* Heavy D- Now that We Found Love
* Right Said Fred- I'm Too Sexy
* Momma Said Knock You Out
* Spice- Girls- Wannabe
* Beck- Loser
* Vanilla Ice- Ice Ice Baby
* Bon Jovi- Livin' on a Prayer

I love old school music and I try to fill my Ipod with as much as I can.

We went to my Dad's last night for Sue's birthday meal and it was out of this world. He made tacos and homemade carrot cake. It was to die for! Tonight we celebrate my Gram's 79th birthday. My Mom and Tom are ordering Chinese and I can't wait! So basically we are eating our way throw the week and we love it! Plus I'm not doing the cooking and that is 10x better!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody and PLEASE post some good song titles so I can update my Ipod!

Blurry Thursday

I feel a little out of the loop today. Seth pulled a middle of the nighter and I'm feeling the burn this morning. Luckily I have 3 classes right now back to back to back and that will keep me busy and keep my tiredness off my mind for the next hour and a half!

Last night was pretty mellow in our house. I made this super bad for you chicken dish for dinner and it was delicious. You take chicken and marinate it in sour cream and worchershire sauce for an hour. Then, you bread it and fry it on both sides slightly. Last you bake it in the oven with a drizzle of butter over it. SO bad for you, but so good going down!

My mom stopped over to visit Seth. She was going through withdrawl after not seeing him for 4 whole days. He was loving having her chase him around and Ro and I loved the break. Mom, if you read this we are sorry that you left so upset. We don't want to move, or at least I don't want to move. We didn't mean to add to your stress levels. We'll see you on Friday for a big glass of WINE!

If just read that and are wondering... MOVE. Basically, Pepsi has and currently does have big plans for my husband. He has turned down 2 job offers already and there is a possibly of another one coming on the table in a few months that would require us to move to Albany. I will support my husband in any way that I can, but in the same breathe I have to say that I LOVE my job, I LOVE being close to both of my parents whom are wonderful to us as well as Roland's parents and the rest of our families, I LOVE our house (especially my new kitchen!!), I LOVE our friends and the friends Seth has made. So, I just try not think about this matter until I absolutely have to. So at least I have verbalized this and gotten it off my chest. I've been doing a lot of that lately and it is definately helping me to sleep better, when Seth lets me!

Funny story... One of my 5th grade students came to class on Tuesday wearing a Coke t-shirt and I harassed him all class about it, told him I wouldn't call on him, so on. He loved the attention. So he comes to class yesterday and he had made a poster that said "Pepsi Rocks!" and colored it with the emblem and everything. I hung it up and he had the biggest smile on his face. I love students like that, he is such a great kid!

My next goal for today is to start my report cards so if you don't hear from me tomorrow then you will know why, but I'll try to make time to check in! Have a great day everyone!

Inspiration

CALLING ALL BLOGGY FRIENDS... Alright, it is only January 16th, the dead of winter and I need some inspiration. I have never been one to love the winter. I don't love being indoors. I don't love the cold. Once Christmas is over I'm like alright, bring on the spring. I was feeling a little cagey yesterday being home all day. Seth and I even battled a minor ice storm just to get out of the house for a couple of hours. So if anyone has any suggestions for battling the winter blues please help a gal out! It is just a little over 2 months until the official start of spring and I think I'll start a countdown.

To add to my cagey-ness Seth has his 3rd ear infection in 6 weeks. EEEKS!!! So we are on yet another stronger antibiotic to try and get rid of this thing for good!

So I started this blog on Tuesday when I was feeling a little low and I have been thinking to myself, "don't let this get you down!" So I have decided to make a list of things to look forward to in the up coming warmer months and even yet in the weeks ahead! So here goes...

1. FINALLY going to SYR for a little shopping therapy this weekend.

2. TH night B-day dinner for my step-mom Sue

3. FR night B-day dinner for my Gram who will be 79!!!

4. Seth's 1st birthday, photobooth fun and party on the 27th!

5. Meeting my brother in SYR on 2/3 for his post-b-day dinner. He'll be 20!

6. The musicial Pajama Game will be put on at the TI High School in March! So excited about that!

7. Spring starts (officially/unofficially) March 22nd!!!!!!

8. Trip to DC in June

9. Trip to Lake George in July with The Gilbert's

10. Trip to visit Justin's new college as soon as the snow is GONE!

11. Visits with Seth's baby friends, Morgan, Storm, Maya, Delaney...

12. Going to story time at the library over Feb break!

So here I feel a little better already. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family and friend circuit that when I get down with the winter blues I need to STOP thinking about all the negetives and REMEMBER all the GREAT things I have in my life! I am truly lucky!

