In 2011…

I hit a major milestone.

So did my son.

And my daughter.

And my marriage.

And our country.

We lost a loved one.

And had the (not so) tough conversation.

We lost a pioneer.

We were back in the ER.

We had a fire in our backyard.

I watched a real life fairytale.

We went to Disney.

We went to the grand opening of LEGOLAND.

I went to my first Jags game.

Daniel started playing two new sports.

Annabel started dance class and got her first bike.

I had my heart broken by a woman.

Then, I fell in love with another one.

I met a Real Housewife.

I met Greg Brady.

I met Taylor Swift.

I spent the night with some New Kids.

Daniel went to his first movie.

I added another movie to my all-time-favorites list.

And another.

We decided not to travel and spent Thanksgiving at home.

We spent Christmas at home too.  And went on some fun holiday adventures.  Daniel even ice skated for the very first time.

And we rang in the new year with some great friends.

It was a year of major milestones and family moments.  I’m excited (nervous? curious?) what 2012 will bring.

Well, FOUR more things.  Quick things.  Promise.

My last week of October was CRAZY.  Annabel had her very first class party.  It was “Fall” themed and I was one of the moms in charge of the crafts, food, and fun.  It was also my first time observing her in the classroom setting and it was such a joy to see her interacting with her little friends.

Daniel had his Fall “Hoe Down” at school where the kids gathered in the gymnasium for games and DJ dancing.  Daniel did not dance, but he loved the games. He’s a pretty competitive kid.  I think he won about fifteen Halloween themed pencils and slap bracelets.

Then, later that night, my super hot and hip hubbie had a big Halloween bash with his radio station.  He went as rapper Pitbull.  I went as a Mom who stays home to babysit while wearing comfy PJs and watching backlogged episodes of Up All Night.  Here’s a photo of the real Pitbull:

And here’s Hubbie in his costume:

Pretty good, huh?  I’m still getting used to his super shaved head.  He wants to keep it.  We’ll see…

Finally, we hosted a Halloween party at our house for some close friends on Saturday afternoon.  The weather had the perfect Autumn chill so of course we made the kids bob for apples in a bin filled with cool water.  They loved it.  We also had a bounce house, pin the tail on the black cat, a bat pinata, and lots of really good “bad” food.

Okay.  I think I’m ready to say, “Hello, November.”  How about you?

It’s when the holidays come around that I realize I’ve been living in Jacksonville for almost five years now. We moved to Florida in February 2007 for Hubbie’s radio gig.  It was an adjustment.  We came down from Maryland where we lived in a suburb about 30 miles outside of Washington, DC.   It was a place where we had all the seasons and most of my favorite childhood memories involved holiday traditions.  We definitely wanted to create those same memories for our children here in Florida. In Maryland, I remember going to Butler’s Orchard every Halloween season to pick out pumpkins and go on a hay ride.  So I wanted a pumpkin patch tradition for my family in Florida.

Daniel was one year old in 2007 when we found a fun pumpkin patch down the street from where we lived.

Then, Annabel was born in 2008 and we went back again.

And then we went again in 2009…

and again in 2010.

And here we are again in 2011.  The pumpkin patch tradition continues.  (We’ll see how much longer the kiddies can fit on that little blue tractor.  Hee.)

Or should I say, “Happy Kim Kardashian gets a divorce day” or ”Happy Jessica Simpson really is preggers day!”

No, I’ll just say Happy Halloween!  Because it felt like this day was never going to get here.  We have been celebrating all week long. I’m officially exhausted.  But my little UPS truck driver and my adorable pink Minnie Mouse had a blast.  Now I’m going to put my feet up, throw on some mindless television, and sneak a couple of those Reese’s cups from the plastic pumpkins.  See you tomorrow.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks adjusting back to “normal” after our beach vacation.  Plus, add the fact that Hubbie went away for the weekend to attend Queen’s funeral and then, we both got sick. Yeah, good times.  It was some nasty stomach virus and the only up side was that the kiddies did not get it.  THANK GOODNESS.  But, needless to say, the house has not been cleaned and there is laundry piling up.  It took all my energy yesterday to get the house refilled with groceries and toiletries.  Today, I feel much more “normal.”

