Fav fam pics plus

January 2012

In an effort to catch up, I'm posting some of my favorite pics. Despite illness and major home improvement projects, we have had some memorable moments, so I'm happy to post them here and now for record keeping. Sure, most of these pics are of my precious little boy. Most days, our lives feel like they revolve around him, but he's our miracle baby and I wouldn't have it any other way. We just love him tremendously.

 Frolicking in the snow in our backyard. He loves that he can use his beach toys in the snow.

 Super pink cheeks after an hour of sledding in the snow.
Sweater made by his Grandmother, complete with fire engine buttons!

With the birthday boy "L" at an indoor, inflatable, bouncy venue.

On the move in the glow-in-the-dark room!

 Best buddy "D" (but blurry. Sorry "D")

Pizza lunch with "B, J and D"!

 Crocus in January?!

 His winter essential: the angry bird hat.

We were introduced to the angry bird craze by his Pre-k buddies.

 At my husband's request, we toured a few Elementary Schools. I was happy just to enroll him at the school where his Pre-k buddies were all going, but I obliged. Here he is at the one school closest to our house. He's thrilled that he got to handle all of the animals in their fun science department.
This may have sealed the deal. (More on all the school enrollment drama in a later post.)

 Love is in the air!

The little Korean girl in his class said she "LOVES Liam" and
ran to snatch the seat right next to him.

 Counting the school party loot. Love him, his smile, his hair, that bench, the floor...

  Love the two men in my life!

 Little Liam earns his third stripe!

 Loving how his new haircut is turning out.

 He can spend a good half hour to his cousin Yvie.

 With his Pre-k buddies on the "forbidden" rooftop.

 His favorite alligator see-saw that sits up to five excited little buddies. Two had already fallen over.

 Inside his best buddy"D's" backyard "clubhouse."

 Extreme sliding at his best buddy "D's" awesome jungle gym.

 At home or at a Church function, he helps out whenever and wherever he can!

 Enjoying a popscicle one hot Spring afternoon after school.

 After his "Pizza Pajama Party" at school. Brought to you by the letter of the day...

Rewind (Part 3)

The calm before the storm.

(This pic was taken the day before the hurricane hit us.)

We picked up what we thought was a heck of a lot of pine cones in our backyard just a couple of weeks before the hurricane hit. Liam and I first gathered enough to fill a small basket. Well, after the hurricane we picked up a double-sized shopping bag, and as of today there are still more to be gathered. What am I going to do with it all? Well, I have a project in mind. My name is Martha, after all. So stay tuned.

Chillin' and grillin' poolside

While trying to keep my cool about the incident with the noxious weeds (see previous post), we still managed to show our son a good time. This is how we beat the mini heatwave last week.

 
He got a kiddie pool in January as a birthday present. I didn't think it would be so large, but I wasn't about to let ourselves sit around and stew during that mini Spring heatwave, not while we knew we had a pool. (Yes, it's kind of deep, but I would be sitting no more than two feet away the whole time.) Liam was excited about it, so despite the uneasiness, we decided to fill her up. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, that is the same swimsuit Grandma Bette bought him three years ago. Liam is so slender that it still fits! I wouldn't be surprised if he could still squeeze into it next summer.

"Ha! Goggles!" (Russell from UP!)

 So happy!

 "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Hit it!" (The Count at Sesame Place, Langhorne, PA)

 Push ups!

 Daddy's turn!

 So funny!

So cold!

Time for grilling!

 
It brings me such joy to be able to use our backyard for things like a kiddie pool, a garden, and a grill. Yippee! We get to grill! These are things I never had growing up as an apartment dweller.

Last week, we got super excited about our teeny, tiny barbecue grill. We picked it up (unused!) from the recycling room at the old apartment building in Brooklyn where we lived before. (Can't tell you how many times we scored great stuff from that room!) We bought "natural" charcoal briquettes and a charcoal chimney (great tool for only $16 at the H.D.) to light them up naturally, instead of using the toxic, smelly lighter fluid. Once they were lit, we poured them into the bottom of the grill and we were good to go. On the menu was organic beef burgers, organic hot dogs (Nature's Promise organic brand from the Stop & Shop), corn on the cob, vegetable kabobs, and grilled peaches. It didn't even occur to us to take a couple of pictures of our barbecuing debut. We were so hungry and busy stuffing our faces.

One evening, we even had some background music from a block party on the other side of our block. So, after our little family pool party, we grilled and danced as we feasted. Liam sure does love dancing with his mama (ala Dancing With the Stars)!

Such enjoyable evenings! Hoping to have many this summer!

City girl learns the hard way

This city girl has a lot to learn. Recognize this notorious trio? I do hope so, for your sake.

I have lived in an apartment building almost my entire life in New York City. I have never had to worry about such noxious weeds in my old Queens neighborhood or in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. These are the ones you encounter in the woods somewhere while hiking or camping. Right? Well, last Saturday I had the displeasure of meeting them right here, in of all places, my very own backyard.

