Vay-cay!

I have reluctantly decided to return to life with society after being in denial for a week.  We returned from a fabulous trip to Denver last Monday (has it really already been almost a week since we've been home?) and it's taken me about that long to shake off the post-vacation blues.  Denver was awesome- sixty degrees and sunny everyday and we were outside more than we were inside!  We returned to my beloved Midwest and found out that winter is definitely still here.  Yep.  The big snow we had a couple of weeks ago is pretty much all gone (amazingly enough!) but we get a dusting about every other day and the temperature refuses to get out of the thirties.  I have loved winter and accepted it lovingly with open arms, but I think the gloomy skies are getting to me!  I sure hope that groundhog was right.

But I digress... back to vacation.

We stayed with the lovely Boyer family and Jacob enjoyed spending time with their grandkids that are the same age.  The three of them were so cute together and I think Jake developed a little crush!  We too Jake on his first zoo trip (sidenote: the Denver Zoo is awesome by the way) and although he didn't really notice many of the animals, he loved riding in the stroller and his first go around on the carousel.  Looks like he's going to be an amusement park thrill-seeker like his mommy and daddy based on the huge grin he had on his face the whole time.   Josh's dad came out and met us for a night, joined us at the zoo, and treated us to a great night in the mountains.  Josh skied Breckenridge one morning while I pampered myself at the spa.  I actually knew he'd have more fun without me because he'd feel like he needed to stay with me and is a much better skier than I am.  Plus, as a mom, I will pay someone anyday to have an hour of peace and quiet while someone rubs soothing lotions all over me... it was pure bliss!  Plus, my ski clothes are really not up to par, so that sounded way better than literally freezing my tush off.  We did lots of shopping (another sidenote: downtown Denver is amazing!  Streets are blocked off for pedestrians and it's shop after shop, indoor/outdoor malls, and every restaurant you could ever want!), ate great meals that we don't get here like Cheesecake Factory and Brio, got Jake his first "big boy" haircut, and spent a really fun afternoon bowling at Lucky Strike.  Josh and I get away every now and then, but we usually come home feeling like we weren't really "away."  Often this has to do with all of the running around, especially if we're visiting family with our uber-popular son, but this trip was truly refreshing.  We were truly away, unplugged, and disconnected.  There are not many sights on this planet as breathtaking as the Rockies and the sunshine did us some good.  Now if we could only figure out a way to get out there more often life would be good!  Sigh.

So without further ado, here are some trip highlights:

He offered to help us out with the 13-hour drive.  Tempting.

Jake loved the snow in that still lingered in a shady spot of the yard.  Playing in snow while still warm?  It was the best of both worlds!

Miss Julie and her precious grandkids showing us around the zoo.

Pawpaw met us at the zoo!  It was such a good surprise for little Jake!

Wheeeeeee! 

Getting a haircut at Kool Kuts for Kids.  Such a fun place and Jake loved sitting in the little car!

Our cheering section at Lucky Strike.  Getting three kids to look at the camera at the same time?  Impossible!

Proof that he is my son... he can sleep anywhere!  Even at a bowling alley! 

So where are these pictures of our time in the mountains?  Ummm... let's just say that I was SO on vacation that I didn't even pick up my camera.  Although I would've liked to come home with a snapshot or two from that beautiful mountain town, it was kind of nice just being in the moment rather than worrying about capturing it.  We'll just have to go back!

My Funny Valentine...

He can make me laugh in any situation... even when I desperately try not to laugh at his antics.  A funny accent, a silly phrase, or his signature dance with his tongue out can always turn my day around.  He takes out the garbage and the recycling because he knows I hate it.  He gets excited about some pretty weird stuff, but I think it's cute.  If he sits still for too long, he will go crazy.  He could eat tacos and frozen pizza with ranch dressing every night and be perfectly okay with that.  Although right now he's on a bit of a salad with popcorn chicken kick.  Even though he gets up at the crack of dawn to fit more into his day, he never makes me feel bad about having my lazy mornings.  He challenges me to learn everyday, take part in more activities, and take ownership of things that I am passionate about.  He is a fantastic father to our son and someone that our son thinks is the coolest person on earth.  Hearing the two of them say, "Jakie"... "Dada" in voices that mock one another makes my heart soar, even from the other side of the house.

I still don't know how I got so lucky, but with this man beside me I am constantly reminded of how good our God is.  Only God could put the two of us together at just the right time to make it work so well.  So even though we don't really do Valentine's Day, I am sending my digital valentine to him today, because he deserves it.

