Happy New Year's Eve!

First off an apology is in order from me. I had added a short YouTube video of Anna Christmas morning to the blog, I viewed it once, and thought great the link works. I shut the computer down, and did not think much about it. Well...Then last night while we are at dinner I got a call from my Mother who was quite upset. She demanded that I take down the video immediately! When I asked her why even I was shocked by her explanation. Apparently, other videos (not ones I have made) were attached to Anna's video, and not such nice videos from what my Mother has described. In her words TRASH was attached to Anna's video!

Apparently, some think it is funny when a child says a word that is not very nice. I do not think it is funny nor would I video tape, and then share this with the world. So the video of Anna hugging Bambi is gone for that reason.

On to the New Year, I mentioned that for Christmas I made Everyday Russian pancakes. Not being Russian myself I am trying to keep some of Anna's culture alive through different foods, and perhaps traditions that we can also maintain. I have found this wonderful book A Year of Russian Feasts written by Catherine Cheremeteff Jones. The book has many different Russian recipes but what I like most about it is that holiday traditions are explained through the author's experiences living in Russia.

Last night I read about how New Year's Eve is a very big celebration in Russia. I guess having been to Russia and staying with a host family I am able to perhaps picture how some of these holidays be. Every time I pick up this book I feel the need to return to Russia with Anna.

The other night I emailed my Russian coordinator in Cheboksary. We are friends on Facebook so she is able to see pictures of Anna as she grows. She has told me that her son is now living in Moscow attending University there. I can not imagine how proud of him she must be. I feel proud of him and I never met him, silly I know. As crazy as it may sound I am hoping to travel to Russia with Anna in the next couple of years. Perhaps 2014 because vacation plans for 2013 are pretty much set. I think Anna is too young this year to appreciate the trip. My hope is to meet up with Anna and the host family.

Gerard is not sold on the idea of it being good for Anna but I think he is wrong. I believe Anna has a lot of memories of Russia. Yes, I know that over time they will fade but my hope is that it will only be the unpleasant memories that fade.

I read last night that Russians do not make New Year's resolutions. I have always thought that figuring out a New Year's resolution was a lot of pressure so I will be adopting this tradition too. Instead Russians make toast after toast all night long. I think this is pretty cool actually. I find it amazing that rather then focusing on something that could be negative such as "I will get out of debt this year" They would make a toast like "Here's to having enough money to pay off my debt!" I think it is all in the wording but it just sounds more positive to me.

Here are my New Year's Eve toasts:

May you all have a health, happy, and prosperous New Year!

May all the families who are waiting for a referral or to travel to complete their families have a quick, safe journey.

May all the children who are without a parent find unconditional love in the who is caring for them.

Merry Christmas to you

This year I think I had the best Christmas possible! Gerard is a last minute shopper and I am not. While Anna was at school on Thursday, I realized that for Christmas the only thing purchased for Gerard was a plastic travel cup. How in the world did I forget to buy Gerard a big gift. I chuckled on Christmas morning when I opened the plastic cups Gerard bought for me. The truth is we focused more on spending time as a family this year, and way less focus on buying gifts.

Now believe me Anna had plenty of gifts under the tree for Christmas morning. We decided very early on that we would not buy Anna something every time we go to the store. Friday, Anna and I watched a couple pf Christmas cartoons. As a child my favorite Christmas special was The Little Drummer Boy. I think this will also be one of Anna's favorite too. We listened to the cartoon, and then the song. We turned off the TV, talked, and played with our baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

On Friday Anna was so excited on that Santa was coming that she had a very hard time getting to sleep. I looked at Gerard and we both smiled. We decided to go low key this year for the holidays. For the past two years we have hosted a family party on Christmas Eve this year it was just us. We decided to go to the Children's Mass at 4 pm where Anna kept asking "Where is the little drummer boy?" When she heard a baby cry she was convinced that it was baby Jesus.

Anna was asleep by 8:30 pm. I was up until about midnight fixing and arranging. On Christmas morning when Anna's eyes opened she whispered "Momma, Momma I think Santa came last night." I was able to capture her reaction to waking up. I never want to forget the magic in her eyes and the smile on her face.

Christmas morning Gerard's parents stopped by for an hour or so on their way to AM's house. Anna was so excited to show them that Santa came, and left presents. For breakfast I made an easy recipe I found on Pinterest. It was frozen has brown potatoes, mixed with cheese and a drop of olive oil. I baked them for about 20 minutes in a muffin pan then I put a little more cheese, cracked an egg into each muffin and added some bacon back into the oven. They turned out perfect.

