A disaster waiting to happen

So I was going to do this story in a Not Me! Monday post but, after getting into it, I was getting annoyed just reading it back to myself. I chose to spare you the "not's" and just tell you about how close we came to disaster.

Since our trip to Montreal was not planned, I didn't have time to do my normal leg work and research family friendly restaurants to eat dinner. I tried to do a small search on my Blackberry (have I mentioned how much I love that phone??) while Natey napped on Friday to see where we should go for dinner. I found a few places in a Frommer's guide that sounded good. The only problem was, the review didn't give much detail about the restaurants themselves, but rather how great the food was. We arrived at the tapas restaurant I had picked only to discover that they had no openings until 9pm. Why did I assume that we wouldn't need reservations on a Friday night?? I have no clue but, needless to say, we couldn't wait that long to eat so we went down my list to the next restaurant that sounded great.

I called this time, as we headed over, to make sure there was no wait. They said no problem and they would set a table up for us. As we get closer to the restaurant, we realized it was right down the street from our hotel, so Aaron dropped Nate and I off and he went to park back at the hotel. I walked into the restaurant and instantly my stomach dropped. We had just entered a 4 star, fine dining restaurant. Now, most of you have or have had 2 year olds and you know they are not prime candidates for fine dining. I panicked inside. I was too embarrassed to just walk out and Aaron wasn't with me at the moment for moral support. I saw the look of apprehension on the face of just about EVERY member of the restaurant staff that noticed my small child. I was hoping they couldn't see I was terrified too.

I decided before we sat down to take Natey to the restroom. There I hatched my plan.

"Buddy, we"re going to play a game".
"Ok Mommy, what's that kinda game?"
"We're going to be as quiet as possible and only whisper the whole time we're having dinner. OK?"
{Whispering} "Ok, mommy".
"That's good, bud. If you do a good job on the game you get some ice cream as a treat when we're done"
{Still whispering} "Ok!"

We walked to the table, my head held high while my insides were as tight as a drum. Aaron arrived and noticed the situation too. We knew we had to make this as quick as was humanly possible. Next I opened the menu and saw the prices. Ouch. The only thing I saw that I could share with Nate was pasta with veal meatballs to the tune of $38!!! We were in too deep at this point so we just made the best of it. Now, when I am going to pay $38 dollars for my entree and $44 for Aaron's, I like to dine at a leisurely pace. You know, drink some wine, have nice conversation and savor every bite. Not this time folks. I managed to keep Natey entertained (and silent) by giving him a package of Spiderman fruit snacks and pulling up a cartoon on my Blackberry (I think I've mentioned how much I love this phone) while we waited for the food.

The food came, Natey ate over half of my fine dining sized portion of pasta and meatballs and we ate in record time. The waiter asked if we wanted desert, we declined, paid our bill and stood to leave. I have never been more relieved and proud of my boy than I was when I walked out of that restaurant, holding my toddler's hand. My toddler, who managed to be almost silent for the entire duration of the meal. My toddler, who ate his food with only a small mess (which my hubby covered with his napkin). My boy who got the biggest hug and the promise of ice cream as soon as we left that silent place.

I think I felt a small gust of wind when we left. That gust was most likely the collective sigh of relief from every waiter, manager and diner in that establishment watching us walk out the door with no incident.

Nesting is for the Birds!

Ok people, why don't we just call it as we see it. Nesting is just a nice way of saying you have a lot of crap to do! Cleaning, organizing, painting, and decorating are all of the things that get wrapped into this nice sounding term. In reality, I just don't think I have the nesting gene. I hate cleaning and only do it because it is a necessity. I am so anal that organizing one room turns into a week long event. Stuff ends up strewn all over the house since we have zero storage space and I can't figure out where to put the items I have evicted from said room. Painting stinks (literally and figuratively)! Decorating is the one thing I can muster any excitement for and even that is currently being thwarted by a disagreeing husband who wants to veto my choices for the big boy room without giving alternate suggestions.

To make matters worse, I have to "nest" for 2 kids this time around. I have lost "my" room to make way for big boy land. My crafting/sewing domain has been relocated to a tiny corner of our unused formal living room and is currently located under piles of stuff that used to be stored on a large shelving unit. I will have to find it shortly as I have to sew my bum off in the next couple of weeks to get ready for the Providence Open Market.

