Christmas '08

We had a wonderful Christmas, despite both kids being sick for the week! (Stomach bug, croup, ear infections & bronchitis. Whew!) We spent Christmas Eve in Syracuse with the Heimerman clan, and Christmas Day at our house with all of the grandparents.

Santa was on his game this year with the kids! Brady got a new guitar and motorcycle, and Ainsley got a farm and xylophone. The winner of best gift this year is Brady's guitar! He just can't put it down, and often he'll ride the motorcycle while playing the guitar. Thanks, Santa!

We missed not seeing all of our family this year, but look forward to celebrating with them in the future!

A new family member!

A hearty congratulations to Moe and Nate- her FIANCE!! Moe and Nate were engaged on Dec. 17th after Moe (unknowingly) foiled many of Nate's plans. Moe managed to keep the engagement mum from the family until her big reveal at our family holiday party. Everyone is thrilled for them!

Welcome to the family, Nate!!

December Happenings

It's the holiday season! Which means lots more things to do on top of a crazy life! :) Here's a summary of what we've been up to!

1- Jeff and I attended a work Christmas party, and had a night away from the kids. (They stayed at Nana and Papa's house!) It was a treat for us, and we enjoyed getting a solid night of sleep. Maddie was quite confused when we walked in the door without the kids. She kept whining and running to the door looking for them. We weren't sure if she was thinking "Where the heck are the kids?" or "Do I really have a night away from those kids?!". :)

2- We celebrated Maddie's 5th birthday on Dec. 10th. Our dog is finally older than all of us. I'm thrilled not to be the oldest one in the house anymore!

3- Gramma Sue, Aunt KK, Henry & Helen visited us for a couple days. The trip was a day longer than planned due to Aunt KK's car being "broken", but we all enjoyed the extra time together.

4- We had dinner with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. It's always great to see them, and the kids were a huge hit for the old folks. Ainsley was in her glory with all of the attention (she sang her heart out for all), and Brady got to see some great model trains. We had to pull him away from the trains to eat!

5- We made Christmas cookies with Gramma Sue, Grampa, Aunt KK & Henry! And boy do they taste good! Some of them have massive piles of colored sugar decor on them, but we had a lot of fun.

6- Jeff and I got another date night! We went to Dinosaur BBQ and caught an Amerks hockey game. While we were out painting the town red, Brady & Ainsley went out a special car trip with Grandma Maria & Papa Gene, to a HUGE and EXPENSIVE toy store. Brady got to see $800 trains and did a good job not breaking anything.

7- Ainsley has begun sleeping through the night again! Four of her six new teeth have broken through, and we are much happier people. She'll have a total of eight teeth before the New Year.


Jeff and I are still working through our gift shopping, Christmas cards and such. We have a family party this Saturday (in Syracuse). Christmas Eve will be celebrated with the Heimerman clan in Syracuse. Then, we are having all of the grandparents over for dinner/dessert Christmas day. We're hoping to catch up with friends next weekend, and then maybe some rest?

We hope you are all enjoying the spirit of the season! And YES- it is still snowing! (We did see green grass a couple days.)

Ainsley is being invaded...

...by teeth! Ainsley has four, and possibly six, new teeth coming in all at once! She's being a trooper about it during the day, but loses the battle at night. Which means we ALL lose the battle and SLEEP. Hopefully they all break through soon, and we'll get a teething reprieve.

QFT

We had a week of Quality Family TIme (QFT) with the Milella and Miller families! We celebrated Grandma Maria's birthday, had a baby shower for Eudora, celebrated Jeff's birthday and then Turkey Day! A busy, but fun time!

Snow bunnies

The snow is certainly not leaving us anytime soon, so we're learning to cope! The kids have received early Christmas presents of snow pants, hats and gloves. That's allowed us to show them the finer points of snow, like shoveling and snowmen!

SNOW, SNOW and more SNOW

Why, yes, it is November! Although you would never guess it to look out our windows. We are on our 4th consecutive day of snow here in Upstate N.Y. And we may have 5 more months of this?!

Even Brady's initial excitement at seeing the white stuff has faded. The other day he said "Snow get off the sidewalk! No snow!" Oh boy is he in for it.

Ainsley's Dedication

On Nov. 9th we had Ainsley's dedication ceremony at church! The family went up on the altar and was prayed for, and then we had everyone back to our house for brunch! YUM!