I also made some Russian style everyday pancakes. When I was in Russia I had them every morning while I was with the host family. I broke out the cookbook and made them on Christmas Eve so that I could reheat them on Christmas morning. Honestly, these are pretty good. Every time I make them I wonder why I don't make them more often. I have another Russian recipe that I hope to make this week as well.

Watching Anna play with her toys is one of the best feelings I have every felt. Now for the pictures.

A Christmas puppet Anna made

Christmas Eve after Mrs. Claus dropped off the PJs.


Anna heading to school for a day on the Polar Express

Here is the Christmas Craft that we did as a family. Very easy!




Christmas Morning

A week in review

What a weekend! Okay I know it is actually Wednesday but what a weekend we had. Saturday, the plan was to have my family over for pizza and a Christmas craft at 2 pm. Due to my lack of sleep we pushed it back to 5pm which I will publicly say Gerard was right.

Everyone arrived at my house around 5-6pm. We laughed for hours. We ordered pizzas instead of making a big dinner. The children could hardly contain when they saw the presents under the tree. I think the funniest thing is watching Anna and Sloan trying to find their names on the presents. Aristotle who is in the third grade questioned "Why are some of these gifts from Santa?" Just as he was saying this the big man himself showed up on the fire truck. Anna keeps telling us he comes on a truck not a sleigh.

I did make my family partake in a Christmas craft. It was a simple one I saw on Pinterent. As soon as it was dry I pulled out the hammer, and hung it up. I do want to hot glue a red ribbon on the edge.

We gave Jaime and Greg the night off, and kept Hans over night with us. He was so cute in the morning waking up. I love hearing Anna interact with her cousins. She is so loving and bossy all at the same time. I did have to stop Anna a couple of times because she was trying to put Hans into time-out.

Sunday we sent the day with my sister and her two boys, Sloan and Aristotle. Sloan is just 5 months younger than Anna. Sloan is such a sweet boy. They spent the night Sunday and Monday. The three little ones were sick. Sloan threw up actually all over me as Hans and Anna watched. We found out that Anna will throw up in sympathy. I asked her what happened and she describes it as "I sick, like a dragon."

Anna was the first up of course and woke the rest of them up too. I heard Anna tell Sloan, "I the teacher, you be the audience." Anna always prefers to be the teacher which makes me laugh. She was going through her flash cards with him.

In all, the week has been very busy. Anna's blood work came back...all normal! Thank God! Anna did wake me up with pains in her legs again tonight, I gave her some Tylenol, and she fell back to sleep. I have been so blessed to be able to be off for the past couple of days. I know once the new year starts that is when the pace will pick up again.


Anna at the dentist. She would only go if I put on a Rudolph nose. Her cheeks are red from the fifths disease.


Santa, Hans, Jaime, and Greg. I had the camera so again no pictures of me...sigh.



Sloan, Anna, and I made cut outs of our hands one morning and decorated them with "sparkles." I have a really cute picture of Sloan but Jackie prefers that I not put the boys on the blog.

To say Anna is excited about Santa coming is a complete under statement. I think I am going to try to get it on video this year. So that is it for now. I hope to be able to get the salt dough ornaments done today. As I was putting pictures into this post I realized that I did not take any pictures of our crafts with my real camera only my phone. Those of you who are friends of mine on FB have already seen the crafts. I hope to picture them all today if I remember, get a chance.

Bingo...B...I...N...G...O

This song has been in my head for the last two days. I am thinking about switching it up with a version of If your happy and you know. Why you ask because this marks day 3 of Anna being home from school sick.

I am blessed because first off I have been off all week so I have not had to struggle to find someone to watch Anna, and I actually have had a lot of fun with her even though she is sick. Anna has a virus called fifths disease. Which is cold like symptoms, chapped, puffy lips, and feeling a little tired. There is a rash that is described as looking like a slapped face. This could also a count for the pain in her joints. Although she is no longer contagious, Anna's teacher is pregnant, and I want to error on the side of waiting to return her to school. Once you have an immunity to fifths disease you should be good for life which I usually do not believe.

Yesterday we had another visit with the dentist. I did not have a level of comfort with the dentist that we visited with in November and made the decision that if I have to pay completely out of pocket for this visit I would. Anna has a few dental issues but this is something that we have been battling for a while. The enamel on Anna's teeth did not form properly. Anna needs some work done that is not an emergency but rather then putting her through 4-6 visits with sedation in the office we are opting to have her work done in one visit at the hospital.

