welcome back

I got a lovely welcome home to FL. A gabillion toys with no home. Santa only brought maybe 1/4 of these, if that. The boys were very spoiled by everyone back in NJ. It's a blessing and a curse.

Throw in 4 suitcases to unpack and you've got one overwhelmed girl.

Did I mention that my Christmas decorations still need to come down?

Oh, and I caught a cold and can barely breathe.

And the mail pile is overwhelming. I did get to spend 25+ minutes on the phone with Tricare to try to determine why I'm getting bills from the hospital from Jason's visit in December. Since I got nowhere via that route, I got to spend naptime yesterday creating a letter to request the bill be "reconsidered" for payment. The fun never ends, does it?

Ahhh...home, crap, home...

I'm here to collect my award...

for "Mother of the Year". Yep, 2009 has barely begun and I'm quite sure I've secured the nomination already.

Yesterday myself, Tyler and Jason were booked to fly home. We arrived at the airport and I strapped Jason into his Baby Bjorn after saying goodbye to my parents. I donned my backpack and took Tyler's hand as he carried (dragged) his rolling "suitcase" (really more like a backpack). When we got to the escalator I took his suitcase and we stepped on. I honestly don't know if I forgot to get his hand or if it slipped out of my hand, but regardless I hear a screech and look back and see Tyler's one leg planted on solid ground while he other leg is quickly going up the escalator. I immediately started trying to run down the escalator, all while trying to keep my balance as to not hurt Jason. Tyler manages to get the planted foot up and struggles for a few seconds, only to lose his balance and fall backwards down the escalator. He smacked his poor little head on the moving step, but luckily did not continue to tumble. I was desperately trying to get backwards, unsuccessfully. I was panicking and he was freaking out. Not even one or two steps back stood a gentleman (I use that term loosely) who stood there watching the whole incident unfold and did absolutely nothing. Thankfully a young man who was probably 5steps behind him came literally running up the escalator and scooped up Tyler and held him until I could take him from him. I thanked him profusely as I attempted to regain my composure for Tyler's sake. Luckily he was more scared than injured and I'm incredibly thankful that he was okay!

Our flight was pretty empty, which was nice considering Jason didn't want to be quiet. He wasn't too bad, but I did spend a good portion of the flight either nursing him, bouncing him profusely, or pacing the aisle with him. Tyler was as good as can be, even sleeping probably the last hour of the flight.

Being that I had to fly into Orlando, Al had left work "early" (meaning close to the time that he's scheduled to work until...not nearly as late as usual, lol) to meet us there. Our flight came in 25 minutes early and he wasn't there yet so I insisted he just meet us outside so as to not waste the time for him to park and come in. I had both kiddos, 2 carry-ons, and FOUR large suitcases. After the incident with the less-than-helpful man on the elevator, I was happy to see no less than 4 people offer to help me with my things. It's always nice to see people trying to help others, isn't it? So we were back on the road home before I was even scheduled to arrive!

As predicted, Tyler was elated to see daddy and was TRYING to catch up with him while Jason screamed bloody murder. Why must this child hate his car seat so much? We stopped maybe 25 minutes into the drive so I could try to feed the babe again while Al got Tyler and I some slurpees. Once I was convinced he wasn't hungry anymore, we set back on the road to listen to some more screaming. Thankfully he passed out eventually and we had relative silence for the last 20 minutes or so of the drive.

So, we are back in FL now!

E.A.G.L.E.S, Go Eagles!

This morning we went to visit Tyler's Grandmom and Pop-pop John. Tyler had the opportunity to make this snazzy Eagles hat, perfect for game day!

We watched the first half of the game here at my parent's house, with the boys in their appropriate Eagles gear. The second half was spent at my brother Jim's place.




The Eagles kicked some butt! Go Eagles!

pinecone bowling

Yesterday we were supposed to get some decent snow, with accumulation. I was so excited, as was Tyler. Well, the "winter blast" they had predicted was a "winter bust". Or as I said to my mom, "winter blast, my ass"!

Anyway, as moms typically do, I had to make the best of the situation. Once I got Jason down for a nap Tyler and I bundled up and set out on an outdoor "date".

We tried to go "ice skating" on the large puddle across the street, but it wasn't frozen enough to hold us. So we took a walk to the beach. We found the lake with a thin layer of ice and discovered that you could go "pinecone bowling" by tossing the pinecones across the ice. Tyler was thrilled, and the day was saved.



Upon our arrival at home we had to warm up with the obligatory hot chocolate. And I must say, hot chocolate made with rice milk ain't too bad.

neglectful parenting

I didn't realize, until I saw my mom reading to Jason, that I've never read the poor child a book. Tyler was read to since birth, and Jason's been read to by default when I was reading to Tyler, but my little munchkin has never had one-on-one reading time. Makes you wonder what else he'll miss out on...

feelin' the Disney love

Jason is still loving Mickey. Here he is enveloped by his favorite Mickey pillow. Quite happy, as you can see.

all sorts of addictions

You would THINK that the new year would bring some sort of increased desire to break those unhealthy addictions and start fresh. Not here. Well, in our defense I don't think any of our addictions are unhealthy...well, not TOO unhealthy. We'll deal.

First up for discussion, my obsession with cloth diapers. I'm odd, I'm not denying it. Cloth seems to have this hold on me. Frankly I was upset about travelling because there just wasn't going to be room for my cloth, but once I found out that Al was driving I decided it WAS coming with us. Since getting here I've had to splurge on some new cloth. I can't resist. Sorta odd that I'm obsessed with something that my child pees and poops in, but they are just so soft and squishy. Plus he poops right out of disposables, and let me tell you, that is just no fun. Lets just hope I can make room in our suitcases to bring them all back to FL. I assure you that something else will make the cut before I would leave my cloth behind.

The Wii is still a big hit here. The other night Tyler convinced me to do the "2 person run", despite the fact that Jason was strapped to my chest. A site to see, I assure you.

Next up, Mickey. Jason is obsessed. My mom is just tickled.

PJs. Tyler is obsessed. If we aren't going anywhere, he wants to be in his PJs. For now it's not a battle worth fighting. So for my readers out there who have been wondering, yes, Tyler does own clothing.