E-man & Z-girl Adventures (and other Bucior fun)

Scallops. It's what's for dinner.

2012-02-01T22:38:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to write about this scallop cooking process for about a year. Yikes. Well, that's what this year is all about, getting to all the baloney that got left behind because it wasn't critical to our survival during Matt's last year of undergrad.

So, back when I needed to lose some weight for Becca's wedding, I started doing Medifast. It worked amazing, I lost about 25 pounds in 2 months. Medifast consists of 5 of their own packaged foods, and then one of your own. But yours needs to be lean-n-green, meaning protein and veggies. No carbs, no fruit. So I needed to make sure that the protein I ate was yummy to keep me going. So if you wanted steak, you only got 5 oz., chicken 6oz, but any kind of seafood was 7 oz. Time to figure out how to eat something besides steamed crabs every night. :)

A few searches on the internet, a few trial and errors (including one big flop of boiled ones at poor Becca's house) and here it is.

You will need:
Scallops

- these should be the larger ones if you can, and they need to be dry. If they are wet when you get them, rinse them off, pat dry, and set on paper towels in the refrigerator until you need them. If they have too much liquid in them, they will just boil in the pan. Yuck.

Olive Oil - a few swirls
Butter - 1 tbsp
Salt and Pepper to taste

Dry scallops as described above. You can also choose to salt and pepper them on both sides at this point, I think it soaks in better.

Heat non-stick pan over medium high heat with a few swirls of olive oil. (If you are using a non-stick pan I guess it's possible to do this without any oil to lower the calories even more). Place scallops in the pan one by one.

Let cook for about 3 and a half minutes. They should have begun to caramelize (i.e. turn brown) on their bottom side.

Flip scallops over and cook another 3 and a half minutes, depending on how big and thick they are. When you do this, add a few pats of butter to the pan and swirl around. Then you can use a spoon to scoop up the juices in the pan and drizzle on top of the scallops as they cook. This way a little bit of butter goes a long way.

When they are finished cooking, they should be firm to the touch. It's kind of hard to explain when they are done, and I prefer to have them more done than not. But you can definitely over cook them for sure.

Let me know what you think!

(more thoughts on why I am not doing Medifast anymore in another post to come)

Many, Many Thanks!!!!

2011-12-30T15:33:00.000-05:00

(Note: This post was started a week ago, but we got derailed by a virus/ear infection with Zoey (and me) that had us in the ER two days in a row, though we spent actual New Year's Eve at home. She is better now, so let the thanks begin.)

One more day left until the end of the 2011. I can't believe we are here, and I am so relieved. And tired.And our house is a gigantic mess.

Some stats from 2011:
Graduate Classes taken by Sarah - 3
Undergraduate Classes taken by Matthew - 10 (a few were Grad classes as well, didn't make it our lives easier for sure)
Degrees Earned - 1, BS in Mechanical Engineering
Geek Frats Joined - 1 (Tau Beta Pi - Engineering Honors)
Babies born - 1, our beautiful Zoey Rae
Cats lost - 1 (we will always miss you Fatty)
Fish still surviving despite being majorly ignored - 8 (all)
Brand new Bathrooms Completed - 0 (it's close though!)
Number of 3-year old birthday parties thrown - 1
(Number of Groupons bought so that Merry Maids would scrub the kitchen and bathroom before party - 1)
Number of beds in Master Bedroom at height of occupancy - 3 (one queen, one toddler, and one co-sleeper)
People hosted for Thanksgiving dinner - 15
Wedding china/crystal broken during said dinner - 0 :)

I just wanted to take the time to say thanks to everyone who helped us through this year (and the previous years after Evan's birth during Matt's studying at UMBC).

Thanks to my all of my family who let me visit time and time again with the kids so we could give Matt time to study. Mom, Dad, Becca, Mark, Jessie, Lance, Lisa, Albert, Helen, Peggy, Joe, Tammy, Jo Jo, Cindy, Sean, Christian, Heather, Dave, Hunter, Haley, Paul, Tracy, Griffin and Katelyn.

A gigantic special thanks to Peggy for surviving in our house for almost 3 years, doing uncounted loads of laundry, making thousands of pitchers of tea, picking up the kids many times over, participating in potty training (bet you thought you were done with that, huh?) and most of all for helping to provide as stable as possible a household for our small children during the craziest year of our life.

To Zoey's aunts Jessie and Becca, who lovingly stayed up all night in the hospital with her the first three days of her life, so Matt could go home to stay with Evan. A labor of love, for sure. (I mean, she was pretty irresistible).

Thanks to all of my friends who let us visit too (many times w/ no notice) or visited us to help: Jennifer, Doug, Brynn, and Brayden; Christy; Heather and Greg; Jess, Jeff, Trent, Mya, and Ally; Maxine, Rick, Ryan and Avery; Jackie, Rob, Robert and Austin; Barbara, Dustin, and Nathan; Kim, John, Jacob and Ben; Nicki; Walt, Agnes, Michael and Catherine; Walter and Elizabeth; Becca and Dave (and Amelia!); LeeAnne; and Nori.

To Miss Valerie, for loving our children and watching over them at your home. It was one less thing on our minds, we know that they enjoy being with you and your family. We so appreciate it.

Thanks to Walter, for coming and helping Matt with one of his final Heat Transfer problems on a day where you should have been relaxing, having just completed your Master's Degree. We are so proud of you!

Thanks to our neighbors on our street for letting me take the kids on a walk and not return for hours. Mike and Cindy, Mike and Bonnie, and most of all the entire 'Stone House' family (as Evan calls it), for letting me bombard their house whenever I needed to. To Mary, Mark, Betty, Molly, Sophia and Ben, we are thankful to have you in our lives.

To my fellow workers at APL, again, our family would not have accomplished what we did without you allowing me to have a ridiculously flexible schedule, and at the same time letting me work on very cool projects that I can't wait for one's launch next year and the other's arrival at Pluto in 2015! Alice, Becca, Elliot, Annette, the NH Flight Team, the RBSP TC Team, and most of all Randy and Al, you guys are all amazing and supportive and really great people to work with.

Thanks to all of the Nordiques players, especially Walt and Terri, for keeping the team going in our absence. I mean, who knew you could accomplish a win-less season without us? :) We really miss playing and are going to return as soon as we can!!!

I'm sure there are people we have forgotten, but you know who you are and I hope we do a well enough job expressing our thanks to you. Feel free to call me out for my brain lapses. :)

I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for us. (Less, I'm hoping, haha).

