Winter Wonderland

It snowed again here in Cleveland today. I think it's been snowing for a week straight now, unbelievable. It has snowed so much this week even I got the snowblower out and used it all by myself. {You should have seen Garrett's face when I told him I was going to use the snowblower. He said "YOU MAMA?" with a little smirk on his face}
So out the boys went again this morning to snowblow not only ours, but 2 maybe 3 other neighbors out from the snow we are getting. Ugh! Cleveland winters are so much fun! :)

Christmas in New Hampshire

We were in NH for Christmas and New Year's this year (as we have been every year)it was a lot of fun. I took a million, well actually I took 841 pictures while we were there. I will not post all of them but I will post a bunch from different days we went out and had fun. Christmas was great. We spent it at my sister, Rita and her husband Oliver's house with their 2 kids. They are just so funny with Christmas and get sooOOoo excited about it that it makes me laugh every year. A true delight of the day. Garrett really seemed to 'get it' this year. He knew Santa was coming and when Alex woke us up (at 7:30am this year not 5am yipee) Garrett yelled "Mama get up. Santa came to see us"! The presents were opened once again in record time and everyone was happy with what they got. My parent's came over in the morning to see everyone too. My parents and other sister and family came over later in the morning. We had not seen them since we arrived in NH so it was great to see them so early in the morning! It was a great Christmas.


We used to have a tradition of the whole family (cousins included) going skiing on December 26th when we were growing up. We have now started up this tradition again since all of the kids are old enough to go now. We even put Garrett on skis this year and he LOVED it. He was particular about his helmet color and did not want to start on the kiddie slopes. Nope not my child. He wanted to ride on "that" he said...yup, the chair lift. First time on skis, he could stand and that's about it, and up he went on the chair lift to the top of the mountain. My brother-in-law was so nice and took him down the slope with Garrett between his legs holding on to the ski pole. It was such a moment in my life that I almost started crying. Garrett had a smile from ear to ear.

Another day we went bowling. It was fun and something we have done a couple of times with all the kids. Garrett had no interest because he liked the arcade much better.


New Year's eve was great fun too. Wolfeboro (the town my family lives in) puts on a great First Night. We started the day out with face painting and then went to see a couple of shows. One was a drumming group and the other a juggling show. We made masks and Garrett had his face painted with a butterfly. It was so cute. Then we went to the parade and fireworks. This was Garrett's first time seeing actual fireworks so he was very excited.

Once again we had a wonderful time and everyone gave us great hospitality. Home cooking from both Mom's and visiting with our family is always so nice. We miss you all already and can't wait to see you again soon.

Time Flies!

We have been out of town visiting our families for the last 10 (or more) days in New Hampshire. I have lots and lots of photos and stories about our trip...but I wanted to share this picture. Garrett was so excited to meet Santa. We walked in to where Santa was sitting, Garrett handed me his hat and mittens, walked right up to Santa {with hand on hip} and says "What are you doing here?" It was the 22nd of December and Garrett knew Santa was suppose to be at the North Pole working on getting all those toys ready to be delivered... You just never know what is going on in that head of his! :)

more to come soon! Happy New Year!

Sweet baby

I took some photos of my friend's new baby a few weeks ago to try to get some practice. I thought this one was really cute with him yawning in the background. :)

Christmas Photos

Today Garrett and I went out in search of the perfect place for photos. He thought we were going to a modeling gig but we were just going to get photos for me! :) I was going to go to this school which has a bunch of cool stone buildings but instead went to this 'farm'? That is part of Case Western University. We had a lot of fun. A snowball fight and running through the snow getting soaking wet and freezing cold. He was a good sport through and through. We had to sit with this hands on the heater in the car for a while before we left but it was worth it...I got some really cute pictures of him!

Thanksgiving fun!

Thanksgiving was a great time. My sister, Rita, and her family and my sister-in-law, Susan and family came out from NH to visit for the weekend. Everyone arrived on Wednesday. The turkey came out great {if I do say so myself} I brined it in the Williams Sonoma Buttermilk Brine this year and boy was it juicy! I highly recommend brining the turkey if you never have. :) Everything else fell into place and came out right on time and was perfect. We all ate until we were stuffed and couldn't eat anything else...except a second helping of pumpkin pie.
The guys got up early {6:00 am} and went out to Best Buy. The funniest part of this tradition that formed a couple of years ago is that they never buy anything! and again this year they came home empty handed. Alex is not in on this and can't wait to get up and go either. And he's 10!
The girls went out to our usual places going to all the stores they don't have in NH. And we all met up for dinner at the favorite spot California Pizza Kitchen.
Everyone left early on Sunday morning-- before 7am -- and we got up and put away all the fall decorations, cleaned and I brought out the Christmas stuff. It felt like such an accomplishment until we all fell asleep for an afternoon nap! We had a great time and can't wait for next year!

Garrett is 3!

Last month our baby boy turned 3! I know it sounds so cliche but I can't believe 3 years have already gone by. This little guy was so small when we brought him home from the hospital {4lbs 10 oz} and we were both so amazed at every little moment with him. From the little cries to the feeding times, to just staring at this new life we had brought into the world. I wasn't the kind of person who doesn't like the infant stage. I really liked it. I didn't mind getting up at night to feed him. He was so easy. He ate his 2oz. and went right back to sleep. It was so amazing to me. :)
Fast forward to today-- and he's 3! Whoa. We are both still amazed at this full of life little boy! The list is endless of the things I could say about you so I will list a few things about you:
1. Your smile is wonderful
2. Your giggle is infectious
3. LOUD {this boy is} LOUD
4. He LOVES motorcycles
5. Rough.
6. Tough. (but sensitive)
7. ALL BOY!
8. Loves to read
9. Dances up a storm
10. Loud
11. Loves Steve the Cat
12. Loves doing anything with Daddy
13. Doesn't mind going to Target with me! {sometimes}
14. Loves to play with his friends and shares with them too!
15. did I mention that he is LOUD
16. Is a dream sleeper!
17. Beautiful inside and out
18. Loves to help out
19. Curious George Rocks!
20. You say the funniest things!
21. You're so smart!
22. Loves to draw
23. Wants to love Jack the Cat
24. Loves orange juice and snacks
25. Can put his own shoes and coat on
26. Feeds the cats
27. Likes going to Costco for the free samples
28. LOVES being outside
29. Shows off his muscles
30. Super Fast
31. Super Cute!
32. Mama's baby
33. Oh how I love this little Boy!
Happy 3rd Birthday Buddy! xoxoxo