New Adventures in Mothering....

There have been many new adventures in mothering for me. First off, Mother's Day was wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Chris let me lay in bed a few extra minutes and then I got up and got ready for my day. I did the normal chores, like making the bed and headed downstairs, where I was greeted with breakfast. Shortly after breakfast Chris gave me a beautiful hanging flower plant and some seeds and planting pods to put them in. It was perfect. Unfortunately Chris had finals all the next week so he apologized then headed off to the library to study, but it was no worries. I finished painting my living room. It went from a dark tan color to a very light color, called natural. It's beautiful. I love it. I also had a very pleasant conversation with my mother in law, for about an hour, and my own mother. It was very nice and it actually was nice to have the house to myself for awhile. Bradley blessed me greatly by taking several long naps that day and when he was awake he was very happy and playful, until he was tired again.

Since Chris had finals this past week, I've been trying my hardest to get out of the house with the baby so he could study without any distractions, or very little of them. I honestly don't remember what Bradley and I did on Monday but I'm sure it was fun. I know I went to the gym at five for my workout so I'm thinking we just played at home.

Tuesday, Bradley and I went to the zoo in Syracuse. It was a blast. Before we went there, we had MOPS in the morning and Bradley I think would much rather play with the older kids then the kids his age. We had to leave early because we were meeting my best friend and her two kids in Syracuse. It was good timing though, because my little angel was having a meltdown right before we left. He slept from the building we have MOPS in to the gas station and all the way to the zoo.

Once we were there we did meet up with my best friend and her little boys (Owen, who is two and Adam, who is a week younger then Bradley). It took us a little while to find each other but we did. Bradley was much more interested in what Owen was doing then what the animals were doing, but by the time we got to the penguins he was intrigued. He loved watching those little things waddle, to the point where when we were leaving them he kept turning and looking at them until they were out of sight. Since Bradley loved them so much when we left I got him a little stuffed penguin he thoroughly enjoyed chewing on.


Near the penguin area there was this cutout, the kind where you could stick your head in and have it look like you are a penguin, so Bradley and I got our picture taken in there. He also LOVED the ducks and swans. He was a hoot and a holler at the zoo.




Now you are probably wondering why I haven't mentioned much about my best friend and her two kids....well even though Renae and I very much enjoyed our time spent together, we did have difficulties talking, which is always the case when we get together with our kids. The majority of the time we spent was entertaining them. Regardless it was fun to be able to see her and see how much weight she has lost. She claims she's only lost a few pounds but I think she looks fantastic!!


Bradley and I finished up by watching monkeys swing from branch to branch. I was so fascinated watching them I took video. Normally you don't see these things swing around. I was definitely much more interested in looking at them then Bradley was.


Finally you will see pictures of me and my best friend and our kids at the zoo. I hope you enjoy. And sorry about all the rambling! I think one of my favorite parts of the day was talking to Renae on the phone AFTER the zoo, when she told me how Owen was calling Bradley's name on the way to the car when we went our separate ways.

Mom!!! Too many pictures and we just got here....Here we go again!

This is of my best friend, Renae and her two boys. Owen is in the front and Adam is in the back of her stroller. Oh I have NO idea what I'd do without Renae!!

This is our group shot, we were scouting out people without young kids for this picture.

This was the third time we tried to get a picture of me and Bradley. He kept turning his head to look at me when we were trying to take the pictures. He's such a ham and always interested in what's going on around him.

I think Owen was like, "Lady, give it up with the pictures already!"


I think I was finally able to get a good picture of Adam because he must have been laughing at the crazy lady who wouldn't stop taking pictures!



Finally I think Bradley was saying, "MOM!!! Quit with the pictures already! You're embarrassing me!"

This video is of Bradley waking up....I hope you enjoy!

This video is of the monkeys at the zoo. I LOVED THEM!!

Wonderful Vacation

Well trust me when I say I definitely have more pictures to add, I just have to download them. But here are pictures from our trip that came off either my phone or Chris's phone...

Day One...

We went from Oswego to DC and stayed at the Grand Hyatt. Now I had been taking care of Bradley all day and was anxious to go. I also had been cleaning our house all day so when we left for a six hour car ride, I was wearing a t-shirt and old yoga pants. When we arrived at the hotel needless to say I was WAY underdressed, especially since we just parked behind a corvette! That night we had room service and went to bed. The next day we took Bradley swimming for the first time and took pictures, which we will add to this blog later. Then we saw the sights. We went to the Lincoln Monument, WWII Memorial (which brought me to tears), National Monument and the Treasury Building. From there we drove to NC and arrived at Chad's house. Bradley didn't take any naps while we were sightseeing, well for maybe fifteen minutes tops. But he was very pleasant.



