We are going to a few different farms tomorrow to look at ponies in hopes of finding one for Liam.

More on this later....

It is so flipping awesome to have a potty trained boy!!!

I have the hardest sleeping kid in the world!!

When he sleeps, he SLEEPS!

Now, he does still wake 2-3 times a night (as well he should, light sleep periods and even wakeful times during a sleep cycle are extremely important to the developing child's brain. Especially from birth through the age of three. *This Public Service Announcement is brought to you by the letter Y*) but god help you if you have to try to wake the kid when he doesn't want to be wakened. 

Just now I was reaching across him as he was napping and spilled the tall glass of water I was holding all over him. And he did nothing but rub his face, moan a quiet "Noooooooo" and roll over! :p

Goddess....I remember reading about an incident just like this in one of my grade school HISTORY(!) books.

Today I was really struck by a visual reminder of just how little Liam still is.....how far he has yet to go.

Matt took of his wedding ring last night and set it on the dresser while he went out to rotate the tires. I found it while Liam and  I were dusting this morning and so I handed it to him to hold for a bit. He loves pointing  out our "ings" to us daily, so I thought it would be fun to let him wear it for a bit.
What I didn't anticipate however was the gutteral emotional reaction that I would have to seeing the ring I placed on my husbands hand the day we took our vows so big upon my little sons thumb.
I teared up immediately looking at his small soft fingers so carefully rubbing his fathers ring. They are such a stark contrast to Matt's strong, big, weathered hands. 

I've been thinking all day about how quickly two years has passed. And how everyday I can see more and more of the man he's going to become. A man so very much like his daddy.

So brave. SO brave! Strong, compassionate, introspective, observant, outgoing, FUNNY!
I could, of course, go on and on :) 

How lucky I am to be entrusted with his care and keeping as his tale unfolds.

Sorry for such a dark picture :P
It was a great way to celebrate the fourth(along with the zoo, beach, and fireworks!) and a decadent way to enjoy all of the fresh blueberries and raspberries growing in the yard. A very very good summer cake!
Recipe here

- Playing, parking, beaching, sand castle building, library-ing, crafting, zoo-ing, strawberry picking, camping, hiking, bonfire-ing, painting, farmers market-ing, drawing, and swim swim swimming our hearts out!! Loving all that Summer is.

- Being greatful that our favorite Library has THE best children's librarian who does THE best acting and charecter voices for Story Time
- Being greatful that our favorite Library has such an easy book renewal system. I can hardly get through 2 books during the time I rent them for
- Enjoying having a potty trained boy!!! We are officialy out of diapers!!
- Indulging in the new daily tradition of jumping on the beds after nap time while singing 5 Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed
- Trying not to fall off
- Not always succeding
- Horseback riding every afternoon with the two new horses I've been hired to train
- Loving being paid to hang out with my son and ride horses
- Still pregnant! And geting more excited and hopeful with every passing day. First scan on the 17th! Might have some very interesting news to share....
- Being head over heels in love with 20 months :) Not seeing any sign of the terrible twos. Yet
- Having some breathing room in our finances. Being more and more sure we'll put an offer on the hobby farm ( 4 bed, 3 bath on 2 acers) in the fall/winter.
- Hoping beyond hope that it's still on the market then.
- Thinking that house sitting could not have been any worse. Either I'm truly not a dog person, or we were intrusted with the care and keeping of the three worst Hellhounds in the tri state area.
- Hating any weather hotter then 80 degrees.
- Loving living in a place where it can be 67 degrees in June and July! I'm just not cut out for the heat :P
- Loving that my son loves ABBA
- Sword fighting with cousin Will (Liam that is...not me :P)
- Feeling overwhelmed by the laundry lately
- Taking in Liam's first movie!! "Up"! It was way over his head (he did however enjoy the fact that there were lots of doggies) but Matt and I loved it. Fair warning...bring tissues!  Liam just sat between us and shared popcorn and M&M's and giggled at all of the funny bits :) It was such a  wonderful experience that I see us doing many more. Next up, the new H. Miazake film "Ponyo".
- Spending LOTS of time with Matt's parents and coming to a new level of family bonding. He and his dad hug now! They're gaga over the Model T's which is something I never expected from Matt. Both of them are even going on a road trip together, just the two of them,  in July to an air show with the T's.  Pretty cool stuff.
- Constantly listening to the Disney broadway classics station I set up on Pandora. It started with the Broadway version of the Lion King and we've been enjoying finding out what all else is out there!
-Discovering reason 99237 to love 'extended' breastfeeding. Nursing combats nausea! It's been so awesome to just pick Liam up and snuggle and nurse whenever I feel really sick. It's allowed me to really enjoy this pregnancy so far!
- Finding my patience quite short lately. Trying to be very mindful of that fact and working through it
- Realizing I have more friends then I've ever had in my entire life right now. Being so, so, SO grateful for this fact
- Falling in love with co-sleeping all over again in our new King size bed!
- Having an impromptu toddler dance session in the dairy isle at Whole Foods with two complete strangers and their children :)
- Finally feeling comfortable enough with myself to dance like no one is watching, even when I know 15 + people actually are 
- Making time every week to scrapbook. And looking back on all of my completed scrapbook projects. Feeling good about capturing and preserving our family memories in this way