Everyone did well, including Brady & Ainsley. The kids even got a few laughs out of people as they displayed their charming ways. :)

May we continue to be blessed!

Let's go Buffalo!!

Jeff and I spent the weekend in Buffalo with some of our great friends! We reminiscenced about college days, tailgated like pros and saw the Bills/Jets game from the 1st row on the 35 yard line! A fantastic weekend (despite the Bills loss)!! We only wished it had lasted longer. Although...I'm not sure how many more deep fried chicken wings we could have eaten.

Jeff and my shadows on the field!

Part of the group at the Bills game.

HALLOWEEN!

We had a gorgeous day/night for Halloween! Temps were in the upper 60s with sunshine, pumpkins and trick or treaters galore! Brady & Ainsley warmed up by trick or treating at a company party. Then, we all went home for the official trick or treating! Turns out a 2 year old and 9 month old can really score some candy! Our race car driver and bumble bee were a big hit!

Papa's Birthday!

We helped Papa celebrate his birthday with yummy steaks, chocolate cake and presents! Brady didn't give Papa a chance to forget his bday, telling him every 2 minutes that it was "Papa's Birthday".

ZooBoo!

This past Saturday we went to the zoo for their annual Halloween party, ZooBoo! Aunt Alyce and cousin Landon joined us, and a great time was had by all! There were animals, kids in costumes, candy and stuffed tree frogs as parting gifts. All the makings for a fun time!

Check out Landon (doggie) and Brady (race car driver) playing a game.

Ainsley & Brady's Weekend with Grandma Maria

While Jeff and I were in Virginia catching up with friends, and running the Army Ten Miler, Brady & Ainsley had a fun weekend with Grandma Maria! They hit an indoor play place called The Sandbox, went pumpkin picking and enjoyed a haunted hayride! They were properly spoiled, and Grandma is a hero!

Henry's Birthday

Our nephew, Henry, turned two and we headed to Syracuse to help him celebrate! Here are some highlights from the trip:

1- Henry putting on 15 layers of clothes, as he opened his presents! I've never seen a kid get excited about getting clothes as gifts!

2- Seeing baby Helen again!

3- Taking the annual Heimerman Christmas card picture! (Thanks, Nate.)

4- Aunt KK's amazing fire truck cake. She put moms like me to shame.

5- The helmet party. Henry, Brady & Ainsley all got to wear helmets. Gramma Sue, too!

6- Grampa, Gramma, Brady & Henry went to Hafner's and had a grand time at their fall festival. Face painting, a maze, a SpiderMan sighting and pumpkins!

7- Time with the Heimerman clan! (Jeff may not agree with this one.)

We Did It!

Jeff and I completed the Army Ten Miler! Jeff was a trooper and stayed with me the entire run. He found that us "slow folk" have a lot more fun than the serious runners. Maybe he'll run with us more often?!

It was a gorgeous day for a run. Blue sky, sunshine and in the 60s. It was a good run (for a 10 mile run), and I was glad when it was over! Jeff on the other hand stated that "This makes me want to run another marathon". If I had the energy, I would have swatted him.

We also had a fantastic weekend with friends and being back in Virginia! Awesome to see everyone and our old haunts, and it was hard to get back on the plane to Rochester.

Future Parrothead

We attended a clambake this weekend, and there was a great band (Ebb Tide Band)! Brady stood in front of the band for an hour straight and boogied down. He was a crowd favorite, especially among the ladies. :) Check out Brady swinging his hips to "Margaritaville". We're getting him ready for Jimmy Buffett concerts!

Toofs!

Ainsley FINALLY has her first teeth! It's been at least two months in the making, but her two front bottom teeth are breaking through. And she is now back to sleeping through the night, which makes us all a little happier! Just think there's only like 20 more teeth to go...

Brady's new accessory

Since Brady saw this helmet in the store, he has practically been wearing it ever since. (Including wearing it through the store, only to take it off briefly to be scanned at checkout.) I thought I should capture a quick video, since he looks so darn cute and funny wearing the stinkin' thing around. Wouldn't you know... it actually works too!! :)

Ugliest Dog Award

I never thought I'd nominate our cute fluffball of a dog for the Ugliest Dog award, but we had an "incident" that changed my mind. Maddie went to the groomer, and ended up getting nicked by the shaver. The groomer had to halt the haircut, and we had to take Maddie to the vet to get her checked out. When I got to the groomer to pick Maddie up I was all worried about her. However, when they brought her out I burst out laughing! Her body was shaved down to the point that you could see her skin, but her head, tail and feet weren't shaved at all. It's really quite the sight! (The picture just doesn't do it justice.)