Winter Has ARRIVED

We are finally having winter, not that I'm super excited about it, but it has finally hit and is hitting hard. We are having a major ice/snow/rain storm and the ice is very thick. I am not a homebody so after being home all morning long Seth and I had to get OUT of the HOUSE this afternoon. Luckily I had a few errands to take care of and we battled the wintry mix together. We even stopped in to say hello to Ro at work.

Let's backtrack a bit to the weekend. Friday night we did absolutely nothing. Ro's Aunt AKA Godmother also and her friend Herbis stopped over for a visit and we exchanged Christmas gifts. Seth had a blast walking on the diningroom table, not sure why, but he was happy so we went with it! Saturday we made a surprise visit up to Lowville to visit my grandparents for a couple of hours. They don't get to see Seth all that much and they were so excited that we decided to make the short trip up. Then, Saturday night we went over to Mom and Tom's for Justin's good-bye/good-luck dinner. Tom made chicken parm and it was sooo good, not Gilbert good, but close!

Sunday we were supposed to make a trip to SYR to get all the supplies for Seth's big party, but needless to say we didn't go. It is a long story and I was pretty sad about not being able to go after I looked so forward to it. Hopefully we will be able to go next weekend. One week from tomorrow is Seth's birthday, it's crazy that he will be a year. It feels like yesterday I was bringing him home not knowing what the hell to do with him. Now he is a little man.

Doesn't this look just like a bobble-head doll?

Long Week

This has been an incredibly long week. We had our state tests this week and it was long and out of routine and I am so happy that it is over. Plus we have a short week next week so that is extra exciting. Roland is home from his trip and just in time for Seth to pull an all nighter cutting a new tooth. Poor little guy. Between an ear infection over the holidays and now more teeth he can't seem to catch a break.

I finally fed my chinese craving last night. Justin and Jaime came over and Ro was home in time to pick up the take out. It was sooooo good! Plus, Grey's Anatomy was NEW last night so I was extra excited about that being on after 2 months of reruns.

Roland brought home all sorts of new loot from his training in Albany. Pepsi jackets, pull over fleece sweatshirts, a Pepsi bag, and all sorts of new Frito Lay products. It was like Christmas all over again.

I think we will stay close to home tonight. We had hoped to finally exchange Christmas gifts with Brad and Krista, but they never called back so it doesn't look like that will happen. If you happen to read this give us a call so we can set up a time! Saturday we are going to my Mom's for dinner and Sunday hopefully we can get out of Watertown for a few hours and go to SYR for a change of scenery.

I'm sorry for another post without pics, but there hadn't been much to take pictures of unless you like rain and wet! Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

On My Own

Well Seth, Rocky, and I are on our own for the next 2 days. Ro is away on a business training in Albany for the next two days. If this morning is any indication we will be fine. Seth was wonderful this morning and not a tear was shed. YIPPEE, here's hoping!

Bonnie and Big Ro came over for a visit last night and could not get over how fun Seth is now. He can play and tool around the house and laugh. It is so funny to watch him now. Oh, I'm back to my bad Mommy ways though... I got to Pat's to pick Seth up on Monday and she said that they had an eventful day. I had forgotten his bottles. I am always forgetting something lately. Luckily she had a bottle that he took no problem. Today I double checked his bag before I left the house!

I bought my LAST canister of formula at Walmart yesterday!!! Do you know how happy that makes me? So happy!

Let's see, what else is going on... We are going to my Mom's for dinner tonight and I need to order Seth's birthday present today. Not that he will need it until May, but I'd like him to have it. Roland and I and the grandparents are going in on an outdoor gym for Seth for this summer. Little Tikes makes it and I can't wait for warm weather to see him on it!

Other then that we are just trying to stay warm because it has gotten hella cold in the past few days. Happy Hump Day to you all!

Catching Up

Well, my taste buds reappeared for a short time and have left again. I thought I was over the hump until I got to work today and realized that I was so insanely congested that I could hardly read a book to the kids. I called Ro up and asked him to come and get me. I went to Quick Med and they took one look up my nose and said YUCK! The inside of my nose was/is black because it is so infected. Once again I have a sinus infection so hopefully I am on the mend for a while now.

