Hppy 4th of July!

My favorite thing about this year was that Sparklers are legal in FL!! I love sparklers. By the way all fireworks are legal in FL so you basically just walk outside and wait for everyone to go nuts. I was so excited to go outside and light them up and get some great pictures and then I looked at them afterwards and saw Mike's patriotic t-shirt. Ugh. Luckily I still have a box a sparklers left so I may have to stage some photos...this time with makeup and wardrobe. ;o) It was a special day though. Every patriotic holiday reminds me of how lucky I am to have Mike home. Support the Troops!

A bib? Mom i'm not a baby!

Noah discovered a forgotten gift tucked away in Nanny's drawer. Fortunately it still fits him....barely. So he cried because Daddy wasn't putting it on fast enough and then spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to tear it off him. Is that the face of a happy child or what?!

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

The muggy, hot florida weather is like a breeding ground for anything and everything. This Banana Spider has been haunting our path to the backyard for a couple weeks now. I'm told he is a small guy at about 3" toe to toe.

These may look like ordinary little grasshoppers....but they're actually about 3" long and 1" thick....nasty!

Now these little guys aren't so bad. They tend to dart in front of you as you walk out of your door. I think they are cute! This one has a bright orange little tuft that blows up under his chin every once in a while. After about 5 minutes of being focused on him I gave up trying to catch it.

It's only 88 today, woohoo!

It's too hot to go outside so Noah likes to mow the lawn inside! ;o)

Day three, almost there!

Once we got on the road the trip was pretty uneventful....that is until we started rolling into Florida with no AC. We got to Ocala on one of the hottest days of the year. It was 97 deg and about 1000% humidity.

Day Two

Today was a much better day. We all got a good night's sleep and were on the road by 6am. Noah was able to sleep a bit in the car and all was well with the Jeep! We ended up stopping for the day around 3:00pm in North Carolina. We took a dip in the pool and cooled off for an early morning. It's starting to get really hot!

Day One: The Road to Florida

Well we got a bit of a late start this morning after trying to cram everything into the Jeep. Finally we were on the road. We got just past the 24 toll plaza and the car started to buck a little. Mike and I looked at eachother and moments later the car was completely out of gear. Long story short the transmission line had popped off and we lost about half of our fluid on the thruway. After a trip to Mikey's friend at Aamco we were back on the road.

Unfortunately Noah was having some problems going potty and was having screaming fits about every 15 minutes. On our way into New Jersey the sky filled with heavy rain so we decided to cut our losses and call it a night somewhere past Newark. Day One: Unsuccessful but atleast it's over!

Final Preperations

Mike & Mikey put in some time changing the oil and getting the Jeep ready for the big trip.

Happy Father's Day Grandpa!

Noah is keeping a close eye on grandpa while he plays with his new Blackberry!

We are moving next week!

Well, Mike unexpectedly lost his job this week so we have decided to move up the big move! They had already begun showing the house and when I hinted that we could be out before Aug. 1st the new tenant jumped at the chance. So now we are leaving June 15th! Mike is driving down on Thursday and Noah and I will be flying down Friday morning. It is not at all how we had planned it but we are just rolling with it. Fortunately (unfortunately) the new tenant is buying our pool so it will not be making the trip with us.

My boys...

The water has only gotten up to about 76 degrees so Noah hasn't gone in yet but he likes to throw things off his raft and make Daddy fetch them for him!

Our new pool!

This has been Mike's baby over the last few days. We can take it to FL with us as well but for the next couple months it will be a welcome retreat from the heat!!

Gus & Mama Bear found a new home...

So today was the culmination of a few years of saying "should we? or shouldn't we?". My allergies have been a constant struggle since we got Gus 4 years ago. In yet another moment of denial we decided to add Mama Bear to the mix. With Mike working more and more it seemed he never had time to clean the litter box and now that Noah is older he's always going after Gus which usually ends up with one or both of them upset. So now they are both Vermont Kitties.

A very nice lady drove all the way from VT and scooped them up. It was devastating. I never thought it would be so hard, ever. I cried all afternoon and into the evening. Mike was going to call in sick just so I didn't have to watch Noah but I wasn't (quite) that bad.