Good news is that Maddie checked out AOK at the vet, and she gets her grooming finished up today.

My Town Chicago is...

Wrigley Field


AMAZING!! We had a fabulous time on our trip to Chicago, and are sad to be home. Here's a summary of our trip:

2 airline tickets to Chicago- $400
2 Cubs tickets- $200
2 massages- $200
3 nights of uninterrupted sleep - PRICELESS


We did a boat tour on the Chicago River, hit a dueling piano bar, saw a Cubs game, went bowling, took a 5 mile run through Grant & Millenium Parks and along the waterfront, rode the ferris wheel on Navy Pier, napped, had a steak dinner and more! The weather cooperated the entire time, and we just enjoyed our time together and the lack of schedule!

Thanks to Nana and Papa for watching our two adorable children! Now where to go next...


View of Chicago River from our room

Sans Kids

Sans kids has become my term of the week. Jeff and I are heading to Chicago tomorrow morning for a 4 day getaway SANS KIDS! While we love our children dearly, we are quite excited to get some alone time and SLEEP.

There's no picture for this post, but imagine Jeff and I with bags under our eyes and big smiles plastered on our faces.

More when we return from the Windy City!

Army Ten Miler

Jeff and I have begun our training for the Army Ten Miler! It'll be my second go round, and I believe Jeff's third (maybe fourth?). So far the training is going well, but our longest run has only been 4 miles. Next week the training starts to get a bit more serious, so we'll see how I fare. (Jeff always seems to run well.)

The race is on Oct. 5th in Washington, DC. We are going down for a long weekend, and hope to catch up with some friends and celebrate our 6 year anniversary, too!

FINALLY- New house pictures

People have been asking us for pictures of the new house (in Rochester) since the day we moved in. First, we just didn't have time to take the pictures. Then, it was that we didn't have enough boxes unpacked or pictures on the wall to make the house look good. Now, we've come to the realization that our house is never going to be "done"! It's a constant work in progress! So we've finally taken some pictures for everyone's viewing pleasure. You'll probably see some dishes in the sink, and boxes on the floor, but they're pictures!


Press the link to view pictures:
New House Pictures

August?!

While Jeff and I were born and bred in upstate NY, we have definitely lost our thick skin! Yesterday's high was a whopping 69 degrees. It was a beautiful, blue sky with no clouds, lots of sunshine day. But it was cold! It was similar to a late October day in Virginia, and it made me think "Will I make it through the winter?".

And my poor kids! Yesterday, I sent them off to daycare in shorts and tees. When we arrived, all the other kids had on pants and jackets. So today, I had Brady & Ainsley in pants and jackets, and wouldn't you know all the other kids had on shorts and tees! Hmmm. Maybe there should be a "how to dress your kids" phone tree.

I must note that this weather isn't typical for this time of year, but I bet it was still warmer in VA. :)

Beach time

Brady, Ainsley and I got some beach time in this week with Grandma Maria on the shores of Lake Ontario! It was Ainsley's first trip to the beach, and the first beach trip Brady remembers. Ainsley took a cat nap, while Brady moved all of the sand on the beach into the water. He single handily took care of the erosion on the beach. :)

While Brady was much more interested in the sand, he did get in the water a bit and squealed like a little girl. I think it scared the fish!

A great time was had by all, and we will definitely be making some more trips to the beach this summer!

Six months!

Ainsley had her 6 month birthday, and got a check up from the dr. to celebrate! She weighed in at a whopping 18lbs 11oz. She is 7 oz. more than Brady was at 6 months, and about an inch shorter. That explains all the ROLLS!

Ainsley also seems to have begun teething. Our normally happy girl is a wee bit cranky and only smiles when she is chewing on something. Add to that quarts of drool and we have the makings of a first tooth. We'll keep you posted.

Baseball!

Jeff & I made it out for a date night last weekend! Thanks to Grandma Maria for babysitting and letting us get out!

We went to a Rochester Redwings baseball game, and had a great time. The weather was perfect and our seats, which were 4 rows off the field, were a whopping $10!! Now this is why we moved back! :)

Our night out made us excited for our Chicago getaway (sans kids), which is coming up Labor Day weekend. It'll be our first vacation away since last May. MUCH needed R&R time!