Let's back up a bit. Friday night we just needed to get out of the house so we went up to the mall for some socialization/food/browsing. I did end up finding my favorite perfume from the Gap on sale as well as a Napoleon Dynamite calendar 50% off, I was so excited! Ro also found the handle protectors he wanted for his 4wheeler. Seth tried chicken nuggets and french fries for the 1st time as well.

Saturday we did a little bit of nothing, but we took Seth to Stefano's restaurant for the first time. It is one of our all time favs. We asked my Mom and Tom and they were thrilled. Seth was amazing and we were even given free dessert from the owner to top off the night!

Sunday Roland went 4wheeling with the guys and we went to breakfast with Mom and Tom. Seth took a big digger on the floor and now has quite the bruise, but he is tough so he bounced back quick. Ro came home with a sprained ankle after falling off his 4 wheeler and having it roll on him. He is in rough shape and has some bad bruises. Will men ever learn?

That just leaves today which I summed up pretty quick. I hope to start feeling like myself by the end of the week. This weekend we have to celebrate Justin's good-bye/good-luck at his new college and we are going to take a trip to Syracuse for some change of scenery on Sunday. It's winter without snow so there isn't much to do. I long for spring and summer!!!

Reading Teacher?

My husband had to point out that my last 2 posts have had major spelling errors in them. So I better slow down, I am a Reading Teacher who teaches kids to read and write so I better practice what I preach!

Nothing much to write about today. It is rainy and gloomy out here and I still can't find my taste buds. We are going on 5 days with no smell or taste and I'm getting pissy about it! We have no major plans for the weekend. Ro might go 4 wheeling if the weather cooperates. We would also like to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to use a gift card given to us from Eric and Sheryl. We really need a new knife set for the kitchen.

I'd really like to go to Stefano's for dinner if and when I can taste again. Other then that it will be a low key weekend.

I have been thinking about Seth's big birthday and I am totally going to steal Nina's photobooth tradition and take Seth up to our new photobooth in the mall on his birthday and make it tradition every year!!!

Hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend with your kiddies and hubbies!

Sickness Free (Knock on Wood)

We are finally free at The Charlton household, free from sickness, runny noses, coughs, and all the other crud that was running through us! Hip Hip Hooray! Seth on the other hand has been waking up very very early in the morning. He will take a bottle and go right back down to sleep. I'm not sure if I'm not feeding him enough during the day, but how can I possible feed him anymore. He still takes 4 bottles plus breakfast, lunch, and dinner of table/baby food. If anyone has any suggestions please pass it on. He's been waking at like 5am. AHHH! He was sleeping until 6:30-7am.

What else is going on... Oh, I finished Seth's 1st Birthday cards with the help of my friend Erin Mayne (thank you soooo much!) and they turned out amazing! I can't wait to send them out to our family.

We had some company last night. Big Ro and Uncle J stopped over to play with Seth and chat so that was fun to see them both. We LOVE company so our door is always open!

I'm completely and utterly addicted to watching old episodes of One Tree Hill. Ro bought me seasons 1 & 2 for Christmas and I'm already through season 1 and halfway through season 2. So I will probably be asking for season 3 for my birthday! Everything has been reruns lately so it has been great to catch up on how the show started! So that is my latest addiction to add to the growing list. I also fed my fountain soda addiction this morning, but I haven't been to Panera in 1 week!

The good news is that Seth had FINALLY started to be cuddly. Thus far Seth has not been a cuddly baby, but he has started to hug and cuddle up and we LOVE it! So great to get a hug from the little guy!

Confessions of a Bad Mom

So I must confess that I have not been the most responsible Mom lately, thank God for Ro or else Seth would be in some rough shape. You are probably wonderful what could she have done....

Bad Mom #1:
Well, on Saturday the three of us went over to my Dad and Sue's for our belated holiday festivities. We had the car jam packed full with presents and all of Seth's gear for the day. Roland and I get out of the car at the same time, I go to get Seth out of his carseat and Ro heads to the trunk to get the gifts when we both realize that the doors lock automatically when you put the car in drive so I open my car door to unlock the rest of the vehicle but instead I lock the entire car up, Seth inside! AHHHHHHHHHHHH, bad Mommy! Luckily we on;t live1/2 mile from my Dad and Ro was able to jet home to grab the spare car keys.

