Florida in February!

Isn't it amazing how you can't wait for vacation, and the days seem like an eternity as you countdown until it starts, and then it's over in a flash?! Sure enough, that's how it went on our recent trip to Florida, but we had a blast, and we are lucky to be going back in 6 weeks - so I can't complain :)

The whole trip happened a bit last minute. My parents were going to Florida for a business trip and since we would be taking time off with the kids, we figured we might as well go visit with Gramma and Grandpa, and make the most of a few days off! 

Note to self - and anyone else with little ones - don't take the late night flight just to save a few bucks! Worst.idea.ever. Our kids have been good sleepers since early on, so we're spoiled I guess. They happen to be very particular to routine - they both won't fall asleep on you, can't be rocked to sleep and and at bed time, they need their beds. I was hopeful though that at 8:30pm, we'd get them full, cozy and the motion and darkness of the plane would lull them to Zzzz.

Nope. Our flight didn't leave until 9:30pm, a full 3 hours past Anna's bedtime and 2 hours past Madelyn's.  Let's just say we were that family on the plane. At first, I was sweating and embarrassed, because I felt all the angry eyes on us. It was the first time as a mom that I was in a situation where all eyes were on us, and I felt completely helpless. Then after about 30 minutes of Anna's all out screaming like I've never heard in my life, I stopped caring. Mind you, we weren't even in the air yet.  Anyway, the poor thing was exhausted and she just wanted to sleep but couldn't get comfy. She passed out on my chest after an hour, succumbing from crying herself to a point of exhaustion she wasn't used to. The sigh of relief I let out when she was asleep was like no other. Not only was it reaching my bedtime, but with the physical and emotional challenge of trying to get A to sleep, I was beyond tired. M never fell asleep, she wanted to but wouldn't give in. We got to the house and settled in bed by 2am. Holy whirlwind! But hey - we were on vacation, so who cares.

The next few days were awesome. Unlike our last visit, the weather really cooperated with us and every day was nice. Brian and I started each day with a date to Starbucks and a short walk, which in itself was a treat. We also were able to go out for date to a movie, and another night we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant down there. A menu full of GF items, and delicious wine, I was in heaven! Brian was able to play golf a few times, and as I mentioned previously here, I had a day at the beach all by myself! We couldn't get Madelyn out of the pool, and the girls had so much fun catching up and playing with Gramma and Grandpa.

We are so lucky that we have a warm place that we can escape to during the chilly winter months! It was so nice to be outside, swimming, getting some Vitamin D and wearing flip flops. Not only that, but we get to visit with Gramma and Grandpa, which is always fun :) Our flight home was even more of a challenge than our flight down, but I'll spare you the play by play. We are going down again in about 6 weeks, so I have some time to plan to make these flights better! Wish us luck :)

I've enjoyed looking back at our great pictures, oozing with Florida warmth, since it's been colder than Alaska here ever since we got back! Here are some of our pics:

Time out

Right now, I'm sitting here, alone.

Well not totally alone, look at my buddy who hung out with me for a while!

I totally recognize that it's important to take time out of the busy days for myself, but I almost never do. I might get my nails done every once in a while, or go to the store by myself but those quick outings don't really do the trick. 

So, here I am on our last day of vacation and I was essentially forced to take the day to enjoy the beach by myself. Brian and his Dad are golfing, and my mother-in-law offered to watch the girls so I could come here. 

I love the beach, and can't even remember the last time, I got to enjoy it for so many uninterrupted hours! When Brian suggested the plan, I said no. I couldn't, because I felt bad. Then I heard Brian and my MIL talking about it, and saying it was a great idea, I deserved it. And I thought, maybe I should just go.... after all, I could use some sun and Vitamin D.

So here I am. The first hour, I was so figgity, I didn't know what to do with myself. I don't know why, but I was almost fighting off the urge to relax and let go. I tried to nap, but with so much time to think, my mind was just racing. 

After about 2 hours in the sun, I had a great lunch on the Club patio, and came back to my perch. Its been another hour or so, and just like that, I am relaxed. I can't even believe that I was originally resisting this idea. I do deserve this, and I think I needed it! I will absolutely be thinking of this quiet lazy afternoon when it's back to the grind on Monday! It might have been forced, but this was a good reminder that it's really important to take time out for ourselves!

Hope you are having a great weekend and make some time for you!

My Anna-nan

My sweet Anna-nan is almost 10 months, and I am in denial.  With every little sound that she mutters that has the resemblance of a word, and every inch closer she is to standing on her own, I am reminded that we are staring ONE in the face, and shes not much of a baby anymore. I mean, shes still a baby obviously, but the baby-ness is diminishing as her personality starts to bloom more and more. It really goes SO fast. I realized I hadn't written much about my little nugget in the last few months, so I wanted share what she's up to!