As a nurse I feel way more comfortable with her being sedated in a hospital rather then in a doctor's office. There is also the advantage of being an employee at the hospital because I will be able to stay with her as long as possible. Those are the benefits of working in one hospital for as long as I have. So at the end of January Anna is scheduled for our total oral rehab.

I still hope to be able to do a few crafts with Anna today because she is feeling a little better. Yesterday we did decorate our tree which Anna loved. She has been redecorating it most of the morning. The funny thing is she will move a couple of ornaments then stand back and say "Looks perfect!"

All aboard! Who ate the Gingerbread man and I have a snowman in my kitchen

I should know better then to not buy extra tickets. I am one of those crazy people who do love to plan some things in advance, like months in advance. So this past August I started asking who wanted to go on a train ride with Santa with us. Funny I did not get too many people who were as excited about a train ride with Santa in August...hmm...wonder why. So I only bought 14 tickets but then needed more so I sent Me-Me and La-La after a few more. We still did not have enough...sigh. I will not lie I am thinking of buying the whole train next year.

In the end it all worked out and we ended up knowing about 25 of the 60 or so people on the train at Allaire State park. The ride was only about 20 minutes long but it was still a bunch of fun. My friend Karen and her Grand daughter Ava were there and I got some cute shots of Ava talking with Santa. My other friend's (Patti) grandson and two of her children were also on the train. JoanMarie, Eddie and AM made the train too. I just love doing these kind of things together as a family.

We will not all be able to be together for Christmas so I enjoy the activities leading up to Christmas as much as I can. Pictures you ask? Well here they are.

Hans and Anna


Papa chasing Anna

Wayne (my nephew) and Kerri his girlfriend

Hans was so excited that I am thinking we will have to take a trip to see Thomas the Train

Nanny

La-La and Aunt Jenny

Anna with Santa


No pictures of me because I got to hold JoanMarie on the train.

I guess why I love these planned events so much is usually an unplanned event also crops up. The following day a bunch of us got together to make ginger bread houses. Anna has been reading the story about the ginger bread man in school so she was very excited for this project. One of the kit came with a little gingerbread man that she promptly eat. When she does stuff like that it just makes me laugh.
Jim Dear



Samantha (Jim Dear's niece)and La-La









We laughed, and decorated our houses but most importantly we made memories as a family. Ones that I will cherish for a long time. I am hoping everyone can make it on Thursday were I plan on making them all paint with their feet. Got to love pinterest for the Christmas crafts.

Speaking of pinterest I transformed my refrigerator into a super cute snowman. Less then 5 dollars worth of felt and I got two snowmen out of the deal.

Back a Moon

I co-sleep with Anna. The other night Gerard was laying down with us and Anna was having a hard time falling asleep. Gerard will usually lay with us until we fall asleep but he swears we are both to noisy to sleep with and quite frankly we are. Not to mention Anna lays across the bed.

Every night before we fall asleep Gerard tells us "Back a moon" which translates to I love you. This is our shorten version of 'I love you to the moon and back." We have been doing this for a while and I like it. The other night Gerard whispered to Anna "Back a moon."

Anna whispered in my ear "Momma, Daddy needs gum." I open my eyes, because yes I was almost a sleep and giggled because Gerard hates chewing gum. Usually his response is "Why would someone want to chew gum. It looks like a lot of work that never ends."

So I whispered to Anna "No gum, lay your head down and go to sleep. Back a moon." To which Anna whispers to Gerard "Daddy, Momma said no gum! Lay your head down, go to sleep. Back a moon." Anna laid her head down and promptly fell asleep.

This morning Gerard and I laughed over this whole conversation. I am not sure if she thought she heard him ask for gum or if she just wanted gum and thought that if Daddy wanted gum it would be fine. No matter what the case this made me laugh.

Yesterday's blood work was the complete opposite from our last experience. I applied a cream to Anna's arms that numbs the area. It has to be applied for one hour prior to the blood draw and covered and is called Emla. If any of you must take your child for blood work on a regular bases this is a must and again something I would insist on from your doctor.

We registered for the blood work but only had to wait a few minutes. I explained what was going to happen and in walks the one person I would have never wanted to talk Anna's blood. Quite frankly I would draw it myself first, just as I was about to say something another woman I know walked in and started to prep Anna. In less then 5 minutes her blood was drawn, and the bandaid was applied, six tubes and one stick.

