Lots going on

It's been a long time since I last posted, and we've had lots of new things happening here - some good, some not-so-good. I think I'm finally ready to write about some of them, but...

For personal reasons, and because our recent tragedy has been so very public (including newspaper announcements, etc.), I'm going  to change the format of this blog to be password-protected, so if you're a follower or a friend, please email me at howitisnowadays@gmail.com for the password and I'll be happy to add you!  Even if we don't know each other, I can still add you to the list if you'd like to follow what's going on in our family.  But I don't feel comfortable sharing everything with the entire interweb...I'm sure you understand how that is.

I'll be changing over to the new format on September 12, so send me a message before then.

Thanks again for all the love, folks!  We've been continuing to receive messages of encouragement and cards from people letting us know they're still thinking of us and praying for our family and we are so grateful!

Has it really been that long?

May 4th was the last post?

Disgraceful.

I'll be updating soon with stories of summer fun and loads of new pictures, including one of our new little preschooler - Jack!

Thanks for checking in!

Three little boys + lots of fun + no sleep = not much time for blog posts

...but there are lots of tales to tell!

Dear Diary...

...remember when I used to have a blog?

And I'd update it fairly regularly with photos of my children and tidbits about what we'd been up to recently?

And people far away could check in and see how adorable the boys are and how big they're getting and it was a nice way to stay in touch and keep people posted?

Yeah...that was awesome.

I'd like to get back to that and update it again so there's not a big gap between Halloween and the arrival of our new baby in FIVE (six) SHORT WEEKS!!

Mmmmkay? Mmmmmkay.
xoxo
Eileen


Dear Eileen,
HOP TO IT!
Diary

Prom time!

Well, it's prom season again, and here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania that can only mean one thing...

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Wait for it...

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Stretch buggies!

Dining in style

First it was new living room furniture, now we're dining in style as well and feeling like grown ups! A local store was going out of business and we scored a great deal on a new dining room table and chairs, as well as a buffet and hutch.

It's amazing how similar our styles are. After looking through the entire showroom and feeling sort of "eh" about a few things, Patrick and I both saw this table and said "YES!" It was actually already sold and set aside for someone else, but we were lucky enough to finagle a deal in getting another one from the warehouse. The same kind of thing happened with the cabinet, which was in another location. As soon as we saw it, we loved it.

For "before" pictures, check out this post. The table was a hand-me-down from a friend, and had to be at least 40 years old, with chairs that were literally falling apart. The china cabinet didn't fit our china, and looked dwarfed, even in our teeny dining room.

And now...voila!

You gotta love how much class the high chair and booster seat add to the ensemble!

I absolutely LOVE the china we picked for our wedding, and now we're able to show off all six place settings that we have.

(Note to self, pick up a few more of those when you hit the lottery!)

It makes me happy to pick things out together with Patrick and to shed some of the remnants from our single days.

Reunited and it feels so good...

I'll spare you my Peaches and Herb impression. (But I've always wondered, is that "herb" as in oregano, or "herb" as in Herbert Hoover?)

Sometimes it's nice to spend time apart from people you love. I find I'm always more patient with the boys after I've spent an hour or two away from them. They always seem to have gotten cuter while I was gone.

It's the same with Patrick. He works from home, so there are not too many days that we don't see each other, but he's been away at a conference since Sunday morning. I don't like it when he's away, but it does give me a chance to miss him, and think about how much I love him and want to be with him. We're both anxiously awaiting his arrival home tonight. Today, that is what makes me happy.

That said, I've just put the boys down for a nap. I can count on about 45 minutes to an hour that they'll both be sleeping at the same time.

Should I spend that time:

(A) cleaning the house (since the boys and I were gone for a few days and it looks like our suitcases and grocery bags threw up in here)?

(B) showering and shaving my legs (since the showering part hasn't happened yet today and the shaving part hasn't happened yet this week...and...well...you know)?

or

(C) preparing something special for dinner?

What would you do?

Wine time

I've never been a big drinker. I didn't have my first drink until I was 21. It was a mudslide, bought for me by my friend, Kerry. Since then, I've come to find that I enjoy a sweet drink here and there (amaretto sours are nice), I love a gin and tonic on a warm summer evening (extra limes, please), I like a nice, hoppy beer (but you can keep the Budweisers or Coors Lights), and I have an affinity for wine.

