whew!

Carter's birthday week...yes week, is finally done and my house, my kitchen and myself are all exhausted, but happy.  I can finally have a few days to relax without making a cake, cupcakes or a big birthday dinner!  Of course, Jeremy's birthday is Saturday so the festivities will begin all over again next week but this time I am letting Cupcake Royale makes the dessert and my in laws are hosting, all I have to do is make lasagna for 4 families.  Seriously, it's never a dull  moment over here.  I am just glad my husband is finally my age!

a few Carter turns 8 birthday highlights:

cupcakes at school w/ the whole family

surprise!

a new pink bike with gears and hand breaks!

Carter birthday party montage

1st Birthday!

Elmo 2nd birthday

Garden party 3rd birthday! (check out the dirt cupcakes)

Dinosaur 4th birthday! (by far my favorite one)

Pajama dance party 5th birthday!  (Carter picks really fun themes)

Dog party 6th birthday!

Cupcake tea party 7th birthday party!



Pokemon 8th birthday party!

 I absolutely love being a mom to my Carter and I absolutely love throwing fun and memorable birthday parties.  Carter's garden 3rd birthday party and her 4th dinosaur birthday parties were by far my favorite!

Plum Creek

Carter and I are on book four (On the Banks of Plum Creek) of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie series.  We try to read a chapter or two every night.  We both love these stories and it's fun to read them together.  Tonight, we started bedtime a bit early since everyone was pretty sugared out from Easter candy. We usually cuddle on her bed but tonight she asked if she could play with her Playmobil while I read.  When I was done reading a few chapters I saw that she had created her own house in the ground, just like what Laura and her family lived in for the fourth book.  It was complete with straw beds, that both Laura and Mary are sleeping in, a small wooden table with a few dishes, and Pa on a rocking chair with Carrie on his lap and his fiddle next to him!

Sweetly Broken

by Jeremy Riddle

To the cross I look
To the cross I cling
Of its sufferings I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior
Both brusied and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

(Chorus)
At the cross you beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees
And I am
Lost for words so lost in love
I am sweetly broken holy surrender

What a priceless gift
Undesered life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You called me out of death you called me into life
I was under your wrath
And through the cross Im recoiled

(Chorus)

And awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous your redeeming love and how great is you faithfulness

I am so very thankful for God and my completely wonderful life that He has blessed me with, Happy Easter!

the good stuff

This makes me smile, big time.  When we lived in New York City, this is how you got a Christmas tree; you walked around the corner to the sidewalk Christmas tree sellers and picked out the tree that you liked and walked it home.  At this point in our lives we lived in a third floor walk-up, which is no small feat with a Christmas tree and dress shoes nonetheless.  It really never ceases to amaze me that my husband rarely dresses down even to get a tree, he just prefers a suit and tie and lucky for me he looks dashingly handsome in one. 

I have been going through a ton of pictures of Carter as a baby and toddler and it's been so fun.  I know without a doubt that we have had a great life so far.  It's funny because I remember my parents talking about life when we were babies and that despite living in a small and broken down farm house it was one of the greatest times of their lives, now as an older adult I get it.  The apartment we lived in when Carter was born was very small, about 600 square feet.  Her room barely held her crib and a dresser, I complained often but now in retrospect, that place was pretty great. It turns out our building is where Obama was snorting cocaine studying and living while attending Columbia. It was much safer 20 years later when we moved in.  We only lived there until Carter was 2 years old, but I loved that place.  I really loved that we carried, Christmas trees, groceries, strollers, cribs, car seats, and so much more into out tiny little walk-up.  Sometimes the good stuff is just hidden deep down in a a bunch of downloaded photographs and a quick glance can bring so many amazing feel good memories back.  Merry Christmas, early!  

Carter 15 months!

I loved those big blueberry baby eyes!

confession

I shopped at JC Penney and I liked it! 

I got this cute little dress for only $29.99, I plan to ditch the cheap belt and use one I already own but I am so excited when I find something cute that is also cheap.  It's by Charlotte Ronson who is a great designer and has a flagship store in Soho but she also does a line called I heart Ronson for JC Penney, so fabulous!

I kid you not...

this is what I ate yesterday:

1. one bowl of Lucky Charms (and everyone knows I would never buy those, Jeremy went grocery shopping this week)
2. one large extra hot chai latte w/ a Cherry Pie Larabar (the Larabar is probably the healthiest thing I ate all day)
3. one Dick's Cheeseburger, half a chocolate shake and some greasy fries with my little guy and a friend : )
4. one "fall off the bone" piece of chicken, corn and salad (okay that might be the healthiest)
5. one bowl of ice cream slathered with a glob of peanut butter while watching The Tourist

So, about losing 8 pounds,  not going to happen if I eat like this!  I really have no self-control which is why I haven't lost the weight yet. The truth is, although I don't eat like this everyday, I do want to find a place where I am happy with my weight and looks and not agonize over every little thing I eat.  It's very annoying to be plagued with guilt over a burger and fries.  I need to let it go!  I think as woman we I should perhaps spend less time trying to look perfect and maybe more time celebrating the muffin top because without this muffin top I would not be a momma.  I would take this imperfect body any day to be Carter and Theo's mom. 

no, seriously it is April!

I really hope those May flowers are spectacular because this weather is depleting me.

Can I just say...

I totally love him us!

Although, I had already bought the duvet, we had no intention of moving Theo into a twin bed right away, mostly because we did not own a twin bed.  However, my mom spotted this bed at a furniture resale place and with the price tag of only $150, we had to get it!  It has three drawers underneath that can hold toys or clothes and it has a built in book shelf, it's fantastic! 

super excited boy!

no picking allowed...anymore!