I can not tell you how much I appreciate your kind comments. I do so hope these are growing pains. If they are then we are going to have to have a talk with Anna to stop this growing business. I want to always remember how excited she is when I do not have to work. One of my other favorite things is how she sings and if she does not know the words she just makes them up.

Blood work!

Over the past 20 years I have given many shots, started a number of IVs, and drawn tons of blood work. I have been conditioned that these things just need to get done for an important reason so I do them. Now when I say that I know it sounds very matter of fact and cold but this is a part of the professional me that keeps my mind safe from the not so nice things that I have seen over the years.

I often think about how the caregivers may be haunted by caring for the children in the orphanage. There is little they can do besides going and meeting the superficial needs of these children. In the past I have felt burned out and the conditions I work under are light years better then the conditions the caregivers in the orphanages work under.

Back to the blood work, when Anna came home from Russia I insisted that she not be vaccinated twice and instead that she has the titers drawn to see what diseases she was having an immune response towards. I remember that day very vividly, 17 tubes of blood were drawn. This afternoon I will take Anna for more blood work. My guess after looking at the orders is about 5-6 tubes of blood, please I pray it is not more than that this time.

This fall Anna was bitten by a tick. I marked it on the calendar and counted out 8 weeks which brought us close to the end of October. The night before Thanksgiving Anna had a crying episode and started to complain about her knees. Anna does not complain so I held her, gave her Tylenol and watched her. The pains went away until this Monday night. Tuesday I took her to the doctor's office to discuss three issues, the leg pain being one of them. I fear she may have Lyme's disease. I will post more about the other two issues after I have processed the discussion between Anna's pediatrician and I first.

I will say that I will have a couple of more doctor appointments in the near future. I am a little worried but I am doing my best to put it in God's hands. I want what is best for my baby. I will do what is necessary and right.

So today I will pick Anna up from school and drive her to he hospital where I work so I can hand select who will draw her blood. Yes, I am that bossy. I will pray that she will not cry for long after the blood draw.

I NEED that on my roof

Last week Gerard met my Mother and I at the mall to have Anna's Christmas pictures done. Anna's Christmas dress is somewhat plain by some standards but I just love it. No glitter or glitz. The dress is a cotton, red dress with white poka-dots. I love the little peter pan collar and tab with her first initial monogrammed on the tab of the dress.

We brought a few of our special things with us to the appointment. Rudolph the red nosed reindeer that Jim Dear and La-La bought her last year made the cut. So did the alters that Gerard and Anna play with on a routine bases. With some help from Nanny's red lip stick Anna was adorned with a red nose. The pictures turned out beautiful. What was even better was Gerard took Anna to the indoor play area so I could pick out the pictures without worrying where Anna was.

On our way home we stopped for some frozen yogurt which is my new love. On the ride home Anna started to notice the Christmas decorations outside. Now we usually put out the nativity with a star but in the past no lights on the house. Now if it were me the house would be light in white lights with colored accents but since I dislike being on a ladder lights usually do not go on the house.

I was getting a sleepy little Anna out of the car at home and she lifted her head and pointed at the neighbor's house and said "I NEED them on Anna's house!" When Gerard got home I asked him to just take her outside and she repeated her demand to him as well. He laughed and smiled. Saturday he went to the store and came back with the clips needed to hang the lights. So maybe today he will get a chance when he gets home to get up there and hang the lights.

Saturday we were able to get the Nativity down and just like the past two years Anna took charge of placing the people in the front yard. I just sat back and pictured her this year and with no guidance from Gerard or I she took the plastic characters out and placed them on the lawn. I was amazed by the order in which she decided who was going to be on the lawn first.

Baby Jesus was first, then Mary, and then Joseph all found their special spots on the lawn. The animals were next then the Sheppard and wise men. She is so interested in Baby Jesus which we just love. She made sure that each of the statues had a view of Baby Jesus.

Pinterest

I have a new love. Pinterest...anyone else a part of this site? I love crafts, decorating and the photo tips that are posted on this site. I found this really neat reindeer ornament that I plan to do with Anna and the family this Christmas. I would love some suggestions of people to follow on this site.

Today I decided Anna and I are going to spend the day together. Hopefully I will be able to get an appointment to have her pictures for Christmas done. I would also love to get a few cookies made. What a beautiful today is going to be.