( Pictures  )

I am enjoying a big ol' late night helping of this right now.

All is well in the Nicholson house :) 

Today is the 15th. Check!
It is a Monday. Check!
It's playgroup day. Check! (had a blast!)
I'm on call for LLL from 1-3. Check!
It's my MIL's birthday.Surprise her with a spa gift cert and flowers. Check!

Am I missing anything........??

Oh Yeah!

It's our anniversary!!
D'oh!!

We actually both forgot until MIL called to wish us a happy anniversary since we share the same anniversary as Matt's parents (which sounds a bit cheesy, but It's actually pretty neat!) .

All we could do is look at each other and laugh :)
I'm so insanely thankful that I'm in a partnership where we can both laugh about stuff like this instead of one of us getting all fussy about it being forgotten. 

So I nipped out and got some take out from our favorite Chinese place (It's our tradition to eat Asian food on our anniversary ever since our honeymoon sushi fest :P) and called my sister to ask her to sit for Liam this weekend so we can get dressed up, go out, and have lunch at the Anaba Tearoom.
And as a "Holy Crap, it's been 2 years!!" gift to each other we decided we're going to go out and get a new plush bed set (to go with our new king size bed being delivered later this week!) because the traditional Second Anniversary gift is cotton.

So, happy 2nd baby!
It's been a wonderful, whirlwind ride, and I wouldn't change a single minute of it :)

Bamboo Spork!





They are just a little bit bigger than this in real life.

We picked up 8 for Liam at Whole Foods, and they quickly became a "can't do without" for him.

We love them because:
-Made from sustainable, chemical free, and plastic free substance.
-Compact.
-Reusable.
-Super Cheap
-Easy for toddler hands to manuver.
-It's a frickin' spork!!

We've been doing a LOT of impromptu picnics now that the weather is lukewarm-ish and sticking three of them in my pocket for the family to eat with is so easy!
I seriously can't say enough good things about these silly little sporks. :)

I want to spread the good spork news! So pass on the word!!

I normally don't give Diet Ads a second thought...but this one caught my eye, and I can't help but LOL at it!!

It's too crazy not to share.




On the Left:
Pale
Pregnant
Brunette

On the Right:
Orange
Not Pregnant
Blond


That's one HELL of a before and after in just one week!! :P

Well, I didn't think that I was going to write about this here. In such a public forum. One that I know many close friends and family read. But I find myself now sitting at the keyboard needing an outlet for my thoughts on the matter. So here goes...

I am pregnant again. 

So far things are looking good, and I'm sick and tired as hell which is also a great sign. But I'm finding myself very ambivilent to it all.

After so many losses (3 to be exact) in the recent months, I just can't muster up much excitment. I'm tired and enbittered, and just so wary of letting that spark of hope creep in only to be snuffed out once again.  

Part of me thinks that It's a way of protecting myself in case things don't go well again, another part of me asserts that I'm just so worn out from having to be "on" 24/7 for a toddler already that I'm not in the right frame of mind. But no matter the rational... the fact remains that I still feel guilty.

I really do want the excitment and bubbly-ness to be here! But I can't fake it and I can't force it.

