~Midweek Madness~

Greetings! I hope you all are having a great week!  Ours started off with a little work delay so yesterday was our first day back to work!

~ On Monday my Macbook was murdered by a cup of coffee.  The coffee hit the table faster than we could catch it and spread just as quickly, drenching my battery and I think my mother board.  And the pretty Apple warranty means the chances of my Macbook coming back to life for less than its worth is slim to none.  Thankfully someone I work with knows how to extract the hard drive so I should be able to get all of my pictures off.  Let this serve as your warning, back up your pictures!

~ We are pretty excited in the Rivera household (at least Rowen and I) about the Giants going to the Super Bowl! While the majority of my family are die hard Patriots fans, my immediate family are Giants fans and they will be one of the few families in MA cheering them on!  Right now I would reference a picture from the last Giants/Patriots Super Bowl to show my fan status but it is locked away on Mr. Macbook, see point #1.

~ I started studying for the GRE last night, doing some math problems, and trying to remember the principles of high school algebra.  It was a rough start but at least I did it.  The GOAL is to take it before Rowen's birthday, which is a little under two and a half months away.

~ Speaking of Rowen's birthday, I still haven't written his nine month post.  Meh.  I will get to it.  As long as it gets up before his ten month post I will be happy!

~ This weekend this lady is coming home again, and I can't believe we haven't seen her since August.  I also can't believe how little Rowen was the last time she saw him!  The best part about living in your best friend's parent's town is that when ever she comes home you get to see her!

Thats all that is on my mind for now, hope you all are having a great week!

~What We've Been Watching~

Rudy and I used to have a few shows that we watched religiously, but now that we wake up around 4am the 'normal' great show times are usually when we are winding down and getting ready for bed.  We have tried the DVR, but as we found with Sons of Anarchy, we end up forgetting shows are on our DVR, and by the time we decide to watch them half the season has been deleted.  In the past week we have watched a few movies, and a great show so I thought I would share!

On Monday night, we got take out Hibachi and sat down to watch The Help.  After having watched the Golden Globes, Rudy was determined to see what all the hype was about, and I actually think he thoroughly enjoyed it!  My favorite thing about this movie is that it for the most part closely follows the book, which makes it seem more like the book coming to life than just a separate story.  

On Friday night we sat down for a 'man' movie and watched Moneyball.  We thought it was another great movie!  I don't know what it is about Brad Pitt, but I wonder if its in all of his contracts that he has to eat in every movie.  Just like Ocean's Eleven, he is eating the entire movie!  I highly recommend watching the movie in conjunction with surfing Wikipedia so you can keep the dates/facts straight since one of the main players in the 'real' story chose not to let his actually name be included.  

On Wednesday night I started watching Homeland by myself on demand.  While I only watched two episodes that night, I was instantly hooked and spend the majority of Rowen's weekend nap times finishing the season.  This kills me, because I get hooked on a show, slightly obsessed, have to finish the season and find out what happens, and then have to wait for the next season.  Le sigh, such a tragedy.  If you like suspense (which I don't) or you like Claire Danes (which I do), this is a great show!    Some parts about the whole intelligence community/political structure are a little far fetched, but the internal battle of Brody to love his family vs. be a terrorist is fascinating.  Rudy wasn't completely sold on the show, but he did watch the last two episodes with me and asked when the next season starts so maybe that is a good sign!

If you haven't seen any of these three I highly recommend them!  What have y'all been watching, any suggestions?

~Lazy Weekend~

We had one of the most perfect weekends for the simple reason that we did nothing at all.  I had seen reports on Friday that we were in for some nasty weather, possibly snow, but more likely freezing rain, so I figured we would be hunkered in the house at least through Saturday.

On Friday night we gave Rowen his first plate of spaghetti and meatballs.  To say he loved it would be an understatement.  The entire time he was all business and no smiles, and thoroughly enjoyed himself!

For some reason I always imagined I would have blue eyed children so when I see pictures like these of big brown eyes I am blown away!  I may be biased, but I sure do love brown eyed boys now!

When we woke up Saturday we had gray skies and icy conditions.  I went to college in Connecticut and was very used to the 'dark ages' of winter, and this entire weekend reminded me of those long months.  So instead of venturing out, we stayed home.  I did make one quick run to Target for brown sugar, but I was in and out and was very proud of myself!  And while we did nothing out of the ordinary, it was perfect, relaxing, and a great two days of sweet family time!