Bad Mom #2:
I have been pretty sick with some type of cold for about 5 days now. Luckily I am on the homestretch if I could only get my taste buds back. If you see them tell them I miss tasting food and I'd like them back!!! Anyhow, back to my story. I went to Urgent Care on Sunday and they gave me 4 prescriptions. I only filled 2 because the other 2 seemed useless. After not sleeping for too many nights to count I finally asked Ro last night to fill the prescription for the cough medicine for the nighttime. No knowing that it has codene in it until I was taking it. Well, 1tsp knocked me out last night, enough to sleep through Seth waking up at 4am and not wanting to go back to sleep. I mean screaming! I heard him faintly, but I was out. Thank God for my wonderful hubby who took care of him and got him back to sleep.

So needless to say I have been a bad Mommy lately, but I'm blaming it on my stupid cold. Here's to cold free days and sleep filled nights for all of the Charlton's!

New Year's in Pics

We had some friends and their families over for New Year's Eve and we had more food then you can imagine. We had lobster, steak, salad, twice baked potatoes, and endless munchies. We were all stuffed and happy AND we managed to stay awake until midnight! That isn't something that we do too often anymore. So here are a few pics of our night...

Seth and Maya

Break Dancing to Vanilla Ice

Our Steak and Lobster Fest

Fancy Toasting China

We hope everyone had a fun night. Jaime if you read this, sorry about freaking about Seth's toy. Ro fixed it on Sunday so all is well with the world. We look forward to our next dinner at The Short household!

Back to work today and more importantly my friend Erin is back. Boy did I miss her and I am soooooooooo happy to have her back. We just gab and gab, BUT we do teach as well. She had a great first day back and they will continue to get easier for her.

I made chili for dinner but since I'm still super stuffed up I may not be able to taste it. I just took some Sudafed so here's hoping.

Thinking Back

So I was sitting here thinking about this year gone by and eventhough it had its ups and downs, sometimes it moved slowly, and other times quickly it has been quite a year.

A year ago today...
* Roland and I went out to dinner with my whole family because we had just found out that my grandfather who had been ill had been diagnosed with Chronic Pnuemonia. I was 8 months pregnant and very uncomfortable, but all I wanted to do was to be close to my grandfather. It was quite a scare for the family, but we have made it through and now he is better then ever happily drinking his Genny Cream Ales!!!

This past year...
* Seth was born and what a rollercoaster of emotions/smiles/cries/MAGIC it has been. I can't ever remember my life without him. I can't believe that in less then a month he will be 1 year old. It blows me away. He is a little man who walks and eats and smiles and laughs and learns new things everyday!

* My grandfather turned 80 years young and the WHOLE family gathered to honor him. I will never forget the plates and plates of frogs legs that he was eating when we arrived at his party. The man loves his frogs legs so truly enjoyed them that night!

* My father received the best news in the world, that he did NOT have Prostate Cancer. Someone up there is looking out for our family! We are so relieved and happy for him!

* My bestfriend Erin had a healthy little boy named Storm. After trying and trying and trying for 2 years she and Jason were finally blessed and I have never seen someone so in love with her son. Plus, Seth has a new bestfriend for life! Only 9 months apart!

* My brother made a tough life choice to leave his college and transfer to a new school. We are rooting for him and we hope that this school makes him very happy. We love you Uncle J!

* All of our parents have been the BEST grandparents/parents anyone could ever ask for. Their constant support and love had made this year so very memorable and we look forward to many years of new traditions and family fun!

* My husband my ROCK for being the most amazing Dad in the whole world. I have never seen someone so calm/cool/collected and loving and I am so blessed to have found him.

So I'd like to wish everyone out there a very Happy New Year's!

Panera

Have I expressed how in love I am with Panera Bread? We go there all the time for lunch, dinner, coffee, and take out, but the best part is that we got gift cards for there for Christmas. Thank you to my friend Erin and my brother for awesome gifts. We bought take out breakfast for Christmas morning and it was amazing. I have great things to say about all of their food and to top it off they have my favorite... Dr. Pepper fountain soda!!!!

Seth with Aunt Sheryl and Uncle Eric

In other news, Justin and Jaime came over for dinner last night and we exchanged gifts. He loved his gift of Lost Season One and Seth loved his mini baby tee ball set! He basically just loves to carry around the mini bat and ball and hit you on the head with it. I think that Ro and I will have more fun with it at this point. We are always making up games with Seth's toys.

Today Seth and I are on our own, Ro has gone back to work. We loved having him home on vacation, but all good things must come to an end, but the good news is, he only works for 2 days and then it is a 3 day weekend!!!! We are looking forward to our Christmas with my Dad on Saturday and our New Years get together with friends on Sunday night. We are having a steak and lobster dinner for the adults and something kid friendly for the little ones. It should be a fun evening!