Day Two....

Chad said he wanted to take us to the drop zone where he skydives from. We thought this was ok. He told Chris he had to wear sneakers and Chris told me I had to wear sneakers. I was embarrassed because I thought I looked like a geek, capris and sneakers. Oh well. Turns out Chad was going to throw Chris from a plane and make him skydive. I didn't have to wear sneakers at all! Well it was too windy so we ended up going to an indoor wind tunnel, which teaches you how to skydive. When you are pregnant you can't do this either, but Chad had Chris do it and we have pictures and a video of it too. Although the video we can't post online. It was great. Bradley became a little grumpy but was too interested in seeing people fly through the air tunnel to sleep.

Day Three....Monday.....

We went to Camp Leguene and picked up Uncle Rudy. He took us to a Mongolian BBQ and had lunch. From there we went back to Chad's house and relaxed. Uncle Rudy (Chris's brother) met Bradley for the first time. He thinks he's a great mix of the both of us. Bradley was too interested in staring at Uncle Rudy to sleep. We think he was confused who daddy was at first.

Day Four....Tuesday....

We all went to the Asheboro Zoo. We forgot our camera so ended up taking lots of photos from the phones. Bradley went on a child's jeep ride, where you put in a couple quarters and it moves back and forth. He was scared at first but then enjoyed it. He LOVED the ducks and pufans (kind of like little penguins). Even though we had the stroller everyone took turns holding him and enjoying time with Bradley. Bradley definitely skipped his nap this day too. There was so much to see. Rather then walking ALL the way back to the beginning of the zoo we took the zoo bus. Bradley fell asleep in daddy's lap and his head on mommy's arm in a matter of seconds. He had such an awesome day.

Day Five....Wednesday....

Mexican was called for! We ate lunch at this great Mexican restaurant where Uncle Chad tricked Chris into speaking Spanish. Chris was trying to order and was doing a great job. I ordered chicken fajitas and the waiter asked if I wanted chicken or pollo. I was the only one who understood they were the same thing. After lunch we went to the Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville where Chris, Rudy and I went on a simulated ride in order to see what it's like in a HMMMV and helicopter, which we already knew but it was fun anyway. From there we went to the actual museum part and got a bit of history of the Special Operations section of the Army. Bradley thought the manequinns were real as he smiled at each one we went up to. Bradley again was way too interested to sleep.

Day Six...Thursday....

Pretty much the boys stayed home and Chad and I did errands around Fayetteville area. When we got back all we did was hang out and watch Star Wars which I enjoyed. Bradley did take a nap this day.

Day Seven....Friday...

We said goodbye to Chad and wished him luck in Afghanistan. My brother leaves in about a month for another year, well we hope it's only another year. We drove Uncle Rudy home, said goodbye. From there we drove to DC again and stayed at the Double Tree hotel. We all got dressed up and went to a VERY nice dinner that overlooked the DC Skyline. Our hotel was right across the street from the Pentagon. The wait staff was very nice to Bradley and he very much enjoyed the apple juice and pasta and bread they gave him. Chris and I both ate meals with shrimp and lobster in them. My mouth waters just thinking about it. After that we went back to our room and went to bed.

Day Eight....Saturday....

Chris got up early and headed to the gym. After the gym Bradley and I went swimming and Chris watched. The pool was on the fourteenth floor and overlooked DC, it was nice but the water felt cold. Bradley loved his little floaty. After swimming I went down to a cafe in the hotel and got us sandwiches. Bradley slept in our room with daddy. After we ate, we went to the Holocaust Museum, where I discovered four of my family names have been recognized as rescuers in the Holocaust. I'm not sure how yet, but I'll find out. I bought a couple of books and I am MORE than excited to do family history now, plus help Chris with his. Talk about motivation! From there we drove home and got home VERY late.

Sometime during the whole trip Bradley cut his bottom teeth, both of them! The poor boy was miserable for a day (the day Chad and I went and did errands). All Bradley wanted was his mommy and that made me feel very loved, but at the same time restricted me from being able to pack, etc. But it all worked out and Bradley is a bit happier now. We can feel his little teeth, they just have to finish pushing through!

Overall the trip was WONDERFUL and I was sad it had to end so soon and we had to say goodbye to warm weather and family.