Boy How Things Have Changed!

"Mr. Brown can moo, can you?"

"The big red fire truck tire! It's my favorite!"

"How come it's not as warm as my tubby???"

So this past Friday Colin, Daddy, and I headed up to Portland, Maine for a night away. Gone are the late nights and "fun" that Daddy and I used to have in Portland. Now "fun" is reading "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" and coloring Barney pictures and we wouldn't change it for the world...we are so very lucky to be able to share this special place with our little guy. We were there in our single days, we got married there, and now we are bringing our son for trips there - whaoh, a lot has happened in just about 2 years...we had a great time despite the fridgid weather. We went to the Children's Museum and had pizza in the hotel room (and a little red wine for Mommy and Daddy!). Colin did great sleeping and loved being somewhere new! As long as he could read "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" and "la-la" (color!) than he was fine!

Strength

"One day at a time"...This was a recent quote from my Uncle Rob who is beginning his fight against cancer. This disease also took the life of a very young sister of one of my brother's best friends recently and I attended the wake last night...I spent the evening afterwards with my sister and her best friend Amy (who I have known since I was a baby) who beat her battle with Lymphoma and has been cancer free following a stem cell transplant for 5 years...and this time of year always reminds me of my Aunt Joan (who battled breast cancer for 19 years) because spring training has arrived. So lately this disease has just been so in my face...My immediate thought when my Uncle was diagnosed was to quit my job and devote my life to cancer research, but since that isn't so realistic, I have commited myself to captaining a team for the Relay for Life...Amy coordinates the event and it's remarkable ...I have to do something, I can't just sit around and do nothing, I hate this disease right now and I guess that's my way of channeling my emotions right now and writing this...just my thoughts...I hope I can be strong for my Uncle Rob, my mother, her other brother and all of those dealing with this disease...one day at a time. Thanks for listening and for your prayers, it felt good to get my thoughts out!

Please check out www.melsbracelets.com - the bracelets are beautiful and proceeds go to MGH

Snip, Snip!

"Mommy, Daddy I think it's time for a haircut!"

"What the heck is going on?"

"I think I could get used to this!"

"Daddy, it's MY lollipop!

So it was a big day yesterday in the life of our little guy - his first haircut! We finally realized that he needed one and decided to try out "Snip- It's". If anyone is not familiar with it, it is a salon just for kids with cartoons playing, colorful capes, and hot pick and green chairs. We arrived and Colin thought it was pretty cool...we waited about 5 minutes for our turn. Mommy had to sit with him and at first he was whining and squirming to be released from my grasp, but then came the yummy Dum-Dum lollipop...yes, my first thought was "he is going to choke right here in Snip-It's with a half finished haircut", but then I realized that Daddy would closely monitor any licking of the pop and that made Daddy happy since he got to share the lollipop with Colin and eat it for him! The cut is cute, a little boy's regular, except she didn't want to scare him with the buzzers so the back hairline is a little messy, but overall the haircut was quite successful - just lollipops and bubbles being blown by Daddy! He looks like such a little boy - so grown up! He did great and loved the fact that we kept calling him "handsome" the whole night...I think he also loved the fact that the hairdresser was a lady and mostly all the kids in the store were girls - such a little flirt! Hope you enjoy the pictures, I envision that someday in a few years we will have some pictures on here of Colin giving himself his own haircut????!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy! (and Valentine's Day too!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Unconditional Love" - my gosh they look alike!

Daddy, just blow out the candles!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with a snow day! No school! It was great and another reason why I am happy to be in a more regular school system, however working with my husband again does make for some embarrasing moments (like when he brought this gigantic balloon to work on Tuesday - Colin is having fun with it - it plays a song "I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of..." and a bouquet of red Gerbera daisies which are my favorite) Thursday was Ryan's 31st Birthday...Colin decided that he would give him a great present - lots of puke! Yup Colin got the very fast moving stomach bug that has been going around...Began during the day when he was with Grammy (puked all in his crib) and then one more time for Daddy late in the day. So needless to say Colin missed most of the birthday festivities that night, we had some yummy flatbread pizza from this great restaurant and then some Chaos Pie...Colin was up most of the night, but no more vomit after that thank god...I can't tell you how much water and carbohydrates he ate on Friday. He's back to himself and dying to get out of the house! Three days cooped up inside is enough...! It's school vacation for me, another great benefit of my new job, and hopefully the week will be a healthy one!