I was also able to FINALLY download all our beach photos!  We go to Myrtle Beach, SC every summer with my parents and my sister’s family.  They all drive south.  We drive north.  We meet in the middle.  It’s the best case scenario for everyone.  It’s so awesome for all the cousins to hang out together.  They are all around the same age and they love each other so much.  We spent loads of time on the beach, in the waves, in the awesome indoor/outdoor pools, and at Broadway at the Beach.

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays and we threw a party in our beach hotel room to celebrate.  We decorated the windows and had crafts for the kids.  Hubbie made some mean hot dogs and chicken fingers and my sister was in charge of the red, white and blue ice cream treats.  We watched A Capitol Fourth on PBS and danced along to the live performances.  Even Grandma and Grandpa. The night was perfect.  (Although Annabel did miss the flag painting because she was so exhausted. You can see her in the background just snoozing on the sofa.  But, don’t worry,  she was awake before dessert and the fireworks on the balcony.)

Happy Father’s Day to the most awesome Daddy in the whole wide world.

Love,

Bean and Annabelly

My Mother’s Day celebration started early.  I went to Daniel’s preschool for a special Mother’s Day luncheon on Friday.   Daniel gave me a homemade vase and the teacher read aloud questionnaires filled out by each child about his or her Mother.  When it was my turn, I learned that (according to Daniel):

I have silver/yellow hair. (Note to self: Book hair color appointment pronto.)

I am 40 years old. (Many kids said their Mom was 18 or 21.  I guess I should be glad he has a good memory, right?)

I like to vacuum. (At least everyone knows I’m not a Hoarder.)

My favorite color is pink. (I’ll take it.)

I don’t like to cook ALL of the time. (Understatement of the year, kid.)

But when I do cook, I cook fish sticks the worst.  Because I let them get black in the oven that one time. (???)

Okay.  I have NEVER cooked fish sticks.  Not once.  Hubbie cooks homemade tilapia fish sticks.  On the STOVE TOP.  And he has never burnt them. Not once. Daniel has an amazing imagination.  He loves to make up stories.  But, COME ON!  I would have rather he imagined me as a 25 year old who never, ever cooks.  That’s okay.  He made it up to me with the yummy lunch buffet and lots of hugs.

Speaking of cooking, Hubbie is the Top Chef of our family.  He made me an amazing Mother’s Day breakfast on Sunday.  I had french toast with bananas and fresh berries.

My gift was a morning at the spa for a 90 minute massage.  HEAVEN.  Then, I was back home for my yummy poached salmon lunch.

It was a day of eating and relaxing – my two favorite things.  I read magazines in bed.  I watched a lot of  television. We all went to the bookstore for coffee.  I got the best Mother’s Day cards from Hubbie and the kids.  I got this beautiful spring bouquet of flowers.

But the best gift of all was this:

A 15 minute window in the afternoon where both kiddies were getting along.  They were reading books together.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day. I hope your Mother’s Day was awesome too.  You deserve it.

PS:  I just realized today is the TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY of PopMommy.  Time flies! Thanks to everyone who continues to visit me here.  I appreciate it so much.

We had another eventful Easter with Daniel’s ER visit, but OTHER THAN THAT, it was a beautiful day.  The kids woke up to find their Easter baskets filled with goodies from the Easter Bunny: the traditional chocolate bunny and jelly beans as well as a cool garden magnifying glass and sticker sheets (Thank you Target dollar bin!)  Daniel opened his chocolate bunny in 5 seconds and took a bite.  The perfect breakfast appetizer.

Then we were off to Sunday mass where we could show off our Easter ensembles.  Annabel’s beautiful dress is from The Children’s Place.

After church, we came home to find a visitor in our backyard – one of Easter Bunny’s helpers!  (We named him Brownie.)

Hubbie made a delicious Easter dinner.  GG came over as well as Hubbie’s radio co-host and producer, Miss Anna and Miss Ashley.  We love having the singletons over for holiday dinners.  It’s fun to listen to their stories and it’s just more festive to have extra people around the dinner table.  We had ham, Polish kielbasa, dill potatoes, asparagus, green beans, corn, hard boiled eggs, and a cheesecake dessert.  We were all having so much fun (and drinking lots of white wine) that I forgot to take more photos.

And one final note: Annabel won the annual hard boiled Easter egg cracking contest.  She kicked my butt.

This was Daniel LAST Easter.  (Please note the enormous blue and purple Easter egg bump on his forehead.)

And this was Daniel THIS Easter.