I have 11 1/2 weeks left to get all of this done...while working full time...chasing after a spirited 2 year old...and managing to keep the rest of the house from looking like Katrina just whipped through. Pray for my sanity. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Status: 81 days till D(ue) day
Big boy room has been completely emptied of all but dresser which will remain in the room
Bedding, bookcase, a few accessories and paint has been purchased (not without a fight or 9)

O, Canada!

Ok, so it took me a teensy bit longer to get this post up than I thought it would. I guess 5 days isn't sooo bad. Man, I don't know how you talented photoging ladies do all of your editing and get things up with lightning speed!

Anyway, I digress. Last weekend we got away from the hustle and bustle of hot and humid New England and got right into pretty much the same in Montreal! Thursday morning my hubby calls me at work and springs it on me that he wants to go to Canada...and wants me to find a hotel, take a half day, pack and hit the road so we can get there that night! Yikes! I have an obsessive need to plan things and it took every ounce of my spontaneous being (which is probably only about 1 ounce anyway) to agree and make it happen. Needless to say, Aaron was very proud of me and I kinda was too. Don't get me wrong, I still had crazy anxiety about it, but I managed to keep it to myself, for the most part. Natey was an absolute CHAMP on the 8 hour journey! I was amazed at how well he did considering we haven't had him in a car for more than 2 hours since he was a baby.We got in just before 10 Thursday night, got settled into the hotel and rested up for the next day.

Friday we decided to tackle the Botanical Gardens, the Insectarium and the Biodome. We started at the gardens, which are the second largest in the world. We only covered about 1/5 of the grounds in the 2 hours we walked around. We made it through the Rose garden, the Chinese and Japanese garden, and the aqua garden. You could be there all day and literally not get through it all. It was so beautiful. (click on any collages to make them bigger)

After the gardens we went through the Insectarium and decided to save ourselves from Natey's imminent break down, we'd go have lunch, let Natey nap and then come back for the Biodome. Natey slept for 3 hours and we got back to the Biodome with little over an hour before it closed. We had already paid for the tickets that morning, so we made the best of it! It was amazing. I could do a whole post on the Biodome alone! You literally walk into the 4 habitats that they have created. There were giant birds just walking around, not caged! If you ever go to Montreal you have to give yourself a good 3 hours to spend in wonder in there!

Friday night at dinner had the potential to be a complete disaster, but turned out to be better than I could have ever hoped! I will save your retinas and share that in my Not Me! Monday post!!! I know, I'm such a tease, just know that this boy EARNED that ice cream he is so blissfully enjoying!

Saturday we took a horse and buggy tour around Old Montreal. It was gorgeous and all of the old buildings and intricate architecture was breath taking. Natey was getting antsy 30 minutes into it, so our driver let him ride up front. He didn't fuss one more second after that!

When we were finished he even let Natey sit on the horse and he was a happy camper!

Saturday afternoon we met up with a fellow blogger, BabyMama of BlogBaby fame! She is an amazingly talented woman who makes the cutest felt headbands and takes stunning pictures of her own kiddos. She did a photo shoot for us and then we all went out to dinner. I am the worst and am so sad that we forgot to have Aaron take a picture of us at dinner, or at some point in the 6 hours we hung out! I can't wait to share some of her shots with you when I get them back!

Sunday we ate breakfast, walked around some more in Old Montreal and then hit the road and headed home. Minus a few minor pregnancy related hormonal breakdowns, a few toddler freak outs and one slip and fall in the hotel room that tweaked my back, it was an awesome trip!

Here's the proof that baby girl has been out of the country, even before she was born.

Finally (as if this post isn't long enough) I will leave you with a few more parting shots from our wonderful weekend in Montreal. Thanks for having us Canada, and special thanks to the 2 servers who read us the menus...since they were in French and all!

28 Weeks

28 weeks with Natey~~~~~~28 weeks with baby girl

Only 12 more weeks to go people! It seems like the time is just flying by. I am feeling great right now, so let's hope that keeps up!

