Archive for May, 2008

Noah’s Big Boy Bed!

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

We took the opportunity of the long weekend to break out Noah’s “big boy bed”.  We ordered the same daybed as our nephew, Jeffrey, has.  We got all the boxes (so we thought) and put it together as soon as we could Friday.  Once everything was opened we realized we were missing, um, the bed portion.  Instead we received the trundle and DHL promised the bed would be here Tuesday.  What the heck, I was excited, we put the trundle together and figured he could sleep there.  Mom took us to Sam’s for a mattress which was quite a spectacle.  Imagine the four of us (Walter, Mom, Noah, me) in the car plus a twin sized mattress.  Yeah, well, Walter was in the trunk.  Anyway we got it all together and I’ll spare you the details but so far he’s spent two nights and one nap in his bed.  He still asks for his “grib” once in awhile but we’re using the hard sell to keep him in bed.  Hopefully it gets easier every night.  Here’s the trundle bed he’s been sleeping in.  I’ll post pics once we get it all together.

 

Camera Update

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

I mentioned earlier that Noah tossed my camera into the pool on his birthday.  We thought it was toast but we were able to recover a few photos from the memory card, thankfully.  Well luck was on our side because we tried one last time to turn on the camera yesterday and WALLAH! it worked!  I leave you with a few photos from his birthday, pre camera swim lesson.

This is Noah fresh from his haircut.  His spikey hair was so cute!  I need to find the right gel I think.

My child, so obsessed with the foot bath feature at every water park shower.  Last time he had a run in with one was at Lion Country, and he was fully clothed.  His poor shorts, socks and shoes, you’d think he would learn.

  

Noah’s friends Aaron and Alex joined us.  Aaron just started walking, he’s standing so well now!

  

Should I have known from this evil eye that my camera would be dead moments later?  Maybe.  It’s certainly the “get-that-thing-out-of-my-face look”.  Too bad I can’t show you the super yummy dessert we all had after lunch at Cheddar’s.  We highly recommend it!

To Spike or Not To Spike

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Noah got his first super short haircut yesterday and although he looks a bit like he just came from boot camp I think it’s adorable!  The lady who cut it got it to spike so nice but of course like any good haircut we couldn’t get it to look the same now that we’re home.  Here’s a few photos of his new look.

Without the spike -

With the spike -

Sorry there are so many, we couldn’t decide which photo we liked best!

Who wants to help us move!?

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Our addition is almost done!  I can hardly believe it.  The lights, fan and switchplates go in tomorrow, the floor goes in next week and then they just have to paint the outside (also slated for next week).  It’s so exciting!  Unfortunately we then have to move all of our stuff from the current office, which will be fun being almost 6 months pregnant.  Our next projects are the kitchen and the baby’s room.  I can’t wait for our house to be ours again!

Here are some photos from last night…

And then this morning…

Happy Birthday Noah!

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Today was Noah’s second birthday.  We had a very big day.  We went for a pancake breakfast as a family (Walter and I were eating pancakes when my water broke 2 years ago), got a haircut, went to the water park with our Wednesday friends, and then had dinner with my parents and the Friedmans.  Noah had a great day!  Unfortunately because we were so busy his nap didn’t quite work out the way it should have so he had a few moments but enjoyed himself thoroughly.  At the moment I can only share with you one photo from dinner last night.  I would show you all the ones from the water park but unfortunately Noah tossed my camera into the pool and that didn’t turn out so well.  We’re still hoping to recover some images but I think we’re in the market for a new pocket camera.  I had to give him a pass because it was his birthday but I was so not pleased!

Check out his new ‘do!  I cut it short for the summer and his 9 weeks of swim lessons.  It’s really cute spiked too!

Pass me that pink slip please!

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

“I’m free at last!  I’m free at last!  Thank the Lord, I’m free at last!” – I thought it was more upbeat than “Take this job and shove it!”  :)

I have finished up all of my Firefly and assisting jobs for the time being!  I’m completely client-less!  While I love (almost) every client I’ve ever had and I really enjoy my job, I’m taking a break.  I’m doing this for a lot of reasons.  First of all, Noah.  I have never just been a stay at home mom.  I’ve always been juggling that job along with my job of catering to clients needs, vendor requests, timelines, phone calls, emails, what’s for dinner - whew!  It’s been crazy but most of all it hasn’t been fair to Noah.  I worked up until two weeks before he was born and I had several weddings in process even then.  I only took 4 weeks off before jumping back in and getting to work.  So from now until October I am just Noah’s mom.  I promise to enjoy every minute of undistracted fun with him.  He’s at such a great age right now and his imagination, vocabulary and curiosity are so entertaining.  I would like to try new things, go to new places, have more play dates and enjoy our time together, just the two of us.

I also didn’t want to waddle through the summer with a hustle and bustle schedule when my body just doesn’t seem interested.  Standing on my feet for 14 hours seems more than inconvenient when your center of gravity and the sensitivity in your feet just isn’t what it used to be.  It’s so hot here in South Florida too that I knew this was a good time to bid adieu.

Lastly, I’m not sure what the future holds.  I don’t know if having two children will make me want to spend all my time at home, or if it will make me want to go running to every wedding I can find.  So I’m just waiting for Kate to arrive and our schedule to set before I start committing myself to others.  I find this decision to be very comforting and I am relived at the stress I know I won’t have (at least from that).

This all being the case I would like to just say thank you to all of my clients.  I really have enjoyed being able to do what I could to help make your day the best I could.  It has been an honor to witness your vows and share in your special celebration with your family and friends.  Thank you to my colleagues and family as well for helping me to create, establish and maintain a thriving business.  I never thought Firefly would grow this big this fast and I have definitely enjoyed the ride! 