Love,

The Buciors
Matthew, Sarah, Evan and Zoey

Milestones

2011-11-21T21:46:00.001-05:00

So busy, 31 days left until Matt graduates. I can't believe it's almost here. In the meantime, things are moving quickly.

Matt and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Our family picture to celebrate:

And a few weeks later I turned 35. Sheesh. Here's my pretty ice cream cake though. (And Becca also got me a football cake with lots of crunchies but I forgot to take a picture of that, I was too busy eating it).

And then we moved Peggy in to her new apartment, so Evan got to have his own room. (For now at least, until Zoey takes up space in there. This will only happen when I can trust Evan to not yank her out of her crib, hmmm maybe this won't happen ever. Grrrrr).

Look how teeny he looks in there! He gets the full size bed because this also doubles as our guest room, and toddler beds just aren't that comfy for adults!

Thanks Kate!

2011-11-09T11:06:00.000-05:00

During all of the craziness with moving Peggy on Saturday, and my Aunt and her husband visiting from the west coast, I managed to get my niece to snap some sweet pictures. It was a great (though exhausting) day.

Parenting and Learning

2011-10-31T14:22:00.000-04:00

When you have more than one child, somethings you are able to do for the second time like clockwork, diapering, bathing, feeding (usually). But sometimes you have a big blank, like 'uh, what did we do for this last time?'.

As a nursing mother, pretty much when I put my baby to sleep it's after the last feeding of the night. Bath, pajamas, last feeding, and boom asleep they are. Ironically, in the book about sleeping that I have the 'Nightime Nursling' as they call it is the hardest child to teach to go to sleep on their own. Alas.

Last night I couldn't get that girl to sleep, she wasn't hungry, I knew she was tired, she was fussy, and I just didn't know what to do. So I just put her to bed.

Awake.

Not because I thought this would work, but I was just tired of holding her when it was obvious she didn't want me.

And lo and behold, she went right to sleep. After I thought about it, I underestimated her need to just.be.away.from.the.noise in our house. The TV, the crazy 3-year old, the people getting ready for work, the cats meowing for food.

And she didn't wake up again until this morning.

What a beautiful little girl I have.

A Brother's Love

2011-09-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

Lots of changes happening. Evan just turned 3 on Friday, and Tuesday Zoey turned 4 months old. I took them both to the doctor for their checkups.

Note: remind me not to do this again because it was so hectic that I forgot to ask half of the questions I wanted to, about food and teething and such. And why if you know you are a pediatrician's office do you have a bunch of instruments out on a table at toddler eye-level that they are not supposed to touch and nothing else for them to play with?

Both kids passed with flying colors, thankfully. However, Zoey was scheduled for 3 (!) shots and Evan needed a flu shot.

Zoey started to get her shots, of course they hurt, and she screamed appropriately. After the first one I looked at Evan and could see his serious concern, and when the nurse went to give the second shot, he actually put his hand out and hovered it close to the needle. He knew whatever was happening was hurting her, and he wanted to stop it, but wasn't sure if he should. It was the sweetest thing for her I've ever seen him do.

Note: do NOT listen to the doctor when she says to do the baby's shots first because the older one will probably need more consoling. Have these people not done this before?

After shot number three, Zoey was screaming and Evan was also full-blown crying, tears streaming down both of their faces. The doctor appeared and asked if they were done (!). She took the baby and consoled her, and I pinned Evan down in my lap so he could get his flu shot. He was so scared and crying and shaking when it was actually done.

Pretty bad when I'm in tears by the end of the appointment. And who wants to tell Evan that we need to get his blood drawn because they need to test for lead because our house was built before 1960? Not this mom.

So I am proud of my little boy and I know that he will be an amazing older brother to our little girl. The other day he asked if he could hold her, I grabbed the camera.

Proximity

2011-08-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

One of my sister's friends is in town visiting. She lives a good 8 hours away, so obviously we don't see her very often, but are so happy when she's here. This got me thinking about how close and how far people are. We are fortunate in that pretty much all of our immediate family is within a 2 hour drive, and we see them on a pretty consistent basis. Especially now that we have kids, I am glad that we spend as much time with them as we do.

But sometimes I get so frustrated when I realize that our neighbors that live across the street are pretty poo but we see them everyday, and some of the people I love the most I see maybe once every two or three years. (I will throw in here that I am eternally grateful for phone, e-mail, and facebook that allows me to be closer to my and my husband's extended family).

There are two friends in particular in my life that my heart breaks sometimes when I think about them and wish they were closer. I want them to be here to see our children grow up, and in one case I want to see their child grow up as well (and not just through pictures online).

So to Jenny and Mike, I miss you both so very much, and I wish you didn't live so far away.

(Ugh, nursing moms have way too many tears in their heads that are always wanting to come out, haha).

What 2 months can do........

2011-08-05T15:19:00.000-04:00

Okay, maybe almost 3 months. Our baby girl will be 3 months old in two weeks, I can't believe it's gone by so fast.

From this (birth):

To this (about 5 or 6 weeks):

To this (2.5 months):

(I wish she was smiling in this, but she was being a stinker every time I took a picture). Not surprisingly for a child of mine, she has started talking quite a bit. No one knows what she's saying, but she doesn't care. Tons of smiles and laughs too.

And most importantly of all, 2 different nights of 9 hours of sleep each. Can you see me dancing a jig? NO, cause I'm sleeping.

Don't forget, I also have this piece of wonderfulness (2.5 years).

I have started to really love our bedtime routine (do parents ever say that?) After the usual fight about pajamas and teeth brushing and such, Evan, Zoey and I all climb into the big bed. I read books to Evan while feeding Zoey. Sometimes we all fall asleep together, but if I can stay awake to put Zoey down they are usually asleep together in the same room by 9:30p.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

The Beauty of Double Sleep

2011-07-12T15:52:00.001-04:00

Yesterday and today I have managed to get both kids to nap at the same time in the afternoon. (Ok I had help, Jessie is here).

Anyways, I went in to the living room yesterday to check on them (Evan on the couch and Zoey in the pack-n-play).

Both kids have eyes wide open, looking at me.

And then, they both smiled at me.

That makes me happy.

She has arrived!

2011-06-15T11:49:00.000-04:00

I have a daughter.

