Princess Sarabeth

Sarabeth's princess days are starting, I can feel it!  She asks for a "bow" in her hair when she wakes up as she does not like her hair in her face.  This weekend she asked for a "pretty" dress so I obliged and found a really pretty ruffle tutu in her closet to put over her leggings and to accent her Cinderella t-shirt from the Ehrmins.  When I ask her where the princess is, she automatically points to Cinderella on her shirt, perfect!! 

She looked so darn cute playing in the sunshine yesterday, I ran inside to grab the camera to snap a few pictures.  Here she is at almost 20 months!!

Jon's 33rd and St. Helen's open house

This past week we celebrated Jon's 33rd birthday!  Jackson helped me to make a chocolate cake two nights before Jon's birthday and then the next night we frosted and decorated the cake, Sarabeth even helped with the sprinkles!  It came out really nice.  We don't normally do birthday presents for each other but I wanted to make it fun for the kids to have a gift to give daddy so the Sunday before Jon's birthday I took Sarabeth shopping with me to Target and Jon has always wanted a real popcorn machine.  Randomly, they had one that looked like someone's returned Christmas gift on clearance, for 30.00 down from 100.00 and it was JUST what he wanted.  We jazzed it up by hitting the popcorn section of the snacks aisles and got some real popping corn, and different flavored toppings for them to try with the machine.  It was a huge hit and despite it's size, it is still sitting on our kitchen counter as we seem to use it each night (at least until the novelty wears off):)

This weekend we've enjoyed a slow weekend at home with lots of sunshine and cool mornings which trun in to warm sunny days and afternoons.  Yesterday we met another family at a playground near our house and then spent the rest of the day at home getting some things done around the house and playing outside.  Today we went to check out Jackson's new school's open house and to tour the school, meet his Kindergarten teacher, and register!!  We attended the open house last year just to glance around after mass but this year we were more prepared with pointed questions and things to look for and figure out before we make our final decision.  We are parishioner's at the church where his school is located but unlike where we grew up, there is only ONE Catholic school in our area so not a lot to compare it to.  The other options include an extremely expensive private school near our house that is not faith based and costs over 18k a year tuition (umm, no) and our public school is also very close to our house and a great school, the best elementary in the district, and then there are also what we call "magnet schools" down here that are supposed to be very good.  Because we are Catholic and want to raise our kids with the full Catholic upbringing the catholic school is a natural choice but we still had to check it out befor emaking that decision.  They kind of have you down here since as I said, there is no competition as far as the catholic school goes so after I write them a hefty check for $5,100.00 for tuition, we'll be all set, geez.  I'm pretty sure I could put like three kids in Catholic school kindergarten for that price up north. 

Things we liked about the school the best include the fact that it is a small school, one class per grade, and there is a full time teacher's aid and teacher in the kindergarten class.  They can enroll as many as 30 in the class, but enrollment tends to be between 17-20 students.  The kindergarten class is really neat in that the classroom is in what was the original parish church, so a large room and very ornate, with a tin stamped ceiling and lots of windows up high for light.  Because of the climate we are in, each of the lower grades grows a class garden of vegetables each year and we could see all of those, including the kindergarten class's garden growing well this time of year!  We also learned that Jack will get to wear a uniform next year like all of the other grades, consisting of navy blue dress shorts and a yellow polo shirt, and on mass days (weekly on Tuesdays) they have to wear navy blue dress pants.  The girls wear a really cute plaid jumper with white navy and green check.  He will have PE twice a week, music once a week, and computer class one day and library one day a week.  He will get to eat his packed lunch each day outside on the covered picnic tables, unless there is inclimate weather in which case they eat in the gym.  Fridays are order out days where the school brings in pizza, hot dogs, or the like.  Many of the things about this school remind me A LOT of my own Catholic school which is nice, and comforting in the crazy, fast paced world we now live in.  It's nice to know that even in a world full of i pads, smart phones and smart boards in classrooms, the basics don't change, like accelerated reader!!!  I was the accelerated reader CHAMP at my school in 6th grade, I love to read and got way more points than anyone else from reading so many books and then successfully taking the AR computer tests.  Jack will start with this program in first grade!!  With all of the scary school episodes in the news lately, I was also concerned about safety at the school and their practices for locking the school campus down during the day.  Thankfully, the parent who gave us our tour must have read my  mind as she volunteered the information before I even got to ask.  The school is much like something you would see in a movie or tv show with courtyards everywhere and walkways interconnecting the classrooms and buildings that require you to actually walk outside due to our climate.  There are fences surrounding the entire school campus and then wrought iron gates that close and lock everyone into the school campus once drop off has been completed in the mornings. Guests have to be buzzed into the school to get in and also the entire campus is equipped with security cameras.  Sad that I had to think about somethign like this today but you can't be too carful!!  In about two weeks Jackson will meet with the kindergarten teacher one on one for an assessment and then he will be accepted into the school and we'll take it from there.  We are excited for the year ahead and the opportunities that await him and we think putting him in this educational environment will best allow him to grow into the kind of person we want him to become and allow him to develop his best potential as well.  Kindergarten here goes the full school day so he will attend from 8-2:30 daily!  Big changes ahead although he's used to the school setting from his years in pre-school and actually this will be a shorter day than he has had for pre-school so he should do just fine!!  Here are some pictures of Jack and Sarabeth exploring the school!