Per Your Request!

I have a very close friend who has been going crazy because I haven't been posting my blog like I normally do. There are many many excuses but I won't bore you with them. I'm here and I will catch everyone up as best as I can!

Let's see where do I start. Seth got the second part of his flu shot a week ago Monday and I never really thought about it too much until this past Saturday when he came down with a raging cold/cough/snot/fever/HELL! So we have been trying to keep a very unhappy baby happy for the past 4 days and let me tell you it hasn't been pretty. Luckily our families have been very tolerant and very helpful. We took Seth to the docs this morning and low and behold, he has an ear infection. Here is the interesting part... The exact same thing happened to him after the 1st flu shot. So I basically think they are evil at this point and they only serve one purpose to make our holiday lives HELL! Enough of the negativity!

Our holiday festivities were wonderful and we ate/drank/gave/received with the best of them. We spent Christmas Eve at the Charlton's house and we had a great day! We spent Christmas morning home and afternoon/evening at my Gram's in Lowville. I don't know what Seth thought of everything. What I do know is that my son is INFACTUATED with ceiling fans, like crazy about them. Wherever whenever he just loves them, it's so crazy! We can be anywhere, church, Sam's Club, anywhere and he spots them. As soon as he enters my parents, Ro's parents, mt Grandparents homes he goes right to them. It is the crazied thing. So every place we went for holiday fun Seth was right by the ceiling fans the whole time.

My cousins and I on Christmas

As you all know, I bought Ro a 4 wheeler for Christmas, but I also bought him some little items. It was funny/weird though because I bought him a really nice pair or Nike Shox at the outlets. They are kelly green and navy, well he also bought me Shox, but silver and kelly green. So not only do we think on the same wavelength, but we are going to be one of those queer couples that match! AHHH!

Seth now has enough toys to keep him busy for the next year so I already warned (asked nicely) that he recieve not toys or clothes for his birthday, college money is welcome though!

Oh, that's what I forgot, we decided that we are doing a Yankees themed birthday party for him. Now, I know that The Gilbert's and The Keeler's are going to have something to say about that, but we are super excited for it!

Tomorrow we are having Uncle J and Jaime for dinner so I have to get cooking. I'm making Katie's famous Cheesy Chicken recipe, YUM! So I hope that this catches those of you who check this (JV) up for now! I promise not to take so long before the next post!

Advice

If I could ask all the Mamas that read this to give me some advice/ideas as I am a first time mom and I could use all the help anyone wants to give!

Please throw out some ideas for types of foods that I can send with Seth to the sitters. Breakfast foods and lunch foods that I can pack for him! He is very tired of the baby food and I think he is ready for a change, but I just can't wrap my head around it. I need to make a big list and have things on hand!

HELP PLEASE!

Updates and Thanks!

We took Seth back to the docs for his second flu shot on Monday and we scheduled an appointment with his normal doc so that I could ask he all my Mommy questions. We have come to the realization that he has allergies and so she said to continue with the Claritan until about March before bedtime. She also said YES, to start introducing milk slowly. So we started 2 oz. in each bottle for this week, next week 4oz. and so on. Once he masters the milk with no problem we will start to faze out some of the bottles. We are already down to 4 bottles a day. I tried giving him a small amount of formula in his cup, but he wasn't too thrilled. For me I just need to master one thing at a time. Milk then cups. He hasn't had much of a reaction to the milk, he takes it fine so here's hoping! Seth also lost a pound due to his busy busy nature. So that is an update on Seth.

Ro is doing great at work stealing all sorts of Coke accounts like a good little Pepsi Rep. He is also counting down the days until he can go 4 wheeling again! Ro and Seth went up to the mall last night and did some shopping for me, but mostly just to get out of the house while I had some girl friends over for dinner.

That leaves me, let's see... I had some friends over for dinner last night and tomorrow night we are having Katie over for dinner and gifts. I will be more then ready for a little vacation. The kids are crazy and I come home exhausted at the end of every day. I am very much looking forward to the holidays and all of the fun activities and events we have planned. I still need to finish up last minute gifts and stockings on Friday and wrap and I will be all set.

So I guess that's a wrap up for now! I'd like to say a special thank you to Nin for sending me mail love. I love the note cards and already used one on a friend. I'm also becoming obsessed with photo greeting cards like you. We got a ton this year and I run to the mail box when I get home to see what is inside!

Friends, Partying, and Cookies!

We had just the best holiday weekend that you could ask for. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends!