Wow. After almost a month of her being in my life, it still sounds weird. Great, but weird. For some reason I just thought this was going to be a boy. Probably because the 3D picture looked so much like Evan. So, presenting the girls of the Bucior family of (the nearly famous because of this movie) Panorama Drive..........

This beautiful picture is with many thanks to Meagan Hahn, please check out her photography site, she did an absolutely wonderful job.

A couple of notes about the days surrounding the birth of this baby.

After my last post at 11 pm the night before the birth, Matt finished up his exam at 1:30 am (!) and then we sat down to pick baby names. Settled on a boy name, but still had 6 different combos for a girl. Oh well, that was more progress then we had made in a month, so off to bed we went.
Matt had reheated pizza at 5:30 am for breakfast, this is now a tradition to do before any child's birth apparently.
Arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am, ready to head to OR at 7:50.
Once in the OR, learned that we were delayed almost 2 hours because apparently ONE BAZILLION babies insisted on being born at the same time, and there are only so many docs to go around.
My anesthesiologist was very nice, but ummm, she had the shakes. Really? However I noticed the shakes were only in her head region, not her hands, and that seemed the most important. :)
All went well, though the doctor liked to tease us because he announced shortly after plucking her from my belly, "It's a baby!"
When they said it was a girl, I cried. (Not to say that I wouldn't have cried when Evan was born, but I was way more drugged up that time. I didn't even know they had started the surgery until they popped a baby up in the air.)

The most exciting part of the day was when Evan came in the room. He was so excited. He even had a pink stuffed bunny to give to her. And even now, he loves her so much. When he kisses her, he is very gentle. He learned her name immediately (once we actually picked it) and will tell anyone about her.

I am beyond grateful to God that our family is happy and healthy. I know our lives are so busy right now, but I couldn't be happier.

(Oh, and I had to change the title of the blog. Kind of sounds like a pair of super heroes, huh?)

Cutting it to the last minute.........

2011-05-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

So here I am, 11 pm. I'm doing thank you cards, waiting for my husband to finish his take home exam so we can finish the discussion on baby names (for both a boy and a girl), making sure the bills are paid for the next couple of weeks, and packing the last minute stuff for my hospital bag. Oh, and blogging apparently.

And I am leaving at 6 am to go to the hospital.

Holy moly.

:)

Shuttle Woes

2011-05-19T09:59:00.000-04:00

So the shuttle Endeavor launched for the last time this week. That means there is only one left to go.

And so here I sit, a sorry excuse for an Aerospace Engineer. I mean, what was I thinking waiting until the last minute to try and see one of these things? I hang my head in shame.

I had considered buying tickets for the launch that just happened, and maybe taking the train (?) for like, a billion hours to get there. Doctor said I couldn't fly at that point in my pregnancy. Guess it's a good idea that I didn't, since I doubt it would have been good idea to try to get to Florida 3 days before my scheduled 'pluck the baby out' appointment.

So now, I'm waiting for the final date to be determined, currently they say it will be mid-July. I'm hoping it gets pushed back a little longer so I can figure out how to get down there with two kids. Even if I can't get viewing tickets, I will be able to see the shuttle from any beach down there, and I have tons of family I can visit.

Maybe my friend Becky will come with me. :)

Sonograms and Such

2011-05-03T11:35:00.000-04:00

As if today, I have 20 days until my due date (and only 17) days until my scheduled c-section unless I go in to labor before then. I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. And lately Evan has really been getting in to a routine, and I notice more and more the things he can do by himself. Which makes me think, oh my gosh what were we thinking? :) But I can't wait to hold a brand new baby, and for Evan to be a big brother. I think he is pretty excited too.

We still don't know if I am carrying a boy or a girl, but here is a 3-D picture taken two weeks ago. One thing is for sure, this child is definitely a sibling of Evan (compare to the pic at the top of this blog).

Patiently waiting.

Winter Hibernation

2011-03-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

Back in February I went outside with Evan to play. It was freezing cold but he just couldn't take being cooped up any longer, and to be honest neither of us minds the cold. So as I wandered around the yard, I noticed that there were a lot of glaring reminders that we had obviously hibernated over the winter, completely ignoring the yard and such. Of course, instead of cleaning these things up, I went and got my camera.

(Bear in mind that we also are both working, both going to school, raising a toddler, percolating a new one, and trying to build a custom bathroom in our basement from scratch by ourselves, lest you think that we are just lazy bodies.)

So first we have a Happy Birthday banner.

From Evan's second birthday party.

In September.

Then we have the tiki torches, that I had just recently taken out of the ground from their circle around the brown patch of grass that used to be the pool (at least we remembered to take that down).

Pumpkins, from, well yes, Halloween. Some still have faces drawn on them, others have been mostly eaten by wildlife.

A gigantic tree felled during the snow storm (this still remains, anyone fancy a go with our chainsaw?)

Ah, the ever telling Christmas tree, that made it no farther then the side yard, instead of the woods where it is supposed to dry out so that when we throw it in the hobo barrel to burn it makes a fantastic fireball later in the year.

And finally, some left over reminders of Christmas.

Now I can say that most of these things have since been taken care of.

Most.

Ah, how time flies.

2011-03-21T19:45:00.000-04:00

I mean to post these pictures a while ago, and I swear I'm going to make a scrapbook of stuff like this, but well, uh, lord only knows when I will get to that. But first, these two pictures stood out to me, a difference of how Evan fit in his car seat.

Here he is as an almost newborn baby

You know this size, when you travel somewhere for 2 hours, and they don't make a peep, and you can't see them because the seat is turned around (and you haven't bought that snazzy Eddie Bauer mirror yet) and then you get there and you are sure they have broken their neck.

Like this

Holy moly are they bendy. But I guess being squished in your belly is a feat unto itself. Anyways, I also took a picture of Evan when he was well grown out of this carrier (though to be fair he probably was in it for too long regardless because we didn't realize exactly what the weight requirement was. Whoops.

Evan is about 9 months old in this picture.

In other big and small size news, let's talk about socks. Since I was one of the last one of my friends to have kids, we got lots and lots of hand me down clothes. Which is great, but funny when you come across something that you aren't sure where it came from. Evan was apparently given a pair of white socks with green trim (ankelet style). Which were a little bit big for him, but they fit well enough. I also wear a lot of anklet socks, and mine I definitely have to stretch on. So here is a picture of them together, one for a small toddler, and one for a grown adult woman.

So trying to buy him more manly socks, I got some tube like socks for him, just like Daddy's. The difference is a little bit different.

