They'll Sleep When and Where They Want

This past Saturday we had one of our "snow storms" here in NJ. Dave did some morning errands alone (still dry at that time) and then we all headed out to do a few together - yes, when the snow started. It took us some time to get the things we wanted to done, and the snow compounded that by slowing us down a little. By the time we got home, it was close 4 p.m., so Dave and I decided putting Matt down for his nap so late would probably lead to either a very cranky shortened nap wake up or not wanting to go to sleep at night. Emily decided she need to rest, so she settled in on her bed and fell asleep (she was still recovering from being sick) and I went up to read for a while. The "boys" stayed downstairs watching TV and playing. Some time later (probably 45 mins.), Dave came upstairs and told me that Matt had gone to sleep anyway...where?...on his bedroom floor. I came downstairs and this is what I found. He was so peaceful on the floor we decided not to move him. It's cute how he brought both his "comfort" caterpillars down off his bed in order to sleep - he sleeps with them at nap (only at home) and night. It was almost like he fell asleep amidst playing. Let me tell you, this boy did not want to wake up. We tried three times and all three times he fell back to sleep. One of our errands for the day was renting family movies for us to watch that night and thank goodness we did because both kids' naps basically hampered with normal bed time. I think they finally went to bed at 11 p.m. I was willing to forfeit an early night sleep for these cute pictures and we saw the cutest movie together - "Horton Hears a Who."

Anything "Fire" is Cool

Matthew was completely awestruck by this gingerbread firehouse and truck displayed in the children's area of the NYC Botanical Gardens. This gingerbread house was amazing and, of course, created by a professional bakery. Thank goodness they had the foresight to enclose it in glass, if not I am sure Matt would have tried to take it home with him (at least the firetruck). At one point when we were in the children's educational/play building where the gingerbread exhibit was held, we couldn't locate Matt but knew we didn't have to go to far just back to the firehouse. He had made a beeline right back to it while our backs were turned. You can't keep him away from anything fire related - just like his daddy. I just hope he doesn't expect us to be making one of these at home next year for Christmas.

A Beautiful Sight

We have been hearing for several years now about the train exhibit that is created for the holidays at the NYC Botanical Gardens. This seemed to be the year of the train for Matthew. First, we saw them at an exhibit at NYC's Grand Central and then a small town exhibit in Bethlehem, PA while on a mini vacation after Christmas. Matt's excitement about trains continues to grow at each new exhibit. So, it only seemed appropriate to take him the show at the Garden - which also had an appearance by Thomas the Train. We didn't really know what to expect or what we would actually see. What we did see was spectacular. The exhibit consists of trains going through the different areas of NYC and highlighting their area landmarks. The buildings are constructed of bark and other organic materials. It was so amazing looking at all the detail and artistry of these pieces and then of course trains were circling through the areas too- absolutely amazing. If you are ever in NY at Christmas time, this is a must see in my book. Because it was so beautiful and blog space is limited, I created a photo album from our outing on my Facebook page. Enjoy!

Meltdown before Bliss

We took Matthew to see Thomas the Train Engine at the NY Botanical Gardens Train Exhibit this year. He was getting over being a sick (he had a fever the night of New Year's day but was cleared as okay by the doctor on Friday - the show was Saturday). We think due to sickness and of course the time being right smack dab in the middle of nap time that we has the "pleasure" of experiencing a meltdown in the waiting line. It didn't help that it was a 45 minute wait in the line either. We were determined though to stick it out and see Thomas, tears and all. Matt was also a little peeved that I kept taking pictures of him but I just had to document his meltdown for future "blackmail" purposes. His mood changed dramatically when we made it to the front of the line and could see Thomas through the doorway. The sad part was our visit with Thomas lasted about a good 5 minutes (and you couldn't even climb on him). It was worth the wait tears and all.

Picture from the Past

This picture was taken of Emily in January of 2006. The reason I chose this picture is that this is a time when Emily was a little sick - kind of reminiscent of this week. It was her first time of suffering with the knowledge of how a stuffy nose actually feels. My wonderful neighbor was watching the kids during the morning, so I could do errands alone, when that little "ouchie" on Emily's nose was created. Emily decided that in order to get the stuffiness out of her nose she would rub the outside of her nose on the carpet - she wasn't aware of the whole nose blowing method. My neighbor said I saw her do it once (rubbing her face on the carpet) and wasn't sure what she was up to, then she did it again much rougher. Well, Emily ended up with rug burn on her nose. My poor neighbor was mortified that Emily hurt herself in her care and that she didn't understand what she was doing until the damage was done. I reassured her that all was okay....even after she hurt her nose, Emily still tried this "remedy"one or two more times in my presence before she learned her lesson. Thankfully there are no permanent scars from her "self-healing method". We joked that she was trying to look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer seeing this happened just after Christmas. To this day, Emily still has not mastered the nose blowing technique but thankfully she has never resorted to the rug burned nose method again.