My last event was on 5/17 at Mar-A-Lago (Donald Trump’s Palm Beach palace) as an assistant to my friend and colleague, Lori Kelly.  It was by far the most beautiful event I’ve ever seen and it was such a pleasure and a treat to have a hand in making it as amazing as it was.  The last client that I was to have has unfortunately cancelled their wedding just three weeks before it was to be.  While it was very unfortunate I wish the couple nothing but the best and hope they are able to figure things out.  It’s always best to know if something isn’t going to work out or make you happy before you jump in with both feet but it is sad nonetheless and I hope things work out.

Sorry this has turned into a novel but thank you for reading my thoughts and for sharing your support.  Oh, and let’s do lunch!

I leave you with just a few of my favorite wedding couple and photos -

 

 

 

House Arrest

Monday, May 19th, 2008

The addition to the house is still on-going.  On the high end they say it could be another month.  ANOTHER MONTH?  But the bulk went up in three weeks!?  It is what it is.  The bad news is that because our old exit is no more (they took down the sliding glass door which safely secured our house while they worked) and I’m not going to hand over my house keys to big, sweaty strangers anytime soon, I practically have to sit at home and babysit the construction.  I feel like I’m on parole.  Poor Noah has been getting stir crazy, as have I, and we’re dying for them to finish up.  It’s also difficult because these people don’t know a whole lot about running on time and saying when they’ll come (and coming) so it’s hit and miss.  Last week was so frustrating I finally demanded a break.  We left first thing and didn’t get home until well after nap time but it was so worth the cranky toddler – my sanity was at stake!  Here are a few photos of the current progress.  The drywall is all up and they’re going to start “finishing” projects this week.  Hopefully that includes our new French doors because our house is a dusty mess with the opening between construction and dining room table!  For those of you who were here for Noah’s first birthday when I caught the oven on fire and we ended up needing a fire extinguisher… yeah, it’s dusty like that and it’s AWFUL!

(The next day during the dry wall installation)

And… call us crazy but our next project is the kitchen.  Again with being a prisoner in the house but this is so necessary!  Every square inch is either pantry space or storage.  We have big plans to add a heap of new cabinets, counter top, beautiful stainless steel appliances (good bye refrigerator games), and update the space to bring it past everything else that was bad in the 80′s.  We’re hoping to have the house done before Kate arrives.  Wish us luck and send us patience!

“Daddy doodit!”

Monday, May 19th, 2008

In case you didn’t know, ‘dood’ is the past tense of do.  Well, it actually works for several of the ‘do’ tenses.  Whenever I want Noah to do something that he usually likes doing, like turn on the TV or a light switch, I sometimes tell him that Daddy is gonna do it.  That usually makes him jump up and rush to do it himself, yelling, “Noah doodit!”.  I’ll chase after him saying, “Daddy doodit!” Dawn says I shouldn’t encourage that because its not proper English, but its just so darn cute! 

So, Noah, who turned on the TV.  “Noah doodit!”

Noah’s Birthday Party

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

Today was Noah’s birthday party!  We had a very small party this year with family at Apoe and Agoon’s house (those are Walter’s parents for those not in the know).  Since I was assisting with a wedding the night before we didn’t want anything too taxing or elaborate and this was perfect!  Family cooked, the decorations were simple, and Walter made the cake.  Overall we just visited and played.  The kids had a blast with so many people to entertain, the food was nearly glutinous, and at nap time everyone had just about used up every ounce of energy left.  Here are a few photos from the day.  Thank you to everyone who made it and apologies to those we couldn’t include this year.  I’m sure after the house fire and crazy My Gym parties back to back from last year you understand why we opted for something low key.

Noah’s actual birthday is Wednesday (05/21).  I can’t believe he’s going to be two!  It just doesn’t seem possible.  We’re planning to take him out for dinner and more birthday cake.  He LOVES blowing out candles and yells “FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!” whenever he thinks someone may let him blow anything out (this includes anything that lights, not just birthday candles).  I hope to have some photos to share then too.

Mother’s Day

Saturday, May 17th, 2008

While Discovery put on a very sweet Mother’s Day, nothing could rival the day celebrated with family and friends.  I got to sleep in (which is about 7:30am or so) and when I did get up I was greeted by a very happy Noah who tried very hard with “Happy Mummer’s Day”.  I opened gifts from Noah and Walter (a very generous spa gift certificate and an amazing new pot for my upcoming new kitchen) before meeting my parents, niece, sister and her boyfriend for brunch.  Brunch was incredible!  We love going to the Holiday Inn on Highland Beach.  It’s right on the ocean, the food is phenomenal and the coffee is surprisingly perfect.  The spread on Sunday was incredible!  There was nothing missed and our table was right against the window facing the ocean.  Just perfect.  After breakfast Walter and Julia took Noah down to LOOK at the ocean which, of course, resulted in some very wet pants.  My parents gave me a whole collection of new pots and pans and some tops for a long, hot, pregnant summer.  We went home after that for a nice, long nap and then had dinner with Walter’s parents.  It was a perfect day! 

Many thanks to Candace of www.ishotthechef.com for the pot and pan recommendations.  If you haven’t checked out Candace’s food blog, you must!  She’s amazingly talented and a very sweet person.  We’re slowly trading our Teflon for the Hard-anodized Aluminum variety and I can’t wait to try some new recipes.  That is of course after the dust settles from our never ending house addition!