Definitely had to stretch those a bit more.

What IS that on your face?

2011-02-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

Tried and true, the quieter your child is, the more trouble they are likely getting in to.

Last Sunday I was on the computer and Evan (I thought) was playing in the other room. Then he shows up next to me, with black flecky stuff all over his mouth and his hands.

Panic thoughts go like this:

What is that?!
Did you eat something poisonous?
Why are you smiling?
We don't have plants (because I cannot keep them alive inside) so how did you get dirt?
-I also had a passing thought of some kind of Oreo crust but again, we didn't have any of that.

I take his hand and follow him in to the kitchen. And I find this.

Yes, that's right, Evan opened up a tea bag that I had set out on the counter and ate some of the contents.

The kicker to this story? After I took his picture he proceeded to lick his fingers.

Yuck.

Classifications

2011-02-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a stinkbug was discovered on the fridge. Evan is the enforcer, so he yelled "Stinkbug!", Daddy got the bug with a paper towel, and Evan flushed it down the toilet. Daddy was then wiping something that leaked out of the fridge, so Evan got a wipe and cleaned the side of the fridge where the bug had been.

Me: "Evan, you're the man!"

Evan: "I'm not the man, Daddy's the man"
"I'm Evan".

Well, there you go.

Future Sight

2011-01-10T02:02:00.000-05:00

My boy I believe has a sixth sense. Really he does. And he's had it for quite some time.

Without fail, if I even have a tiny little wavelength of a thought when I look at his mountain of toys and consider even for a second putting that particular toy in the attic because he hasn't played with it in eons and it's large and it takes up space.........

..............he plays with it. Usually within an hour or so, or the next day.

How he does this I will never know.

My little stinker. (Course if I say that to him he gets very indignant and says "I no stinker. I Evan."

Evan's Going to the Store, Doo Dah, Doo Dah ..........

2010-12-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

Like father like son, Evan loves to go to the grocery store. It used to be the really nice store in town, Martin's, because they have the ride-in car grocery carts. You could put him down there, strap him in with a snack and a drink, and he was good to go. But oh no, now he discovered if we go to the a-little-less-than-nice Food Lion, they have miniature carts for the "Shoppers in Training".

I'm not going to lie, it is near impossible to push your own cart while he is off on his own with another, so I have to settle for following him in the little cart. Some notes:

- He wants me to put my purse in the cart
(you can see where this is a problem when Matt takes him, where is your purse Daddy?)
- The cart is so small that once my purse is in, you can only fit one or two more things
- He is constantly stopping to look up at the advertisement posters hanging from the ceiling
- He also randomly stops in the middle of the aisle to dance to the music if he likes it

Here are some pics taken with Matt's phone, enjoy. :)

Evan's Birthday Party

2010-11-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

Sorry I'm just posting pictures of his party now. Life has been busy for sure. We held the cookout on a beautiful sunny afternoon. They were many wonderful people who came, family and friends alike, and many children. I borrowed some more cozy coupes just for the occasion:

The toys were a big hit. As was the very yummy cake made by Sharnelle, there wasn't any left when the party was over.

Then, during all the kid's playing fun, Evan took a header in the driveway. Because his bangs are so long, I didn't notice for a few minutes that he had a huge scrape on his forehead. So between that and missing his nap, he actually passed out in my arms during the height of the party. Poor thing. You can see his boo boo here:

Fortunately, he woke up and recovered enough to open presents, eat cake, and play some more. Especially the piano. He looks like a little Schroeder.

A big thanks to all that attended. It was a wonderful time to share with family and friends. You can see the rest of the pictures here.

Until next year!

Braided Hair, scary slides, and elephants, oh my!

2010-11-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

We managed to make it to the Maryland Renaissance Festival one time this year. Evan and I met up with family and friends there. It was a day of many first for him.

First ride on a pony (with Aunt Becca)........................

First ride on an elephant (with Aunt Jessie)........................

First ride on a scary slide (with Mommy)........................

For the record, that slide was WAY faster than I expected, and I'm pretty sure we caught air at least once.

I love the Renn Fest, and my favorite part believe it or not is not mac & cheese on a stick or fried cheese curds. It's the hair ladies, I love to get my hair done. Check out the hair that Becca and I had done......

You can see all of the pictures here.

Until next year..................

Photo Posts, a Trip to the Beach, Mammoth Waves, and Wonderful Friends

2010-10-25T16:08:00.000-04:00

I'm going to try a new way to share photos. Since our lives are infinitely busy, I end up posting albums to our online Picasa account with tons of pictures, of which I have no time to caption, explain, etc. It's all there for those that have the time to peruse. This is clearly evident in our trip to Oregon, in which I posted 744 pictures and virtually no information about our wonderful trip. I'm hoping to get to that soon.

So my goal is to share a few photos here with a little blurb about what the happenings were, and a link to the massive photo posting will follow.

*********************************************

We were invited to spend the Labor Day weekend with friends at their house in Bethany Beach, DE. Yea! So off we went, with way more stuff than 3 adults and a toddler need for 3 days. An important thing to remember for this trip is that Hurricane Earl was currently making his way up the coast as we were making the trek across the Bay Bridge.

After we arrived, we ate some dinner then headed down to the boardwalk in Rehoboth. A carnival appeared, (ironically with ticket prices for at least the little rides WAY less than we pay at home). Evan loves to ride, so with tickets in hand, off we went. When it was over, he kept asking for a popsicle. Well, there are tons of ice cream stands, but none really looked like they had popsicles. Ah, finally, we settled on something called the 'rocket' I think. What a mess........

We ended up having to buy him a new shirt before we started the trek home. He put in a valiant effort, but I don't think he even got to the blue part.

The next day we packed up and hit the beach. Now, I'm a water fan, not a sand fan. This means I prefer to go, swim, walk up and down the beach maybe, and get the heck out. I am always amazed at those that want to just lay on the sand for hours and hours. But I knew Evan would have fun playing in the water and the sand, and it was a beautiful day.

Remember the hurricane? I love to swim in the ocean, and am not afraid of going out beyond the breakers. Except this day, I couldn't get past them. I was just always in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Check it out:

Walter and I waiting for the wave:

Clearly I appeared to have judged the timing wrong.......

Do you see us? I don't...........

As you can see here I have admitted defeat. Amazing that I have kept my hat. I attempt another shot later in the afternoon, and get wrung out to dry.

All in all a wonderful day though. Evan loved playing in the sand.