Right now I'm simply counting the days. Watching the weeks go by. Staying helthy and relaxed. 
Trying to keep my mind off of it, but simotaniously keeping a central part of me focused on it so as not to let it slip away.

So, that's where I'm at right now.
Hopefully at my appointment in a few weeks I can gain some reasurrence in the form of actually seeing a little heartbeat, but until then...I'm just, here.



 

Some days...when it gets really rough, I make a point to look at this picture and remind myself....




It's not that bad.

We just bought the tickets for Florida in Oct!!
WOO!!

After much hemming and hawing, we just decided that we NEEDED to get out of dodge in the Fall for a bit. This summer will be filled with camping, and swimming, and beaches, and Ren Fair, and....well, you get the gist. We'll be so busy doing fun things that there's no need for a respite.

But we want to try to have a real family get away before the next wee one comes along.
So Florida it is!!

It will be a great birthday present for Liam too :)

The reason we opted for Florida is because my Godparents live down there and there is a whole wing of their home meant just for guests. They've been asking us to come down, so we're finally going to take them up on it!

A part of our stay will also be spent at the Disney Hotel. 'Cause I'm a sucker for it :P That way we can do Goofy's Restaurant with all of the charecters (which Liam is going to LOVE!) and have acess to all of the whimsical Disney things for little ones to be a part of. I've heard it is just great. Every last detail is so out of this world.
I'm really excited! 

Another huge perk of going down there is that I love and trust my godparents to the ends of the earth, and so I feel just fine leaving Liam with them while Matt and I go out and enjoy some fancy restaurants, or just enjoy some beach time alone.
We've found it very important to take time to just be the two of us, and reconnect as lovers without the mom and dad facet of our relationship being in the forefront.
The way we parent makes it hard to not focus on LIam when ever he is with us, and we refuse to in any way ignore him or not include him in the things we are doing when we're out as a family.
So at least every two weeks Grandma and Grandpa or Auntie B hang out with Liam while we take in a movie or get some dinner or hell...just go for a nice walk and listen to Jazz In The Park!
I can only imagine that being able to have some "us" time on vacation will be oh so fantastic too :)

As far as attractions, we plan on doing Sea World (we booked a time to take the whole family swimming with dolphins! Holy crap!) , Animal Kingdom, and maybe Epcot. With Liam being so young Disney world is knida out. But there's always time for that later!

So......WOO!

I'm so glad we're going!
Just one more thing to start counting down on the calendar! :)

Reason # 18726 that I can't imagine a house without animal companions;


I just walked in to check on Liam slumbering away and saw the cutest sight.

At first glance it looked like he was hugging one of his stuffed animals, but as I got closer I realized that he had our cat tucked up snuggly under his arm! :) 
They were both sleeping so peacefully <3

I think I might die from the cute......

One of Matt's co-workers is going on vacation, and has asked us to house sit for her.
House sit her horse farm!!!

I raised, trained and worked with Quarter Horses my whole childhood and teenage life. I loved it.
Horses hold a special place in my heart and without a doubt, will play a role in my children's lives as well.
So this is soooo exciting for me!

We get to hang out on her ranch for a week and play with her dogs and horses! Liam and I can go riding every day if we want! OMG!
She even has a sturdy little pony that she says is great with kids, so there's a chance Liam can ride all on his own for the very first time. I'm so thrilled to have a week of being back in the saddle with him!
AND I can take some time to teach Matt how to really ride. We've gone a few times before, but he wants to learn how to do more than just sit there :P
She also has a pool and hot tub that we can play and lounge in too. *sigh* Oh man, I can't wait....

She lives in the town that both of our parents live in as well, so it will be perfect for getting in some good family time too. I'm really looking forward to it. Matt's dad has already said that he wants to take us for a ride through the country to go get some ice cream in the Model T.  Liam loves the T. Matt does too. His dad is teaching him how to drive the four door Model T he owns, which is a pretty big deal :)

This lady goes out of town a lot. and always has trouble finding someone to care for her animals. So if all goes well, this will become a regular thing! Which I'd LOVE!

We don't leave for another 2 weeks, but she has wireless internet so I can take the laptop and post about stuff from the farm.
Brace your self for way too many videos of a toddler giggling on horse back! :) :) :)