Yeaaaaaaaaaaah for family!!

This is my step-sister - Tristan's Aunt Alleyne and her kids Maddy and Michael - they are just meeting their cousin Tristan. Alleyne and I when we were young played with a ton of Smurfs and bought each other some for Christmas.


She couldn't help but to get one for Tristan...

The Smurf and Baby big Bird became good pals... TOO CUTE! Oh and the hat.. it says class of '89 and it was an absolute coincidence... that I graduated in '89 and it's my 20-year reunion!

Here is Mr. T in his new hat. I could barely get him to smile because he was so sick. We went to the Dr. that morning and BAM - DOUBLE EAR INFECTION. Sucks. Oh and did I mention... I am sick as a dog too. Lovely....

Trying to get him to smile... NOT happening!!

My Aunt Jeanne and John arrived ready for my mom's fabulous food. My Aunt is absolutely IN LOVE with Tristan so she bee-lined straight for him. TOO CUTE!

Soon after Alleyne and the kids left.... Aunt Kelly came and holy cow, I thought she was going to eat him. She was SO excited to meet her nephew! She never thought she would be an Aunt because Lee's sister Flur lives in England and I'm not sure they are sure she will have kids. Never say never... Tristan is living proof of that!

Then Tristan hung out with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Lee...

and got some one-on-one time with our resident Brit ... and lee somehow brought out a smile from my sick little man.

Then... it was THAT time... Tristan tried his first (smashed up) meatball and some sauce.... my mom stood over the table saying "please don't spit it out, please don't spit it out" - it was hilarious...

HE LOVED IT - a TRUE ITALIAN!!!!

My sister and I laughed our butts off for about 20 minutes... it was greatness - I NEEDED to laugh - Thanks SISSY!!

Here's Holtie and my sis, mom and my almost 21 year old nephew Zach - WHERE HAS TIME GONE!? I remember him when he was Tristan's age. ugh

These two were great sports, we took about 20 of these pictures because I didn't have the memory stick in my camera. OOPS..hee, hee, hee

They got very serious...very quickly.. too cute! If Lee hadn't left so early - this would have been a threesome I can promise you that. My brother-in-law is nuts!

Well, the family packed off and headed home and my plans to head out to the lake to begin my Ya-Ya weekend failed. I was SO sick. SO SICK. I wasn't sure the z-pack was working but I knew that if I planned on doing ANYTHING with ANYONE this weekend... I needed sleep.

Poor Holt... Fun Day #1 comes to a screeching halt... to sleep we went. Boooooooooooooo

BUT - YEAAAAAAAAAAH for family!!!

PS - As I type this... My mom is giving Tristan a bath and it is so stinkin' fun to hear him SCREECHING with laughter and her too... music to my ears. My family is in love all over again!! Thank you Lord!

Ya know the saying.... the best laid plans.....

Well, my plans blew up in my face!! On Sunday I took Tristan to the doctor to have his ears checked to be SURE he could fly. ears... awesome! WUHOOO!

Monday came and I was sneezing like crazy and when I picked Tristan up from daycare, so was he. Uh oh....

Tuesday morning came and ........... off to the airport we went. First flight is to Chicago.... well, that didn't go so well...someone was getting sick. OR someONES!!! I started to not feel so hot and by the time we landed I could see by Tristan's red eyes and runny nose that he was sick. back up in the air we went on the smallest plane on the planet. When Holt got in his seat he was physically STUCK and could not move. Somehow he ended up with his backpack, my purse and Tristan on his lap. ASLEEP...he didn't dare move. uh oh....



My Aunt Jeanne and Uncle John picked us up in Syracuse. They brought Tristan a baby Big Bird.... TOO CUTE! A picture is in tomorrow's blog...

Anyway, here they are when we all met up with my mom at her house.


Think they are happy to see him?


Grandpa soon followed and boy oh boy was he excited. My mom was the only one who has seen Tristan in person so my family was SO excited!


Here's me, Tristan, my dad and my mom.... proud grandparents!!




Then Tristan met my cat (well, now my mom's cat - thank you mom!!) - Storm...

Let me just tell you - I think my son is going to be an animal lover like me. He LOVES Storm and fusses until he can pet the kitty. It is TOO cute!

This is before Tristan went to bed, he said good night to his Grandpa and then hit the hay. it was a long day and my little man and I were both getting sick. Thankfully my mom had a z-pack for me or I swear, I would have been in the hospital. I had to get better... SO much to do with my friends.

Well, as I said, the best laid plans... I knew that night as I mentally prepared to meet my friends at the lake that this would be a not so great trip. I WAS SICK..........

Lo' and behold.... I decided that Tristan needed to go to the doc in the morning. CareNow... here we come in the morning. Ugh.