So now our sweet litte Mama Bear and Gus are living with someone else and we'll never see them again. Ugh, it feels terrible. It's messing with my mind too. Today Mike went with Dad, David & Mikey to Cooperstown. After he left I turned to Noah and thought to myself "Ok what do we now?" I had this instant flashback as if he had gone off to sea and we were alone. It's aweful. Luckily I know we've done our time and he is coming home tonight. And I know Gus and Mama will be fine, especially since they are together. I just never thought it would be so hard to give them up.

On the road again...

Well we've decided to move to Ocala, Florida! We have been talking about it a lot since we were there in March. It will be nice for Noah to get to know his Dad's family better. I get to be closer to the beach, and Mike doesn't have to shovel snow anymore, win-win-win!

It's a big move and of course we'll miss my family here in NY but we're ready for a change. Mike was always going to make Noah a Gator one way or another! ;o)

So come August 1st we'll be...on the road again!

When the cats away....

Ok so this is what I get for thinking the BAG would keep him occupied for 2 minutes while I switch the laundry. He has so many in his mouth he can barely keep his lips shut.

This cracks me up everytime!

Sunny and 70, perfect for the park!!

We discovered this beautiful park called the Crossing at Colonie. They had a giant pond with fish and a gorgeous playground. Noah was absolutely in love with the space shuttle!

Hunting Wabbits

This one is in honor of Grandpa Don. He's wearing his camo and riding a horse. Don't they hunt fox on horseback?

Happy 30th Mike!

Well, unfortunately Mike had to work all day on his birthday but Noah and I brought him some cake and balloons to work. Here Noah is displaying his new found talent of plugging his nose, and then laughing hysterically. He also loves Daddy's visor!

He's going to give me gray hair!

One of Noah's favorite things to do in life is torture his parents. He knows he's not supposed to be up there but he slides his little leg over and leans as far as he possibly can without falling....which he has mis-calculated 2 or 3 times and then he gets right back up again!

A beautiful day in the Northeast!

It was SO beautiful today! I decided to take Noah out and play with his new chalk. He is a very talented artist...oh the rainbow isn't his...he did the little yellow squiggly to the right of the cloud :oD

Worthy of Broadway

I would like to point out there is not a tear on his face. Wave a toy in front of him and he'll forget it ever happened. Is this why parents always say "wait 'till you have your own children..."?

Ahh, an afternoon without changing diapers!

Noah was so happy to be outside. Luckily we have a long driveway so when he takes off running he can't get too far! We were outside waiting for Grandpa so I could go on my first "playdate" since Noah was born. Thank you for having me Nicole!!!

My little man is getting so big.

Sometimes I look at him and I just think he has grown up so fast already. Here he was being a little smarty pants trying to get the milk out of his sippy cup.

These were in our backyard this afternoon!

I was upstairs and heard a rustling in the backyard so I looked out and saw these guys drinking from the creek about 20 yards from the house. If you look close you can see a third one to the left. So cool!

Cousin Ayla gets a new toy!

Ayla is getting so big...7 months old already! Here is Noah in his jumper at 7 months also.

Noah was happy to let his Cousin Ayla borrow his favorite jumper, he's such a big boy!

Can you feel the energy this child exudes?!

Ahh...Calm

Noah's 1st Coloring Book

He was really more interested in chewing on the crayons but I had fun coloring the polka dots ;o)

My Little Shutterbug

When Noah was first old enough to really notice the camera he used to immediately run and try to grab the lense. Now I get the distinct impression he poses for me, my little ham.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

We went for "take 2" of Spring at the park. It was beautiful but still a definate nip in the air. Noah wanted a quiet moment to reflect on the good times ;o)

Noah being silly....i'm testing video hosts...

Spring? What was I thinking?

Ok so "Spring" may be a bit of a pipe dream at the moment. This was poor Mike and my Dad trying to meet in the middle of our driveway today after Mother Nature dumped a quick little 16" overnight!

Spring is on it's way!

Today is a beautiful day in Upstate NY! We got outside and took Noah on our first walk on the bike path since the fall. It's about 65 degrees but feels even warmer in the sun. I think about 2 ft. of snow has melted in our yard since last night! Yay, it's almost time to plant my new hydrangeas! ;o)