Red or White?

That was the big question that I had to answer on Saturday...Merlot or Chardonnay???? My Quinni friends and husbands all spent the weekend in Boston attending the Wine Expo...I would highly recommend this event - whether you are a wine afficiando (sp?) or not, it was a great experience. We had a wonderful time, catching up, laughing, and reminiscing...the hotel was beautiful (thanks Michael and Shelby) and we had a wonderful dinner in the North End. We can't wait to do it again - next up, camping on Lake George, NY! Please link to the Ronan's blog for pictures. I didn't bring my camera with me out of the hotel room since I have a long history of leaving cameras in cabs, bars, etc.! On a different note we learned this past week that my Uncle Rob has Stage 3 prostate cancer...please keep him in your prayers...thank you from our entire family...

"Thank you for being a friend"

Ask Ryan - I love the Golden Girls! Seriously, this is a post to all my wonderful friends...I don't know what I would do without you all...I am so lucky to have such special women in my life who are going through such similar experiences (recently tantruming children!). I feel so supported as a new mom...I feel so lucky to be able to share my life with you all and I want to thank each and every one of you for all that you have given me. I am getting ready to spend another weekend with the Quinni-Clan. 10 years later and we still manage to get together twice a year. I treasure these weekends. Spending time laughing, catching up, sharing stories of motherhood and wifehood, and all over a good glass of wine - I love you all and can't wait for this weekend. I just got off the phone with my good friend Gillian, laughing over stories of tantruming children and expanding bellies (not mine, her's at the moment)...our boys are so close in age, I hope maybe they will grow as close as we are - I love you! And to my far-away in distance, but NEVER far-away from the heart friend Becca...we have been friends since kindergarten and no matter how much time passes since we have seen each other, it's like none has passed when we are together, this friendship feels like an old sweater, so comforting...I love you! So to my friends, we have gone through so many phases of our lives together that I hope the ties that connect us never come loose, you are special to me for so many different reasons and I just want to tell you all how much I appreciate your loyalty, love, and support!

"Da-dee" - We miss you!

So it has been just Colin and Mommy this weekend. Daddy had a 2 day conference on Autism in Boston this weekend. He left bright and early Saturday morning, so Colin and I relaxed and watched a little Barney and Calliou in the big bed...Mommy had to go to work for a bit to do an evaluation so Grammy came over to babysit. Should have known things were not going to go all that well when he decided he didn't want a morning nap. He was actually OK - not too cranky when I got home around 11:15...he ate lunch and settled in for what I thougt was going to be a long afternoon nap - Mommy was wrong - an hour and a half was all that I got. So since it has been frigid outside, Mommy decided it might be fun to go to the mall- wrong. When we got there I began to give Colin a snack in his stroller. Well he didn't just want a couple of pieces of pear, he wanted to entire container to play with. I gave in and gave it to him, knowing it was going to end up on the floor which it did. That is when it began, the second I picked it up and he saw me put it into the stroller basket, he let loose...crying (actually screaming), flailing himself back and forth in the stroller, snots everywhere. So I scooped him out of the stroller and held him...milk - we'll go get some milk...nope cup thrown on the floor, he wanted out of my arms to walk...he wanted to walk in every direction that was not where I wanted him to go. So I scooped him up again and carried his crying, screaming, flailing body through the mall (while trying to push the stroller), back through JC Penney to our car. 15 minutes later- still going...it took about 15 more minutes to get him settled into his car seat...I felt so bad...I definitely learned my lesson...don't bring a tired and house-bound child to the mall and expect that they will do what you want to do...just not fair to the child...so we got home and played and just relaxed...I was feeling extremely guilty about our trek through the mall, I know he didn't even remember, but I sure did. But when he ran by me in the playroom downstairs and out of nowhere just stopped to give me a hug, my heart melted and I knew he was OK - and so was I!