Friday evening Rich, Lori, Sydney, and Addy came over for pizza. We hadn't seen Addy since she was a day old and my how she has grown. What a great baby she is and too cute!

The Starr family is always so thoughtful and they brought Seth a stuffed Rocky. It is the best, I think that at this point I like it more then Seth does!

Saturday, Roland went 4 wheeling. you would have thought that I had given him a big wad of money, he was so excited. He went with 5 other guys from Pepsi and then rode for over 2 hours, came back muddy, and exhausted. They already have another date for next Saturday and Ro is counting down the hours until he can go again!

Saturday night was the Pepsi Christmas party. We had the BEST time! It was such a fun party with great people, great food, great music, great gambling, and great pirzes to be won! As you can see, the theme of the night was GREAT! We ended up winning a Pepsi Santa figurine (I'm collecting them) and a crock pot in the shape of a football. Yes, it looks like a football, I'm really not kidding. So, Super Bowl party will be at our house this year! We had a little too much fun so Mom and Dad were paying for it a bit on Sunday morning. I already requested that my mom watch Seth overnight next year in case we feel the same way come Sunday morning!

Sunday once the hangover subsided a bit my mom came over and we made our annual Christmas cookies. We made 4 different treats. We made Peppermint Bark, White chocolate covered pretzels, sugar cookies, and peanut butter cups.

Today is my school's activity day. I have to make the same craft with 5 different groups of kids throughout the day. I now know why I don't teach high school. It is so boring doing the same thing over and over. BUT, the kids are having a blast so that is all that matters.

Happy Happy Happy...

Happy 1st Birthday to our far away friend Joey Gilbert! Eat lots of cake and smush it in your face with frosting all over! We love you and can't wait to see you all next summer for our reunion/vacation in Lake George!

Nothing much to write about today. It's Friday and that is a positive thing. We have a very fun weekend ahead of us. Food with friends tonight, Ro is going 4 wheeling tomorrow and the Pepsi party is tomorrow night, and Sunday is our cookie day! Basically the theme for the weekend is holiday fun!

I really need to finish up my Christmas shopping it is still looming over my head. The good news is that the kitchen is OFFICIALLY paid for, the remainder of the bills went out today and we are bill free. Merry Christmas to us!!!!!

As I posted earlier, Seth has been all over the TV screen daily with his holiday commercial, well I finally saw the blooper reel today and it was so cute. You see Ro and my arms fixing him and trying to get him to sit up straight.

I almost forgot another bit of BIG news. My brother Justin has decided that he wants to transfer colleges so he went on some visits this fall and chose a school, an Ivy League school I might add and he found out on Wednesday that he was accepted, Justin will now be a student at Cornell University starting in January. We wish him all the luck and success in the world!

Right Around the Corner

I can not believe that Christmas is so close and I have so much left to do yet! It will get done so I'm not stressing too badly yet. My husband was like a little kid last night so excited about his new toy. He had to show me all of the parts and how everything worked. He might even go riding with some friends on Saturday morning. Go and have fun I say!

He looks like an alien doesn't he?

So after much consideration I have decided to take Seth back to the docs next Monday afternoon. He has had a cough and runny nose for well over a month now and after going to see 2 different PA's at my docs office and both telling me to try different things and neither of them really working well I want to see my actual doctor and I also want to discuss with her bottles/milk/etc. I trust an MD better then a PA and she has been amazing with me for the past 10 months so I trust her judgement. Hopefully Seth will be able to get his 2nd flu shot that day, but I'm not looking forward to it since the 1st gave him the cold and cough. AHHH! I know he will be sick for most of the winter, but I'd like to know if maybe it is allergies or what. I'm just happy to be seeing her and see what she thinks!

I finally snapped a picture of Seth's tree in his room. He is so funny whenever he gets all upset all you have to do is bring him over to any lit up tree in our house and he points to it and says his version of tree. It is priceless!

In other news, I was able to get together with my close friend Erin yesterday for lunch and we exchanged gifts. Being the thoughtful friend that she is, she got Seth a little gift and here is a pic of him checking it out. He loved hammering anything he could find last night.

Tonight we are running to Wally World for some odds and ends that I need for our project day at school next week and tomorrow night we are haiving friends over so bring on the fun!

A Whole Lotta Nada!

