~Summer Time~

What a great summer we have had! I can't believe it is already the end of August. I'm finally getting the hang of my new computer, so here are some pictures from our summer. It has been a really fun and busy summer! There is so much to do in our area, but we are now also so much closer to family and friends. There is never a dull moment!

Father's Day Weekend
We spent Father's Day with Chris' family. We had a fun time having a BBQ at Chris' parents on Saturday and then on Sunday we went out to dinner at one of my favorites, Anthony's. Nicholas is so fortunate to have such great male role models in his life. He has the best father that anyone could ask for and the best, loving and caring grandfathers as well, boy is he lucky! I feel blessed that I have such a great husband who loves our son the way he does, I know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, thanks Pop-pop!








Down the Shore In Long Beach Island
I love being down the shore. There is something so peaceful and relaxing about it. We spent a week down there in June and had a great time with my family! I can't wait to get down there again soon, maybe Labor Day weekend?!! Lucky for us, Nicholas loves the beach as much as we do!

Nicholas LOVES the water. You can't keep him out. The water was freezing in June too! He was unaffected by it, he even giggles when the waves knock him down. I'm glad that last time we went down the water was 81 degrees, it made it more enjoyable for me! Here is a video of him playing in the cold water in June.




Truck Show at Liberty Science Center
As I mentioned before, Nicholas loves trucks; especially construction and emergency vehicles. Boy was he having a hay day at the Liberty Science Center during their truck exhibit. He even got to climb aboard most of them.






Battery Park, NYC
One of our favorite places to go to in the area is Battery Park. There is such beautiful green space, walk/running, playgrounds; all right on the Hudson River. It is a quick ferry ride from our apartment, so the whole experince is fun. We try to go at least once a week.






More water video, this time in Battery Park


Up the Mountains in Pennsylvania
Chris' family has a beautiful mountain house in Sullivan County, Pa. It is a beautiful a-frame style, that they mostly built themselves with its own private pond and all. I'm glad that we live closer now so that we can spend more time up there. It was a lot of fun to pick blueberries, fish, and swim. As usual, Nicholas had a blast doing all three!









My Cousin Rhianon's Party
My cousin Rhianon had a crab party for her birthday, she ordered two bushels overnighted from Marlyland - YUMM! Nicholas had a good time playing with his cousin Tyler!







Dancing with Abandon
I'm so proud of my cousin Zach who has the lead role in a show called Dancing with Abandon that is part of the Fringe Festival in NY. I went to see the show last Sunday and he was amazing and the show was great, it will definately make it to Broadway soon, which is the purpose of the festival (kind of the like the Sundance Film Fest of Broadway.) Look for him in late Semptember staring in Hurricane as part of another festival. And, if the musical based on Dr. Seuss books, Seussical, is coming to a city near you this fall go see it, he'll be in that too! Way to go Zach, only a matter of time before Broadway!! Here is a picture of us in Little Italy for lunch after his Sunday show.


Check out reviews of Dancing with Abandon
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/shows/dancing-with-abandon_157364/#userreviews

Not a Baby Anymore

I know this is the first post in a very long time, I was without a computer for a little while but now we have an awesome new mac. I just have to figure out how to use it! I can't say that I missed not having a computer, it was kind of nice to be "disconnected." I'm sure since the two plus months that I have posted any new pictures you will notice Nicholas isn't a baby anymore. He is totally a wild, fun, galloping, jumping, running, conversing smart boy! He keeps us very busy and we love every minute of it! Nicholas had his 18 month appointment a few weeks ago and he was 25 lbs 2 oz. and 32 1/4 in. He is currently obsessed with Thomas the Train and anything trucks. Everyone tells me he is an early talker. He can count up to 7 and sing his ABC's up to E, but his favorite song to sing is Row, Row, Row your Boat. He is starting to say three and four word sentences and his newest most rewarding sentence is "I love you, Mommy (and Daddy!)". He told me he loved pizza before he said he loved me, but that is OK.

I will share many pictures from our summer soon, but in the meantime here is a picture I took the other night when I peeked in on him before bed. He looked like such a big boy to me, almost reaching from post to post in his crib. How sweet!

Recent Visitors

We have been fortunate enough to have lots of visitors lately. With the exception of Pam's planned visit, the others were last minute pleasant surprises! It was great to see everyone, catch up and share good conversation with some friends and family!

Dana, Mike, Melissa, Bob and Jack came by for an impromptu BBQ.
So nice to hang with my girlies, Melissa and Dana!

Nicholas and Jack catching some reading time.


Jack is getting so big, can't believe this cutie is going to be 2 in a few days!


I'm so happy my Dad got a chance to come up for a quick visit before Christian headed back to London. Here are a few pictures...




Pam was in NY for on business and was able to come by for dinner, hopefully next time she can bring Max so Nicholas can see his buddy.

Our Litte Monkey Boy

I call Nicholas my little monkey and I think he likes it because when I do he makes this cute little monkey noise.

- May -

Well, the month of May went by too quickly and I have been slacking on the blog. It was a super busy month between Chris' Asia trip, my trip to Key West, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Christian free loading on the couch on and off all month (we loved having him!), on top of every day life. I figured I would do one big blog to catch up. Unfortunately, I have not been taking my camera along lately so I haven't been catching all of the adorableness of Nicholas and therefore don't have too many pictures too share. I actually feel sad about that! I will definitely be on top of it over the next few weeks to compensate:)

Christian is an official inductee of the Bensalem High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Aren't you all honored to know such an athlete? hehe...
My Aunt Jeanne, my mom and I went to accompany him


Mother's Day with mommy and Nicholas. I have to thank Nicholas for making me a better person. I also need to thank my Mom, mother-in-law, grandmother's, and aunts that have shaped who I am as a mother.



Uncle Christian and Nicholas catching up on the swing. Nicholas now calls him uncle (can't say Christian) which sounds more like "ukknel." Very cute, he wanted to know where uncle was this morning when he woke up.


Pop and Nicholas at the light house on Memorial Day weekend. Darn, where was my camera to get some good shots on the beach! Nicholas absolutely loves the beach and the water. It was bone aching numb but we couldn't keep him out. He was getting knocked over by the waves and laughing hysterically. The one day there was a sand bar and Nicholas played in that. Chris took video with his cell phone, but for some reason the sound isn't working.




Key West
I got to visit Jamie in Key West for a few days at the beginning of May while Chris was in Asia. She is doing great and has a great life down there! I ALMOST missed Nicholas too much to fully enjoy myself, but knew he was having a good time with the grandparents! Thanks again! I spent my time beaching it, hanging at the pool in Jamie's backyard (and playing pool beer pong), going on a sunset booze cruise, going to drag shows, and of course catching up with my BFF and her awesome boyfriend Andy. Thank you Jamie, Andy and Faith, I miss Key West already, now I need to get Chris back there with me!

Sun Set Cruise with Jamie and Andy


I had so much fun with Jamie's other roomate Faith. She is from Philly too!


Beer pong in the pool!

Under the waterfall!