putting on the Ritz

Well, it finally happened. My wildest dream came true (other than meeting my soul mate, giving birth to the most perfect person on the planet and visiting Capri) – I finally got to stay at the Ritz Carlton. Yes, it was everything I dreamed it would be. Marble bathroom, luxurious lotions & potions, mints at turn down. Oh, Ritz Carlton, I love thee and am now, forevermore, ruined for all future vacations.

For the record, this awesome turn of events came completely out of the blue. My sister and I were traveling back to NC from PA and decided to fly out of Cleveland because it was cheaper. We didn’t think it would be an issue to just grab a hotel room that night before and stay in the city. WRONG! Every hotel was booked solid (Boston Red Sox were in town) so in one final ditch effort I mentioned the Ritz. One phone call later, and ten more minutes of gridlock traffic and there we were…. putting on the Ritz.

2

Oliver turned two last week. He is basically the coolest two year old who ever lived. We celebrated his birthday just us three and decided to take him to the Raleigh Children’s Museum (Marbles) and then to Pullen Park for a quick choo choo ride. It was a chilly day but we had a great time.

Pullen Park - Raleigh, NC - Feb 2, 2013

Oliver got a gee-tar (guitar) and some headphones from momma and daddy.

Oliver - 2yrs (feb 2013)

In other two year old news (and in an extreme effort to catch up on the blog 411) Oliver can now pee-pee in the potty (kind of sort of on a regular basis if you ask him). Get this potty seat... its awesome and blocks all kinds of boy tee tee in the front. His vocab is multiplying daily and he started saying “I wove you mom-ma” about two weeks ago. I frickin die. This kid is so rad I think my heart may explode on a daily basis. He had his two year check up today and had the following stats: weight = 24.5lbs (10%), height = 33.5” (25%).

Well that’s enough chit chat for one day.... until next time.

wash this way

Me and appliances... not so much. Based on previous rants history with all things expensive that have motors, why am I surprised that my washing machine luck would improve. After yet another washer breakdown (yes that makes five total in less than three years), cheapskate momma here decided to bite the freaking bullet and just buy a new washing machine. damn it. I hate to spend money - haha! Well, I needed a washer in a hurry because, as all moms know, laundry piles up quick around these parts and laundry is just my thing. If there are stacks and stacks of laundry I start to hyperventilate. It's my small attempt to stay sane and feel somewhat in control of the housework. Don't look at my floors. Mopping ain't my thing.

I thought I would try my luck at our one and only local home improvement store hoping to land on a fluke discount/dent washer. Boy, was today my day. Some poor little granny purchased a fancy dancy washer and dryer that had too many bells and whistles. After one load, she decided she hated them and promptly returned them. Thank you granny. I owe you one. You can now call me the proud owner of not only a new washer but a new dryer too! Good ones at that, not the cheapo low end version I probably would have ended up with otherwise. Hi cutie - welcome home!



We would also like to welcome your dryer friend home too!



I know it is completely lame, but I am so excited to do laundry tomorrow once they are delivered (free delivery! yippee)! Knocked down from $999 each, sweet Fran at Lowe's cut me a deal for $600/ea. SCORE! After taxes, extended warranties, etc my total came in at $1500. Still, not so bad for state of the art, highly reviewed appliances. TGIF!

summer lovin ... havin a blast

Schools are empty, graduations are happening, sunblock has been purchased in large quantities, watermelon is a snack staple in the fridge.... ah, summer is here. Jake started Grad school and is taking his first summer class. I am so proud of my wolfpacker. Ollie is enjoying the nice weather and demands to be outside every night before bed. Jake usually takes him out back and let's him kick the ball around and pick up sticks and flowers. He also listens for our neighbors dogs (who bark non-stop) and then points and barks right back - ruff ruff. Things around home seem a tad bit ... dare I say it... easier nowadays. Oliver has gotten to a semi independent play phase and has found his room quite entertaining. The TV hasn't been on in months and the week nights seem so summery sweet. I bought a little blow up pool for Ollie when the heat of the season rolls in. I thought a little pool porch party a few nights a week would be a fun way to beat the heat.