I'm no connoisseur - far from it. I know what I like and I know what I don't like, and I have no idea about earthy undertones or slightly woody cask flavors. I love Cabernet Sauvignon, but I can't stand Merlot. I like sweet whites like Chardonnay and Riesling, but not Pinot Grigio so much.

But more than anything, I just like sitting down with my husband after our boys are in bed and having a glass of wine together. Or two.

In the summer, we'll sit out on the deck, play some music and light some candles and just marvel at how wonderful it is to be together.

We shared some Shiraz on Friday night (inside) and it reminded me how much I love sharing that time with him.

How about you? Are you a wine lover? Is it a passion or just a casual affinity like mine? Which vino is your favorite?

(Oh, and what do you think of the new layout?)

Dwight K. Schrute

Although for a while there, I was worried that The Office had jumped the shark, I think lately it's redeemed itself.

There's just something about the caricatures of the kinds of employees found in every office that cracks me up. I've definitely worked with my share of Stanleys (though they were usually female), Kellys, and Phyllises. But there's something about this guy

that makes me laugh. Dwight is my favorite character on The Office. Who is yours?

I missed it!

Well, yesterday was my one year blogiversary ... and I missed it.

Nausea and fatigue have settled in like unwanted house guests and the new focus of my days has been trying to stave them off.

It's a good sign, I know, and I'm glad I decided to enjoy the nausea-free weeks of early pregnancy instead of worrying that something was wrong, like I did with the first two. Unfortunately, though, if I thought it was hard keeping up with Jack when I felt nauseous with PJ, keeping up with both of them is even harder. I have no tolerance for two-year-old tantrums - even when they're as few and far between as Jack's are. I'm ready for bed by 7 p.m.

We had a relatively low-key holiday season, which was perfect. Family came here on Christmas day, and then Patrick had the whole week off between Christmas and New Year's day. We did next to nothing, which I know bummed him out a little bit (his to-do list was posted on our blackboard weeks before vacation started and I think he got...let me see...NONE of the things on it done). But I know he was going fast and furious to meet his year end deadlines for work and he really needed the down time. We vegged out, we spent way too much time online, and we played with our boys. It was just perfect.

Oh, we also moved Jack into a toddler bed! He's so tall that he's been easily able to swing one leg up and over the side of his crib for a while now, and we wanted to avoid the eventual fall. My brother and sister-in-law gave us a toddler bed that their little ones had grown out of and we painted it black to match the furniture in Jack's room. Eventually, Jack, his toddler bed, and his furniture will be moved into PJ's room, the boys will share a room, and Jack's room will become the nursery.

Jack is very excited about this, and PJ, who adores his big brother, is going to be thrilled, I'm sure. I just hope they will actually sleep in there together.

We could never have known, when we moved into this house in August of 2006, that just three years later the bedrooms would be filled with three little children! It's unreal.

And finally, just to continue the whole lack-of-rhyme-or-reason theme of this post, following is a conversation that just took place:

Me: Jack, I think you're cute.

Jack: No, my not cute.

Me: Yes you are cute!

Jack: No, no my not cute.

Me: Okay, then I think Daddy's cute.

Jack: No, Daddy not cute. My cute.

Me: You're cute?

Jack: Yeah. Mommy cute and my cute.

A few Christmas polls

Patrick and I are both big fans of eggnog, but I have heard rumors that there are people who can't stand the stuff. While I think this is unfathomable - akin to disliking air, or water - I would like to know whether the rumors are true.


Now, fruitcake is another story. I wouldn't touch the stuff with a 39 1/2 -foot pole. Patrick, on the other hand, loves it.


Vote on the right: where do you stand on these two Christmassy concoctions?

What's your favorite Christmas Carol?

It still doesn't feel all that Christmassy around here, so I've been listening to Christmas music to get me in the mood.

(I think putting up some decorations and losing the pumpkins might help too.)

Anyway, while I like the more popular carols, I tend to enjoy the melodies of some of the lesser-known carols. Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella, and the Coventry Carol are two examples.

For you classical music afficianados out there, I also really love Poulenc's four Christmas motets.

I have a hard time picking a favorite, but I think it might be O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

What's yours?

Under Seige

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.

It was nice to see family, but we brought a nasty stomach bug back with us from New York. It's made the rounds and we're anxious to wish it farewell. (As in, here's your hat, what's your hurry?)

Cleaning up "sick" and soothing feverish babies is so hard. Not because it's labor-intensive, but because it's so tough to see your babies not feeling well. I would do anything to take the sickies away from them!

We should be back to normal soon.

