birthday boy

Tom is 32 today. What in the world happened to the last six years. Where did they go?  I honestly can't believe it! All week I kept thinking he was going to be 30.  Time is just going by too fast and I've got to find a way to slow it down.  It seems like we were just partying it up for his 26th birthday.

Funny how birthday celebrations change over the years. The birthdays of the past where we would party all night with friends are somewhat over (at least for now). Tom is spending his 32nd at the Texas Roadhouse (his choice, not mine).   For some reason that just cracks me up, I am pretty sure we have made fun of people for having birthday dinners at this type of establishment. But we'll have fun I'm sure and I'm a lucky gal though to have such a wonderful hubby.  Tom I love you and I hope 32 is your best year yet!

whew...road trips and more road trips

So last week was quite an adventure! I had to be in NYC for work Monday through Wednesday so we decided to make a long weekend out of it and head to NJ to visit Tom's parents and let them watch the young one while we were in the city. We left Friday night, drove half way and then arrived in NJ around 3 on Saturday. Maddie did really good in the car on the way up....thank god. We spent Sunday with the entire Sierant / Tchorzewski clan which included a big meal, shooting rifles, and plenty of desserts. The best part was Joe and Amy announcing their engagement!

Amy and Joe getting some Maddie lovin'

Getting some time in with Grandma

Monday Tom and I packed up and headed to the city leaving Maddie in Blairstown. Linda couldn't get us out of the door fast enough! She and Maddie had a blast and I am so glad they got to spend some quality time together. Luckily, I was so busy working I hardly had time to miss her! But by the time my meeting was over Wednesday I was making a mad dash for Jersey. Our GPS took a crap on the way out of the city and I swear I think we went around the same block 6 times. I was about to lose my mind. I think poor Tom considered jumping out of the car and taking his chances on the streets of NY rather than staying trapped in there with me! But we finally made it through the Lincoln Tunnel and back to NJ....only to pack up and head back to NC shortly after. The ride home was HORRENDUS! It took forever and Maddie made it clear that she did NOT want to be in the car any longer. I spent a lot of time in the back seat singing "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands." Let's just say Maddie was not doing a whole lot of clapping. But we all made it back in one piece and it was a trip for the memory books!

Cruisin' on the Hudson (a little chilly)

Tom tried to find an intern to have an affair with at the Late Show...but they were all taken.

Opening Day at Rockafellar Center Ice Skating Rink

Stopped by the Today Show to say hello to Al and Meredith..

Passed through Columbus Circle on our trip to 68th Street to find Kelly Ripa...we never saw her.

Oh oh I almost forgot...we capped off the week by spending the weekend in Myrtle Beach for Roy's 30th Birthday! It was fun but the Sierant Family is officially done with traveling for awhile...

pumpkins and such

Made it out to the pumpkin patch today.  Yes, it was 80 degrees and Maddie has on a winter hat.  But we paid good money for that hat just for this occasion so we just had to wear it!

octo arms goes to lunch

It is so nice sometimes to have weekends with absolutely nothing to do! We just went with the flow and relaxed, shopped, spent time with the grandparents, and spent time together. Roy left for California yesterday for three weeks, so Maddie and I went to lunch with him, Kiki, and Big Daddy (aka Mom and Mike) before they took him to the airport. Then we stole Kiki away and took her shopping with us.

We have always tried to take Maddie to restaurants once or twice a week so she gets used to eating with "grown ups." Being the only people our age with a kid, she is always with a bunch of adults who get a little perturbed when the young one gets fussy (luckily, she probably has been fussy all of once while out to eat) but still, practice makes perfect. With her new found skill of sitting unassisted, the days of dragging the infant seat into restaurants and letting her lay back and quietly watch what’s going on are OVER! This is both good and bad. Good because she is growing up and learning new things. Let’s face it, her ability to sit unassisted make life a lot easier. Bad because now she is not strapped down and is free to reach and grab and play, play, play. And boy did she! She had such a blast at lunch. All those fun toys on the table (spoons, napkins, cups of water, knives) she just wanted to grab grab grab! We nicknamed her Octopus Arms because those arms were swinging nonstop. She was a doll though and true to her nature did not fuss or get the least bit cranky. Hey, I'll take Octopus arms over screaming any day.

