Do you know what it means...

To miss New Orleans?

I DO!

10 years ago I never thought I'd utter those words, or know why I'd miss it.
For instance that New Orleans is in Louisiana, (The boot shaped state right?) Yeah that's right when Nate said he was applying to Tulane I had NO idea where that was.
That my home would be adorned in Fleur De Lis.
I'd like fish (well white fish, and really the Mahi Mahi at Jacques-Imo's.)
That 65 is considered cold.
That mold can grow in most amazing places.
That I'd be a Saints fan. "God bless you boys!"
That my first child would be born there.
That I would evacuate for 3 hurricanes and return to a partially gutted home to start over, after one particular Hurricane.
That I would get all defensive when people would say is there really a reason to re-build New Orleans?
Or that I would meet some of my dearest friends there?

Nope! This list could go on and on.

We left New Orleans in 2007 and I had no hopes of returning before our tender was done here in Hershey, but all that changed when we found out that the ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologist.) conference was going to be held there in October this year.

AND that the school will pay for you to go if you submitted a medically challenging case and were picked to display your poster for 2 hours during the week.

I told Nate I make him the medically challenging case if he didn't figure a way to get us there.

He totally did his part and thanks to a lady with Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, (Ask Nate what this means, cause I'm not exactly sure even after he's told me 10 times.) we made our poster and headed South.

I went a few days early so I could soak it all in. Immediately after picking up my luggage and walking out those airport doors I was immediately reminded of the smell of mildew, the 100% humidity and that heat that doesn't let anything breathe.

We packed my two into my friend Lora's car along with her two and headed straight to Lebanon's. I got my Chicken Shwarma and it was just as good as I can remember. We then headed to Audubon park where we were greeted with a HUGE New Orleans welcome. Me and Owen were attacked by fire ants and had to run away through puddles of mud.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying all the things I missed. Me and Bryn took the kids to the Aquarium. (Still one of my favorites.)





They were so excited they were running up and down this tunnel screaming!





Not so sure about being this close to the fish.



This just freaks me out!





Liam touching his first sting ray. I think I squealed a little myself, they're just freaky feeling.





The boys watching the shark tank.
Nate's parents came too, who wants to pass on a trip to New Orleans? Here is Liam's response to seeing them after exiting the Aquarium.



So happy in fact that he walked back to the hotel with them instead of driving with me and Bryn.


We did some Halloween activities at Canal place. Trick or treating at Mignon Faget, Making masks and Caricatures of my crazy twosome.


And last but not least, to my favorite zoo. Audubon Zoo. I love it here and so do the kids. My favorite part is the elephant show. They teach you all about the elephants, then let you feel the side of one of them.

I found this picture of Liam at about the age Owen is now!
They both touched, but had that concerned look about doing it.



Besides these captured events, we also ate at all our favorite places, (I still think Commanders takes the trophy! But only brunch, dinner is a little too pricey.) Went shopping at UAL, ate Beignets and hot chocolate while walking through the quarter after an evening of Preservation Hall. Had a crazy guy yell at me (actually a compliment) in Jackson square, but best of all was seeing some of our best friends. They let us camp out in their living room on couches and on air mattresses. (Thanks Ryan, Lora, Bryn and Mark!)





All in all a fabulous trip "home." in the words of Louis:
"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? I miss it both night and day. I know that it's wrong...this feelings gettin stronger the longer I stay away.
...And that's where I left my heart."

I'm ready to be Stupefied!

To say the least, Halloween is a BIG deal in Hershey. There are all sorts of things to do during the month of October and I think we hit most of the big ones. We went to two Halloween parties. One for church which was actually a "Cowboy Roundup" Party and we were supposed to dress like cowboys, but when Liam saw me put Owen in cowboy gear, his first thought wasn't where's my chaps and hat, it was "If he's going to be Woody, then I need to be Buzz Lightyear." So that's what he went dressed as to the party. I didn't get a picture of it, and these pics were taken by Eden and Mike, but it was pretty funny!

We also had to cancel our PIM trunk or treat event due to rain, but moved it to my friend Beth's house and we all stood in different rooms of her house and let the kids Trick or treat at each door. They seemed to enjoy it. And Liam got to do some treating with his "girlfriend" Bannah (Savannah.) Always a plus!



















We went to the traditional Halloween Egg hunt at the outlets. (yes I said egg hunt. Haven't you heard of the Halloween bat that lays orange and black eggs? No? That's funny cause that's what they do here.)

I only took Liam to this event, it can get a little scary with some of the Moms out here. You'd think they were laying golden eggs. I swear I saw a few moms motioning to elbow out the kid next to their kid.
Liam's favorite part? He got to egg hunt with this other friend Samantha (Pocahontas.)






But most the month was spent pretending we were Harry Potter, Hedwig, Hermione and the Golden snitch. As you are all well aware, Liam has been obsessed with Harry Potter for awhile now. He still likes it, but I can tell it's losing it luster. Maybe because he dressed up so much that we started to ask each other if we'd seen Liam anywhere and the on going game was for Liam to take off the Potter glasses and for us to say. "Oh there you are Liam. We thought you were Harry," and then he'd put back on the glasses and we'd repeat.





I'm not sure if I will ever get the Harry Potter theme out of my head since Liam and Owen both hum it all day. Hmm Hm Hmm Hm Hmm Hm Hmm Hmm...... It was another great Halloween. The kids got more candy than I can count, or that I've already eaten. I was ready to take down the decorations and was hoping to be stupified for a couple of days to recoup, but alas I'm still here, decorations down and onto Thanksgiving...