There is a low wired fence between our house and the neighboring house that has been unoccupied for many, many years. That house, if you can call it that because it kind of looks like a shack, is all boarded up, and since there is no maintenance done, the backyard quite frankly looks like a jungle. I honestly don't know how anyone can get away with it and not get penalized.

Anyway, since it is not yet in our budget to replace this fence, I periodically have to go and remove the weeds that poke through and hang over the fence onto our property. I didn't think to wear gloves, so I just yanked them out. I innocently touched my face, neck and shoulder blade. Why? I had my hair pulled up, but the "fly-a-ways" brushed up against my skin, so I naturally smoothed them away from my face and neck. After I finished weeding, I noticed a dark, sappy residue that resembled pine tree sap on my hands. When I went in to wash my hands, I noticed that it wasn't coming off easily with just plain soap and water, so I used a scrub brush and worked really hard to remove it all.

The next day, I felt a little itchy, but since I normally have dry, sensitive skin, didn't think much of it. By the evening, my right eye was getting swollen. Went to bed, only to wake up the next morning with more swelling around the eye and most of my face. Large red blotches started to appear. Since it was hot that day and we hadn't yet installed the A/C, I thought it was sun poisoning or some other heat-related condition.

Well, I woke up on Tuesday with my right eye completely swollen shut and a super swollen face. My sunglasses didn't even fit because my face was so distorted. I grabbed Liam and marched over to my primary care physician. As soon as he saw me walk through the door, he told me to turn around and get myself to the hospital because it was too severe a reaction and that I needed to be treated at the ER. I drove to the doctor and then to the ER with one good eye. I never realized just how hard this would be, but I made it to the ER safely, with Liam in tow I might add, and was seen immediately. Thankfully, I was in and out in about an hour. They shot me up with a steroid and gave me a prescription for more steroids in tablet form to take at home along with an antibiotic. I was instructed to take Claritin during the day, Benadryl at night, smooth on hydrocortizone cream on my face and Calydryl clear on all other affected areas (namely: my neck, shoulder blade, ears, forearm, feet, and the three fingers on my right hand). I wash thoroughly with Tecnu on the really ugly parts and my usual all-natural calendula body wash on the rest of the affected skin. I also found that I had to take Tylenol for the throbbing pain. We installed the A/C that night and I pretty much sat in front of it and a fan the whole time. The steroids have kicked in slowly and my eye is only just slightly puffy today. The rest of me is still pretty much one huge ugly mess.

Needless to say, sleeping has been challenging this week, but the real heartbreaking part is not being able to hug, kiss or snuggle as needed. If Bill or Liam accidentally touch me, I remind them to immediately scrub their hands with hot soapy water. We sleep head to toe to make sure, we don't touch. All in all, this has been an experience I will never forget. I will never forget to put my gardening gloves on and keep them handy every time I need to work in the backyard. I will never forget to look at these pictures so I become completely familiar with them and recognize these poisonous weeds when I encounter them.

"Leaves of three, let them be." Ha! I guess I needed a little more info than just that little rhyme. Watch out for a stem with three leaves because it could be poison ivy or poison oak.

Just in case, here is another look. Beware and please engrave these images into your head.

Crocus

Spring has sprung, but you wouldn't know it from the snow and sleet we got just a couple of days ago. Thankfully the snow didn't stick and these little beauties that popped up all over our backyard stood defiantly. -As we have!

These cute little flowers are a happy reminder that it is almost a year since we've bought this house. I also see them as little rewards for having survived a long brutal winter here. Believe me when I say that we all breathe a collective sigh of relief for having endured such a harsh winter and this fixer-upper we happily live in, and the fact that the weather will, without a doubt, start warming up. We can't wait to get to work on our backyard.

White

We saw way too much white this winter. I think we had about eight or nine large snowfalls. I lost count after the fifth one. Liam, of course, had the time of his life rolling around in it every chance he got.

Here are some pics of Liam that his daddy took of him out in the backyard just after the first big snowfall of the season. Happy as can be! I'm just happy that it's all melting away.

 

Today, I planted the baby pine tree that we got for free last Christmas and some tomato seeds in small planters. They are sitting near the windowsill in the dining room for now. As soon as they are big enough, they will need to be transplanted into larger pots and so forth until they are mature enough to withstand being transferred out into our backyard. I am seriously praying for a green thumb this year. Speaking of which, I can't wait to start seeing green again in our neighborhood. Looking forward for Spring to make its appearance. Two consecutive months of cabin fever is way too long.

It's official...

It's official! It's a done deal! We are finally homeowners! Can you believe it?!

We had been looking for a little over a year and now our house hunting is well and truly over. It is a cute semi-detached colonial located in one of the best school districts in NYC. Liam finally gets his own bedroom, my husband gets to have an office and I get to have a larger kitchen than what I have now. We got ourselves a fun fixer-upper and that will mean many before and after pics. So stay tuned!

I would have to say that the biggest selling point for us  was the backyard. After circling the yard, Liam came running to me and said "Mama, I love this garden!". (He clearly meant yard.) Soon, baby boy, soon. We will reserve a space in our yard for the roses and the lilac tree, just like in the song that you like so much.