Do any of you have kids that are picky selective eaters?  I don't know when this started but I let my kids get really choosy with their foods and I also started to cater to their likes and dislikes.  Over the last week or so, I noticed that dinner was getting out of hand.  Jeremy and I would have a lovely dinner of meatballs and spaghetti or chicken piccata w/ green beans and mashed potatoes and a certain Carter someone in our family would have just plain pasta or just chicken.  The worst part of this whole situation is that I would make additional foods that my selective eater would actually eat.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am very sympathetic to taste buds, as I myself have many likes and dislikes.  But, something has to change when the only food being consumed are a few raw veggies, a handful of fruits and a bite or two of chicken. So tonight, Jeremy and I made a few dinner rules and set some etiquette guide lines.  I hope they help my children expand their repertoire and make my life a bit easier by providing one meal for everyone.
our new dinner rules:
1. no special food, you get what you get and you don't get upset!
2. you must try at least 1 bite of everything on your plate
3. absolutely no saying, yuck, it's rude, period.
4. no asking about dessert until everyone is done eating and obviously no dessert if only a few bites of food is consumed
5. no dessert until the kids clear everything off the table

If any of you can relate, I would love some additional ideas or recipes, it's no secret I am not the best cook but that is no excuse to eat carrots and plain chicken every night (or is it?)!

basic easy muffins

It's Sunday and that usually means we are running around getting out of the house to drive Jeremy to work and then off to church but today Jeremy is super congested, has watery eyes, a red stuffed up nose and is over all feeling under the weather.  It's no secret that I hate to cook but I really love to bake and baking is like a little love letter to my family.  I bought some blueberries yesterday at Trader Joe's so it seems that homemade blueberry muffins are in order to make Jeremy feel a little better,  Here is a super easy, low sugar recipe form a Weight Watcher cook book I snagged from my mom's kitchen:

Basic Muffins:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 2% or fat-free milk
1 large egg
4 teaspoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
a dash of cinnamon (optional)

preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick spray
in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, in a separate smaller bowl combine the egg, milk, vanilla and melted butter together, mix well.  Pour this over the flour mixture, stirring just until blended (do not over mix) add whatever berries you want, about 3/4 cups. Spoon the batter into muffin cup about two thirds full, bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Voila, easy and yummy muffins for breakfast!
(for larger families, double the recipe)

Me: Theo did you have any dreams last night?
Theo:  I had five (holding one hand up with his fingers out)
Me: oh yeah, what were they about?
Theo: legos, squares, nuts and Grandpa Dave

I never did heard what the fifth dream was about...

our NYC backyard

I lived in New York for almost 11 years and I had both my kids at Mount Sinai hospital right across the street from part of Central Park.  People always ask me how or why on earth I would want to raise kids there, I think there is a huge misconception that there are no trees or grass in NYC but really there is, I promise.  Central Park was our back yard. We lived on the Upper East side and only a few blocks from Central Park.  One of best friends lived on the West side and the kids and I would often walk through the park for play dates or met for picnics, we climbed the castle numerous times, feed ducks, watched for turtles, listened to music, blew bubbles, and danced during free concerts in the park.  I feel like most of our greatest times in NY were in that park.  Jeremy and I were married in Central Park, I read "what to expect when you are expecting" on a bench in that park, we took our babies home in taxis' that we caught in front of the park, we rode bikes, ran and played in that park, drank wine while listening to Symphony in the park, we love that park.  So in honor of our beloved backyard and Carter's life up until age 6 here is way too many pictures of our favorite place on earth, Central Park.

Taxi ride home from Hospital after Carter's birth

Playing with mom

rowing w/ dad

bubbles at the Great Lawn

climbing trees

heading to the Central Park zoo

Turtle pond (if you look close you can see the reflection of the Central park castle on the water)

rock climbing

at the Great Lawn about 10-12 weeks old!

The Gates

ouch!

I have 8 weeks to lose the after baby belly, tone up my jiggly parts and try to lose 8-10ish pounds.  My 15 year high school reunion is Memorial weekend and I would really love to look my best but more importantly I want to feel good and the mom gut just does not make me feel good, at all, not one bit.  What better motivation than seeing people I have not seen since the day I graduated?  I am the type of person that needs a goal and this one works, the chances I lose 8 pounds are slim since I have been working on it since Theo was born but giving my all for the next 8 weeks is totally doable.  So, I will be back at the gym (5:30am has been calling my name for a few months) and I got a Jillian Michaels 30 minute flat ab video to do everyday.  I am on day 3 with the video and my body hurts, big time. So now that I have told my 5 blog readers...it means I gotta be serious because I can't let you all down! Please, hold me accountable OK?!

I love NY, oh yes I do!

My friend Sarrah knows I love it too, check out my belated birthday present from my friend...

it's fantastic! (and I cried when she gave it too me because I really did leave my heart in NY, right where Jeremy and I got married in Central Park)

it's April...

and someone really special turns 8 in April!



Baby girl Person in utero



newborn Carter-Lillian

tiny 6 pound 5 ounces baby with dark hair!



naptime in Central Park w/ daddy



at Point Pleasant beach in NJ

almost 1!


I could post a zillion pictures of my sweet Carter who was the easiest baby and made my path into motherhood such a lovely experience.  I am forever grateful that I am her momma.  Get ready for lots of Carter-Lillian posts in April as my baby girl turns 8 years old!