A weekend of the Best kind

A weekend home full of everything I needed- family, friends, food, and of course a mani/pedi.  The best kind.

I'll let the pictures do {most of} the talking.

We left well before the sun came up on Thursday.  A few hours into our drive the sun came up and the day greeted us with snow capped hills and trees.

 It was like driving through an Ansel Adams calendar.  Beautiful and peaceful.   We only stopped once, made record time {under 10 hours}, and my little miss only slept 40 minutes.  Good thing she tolerates the car well.  She was excellent the entire trip.  We can only hope this next little lady enjoys our road trips as much as her sister!

We arrived to Valentine goodies from Gma and Gpa...A Minnie Mouse shirt.  Girlfriend is totally obsessed with "Mimmie" and seriously has wanted to wear this shirt every. single. day. since. Thursday.  

After putting on her new shirt, she made some snowballs with Daddy.

 After a long trip and little sleep, we got to fill our tummies with some of Gma's yummy home cooking.  Somebody loved the corn on the cob!

 We had some Grandpa and Grandma snuggles and then we all hit the sack! 

Friday we woke up the way everyone wakes up when staying with the grandparents, I'm sure...Donuts for breakfast!  Someone was clearly happy.

 

Donuts for breakfast make me happy, too.  But if you wanna know what makes me *REALLY* happy, just look at the picture below.  This is my happy place.  Mani/Pedi=Heaven.

Wanna know what else makes me happy?  A night out with my handsome husband.  We were fortunate enough to get out to one of our favorite local places for some drinks {that would be a Shirley Temple for this girl} and some friends.  My very bestest friend, Katie and one of our other best friend couples came out to meet us.  It was such a nice night.  

We've shared half our lives together.  18 years.  Damn, I love this kid.

Saturday we had such a FUN morning.  Our niece Ailish recently had a major surgery and we couldn't wait to get home to spoil her.  Paul was super excited and had told her we were going to take her shopping at her favorite store when we came home.  Boy did he deliver.  Paul's brother and our sister-in-law, along with our niece & nephew and my mother in law, all came along for the shopping spree.  She had so much fun and the smile on her face was absolutely priceless.   We made Justice our bitch.

We had lots of cousin loving this weekend and Elena was blessed to see ALL eight of hers! 

 Saturday night we went to my Aunt's house and had a really nice dinner with my Aunt and Uncle and my sister and the kids.  The kids had so much fun playing together.  We had a cake for my Uncle and Paul to celebrate their upcoming birthdays.  That cake may have been the best thing that's ever happened to me.  Seriously.  It was that good.

Sunday we went to visit our dear friends who just welcomed baby girl #4!  There is nothing like snuggling up with a new babe.  That smell!  I can't believe I get to do it all over again.  So excited.  Elena was surprisingly so good.  When Paul was holding sweet Sophia, Elena brought over a little pretend bottle to give to the baby.  I died.  She didn't get jealous when I was holding her either.  Here's to hoping she reacts the same when August rolls around.

We ended the weekend with Sunday dinner with my in laws and a birthday party for Paul.  My father in law made my favorite...Puttanesca sauce and stuffed artichokes.  That may just be my death row meal.  Add that chocolate cake for dessert and it's a done deal. 

Seriously with her blowing out the candles?   I can't. 

And her are just a few of some of the delicious things that filled my belly. Yes, friends, that is a REAL pizza.  Jersey style.  It was damn good. 

We relaxed the rest of Sunday night and went to bed early.   4 am comes really quick!  A great weekend with great company and great food.  The best kind. 

Road trip

We are road tripping, people. Headed to the motherland that is NJ to see family and celebrate the Marine Corp birthday with Paul's Marine buddies in Philadelphia tomorrow.

It's too early o'clock in the morning and this girl forgot her coffee.

And my lovely husband refuses- Refuses to stop before 150 miles of travel. I am probably being dramatic with that last statement. He would probably stop if I begged or asked *really* nicely.

Scratch that.

He just informed me that I should be sleeping. I told him I was blogging. To which he informed me that we weren't stopping until 7:00.

So yeah, I should probably be sleeping if I have to endure two more hours before I can get some coffee coursing through my veins.

Granted, it's a ten hour-ish ride from Columbus to NJ, so leaving early makes sense. But this whole set-the-alarm-for-3:30 thing is for the birds. Especially since I am an insomniac and probably fell asleep at 3:29.

And especially since this sweet child 'o mine wakes up and STAYS up as soon as I lift her little body from her crib.

As soon as I put her in her car seat she looked over to her right and happily exclaimed, "Lola!" I die. We don't have many words but she sure knows "Lola."

Lola, who is currently curled up in a little ball, in her bed, next to Elena stinking up the car with her sleepy corn chip paw smell. Love. I know I'm not the only crazy who sniffs her dog's paws. Or that thinks her dog's paws smell like Tostitos or Fritos.

