The Big Apple

So Nate's Mom Marie and Sister Amy were in New York for work a few weekends ago, Nate surprisingly had the weekend off so we decided to drive up there to see them and see some of New York. (Nate and I have only been there once before and it was only for an afternoon. We saw A LOT that day but so much that it's all a blur.)
We loaded the kids in the car and took some advice from a friend, to drive to Newark and then take the NJ transit in.
This would have worked perfectly if Google maps hadn't been off by 10 blocks. It had the station listed on the wrong street completely. But after driving up and down the wrong street 15 times, I finally saw some signs pointing us in the right direction. (The trip home went flawless and I too would suggest this route to anyone driving to NY.)
It was so fun to see family and to have four extra hands to help with the kids. I think Amy carried Owen most of the time. We had a stroller for him but she didn't want to waste anytime pushing him in the stroller, if that meant she'd get less time to hold him. I'm guessing she carried him for miles, and I know her arms must have been tired, but every time I offered to put him in the stroller she just kept walking. She definitely wins the best aunt award, and of course, Owen LOVED it!
We still want to go again cause there is still so much we didn't get to see. We are hoping more family members come to NY so we drive up and can see it all!
Thanks Nana and Amy for the great weekend. My boys were so spoiled, I'm not sure if they'll ever recover. Liam is still wearing his pirate hat and hook most days. I blame you for his new vocabulary of Arrgghh, Pirate captain Liam, and matey!

If we might make a recommendation...

In the 1940's Aldous Huxley wrote a book that you should read if you haven't yet. It's called a Brave New World. The book is set in the future, and the future is bleak. Mankind is bred in factories into specific classes and are conditioned at an early age to what their role in society should be. In this society, the sole purpose is the seeking of pleasure and the gratification of desire. The opening talks about how all of the difficulty in society was built around longing for something and never achieving it. Whether it was unrequited love, or never attaining a certain career or status, or just plain old depression, the solution was to set specific expectations and then give people whatever they wanted. The members of this society are sexually promiscuous, go out seeking entertainment ever night, and if they ever get down there is always a government approved drug that takes away the blues. Of course the book is about how the main characters are ultimately unfulfilled and empty from this pursuit. It is a chilling picture of the future, but I think it is a great thought experiment for what could happen people made the search for gratification the only purpose of their existence. I certainly did not expect to ponder the deeper meaning of this novel when I took Liam to WALL-E this afternoon.


So the true recommendation of this post is please, please, please go see WALL-E. The previews really reveal nothing if the story, so when I sat down in the theater this afternoon I expected what I had gotten from Pixar in the past, a well crafted, light, enjoyable yarn with few surprises. I will spare you a synopsis of the plot (plus I wouldn't want to ruin it), but it poses a lot of the same questions that Aldous Huxley did. The amazing thing to me was that they did it in a cartoon with about 40 total lines of dialogue, mostly one word lines, and they did it all in a way that was G rated. When someone produces something so remarkable, I feel obligated to spread the word.

Also Steve Jobs slipped me 50 bucks to write everything above. Yes, I am that poor and that cheap.

Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler

I know this is not a post most mother's would do, but I couldn't help it. I walked into the room to find that Liam had put his swim goggles on Owen. Liam thought he look like a super hero. I on the other hand saw Milton from office space.

The Stinky Forest

SO there is a road by us that I take only if I have to because it is next to the sewer plant and it smells so bad! I start to hold my breath and try to hold it until I pass the plant. It's that bad.
So yesterday we had to go on that road and it smelled especially "ripe" yesterday. So ripe that Liam started to cry. I told him to plug his nose. to which I got. "Yah thanks Mama thank you."
Once we'd cleared the smell he says to me, "Mama I don't like the Stinky forest."
It's a small street with trees that surround you on all sides and creates a canopy over the road. I guess that's where he got the forest part from.
On our way home he saw me turn down that road and immediately yells, "Mama plug you nose, it be better soon, don't cry Mama, I hurry."
The funny part is, there used to be a golf course next to that road. There wasn't a whole lot of people wanting to play so they closed it. I can't imagine why? Who wouldn't enjoy an afternoon of golf and the smell of a sewer plant as you breathe to take in the "Fresh outdoors?"

Nate's 2 cent (or 30,000 bhat)

So it's been a while since I put up a post on our blog. For all of our fans out there, let me just say we find your voyeurism flattering. Rest assured that there will be a never ending stream of exploits. We would have to stoop to the ratings stunts that other forms of entertainment have to in order to maintain interest. You will never read a blog post where Owen suddenly discovers he has an evil Siamese twin from which he was separated at birth (though it would be cool. I would make him like those twins that used to be on G.I. Joe. You know, when one got hurt the other felt it. But then they would fight constantly, and do stuff like have a friend kick one twin in the nuts while the other twin was on a date so he would suddenly crumple in front of the poor girl writhing in agony. Yes, this the stuff that runs through my head all day.)


