Movin on up...

♫ to the east side... to a deluxe apartment in the sky. ♫

I loved the Jeffersons.

But now it's my turn. I have officially moved to my new site... www.jessiwithani.com. I hope you all come visit me at my new place ;~)

Peace out Blogger!

Frustrations

So I wanted to start blogging about our vacation. I am excited to relive the week and to record it for our history... but alas, blogger sucks. Apparently I have hit my quota on pictures that I can upload... you know, without paying them $$. Totally bogus...

Luckily Adam bought me a domain a few months ago... I just haven't had the chance to sit down and learn something new. Seems like there is no time like the present. So, in the next few days I will be changing my URL... and really hoping that my small contingent follows me!

Stay tuned for my new URL... coming soon!

Whew...

Thank goodness that's over.

Getting ready to set off... happier times.

Initially we were in very good spirits...

but of course that included coffee...

and vanilla milk.

Soon we were attempting distraction...

after distraction...

after distraction...

when finally this happened.

24 minutes later... awake and crying.

*sigh*

After yet another stop, we attempted distractions such as...

M&M's...

cheetos...

and puzzles...

until we finally arrived! Never has getting out of the car felt so wonderful!

Within the first 4 seconds of Chase putting his feet in the ocean I decided the trip, as whiny and cranky as it had been, was totally worth it.

He walked right up and cautiously put his feet in...

which soon gave way to jumping...

repeatedly with bigger and bigger splashes...

until the allure of the sand became too much...

and he felt the need to throw himself down and roll around in it.

Oh yeah... that's a mess.

He was enthralled with seashells and he insisted needed to be thrown into the ocean... each and every time he found a new one.

He sure was a mess by the time we walked back up to the hotel but he deserved it...

9.5 hours in a carseat is a lot to ask of a 2.5 year old.

And Adam and I have an entire week to dread the ride home ;~)

So caving... not really my thing.

Last week we were lucky enough to get a tour of the Crystal Grottoes Caverns... were I learned that being that far underground... kinda freaked me out ;~)

All in all, still a really fun trip (thanks Laura!!!)

I will not confirm or deny that this email (received mere seconds before I left the driveway)...

caused me to run back in the house and grab socks and tennis shoes for both Chase and I.

The evidence speaks for itself.

Could not be more of a City Slicker.

Standing in a tractor... life doesn't get much better for Chase.

In complete amazement. I thought Chase would be a little more freaked out (turns out I did that enough for the both of us)... in reality he was perfectly fine walking around and taking in all the sights.

Me and my first born son ;~)

Chase was here.

I just had to include this picture because he is so stinking cute. I seriously cannot believe how much I love him.

After all this time we are still attempting the line up shot... not bad!

After the caverns we headed to a playground (quite possibly the best playground around) for some fun and lunch.

As it turns out the kids really only had the fun in mind. Especially my son... could not get him to sit and take one bite of food.

Teaching him to go up and down the jungle gym...

and this is right before (we're talking seconds people) he fell back with a hard thump on his tush.

Mother of the Year is just around the corner folks.

First time on a see saw... with his best girl Sadie.

And then they ran over and got on the 'airplane' where Chase informed Sadie that they were "flying to Frostburg".

My kid dreams big, people... watch out!

Day at the park

This is always a familiar sight...

Chase is a big fan of the big blue swing.

And if a 7 month pregnant woman has to stop at the grocery store... on the way to the park... to meet up with friends... and the bakery is pumping out yummy baked goodness smells...

well, this becomes a familiar sight.

Sewing, crafting and a good sense of humor

I've been breaking out the sewing machine more and more these days... especially since I moved everything together and within easy reach.

In typical Jessica fashion I have about 10 projects going on at any one time. Seriously, if I got paid for stretching myself thin, I could retire tomorrow.

Here are a few projects that actually managed to get finished...

This serves no real purpose other than a place for Chase to store 'emails' (commonly known as pieces of paper) and as a decoration for the wall in the play room. I got the idea from a combo of the Today Show and In Sung. I purposefully didn't use the sewing machine on this project... I wanted a bold handcrafted look to it so I did it all with embroidery thread and a sewing needle.

And...

finally curtains for Chase's room! No more horrible gray flannel blanket hung up with safety pins! I am probably most proud about this project. There are 2 panels that match in height (which would have been glaringly obvious if they didn't!) and there is a dark brown fabric on the window side of the curtain to help block sunlight. Also, the top is courtesy of Kari! She gave me the idea on how to make it ruffle (instead of tabs like I originally planned) and I like the look 10x's better! Thanks Kari!

Speaking of Kari... she also gave me the idea for pillowcases...

We bought a couple at Ikea and then with my leftover fabric, I made a couple pillowcases. They overlap in the back and cover the pillow just like a sham would!

And I managed to get 2 pillow cases with the leftover fabric. Plus I made an actual pillow (filled with stuffing but obviously closed all around) with the polka dot and straight brown fabric... to this day, one of Chase's favorite pillows. It often travels from his room to our bed with him in the morning.

The purple bag is an old tank top that I wasn't wearing anymore. Today show gave me the idea and with a little fusible interface to secure the stitching, it's now a fun bag that Chase enjoys filling and carrying around the house.

Then in an effort to give lil bean some of his own clothes, I made a few onesies for him.

Used some leftover black iron letters for the "GIT" and the "FLIRT" and then I just filled the "eek n raining" with black puff paint.

And then I had way too much fun with puff paint and blank onesies...

Seriously, I'm 32... puff paint should not be this entertaining.

And then last but not least... just to prove that you have to have a sense of humor...

decoration for our playroom now includes a collage of tow truck pictures. Of course the top right picture is our most recent tow truck adventure. Busted engine due to massive oil leak in the Ford Focus. On the left is also Adam with a different Ford Focus on our way home from Niagara Falls... where we spent the night with total strangers (and their 3 kids) somewhere in North Cambria PA. And the bottom right one... that's Kelly and Jaime with Jaime's old Cavalier about 45 minutes outside of Panama City Beach FL... we were on our way to Spring Break when the car decided to blink every light it had until it eventually just stopped running right in front of one lone trailer who's occupant was not thrilled to be helping 3 20 year old spring breakers.

Life is all about the stories right?

Chase goes shopping

Apparently being a great grandson has some perks... like Great Grandpa leaving you your very own money to spend however you want!

Chase was so excited to go to the store and pick out whatever he wanted (well let's be honest... there are some things I wouldn't have allowed him to buy ;~)

So off to Toys R Us we went!

Quite predictably Chase was a kid in a candy store the minute we walked in... running from one display to another. After a quick chat about calming down, I was able to steer him toward the sections I thought he would like the best. We went up and down the aisles and I would show him different things that he might like... to which he wanted to buy it all. We talked about how much money we had and how we had to pick things that were that amount or under. In between the wrangling and attention getting, it was actually quite enjoyable.

Finally he made his selections and we went to pay.

Chase with his spoils! Thanks Great Grandpa Paul!!!!

Sidenote: lately Chase has been all about the Little People. We have the nativity and the farm and he play acts with those people and animals more than any other toy in his room. So I did steer him in that general direction. Plus the fact that it's a firehouse... well it was a definite winner! As for the horse... I wasn't so sure about that one. He saw it and picked it out and held onto it for quite a while. At one point he asked me to hold it... and after a minute I put it back on the rack. As soon as he was done looking at whatever he was looking at, he asked for the horse and got upset when he realized I put it back. I figured it was a good buy after that ;~) Bonus after we got home, I realized if you push on one ear it neighs and if you push on the other it gallops... way cooler than I thought!