Then, I think I'll need to cook another Thanksgiving-esque dinner just so we can try keeping one down.

More randomness

It's amazing to me how quickly technology becomes obsolete.

I've had more than one hard drive put into my computer in the last year. I bought it new in 2004, and sometimes this laptop seems ancient - maybe there's really a baby pterodactyl in there pecking the words onto a stone tablet like the Flintstones might have.

Because of these hardware updates, I'm never sure which photos are on here and which are on the external drive. A quick peek at the ones on here this morning yielded some favorites that I thought I'd share.

On my first trip to Paris, I used film and my Canon Rebel. I'm so glad I did!

Here are a few favorites from that trip:

Then, I saw that my engagement pictures are on here.

The story of us ended rather abruptly, I know, and what I didn't tell you is that Patrick proposed to me while we were in Ireland. I love that he had the forethought to have me hand my camera to someone standing nearby at the Cliffs of Moher for what I thought would just be a posed picture of the two of us.

He got down on one knee and she started snapping. Not many people have photos of their engagement. These are priceless.

The question of the day today is: where is the furthest you've traveled from your home?

For me, it was Amsterdam.

Tuesday Two

Just two random things for today.

One

I saw your profile and I think you deserve a chance to get to know me. I think we could get along well so be sure to check out my profile. If you are interested (which I know you will be), drop me a line, and if you sound as interesting as your profile says .... I might write back ;)

Yes, that was another message I received on Match.com. (Click here for more of those beauties.) I'm sure he was trying to be funny, but you can be sure that on principle alone, I did not even reply.

Two

I’m borrowing this from Mommy Knows and copying the next sentence and 4 points below word for word. It’s not really a game…but the results can be interesting!

• Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
• Turn to page 11.
• Find the eleventh sentence.
• Post that sentence in a comment here; include the title of the book and author.
  

Here is the quote, title and author that I used over at Mommy Knows:

“Most moms feel it is not cool to ask friends or relatives to watch their children while they do something like read a book at the coffee shop.”
Smart Mom’s Baby-sitting Co-op Gary Myers

I'm curious to see what you come up with. The book doesn't have to be one you're in the process of reading...just whatever happens to be right there.

A busy fall...

This season has certainly brought with it a lot of activity!

Last weekend, we went to pick pumpkins at Milky Way Farm for my niece's birthday. My camera battery was dead, so I took some pictures with my sister-in-law's camera, which I'll post when she sends them to me. It was a gorgeous day, and we had lots of fun - hayrides, baby animals to pet, and, of course, time in the pumpkin patch picking out the perfect jack-o-lantern-to-be.


This past week, I had a book show for some grandmothers who wanted to do some holiday shopping for their grandchildren. It was a blast! If you have children on your holiday shopping list, consider checking out my Mystery Hostess show. You can get some great gifts and have a chance to win some free books for your family too! The hostess of my show on Wednesday received...are you ready?...$150 in free books! As you can imagine, she was thrilled!


On Saturday, we took Jack and PJ to the Strasburg Railroad again, only this time, we actually took a ride on the train. Jack was in heaven! We had such a fun time watching him. He'd been anticipating it for months now, since the last time we went, we told him that one day we'd take him for a ride on the "big black choo-choo."

First and foremost, we had to get a big bag of kettle corn for the trip. Sooo yummy - a little sweet, a little salty. (Oh yeah, the diet. Corn is a vegetable, right?)

The trains are just so well-maintained and beautiful. Here's the conductor waving as the train pulls into the station.



Waiting for our ride to start.



Jack was so stinking cute.



Checking out the beautiful farmland.



We all wore our Sox hats, hoping they'd pull through and make it to the series again.

(Missed it by that much!)

Anyway, PJ turned his head into Patrick's chest, and when he turned back, his hat looked like this.



How cute is this kid? He smiles about 99% of the day.

Even though he's teething something fierce.



Finally, yesterday, I tried my hand at Bakerella's cupcake pops for a birthday party last night.

If you want to try them yourself, you might be interested to know that I found the pops a lot easier to make than the bites (same thing without a stick), simply because I couldn't get the chocolate to dry smooth and flat enough on the bottom to get them to sit up and not topple over.

My biggest challenge was presentation, since they were just stuck into a white styrofoam rectangle and I didn't know what to do with it. I didn't really figure it out until we were en route to the party, but if I do them in the future (which I probably will), I'll put the styrofoam on a plate or in a basket, and put colorful curling ribbons - like the kind you buy to stick on top of a package - around the bottom to cover the styrofoam.