I'm a not so spur of the moment kinda gal

A whole week has gone by since my last post! Geeze, I feel like it has been even longer than that. If you follow my tweets you know that my, completely opposite of me and spontaneous, hubby decided we should go away for the weekend...on Thursday morning. Why is this a big deal you ask? Oh, he wanted me to leave work right before lunch, pick up the boy, come home, pack and get on the road to Montreal, Canada which happens to be about 7 hours away from where we live. I, folks, am a planner. I do not like rushed packing, finding a suitable hotel, disrupting Natey's (and mine for that matter) schedule, up and leaving work without advanced notice trips. I like to have our itinerary planned out to the hour. Ok, I'm not THAT bad, but seriously. I like to have all of my ducks in a row before I go to another country. Somehow, we managed to get everything in line and get out the door by 2 pm. This included Aaron making a run to the vital records office for a copy of Natey's birth certificate since we don't have a passport for him. Not bad for an idea that sparked in my hubby's head at 8:30am!

I even managed to have the forethought to contact a fellow blogging buddy who lives in Ottawa. She is a photographer and I love the gorgeous pics she takes of her own little ones. I once told her if we lived closer I would love for her to shoot Natey. She said if we were ever in Montreal she would be game, so I asked her if the offer was still on the table and she agreed! I will post about the whole whirlwind trip tomorrow, but just wanted to prove that I have not, indeed, fallen off the face of the Earth!

Happy Thoughts

I think one of my favorite things is when someone does something and you don't have to ask them. It really is one of life's little presents. Maybe I'm crazy, but does it make your day when your hubby takes all of the trash out to the curb, well in advance, on garbage night instead of you having to remind him as you're getting in bed? When a co-worker makes a needed change to something before you have to ask them, doesn't it feel so satisfying? The first time your child gives you an unsolicited, "I love you mommy", doesn't your heart swell with joy? Maybe I am easily amused, but these little things really do it for me. When I see how simple things can make me happy, I grab on to them.

I think life would be more pleasant if everyone looked at the world through a child's eyes. I see my son laugh uncontrollably because he thinks he's "eating my yawn or my eyes". I can play that game with him for hours and he will crack up every time. He geeks out when daddy makes funny faces or we slurp our spaghetti together. When does life in general stop being amusing? Why does it take more and more stimulation to get that pee your pants laughter that comes so naturally for kids?

I will choose to look at the lighter side of life when I can. I will laugh at myself when I run into a door. I will take joy in the little things. I will appreciate people for the small things they do to make my day better (even if they don't know it). If I can do this during the mundane days, I can hold strong during the terrible ones.

Goal #11 of my 101 in 1001: Identify 100 things that make me happy.

Not Me! Monday

I'm back...at least for this week. I haven't posted a Not Me edition for almost 2 months. Believe me, it is not for lack of material. My life story could be titled "Not Me!". I am just having a hard time with posts committed to a day this summer. That means I have also been slacking on Tim's Vlogemotions posts too, but that has more to do with the fact that I never look presentable on Thursday! I feel the need to get a few things that are so not about me off my chest today.

I did not ruin my friend's surprise "Sprinkle" by posting to get every one's opinion on showers for a second child. She isn't completely giddy that I ruined said surprise because she was dying to tell me anyway! Nope, my friends are totally capable of keeping surprises as just that!!

I did not get a text message last week from my home daycare provider that read, "Am I hearing him wrong or did Natey just say f'in dude??". I did not admit to all of blogland that my son is suffering from a case of sailor mouth due to a choice phrase he picked up from one of the hubby's friends. I was not mortified that he was repeating this in public.

My son did not also pick up on the fact that his daycare provider is still nursing her daughter and tell Daddy last night that he could, "Drink his boobies" as he stood neked after his bath. Nope, this is so not going to be a problem when the baby comes.

I didn't get a Blackberry and am not in need of an intervention because of it! I do not have a problem putting it down at all! Nope, not me!

I did not consume a pb&j AND a lean pocket at 9pm last night because I was starving. I don't ever eat that late and surely would have only eaten one of those things, not both, an hour before bed.

What did you {not} do this week?