No lake for us... to bed we all went.

Until "tomorrow"...

The "straw" that broke the dogs back!

My little guy the day after we brought him home...

Well, it's official... I've been semi scolded from my vet. Aslan has gained 20 pounds since last year. Ugh... B-A-D. I'm ashamed of myself for letting my dog get fat... I know better. This is what he looked like at 105... that is a healthy weight for him. Luckily for all of us... I can't find my camera for a recent snapshot (or two, maybe he can't fit in one.. *SIGH*)

My vet kindly reminded me not to confuse love with food... oh isn't that true for we as humans as well. *Sigh #2. I don't even LIKE to eat.. if there were a pill to be full, I'd take it.

So, I'm putting it on "paper" .... I'm committing to walk my dog every night. It's gonna suck because I have committed to running 4 days a week too because I need to lose 10-15 lbs. It was so much easier when I was playing soccer!

Anyway, we are gearing up to head back to NY. We have a new dog walker - her name is Diana and she will be walking the dogs twice a day while we are gone. It'll be good... it'll start a new habit that Aslan will NOT let me quit. When he likes something, he gets radar (like 5am and 5pm feedings - he KNOWS what time it is because he whines at those hours even on Saturdays!!) so I'll have to take him. Simba..heck - he's up for anything.

We are starting to pack and prepare for Tristan to meet the rest of his family. Aunt Jeanne, you will promptly be frisked before you leave my mom's house... we are wise to your ways. Tee, hee, hee and I know how excited everyone is... the little man is too for sure. We'll have to talk about Skyping more too now that my entire family can. It's important for Tristan to know his family and until we are in driving distance... Skyping will have to do.

Connie is on her way over to give Tristan goodbye kisses...she won't see him for 10 days and obviously, that is going over like a fart in church... I love that saying... makes me laugh-out-loud every time I say it.

My Auntie T is doing quite well and Lester had her party yesterday so both of those things makes my heart happy. EE is out of surgery and hopefully feeling better today than she did the last couple of days. Still... my mantra remains...cancer SUCKS!

Ok, off to shower and start the afternoon... I LOVE SATURDAYS!! Maybe I'll start planning our RV trip with the Smithwick's next year... THAT is gonna rock.........

Here's to thinner days *CHEERS*

Tristan (FINALLY) meets Carter... well, in person that is!

So... this is Durby... Kristin that is. She and I worked together at Balfour Beatty. Oh how I miss her! She found out she was preggers and after the shock I mocked her .... little did I know... dum, duh, dum, dum, DUMB!!! I was preggers too.

Kristin met Tristan a while back so to her surprise, he's grown, just a touch!



This is her little munchkin... Carter. Tristan and Carter - met... well, belly met... I mean they were both sloshing around wreaking havoc on our ribs so in some way they have a sneaky little connection that we will never quite understand.



Carter and Mommy........ TOO CUTE!!

This is the boys with Trenton, Durb's older son. He's 5 and he's a heart breaker and if I could get away with it... I'd steal him. The kid will chat you up about anything. He's FABULOUS... last time I met him he wanted to know if I had a boyfriend. Kristin broke his heart and told him I was married. Thanks a lot Durb, way to ruin my future prospects!

So the boys were hangin.... and I was feeding Tristan some sweet potatoes. Carter saw it and crawled right over. He's no dummy... he knew what was in that plastic container!!!

Tristan, in his normal way was like "food, what food? Who cares... I like this shiny SPOON!"

Tristan was in a bit of a food coma I think... but Carter... he's no dummy, he was looking for a container FULL of food... not with scraps!

Durb kinda reminded Carter "You just ate honey"... so he decided that the "empty" container didn't look so empty after all. I mean, come on, look at those thighs... then look at my skinny little light weight. Yes, Carter is almost 2 1/2 months older than Tristan but my little man doesn't eat... and in this photo - it shows!! He does love the spoon though! LOL~

They are both working on their own "problems here" Tristan is juuuust mastering getting the spoon into his mouth but when he got it in... it was ... well.. BORING... NO FOOD!

By this point, if I snapped one more picture, they were both going to lose it. This was the end of our play date... hugs were exchanged... then into the car we went. Tristan passed out the moment he got into my hot stinkin' car... I don't have air in the back... POOR BUBBA!

I miss you Durb, great seeing you, kissin' on your kids and let's do that more often... my house... SOON!! xoxoxoxoxo

DA DA!!!

IT'S DARK BUT YOU CAN HEAR - WUHOOOOOOOO

Off to swim!!

YIPPPPEEEE - LET'S GO SWIMMING!!



My daddy is gonna go to Big Lots and buy me my own pool...

but for now we are pool hoppin' - hee, hee, hee. Next time will be at my Aunt Kelly's house in NY!