They were a little labor-intensive, but a lot of fun to make, and while I don't think mine came out quite as cute as hers did, they still looked good and tasted really yummy.





Not on the Raw Food diet, of course, but what I really liked about them was that one pop was two bites big, and totally enough.

Happy Monday!

Monster Pops

I have Bakerella's blog listed in my favorites way down there at the right, but I need to make sure you guys see her Trick or Treats post. These are the cutest little monster pops!

Click on the photo to see how she makes them.

If I'm feeling ambitious, I might try to make the pumpkin ones this weekend for my niece's birthday.

Might.

We'll see how it goes.

Free time and I haven't seen each other for a while.

Anyway, in addition to being adorable, they're not just lollipops...they're CUPCAKE pops, people! Oh yes. I like cake.

Did you notice the weight loss ticker is gone?

Coincidence? I think not.

Just curious...

I've tried to keep politics out of this blog, even though I have fairly strong feelings about a few issues (don't we all?).

But just out of curiosity, will you humor me by taking this totally scientific and groundbreaking poll? (And by that I mean I might just send it in to the election committee if the electoral college is in a deadlock or if there's another "dimpled chad" debacle.)

Your votes are completely anonymous to me and everyone else, unless you choose to leave a comment to go along with it.

Insert clever title here

Ok, ok - you were right. I paid $3 for the flowers!

Don't you agree that a bunch like that could cost at least 25 bucks in a florist shop? If I learned one thing from my professional floral design classes, it's to make your arrangements look like they cost more than they did, but the Amish lady up the road put that baby together...all I did was plop it into a pitcher!

Well, it was a beautiful day here today and it got me feeling like Fall is coming soon.

And we all know what that means.

That's right - Gingerbread Lattes! Pumpkin Spice, people! Bring it on!

If you want a chance to get a FREE $10 Starbucks card, head on over to Mommy Knows and leave your two cents' worth.

I have some cute videos of the boys to post soon. PJ is absolutely smitten with his older brother, and Jack likes to make him giggle. You can't help but smile.

Telling stories

First of all, I have to apologize for yet another post without pictures. My power cord is still not back, and of course all the photo uploading software is on my laptop.

(Or is it downloading? Am I downloading them from my camera onto the computer, or uploading them? I'm never sure which one of those to use. Just when I thought I was all computer savvy having a blog - Hey, check me out! I blog! - I go and show my complete lack of understanding with a comment like that. And don't even get me started on HTML. Not only do I have no idea how to use it aside from occasionally putting the word "center" along with some greater than/less than signs in front of something I want centered, I have no idea what it stands for, and when I see it, I say "hate mail" in my head.)

Anyway, sometime relatively soon, you'll get a big ol' post chock full of photos. I promise.

So in the northeast, the weather the past few days has been absolutely gorgeous! Clear, cooler, low humidity...it's a little reminder to me that the summer is almost over and fall is close on its heels. I couldn't be happier. I adore the fall. In fact, if forced at gunpoint to rank the four seasons in order of how much I like them, I'd say fall, winter, spring, summer. That's right - summer would come dead last.

Why, you ask? Well, for the simple reason that it's too dang hot. In the winter, one can always put on another sweater and eventually get comfortable. In the summer, it's always uncomfortable, even with nothing on. Not that I go outside with nothing on, but I'm just saying - even if I did, I'd still be hot. There's just no relief, and I'm so thankful for air conditioning.

As an aside, do you remember that awful heat wave that hit Europe a few years back? Most Americans don't - we didn't hear too much about it in our news, despite the fact that in France alone, the death toll was around 11,000! That's right - eleven THOUSAND! I took a trip to the Netherlands that summer and brought some newspapers back to show to my French class, and was shocked that my students knew nothing about it. I asked them to guess how many people died - they didn't even come close and didn't believe me when I finally told them.

This post is taking on a life of its own.

I had three reasons for entitling it "Telling stories" and now, to get into all three seems like it would just make it entirely too long. But I'll keep going - I'm trying to put off folding a load of laundry that's been sitting in the dryer since yesterday. Maybe I'll just hit "fluff" first and come back to finish. Why don't you do the same and I'll meet you back here in a minute?

Okay, so first of all - Jack is telling stories right now. Three or four word stories, and I am just loving it! He's gotten so verbal lately and loves to repeat everything. He has just started telling me that a cow is a cow and not a "Moo." It's like he'd been hearing the words cow and sheep and they were in there all along and only just finally came out...which makes me want to be extra careful about other words he might hear all along and which might eventually come out.