Natey at 2 years & 2 months

Another month under your belt, another monthly update to do for you. You are 26 months old now or 2 years & 2 months to you and me! Sometimes I swear you are closer to three, you are so smart. Your gusto for life and all things boy fill me with laughter at every turn. So what is new this month that has us slapping our knees or dropping our jaws in amazement?

• You know when we are joking with you. I love that you "get it" now. You crack up and say, "You're kiddin' me!" whenever we're teasing you with something.


• You actually have preferences when it comes to music now. If I'm playing a song and you don't want to listen, you tell me you, "My no like it. Turn it off, mama". You have taken a liking to a certain kidz bop CD and request "In-denial song" whenever we get in the car. You bop your head and dance in your car seat.


• Whenever I tell you, "It is", you have to reply with "It's not" while shaking your head no. If you don't agree with something, you are getting very good at vocalizing it! I told you your food was cool enough to eat, you touched it and said, "No! It's not!"


• When a show or song is done you promptly tell me it's over. If we're watching Nick jr or Noggin, you then tell me what's coming up next.


• You run like a little tank engine, pumping your arms as you speed along. It makes me laugh every time because of the look of determination on your face.


• You have started to tell me, "I forgot" when you find something you left behind. I'm not sure if you mean you forgot you left it there or you forgot you wanted it, but it is so cute when you say it.


• You are sometimes a smarty pants. I told you that if you didn't get your shoes on we weren't going to the park. You proceeded to tell me, "No, you not going". I laughed at you and then we all got in the car. Then you told daddy that he wasn't going. Daddy replied, "If I'm not going, you're not going". The next day on our way to the beach you told me if, "If I'm not going, you're not going. Daddy say that for you!"


• You have always been a brave little kid but you are getting bolder every day. You surprise me by running into the ocean without hesitation and jumping to us in the pool. You will walk up to anyone and everyone and say hi, you run around like a maniac in the splash pad "squirties" and you go down the highest slides at the park.


• You are rocking the potty training. You have gone several days (not in a row) with a completely dry pair of undies or pull-up! You still say, "Gotta poop" when you have to pee and tell me you need to do "big poopies" when you have to poop. The funny thing is when you are done going pee you tell me you want to dump the pee pee out, so you know what it's called. Not sure why you say that.


• You are so sweet to us. Every time I say I love you you reply, "love you too mommy". It melts me every time. When I drop you off at daycare and ask for a kiss when I leave, you always ask for, "hugs too".


• We've already talked about your future profession as a sailor. Well, you already have the mouth of one anyway. I can't blame you for it, as it is the adults in your life that can't seem to control their tongues. I promise we are all trying super hard buddy and if you will just stop saying, "f'in dude", we'll be good!


• You know all about your baby sister and are very excited to meet her. Or maybe you are excited because I have promised you a Batman cake to celebrate becoming a big brother. You can thank Joelle since she has offered to make it after she pointed out I will have just had a baby and should probably not be thinking about making a cake! Ha! I always have been a little over ambitious!!

Don't grow up on me too fast ok bud. I am enjoying every little thing you do, but you seem to go at lightning speed. You're still my baby even though you are all boy. Even when your sister gets here, I won't forget that!

Lord, I was born a ramblin Wo(man)

Hi again Thursday. Sorry I only like you because of your fairer sister Friday, that you just happen to be next to. You are starting to grow on me for virtues all your own, such as my ability to ramble when I get past my wordless day. Lord knows I need it after an entire day of being wordless! Phew!
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I have hit 26 weeks! Woo hooo! I swear it seems like it is flying on by. I am going to blink and I'll be in the insane pain of labor. Why do I do this with no drugs again?? I have been obsessively tracking my weight this time around (I know, shut up, I'm pregnant) and I am 1 pound less than I was at 26 weeks with Natey. Since I started 2 pounds lighter last time that means I'm 3 pounds ahead! Ok, I'm done with that now. Don't yell at me too much for obsessing!
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Natey has been cracking me up lately. The things he says just make me laugh so hard. Well, there is that one thing that he says that I am NOT fond of, yes that's right, my 2 year old says "fuckin' dude". He got it from a slip of the tongue of one of my hubby's friends and I keep trying to correct him by saying, "we say awesome dude, buddy". It is only partly working. Any ideas on how I can fix that because if I discourage it by saying no, he will do it even more. I discovered this when he started calling everyone a bad boy. Ugh. I never tell him that, why does he say it all the time??
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Turns out my BFF here in RI was already secretly planning a "sprinkle" for me and she got wind of my shower post and immediately called me asking who wanted to throw me a shower. Had I just not said anything I would have been pleasantly surprised. Oh well, she is excited that I know now anyway!
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Natey is 26 months old today. I will have to get a post together of all of his fun new things..minus the sailor mouth. I wonder how long I am going to keep doing monthly updates for him. Does it seem silly? I don't care, it is for me to remember anyway, so if you're bored with them just skip tomorrow's post!!
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Yes, I realize it is Friday now. In my defense, I started this post yesterday and then got really busy at work and forgot about it until just now! I don't want to delete it, so oh well!
I got a Blackberry last night and I love, love LOVE it! I don't think I put it down from the minute the hubby gave it to me until I went to bed. I am in big trouble. That thing is addicting!