When it looks like this outside...

what better way to get the warm and fuzzies than to make cookies...

We spent a lot of time watching this sweet little guy play...

And I just had to show a few of these pictures I snapped of Jack. Jack had to of been a human before because he loves to watch tv, Skypes with his grandma, and makes faces like this...

And finally he was embarrassed by all of the attention!

Tonight while I was rocking Rowen before bedtime, this song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, came on and I got 'emotional'.  When I was pregnant with him we used to play Pandora for him and whenever this song came on he used to dance like crazy.  It is one of my favorites, and it is such a happy song so I thought I would share!

These are a few of my favorite things: Charleston

While I had never been there before moving there for work, I grew to love everything about Charleston, South Carolina.  Right now we are thinking about taking a spring trip, and I hope down the line it becomes one of our 'normal' vacation destinations so that our children can grow to love the city as much as we do.  Since I haven't done a 'These are a few of my favorite things' posts in a while I thought I would go ahead and put together a few of my favorite things about Charleston: 

1. King Street.  Whether you go down there to shop, stroll, or eat, King Street has it all!  One of my favorite things to do used to be strolling down King Street on the weekends, usually stopping into my favorite pizza place Mellow Mushroom for some delicious lunch!

2.  Isle Of Palms Beach.  The best part of Charleston is that you get the best of both the city and the beach.  Isle of Palms beach is a perfect family beach with great waves and plenty of white sand to enjoy.  I can't wait to take Rowen there one day and let him dig his little toes in the sand! 

3.  Charleston Park System.  Its a little known fact that Charleston has a very intricate park system with beautiful trails, dog parks, and even a few of them have water parks.  The best part is that it only costs a dollar to get in and you can stay all day if you like!

4. Charleston City Market.  Just a few blocks down from King Street is the Charleston City Market.  Filled to the brim with local vendors, you can find wonderful gifts, souvenirs, or trinkets for yourself.  It makes for a great stroll and is conveniently located near some of the best restaurants in the town.  

5. The Ravenel Bridge.  Every time I see a picture of the Ravenel Bridge, I think of Charleston.  For me it is the symbol I most associate with Charleston and next time we go down we will be adding a framed picture of it to our home!

Don't these pretty pictures just make you want to get up and go?

~Midweek Randoms~

Greetings!

I'm writing from my half decorated living room while watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  I looove this movie and every time its on I get sucked in.

~Today while going through the Chick Fil A drive thru I had an epiphany.  I am old.  Not by the conventional standards, but the fact that I'm not the same age as the teenagers working in the drive thru made me realize that I'm not 17 anymore.  I still feel like it was yesterday that I was sitting at my parents kitchen table doing my calculus homework.  

~This week another little piece joined my camera collection, and I caught this shot of Rowen.  I like to think of Rowen as the cautious walker.  He hasn't started walking quite yet, but all day long he climbs up and down on things, carefully making sure he doesn't fall.  

~ Last week I found out a little secret that one of my friends is expecting a baby this fall!  While I won't sell her out just yet since she hasn't announced it, I did want to share a little gift basket I put together for her!

I picked up the basket at Target and filled it with Ginger Ale, Prenatal Vitamins, Tums Smoothies, Palmer's Lotion, Swedish Fish, a belly band, and a copy of Fit Pregnancy.  Just a few things to get her started on this new exciting journey!!

~To party or not party, that is the question.  We have been debating Mr. Rowen's first birthday over here in the Rivera Household.  While we would love to have a big party celebrating our sweet little guy's birth, we have so few family and friends here that it doesn't seem like it is worth all of the work/effort.  On the other hand I feel like I am in some way cheating Rowen if I don't have a party for him.  We would love for our families and close friends to be able to join us, but with Rowen's birthday falling on a holiday weekend, that becomes even more of a hassle.  One idea that we are throwing around is taking a little trip to Charleston just the three of us to celebrate.  Part of my thinks this is selfish, but the other part really likes this idea and the thought of spending the whole trip together.  

Thats all I have for now, I hope you all enjoying the short week!

~You Have Feet In Your Shoes...~

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

Rowen has always been a wiggly, on the move little man.  While at daycare, he is allowed to freely roam the confines of his classroom, crawling all over the place.  When he comes home, he isn't always a happy camper about being confined and not having free reign of the house.  This week, on two of the days where I picked him up, he looked at me like 'hey mom, your not supposed to be here, I'm still playing.'