If my love for Oliver continues to grow at this exponential rate... my heart should explode in about three minutes. He has started to copy and can now talk on the phone like his momma. Hello!

Oliver has more teeth! All four incisors have broke through (about two weeks ago). I think he almost has a full set now... minus a few molars. When Jake says, "let's go brush our teeth" after breakfast, Ollie toddler jogs to the bathroom and lets daddy brush his toofers. I love my boys.

baby, well actually, big boy steps

The ba-ba went bye bye. Ollie if officially off the bottle. We knew the pressure was on at the 12 month mark to get Ollie weaned off the bottle. We were sort of forced to do it at daycare since the move into the toddler room was sans bottle. That transition went well but we continued to give him the bottle at bedtime. As a baby, Ollie was never really attached to the bottle (or so I thought). He was a always a small feeder, drinking only 4-5oz at a time. Well, Ollie loved has been loving his night-time bottle. He liked to lay on a pillow while I read him a book and then when he was finished he would hurl the bottle across the room, pop the paci in his mouth and turn over and go to sleep. Two things to clarify here...yes he still sleeps in our bed and yes he is completely spoiled. The bed time bottle went away by accident. I was going to give him until 18 months but we were at Jake's mother's house for dinner three nights in a row and it just worked out that no bottle was offered. Each of the three past nights has been ba-ba whine free and he has slept well. Tonight, I am packing all the bottles away ... while he isn't looking of course. I am kind of, embarrassingly, sad about this transition. Every post I write includes this statement: Time goes too fast. Well, it just does. Ollie is getting BIG. Like big boy, toddler big. Here he is brushing his teeth with a big boy toothbrush. We take dental hygiene very serious at our house!

In an effort to catch up from months of not posting. Here are some milestone reminders for myself about Ollie baby.

15 months (May 2012):

• Ollie walks!
• Ollie's regular vocabulary includes:
•  ma-ma
• da-da & dad
• gat which has turned into the proper cat
• ba (ball)
• up
• na-na: aka grandma, no, outside, drink and/or anything he points to and wants
• Ollie moved up to bath-time in the regular tub -- the duck has been deflated
• Favorite toys: balls, shape sorter, little people barn, plastic Easter eggs and foam blocks
• Favorite food: cheese, pears, yogurt, meatballs, black eyed peas, green machine (naked juice) any and all desserts
• Favorite activities: going outside, picking flowers/grass/leaves, music and dancing, playing ball and snacking :)

safety gear

Now that Ollie is a riding/biking/sleeping machine (yes, the kid that never sleeps decides to sleep on his daddy duo jogging and biking trips) we realized --duh -- that our most precious cargo probably needs a helmet to wear on his adventures. Can you tell we grew up in the bike helmet/schmelmet days? We talked to the Easter Bunny and decided that a new helmet would be a great gift for Ollie's basket this year.

This was the first choice (haha) ... too bad its out of stock:


This one is coming in at a close second:


I hope the XS small fits okay. The reviews are great and it should last until he is around 5yrs old which makes the price tag a little less frightful. Here's hoping he actually keeps the thing on his head.

Acrylic print

  Acrylic Print

Shutterfly has modern graduation announcements and photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

I am a huge Shutterfly fan. This is where I save all my pictures online. I love the custom path photo books -- I just got Ollie's first year book this week and it turned out great! I am a sucker for a coupon code and I just happened to have two coupons plus found the sale at shutterfly. I finally bit the bullet and ordered my favorite picture of Oliver. It is a large format (20x30) acrylic print. I am so excited to get it next week. I am always daydreaming about buying art for the house and what better art to have at home than your own photography piece (featuring the cutest baby in the world)? Regular price this product runs $159. With my coupon codes, the sale and free shipping my total came to $112. woohoo.