I will take a video while we are home...it's pretty dang cute!!!

He crashed the second we got in the car.....I have another water lover on my hands!!

A lotta life and a little tattoo

Well, today marks the 5th VERY hard phone call I've received this week. One more set of friends that are headed for divorce. Holt and I are hoping that this is just a "thing" that can be worked out but SHEESH... ENOUGH ALREADY!

We have SO many friends that are struggling...heck, we are struggling. Holt and I rarely have BAD days... but we had one and we're working it out. That's what I love about us. When it's icky... it's ICKY BUT I know he's not going anywhere. I'm sure there are moments where he thinks "what have I gotten myself into with this crazy chick" BUT even when he's mad at at his wits end, he still makes sure that I know he loves me. I'm not so good at that, I like him to "suffer" a little but I force myself to apologize because I DO mean it and I DO want to but I'm horribly stubborn. Usually though, the good in me wins out.

My Aunt had surgery on Tuesday. She is doing SO well... except for today... they had to take her back in and do a little damage control. I know she's ok but I just HATE that she had to have surgery... again... 2 days later. YUCK! She was supposed to go home today... oh well, I guess maybe tomorrow. This is her Caring Bridge site that I am writing. I have to tone it down a touch though... she's a touch more... well, careful with her writing than I am naturally. As you know, I'm a blabber. https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/trishapanarites

My friend Leslie is doing well... she's just gearing up for more "stuff" to be done. Her birthday is comin' up and they are throwing her a big old party. I WANNA GO!! Boooo! Well, I can't because I'll be in Charleston in a few months and I can't afford another trip. Sad to miss BUT hoping that God's timing is involved in this and that when I DO go... it's the perfect time for me to see her. Her site is linked here... Warriors Wear Pink... you should read her writing - it's amazing. Her latest post got me thinking... I've been talkin' about a tattoo for years... I've been on a search for the perfect one... and I still don't know - BUT...

I'm getting one. I'm getting one soon. I saw one on my friend Wendy, it's under her hair on the back of her neck and it rocks. I mean, the bad thing is I won't be able to see it but it's a cool place to get one. There are MANY things that mean a lot to me... like drama faces... but all that I've seen are freaky. I love my son and have toyed with something about him - if he were from another country I would soooo steal Angelina Jolie's idea and get his longitude/latitude... I think that rocks. A cross has always been something I wanted. I really, really wanted one with a crown of thorns and I still may get that but some of them are creepy. So I'm on a hunt and I'm gonna get one. Maybe I'll find the perfect one that reveals the drama of me... all 38 years (who's counting) - I'm not sure if ONE thing can portray that but know... I'm looking and I'm goin' for it. Warriors Wear Ink... I'm on the front line Lester... so I'm joining you very, very soon!

Off to journal, think and pray... my mind is filled with concern for so many, my heart is broken because I miss my friends so much and wish I were closer. It literally HURTS some days because while I love my friends here... I have a heart-BOND with a few of you that are miles and miles away and it's days like today that I'd give ANYTHING... ok, not ANYTHING but close to it... to be with you - just sitting, saying nothing, and feeling COMPLETELY understood.

Off to have a glass of red wine... cheers to you Arlene, Lester, Jenny, Tracy x2, Chrissy, Nancy, Treva, Lisa, Debbie, Ginger, Liz, Deb, Margie, Audi, Nat, Bub, Stacy, Sarah, MiBo, Ash, Brig, Carol... and so many more... with all of my heart... I MISS YOU........

SPECIAL DELIVERY!!!

My Auntie Trisha is in the hospital.....

So Tristan thought he could crawl into the box and send himself to her....

I told him that he couldn't and he was VERY, VERY sad....

But I explained that we'd be going to NY VERY soon and he can give her kisses and hugs and fly on a plane vs in a box....

I think he's ok with that now... WHEW!! He can't wait to see you all in NY... he loves his Yankee family!!

Muuuuah! xoxoxoxo

Oopps..pictures from Connie's bday lunch

Meant to include..sorry!

Bad quality from my phone... I'll be fixing the resolution SOON!

Happy Birthday Auntie Connie

So Tristan had his first photo shoot as you know....



Because he was voted CUTEST BABY EVER... (ok, my words, not Balfour Beatty's) he got a $50 gift card... JUST in time for Auntie Connie's birthday! So Tristan gave her a Happy 1st Birthday card (ya know... first year that he's KNOWN Connie) and then made her this little goodie basket. Isn't my little man creative?! Hope you can see what's in there - his picture and a saying is on EVERY SINGLE thing... HILARIOUS!

Happy Birthday CONNIE!!!!