Not on the list?

Some of you have recieved your Christmas cards in the mail from us. Others, not so lucky. Unfortunately we had an issue with getting the cards in time and well....we didn't order enough cards. If you dont have a card, please don't feel left out. We care. We really do. But you need to speak to the wife. She is in charge of all cards. From Birthday to Anniversary to Christmas. If you didn't get one, please leave a comment for her. She doesn't mind. If it were me I would have ordered 100 cards and reused them next year. Or I would have told a white lie and told you I sent you a card, it must have been lost in the mail. Great role model I am. Instead of doing that I will just post the card. Enjoy.



We have to thank Allison Hope for taking the picture and creating the card for us. She is an amazing photographer and GREAT with Children. If you are in NH and looking for a photographer, please give her a call.

Kids With Colds = No Fun

Her nose runs like molasses. Slow. Thick. Never ending. It doesn't help that her fingers poke and prod into those tiny little nostrils, stirring things up even more. Leaving remnants of sticky snots on her hands which eventually make it on your clothes, the couch, everything she touches. Our dogs mark their territory by peeing on bushes. Our daughter leaves her mark with dried lucid white streaks of nasal mucus.





Kids with colds suck. Its even more difficult trying to keep them occupied while you are stuck inside with them. Drawing on the magna-doodle only last so long. Finger paints are good for maybe 45 minutes if you are lucky. Playing dress up princess gets you another half an hour. Even watching movies barely placates Charlotte. She used to last for a hour in front of Nemo. Now its about 15 minutes. Then she begins to repeat over and over again, "Cinda Rella, Cinda Rella, Yes, Cinda Rella. No no Nemo. Cinda Rella. Cinda Rella" getting louder and louder until you finally give in and switch the movie.

Fifteen minutes of Cindarella then she begins again, this time with another movie, "Chukeek Web. Yes. Chukeek Web. No No Cinda Rella. Chukeek Web. Chukeek Web." So you put in Charlottes Web for her. Thus the never ending process of going from movie to movie begins. Just reinforcing the potential of her developing Attention Deficit Disorder. Poor kid.



She was feeling a little better so mom and dad decided to go ahead with the plans to hire the babysitter for the evening so they could attend the Christoper Rogers Christmas party. Carpooling of course with the Slosbergs we arrived like most parents who never get to go out child free. Not arriving fashionably late. But punctual. On time and of course about an hour before any of the non-child owning people got there. Gone are the days of showing up whenever. The meter is running when you have a $10 an hour babysitter.

We had a chance to mingle as the guests were arriving. Eating as much as we could. Dad drinking a few beers quickly knowing the clock was ticking. Just as the last guests arrived, we did a watch check and it was time to go. Already stretching it later than we told the babysitter. It was quick hugs and kisses and we were on the road heading home. The time. 8:30pm. We are so cool.

Since we got home so early, dad was able to wake up before 7am on Sunday, hangover free, just in time to watch the snow begin piling up for the second time in 3 days.

Santa

Santa arrived in town Sunday morning at the school gym. He made his final rounds to check up on all the children to make sure they were being good before his big Christmas trip. And of course being the rolly polly jolly fellow he is, decided to have breakfast with everyone.

Charlotte kept telling us how excited she was to see Santa. However at the gym she was more interested in running around with other kids than she was to see Santa. At 2 it is to be expected. Dad wolfed down some cold eggs and hard french toast then waited in line to see Santa while Charlotte played and mom watched.

Here is the picture of Charlotte sitting on Santa's lap telling him what she wants for Christmas. Ok here is the picture of Charlotte screaming her head off petrified of the big man with the white beard and red suit.




So we let her run around again. Luckily Charlottes friend Ava was there and she was able to play with her. They had a ball running circles around the gym. At the end of the morning Ava went up one last time to see Santa. She did great the first time sitting on his lap. She called Charlotte up with her. This was as close as we got.


With a little photo cropping it actually looks like she was sitting on his lap.

Charlotte's 2nd Birthday party

(Dad's at the Patriots game with customers so mom is doing this post.. humor, not so much)

Another year another great party. Charlotte enjoyed her princess themed party and the pictures will prove our child is in love with all things princess.


Grammy made her this beautiful dress and sent her the crown as well. She didn't want to take any of it off. She felt so special. Thank you Grammy!