The next day we hit the Pirate themed goofy golf, went swimming in the pool (I survived much better there), and packed up and went home. It was a wonderful weekend, and we are grateful to our friends for bringing us along.

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

Additional Picture

2010-10-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

Meant to post this picture of Evan actually dressed up as Bam Bam last Halloween to go along with the last post.

Notice his woman on his back. We weren't actually able to get him to haul her around by her hair though.

Evan Look a Like

2010-09-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine at work said Happy Birthday to my boy yesterday and also mentioned did I know that there were pictures of him all over the internet. This is the pic he sent me:

That just cracked me up!

Happy Birthday to our boy

2010-09-16T10:49:00.000-04:00

Today marks two years since our little boy was plucked from my belly. It has been two years of excitement, joy, tears, quiet times, many loud times, hugs, kisses, and love. It is so great when he throws out "I love you" s all the time. When he says "I fart". When he carries around a butternut squash like it's a baby. When he puts on Aunt Jessie's high heels and takes off for the kitchen because that's where they make the most noise. He can be so sweet and then so bad too.

So to our Evan, we can't wait to see you grow up and be the man you will be but at the same time we want to keep you little and small and snugglie like you are.

We love you.

Morning conversations with Evan

2010-09-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

Evan: Gross.
Me: What's gross?
(Evan sticks his finger up his nose.)
Me: Is the booger gross?
Evan: Booger! *giggles* (I don't think he ever said this word before and he thought it was really funny.)
Me: Are you a booger?
Evan: I no booger. I Evan.

Ah, the smell of foolishness

2010-08-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning, and I'm on the computer. Matt's asleep on the couch. And Evan is eerily quiet. So I get up. I look around. And I smell something powdery fresh. And then I realize. I have reached my first moment as a parent where I grab the camera instead of the dish towel.

Ah, who doesn't love the little feet prints?

p.s. Becky don't think I wasn't thinking of Holly this morning. I'm sure it's the not the last time this will happen. :)

1-800-WHATS-THE-NUMBER

2010-07-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

For decades and decades, businesses have advertised their phone numbers with names.

1-800-CALL-ATT

1-877-KARS-4-KIDS

(with the catchy little jingle I hear on the radio)

1-800-PET-MEDS

1-800-CALL-ADT

and on the back of my check card

1-800-NASAFCU

Just the other day I was helping Peggy take care of some bills left over from her old house, and we needed to get a hold of Verizon. I picked up the house phone and started to dial. She laughed, 'What are you doing?' 'I'm dialing 1-800-Verizon of course'. She thought I was joking. Nope, ding ding, you have reach Verizon how can we direct your call (so that you will never actually talk to someone?). Sometimes the easiest solution is the solution.

The kicker is, if they don't also spell out the actual number, you can only dial it on a land line phone (I know, so 1990's right?). Because, unless you have a photographic memory, the letters don't correspond at all on your cell phone. I'm looking at two separate cell phones right now, and the letter 'G' is the #5 on one phone, and doesn't even match up with a number at all on the other. What I'm wondering is if anyone noticed besides me.

I know some will say it's a moot point, because if you are dialing from your cell phone you don't need to worry about long distance vs. local number, because it doesn't cost anymore. And I like talking on my land line phone to people for bills stuff, cause you know you are going to be on there forever so holding up the little phone isn't going to cut it really.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another phone note, my less than 2 year old son is a fan of iCarly. He tried to call her on his phone the other day. :-P

Let's go to the Carnival!

2010-07-20T21:57:00.000-04:00

About a month ago we decided to take Evan to the local carnival. I figured he would like the music and lights and maybe some yummy carnival food too. I pretty much knew he was too small to actually ride anything but no matter. I did consider that I would like to go on the Ferris Wheel, but Matt is not much of a fan of heights (much less rickety heights) and the thought of being up in the air and having Evan decide he wants out scared me. I needed more than just me.

So we arrived, and saw the cutest baby in a cowboy hat ever (we live out in the country if you can't tell). Just adorable.

So I bought tickets to get on the carousel, at least I could go on with him. And then we saw the kid's train. And I wondered if he could do it by himself. We gave it a shot, and put him in the first car so that he would have a steering wheel, and there was another kid with him. To our surprise, he loved it!!

After that, all bets were off. Peggy ran off an bought a book of 20 tickets (should have gotten the bracelet in the first place I guess) and we were off to find rides he could get on. Note he doesn't look very happy in any of them, but he was concentrating on driving and did not want to get off of any.

Evan wanted to drive as many cars as possible

In the end it was a wonderful night. And we donated money to a local fire department that helps to keep our community safe. As we packed up in the car, complete with stuffed animals won and balloons received, there was just a little bit of crying. He did not want to leave for sure. :)

My son can sing........

2010-07-15T22:33:00.000-04:00

My son now knows the entire song of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I sing this often when I just can't think of anything else (though sometimes I slip into the extra lines from Lisa Loeb's version (I could only find someone's dance recital with it)). We listen to that song on her "Catch the Moon" CD that Aunt Becca gave us, he loves it. Here's the title song video:

Anyways, here's how Evan sings it (I haven't been able to catch it on video yet)

twinkle star
i wonder wha da are
up above the word so high
wike a diamond in da sky

*this video post inspired by CityMouse*

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-02T13:54:00.000-04:00

My son on Memorial Day. Every bite of corn was followed by "Mmmmmm!".

Thank you to all of those who have sacrificed and lost (and won) so that Matt and I can raise our family in a safe haven. We are eternally grateful.

My own little pieces of randomness

2010-05-18T23:48:00.000-04:00

Thanks to citymouse, I was inspired to add my own pieces of randomness.

The wedding weekend was very fun but tiring. I laid in bed with Evan this morning, neither of us wanting to get up. He had his head on my chest, and while I rubbed his back, he rubbed my belly. What a wonderful way to start the morning.

Evan has a very cool tie shirt that my friend Jen made him. Complete with a hockey themed tie of course. Check it out, she makes them to order if you think your child is just dying to have one.

The other day Evan wanted to go outside on his tricycle. Complete with Lightning McQueen helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads. Those are thanks to cousin Griff who passed them down, with healthy scrapes in them already. Glad to know they are broken in. Evan enjoys putting all the pads on, but it doesn't usually last very long.

That's all for now, I'm getting frustrated with this blogger cause I can't get everything to sit where I want it to. Drat.