The Fall has fallen

and the cold is upon us. We had a great Fall, here in Central PA! The leaves were as bright as ever and the activities were as abundant!

We went and did some apple picking, pumpkin picking, hay riding, corn mazing and just had fun being outside and enjoying the fall weather.





These pictures of Owen crack me up. He was upset about something and you can watch it play out in the pictures. He gets over things pretty quick!

Wonderland Magic

My sweet neighbor gave me tickets to the other theme park that's close by. Dutch Wonderland. We hadn't been here yet and talked the Tuttle's into joining us. It was fun, I think I like Hershey Park better, but this is the place to go if you have small kids who aren't thrill seekers. Lots of little kid rides that you just sit in.

We had a great time and enjoyed our company!

All I want for Christmas...

is for Owen to still have his two front teeth! A few weeks ago he was doing what Owen does best, that's jumping from anything that he can, or balancing then diving...This particular day, it was both. In part it is my fault! When I take out Owen's crib mattress to change his sheets, the kids love me to prop it against the window bench and they use it like a slide.

This has been done so much that the mattress now bends in the middle so I use a firm bean bag to prop it up.

Eventually the mattress slipped to the floor and Owen decided to practice his trapeze skills and balance on said bean bag/more round pillow ottoman. The next thing I know he's slipped and fell mouth first into the edge of the bench and is crying. (He doesn't usually cry unless it's serious!) The minute I picked him up I knew it was bad. There was blood everywhere and I could tell that his teeth were no longer in the position they used to be in.

I immediately call all the dental professionals in my family (which is A LOT!) and get mixed recommendations from: Leave them as is, take him in to a Pediatric dentist for an evaluation, to, getting a soft splint/sew the gum's back in place.

That's right I said sew the gum's back in place. He had completely severed the Frenum and scalped his gum's away from his teeth. (Warning this picture contains blood...)



I ended up taking him into the Pedodontist just for reassurance. She reassured me that he did move his teeth up into his gum's and that sometimes the teeth will move back down? (Hasn't happened yet. But I'm hopeful!) She also wouldn't recommend that he get the gum's sewn back down since we'd have to put him under to do it, but that they too should repair themselves. The mouth is such a fast healer. (which I am thankful for!)This has happened but still seems to be tender when I brush his teeth.

I think the hardest part for him, since he was up and running around as normal after his nap is that he can no longer bite into an apple, I have to cut them up for him, which he doesn't really have the patience for, but we are working on it!

Thanks to all the family members that helped me get through this FIRST Fiasco with Owen. I say first because the minute Nate saw him he said, "Hon, this looks bad, but it's not your fault. He's just a tough, likes to play rough, kinda kid. This is the first of his accidents and it won't be his last; I am sure!"

So stay tuned for more Owen debacles. I'm sure you won't have to wait too long!

How's that time out working for you?

The only place that Owen will stay in time out is in his crib where he can't escape.

















Or can he?

NoNo

I thought this was funny and needed to be documented. First, today I went to the post office to mail a birthday package to my niece, I explained why we were going to the post office and that they were going to ship the package to her.

When we got to the counter Liam looks at the guy and says, "Now are you gonna fly this package to Camie's house?" I couldn't help but laugh!

Second, when you ask Owen to say Liam he calls him NoNo? I don't know if that's how he hears it, or if that's what he hears me say the most to him, so I guess that his new nick name is NoNo.

And Hello to Fall

Oh I am so behind!

To start, Liam is now officially in his second year of preschool, and I start to hyperventilate at the thought of him riding a bus to kindergarten next year! So we won't think about that and will focus on the present.

He is going to a new pre-school this year a little closer to our home. He seems to like it, but tells me he misses his old teacher Miss Colleen. But I am hopeful that he will warm up to his new teacher Miss Dupes who's a little more "stern" it seems?



Here he is on his first day (and Owen who thinks he too is ready for school.)





After school I took them for a back to school treat and Liam chose to go get ice cream at the "monkey place" (king kone.)








Owen was ecstatic that he was able to join in on this fun as you can tell!

I loved this picture of Liam just lounging after his treat!

Lets say goodbye to summer...

Here are the top four favorite summer pics.
1-Owen eating one of moms fudgesicles. Glad I let him do it in his diaper.
2- Shrek BABY! Diggin the shades
3-Liam pretending to be Harry Potter (Before his Halloween costume got here. Maybe I should have just had him go out like that?)
4- All smooshed up!





We enjoyed a fun day at Hershey Park with our friends the Alsop's, who recently moved to VA, but came up for the long weekend.

Owen has to "Love" anything that is/or resembles an animal. I hope he doesn't try to love a real bee. Might not love him back.

Cheryl and I took the two "minis" (Actually Lexi just became a kiss.) on the kiddie rights while the dads (Nate was post call and just came so Liam could do the big rides, then went home for a siesta.)

A new favorite of Liam's...The Howler. I on the other hand will NEVER go on this ride. It's a spinning ride and I don't do so well with those. They were all laughing so hard.









Another favorite is the BIG pirate ship, which I will go on! But Daddy got to take him this time.

Then it was Mom's turn for a ride on the "caws" or the frontier fliers if you want to be correct.









I got an ice cream cone while Owen took his nap and thought I'd get to enjoy it all by myself...I was WRONG. I swear he smelled it in his sleep and then it was his.




We TIRED (and failed.) to get a picture with all the kids smiling. (Or even looking at the camera.) Yeah right. Nice try moms!

Thanks for the fun weekend Alsop's and for a final farewell to summer