Today, while he happily went with me, when we got home, the restrictions on his freedom got to be too much for my little man.  The usually happy, easy going ham of a little boy I normally see sat in his high chair for close to twenty minutes losing his mind.  He has a slight flair for the dramatics, I have no idea where he gets that from.  I tried everything I could think of, even adjusting his feeding schedule and trying to give him his afternoon bottle earlier.  Nothing seemed to work.

Until I picked him up.  And took him to his room, and just rocked him.  These moments are few and far between for us.  Usually our rocking sessions end in him wanting to get down and investigate something new and exciting.  But not today.  Rowen quietly sat on my lap as we rocked back and forth in our big comfy chair and just stared up at me with those big brown tear stained eyes.  And it quickly made me forget the temper tantrum of only five minutes before.  Eventually he started to wiggle and we sang his favorite song, wheels on the bus, and as usual the little giggles I've heard so many times singing that song continue to melt my heart.

I know that while I'm at work I miss a lot of what Rowen does throughout the day.  Sometimes I become frustrated when I get him home and all he wants to do is cry because he is tired from not napping at daycare.  Or he wants to crawl all over the place instead of sitting in my lap reading books.  Or he goes straight to bed and all of the precious little 'us' time for that day is lost.  But days like today make it ok.    It reminded me that some times when I can't figure out what Rowen wants, and I don't know how I'm gonna keep going for another five minutes without losing my temper, all it takes is my little boy wanting to be held by his mom to melt away all of my frustration and enjoy those little moments with him.  

~Things I learned From This Month's Real Simple~

Since the magazine began being published, I have had a small obsession with Real Simple.  I don't know if its the texture of the paper, or how the magazine pages are slightly wider than a normal magazines, but there is something about it that I love.  Maybe it is the never ending tidbits of information the pages hold.  

While I would like a subscription, and could easily procure one with a few clicks of the mouse, Mr. Rivera is highly sensitive about too many magazine subscriptions, so most times I either whine about getting it and stick it in the cart at Target or sneak it into the house after one of solo trips to Target.  Yes, I spend far too much time at Target.  There may or may not of been a comment made in the Rivera household which suggested I only purchase one canister of formula at a time to ensure I maintain weekly trips to Target.  I digress.

This month's Real Simple is full of lots of little fun facts and I thought I would share a few that I didn't know before and maybe you didn't either.

1. You should replace your sponge every couple of weeks, and at the end of everyday sterilize a wet sponge, either by putting it in the microwave for one minute or by running it through the dishwasher.

2. An easy way to fluff a wrinkled load of clothing is by throwing a damp towel in with the load and restarting the dryer.

3. Apparently the office version of mom jeans is called mom slacks, which have a pleated front and a high waste.  Pleats make me shudder.

4. To help lighten sun spots on your face, three times a week gently rub a strawberry on discolored areas, leaving the juice on your face for two minutes before rinsing.

5.  Americans have a median household debt of more than $200,000.

6.  Theres an entire three page article on sentimental clutter, which I am extremely guilty of.  

7.  In a survey of approximately 1000 readers, it was found that 49% spent at least three hours a week on social media sites.

8.  Baking with cold eggs and dairy products results in dense cakes and breads.  Room temperature products helps produce a light and airy baked good.  

These fun facts and so many more can be found in the monthly Real Simple Magazines or at RealSimple.com

~2012 Perspective~

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.  I took a step back, enjoyed my time with my family, and for the most part stayed off the interwebs and it was rather enjoyable!  But now that I'm back I thought I would take a moment to reflect on what was.  I sat down and read my New Years post from last year, and while I was partially right about 2011 being the year of Rowen, it was that, and so much more.  This year my goals have what I feel is a little more sustenance, some are serious or silly, but all are things I can accomplish if I put my mind to it.  

In no particular order...

1. Finish Projects.  I am amazing at starting projects.  I write my lists, venture to the stores and gather my supplies, and come home and happily start my project.  And that's usually where it ends. Started.  Just like the four blankets I started for Rowen this past year.  I think Rudy almost had a heart attack when I set out to make Rowen's handprints into Christmas Ornaments and I actually finished them in one day and had them hanging on my tree.  And then Lola ate one (did I mention we discovered she is the trouble maker?).  So this year I want to follow through on my ideas, finish some of the lingering ones (hello home organization binder, yes I see you sitting on the guest bed glaring at me), and attempt to development somewhat of a system that leaves me happy with what I have made/accomplished. 