My Review of NERD FLASHCARDS

2010-05-17T13:32:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at UncommonGoods

Geek up the nursery with artist Tiffany Ard's hilarious and brilliant flashcards for your little nerd-to-be. The complete set of 26 alphabet cards teaches young scientists their ABCs. A is for Atom! H is for Hydrogen bonding! While this set of 12 illustrated number cards will help your baby c...

Cute and Dorky (plus some learning too)

By Leebah from Sykesville, MD on 5/17/2010

Gift: No

Pros: Easy To Use, Durable, Colorful

Best Uses: Every Day Use, Learning

Describe Yourself: Quality Oriented

Primary use: Personal

Really neat! We as parents will learn from them too. A must for any child with engineer parents. :)

(legalese)

Movie Reviews by a Mom

2010-04-28T12:56:00.003-04:00

(Note, down another 2 pounds today, almost back to my pre-weekend weight).

I forgot to include this link yesterday in my talk about movies. I can't remember how I stumbled upon it, might have heard her on the radio. But her website is great, she reviews movies not for their technical grades, but how the movie fits as pertains to families. Some G rated movies don't have any good morals to tell at all, etc. She gives letter grades to movies, and will note if there is cursing, nudity, etc. which if you haven't seen a movie you may not know. And may not want to see movies twice.

Media Mom by Nell Minow

******************
Quick picture from the aquarium at the Pittsburgh Zoo. We were in a walk through tunnel. One of my favorites.

Updates and Cups and Boobies and Violence

2010-04-27T11:49:00.004-04:00

I mean, how can this title not make everyone want to read this? :)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Diet updated: I'm starting week three. My total weight loss so far:

*For the first 2 weeks, between 16 and 19 pounds.
*Add one weekend trip to St. Michaels and the wine fest (Becca's Bach thing), plus 5.5 pounds.
*Subtract another 2 pounds this morning, back on the diet, and purging all of the salt my body held onto from the weekend.

All in all, not too bad. I'm still following the Medifast recommendations. It really is making me realize the things I eat. Even when I was not on the diet this weekend, I actively skipped a lot of empty calorie things (some rolls, etc) because they didn't look that great. And why waste calories after all the work unless it was something I would really enjoy?

So I'm down a total of about 15 pounds and I'm happy with that. I'm going to St. Mary's this weekend so I'll be able to try on my dress again and make sure it still fits. :) It was tight before, so this should be good.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A proud family moment:

Evan's first visit with the Stanley Cup that the players hoist above their heads.

............

Also, since I was gone for two full days this weekend, I picked that time to finally wean Evan. Once and for all. Phew. I miss it already, I'm not lying. But I really wanted to get this taken care of before the wedding. Needless to say we have had some rough mornings. Evan goes to sleep like an angel now (I'll post about that another time) but still wakes up early almost every day. This is exacerbated by the fact that the other adults in the house start getting up and getting ready for their day at 4 am.

So now, he wakes up, and he knows he's not very happy, but he can't figure out why. It usually takes a while before he starts going "Bah Bah's??" and then he cries. Like everything else with young toddlers, this too shall pass in a few days. But it already has me thinking about the next one. Even though our life is too busy to breathe sometimes, I can't wait for another newborn. I mean, who else will rub my belly with their super-soft teeny weeny hand? One of the great benefits of nursing for sure.

............

Evan at Easter, hunting plastic eggs with Catherine, they all had cherry tomatoes inside. He loved it.

............

Now for the talk about boobies and violence. (Disclosure: My child is less than 2 so I don't know how I will feel as he gets older). I seem to run into this more and more, people have no problem letting their kids watch semi/violent movies at what seems like a younger age. And maybe for some kids it's no big deal. I know even stuff on regular tv really bothered me as a kid. But if said shows/movies have any mention of sex or nakedness it's a no no. If it shows boobies? Forget it. I'm not talking about showing people doing it or anything. It just seems to me that this is strange. I mean, murder is illegal, sex is not. The naked body is not inappropriate. Not sure if I explained this very well, but I gave it a shot. I'm sure I'll revisit the issue as our boy gets older. Maybe then I will see it from a different perspective.

Malarkey, Medifast, and me

2010-04-16T08:48:00.003-04:00

I've started a diet. I know, I know, that word usually makes the people I live with run screaming for the hills. I tend to get a *little* grumpy when deprived of the things I love. I mean, I love food. Not because I get depressed, don't know what else to do, or all of those other stupid things they show on TV. I love it. Steak is yummy. Lobster, mmmm. Pasta, please I could live on mac n cheese for the rest of my life.

But there are many reasons I need to lose weight. And I feel if I throw them out there it will help motivate me more.

- Better health all around
- I want to have another baby and I would have a better chance of doing it au naturale if I am in better shape
- I just don't look hot in a bikini right now. You're shocked right?
- Want to start riding horses again, and right now it's just not fair to those poor things
- Play better ice hockey. (okay I know it's possible I'm just as crappy with a skinnier body but I should at least have better stamina)
- Becca's wedding is in a month, and I'd rather not be the heaviest I've ever been in a bazillion pictures

So I started on Medifast Sunday. I figured something that doctors support and helped Coach Freidgen (Maryland Football gigantor) lose 100 pounds was worth a shot. The first 3 days were MISERABLE as my body transferred from burning all the carbs I usually eat to burning fat. I faltered the second day, we went to softball and the hot dogs and nachos were too much. But I threw half the nachos away, so that's a bonus.

So I'm still going (day 6 already). I'm going to say my starting weight is X. I didn't weight myself until Tuesday but I figure I couldn't really have lost much since Sunday (uh nacho disaster?) As of last night, I was down 10 pounds. But I'll give that a +/- 3 pounds cause everyone's weight fluctuates a bunch during the day.

But oh cheese and crackers I do miss you so................

E-man and his Vacuum

2010-04-07T13:33:00.005-04:00

We already know the boy likes to clean. Brooms, mops, swiffers, now he's into washing dishes with you, etc. But he especially loves the vacuum...

(Back story: Evan was born on a Tuesday morning. That evening I sent Matt out shopping at Kohl's because I had a 30% off coupon. We needed a new vacuum and the coupon expired that day. I mean, we saved like $80! His mom called to see how the new baby was, and he says "Fine I guess, I'm in line to buy a vacuum". So this makes me think hard about what household thing we should buy on the day our next child is born. It seems to make a large impact.)