chilly mornings, warm sunny days, and exercise!

This time of year we have been waking up to some chilly mornings for South Florida...I freeze my behind off getting into my car at 4:55am three mornings a week to go meet my trainer, Paula at the gym...I swear that I'm seeing things when I punch the heat buttons on the car as fast as I can and put the blower on high and the heated seat feature (which I've never had before until this car) and then I look at the temp as I shiver to death in my workout clothes and the temp says something crazy like 51 degrees and I would swear it should say 31!!!  I am a true Floridian now I guess as I'm not kidding, in workout clothes, at the crack of dawn not even, and in the dark driveway that 51 does feel like 31.  Jon says it feels colder here at those temps due to the humidity...who knows but either way, we've been having cooler more typical January mornings this past week which then result in us having to wear layers as by lunch time we are peeling layers off as the sun warms up to the mid  70's, another reason I love January down here!!

We've had a slow couple of weeks just focusing on our diets, exercise, getting our house continually organized, continuing with the photo project from he** and we even hung more photos in the kids rooms and on the walls outside their rooms last weekend....this house is becoming a home, we love it here so much and for the first time in our married lives we both feel like we are settled and that this home could be our home for some time.  We got a great price and an even better interest rate so even if the market shoots up as it is starting to do down here again, and we end up with a good amoutn of equity, we may just hang tight as an affordable house and payment in a great spot will leave funds to do other fun things!!  I have lost almost 10 pounds on my diet which is really nothing special, just trying to get enough protein, lots of salads in between and the key to it all for me at least is just plain old exercise, going to teh gym religiously on M W and F mornings and running for 30 minutes and then doing the personal training.  The personal training really helps me as it keeps me accountable, I know she is going to make me weigh in and she will push me to do more than I would even know to do, or make myself do, and also on the days when I am dead tired (like Friday morning yesterday) I k,now I have to go no matter what as I have a scheduled appointment with her at 5:30 in the morning, eek.  But, the results are worth it and yesterday everywhere I went people that had not seen in me in a few weeks were noticing so that gives me motivation to keep on going!  Jon is also doing great and lost like 10 pounds in one week...men!!

In other news we've both been busy with work, we had a slight lull after the holidays which is normally what happens in January, partly because people have just spent all of their money on Christmas, and they, like us, are trying to get their lives back under control but the past two weeks have brought tons of new calls nad new business, mostly for real estate closings, loan mods and foreclosure defense and also estate planning.  What I love most about my job is that each day truly is different and brings new work and new people to meet.

We've also been busy gearing up for the coming school year (already) which will bring many changes to our household with Jackson starting Kindgarten and SB possibly starting pre-school 2 mornings a week for a few hours at a school right near Jack's school.  We toured the potential pre-school for Sarabeth this past week on Thursday night and loved it.  Jack attended some summer camps there last summer so I already knew it was a good place and we have many friends who have used it for part time pre-school as well.  Jack's school now only has a full time program or I would slowly integrate her back in there as we've been happy there.  When we went up to meet the two year old class teachers we found that there are two rooms, one for "young 2s" and one for the older twos which is nice.  Depending on who enrolls and where the birthdays fall is how they split the class, but either room would be fine for SB.  The teachers all loved her and said how beautiful her name is, a comment we get a lot.  They had little wooden puzzles set out at each seat at the main table in the room and she went right up to the table, pulled out the chair, sat down and started doing the puzzle, when she got the pieces right she looked at us and then clapped for herself.  She has puzzles like this at home and this is something she and Ann work on together each afternoon.  They also had a sensory table filled with pom pom balls and feathers of all different colors that she loved to explore.  The older 2s room was a bit bigger with more things to explore.  Jack even enjoyed checking it out.  I went ahead and paid the enrollment fee to hold her a spot and so if we decide to put her in for the fall session starting in August she would go two mornings a week for just a few hours for socialitzation which I think she will enjoy.  The other days she will be home full time with Ann.   This coming Sunday after church we have open house at Jack's new school.  We attended last year just to check it out and see the classrooms and meet the kindergarten teachers but this year I will pay closer attention, ask a few questions and really let him check it out as he will be going there full time in just a few short months!  Where have the past 4.5 years gone??!!