Octo-Arms goes to lunch

                         
We said good-bye to Uncle Roy

All in all it was a good day and we were both exhausted afterwards. This morning, I convinced Tom to take us to breakfast. He is not much of a breakfast man so it took some convincing. But we went and everyone had a good time. Maddie just loves to watch what's going on at restaurants. Again, it was very nice to have such a slow paced weekend.  But, we are very exited because next weekend we are hitting the road to NJ to see Tom's parents and then are heading to the city for a meeting!  But for now it’s off to the pumpkin patch! Will post pictures later!

morning gab sessions

I am sitting in the living room at 6:28 am listening to just about the cutest thing in the world. Maddie has been talking incessantly in her crib for the past thirty minutes. Not quite sure who she's talking to, or what she's talking about but my goodness she sure does have a lot on her mind this morning. I snuck in there with the iFlip and recorded about 20 seconds of babble. I'll have to get Tom to post it on You Tube and post the link Or maybe its time for me to figure out how to post videos on You Tube?? Nah, I'll stick with the picture duties.

Busy Saturday planned. Tons to do before we leave for NY/NJ next weekend. Young One needs a winter coat before we head North and I am having a horrible time finding one. And I need some sort of cocktail dress (no I’m not 50 years old, but the strict dress code for the place we are going for dinner specifically said cocktail dresses for women as a choice) for dinner and a show while we're there. I searched high and low last weekend for something to wear to and evening wedding and came up with nothing. Chances are I'll have the same bad luck this weekend. One day I will be organized enough to search for dresses for events in advance...and not have to scramble around at the last minute! Who am I kidding, I will always be a last minute kind of gal. 

The babble stopped, she must have fallen back asleep. Not me, the coffee is calling my name.

madeline's nicknames

I thought, that since I am going to be talking a lot about Miss Madeline I should include a list of nicknames as not to confuse people:

1. Maddie

2. Madster

3. Young One

4. Terd Monkey

5. Doodle

6. Buggie

7. Turtle

Oldies, but goodies - March 2009
She does slightly resemble a turtle

Stretch!

quote of the day

This is a quote I read while blog surfing today...just what I needed to hear:

"In my mind a perfect mother is a very imperfect mom just trying her best."

here we go...again

Ok, I've tried the whole "blog" thing over and over again. (Three times to be exact) But for the first time, I actually feel like I have something to blog about. So here we go again. This is my attempt at sharing with the world the good, the bad, and the ugly. (Mostly good, but the others sneak in occasionally. I feel obligated to share with everything that has been going on in our world for the past 6 months. The best 6 months on record! That's right, the Young One (aka Madeline, aka Maddie, aka Madster - yes, she will have difficulty learning her name because she has too many) has really turned the house upside down in the best possible way. This will be my attempt at describing how to juggle Young One, Tom, K-9’s, work, some semblance of a social life, exercise, and whatever else is thrown my way.

The past 6 months have been wonderful, but at the same time they have been wonderfully stressful. They never tell you how hard it is to juggle babies, housework, husbands, jobs etc. ("they" being those mommies who've done it all so well that you never even think that they might struggle with day to day tasks) Fitting it all in is not the problem. There are plenty of hours in the day to get most things done. The problem is finding the motivation! Who wants to go to work, or the gym, or do laundry when there is the cutest little young one sitting there with her big blue eyes waiting for you to come sit on the floor with her and just "play." And the guilt that comes along with it! Guilt for choosing the gym over the young one, guilt for choosing WORK over the young one, guilt for even going to the grocery store after work instead of racing home to see the young one! It's enough to drive a girl crazy! I have almost come to tears just sitting in the hair salon waiting for a haircut. My last appointment was after work at 4 pm. The stylist didn't take me until 4:45, which is pretty much par for the course for her. But during the entire 45 minutes I was thinking: “ok, this is 5 minutes I don't get to spend with Maddie tonight; ok now its 20 minutes I don't get to spend with Maddie tonight. Ok, if she takes me now, I will still have 45 minutes to spend with Maddie when I get home before she goes to bed” At 4:40 I was about to run to the door, get in the car and just leave! Luckily, she took me back just before the chest pounding panic attack set in and I was fine. But another 30 seconds or so and I would have been a blur. Some people are addicted to drugs, alcohol, chocolate….but not me. I am addicted to my Young One! The first step is admitting you have a problem….there, I said it. I am 100% addicted to that little Terd Monkey (oops there’s another nickname).

I wish I could say it gets easier every day, but it’s actually the opposite. I just want to soak up every possible minute with her. She is growing up entirely too fast. Thank goodness the Young One has the best dad out there who can handle all of my craziness and obsession (and my grueling work schedule). Not sure what we would do without him.

So here it is. My Life, out there for the world to see. I will try to keep the blogs short and sweet. And will fill the pages with pictures to document my adventure. My goal: blog twice a week. Someone is going to have to call me out on this if I don't stick to it.
You might think I’m nuts (and you wouldn’t be incorrect) and you might not care what I have to say about what goes on in mine, Tom’s, and Maddie’s worlds. If that’s the case …move on to the next blog. I at least know there are 2 Grandma’s out there tuning, even if it’s only to look at the pictures!

How do you say no to this sweet face?!