Nothing much new to report. We went to my Mom's for dinner last night and ended up putting Seth's toy from them together so he got a preview of his gift. I finally caved after 3 years and bought Ro his very own 4-wheeler with a plow. I'm sticking to my motto of "You Only Live Once" so what the heck. If you could see the look on his face when I finally said just go and pick one out, it was priceless! So lastr night he picked it up and was happy as a clam. In other news, the snow is all gone and the rain has come in. YUCK! Not that I'm a huge fan of the snow, but come on it is almost Christmas and having snow on the ground makes everyone feel a little more Christmassy!

Nothing on the adgenda for the next couple of evenings. We are having our friends Rich and Lori and their daughters Sydney and Addyson for dinner on Friday night. We haven't seen baby Addyson since she was a day old so we are excited to see how big she has gotten!

I just had a lunch date with my very close friend Erin and baby Storm. He is such a great baby and too cute! We exchanged gifts and she got me the most perfect gift, I think she read my mind... a Panera gift card. She is feeding my addiction and I love it! She also got Seth a workmans kit with a hard hat and tools, so fun! I made her a mother's bracelet and ordered her personalized note cards. I love to give gifts it is the best! I like to be creative and get out of the ordinary gifts or make them when I can!

So that is all that is going on today, sorry for no new pics. It is rainy and gloomy outside, but I'm trying to stay perky regardless!!!

Holiday Fun!

Well, the Charlton's had just a great weekend! Friday night we bundled up and headed to the mall just to get out of the house and poke around. Saturday early early morning we lost power so by 8am the house was starting to get cold and we decided to flee to Grammy's house where it was warm. We headed to Dunkin Donuts for some refreshments and then spent the morning playing at Grammy P's. In the afternoon, we headed to Super Walmart for groceries and supplies. Saturday night was my school's Christmas party. Steph babysat and did a wonderful job. The house was all picked up, dishes done, and Seth slept like a dream. We were so pleased!

Sunday we went to Panera for breakfast, yes Panera again. YES, I'll admit it, I'm addicted, I love it! But, in our defense it was our first time there for breakfast. Then we headed home because I had to get ready to head to Lowville for my Gram's Concert. My 78 year old Grandma sings in her community chorus and she is the oldest member out of 75 people. It was a beautiful concert and then my grandparents took us out to dinner.

My Gram is the 3rd in the 2nd row!

My Gramp, always the jokester!

For those of you who read this and live out of our area, below is a pic of Seth from his holiday commercial. It has been on numerous times this past weekend and we have heard from so many people how cute they think he is! Of course we are biased and we love it!

We have a busy holiday filled rest of December so I'll have lots to write about! We hope that everyone has gotten their Christmas cards from us and got a good laugh out of them!

Thank You's ALL Around

I'd like to thank my wonderful support network for all of your advice this week regarding milk, dairy, bottles, etc. I so appreciate all of your wonderful posts and emails regarding the issue. What would I do with you all? Thank you also for your kind words about our finished kitchen. It is like a dream. Looking back on all of the old pictures of that ugly kitchen and then looking at all the hard work we have put into this new kitchen we could not be happier. We are so very lucky!

Last night we just hung out at the house and enjoyed all of our decorations. Grandma and Papa Charlton stopped over to see the kitchen, but really to see the BIG guy. He was in play mode and all over the place. He is so funny now because he just wants to zoom around the house, but he has no perception as to what is on the floor. He never looks down and ends up walking over anything in his path. It is so funny.

Grey's Anatomy was a rerun (darn it), but the OC has made a comeback this season and it was great! We ended up watching our guilty pleasure (Nip/Tuck) that we had DVRed from Tuesday and that was amazing as always! The writers for that show are seriously dimented!

Tonight we will try and get a little more accomplished Christmas shopping wise and tomorrow is my schools party. We are having our first teenage sitter but I just know Seth will be on his best behavior (pray please!)

Baby Luke didn't come home yesterday because they both tested positive for Strep B, but they will hopefully come home today and start their new lives!

Have a great weekend all and remember if you read this please post me a HELLO!

TA DA!

I have 2 very large TA DA's for today:

1. We went to see baby Luke and he is just the cutest so here is a pic for the world to see!

My 2nd TA DA and very exciting news is that the kitchen is about 95% done, with just a few moldings and decorating to be done. Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure. I will have to do a before vs: after blog with all the pics.

New sink, faucet, and countertops


View into the breakfast nook where there was

previously a divider between the rooms

New stove, walls, lighting...

New Fridge

A little dark but you can get an idea

We are very excited and relieved to have this project done and over with, but super excited to entertain in our beautiful new kitchen! Nothing much else is new. I'm trying to get my Christmas shopping done and enjoy the rest of the season. I better go and do my job now! AHHH!