Happy Valentine's Day to my perfect match... thank you for loving me the way you do!

Whiteout

This is a little overdue, but I misplaced my video camera for about a week (my brain is on permanent hiatus right now) and was finally able to sit down today and upload some of the video from our blizzard last week.  I had to laugh a bit at my footage as there were about 12 short clips that I deleted of the snow falling outside the window.  Sure, it was falling at a pretty impressive pace and you could certainly see how windy it was, but it was one after another after another!  Can you tell that I've never really lived any place with this much snow??  So don't worry, I won't bore you with those, but here are a few from our winter wonderland:

The first is a short clip of the dogs running in from outside.  This one shows how deep the snow is!

Next up is just a view of the front of our house and neighborhood.  We live on a main road, so we were lucky to wake up to fairly-well plowed roads.  We have friends, however, who live out in the country and were snowed in for days!  I will say that living in the Midwest is nice when it snows as they are very used to it and very prepared to take care of it! 

And lastly, little Jakie in the snow.  He loved being outside and didn't mind the cold too much.  His snowsuit limits his movement, however, so often times he just ends up sitting in one spot with a blank stare on his face.  Please ignore the commentary in the background... I tried to put it to music but I'm not that talented!

While we did love the many inches (er... feet) we received, Josh and I have decided that we are officially ready for spring!  The groundhog told us that it would be an early spring and I sure hope he's right!  Today the temperature got up into the upper 30's and no joke, it feels like a heat wave.  I even went outside in short sleeves and felt like I was dressed warm enough... what is happening to me?  I think they are turning me into one of them!  But seriously, especially with a toddler (yes, a toddler... this kid has definitely mastered walking... video to come and I promise to not make you wait as long this time!) who has cabin fever, we are ready for some warmth and sunshine!  Heck, what am I talking about?  I am a mommy with cabin fever, too!  I guarantee as soon as the thermometer hits forty degrees (which is rumored to happen Tuesday... and we'll be out of town of course!) the stroller will be out in full force.  So groundhog, bring it on!

It Definitely was a Blizzard!

Did you know that it can thunder and lightning during a snow storm?  Did you know that snow can fall so quickly from the sky that it actually looks like rain?  Did you know that if the wind blows hard enough an entire screened-in porch can have a couple of inches of accumulation?  Boy have we learned a lot in the past couple of days!

Tuesday afternoon the snow started coming down, fairly normal at first, but then the winds picked up and we could hardly see the houses across the street at times.  And it just didn't stop!  We stayed up fairly late and it was still howling outside when we turned in around midnight.  At that point it was almost up to the dogs' chests when I let them out and we were still in for a few more hours according to the radar.  This is what we woke up to:

Can you find the Route 40 Sign?

Snow snow everywhere!  We got 16-20 inches in most places, but with the wind, it made for some major drifts in our driveway and side yard... check it out!

I assure you that the above picture has not been doctored!  Walking through that just to get the picture was quite an adventure!

Late in the afternoon after all that super-fun snow-blowing and shoveling was behind us, we bundled up our favorite little man and ventured outside to check it out.  The weather was spectacular!  And yes, I say that even though it was a mere 8 degrees.  But the sun was shining, the snow was sparkling, and the air felt clean and crisp.  We weren't sure how Jake would react, but he loved every minute of it!

I have plenty of video to post that I took throughout the storm and the morning after, but this gives you a good idea of the fun we're having in Small Town, Illinois these days.  There's so much snow that the department of transportation is trying to find solutions as to where to put it all... especially the tons of it in parking lots!  Looks like we'll be seeing this white stuff for awhile!

And yes, those are still Christmas decorations on our porch railings.  In fact, our Christmas tree has only gotten as far as being out of our living room and onto our (now snow covered) screened-in porch.  It's freezing here- don't judge us!  

More snow fun to come... stay tuned!

Here it comes...

I was beginning to think that the Northeast was going to get all of our snow this year.  Over the past few months it seems that my sister in Kentucky and friends in Nashville have been getting more than we have!  And then I read that South Bend, Indiana got two feet??!!  Wow!  Now I'm not really sure what a "normal" winter is like here in Small Town, Illinois since this is only my second one, but I am pretty sure that we're supposed to (logically) get more snow than our friends in the south.