And the winner is......

The winner is...insert drum roll please...Naomi!

I want to thank all of you who pray for the children and families of the world. Naomi I will be emailing you shortly for your address so that I can get the PJs and book out to you tomorrow.

Anna decided that she NEEDED her Papa this afternoon after school. I am so glad that Gerard took her there because she was able to spend some time with her cousin baby JoanMarie as well as decorate their Christmas tree.

Anna is very excited about Christmas this year. I have found that hiding Christmas gifts in the truck of my car is not such a great idea. I had purchased a gift for her and figured out once I got home that I had duplicated the gift. I intended on returning the gift that afternoon but Anna found it first.

Now the stinker keeps looking in the back of my car just to check for "stuff" as she puts it. Her new thing is to ask "Who bought that?" I think Gerard and I will use this question to teach a little bit more about money.

I just finished my class for this semester. What a relief. I do not start up again until after the new year. Three classes down and 12 more to go, which also equals just shy of 4 years, but who is counting? If could be five years after all, right...the glass is half full.

This past weekend I spent so much time with Anna. I had the opportunity to work extra but Gerard told me "She needs you." Anna comes first so I declined the overtime which is a switch for me lately. I love being home in the morning when Anna wakes up. She has been having dreams that she remembers and wants to share with me as soon as her eyes are open. Some of her dreams are funny, some are silly, and some are scary. No matter what type of dream she has she loves to sit on my lap and tell me about it, and I love hearing about them too.

I hope to be able to blog more in the coming days about a bunch of things. Now that my class is over. I also hope to be able to get her Christmas cards completed and in the mail too.

I am so excited about what the new year holds for our family. I have made such progress on our debt that I did not think it was possible. We have cut our expenses dramatically.

Janet who knows what 2012 will bring maybe even a picture of Gerard!

A Give-A-Way! It is pretty simple I promise ***Pictures added***

Have I told you lately that I feel so blessed. This year has proven to me that hard times can pass. To summarize a friend's Facebook status "The hardest arithmetic is counting your blessings" and this is how I feel. I can no longer imagine how my life would be without Gerard and Anna. I could have thrown it all away over my foolish pride more times than I care to count.

Friday morning when I was shopping I tried to count all my blessings. I became overwhelmed with all that God has provided for me. The very next thought was what if I had a Give-A-Way to support orphans and families in need? This one will be simple I promise.

When I was waiting for Anna, and blogging I know that many prayed for Anna and I. When Gerard and I hit a rough patch, and I blogged about it, I know many of you prayed for us. So hear is what the Give-A-Way will cost...are you ready?

I would like you to pray for the orphans in the world who will not have a Mommy and Daddy to hold them on Christmas morning, and for families who are experiencing difficult times.

That is it! I told you I would keep it simple. If you decide to pray for these two causes, and want a chance to win this Give-A-Way than just post below that you prayed, your name, or email address. You do not need a blogger account to comment to this blog post. If you link this blog post on your blog, Facebook or Twitter account let me know and I will put your name in twice. The more prayers the better.

I am giving away a pair of cotton Christmas pajamas and a Christmas story. The PJs are a country green with white pok-a-dots with a smocked Santa. The PJs are a size 3T but do run big.





The book is one that caught Anna's attention while we were looking at books at BJ's warehouse. She picked it out and was looking through it intently while I was looking at a different book. To my surprise I noticed the Eastern European style art and decided to buy it. This book has a wonderful lesson about how the manner you treat a person does matter. The name of the book is The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett.



To be fair I will close the Give-A-Way at 3 pm on Tuesday, November 29th. I will post the winner by 5pm on November 29th.

Once again thank you for your support and prayers.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving even though I am a little late. We had a wonderful day. Wednesday I had hoped to get some of my prep work done but I came home from work with a headache that I could not shake. I slept from 8:30 am to 3:00pm which is very unusual. I got up only long enough to make some dinner and then back to bed by 9pm.

Thanksgiving morning I woke up early, Gerard went to the gym. I quietly prepared my turkey and side dishes. Sorry no turkey picture this year because it was carved before I thought about it. I did try a new side dish, acorn squash stuffed with apples, onions, raisins, cheddar cheese, and a sprinkle of brown sugar. I wrapped them in tin foil and covered them on the grill. They were perfect.