Anyway, a few of his favorites to tell right now go like this:

There's the one about his orange balloon that popped - you remember that one, right? It goes "Pop...boon...or (sounds like "are" for "orange")...Nana." Translation: the orange balloon popped but Nana got me a new one.

Then there's the one about going to Strasburg Railroad with Patrick that goes "Back choo-choo...Dada...woo-WOO!...wau (sounds like the first syllable of "water")...shhhhh!" Translation: I saw a black choo-choo with Dada and the whistle said woo-WOO and they put water in it and then it made a noise like SHHHH!

I just can't get enough of these little stories, which is good because he likes to tell them about 10 times per day. He goes through his entire repertoire. There are about five all together. It's my new favorite thing.

The second story telling thing I wanted to talk about is the two (TWO!) books I've read since we've been sans television. I'm loving it! Both were murder mysteries, and I thought I'd give a little review of each.

The first, St. Patrick's Day Murder, was the one I likened to an episode of Murder, She Wrote. If you liked that show, back when the things that seem way too big now - like glasses and hair - didn't seem way too big, then you'll like this book. The characters are likable, the heroine is charming. It was a perfect fluffy summer read.

The second, Vita Nuova, was a little more somber and I liked it a lot less. It was nothing like Dante's La Vita Nuova, in case you're wondering, and I wasn't particularly fond of the author's writing style. Plus, there were so many typos that it was almost painful. In this day and age, I don't understand how books get published with typos in them. With spell checkers and grammar checkers, it seems like there should be something that would catch the mistakes. Anyway, I'd give this one a two out of five star rating. Maybe even one.

Lastly, I'm no stranger to story telling myself, and although my first attempt was foiled by a computer meltdown, I did start to write a novel about my adventures in Internet dating. I think I am going to start writing it again. I was able to salvage a few segments of the eleven chapters I'd written, so maybe I'll post a few on here to get your feedback. Even though I didn't know it at the time I started writing, it ended up being the beginning of the story of how I met Patrick. Now that the story has an ending, I think it might be fun to put the whole thing together.

If you made it this far, you're a loyal reader and I'm grateful. If this were a diary entry, my hand would be cramping by now. I'm signing off.

Have a great week!

And the winner is...

Ok, so it's not Monday, but I have a little bit of time in between cleaning like a madwoman for my parents' stay, Patrick's taking the boys to the park, and packing some of my own things to stay at their house tonight (we're doing a house swap - how's that for fabulous and free?) to post this news.

The winner is...no one!

Not one person posted every time in July!

Geez - I can't give this stuff away.

Holly had the most posts with 11 out of the 12, but that was only counting her extra credit post, which I didn't count in the 12, if that makes sense.

Oh well. Was the contest a bad idea? Did I post too often to keep up?

I tried not to do every day, and to allow comments after the day of the post, but I do understand that people have a lot going on.

So maybe we'll do another contest in the fall...what do you think?

In the meantime, here's the scoop on the weekend:

PJ was up three times before it was even midnight last night, with a total of 5 or 6 (I lost count) for the night. Just brutal, people! It's got to be a combination of teething and his cradle cap itching like mad because he always scratches big gashes in his scalp. I know that if I had a wicked itch, I wouldn't be able to sleep well either. Anyone who has suggestions on how to make the itching stop, please (PLEASE) let me know! Baby oil? Does that work?

So Patrick and I are getting out of Dodge as soon as my parents arrive today - at around 4:30 or so - going to their house, and doing ...are are you ready?...NOTHING. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

We are both like walking zombies. I'm slightly better than I was when Jack was this age - and Patrick is slightly worse, mainly because I'm having him help me after the 3rd or 4th wakeup of the night - but we're both just completely exhausted.

Autumn's idea of a movie marathon and Chinese takeout is just what the doctor ordered. In fact, Patrick and I were the two people who voted for staying in and watching movies, so how's that for a concensus?

My parents even have a flat screen TV with a DVD player in their bedroom (hooray!), so we don't even have to get out of bed, except to change the disc.

And if we feel up to it, we may walk down to the neighborhood pool to take a dip.

Does that not sound like an absolute dream weekend for a pair of sleep-deprived zombies?

Yes, it does! Er...or no, it doesn't not.

Why did I have to word that question so weirdly?

Okay then, it's back to work so that we can rest.

Enjoy the weekend!