Thank you, Mr. Weatherman, for proving me wrong.  Apparently we're in for some good stuff tomorrow:

Yep, that's right... 12 to 18 inches headed our way!  Yowza!  Apparently the sky has been waiting to just dump it all on us at one time rather than in these little 2 and 4 inch showers we've been getting over the past few months.  To say I'm a little giddy would be an understatement.  In my opinion, if it's going to feel like the arctic tundra outside, it might as well be snowy.  And believe me, it feels like the arctic tundra.  I know that I have many friends up here who are moaning and groaning about the impending blizzard (can I call it a blizzard?  I might have to look up what needs to happen in order to refer to it as a blizzard.  That sounds way more exciting than winter storm), but I say bring it on!  Sure, the roads will be bad until the plows get out, but I don't have anywhere to be, so that doesn't really mater too much.  And sure, we'll have to shovel (and by we, I mean Josh) but that's why we invested in our snowplow, which lucky for me is his new favorite toy.  I don't see any reason to complain.

And the best part (in my opinion) about the snow?  Those lovely snow days.  Granted, I "work" in Miami, so I won't necessarily have one, but it's a lovely treat when the world around us shuts down for a day and the hubby gets to stay home.  He'll do some work from here, but seeing his face all day long makes my day a little happier.  

So blizzard?  I say, "yes please!"  And that goes for the kind from Dairy Queen, too!  This post just officially made me hungry.

iGeek

My sweet, sweet hubby bought me a laptop for my big decade-changing birthday.  Even though I have one for work, I don't like doing my personal fun-stuff on there and we needed a "home" computer for our photos, music, etc.  So when I saw my shiny, purple Toshiba, I was pretty pumped.  When we turned on our new shiny, purple Toshiba however, and ran more than one program, we waited... and waited... and waited some more.  It was a bit slow, so we decided to take it back and get an upgraded version.


The more we looked, the higher the price rose.  We compared, asked advice, and went back and forth between a couple of machines.  After a long debate with myself in my head, I said "yes" to this:

Yup, I am the proud new owner of a Mac... I have officially crossed over to the geek side and I couldn't be more excited.  Everyone I know who has one loves it and all of the store clerks (not in an Apple store) raved about them.  I'm still trying to figure it all, decide whether storing photos in iPhoto is worth it, and watching tutorials on iWeb and all of that fun stuff.  So I have to throw out the question: to those of you who have a Mac, what are your favorite features?


I think my husband is still scratching his head about how I managed to double the price of my original birthday present.  It sounds like thirty has made me pretty darn clever!


What's the best gift you've ever received?

Adam is ONE!

When people tell you that kids grow up too fast, they aren't kidding! When my sister, Mindy, was pregnant last year, it felt as if the wait was forever long for her kiddo to make his debut. But as soon as he got here, it seems as if 365 days have flown by in the blink of an eye. But one year ago today, I got one of the best text messages that I have ever received along with this picture:

Adam Robert Moreland had arrived! He was quite possibly the most "grown-up" looking newborn we had ever seen (probably due to all that hair he had!), but he was oh-so beautiful! I couldn't wait to squeeze him and it made me even more excited to meet our little one.

Seven weeks later, Jacob came along and much time was spent on the phone with Mindy as we shared stories. It's funny to me now, actually, because when Josh and I found out we were expecting we were actually a little afraid to tell my sister! She and her husband had been married for three years and this would be their first baby, so it felt a bit like we were stealing their thunder considering we had been married for all of two minutes. But as soon as we had them together for the first time, we just knew how special it would be for them to always have a cousin the same age. When Adam was ten weeks and Jake was three weeks old, they met for the first time... although, Jake looks nothing like himself. Adam, on the other hand, looks identical to the day he was born!

Even with her being in Florida and us way up here in Illinois, we got together when we could. We saw each other briefly in Georgia last summer (shown below) and then again in October when we "met in the middle" in Kentucky. And of course, the boys had ten glorious days together over the holidays.

Adam, you are one of the most handsome, happy, easy-going babies in the entire universe and I am so proud to be your auntie. Thank you for deciding to walk for the first time at my house so that I could share in that moment! Thanks to your mommy and daddy for doing such a great job raising you... you could not be more of a joy. Seeing you and Jake play together just makes my heart melt, and I think one day we'll have to find a way to live much closer so that we can get you two together more. Nothing would make your mommy and me happier.


As I post this, however, it makes me realize that in a mere seven weeks, I'll have a one-year-old in my house, too. One whole year that went by far too fast, but was filled with more love and great moments than ever. I better enjoy my "infant" while I still have one!

Oh, and happy belated birthday to my sweet, sweet Nana, too! We love you!