PS: I know that many people read this blog and only about three people comment, PLEASE if you read this let me know and drop me a comment! It is easy try it!

A New Addtion

No I'm not preganant, I know how your minds all work! BUT, there is a new addition to the Charlton family. Luke Allen Charlton was born this morning at 1am, he weighs 7lbs, and he has tons of hair. Roland and I will go up and meet him tonight after dinner and I hope to share some pics for your tomorrow. The Charlton family is just growing like a weed, adding new members everytime you turn around. BUT, don't look for another one from us any time soon. We are enjoying our little guy right now.

Sorry for no new pics once again today. The countertops were put in the kitchen and they look FAB, but it took my Dad and Ro a VERY long time last night to put the new sink/disposal back in and they were in fact still working when I went to bed at 9:30pm. So I took some pics this morning, but haven't had time to upload them. The suspense will have to last until tomorrow.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes out to my Dad for helping Ro with many of the tasks with this kitchen. We truly appreciate all that you do to help us out!!!!!!!!!!

Other then the new baby and the kitchen completetion our lives are finally going to slow down. Thank you to all my mama friends who either posted a comment or emailed me about the milk situation. I agree and I wasn't going to start with milk until a year so I think I will try their other suggestion though and introduce yogurt and see how he reacts. Another comment I forgot to add was that he also said to stop all bottles by 1 year. I know that I am a first time Mom but I also know that Seth isn't going to be ready to give that up completely in a month and a half. He wasn't our regular doc so I'm not taking what he says at 100%.

No Pics Today

Sorry fellow bloggers, family, and friends but I have no pics to share today. They have been taken, but I haven't downloaded them yet so I'll just do a little catch up for today.

Roland and I took Seth to the docs this am for his 10 month developmental testing and he passed with flying colors. It was interesting to see what they were looking for and what he should be doing at 10 months. They played ball on the floor, picked blocks out of a cup and clicked them against each other, picked up Cheerios, moved to sound and other types of things. He did well. Then, the doc came in and gave us some ideas as to what to do about his constant runny nose and cough that has latched on for the past 3 weeks. So we will try some of their suggestions and hopefully something will work.

I'm going to need some advice from my blogger moms and or friends that read this. The doc briefly mentioned that we need to start adding milk slowly to his formula to introduce it and we were in such a hurry to get out of there that I didn't ask him specifically for directions as to how to do this. So if anyone can give me directions as to how you go about doing this, please help me!

Our countertop is supposed to be installed today, but Ro called at about 1pm and they hadn't been there yet. I'm sure that it be done when I get home. I'm very excited to see the whole kitchen put together.

There isn't a great deal of excitement this week. Once the kitchen is done we can finally relax in the evenings. We do have a Christmas party to attend this weekend and we are having our first teenage (19) babysitter so I'm a little leary. I'm sure that everything will be fine. You take for granted having the grandparents babysit because they just know exactly what to do and you don't have to write out endless notes. Anyhow, it should be a fun night.

Well, sorry for no pics, but here is the latest update!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

...to get our Christmas tree we went! Saturday we packed up the Jeep, our warm clothes, and brought along Grammy and Grandpa Puccia to go to Hemlock Haven for the very first time to cut down our very own Christmas tree. Well, the weather ended up being too cold to take Seth out on the tractor so Ro watched Seth and I went out with my Mom and Tom and picked out our tree. It was hella cold out there so it was a good thing we didn't bring Seth, he would have froze. I felt badly though, it felt strange being out their without my men.

My Mom and I on the wagon heading out to the trees

Our tree as it is being cut

It's down!

This tree farm had quite a system to make sure that you got the tree that you had picked out or so they thought, unfortunately they lost the tree that my Mom and Tom picked out. So basically they froze their butts off to pick out a tree and it got lost. Always their luck! So they ended up just picking one out back at the shop and when they got it home they realized that it basically looks like a Charlie Brown tree. We'll always have a story to tell though about our first experience getting a tree with Seth.

Sunday Ro did the finishing touches to get ready to have our countertops installed TOMORROW! So now all we have to do tonight take the new sink out of the box so that they can cut the correct hole. I can't wait to have running water in the kitchen again, I'm more excited about this then Christmas at this point!

Tomorrow we go for Seth's 10 month developmental testing so that is exciting so see what he does and how he compares to others his age.

Oh, before I forget, he is a pic, it's not a great one, but of Seth's battle scar from his fight with Hanna at the sitters. Thank god she didn't drawn any blood.