One Week

In one week, we, as Americans, are given the power to vote for our great nation's new leader, the President of the United States.

It's no surprise to many, if not all of you, that Ron and i are supporters of Barack Obama. We also have friends who support John McCain.

I'm not here to politically debate. I'm here to tell you that if you are of voting age - - GET OUT AND VOTE! Do not be lazy. Do not say "it won't matter anyhow." Do your part in this democracy to speak up!

SO Happy!

Thom is such a happy baby! He always smiles, now, when i come up to his face, cooing and schmoozing with him. Today is no exception. He is glowing today. I'm in love.

Pic Du Jour

Stickers n Boogars n Crossed Eyes - OH MY!

Some New Blog Stuff

Look around the blog page - I've added some fun things. On the right is a game, currently Sudoku. Go ahead and play a game right there! At the bottom is a Calvin & Hobbes Comic o' the Day, as well as a craigslisting of stuff for sale in our area. I've also changed the "Favorite Pic" - - "Santa Face" had been there a touch too long. ENJOY!

Happy 5th Birthday Liam!

I had a really fun weekend with Kerry and our four boys up at her parent's house in Akron, NY. We were celebrating Liam's 5th birthday. On Saturday night, there were 8 kids there all under the age of 7!! And seven of them were BOYS; Kerry's sister Jess has three boys and a girl. Wow. Fun fun fun. Thom spent a majority of his time eating, snoozing or flirting with the ladies. Sam was so fun to watch; he's just getting to the stage where he's beginning to interact directly with other children instead of playing solo side-by-side. He's still a little rough around the edges (stealing toys, pushing), but he understands me when i tell him to chill out and be good. I love Kerry's family and it felt really warm and nice being around them again. I have dear memories of spending holidays at Kerry's house during college. They are a farm family, which means supper at noon and everything homemade and super yummy. Somehow Kerry's mom Kathy's homemade WARM applesauce is the best applesauce i will ever eat (Sam concurs, with three helpings). Sam really got a kick out of seeing cows, live and large and in the flesh (i'm quite good at imitating a real cow, i might add!). It was also fun to see Kerry's van FULL of carseats. We laughed at where we've come from twenty years ago. Kathy says she still has a hard time grasping it all. The weather was crisp and fall-like, beautiful blue skies and colorful leaves, mostly on the ground now. We were able to take the boys to a nearby new, large playground on Sunday morning, which was a lot of fun for all of us. A really nice two days had by all!

As Sam Would Say...

"Couldn't you just eat him ALL UP?!"

Growin' up

Thom just had his 2 month check up (and shots, yuck) yesterday. Before I took him, I asked Ron to make guesses on his current weight. Ron said 9 lb., 4 oz. I said, "no... i don't think that high yet. I'll say 8 lb., 14 oz."

Clearly I'm not good at guessing baby weight, and i pick the kid up and down all day! He weighed in at 11 lb., 6. oz. That's almost FOUR pounds heavier than he was at birth. Good boy! I must be doin' somethin' right! You can tell too - he's 'filling out.' And he's got a nice little round buddha tummy that i love to rub and kiss.

I wanted to mention also how EASY Thom's been. He's just like Sam was. Very easy-going, smiling a lot, and just overall a JOY to take care of. I'm finding that emotionally for me, Thom is completely stress-free. I remember 'thinking' a lot more with Sam (expected, of
course, being my first child). With Thom, it's all coming very naturally and i'm not thinking about it at all, which for me, is a very good sign (like a good relationship - no analyzation!). For instance, i never look at the clock re: feedings. With Sam, i'd calculate 2.5 hours between feedings. Now, i just go with the flow.

I think a great deal has to do with the "been there, done that" mentality, but a lot also has to do with the fact that I've got Sam to give a lot of my attention to, and so i don't really have time to dole out my entire focus on Tom.

(is "dole" the word i wanted? It sounded right...)

Speaking of Sam - - whatta HOOT that kid's been lately. So chatty, so funny, so awesome.

He has a lot of "nooks." I started him on that: i would sit indian-style and he'd want to sit in between my legs and i started calling it his "nook." Soon he caught on to that notion and would make his own nooks - blocking himself into a corner in his playroom, squeezing between the couch and cocktail table just so, etc. Well, now we have "Dressing Nooks" in his bedroom - the areas at the foot or base of his bed. He decides in which of those nooks he'll get his pjs on.