In other news Sarabeth continues to talk at rapid speed...she will put three and four words together at a time now and say things like "I'm poopy" "pootie" is how it comes out...she says this when she is wet or truly poopy, she HATES a dirty diaper and always has.  She will also say "I want down" I want to eat" I love Mickey and MInnie" "I want a book", "I want to go", and "I want a paci".  It is amazing her langauge development at 19 months!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend, I will post pictures likely tomorrow, we're decorating our house for Valentines' day this morning and then we will be heading out doors once it warms up a bit!

project photo organization

Due to the chaos on my life this past year, quitting my job, forming a law firm, and moving my entire household all with a 3 year old and infant to care for, I got a LITTLE bit behind with photos and organization of photos.  This is NOT something I would wish upon anyone as I have 18 months to catch up on, EEEK.  It's been driving me crazy and the week I was off for Christmas, I took some time to assess the problem and come up wiht a solution.  The first problem was that I have tons of albums in boxes in a closet that we had not unpacked since we moved OUT of our house in Sebastian over two years ago.  So, step one was to unpack those boxes and start to organize the closet (this is now done and we are nOT moving again for a LONG time).  I got things unpacked and already started to feel like I was getting my arms around this massive project.  I also got majorly side-tracked at times looking at photos...such is life!! 

After unpacking it all, all of the sudden it did not seem so bad and once I organized what is already labeled and in albums, I found the photos that I have printed but still need to sort into albums, I put dates and approximate ages on those and put them in bins that I bought until I get the albums done.  Next came the WORST part which was buying additional photos albums and also buying more photo boxes for storage and buying the actual prints from snapfish and uploading to snapfish.  I took advantage of Snapfish's free shipping holiday photos thing and saved over $50.00 in SHIPPING alone!!!  I ordered over 2500 photos that I now have to put into albums...I figured out I had missed a few months in there and we had a gap from like last summer until January of 2012 so we then figured out those pictures never got uploaded to our back up memory device...and that laptop is now in my office as a back up lap top so thankfully the photos are still there and we will upload those tonight to both snapfish and our back up...this is a serious project as Jon has told me like 5 times but I am bound and determined to get it done before SB is two!!  I will be fully caught up on photo albums, the closet will be unpacked and nice looking when we open it, we can see what we have, and Sarabeth won't ever feel like a cheated second child who has no photo albums or milestones marked...even if I am doing them 18 months later...at a minimum I have the blog, and each year, the week between Christmas and New years I always print our blog into a book from the current year.  I now have 4...our 2012 book should arrive this week and the kids really like to look through it, as do we!  If you are looking to do this project, the blog books, depending on pages, run me around 70.00 a piece, they take less than 10 minutes to put together and order if you let them do it and don't try to do all sorts of special things, and it is in color, and hard bound with a color binding of your choice, you can even title it and dedicate it.  I will post a picture when ours arrives.  More updates on the photo album project as I get through that...don't ever get 18 months behind on photo upload, ordering, or organization!!!

playing baby and snorkeling lessons

Sarabeth is starting to play interactively, she is all of the sudden fascinated with babies.  She will point them out in books, on signs in stores, on a box of diapers...you name it, she spots the baby and she also likes to play baby now!  I've been waiting for this day for SO long.  She likes to hold her baby, rock her baby, bathe her baby and take her baby in her play stroller or shopping cart.  Here are some pictures of our sweet girl at 19 months playing "baby" with mommy for the first time! 