Nanny brought the cake with her that momma's Aunt Rene made. Aunt Rene also made Momma's wedding cake. When Momma's was a little girl her Nana made her this exact cake. I am sure this cake will be made for Charlotte again and again and again. She loved it. Did you notice Charlotte even matched her cake, her dress was the same color which wasn't planned.


Nanny and Charlotte with the Cinderella cake. Not only did it look beautiful it tasted great too!


Trick candles this year..which was great becuase we didn't need to keep relighting the candles we resung "Happy Birthday" over and over again. We learned from Liam's 2nd Birthday party that the best part of the cake to the children was the singing and the blowing out of the candles.


Opening presents..what fun! She wanted to open everything and put on every outfit she recieved. Thank you Auntie for the Lilly Pulitzer she had to put the skirt on immediately. Brodie and Mason were a great help too!


Brodie the helper.


She loved her princess mirror and brush which also came with a hairdryer, diffuser, curlers and barettes....what a girlie girl.


The party people.


The girls that can drink wine.


We learned even boys like to wear crowns.


Good thing we have many or there may have been a fight.


The girls that cannot drink wine.

An open letter to our daughter

It is hard to believe that you are two years old. I still remember the moment you were born like it happened yesterday. After you were born I got to hold you, swaddled in a blanket to keep you warm. I brought you over to your mother to see, my first proud "father" moment. Music was playing in the background and the lights in the operating room were blinding. Your big brown eyes were wide open and you just looked at both of us as if you were stolen from your warm safe place and placed into our arms. After a few minutes the nurses took you away to bathe you and I was told to go wait in the room while the doctors finished with your mother. I have never felt so alone standing there in an empty room. Without my wife and without you. Finally a nurse came in and said I could "see you now".

I walked into the nursery and there you were, being washed by a nurse. Screaming and crying. Shivering from being cold. My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach because I just wanted to hold you. They must have seen the look in my face because they quickly handed your swaddled body over to me. I was allowed to hold you again and bring you to your mother, who was now recovering from surgery in the same room I stood alone in moments before.

It was cold outside. The sun now shining through the blinds in the window. You mother held you in her arms and your father began to sob with happiness at the sight of you with your mother. Our little family. The family I would do anything for. The family that people could only dream of having. We started calling everyone to tell them the news of a beautiful little girl.

I am so proud of you today. You have started to grow up before our eyes and are turning into beautiful little girl. You are so independent that it is scary. Not wanting to hold our hands when walking in parking lots with traffic. You want to do everything on your own and you make it very clear.

Your smile and your laugh is infectious, just like your mothers. You are so much alike. You both love to giggle and play together. Your mother is your jungle gym. You climb all over her, you want her to constantly hold you and tickle you. She doesn't mind since you are her little angel.

It's hard to believe all the changes you have made in this one year. Looking back at pictures from just a year ago we can see the physical changes. Emotionally you have given us so much more than we could ever expect. You brighten the dark moments in our lives and you help keep us focused on what is really important in life. Family.

Thank you for being such a great daughter. We love you.

Winter Wonderland.

We woke up this morning to 6 inches of fresh white snow on the ground. Charlotte pressed her face against the cold glass this morning and said, "snoooooooowwwwww".
It took mom a while to get Charlotte bundled up. Mittens are the most difficult. Her thumbs never made it into the appropriate spot. Funny watching her try to make snowballs without a thumb.
Yes Charlotte, Mama gave up trying to get your thumbs in. You'll be fine without them.


Charlotte was so excited to see her sled inside the house. As soon as dad brought it outside she wanted nothing to do with it.
On the back deck. Charlotte loved eating the snow, saying "Yummmy Snow!!". Dad of course had to try some. It tastes...well...like snow. Yes that is an inflatable Santa on our back deck. The things you end up with when you have kids.

All smiles here. An hour later she was crying and screaming. Nose and cheeks bright red from being cold out in the snow. She refused to go inside despite the fact she was freezing. Dad had to pick her up and carry her in kicking and screaming while she said, "More more snow!!""