We're almost an hour in. Only 9 more to go. The sun isn't up yet. So I should try to shut her down. And by her, I mean me. The trusty white noise app is in full effect. Hoping it will lull Elena to sleep. I think it may be working for me. Hopefully not for Paul.

Zzzz.

Oh yeah, I have a blog

Feels good to be back.  I went radio silent for a little bit.  While it was nice to disconnect from all things internet for a while, I missed my daily reads and the outlet this little blog of mine provides. 

We just got back from our 2 week "vacation" in NJ.  I won't bore you all with a full run down and recap of our trip since it really wasn't what most would consider a vacay.  But, it was just what all of us needed... Soaking up our family and friends, home cooked meals, spending time at the beach {pure heaven and Elena loved the sand!}, sink baths for the little one, boardwalk rides, and endless amounts of walking outside {all my child wants to do!}.  We closed the chapter on summer as we always do, in the motherland, surrounded by friends and fried dough at the annual Italian Festival.  Good times all around.

As great as our stay was,  I couldn't believe how excited I was to be headed home...Ohio Home.  I was so ready.  No matter how much you love your in-laws {I do. Honest.}, it's never easy staying at anyone's house.  Elena was really out of sorts and her sleep and our sanity suffered for it.  She was cutting molars, sleeping in a too-small pack n' play, and was in sensory over drive with all the things we were doing, places we were going, and people we were seeing.  She's just like her mama- craves routine and predictablility. 

I told Paul next year we'll have to rent a house down the shore and invite everyone to come and visit us.  It was overwhelming and stressful trying to see everyone we wanted.  Even with two weeks, it couldn't be done.  I had intentions of seeing a lot more people than I did but I had already spread us too thin.  This trip had several doctor visits as well...for me, Paul, and Elena, so that ate up some of our time that I'd much rather have spent with friends and family. 

Speaking of doctor appointments....today is 2 years to the day that I went in and had my Embryo Transfer that resulted in my beautiful little miracle baby.  It honestly feels like yesterday.  And now, here she is, 15 months old.  Time certainly flies. 

Though I won't be doing a play by play of the trip, stay tuned for some pics from our NJ visit and an update on my little love and all that she's up to these days. 

Looking forward to catching up on what's going on with all of you....are you as excited about fall as I am??? Bring on the Pumpkin Spice Lattes, leggings, boots, and candy corn!

Daddy Love + the Motherland

It is so not Sunday Funday in this house when Daddy leaves for business a day earlier than the usual Monday.  However, I can't complain *too* much, considering leaving on a Sunday means coming home on Wednesday.  AND, the coming home on  Wednesday part?  Yup, that would be so we can bust outta this joint at the ass crack of dawn first thing Thursday.  We are headed to the Motherland!

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 As excited as we are for our road trip, we still have to endure 3 nights without our favorite guy and for some of us, it is pure torture. 

No joke, she will spend the better part of the next three days doing this...

...and looking for him every morning as soon as she wakes up.  She'll traipse around the house saying, "Da Da, Da Daaaaaaaa, Da Deeeeee," and make the saddest little scrunchie face when she realizes he isn't home.  Quite the love affair, I tell ya. 

As much as she'll miss him when he's gone, it doesn't stop her from helping him get on his way...

We love having him around.  And not just for the help.  Really.  It's the moments like this that just melt my heart.

Actually, I was hysterically laughing as I captured this "tender" moment.  Paul was reading her a Yo Gabba Gabba! book and was speaking in character.  "There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!'  Yes, haters, we love YGG in this house and my husband can do a mean Brobee .  

While Paul is gone, Elena and I will be enjoying the last few days of our first Ohio summer.  #notsobadafterall.  Hopefully the weather cooperates so we can squeeze some fun in between the cleaning and the packing. 

We are so ready to wrap up the season in NJ surrounded by our family and friends.  Bring it.

Home

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We got back from our NJ trip yesterday.  Felt good to be home-home.  Family.  Hugs.  Nights out with friends.  Mani/Pedi. Pork Roll, Egg & Cheese sammies.  Dunkin iced coffees every. single. day.  Peeing in private.  Visiting the cemetery. Home cooked meals.  Driving without GPS.  Real pizza {it's called pizza PIE for a reason, people! Ohio pizza is cut in squares. What the eff is up with that?!} Bachelorette with my bestie.  Play dates.  I could go on and on.  You get the picture, yes? All of this goodness and then some.  Filled me up.  To the brim. 

But, BUT, it kinda-sorta felt really good to pull into our driveway in our new home.  Our Ohio home.  Maybe this place is growing on me.  Just a smidgen.

Pics and trip low-down to come....For now, I'm off to continue my Bachelorette text fest with the bestie.