Many of you may know that I am an rabid fan of the Red Sox. When I was a young pup, my little league team was the Red Sox. They were the sports team that I first started following on a regular basis.






For the better part of decade, being a Red Sox fan was pretty much described by this picture. It was painful, and yet you couldn't look away. But all of that changed in 2004.





After being down 3 games in the 2004 ACLS against the Evil Empire they improbably came back and won 4 straight to crush the spirit of every bandwagon Yankee fan and end a reign of terror even Robespierre would have admired. The Nation would no longer have to hear the taunt of 1918, no longer have to fight the ghost of Babe Ruth. For the whole week of the series I wore the same shirt, had the same 3 meals every day at the same time, and tried to avoid anything that would break the spell of good fortune and sway my Sox back into their usual tail spin. I had tried it before, but this time it worked.

My wife has patiently dealt with my obsession for years. Though I have followed the team for years, I had never actually been to a game. Jen decided to end that this year by getting me tickets to the Red Sox Phillies game in Philly.




Coco Crisp (yes you read that right. Seriously that's the man's name) knocked a 2 run Dinger in the top of the third and scored the only other run off a Julio Lugo RBI. The Red Sox beat the red hot Phillies 3-0 off some great pitching from Jon Lester who absolutely shut down Chase Uttley and Ryan Howard. I guess it just goes to show that the NL is still just AAAA ball where the AL is the real majors.

Solid food phase I

(I love the look on his face. YUCK!)

So in other news, Owen has been getting up every two hours to eat during the night for the last 3 weeks. (he didn't even wake up this often when he was a newborn.) We decided to try feeding him some rice cereal to see if that would keep him satisfied longer. But NO he still woke up just as much that night. And since then when I try to feed him he screams so I decided to hold off for another month to try again with the cereal. Until then it's just me and him getting in some really good "bonding time." I'll remind him of this when he's older.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Owen 5 months

I just love this little guy. I can't believe how fast he is growing. He is no longer a newborn. He has a personality all his own. I haven't met many who can resist that smile, and he flashes it at everyone.

A happy Father

So it's really weird to celebrate fathers day without our dads. It seems odd that we are parents and that mothers day and fathers day obtain to us as well.
Nate had to work, but only until 6:30 that night so we were able to have dinner with him.
I made him some of his favorites. Burnt pot roast (and yes it's meant to be burnt, I'd say more like blackened?)Twice baked potatoes (thanks Lala.)
Strawberries which we dipped in sour cream and brown sugar (really yummy if you've never tried it. Sounds like an odd mixture but it works?)
Liam made him a crown, (which he wanted to wear.)
And last but not least, Present time. we got him a new front pocket wallet since his Castanza wallet was giving him back problems.
(actually he always has his wallet in his front pocket for "security" reasons hence the reason I went with a front one.)
But most importantly were his tickets to see the Red Sox/Phillies game.
All in all it was a fun night. We enjoyed celebrating our Dad.

Anyone for a garden tour???

So for play group last week we did an outing to the Hershey Gardens. We hadn't been there yet so I was really excited to go.
That was until I woke up that morning and it was already 98 degrees by 9am. Not a good sign.
We went anyways and had a good time. We'll have to go back on a non heat record setting day. Hence the reason Liam's face is red and all the pictures have a heat cloud around them.
The one bright side of the heat was it made the Butterflies especially active so that was fun.

4 months

So this picture of Owen is now a month old, but I have been putting Owen in some of Liam's old clothes and saw these two pictures at about the same ages.
I don't think they look all that much alike?
But you decide.
If you know my family, none of us really look alike.
Nate's family you can tell they are all in the same family.

Lucky number 7

So June 5th, marked mine and Nate's 7 year wedding anniversary. (and also my big brother's birthday. Thanks for sharing your day with us Jay.)

We didn't do anything exciting that night, cause Nate had to work late. However he did bring home some beautiful roses for me, and the following morning went to our favorite place for breakfast,

They have the best cinnamon french toast, pancakes, cinnamon rolls and an egg sandwich on a pretzel roll that is to DIE for! We usually get the egg sandwich and the french toast then split them cause who can decide between those options? A little bit of sweet and salty.

