Sunday, March 27, 2011

GREEN with Envy

Oregon has to be the greenest state I've ever seen.  Apparently because of the moist climate, everything here is so lush...Moss and vegetation grow plentifully everywhere.  The roads are green, the trees are green (NOT just the leaves like back home - the WHOLE tree!), even walls, mailboxes, roofs, and signage is green.  There is green as far as the eye can see.  It's GORGEOUS!

Since green is my favorite color, I particularly love this state.

Tiffany and I traveled through Washington Park today and I was in awe with the sights to behold.   Everything was so beautiful.  And when the sun came out, the green almost glowed.  I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to drive around and snap some photos of the beautiful scenery.  It fed my soul.
























Monday, March 21, 2011

On The Road Again

So, today concludes Birthday Week 2011 for my Bug.  We had a great day together and I was so glad to be home from work today to spend his birthday with him!  We got him all registered for Kindergarten next year (!) and put together countless Lego fire trucks, Play Mobil playsets, and fire house kits (some assembly required!!!).

I had big plans to recount Nathaniel's birth (5 years ago!!) or post pictures of his FDNY birthday party from yesterday but instead, I'm distracted with my next big adventure.  Tomorrow the boys and I leave on a 63.5 hour cross-country train trip to Oregon for my cousin's wedding.  We're traveling with my person, Tiff, and her daughter and I'm so excited!  I, of course, hadn't packed a thing until a couple hours ago so I have a lot of other things to move on to at the moment.  Perhaps on the train ride (in between keeping three children 5 and under occupied, seeing the beautiful countryside, and taking LOTS of pictures!) I hope to do some blogging...albeit without photos since those will be inaccessible this trip, but I'll make up for it!

Regardless, I hear my dryer buzzer so I should go grab the last of my clothes and try to squeeze this package of diapers into one of my carry ons.  Wish me luck!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Collecting Bits

As Nate nears his fifth birthday (tomorrow!!!), I've started compiling a list of things he says, quirks he has, habits he's acquired.  Everything (especially at this age!) is so fleeting that I want to grab hold of it and stuff it into a deep dark memory somewhere so I never lose it!  This is a partial list and not nearly everything I'd like to hold on to, but it's a good start...So, in random order:

Some cute things Nate says that I'm going to miss:

"Look, Mom!  It's a salad field!"


"See this?  This is eatin' grass"! (chives)

"What did you said again?"
"Alex just do'd that" (did)
I don't know "eve-ner" (either)

The way he says brother (Brud-duh) reminds me of that song, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh".  It makes me smile.

He calls Curious George and the Man In the Yellow Hat, "Curious 'N George and Mr. Lell-o Pants"

He is often chased by forehead monsters (cyclops) and zom-mies but is quick to tell Alex that ghosts are just pretend.  He's the perfect blend of imaginative and grounded.

He's always telling stories about "When he was my age" or how when "I was little, he was my brother". I'm constantly reminding him that "he's not 6 years old yet" or "he's never been a girl", or "that Uncle Noah was my brother even when I was a little girl".  Quite a vivid imagination on that one, that's for sure.

He seems to live in movies.  He quotes movies and acts out scenes from things he's seen constantly!!  If you sit close enough to him when he's watching a movie he's seen a hundred times, you can almost hear him reciting all the words under his breath.

He's very dark and morbid for a kid his age.  Everything is death, dying, and destruction.  I'm sure that's the firefighter in him, or perhaps he overhears Daddy talking about his job at 9-1-1, but he's enamored with dark things.  He knows far more than most kids his age about reality.

He's actually a pretty gross kid.  He loves talking about farts, poop, puke...you name it.  He's an incessant booger picker/eater, and despite my insistence that girls will not find that cute or charming as he gets older, he defers not.

He loves the FDNY - he's already worn one FDNY baseball hat to death (that was replaced on our last trip to NYC), has an entire fleet of FDNY fire trucks and police cars, and even specifically requested an FDNY themed birthday party this year!


Suddenly he's too grown up for green blankie, Boo Bankie, Bolt, and Bedtime Bear.  Yet, oddly, when he's "cold" green blankie is always there, and Bolt rarely lets him go on an adventure solo!

Nate is very animated, dramatic, expressive, opinionated, bossy, precocious, helpful, kind, intelligent, creative, mouthy, energetic, independent, fearless, loving, spunky, funny, and so much more!!

I love this boy more than I can possibly express.  I see so much of myself in him (living in his own little world, constantly acting out stories in his head and his actions, expressive to a fault).  He's actually taken to snuggling with me from time to time and is very quick to send me a hug, share a kiss, or shout out an "I love you, Mom" when I need it most.  I love living through his eyes and treasure every moment, every  challenge, and every adventure he leads me on!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Flashback Friday...Birthday Boy

For today's Flashback Friday, I thought it only proper to reflect back on the first year of my Bug's life.  I randomly picked a couple pictures from each month during that first year, but here they are.  I'm not entirely convinced that all of the dates are 100% accurate, either, but without extensive research, it's close enough!  Enjoy!


March 2006




April 2006



May 2006



June 2006



July 2006



August 2006



September 2006



October 2006



November 2006



December 2006



 January 2007



 February 2007



March 2007 - One Year Old!

Your first year was a blur, Bug...it went by much too quickly but it's been great fun looking back through the photos documenting your every move!  You were (and still are!) a handsome "little" monster!