Sinter Klaas

(I am prefacing this entry because two people read this and didnt understand what we were talking about. Im not sure why aside from the fact they might have been drinking. So I will start by telling you we went to a Christmas party at our friend Katrina and Carls. Katrina's immediate family is from Germany & Holland, Carl's immediate family is from Germany. So their upbringing is very german/dutch , deep in the cultural traditions of the Netherlands. With that being said continue on with the post. If you have quesitons please refer to the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas)

Ok we all know of Santa Claus but Sinter Klaas? Sounds like a sinister rip off of 'ol Jolly Saint Nick. In reality Sinter Klaas is the original Santa Claus which brought us the americanized version of the fat guy in the red suit with reindeer. Sinter Klass is the european version of Santa, originating in the Netherlands. Why is any of this important you ask? Because Charlotte got to meet Sinter Klaas and his helper named black Peter, at a Christmas party at Katrina and Carls house this weekend. If I didnt tell you all of that, you would of been wondering what on earth I was talking about. Thanks Katrina and Carl. Who would expect anything less from those crazy dutch.

Here is Sinter Klaas arriving from Spain with his helper Peter. Spain? Yes that is where Sinter Klaas lives in the off season. Why Spain? No one seems to know. I told you the dutch were nuts. He is carrying his big red book which has a record of each childs behavior from the year. Those that are good get presents. Those that are bad get a switch to the rear.

Sinter Klaas. Yeah, the hat is a little different than we are used to.
Carefull or Peter will give you the switch to the rear! Luckily Charlotte was good all year long (wink wink)
Dad and Charlotte watching every move of Sinter Klaas and his buddy Peter.
Have you been good all year Charlotte?

Charlotte was enthralled by the whole thing. We werent sure if she was going to cry or smile. But when Sinter Klaas asked if she was good all year she replied with a resounding YESSSS!! Good enough for me (she must have forgotten about the time she wrote all over herself with the Sharpie marker or the time she had a temper tantrum and spit all over the floor). Sinter Klaas let those slide. Thanks buddy.

After the candy and treats, Charlotte had a blast being carried around the house by Nico. I think they have a little crush on each other. Charlotte has a thing for boys that speak Italian. Boy are we in trouble!


Mr Nico and Miss Charlotte

Over the River

and through the woods, you know the rest...

This Thanksgiving dad learned a few new things. First is that you can over cook potatoes for mashed potatoes. I never really thought you could over boil a potato but you can. Then to make matters worse you can over "whip" the over cooked potatoes, making a shiny thick potato paste that no amount of milk or cream or even putting in the oven to cook in hopes it will turn magically into normal mashed potatoes will fix. I can say if my potatoes were hair they would win the hearts of everyone because of the beautiful sheen.

The second thing dad learned is that sometimes the thermostat on the oven doesn't work properly...and that the meat thermometer needs to be properly inserted into the turkey. Go too deep and you go through the turkey and touch the pan giving you a false reading that the turkey is done. Not a great thing. Also all mathematic equations of cooking time per pound of turkey goes out the window when you are trying to get the turkey done for a 2pm meal. Nothing more scrumptious then cutting into a turkey that appears to be done and finding pink juices and meat. Thank GOD for microwaves. Luckily Charlotte was fast asleep taking a nap and was able to miss dads wonderful cooking.

The frozen peas came out perfect. And of course so did moms stuffing. Good thing we didn't put it in the raw turkey.

Nanny and Beepa came to visit for Thanksgiving. They of course were happy just to see Charlotte so they didn't really care about the turkey and potatoes (at least thats what they said). We all dozed on and off while sitting around after stuffing ourselves with turkey dinner. Dad's bright idea of waking up at 4am to hit the 5am Christmas Sale at Best Buy was quickly dimming with every full belly breath he took. By 7pm the bright idea was a dark figment of his dumb imagination. Instead we would all wake up and head to Portsmouth by 9am to stroll around town shopping. Much better idea than waiting in line outside of a Best Buy in the freezing cold at 4am.

Portsmouth was great. For black Friday it was extremely quiet. We walked. We shopped. We had lunch, then headed home in time for Charlotte's nap. We also took advantage of having Beepa around by making him take us to get our Christmas tree. Since dad is still not supposed to lift anything greater than 10 pounds and is still recovering from surgery, Beepa had the fun job of laying on the cold ground to saw down the tree. Luckily the saw was sharp and the tree trunk was small. Oh then he had to lift it up onto the car. And off of the car. And set it up in our house. And put the lights on it. Well most of the lights until we ran out of lights half way through. Nanny and mom were sent out to the store to get some more lights. Charlotte LOVES her Christmas tree. She still hasn't mastered saying Christmas Tree. It sounds a lot like Trick or Treat. When she woke up from her nap she walked into the living room and said, "Wooooww!!! Trissmiss treeet!!" Yes Charlotte, it is a Christmas tree.