Dinner this year was quieter because we had less people than usual. If you are asking if we had a stranger at the table the answer is yes. My sister brought a friend whom I have never met, Harry was a very nice man, and we enjoyed his company.

Because Wednesday was an unproductive day my schedule was off, and I had homework that still needed to be done after dinner. Once I was finished with homework it was time to shop! Gerard and Anna were fast asleep so I ventured out to the stores. I was able to many of the things that I wanted so I am happy with the results.

This year my sister Jenny pictured below was with us. At dinner she suggested that we all express one thing that we are thankful for this year. Papa told us he was thankful for his grandchildren. Anna perked up and told him "I love you Papa. You a sweet man." I think about how far she has come from just two years ago, and that was what I was thankful for. Gerard was thankful that we were not working, and I second that. I think now that he is on a day shift schedule he is so much more aware of how awful it feels to work nights but I am thankful that I have the ability to work at night.

In all this was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope that everyone else had a nice day with their family and friends.

This and That

The past couple of days I have been off trying to get the mountain of laundry washed, dried, and put away. I am one load away from being done so tomorrow will be spent finishing up the cleaning that I need to do prior to having Thanksgiving dinner. I often wonder why I deep clean prior to Thanksgiving when I should perhaps do that after Thanksgiving.

Last week Anna had her first dental appointment. I have been trying to get her in to see one of the local pediatric but I have not been able to get through to the office. She does have a cavity that needs to be filled. I am on the fence on whether or not I am going to have it filled in the office with laughing gas or in the hospital where they can easily do a complete exam and cleaning under sedation. I did take a few pictures and will add then tomorrow.

Plans are set for our train ride with Santa Claus in December. I can hardly contain my excitement. Anna and I drove to Allaire State park to buy the tickets. Anna and I took a practice train ride which was fun. This is no Polar Express but the tickets were very reasonable which allowed me to open it up to more family members.

While we were at Allaire State Park I took a couple of pictures of Anna. I got in the car convinced that I did not good enough one for our Christmas card but low and behold I did. I had been hoping to toss Gerard and I in front of the camera for a family Christmas card but we just can not seem to get it together again this year.

I am also quite excited to start planning our Christmas crafts. We have reindeer ornaments and gingerbread houses. Like last year I want to focus more on spending time with the ones we love rather then at the store. This however will not stop me from being a crazed shopper on black Friday. I just love being out in the crowds, I know it sounds weird.

Gerard has told me that I MUST go through all the Christmas decorations this year. I have way too many decorations. Prior to Anna I collected a number of different Hallmark ornaments. Every branch of my tree is covered with more that one ornament. Last year we did not even take down one ornament opting instead for ones that were homemade by Anna and I. Years ago I talked one of my sisters into buying the Hallmark football ornaments. Now she has two boys and they both love these ornaments and want them on their special trees in their rooms. I am happy now to have a girl because I can pass those ornaments off to my sister for her second son.

Thanks to a fellow blogger friend I have been invited to join Pinterest. Stacy I promise as soon as I figure out how to invite you I will. I have not gotten a chance to really look through the site yet but I think it will be quite interesting.

I promise in the next day I will post a some pictures.

A visit to the toy store

I know this may sound strange but Anna does not frequent the toy area in many of our larger stores. Last year I was shamed into taking her to Toys R Us but only after my dear friend Geralyn reminded me of the things I would tell her children.

Prior to Anna coming and when Geralyn's children were much younger she would come to pick up her paycheck with the kids. We would all sit and talk a bit then I would promptly tell her children it was time for them to go so that Toys R Us did close before their Mother could get them there to pick out a toy. Yes, I am shameless. Her children still remember many trips to the toy store that I started. Now to be fair she would have probably taken them anyway because she loves the toy store as much as most children. Geralyn would always laugh because she knew it was coming.

Last year I took Anna to Toys R Us. I was prepared to buy her a toy of her choosing but instead we just played. At the end of our 2 hour trip she did not want any toy so we headed home. The two closest Toys R Us are at least a 30 minute drive from my home so for that is really the reason why we do not go often. I have been talking to Gerard about our preparations for the upcoming holidays and I told him that I wanted to go to Toys R Us with him to look at toys.

Our biggest challenge remains leaving Anna behind. We do just love having her with us all the time. At first I suggested asking if his parents could watch her. This is a big step because they have only ever watched her for an hour or less and only in a pinch. I thought about it and then said maybe they will want to come too. We asked them to accompany us to the toy store but to please watch Anna so Gerard and I could look at the toys and speak freely.