...and our vacuum is big and heavy and he's always trying to pull it down on his head. So we finally bought the miniature one. It's a Dirt Devil, makes noise, has the foot release, a front light, and actually sucks up some dirt too. He played with it the entire first day. Here we are vacuuming together.

Random Musings

2010-03-10T12:44:00.005-05:00

***************************************

I just can't stand the word "Chillaxing", especially when it's uttered by a middle-aged engineer at work. I mean really, are we living in Cancun? :-P

***************************************

I'll admit when I walk through the food court at the mall, I love when they are always giving out the samples on toothpicks, mostly of bourbon chicken. Usually I grab them, but it doesn't normally affect what I eat/don't eat. However, the other day I grabbed a toothpick with a piece of cheesesteak, it was chicken, ranch, onions and melted cheese. Holy heck it was good! It actually sucked me in to getting one for lunch (which ironically was okay, not great). Matt couldn't believe it, as I am definitely not a sandwich person. So those toothpick people actually do bring in business apparently.

As an added bonus, when we sat down to eat, a friend of mine was at the table right next to us, so we asked her to join.

**************************************

There are sad things in life, people sick, hurt, abandoned puppies, etc. But sometimes it is the bizarrest things that make you sad. Like that old IKEA commercial about the lamp that they put out to the trash in the rain, and replaced with a new one (directed by Spike Lee apparently).

A while ago I was at a stop light and there was an abandoned pudding snack pack cup in the gutter, unopened. I felt sad for that poor snack pack that would never provide it's greatness with someone. Not that I would have dug it out of the gutter, but really? I sound like Adam Sandler, but was is it about snack packs that are so great? They aren't even very expensive, though it does seem to get harder and harder to find ones that aren't suger-free. Blech. I tried to get a picture of the lonely snack pack, which would make this post so much more exciting, but I was too far away.

(side note: I drafted this post the other day, but went grocery shopping last night, totally bought chocolate pudding snack cups. mmmmmm)

***************************************

Bye Bye Mommy

2010-02-24T09:15:00.003-05:00

When I drop my child off in the morning, he pretty much throws out the bye bye as he is walking away, looking for his breakfast and his favorite Valerie. Not even a backwards glance.

A little part of me is sad, doesn't he love me?

But mostly my heart is so very thankful for the wonderful family that cares for him everyday. My boy is never upset when I leave him, never not wanting to go. Yet he is without fail extremely happy when we pick him up.

Here's to good mothering, whether it's your own child or not.

Miracles on the Frozen Pond

2010-02-22T15:00:00.007-05:00

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice. On this day in 1980, in Lake Placid, NY at the Winter Olympics, the US Men's Hockey Team defeated the heavily favored Soviets. Comprised only of amateur and collegiate players (no NHL dynamos), they went on to win the Gold Medal.

I was only 3 at the time, so I don't remember it. But those I have talked to who do, even if they weren't hockey fans, remember it in all its excitement. It was a proud moment for our country, and I can't even imagine how great it felt for the skaters.

I own this book (though I'm embarrassed to say, I have not finished it).

My 17 month old son grabbed it yesterday off of the book shelf, raised his hands in the air, and yelled, "GOOOOALLLLLL!" I should also mention that that is his reaction to anything hockey.

He also did this when he saw a picture of my niece celebrating her own win the other day. This picture makes me proud. As it does her parents, I'm sure.

Another pic of Matt and I when we had *2* hockey teams, we were the Maroons. This was during the days when Matt still let Becca and Julie die his hair blond from time to time.

I love the game of hockey.

I love that I am the captain of a team that loses more often than wins, but is laughing the entire way.

I love that it is something I can share with my husband, my family, my nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, and someday my children.

I love that it is a cold winter sport, because hot outside stuff is yuck. So even in summer, going to play on ice is always refreshing. Ok, sometimes stinky.

I love that I have made some lifelong friends playing hockey. People that are now a part of our lives that I would never give up.

There are things in my life that obviously come before hockey; God and my family take top billing of course. But it is a wonderful way to spend time with the ones I love. To watch it in the Olympics is very exciting.

So today, here's to Herb Brooks and the 1980 Gold Medal winning US Ice Hockey Team. We are all very proud.

Photography Phun

2010-02-18T13:21:00.003-05:00

As if my time isn't busy enough, I am in another photography class at Carroll Community College learning about "Photographing the Family like a Pro". The class should really be titled "How to use your flash correctly and not make people look yellow or fat". :) I have actually learned a lot.

We spend a good amount of time in class sharing photos we have taken and discussing the goods and bads. I brought this one taken during the big ole' snow we had the other day and it was really liked. I used flash and it's a little bright, but otherwise well composed.

I also follow a blog from a photographer who always posts good tidbits. I don't even know how I found her but if you are interested, check her out. (oh just added my first link, yea!)

Also, would like to say congrats to my friend Citymouse who received a beautiful SLR from her loving Countrymouse. May you take many beautiful photos.

Verizon Mathematical Stupidy

2009-12-11T14:50:00.002-05:00

So I just had to write this down before I forget the phone call I got today. On my cell. From an 877 number. Turned out it was Verizon Wireless (just for info they had sent me a *free* text message yesterday saying I was getting close to my limit - we do not have unlimited texting).

So the operator was calling to talk to me about my current plan (I could hear someone in the background saying the stuff so I'm assuming he was training). Basically after fumbling around on our account he comes up with these numbers (we have two cell lines):

First line: 131 texts
Second line: 28 texts
Total this month: 159 (and the month ends in 4!! days)
Our free limit: 200

Our current plan: $69 + 6 for texts
He proposes: $99 to included free texting

So I say "You are asking us to add $24 to our bill?? In case we can't keep to 40 texts in the next 4 days??"

He was pretty quiet.

I also told him they need to do a little more math before they bother calling me in the middle of the day.

Ugh.

First Haircut!

2009-11-17T09:45:00.004-05:00

Finally took Evan for his first haircut. I was reluctant, I knew when it was over he wouldn't ever look like the baby he was. He would from now on be a little boy. :( He was an absolute angel, especially since the lady let him hold a balloon during the whole process.

Before:

After:

He was rewarded with dinner at Chick Fil A. We also got pictures done, so all in all a productive night.

But I miss the fly away hair...........

My Review of WHAT'S MY PEE TELLING ME?

2009-10-19T08:58:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at UncommonGoods

What goes in must come out. It's that simple. But what does it all mean?!? Therein lies the mystery - and the key to your health and happiness. In this entertaining and fact-filled guide, the authors of our number two bestseller What's Your Poo Telling You? expand their probing inquiry int...