The grass is greener

A rant session...

We've come to realize that we are spoiled, and I hate it! Whoever thought that living in a townhouse community with a mass of neighbors, and a teeny tiny yard would have been the high life? Turns out that having a HOA to take care of trash, landscaping and other things is truly a good deal!

Jeff and I are in the process of trying to find someone to clean our house. (Like I said- we're spoiled.) Turns out that it costs about double to clean a house in Rochester, NY versus Oakton, VA. Doesn't make sense, right? Add to that the cost to have our lawn mowed on a weekly basis and trash removal, and we are wondering where the "lower cost of living" comes into play.

We (and Brady) miss our neighbors and friends a bunch! It was so nice to walk out of our home and have many willing little friends for Brady to play with. The park was literally right down the street, and we had lots of friends to call up for some fun time or support. There were sidewalks to walk on, and lots of cars/buses/people to see while we did walk. Ahh the good life. Now my kids and I walk in a circle on our driveway for entertainment.

Perhaps I should try to remember the hours we sat in traffic, the cost of a haircut or a morning bagel, or the lack of family in VA? Nah. It's more fun to rant! :)

Celebrating the old and new!!

We took a day trip to Syracuse this weekend to meet baby Helen and to celebrate Grampa's birthday! All had a good time! KK and Z are doing remarkably well with their new family of four, and Henry and Helen are beautiful children!

Grampa and Gramma had fun with all of their grandchildren, and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Grampa and helped him eat his cake of course!

And here's Helen! She is a teeny tiny peanut, but she has big hands and feet! You can see one of her hands in this picture.

Ainsley really got into the party spirit...

Brady, Henry, Gramma and Grampa go for a swing!

We're back in action!!

It has been several weeks since an update, and that is because we have been busy getting settled into our new home in Rochester, NY! There are still boxes to unpack and a never ending "to do" list, but I think we have our acts together for the most part!




Brady & Ainsley have acclimated to their new home quite nicely! They are thoroughly enjoying the big yard, driveway and swing set we now have. Brady has recovered from his run in with the table, too. And of course we are all enjoying being closer to family! Although I must say that we are missing our friends terribly. We haven't gotten used to that part of the move yet. :( That, and taking care of a big yard.





Here are a couple pictures of the kids from Grandma Maria's house. You may notice that Ainsley is now sitting up all on her own! She started that a whole month and a half before Brady did. Hopefully that doesn't mean she'll start crawling/walking earlier too.

Brady in the truck that Papa Gene just built!
More exciting news- Brady and Ainsley have a new cousin! Helen Jane Zhe-Heimerman was born on July 13th. We are heading to Syracuse this weekend to meet her, and hope to post some pictures of her soon!

Ready or not Rochester... here we come!

So, we have been in Rochester for just about 4 days and a good chunk of that time was spent in the Strong Memorial Hospital Pediatric Emergency Room on Tuesday. Little Brady was chasing after a ball that went under a table at daycare and he just didn't get low enough. SMACK! Right into the edge of it. Here are a few (BlackBerry) pictures of the effects (of the table and some meds that made him a bit loopy.)

6/7 stitches later, and back on his feet jumping around the house. We know we owe you all some pics of the house... but still getting settled. Hopefully this weekend! But no promises ;-)

It's Bumbo Time!

Time to bring out the Bumbo seat! Ainsley is approaching her 4 month birthday, and has decided that she is too old for the bouncey seat. We've moved on to bigger and better things- like the Bumbo seat and exersaucer. Now our "little" girl likes to sit up and view the world. She actually loses one of her three chins when she's sitting upright. :)

First Haircut!

After two long years of growing his curly, golden locks it was finally time for Brady's first haircut! I gave brief consideration to cutting his hair myself, and then decided to leave it to the pros. (Flashback to that bang job I did in 1987.)

We went to Cartoon Cuts, and what an operation! They have bubbles, cartoons and an elephant that washes your hair! (Jeff and I may start to go there.)

Brady did a great job! He sat still for the whole thing, but the "big buzzer" scared him a bit. We now have a certificate, and a few locks of hair for this milestone!


The before shot.



Bubbles, cartoons, oh my!

The hairdresser spiked Brady's new do. Here's the final (spiked) product!