The next morning we ditched the kids and went to Hershey park where we rode the "big kid rides" The newest one Fahrenheit, named because you climb a 90 degree ascent then fall 121 feet at 97 degrees. This is the best I can do to help you experience the "heat"



We did all this during the heat wave we've been having. When we got into our car, the temp was 105 degrees. We thought we'd left the hot humid weather when we said good-bye to New Orleans but it looks like that ain't so.
But, because of this heat, everyone was at the water park portion, so we were able to walk onto the next ride, (the storm runner) and ran back on and waited a few minutes to ride in the front car.
This ride reminds us of how they take off on aircraft carriers. It launches you from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds. You hear the words: "Now Get ready...Here we go......." And you're gone. 30 seconds later you're done but it is one of the best rides you'll go on.

the Storm Runner


Funny thing. Both Nate and I prepare ourselves as we hear that deep voice say "GO" by bracing ourselves. Come to find out we both got bruises on our triceps from the speed of acceleration. But totally worth it!!!


Last but not least we ran to the other end of the park, downed a drink to keep from passing out and went on the great bear. It's one of those rides where you sit down and let your feet dangle. These are my favorite rides. They don't seem to be quite as jerky as some of the other ones.
We had an awesome morning just spending time together. I am so glad I married such a wonderful man who takes such good care of me and my two boys. I look forward to another 7 years, and many more after that!

Impress to Dress

Do you want to: Look like a million bucks without spending it???
Problem SOLVED!
My very beautiful, smart, talented, the person I go to for the latest trends sister-in-law has started a fashion blog for all of you who love fashion, trends and all the latest styles.
You want the look, but you know it will be on it's way to the goodwill before you can say slouch socks,but your credit card seems to remember it every month.
She (and a friend they co-blog) tells you how to get the NEWEST looks for cheap (or cheaper) for all of us whose clothes budget measures about as big as those tiny coin pockets they have inside the bigger pocket of pants. This is your site! So enjoy all you fashion divas, ENJOY!

The Big top

Can anyone tell me what would be the perfect thing to do on memorial day? Most of you said: visit a grave site, go to Gettysburg, sign up for the Army... All good choices.
What did the Poulson's do?
We went to the circus. In memorandum of my Grandma Hair who passed away 6 months before my mom and sister, due to pancreatic cancer.
Every year that I can remember, my Grandma Hair would take all the grandchildren to the circus. I was even able to be in it one year as a Ghost buster.



So some friends of ours decided they'd come too since both our hubbies had the day off. (Yes people Nate got a day off during the week. It happens. Rarely. But it happens.) So we took advantage of it and made it a day of fun. (These pics are at thepre-event activities. I love the photo of Liam covering his eyes when the lady asked him to smile. Classic.)









As a child I remember they always had these spinning light toys that I soooo wanted every year. But we could only chose between the $6 cotton candy or the $6 souvenir snow cone cup. mine was always the latter. (which by the way are now $10 for the cotton candy and $12 for the snow cone. Sorry to say this tradition didn't continue for Liam.
However I ran down to the Disney store that morning and found some Nemo spinners that were in the clearance bucket cause they'd been opened and no longer had working batteries. I bought two for $3. Put in some new batteries. Good as new. Score! That saved me $20. I figured he'd never know the difference. That worked great until, he saw the ones with elephants and as many of you know, elephants are Liam's favorite. But he forgot about them and was happy with his while the show was going.
All in all a fun family activity. We LOVE days with dada.
(am I really that much shorter than Nate??? I always envision myself as being much taller than that?)

Liam Laughs

So Sunday was a funny Liam day. As are most days, but Sunday he really made me laugh.
To start:
At about 2 am, I hear the pitter patter of his little feet flying across the carpet from his room, to mine. Without saying anything, he jumps into our bed. Crawls in between us. Pulls Nate's arm around him and goes back to sleep.
I think we've started the "bad dreams" era. A few nights ago he was screaming in his sleep: "It's right there, no. Mama help."
I think he might have had a bad dream but instead of calling out for one of us to get in bed with him (which is what usually happens.) He must have decided to cut out the middleman and just hop in bed with us this time.
I took this a few nights ago at 2 am after I'd finished feeding Owen and went to check on my boys. Looks comfy huh.
Next:
He was sitting on the potty. Going "stinkies" and I asked if he needed me to wipe his bum.
Liam: No Mama (this usually means he's not finished yet.)
Me: OK let me know when you're done and I'll come help you.
Background noise 2 minutes later is him washing his hands. I stop what I'm doing to see if he needs my help and when I walk into the bathroom, he is standing on his step washing his hands with his pants down and a piece of toilet paper cascading down his back side. You can't blame him for not trying. I finish the wipe job, and he gives me a heartfelt. "thanks you mama. thanks!" (sorry no picture. There are some things a mom just doesn't have the heart to post.)
Then:
We got ready for church and we're heading out the door. I told Liam to put his shoes on, and when I got down to the bottom of the stairs, this is what I found.
Hey he did get them on the right feet. You gotta give him that.
Then:
we got to church and he had to go to the bathroom five times during the service and YEP he went all five times. I swear that kid pees more than a pregnant woman.
Then:
During sacrament Liam started to get a runny nose. BAD. and Owen followed suit and started his barking croup cough, so we decided to keep them away from anyone in case they were getting sick and it wasn't allergies. So when we walked in the opposite direction of nursery, he starts crying. "I want to play with the kids..." funny thing until a few weeks ago, he'd start to cry as soon as we started to sing the closing song cause he knew that meant it was time to go to nursery and he hated it???
Then:
We went on a walk later that night to get some fresh air and while on our walk saw some friends who are building a house by us and where there to see it's progress. They invited us in to see it as well. It's not close to being finished and won't be until August, but we still wanted to see it.
We went upstairs to look, and all the while Liam and their son are running around in toddler heaven because there is nothing they can break. Not so true.
So there was a hole in the floor where an air vent will go. Most of these had been covered with something but Liam found the one that hadn't and Nate had the intuition on this one. He is holding Owen and says, "Liam watch out. Jen grab him. Liam noooo."
All while I'm saying: "honey he's fine, he's not going to step in that he knows it's dangerous."
WRONG!!! Liam proceeds to step into the second story hole and falls, luckily he didn't slip all the way through an extra inch and he would have and really could have broken something.
I'll take the blame for this one! Here he is showing me his "hurt"
So now you see what it is like to be the parent of Liam. It's never dull. I'll tell you that much.