Keeping with the Christmas Tree festivities, Mom, Dad, and Charlotte decided to enjoy the town tree lighting at the town square on Sunday night. Carolers sung in the gazebo. Free hot chocolate to warm us up. Charlotte got to see her friends. And of course we were able to count down from 10 to the actual lighting of the tree. So nice to live in a quaint new england town.



Charlotte refused to wear her mittens. Her hands were ice cold. Her fingers bright red. However she did love her first Hot Chocolate and she loved being held in moms arms. And yes she looked adorable wearing that hat.

What a great Thanksgiving weekend.

Quick Update

Dad is doing much better. Still not 100% but able to walk and function like a normal human being. Mom has been a trooper, taking care of Charlotte and the house this whole time. Don't worry honey, I will make it up to you.

We have some great pictures of Charlotte seeing the first snow of the season today and of course some action shots from Mom and Charlotte's Baby Loves Disco event on Sunday. However dad is too lazy to upload them tonight so you will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Stay tuned. You never know what else will happen with this crazy family!

Also we wanted to congratulate Kurt and Pam on the successful birth of their first son Samuel (known and loved by all as Sam-Hell). Sorry Kurt you chose the nickname and we are sticking to it. Surely Sam will show Marin and Charlotte how to shoot a gun, how to use Duct Tape to fix virtually anything, and how super glue can be used on open wounds instead of stitches (with of course the reasons why super glue is also sterile and has antibiotic properties). We are very excited that a shot of testosterone will be thrown into the kid mix and look forward to meeting Samuel very soon. Welcome to the kids club Kurt and Pam!

A good wife

Is hard to find. I am very lucky that I have a great wife. Dad is in a lot of pain. A lot of bruising, a lot of swelling, and well just very very uncomfortable. All the doctors made it seem like, yeah, you need surgery. No big deal. Its outpatient. In dads head outpatient meant painless quick recovery. He expected to be up and about the day after. Not the case. He has been stuck in bed most of the time living on percocets every 4 hours. You would think someone could create some pain medicine that didn't just make you dizzy and sleepy.

Mom has been great. Dad knows she really hates playing nurse but she has done a great job checking on dad, bringing him whatever he needs. Not so easy to do with a 2 year old hanging on your leg. Thank u dear for being so good to me. I will take my sponge bath now please.

Update

We got home last night just before 7pm. Dad is in a lot of pain but otherwise doing well.

Did You Know III

Let me preface this post by saying these numbers are staggering and accurate. Dealing with educators and schools here in the Northeast I am able to see not only what technology is being deployed, but also how it is used, and where it is being used. Seeing how my own school district uses computers scares me to death. There is a big shift in teaching and learning in the 21st Century and BIG changes are needed in our educational system to compete. Just the facts. Get involved with your schools and demand the use of technology in the classroom. PS. thank you Shelby for the lovely post. :)

Surgery again....

 












No, not mom this time it's dad's turn. Tomorrow dad goes in for surgery on not one but two Inguinal Hernia's. Wish him luck and send some good thoughts his way. As well send them to Mom, she will need them to deal with a very active toddler and a very "sensitive" dad. Charlotte will by his side while he is recovering since she loves laying with her "dadda" on the couch or anywhere for that matter.
We love you "dadda" and will try our best to take good care of you.

Pray to the Paint Goddess!!

Charlotte's cold is in full force. Nose constantly running. Hacking away like an old man, coughing up phlem, then choking on it. Yes its gross. So we taught her to spit. Such a great sight and oh so much more dignified. Charlotte hacking and caughing up some gross green slime from deep in her chest then spitting it out, hopefully into a tissue, however most of the time we are not so lucky. Yes we have started our child down the path of "poor white trashness". We are only a step away from buying her Bratz dolls. Such great roll models for little girls.



Charlotte had some serious regrets about Disney last week. Her biggest regret was not allowing her face to get fully painted. After she saw the pictures of her with only one blue eye painted she got a little sad. So mother not wanting her daughter to have any regrets in life, pulled out the paint and a mirror and had Charlotte finish what she started. Not to mention it is a wonderful distraction to a child with a horrible cold.




At the end of the painting session Charlotte prayed to the Paint Goddess. Please give me the strength and power to endure my face getting painted by a stranger at an amusement park!