Since the weather was so warm this weekend we spent a lot of time outdoors.  We swam in our pool both days and today we went boating with friends.  I did not have my camera so have no boat pictures but I'm hoping to upload some later on from Jon's i phone.  There were 6 families there in all and we had a great time making lunch and letting the kids play on an island in the inter coastal waterway. Jack and several other little boys loved the boogie boards that someone brought and they spent the entire afternoon paddling around among the anchored boats.  They loved it and he exclaimed to one of our friends on the ride back to the boat launch that this was the "best" day ever!!  He will sleep good tonight, I am certain!! Sarabeth also had a great time splashing in the water and playing in the sand.  She napped in my arms, life jacket and all, on the boat ride out, and even stayed asleep in my arms for sometime when we first arrived at the island, I loved every minute of it as this 19 month old firecracker is not often very "baby-like" these days!!!  Why do the weekends seem to go so fast??!!

normal mode

I like January because I feel like we enter back into somewhat normal life mode!!!  I realize after crazy business experiences (Like that commercial real estate closing) and like the holidays, that I am a creature of extreme routine habit and I like my routine and so does my household it seems!!

This was the first real true work week back for us with a 5 day work and school week and as it is winding down, I feel pretty contented after a busy week of good solid work.  My old boss came to visit me yesterday at my office (now both senior partners that I used to work for have been by the new office) and met with me on a mutual file and I heard from his legal assistant today that he was BLOWN AWAY with how nice my office is set up.  He insisted that we meet at my office and he would make himself available to my schedule so I know he wanted to get over here and check it out.  We did not part on bad terms or burn bridges but still, impressing him means a lot to me!!!  I compare this feeling to that of showing your adult home to your parents the first time after you are newly married, or something, lol!!  You want to show them that you are fine, and able to live independently and are able to support yourself, etc.

No big plans for this weekend, I'm going to continue my exercise plan and head to the gym tomorrow morning for one of the classes my trainer is teaching and we will likely hit the park and beach this weekend.  Temps are supposed to be unseasonably warm so much though that Jon has decided to heat the pool.  We're supposed to hit 83 on Sunday!!  Happy January indeed!!

trip to the zoo

We have had a gorgeous quiet weekend here, warm sunny days, no bugs, no humidity, hard to believe it is the first week of January with temps this warm!!  We soaked it up and hit the park and farmer's market on the beachside Saturday morning, and I even got to lay by the pool in my swim suit for about an hour Saturday afternoon while Sarabeth slept and Jack played with his cars!!  We went to a friend's house for dinner Saturday night and this morning we woke up to another beautiful day.  We had no plans so we decided ot pack it up and head to the zoo.  Our zoo is near Jon's work so over an hour drive each way but it is a nice little zoo!  Perfect for a half day adventure out and about.  We are members so other than the drive up there, it cost nothing and we enjoyed a great Sunday out together.  Sarabeth walked the entire way and kept up with her big brother.  She REALLY enjoyed herself and would squeal with glee at the freedom to be out of the stroller and also being able to get close and really see everything.  This is the first trip to the zoo we have taken her on where I think she actually saw the animals and is starting to kind of get what is going on around her.  SHe loved it and called many animals a "dog".  She is a real chatter box these days, a lot of the time we can really understand her but sometimes, she is talking in her own language still but she is bound and determined to tell us whatever is on her mind.  This zoo is a really neat zoo because everything is very close to you.  I've said this before about going here, it is small, and pales in comparison to the Toledo Zoo in that regard, it's easily about 1/2-1/3 the size but all of the exhibits and animal habitats here are really really nice and things are close and the animals are easily seen.  I feel like at the larger zoos because the animal areas are so much larger, you don't always ever see the animals the way you do at this zoo so that is really cool.  We got to see the giraffes and a baby giraffe too, a jaguar and a baby jaguar and we got to feed birds.  At the end there is an interactive play area splash zone and science area with a little petting zoo, we really had a great time!! It is amazing to see how both kids were really into the zoo this trip, more so than ever before, even though they are both at completely different levels.  Warm sun on our skin and a fun family trip makes for a great Sunday!!  We came home mid afternoon and set up a play "zoo" which Jack's little plastic animals he has and then it was still so nice out, we let the kids play in the yard and Jon and I sat in the sun for a bit and then we all got in the hot tub again.  It's warm outside, but unless we paid a fortune to heat the pool daily we can't really swim in the pool this time of year so we're thankful for our hot tub these months!!  The kids love to splash around and it is a good way for them to burn enery too.  Happy Sunday all!!