You get what you pay for

So I have been on the hunt for a bike or scooter for Liam. We'd promised him once he was potty trained he could have a bike. Well he's going on 3 months now and still NO bike. Our neighbors let us borrow one for awhile until they moved, but that was 2 months ago.
They have HUGE neighborhood garage sales here. It's amazing you wouldn't believe how packed the streets get at 7 am just to look at other peoples junk.
I have gone to a few in hopes to find him a bike or scooter but haven't had any luck. They are ALWAYS girl themed. And Nate said his son was not learning to ride a bike with a basket and Princesses in tow.
So Saturday, once the kids were up we hoped in the car to play the yard sale game. (So I thought).
I drove through to see if I could see anything from the car. (Nate was working so I had both kids.)
Finally I parked the car and got the kids out. Immediately Liam figured out where we were. (he has the best sense of direction.) We were in the neighborhood of his new friends Zach and Tanner. Immediately he starts screaming Zach and Tanners house, Zach and Tanners house mama....Eassse???
Me: Liam don't you want to walk around and find a bike or scooter? Maybe a new toy or some books?
Liam: Hmmm. No, I want Zach and Tanner.
Me: K. we'll go in a few minutes. Lets look around first though.
Liam: No Mama NO NO NO!!
(People are starting to stare now.)
Mom: C'mon Liam it'll be fun
Liam: Mama, potty potty potty.
Me: Dang it Liam I took you before we left.
Liam: Mama Potty at Zach and Tanners house
Me: FINE
Owen: glahalhslhshsla
So we show up at our friends house. Liam totally forgets he has to go potty and is so excited to play with Zach and Tanner. We hang out there for awhile. I tell Liam it's time to go. Get the kids out the door, and it starts to rain. (of course)
I try to get out of the neighborhood, but the other billion people are trying to do the same thing. I can't turn the way I want to and have to follow the flow of traffic, to where? I'm not sure.
But in the midst of being stuck in this traffic jam, there it is.... A blue toddler scooter. Complete with 3 wheels so he doesn't have to balance it on his own.
I hope out of the car, into the pouring rain, duck into the garage, notice another little boy eying my possession. Casually pick up my priced item, Ha it pays to be an adult. Check the price $5. Not bad. But I only have 3 ones, (which I traded our friend for $3 worth of quarters. Yes I have that many quarters lying around my car. Who doesn't??)
Or a $20 bill which I don't want to have to break cause I never have cash and once it's broken, IT'S GONE!
So I ask the lady will you sell this for $3?
Sure she says, and
I run out smiling from ear to ear. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Liam sees this new item and starts screaming when I put it in the back of the car cause he wants to hold it. Duh MOM.
So I put it on the floor in front of him and he holds his new treasure with a two handed death grip. The words go through my mind "my precious..."
We get home and I go to get Liam out of the car.
Me: That's strange. Why are his hands all blue??? And his legs?
Wait a minute, why is there PINK paint on his new scooter? Wait a minute those handle bars are shedding blue paint everywhere.
I look at the scooter more carefully.
I've been DUPED!
This is NO boy scooter. It was a princess scooter that's been painted blue. AHHHHHH
So I spend the night with goo gone trying to get the paint off the handle bar grips cause the blue spray paint never dried on the plastic grips, and after getting wet, are a sticky mess.
So now Liam has a Blue scooter with pink grips and flashes of pink.
Hey what can I say??? I tried. But he's going to ride it anyways. Pink grips and all.