NY Adventure Part Deux!

We celebrated my cousin Sabrina's 24th birthday with a family bbq one night and a night out on the town the next! It was nice to be able to actually be around for her birthday. We spent the bbq night watching old family videos and laughing hysterically (I needed that Bri...thank you!). We watched a video of Sabrina's 1st birthday and to see her 23 years later all grown up and more gorgeous than ever just made me realize how quickly time flies. It seems like yesterday we celebrated Ella's 1st birthday and in three short months she will be TWO! I loved being surrounded by my family. And so did Ella! She was definitely spoiled by all of their love and attention. Thank you all for that;)

How beautiful is my cousin Rory?

And her little sister Keira!

Me and my beautiful Aunt Jeanne!

My Godson and cousin Glenn...my little skateboarding man!

Aunt Jeanne...did I catch you spilling wax on my new Iphone??

Ella stealing some of Sabrina's birthday dessert. I am not surprised.
Birthday girl Sabrina!

Ella coloring with Keira

To see more pics of Sabrina's BBQ Birthday click here.
Out to dinner with the birthday girl. Cousins. :)

Nick and Sabrina...awww aren't they so cute?

Mr. Handsome aka my Uncle Mike, one of NYPDs finest!

And look who shows up to the bar! My fab SIL Monica!

Sabrina and her brother Mikey

Me and Mikey! I love this guy! I think I sat in this same spot all night. LOL. Ahh who cares as long as the drinks kept coming.

Adventures in NY Part One

After a long day of traveling, Ella and I arrived in NY on July 8th. She was well behaved on the first flight mainly because she was passed out. The second flight however was a bit of a nightmare. Thank goodness we had a priest sitting in front of us because Ella was kicking his seat like he was a giant soccer ball for two hours straight. I'm sure the poor guy was saying his Our Fathers like crazy.

A view from our window

Ella passed out

Finally at Aunt Bunny's house and Ella LOVES Mia!

And she loves her fishy ring pop sent all the way from Sheryl in FL!

My cousin Sammy with Ella

Isn't this picture gorgeous? Michelle (13 yrs old!) took this!

Mama went out for the night and returned to Ella's nails being painted blue and pink:)

The first week in NY was pretty hectic. I attended a Bridal Expo at the Oheka Castle (where my cousin Kristina will have her wedding.) I totally pretended to be a bride to get the freebies for her and I did a darn good job at pretending because I even made it on TheKnot! Finally, after 5 years of being married, I made it on that damn site. We then traveled to Connecticut for cousin's weekend where Ella went to her first winery! I promise she didn't partake in the wine tasting, but she did help herself to some cheese and crackers;) The weather was perfect and I have to admit I was a little envious of my cousin Lara's gorgeous home. I think it's where Pottery Barn must do all of their magazine spreads because it is that beautiful. To see more pictures of our weekend in CT, click here.

Sabrina, Me, and Kristina (bride to be)

Ella running around the Winery

Picking flowers for Gamma Don Don

Someone should have stopped us here.

Group shot! Love my family:)

Don't we look so much alike? hehe

It scares me how much Ella enjoyed the Winery...she takes after her mama

Being goofy with Gamma

Unfortunately, a few days after Cousin's Weekend, we attended my Great Uncle Happe's funeral in PA:( He lived a long, fulfilling life and will be very missed. When he was laid to rest, Taps was played on a bugle as Uncle Happe was a WWII veteran. It struck a chord with me as I realized there aren't many of the Greatest Generation left to tell their stories. I wish I had taken more time to spend with him. Life, even though sometimes long lived...is still entirely too short.

More to come...I promise!

Happy 4th of July!

It was a very quiet 4th around here. Not the way we typically spend the holiday, but I tried to make it special for Ella. Last year we were surrounded by family in NY and Ella loved the fireworks and her eyes lit up every time one went off. This year, I took her to the lake and we had a picnic, built sandcastles and swam for a bit. Even though it was just the two of us I loved every second of it. When we came home, I cut up some watermelon for her and she enjoyed every bite! We had plans to go see the fireworks in the park that evening, but the rain started falling (Ella saying "it's raining mommy") and then she was in bed by 7. So I watched the fireworks with Riley out on our porch when the rain finally stopped. It allowed me to take a few minutes to reflect on this significant holiday and thank all of the soldiers fighting for our freedoms overseas. Especially Josh and Joe...we can't wait for your safe return. God Bless all of the American heroes making huge sacrifices for our wonderful United States of America. You are the reason we celebrate Independence Day.

Watermelon is very, very messy. But oh so yummy.

Our new do's!

Ella has finally allowed me to put her hair in pigtails! Ain't she so cute?? I know she barely has any hair and what little hair she does have is pretty much a mullet, but I think she feels more girly with the pigtails in. Oh and I decided to chop my own locks off...no pigtails for me people. Sorry to disappoint.

Ella's new playroom!

With Tom being away I decided to change our office into a playroom for Ella. We weren't using the office and I love that she has her own space to play in now. She will sit in the room for hours and play and read every book on the shelf. She LOVES it, but I think I love it even more;)My mom made these beautiful curtains!

The frames will eventually have pictures in them (I hope). We used the same fabric in the curtains and bench to cover the mats. Turned out cute!

I hope you LOVE it Tom!! Thank you Mom and Aunt Lynda for all of your help finishing it up. I love her little garden getaway:)

290 days.

I read on Tom's blog he has been away from us for 75 days. My ticker says he has 9 months, 2 weeks and 2 days until he comes back to us. I count how long he has left in Korea and he counts how little he has been away from us. Can you tell who the pessimist in this relationship is? It's a bad habit I have, but thank goodness I have him to always see the positive on everything.

In the 75 days he has been gone, I have learned a lot about myself. I learned I became a very dependent person when I married Tom and moved to Germany. He had been living there for a year before we married and he knew the language from years of studying it in school. He knew the culture, the area, how to drive on the autobahn at a ridiculously fast speed and what "Ausfahrt" meant (weird word, right? Yeah it means exit on the autobahn.) He knew how to pay the bills in German, how to get a hold of our German landlord when something was needed in our apartment. He just did it all. I let him do it all. It wasn't until he recently moved to South Korea that I realized just how much I have depended on him for the past 4.5 years. How silly of me right? I wasn't making any effort to be independent and to learn for myself. I liked counting on him. I still do. But now that he is so far away, I am forced to be independent.

In 2.5 months, I have put together shelving units, helped build our patio furniture, killed TWO scorpians, taken Ella to church every Sunday, hung photos straight using a level and toothpaste (thanks Mom for the toothpaste idea..brilliant), fixed a flat tire (well I took it to the shop...but still..), turned our electric on after the many times storms here have shut it off on us, gotten over my fear of walking Riley at night, learned to change the propane on the grill, fixed our vacuum not once, but twice (turns out sucking up ballpoint pens probably isn't the smartest thing), fixed our wireless router, and I've even taken Ella out to dinner by myself. Hell, I mowed AND edged the lawn this week (first time in my whole life). To some these may seem like such trivial things, but I used to depend on Tom for all of that. I'm really proud of myself. I'm most proud because I have kept Ella safe and happy this whole time. I CAN do this. I can and will be ok for the next 290 days. That's all I have left...290 days. I only have 3/4 of the year left before my handsome man is back and in my arms again. How's that for optimism?

And I will be the happiest girl in the world to have him back. After all, who can resist that face?