Gotta run....my assay is almost done and I have just been informed that there are yummy sandwiches left over from a meeting that I have to go snatch before someone else does!! Oh how I love me some free food! :o)

Wordless Wednesday

In honor of last week's Chowder Cook off, I thought I'd post a picture from Liz and my first Chowder cook off, 4 years ago! You're welcome Liz. :o)

The theme was the 80's, if you are trying to figure out the significance of the giant Care Bear!

To Shower or Not to Shower?

I know what you're thinking... Yuck, this girl is disgusting. What do you mean she is debating on whether or not to bathe. Honestly girl, just do it. Wash that funk off ya!

No really. Let's get into the true reason behind this post. I have a hot debate brewing in my circle of friends and I want to hear your opinion on the subject. One of my friends wants to throw me a baby shower for baby girl. I feel a little uncomfortable about this. First of all , this is baby number 2. Isn't it just un-PC to have a second baby shower? I mean, I have all of the big stuff that I got for Natey so, I wouldn't even register. Still, I feel weird about it. Does it look so selfish and greedy to have a shower to celebrate a second child? On the other hand, Natey got a party to celebrate his impending arrival, so why shouldn't she?

Ugh, I am so torn. What do you think? Do you have any alternative ideas to a "shower". Should I just have a party before she comes without the pressure of gifts? Every girl loves a party, and this one is no different. Help me out, you wise, multi-kiddo'd women!! Even if you don't have multiple children, or any for that matter, let me know your thoughts on this whole thing. I want all different perspectives!

Chow-da Down!

Friday evening was my company's annual Chowda Cook off. Yes, I know it is spelled chowder. But as I have had it beaten into my head explained to me numerous times, the rules of grammar do not apply here in glorious New England! I originally RSVP'd with my hubby as a guest, but he was feeling a tad bit under the weather, so I didn't miss a beat and called up Liz instead! Liz used to work with me and I knew from the plethora of bouncy house type structures going up in our parking lot it would be perfect to get Natey and Tommy together for some fun! They wasted no time getting into the action. As soon as we walked in the gate we made a beeline for the inflatables section.

There was the throw-the-soccer ball-through-a-hole game. They couldn't throw it very far, but it didn't really stop them from trying!
There was a 2 story humongous slide that looked like a pirate ship being sunk by a giant octopus. Now that I look at it again, it is rather phallic. I got a nice burn on my foot from sliding down it with Nate and fought my claustrophobia to scale the enclosed "stairs" inside. Needless to say, we moved on after one ride down this beast.

The boys spent the better part of an hour discovering all of the bouncy activities before we decided a dinner break was in order.

The theme for the cook off this year was board games. My friend Holly was a part of the "Mouse Trap" team. Natey wasn't quite sure what to make of her in this get-up, but he was interested in trying it out for himself!

We sat the boys down for, what can only loosely be termed, dinner. After some cold hot dogs, untouched nasty mac n cheese, sour cream and onion chips, 2 juice boxes apiece and a bite or 2 of cookie, we moved on to the chowder tasting and booth exploration!

The boys had a great time at the Hungry Hungry Hippos Booth! They played a couple of games and "posed" in the cut outs. It only took me 6 pictures and sadly this one is the best of them both. Why can't toddlers look at the camera at the same time? Oh well!