Please note the ginormous laceration across his cute forehead.  It’s the annual Daniel Easter curse.  This was the THIRD Easter we took Daniel to the ER.  The first time was when he was 7 months old and we were visiting my parents in Maryland.  It was Easter morning and we were all getting ready for church service.  I was changing Daniel’s diaper on the bed.  I turned around to grab his Easter outfit from the dresser and in that one, two, three seconds, BAM, he rolled off the bed and fell on the floor.  Luckily it was a short twin bed and there was a carpet, but I was a first time Mama. I panicked and so did Hubbie.  I had images of scrambled egg brain in my head.   I told my husband if Daniel ended up with a learning disability I would never forgive myself. That was an extreme reaction, yes, but I could not believe this was happening to ME.  I mean, I was not that Mama who let her kid just roll off a bed onto the floor.  And here I was.

We took Daniel to the ER.  I think one of the scariest moments was when the doctor separated us to get the story of how Daniel hit his head.  It was to rule out child abuse and I found out later that it’s standard procedure.  I was crying pretty hard so Hubbie handled most of the questions and the examination.  They felt Daniel’s head and checked his eyes and all the other vitals.  He was fine.  He was just a tired little baby that wanted to take a nap.  We felt justified taking him to the ER because we had to board a plane back to Florida that afternoon and what if he passed out while were were miles in the air?  I held him in my arms the entire flight.  He slept with a smile on his face.  I fought back tears the entire 2 and 1/2 hours.  It traumatized me for about a month.

I guess we were in the clear in 2008 and 2009.  Then it happened again in 2010.  Daniel was running around and fell on our hard kitchen tile.  I don’t think he put his hands out because there was just a slip and a fall and a cry and it was so fast.  When we ran to him I just saw the giant blue bump form before my eyes.  I had never seen something like that in my life.  We grabbed ice and asked him a million questions to ensure he knew who he was and where he was.  Hubbie took him right to the ER. The doctors checked him out and said he was fine and he came home in time for Easter dinner.  But then I had to stare at that yucky bump for over a week.

Last Friday was Good Friday and Daniel had off from school.  He was invited to a play date at a friend’s house.  I dropped Annabel off at her GG’s so I could have some girl chat with the ladies. We took a quick tour of the beautiful home and then the three boys went to play.  The moms camped out with drinks in the living room.  The boys moved from the living room to the bedroom playing with all the cool toys.  There were stairs.  Daniel refused to take off his Crocs.  I always insist “no shoes in the house” but the nice Mom said it was OKAY.  LET HIM BE.  HE’S HAVING FUN.  LET HIM BE.  Sometimes I don’t trust my gut.

I don’t know if the Crocs were to blame, but on the way down the stairs for the third time that morning Daniel missed the last step.  I didn’t see this, but that is what he told me.  I heard someone fall on the hard tile and then I heard Daniel’s cry.  I felt like I was moving in slow motion and then I saw it. Blood.  All over his face.  His hands.  Down the front of his shirt.  My heart fell to my stomach.  We thought he broke his nose.  But after wiping him down with wet paper towels and baby wipes we found out it was a big cut on his forehead.  We took him to the ER.  AGAIN.  I know this wasn’t exactly EASTER, but close enough for me.  I could not believe it was happening AGAIN.

Hubbie met us there and I did the hand off.  He’s better than me with this stuff.  He’s calmer.  I really was proud of myself though. I was pretty calm.  I was urgent, but I was calm too.  The ER doctor put Daniel’s forehead back together with skin glue.  It’s pretty amazing stuff.  Daniel was ready to leave the moment we got there.  He kept saying, “I’m FINE.”  He’s a brave kid.  And he has a very high tolerance for pain. He just wanted to go home.  He said it didn’t hurt.  Well, I sure felt a little broken inside.

Easter Sunday was actually really nice and drama free.  I’ll post photos and notes tomorrow.  Unfortunately, yesterday, Daniel had an allergic reaction to that glue adhesive.  The cut became puffy and red so last night at 8 PM we went back to the ER.  The same doctor took off the glue and replaced it with four steri strips across his forehead.   The doctor said he was healing well.  Now we just have to watch for the scar.

SO, Easter 2012?  I’m considering a three day movie fest.  On the couch.  All day long.  No one moves.  No one gets hurt.  I’m breaking this curse, darn it.