We were all excited about the idea. We told Anna we were going to the toy store and she beamed with excitement. She happily skipped into the store holding Grammy and Papa's hands. My little sweetie pie (she is now requesting that I call her this) looked, and played while Gerard and I also looked, and played.

At the end of our trip we told Anna she could pick a toy out to "Make our own." With determination in her step she marched directly for the dinosaurs but the pink and white unicorn is what won her heart. Dinosaurs are one of her new favorite things to play with so they have made the short list of potential gift ideas.

After our trip to the toy store we rounded out the evening of fun with a trip to my new favorite thing to eat...Frozen yogurt. When ever I visit Manhattan I can not resist going to the Pinkberry for frozen yogurt. In my area we have a couple of different self-service frozen yogurt shops that are also pretty good but the Pinkberry is the best. The caramel and peanut butter with sprinkle of seasalt are my favorites but the peppermint patty is also pretty good. Have you ever tried a dash of salt on ice cream? No really I am not crazy just try it once.

As for the new blog I promise to make it public at some point. Probably not until after the first of the year. There is quite a bit that still needs to be private about what is happening for a number of reasons. I have thought about perhaps opening it up to a few by invitation but I am still toying with that idea. I will say if everything works out I will make it public and it is going to be good. So for now you will all have to wait and see.

A Beautiful Day

Sunday we spent the day with Gerard's family. As a family we celebrated JoanMarie's christening into the church. I would love to share pictures but AM and Eddie prefer that I do not at the time. Maybe I will be able to convince them it is okay but for now I guess you will get me rambling about the day instead.

First off JoanMarie has only a little bit of hair but it is going to be red which I love. She is such a sweet baby. For the christening JoanMarie wore the same dress that Eddie and many of his family members wore. Eddie believed it was over 50 years old and I would have to agree. The dress was just my style, long, white, cotton with lots of detail work that you could only appreciate up close.

Gerard, Anna, and I set out for the church which was about an hour and a half from our home. I love that she has lots of questions. We talked about what behavior we expected from her and for the most part she did quite well in the church. She even reminded us that we needed to be quiet because this was a church. I loved how she told people Jesus was in her heart.

The service was very nice. AM and I both started to tear up when the priest spoke about abortion and how precious life is. His words were true and honest.

Since JoanMarie's arrival Anna has both grown and regressed if that is possible. She tells us all the time about JoanMarie. "JoanMarie a baby. JoanMarie pooped. JoanMarie wonderful. I love JoanMarie." I love that she is so excited about the baby and can freely express how she feels about JoanMarie. I wonder how she will feel when JoanMarie does more that kind of hangs out in someone's arms.

The regression that we are experiencing in my opinion is completely normal. In the presence of JoanMarie if someone tells her she is growing up she tells them in a stern voice "No! I a baby." and promptly wants me to how her like a baby. I then tell her that no matter how big she gets she will always be my baby. After a little rocking she is off like a rocket playing around again.

She has also taken up roll playing, mostly when Gerard and I are together. She tells me "You be Auntie AM, Daddy you be Uncle Eddie, I be JoanMarie." The first time this happened I was taken by surprise. We play along each and every time but I can not help but feel that on a deeper level she feels like she missed this part of her life and is trying to recreate it so she has this imprinted in her memory. Is it possible to tell a child you love them too often?

The after party was held at the Knights of Columbus in town. To say Anna was over stimulated is an understatement. It was loud, lots of kids, and a number of people who just had not met her yet. The balloons kept her busy and every adult in her close proximity when she let them go. The funniest thing was she kept an eagle eye on Papa. She loves him so much which is just wonderful.

Even though Anna endured a very long day the over stimulation lasted well into the night. At 10 pm she was still up and running around. Gerard and I held her and rocked her, finally sleep won the battle.

On a side note. I have a new special project. This is one reason why I have seemed distracted. I have started another blog, one that is private for now. I intend to open it up as soon as a few things are finalized. Most likely this will not be until after the holidays. I promised that 2012 would be filled with fun and excitement.

Surprise Wedding...who knew?

The other night Gerard, Anna, and I were out at dinner. We were enjoying our favorite taco joint when as cool as cucumber Anna announced that she and Anthony got married. Gerard's jaw dropped. He has stated that she is not to get married before she is 30 so clearly her nuptials at the tender age of 4 was a bit of a shock for him.