He's also been really funny with making faces. He's got this one that he makes when he plays with Thom - i'll have to try and take a picture of it. Sam is also getting very good with his full sentences. "Mom - can you and me peas [sic] go to car to get pumpkin so you can have it?" Meanwhile, the inflections in that sentence are like a roller coaster ride - up and down, all over the place, which makes it even funnier. I'll have to start recording him chatting with me, that would be worth it.

My boys are MY BOYS. The more i look at Thom, the more i fall in love and am so eager and excited to have him play with Sam and be running around the Telford home. I'm kind of glad Sam was wrong, about getting a "sister." That said - - little Suzie Q would be getting this same blog entry about her, most likely. ;-)

Traitor Joe?

As most, if not all, of you know, Ron and i work for Wegmans. It's an awesome food market (aka, GROCERY STORE). And, at least personally to us, given our recent events, a very compassionate, giving group of coworkers and supervisors. I love my job and I hope to be there for a while.

BUT....

If there was one really fun thing that came of our excursion to Virginia this past week, it was experiencing Trader Joe's, another VERY COOL grocery store chain. Surf around their website if you are not personally familiar with one. I know Katie, outside Philly, goes to one now and then. Still dig 'em Katie?

The other reason i'm personally interested in them is their sign shop. I read an NPR feature about sign shop artists in grocery stores (can you believe it!?). It sounded like just the kind of place i would dig working at, and now that i've gotten the chance to shop around one, both as an artist and customer, I was right. I told Ron, if i **HAD** to live in the hustle/bustle of the metropolitan D.C. area (that i DO NOT miss), i would like working at Trader Joe's. It felt like a little corner of Vermont on the end of a strip mall.

First of all, their sign shop artist draws ALL their signs, including their price markers on the shelves. And her (i'll assume (hehe)) signs are all made out of scroll-sawed wood, painted with great detail. It really makes an impact!!! The store size was quaint, which i really loved. And their products were funky and reasonably priced too! We got some yummy chili-lime cashews, almond crunch cereal, chocolate-covered cranberries, and some 100% wholesome yogurt, among a couple other delights.

Trader Joe's - - I'm secretly in love with you. But don't tell Danny Wegman...

(on a related note, i am returning to work this Wednesday from being on maternity leave a measly 8 weeks (one of those weeks being before i had Tom)). I joked that i'm bringing Tom in with me and putting him on the back counter to swing away and sleep. It could work, honestly. Alas...)

Whirlwind...

A lot going on in the Telford Home.

As many of you know, my mom, Pat, passed away of a sudden heart attack on Sept. 12, a day after my last post. It was as 'unexpected' as can be expected, given her health condition - a ton of meds for diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. It's been a little over 2 weeks now, and some days it feel like its been years, and others, i start to pick up the phone to call her about something. I miss her very much. While my mom's life was extremely limited physically, it was not affected intellectually or emotionally, and I'll miss having Our Conversations. She loved watching me be a mom of now TWO boys. Luckily, she was able to see and hold Tom, who was one month old the day she died.

Two days before Mom passed, my father returned home from a 9 day stint in Arnot Hospital's ICU with blood clots in his legs and on his lungs. That was completely unexpected as well, given his activity level, quite the opposite of Mom's. He is doing well now, but is still not out of the woods, as his doctor in NY is always monitoring his blood levels and tweaking his Rx.

There is much to do. As I type this, my family and Dad are spending a week at the house in VA to power clean it out, readying it for sale later (but soon). Mom was very slowly doing this, but just not at the speed we are. We're being rather agressive with clean out, with Dad's blessing. At the end of the week, we are having an estate sale. Wish us luck. I'm going to suggest the money we make go into the "Maine Vacation Fund."

Speaking of which... i still very much want, and plan to, add vacation pics from this summer on Keuka lake. There are some really good ones! Just haven't found the time. I also have a couple other pics from a few other events (Bacchus Day, as well as Dan's wedding)... again, need to find some time to sit down and upload.

Thank you to everyone who reads this and already knew about Mom and have sent condolences and sympathies. Your friendship means a lot to me (us) and I try never to take you all for granted. None of us know when "our time" will be up. Get your "I love you"s out TODAY - don't wait!