A few more booths, chowder for us moms, a couple of suckers and twizzlers for the boys later and we took a break for even more sugar! Yes, we hit the free ice cream truck for some Twix ice cream (me, Liz & Tommy) and some frozen lemonade for Natey. I am pretty sure this night marks the highest sweets intake for my boy in his short 2 years of life!

Oh, what? You're tired of looking at pictures of our cuter than life boys? Ok, we did manage to get one of the 2 of us...and only because I decided we'd be bad bloggers if we didn't get at least 1! Ha!

We had a great time and I was kinda glad Aaron wimped out (sorry honey). We came, we played, we ate and we ate...which is more than I can say for last year's disastrous episode!!!

Curbside Prophet

Oh yes, did I mention I went to go see Jason Mraz the other night?? I love him. I think I love him so much because he is a complete smart ass and it comes through very wittily (is that even a word) in his music. I'm a sucker for clever lyrics and his songs just get me every time.

Of course I attended with, my concert partner in crime, Joelle. I realized I have been to all 3 of the concerts (for my goal #19 of my 101) with her. We went to Coldplay for my birthday in October, Bad Fish (Sublime Tribute Band, coincidentally for Joelle's birthday) and now Jason Mraz. She is just so much fun to go with. Even if she has never heard some one's music she rocks out like it is her favorite band!When we checked to see who was opening for Mraz, it listed K'nan (never heard of him) and Bushwala (didn't know he was still around). We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Bushwala was basically the M.C. and that G.Love & Special Sauce were the main openers! After they did their set, G. Love was in the pavilion signing autographs. While I am all about getting pictures of and/or with people, I am NOT down to wait in a huge line for it. That being said, we creeped around to the side of the table where he was doin his thing and took pictures of him from there.

Between G. Love and Jason Mraz, we managed to use the facilities, snap a few photos and get some beverages before returning to our seats. You will notice the pics of Joelle and I are much more subdued than those from the Coldplay concert where I was not with child and could indulge in numerous a few adult beverages.

The show Jason Mraz put on was nothing short of amazing. I love when an artist is even better live than on their CD. He is so talented that he can sing his older songs to a completely different tune and they still sound awesome! He also has so much fun, which draws the crowd into it as well. He sang Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" and it was funny to see all of the tweens in attendance faces go blank. No matter because all of us "old fogies" were jamming to his rendition! I swear Joelle and I have the best luck too. We already had decent seats and I was stoked because we were right next to the sound guy and I had no one on my right. We were stoked when we thought it was almost over and Jason Mraz left the main stage and popped up on a platform in the sound area right next to us!!! This is the second time this has happened to us. At the Coldplay concert they came into the crowd to play too right next to our section!

The only thing that could have made it better was if their backs hadn't been to us on that platform, but he turned to the side or around often and it was great! All in all we had a blast. The traffic on the way home sucked and I didn't get in bed until almost 1am, but it was so worth it!

The Dress

By popular demand I decided to post all the pictures that I have (minus the one I would have to scan) of me in the infamous dress! It is hard to tell from pictures, but the dress has bright teal under a brown shear fabric. I love the effect it gives and the beading, which is along the bust and the handkerchief style bottom of the dress, is brown with purple and teal iridescent colors that change when the light shines on them. I do love this dress so much that I am going to replace the zipper (which is currently stuck half way down) and continue to wear it! See what I mean about having no pics of the dress in it's full glory!!!

This is the first time I wore the dress. I was 2 months pregnant with Natey and I wore it to the Crystal Ball fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation.

The second time I wore it was for our Holiday party when I was 4 months pregnant with Natey.

Somewhere in between, I wore it to another wedding, but I don't seem to have any pictures from that wedding! This shot is from Tina's wedding where the zipper incident took place!

I attempted to get a shot of the dress in the bathroom at the wedding, but the lighting stunk.

So here it is, full length. I wish I would have got a picture in natural light, but with the flash and a little help from picnik it looks ok. I wanted to put it on to show you, but did I mention that the zipper is stuck somewhere in the middle and getting it off after the wedding was hard enough??!!