Uncle Dave

It is so nice that Chris's forever best friend Dave, is someone so wonderful! More importantly he married Lisa who is every bit as wonderful. I am an intravert so it takes me awhile to warm up to people. Ask Chris, it took me months to acknowledge that he and I were even dating :). However I must say I felt an instant friendship between the Brozenics and myself. Not because I knew I would be stuck with these people no matter how I felt about them but because I genuinely LOVE them. Yes by now I openly admit, I love the Brozenics. Each time we get together I like them more and more and I immediatley miss them when we have to part ways. Thank you for being such good friends to us Lisa and Dave. Love your little family, and I hope we get the chance to see you all again soon!

Naples Florida

Our one group shot and both kids are crying, of course! Mindy's (rock of love star) twin sister Cindy

One of the rare moments these two acknowledged one another

One of two days where it was warm enough to be on the beach
Tom reading his own version of, "Goodnight Moon" to Grady.


Brrrr our trip to Naples, Florida was a cold one! We still mangaged to have a good vacation eventhough the weather was crappy. Chris's parents joined us for a few a days at the beginning of the trip and then our good friends, the Brozenics, joined us for the last half of our trip. Chris and Tom almost spent New Year's Eve in Walmart but did end up making it back in time to watch the ball drop. Think this was the least productive New Year I have ever had. It was actually rather nice. I enjoyed not making a fuss over New Year's plans. Sitting around and watching the festivities on tv was good enough for me! We barely got out on the beach, and one day we had to have coats on when we were out there. We never made it to the pool but we did go to the park a couple of times and Lisa, Riley, Grady, and I went to the zoo one day! We ate a lot of nice meals and made the best of our time there despite being cold! The condo is always such a soothing place as it is right on the beach. The atmosphere alone was way better then being home in Cincy. Was hoping Riley and Grady would play better together, they pretty much ignored one another. Except Riley did like to pick on Grady. At the zoo she decided to push him down for no reason. It broke my heart to watch :(. Nobody likes seeing their kid get knocked down. I know she will out grow the "bully" phase and we will all laugh about it. Who knows maybe next year Grady may even push her down. Although I hope not because it is not nice. I am excited to watch the relationship grow between Riley and Grady. They are either always going to pick on one another or they will become best of buds.

Happy Holidays!

I feel like I have not stopped eating since early November ! The eating won't stop either until we return from Florida on Jan 10th. We have been having a huge holiday season so far, around 20 people for Thanksgiving and Christmas eve was even crazier with around 25 people! It has been family dinner after family dinner and eating candy/cookies in between. A weird domestic side of me decided to show itself. I made split pea soup, buckeyes, and peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss in the middle. We actually had to skip leaving the chocolate chip cookies for Santa this year because neither of us could stomach the sight of another cookie! Here is our Christmas day in short: Pancake breakfast, presents, skype with family, Hawkins house for more presents, nap, and then dinner at Uncle Hanks. It was a day filled with joy and warmth. I hate preparing for Christmas but I must admit Christmas day is one of the most wonderful celebrations in life. I don't think Grady has fully grasped the concept of it but watching him open gifts was so much fun. Nearing the last few gifts, he really got into opening them and it was so cute. Being on the other side of things for the holidays is a whole new experience and I must say I love it! Christmas kind of got lost for a few years but now that Grady has joined us, it is back. I get to relive the holiday through him and it reminds me of how exciting it all used to be! This video says it all :). Thank you family for making Christmas so special for Grady. He loves all of his gifts. Happy Holidays!

Moments like these

I have been away from the blog for awhile because this time of year is always so crazy! I am half expecting to look in the mirror and see that my head is on backwards. To add on to the holiday mumbo jumbo, hurricane Grady hits our house every day! When he is finished drinking he dumps his sippy cup upside down and shakes the contents out. Then he plays in the mess. Once I realize what he is doing, I stop him but then he is off to the pantry and unloading it! He must think I am always hungry as he is constantly bringing me snacks. When the day is done the destruction of Grady is impressive. I would categorize him as a level 5 hurricane. keeping up with him is quite tiring and right when I think I just can't do this whole "mom" thing he goes and does something so cute and heart melting. It's moments like these, that keep me in the game. It's moments like these that erase every annoyed fiber in my body. Having him run up to me and say, "Momma" with a huge smile is all it takes. There are so many of these moments that I can't keep count. I recorded one of my favorites. I don't know why, but something about a baby pointing out their belly button is one of the cutest things ever to me!

Our pets

Our pets are a HUGE part of this family. With four pets, two cats, and two dogs, our house is not nearly as clean as I would like it to be. I sometimes get embarrassed actually because the walls are a mess due to slobber and eye goop. Hair balls can be spotted under the couch, and other places that I refuse to even look at. Our carpet upstairs has many stains, and if you walk by the designated litter box room you will get whiff of something special. The door frame is scratched up and corners of some window frames seem to be mysteriously missing. Would I trade our pets in for a sparkling clean house? Absolutely NOT! It's a small price to pay for the unconditional LOVE a pet will always give you. We recently found out that Dante our 6 year old boxer has lymphatic cancer. This is the beginning of our hearts breaking. I have been mentally preparing for our cat claude who is 13 yrs old to be the first of our pets to go. NOT DANTE!! I am not ready for this. We got blind sided with this sad news. With Chemotherapy he may get a good two years in, but I am hoping/praying that he will be in the small percentage that beats cancer! He is a strong dog, I know he will fight! Dante is so sweet in nature and hands down the best behaved out of our pets. He slobbers and kisses the most, and just wants to love, love, love! The best part of my day is when I get everyone out for a walk. I love it so much because it makes them so happy! Grady's first word was, "dante". He calls and looks for him in the house when he is not around. He will call out, "dante" as he goes up the stairs to Dante's bed in search for him. THIS is what is going to make this all the more sad. I don't think I can handle this! I am already picturing Grady searching the house for Dante, and he won't be there. OH this hurts so bad. I keep periodically breaking down. How do I stay strong? How do I stay positive! I don't want these thoughts. Ok.........breathe.....breathe.......I have to pull myself together and start focusing on the good things. We caught Diesel on film doing one of his, "spazz outs" which Grady finds absolutely hysterical!

One is fun!

Grady has reached such a fun age! He is becoming more affectionate and giving us hugs/kisses. Well the kisses are kind of scary because it looks like he is going to bite you but then he just presses his face to yours. He is able to learn and repeat things, which is so fun to watch. Finally he responds back to things instead of staring at me like I am one crazy lady. His separation anxiety continues to be an issue but he will out grow it one day. I just hate that others mostly see him as fussy because he is so clingy to mom and dad. Glad I have video now to prove that he is not always serious and cranky. I hope the terrible two's are a horrible myth because I love things the way they are, and just want more of the good stuff! Wishful thinking.

Pumpkin Chuck

What did you do with your pumpkins after Halloween? Did you just throw them out or let them rot? BORING! We chucked ours at a really neat fundraiser event held in Mt. Washington at Stanbery park. Ok busted, we actually never even bought pumpkins this year. However for $2.00 you could catapult your pumpkin, or for $5.00 you could buy one to launch. Or you could have done what we did this year, and just watch everyone else chuck their pumpkins. Not only is this a fun way to get rid of your pumpkins but it also feeds the deer. There was face painting, food, and it was a gorgeous day to be at the park. It was a great way to spend a Saturday, we had so much fun!