I laughed at his reaction. I asked her if she had met his parents yet because that was important. I also asked what kind of a job would Anthony have in order to support her. I was amazed by her answers.

First off she told me "Anthony's parents very nice!" Well okay that is good but back to the how will he support you at the age of four? That is when she told me "Silly Momma, Anthony three." Oh boy my girl likes a younger man I see. Then she told me "Anthony will work with Daddy." "So Anthony is an Electrician?" I said. To this she replied "Silly Momma, no Anthony a dragon slayer!"

So there you have it apparently Gerard is a dragon slayer and I am a mother-in-law!

Halloween 2011

My desk in a solid mess but my pictures from Halloween are uploaded and ready for viewing. Seriously, I was actually asleep about 15 minutes ago and just randomly woke up. I could not think of a single fun thing to do except to update the blog.

This Halloween marks Anna's third Halloween in the States. In so many ways it feels like she has always been here and in other it feels like she has not. I was trying to think back to last Halloween and I realized I missed most of it because both Gerard and I had to work. Last year I loved Anna's costume, she was pebbles and Hans was Bam-Bam. I remember driving to work last year upset that I was not getting to take her trick or treating. Thank goodness La-La and Me-Me have this holiday down pat. They stepped in and made sure that Anna got the full experience.

This year I made sure I was going to be off. Insert I had no idea what to dress her up as. Gerard and I are somewhat conservative and many of the girl costumes seem a little grown up for us. This is one situation where it is nice that Anna is so little because she fits into the toddler costumes.

My sister Jackie found a Mickey Mouse costume and I thought that was perfect until La-La and Me-Me found a Simba costume in Anna's size on clearance. I am a BIG clearance shopper so it was right in line with what I would spend. Plus here in New Jersey it gets pretty cold so I knew she would be warm.

As we waited for our first trick or treaters to come to the door, Gerard looked at me and said do you remember her first Halloween? He took the words out of my mouth. That first Halloween Anna had virtually no English speech. She was so quite, active but quiet. Gerard and I have remarked that she lately as to how much she speaks today compared to a year ago.

On Anna's first Halloween the door bell rang, at that point the door bell would startle her now it is one of her favorite toys. She jumped then went with me to the door to see who it was. When she saw the little child dressed she bolted. I remember thinking this is not good but oh how wrong I was. She bolted to get her bumble bee costume on. That year we only went to a couple of houses like 6 or 7 and those were family members and the neighbors. We walked up and rang the bell and she took the candy with no express on her face. Don't get me wrong I think she liked it but in retrospect I think she was scared.

This year has been so different from 2009 in so many ways. This morning she got up excited to go to school to show Mrs. Maloney her costume. They had a little classroom party just for the children no parents allowed which I think is strange more on that later. My cousin called to see if we wanted to trick or treat with them and I said sure. I knew La-La and Me-Me were going to have a bunch of kids with them so I knew that even though Anna would me missed, Hans would still have kids with him.

Gerard and I waited to see Anna's reaction to the first trick or treater. This year was much different she was excited to see them at the door but then went straight back to playing with her guys. Lyric arrived and he dressed as a knight which I thought was pretty neat. So off we went with 'Prince Philip' as Anna called him and Simba.

Anna and Lyric ran up to the first house, Anna rang the bell squeaked "Trick or Treat" and ran straight back to me yelling I did it. My neighbor than told us that she did not even take her treat. Well by the third or fourth house she had gotten the concept down. I think she was just so excited to be able to ring all the door bells.

At the house I had Grammy, Papa and Nanny positioned to give out the candy. Many of my neighbors let out bowls of candy and I was so pleased to see all the children only taking one piece. At this house we do not get many trick or treaters because we are on the out shirts of town. My other two house I was bombarded every year with more than 150 children.

Half way through the trick or treating Anna was tired of wearing her head piece so Momma got to be Simba too. We turned around and headed home. Gerard ran out to pick up the pizzas and Lyric left to go show his other Grandparents his costume.

So up until this point I thought Anna loved ringing the door bells the most until the trick or treaters came to her house. The bell would ring and she would bolt for the door yelling "trick or treat" she helped me give out the candy and was quite generous if she felt they did not take enough, which is fine by me less left over is a good thing. Then as they were leaving she told them "You go home now to your Mother!"

I know I will be sad when she stops saying this one day. I just love how far she has come in associating being "home" with having a Mother and and Father.


Wonder who isgetting to the door faster?

Simba

Prince Philip