2. Cook more and eat healthier.  This is one area of the home I struggle in majorly.  I would rather vacuum everyday and fold laundry all night long than consistently cook meals.  We tried to do a better job with this right after Rowen was born, but then with us both super  busy at work, it fell by the wayside.  We eat out way too much, which isn't good for our wallet or our waists.  And now that Rowen sits at the table with us for meals, its even more important that we eat healthy and set a good example for him.  The key for me is menu planning, and keeping it simple.  I can guarantee on Monday nights  I will be tired from the return to work so I need to remember to always cook something I can easily make without turning my kitchen into a disaster and something I'm familiar with.  If Rudy loved Spaghetti like I do, Mondays would be a Spaghetti night every week.  I can save my experimenting for the weekend, when if it doesn't turn out like I wanted (which happens more than I'd like to admit) we can go out to dinner and not have to get up super early the next day.    

3. Read a book a month. Easy. So long as I don't get distracted by the romance novel aisle at target.

4. Find a church.  While our faith as a family is solidified, our faith as part of a community is lacking.  This one is high on the list considering the churches we have found thus far have had a lacking sense of community and left us wanting more.  I want to find a church that we can feel a part of and where Rowen's faith is nurtured. 

5. Bring Rowen's baby book up to date.  Or rather start Rowen's baby book, and then update it.  I need better pens for this task (I think of this as something he will hold on to his whole life so naturally I have to find the perfect pen to write in it with) and once I find those I will start it, and finish it, see #1.  

6. Print pictures monthly.  One of my favorite things to do when I go home is find one of the random boxes of pictures my parents have scattered about the house and just sit and thumb through the memories.  In the digital era I think this is something that may one day disappear so I have decided I need to print copies of all of our pictures, primarily in fear that one day my numerous computers will die and all of my 'memories' will be lost to me forever.  While I love photo books as well, its something about holding the pictures in my hands that gets me.  I haven't yet decided how I will store these, but I am looking into either putting together annual photo albums or boxes right now. 

7. Date night once a month.  Or leave Rowen with a babysitter once a month and go see a movie.  I don't really care what we do, but over Christmas break I realized that in nine months other than at daycare, we have only ever left Rowen three times, and two of those times were with my mom when we were visiting home.  Its not that I don't feel comfortable leaving Rowen, but rather that we know literally no one here so finding a babysitter hasn't been the easiest task.  But I'm working on it, and if we have to have date night by way of 'Casa Rivera' for the next few months, thats ok too.  

8. Monthly House projects.  Now that we have lived in our house for about a year and a half, we feel comfortable taking on some projects here and there.  Rudy calls this the curse of me discovering Pinterest.  I call this creating a warm and welcoming home.  Either way we have some big plans, and so far we have identified the living room, kitchen, and backyard (bye bye pool, hello Maryland garden paradise) as the first targets.  

9.  Take GRE and apply to grad school.  While I don't know that this is what I want to do next, it is an option I would like to have.  In the next couple of months I plan to study my butt off for the GRE and my goal is to take it before Rowen's birthday.  The grad school solicitation won't come out until this summer, but if I have all of my ducks in a row before then, hopefully it will make the process easier.  

10.  Find 'Friends'.  This sounds pathetic.  Really it does.  I have plenty of friends, but the majority of them live far far away.  If I were to have a birthday party for Rowen this year, literally the only people I would have to invite nearby would be our beloved Black Family and maybe a few people from work, which I think would be awkward since I really have never hung out with them socially before.  Problem is we don't really know where to find these 'friends'.  Our neighborhood is old, and there aren't a lot of parks in town for me to stalk potential friends at.  We are thinking of signing Rowen up for a class at the Little Gym so hopefully that will offer some possibilities.  

11.  Save the money.  We have goals in our future, and they are going to require money.  So we need to curb impulse shopping, stop eating out, and save our moolah!

12.  Live in the moment and not for whats next.  I feel like this may be my most challenging goal.  I am constantly thinking about whats next, the next house, the next job, the next baby, what we are doing next weekend.  Its a flaw, and it is sometimes seen as me never being happy with what I have.  Which is wrong.  I want to show that I am happy, over joyed, and in love with the life I have!  And I think the best way for me to do it is to focus on the now, trust that there is a plan, and let the next fall into place.  

Geez, these turned out longer that I had hoped for, but I'm happy I got them written down to try to hold myself accountable.  What are some of your goals for 2012?