Hilarious and Informative!

By Leebah from Sykesville, MD on 10/19/2009

Gift: Yes

Pros: Informative, Funny

Best Uses: Bathroom, Living Room

Describe Yourself: Midrange Shopper

I Am A: Family Young Kids

This book was a great follow-on to "What's your poo telling you?" I bought both for my sister's birthday, but I had to read them before I gave them away. Hilarious!

(legalese)

For the Love of Fall and a big Pooh

2009-10-09T08:43:00.004-04:00

I love this time of year. It feels crisp outside, the sky is blue, the clouds all different shapes and sizes. Leaves are starting to change, and some are already falling, leaving that wonderful crunching sound beneath your feet. I thoroughly enjoy cooler weather (and I get a little frustrated when people insist on already saying 'It's cold!') Shut it people, winter will be on us soon enough and you can save your gripin' for then. For now, please let me enjoy the wonderfulness of fall.

I struggle with explaining to people every year that cold does not always equal unhappy to everyone. To me mostly cold = refreshing. Can you tell I'm not a summer person unless I'm in a pool or the ocean?

***
I own a very large stuff Winnie the Pooh, a very dear friend gave it to me years ago. I decided to use it as a 'growth' chart for Evan. I took pictures of him with it every month, later I will put all twelve together in some fashion. For now here is the beginning to end. :)

Beginning:

End:

Randos

2009-09-30T09:22:00.003-04:00

Couple of random things that I don't want to forget about Evan when he's this age.

* He loves cell phones, when he gets one in his hand, he wings it up to his ear and starts talking out load. Then he switches to the other ear. (Guess he doesn't want to wear them out). But even funnier are the other things he uses as phones, usually tv remotes, but one time my deodorant.

* He doesn't say many words, most of his verbal stuff is descriptive --- oohhh, aaahhh, ooooos, something like that. And they are hilarious.

--- He farts loud, looks at me, Oh!.

--- He drops something on purpose, oooohh.

--- And when you pick him up (he's over 26 pounds already), he says uhhh, like he's the one doing the work.

Small Frustrations

2009-09-17T14:26:00.002-04:00

This will be my first "WHOHOO, DAMMIT" entry. It is not my original idea, I pay homage to my friend with the reddest hair. She has wonderful ones, my favorite one from memory being something like WHOHOO: We made yummy cookies tonight. DAMMIT: The dog got on the table and ate them all.

So here goes.

WHOHOO: Someone at my work hipped me to the fact that we could access lite.facebook.com. So I could see people's updates, but skip the junk (and facebook is blocked otherwise so yea!).
DAMMIT: That person had discovered it from a post made on our own 'facebook-like' posting board here at work. Well that posting board is run by the people in IT, so after 4 days of fun, lite is no longer.

Maybe I will post these from now on with labels more to the words I use daily. Maybe.....

Silly!
Dagger!

or something like that.

A Whole Year!!

2009-09-16T15:06:00.008-04:00

365 days ago, our son was born. It still is hard to believe. Now he is a walking (wobbly), talking (okay only he knows what he's saying) small person. Who steals my Capri Sun and sucks it down when I'm not looking. Who holds the cell phone up to his ear and talks out loud to who knows who. Who says "bwoons" to his birthday balloons. Who claps to himself for random things.

Here he is at his birthday party, the do-rag only lasted a minute.

******************************************************************

Evan went through his first real sickness week ago, some summer virus thing, that came with a high fever, followed by an all over rash. And his first throw up, all over me. Yuck. To top it off he started to get his molars, so he was beyond miserable. We took this picture during all of this, and he had fallen asleep on mommy's chest so he was all sweaty. Just looks a disaster. The picture does not do him justice. :)

**************************************************************************

We also stopped at Rehoboth Beach for the day over the Labor Day Weekend. He was having a great time crawling around in the sand until a wave snuck up the beach and soaked him. I got a picture not long after this, it is a favorite of mine.

Growing up Quickly

2009-08-25T22:21:00.004-04:00

Evan is growing fast. He will be a year old in less than a month. I can hardly believe it.

Today he took two steps on his own, although he thought that once he was standing on his own, it was more fun to dance than to walk, so we will see how it goes. Matt and I are constantly amazed at the things he picks up, and how quickly he changes from day to day. And we are constantly chasing him too :).

Matt took this picture a few days ago in our front yard. He hardly seems like a baby anymore.

Top-Heavy Boy

2009-06-11T10:33:00.003-04:00

I'm convinced that poor Evan will be plagued by his big head (it is a Bucior head after all). He was sitting on the couch with Daddy watching game six, and he kept trying to peer over the edge of the couch on to the floor. Needless to say, after three close calls (and I mean nose an inch from the floor before daddy grabbed him, like the chick in Bring It On), he finally managed to fall on his noggin when we weren't watching. I mean, he's like the reverse of a weeble wobble.

Remember these?

Oh the pretty jellies

2009-06-03T23:35:00.001-04:00

I just finished my photography class last week, Crafting the Photograph, designed to help me learn how to use my SLR camera. It was wonderful, and I learned so much. (I also learned there is so much more to learn, grrrrr.) I met some great new friends as well.

This jellyfish is a picture I am particularly proud of, taken at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We visited with some family, and Evan seemed to think it was pretty neat. I took this photo on manual mode (meaning I had to make some decisions). Although it could use some touching up in Photoshop, overall I think it came out well. Their new jellies exhibit is pretty neat.

My first Mother's Day

2009-06-03T23:18:00.005-04:00

Evan made me a picture frame at daycare for my first Mother's Day present ever (it appears he had help since he didn't come home with glue all over his hands). It feels great to be a mom, although so busy at times I can't think, I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I'm excited thinking that it will get better and better.

Slacker

2009-05-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I'm already slacking on something I've hardly started. Boo! My hopes are to keep people updated with what is happening in our lives, so I'm going to try harder to keep up.

Evan turns 8 months old in 8 days, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Here is a picture taken a few weeks ago by Matt, in his cool new floppy.

1st E-man Blog

2009-02-10T15:32:00.000-05:00

Getting the blog started. Here's Matt and Evan at Matt's first game back on the ice (about 2 weeks old). Very tiny, and not too excited to be there. Check out the Nordiques onesie.

Then you can see us at my first game back, a bit bigger. He does love to hang out in the locker room.