Anna amazes me. She is the complete opposite of M and her spunkiness definitely keeps me on my toes. For general comparison, at this age, Madelyn was just starting to learn to crawl, Anna has been crawling for 3 MONTHS already! Anna is pulling herself up in her crib, crawling out or away from any seated position, doesn't like being restrained in a car seat, high chair or anything alike, and has a screech that could deafen you. I'm not sure I'll have photos to capture 8,9, 10, 11 months, etc because I literally can't get a photo of her that's not blurry from her moving! She's the happiest like girl, she loves to be involved in anything that's going on around her, and she loves to be heard :) She is smart, quick and always wants to explore and learn what's next, loosing interest in most things quickly. I am having so much fun getting to know our little girl and watching her learn and grow.  We expected she might be quick to crawl because she's never liked being still, but its amazing to actually watch her explore!

Anna started to crawl at 7 months and 1 week. That exact weekend she also got her first tooth, and the second followed quickly after. She loved trying food and is a good sport about anything new we give her. She especially apples, sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans and she is obsessed with yogurt. This week she also tried chicken, sausage, pasta and mashed potatoes and they all went over well too. We don't give her too much water, because I don't want her to fill up and not drink a bottle, but she loves it! I guess it's good to start that early ;)

At 9 months, Anna started to pull herself up in her crib and at our coffee table. Just a few weeks later and she can stand there barely holding on for minutes, before she gets tired and sits down. Her first real word with intent, was "ut oh" and now she also says Dadda, whenever she sees Brian and she'll repeat 'tank you' whenever she hears someone say, thank you. I think she started waving around 8 months, but by 9 months she was doing it whenever people say hello or goodbye, and without being prompted. She also just started throwing up her hands, when you ask her how big she is. Although, she's not that big. Since birth, she'd been measuring in 75%-90% for weight, and 90% for height, but at 9 months, she was 50% across the board. Maybe we were starving her ;) needless to say, we feed her a little more now, which she seems very happy with!

I don't remember being so overwhelmed with the amount of changes and growth all at once with Madelyn, the way I am with Anna. I'm sure it's not uncommon, and maybe more so for the second child because they're trying hard to keep up with their sibling, but for some reason I feel like I literally blinked my eyes and Anna has grown up in a few weeks! We are heading to Florida in two weeks, which I'm getting nervous about, but also very excited for. I can't wait to take Anna on her first plane ride, trip to the beach and swimming in the pool. Something tells me she will absolutely love it all. 

To my sweet Anna-nan - "you are my sunshine, my only sunshine".... I love you so much!! 

Here are some pictures of Anna over the last few months: 

Christmas Morning

first time I caught her standing in her crib

first time she actually paid attention and "watched tv"

today - I asked her to kiss the giraffe, and she leaned in and went "Mmmm" - too cute!

first time her hair was all up in a ponytail

playing with her sissy

It's a sad day...

I have been going to the same salon for more than 11 years to get my hair cut and colored. If you know me, you may know where I'm talking about, and you know I love my hair-guy, and he is not cheap! I also go for massages, facials and I had my wedding hair and makeup done there too. After my visit today, there's a good chance, I may never go back.

I got a gift card for my birthday, and another gift card for Christmas. I finally got around to using my b-day gift card two weeks ago, and I had an awesome massage. Today, I went for a haircut. While paying, the woman was confused with my gift card and couldn't find the record of it. She didn't make a big deal about though, honored it and I left. On my way home, I missed a call from her, and she asked me to call back. I called, and this time she wasn't very nice. Our conversation went like this:

Monica: "Hi, Jessica - you just used this gift card when you were here for your massage on the 28th"

Me: "No, I had a different card that I used then."

Monica: "No, this is the same card, with the same number."

Me: "No, the one I used when I was there for my massage was from my mom, a birthday gift in August. The one today, my husband gave me for Christmas."

Monica: "No, its the same one. I'm telling you. I'm just telling you."

Me: "I had two different card, I don't understand."

Monica: "Well, I'm telling you, you used this already."
Me: "That's not possible, I wouldn't still have it if I paid with it for my massage. My mom gave me the other one, do you want to look that up by her name?"

Monica: "Uh, yeah, I guess. what is it?
Me: "Linda Tiani:"

Monica: Well, OK. These are the same gift card. I'm telling you, you already used this"

and she hung up on me...

I was floored, disgusted, annoyed and frustrated. From the text I included, it's impossible to understand how condescending and cold she was. She was very matter of factly, telling me that I was wrong, and she was essentially doing me a favor with a free cut, because that gift card had already been used. First, what in the heLL are you talking about? That doesn't even make sense, since I surrendered two different gift cards with each visit. B - you didn't try to get the facts to understand what was going on. She gets a F in problem solving technique. C - don't talk to me like that, I've probably paid you thousands of dollars over the last 10 years. Show me a little more respect than to just assume I'm trying to pull a fast one on you. 

Maybe it's because I'm in customer service for a living, but that whole conversation did not sit well with me. Obviously, you can't use a gift card twice, I'm not being shady, and their records are incorrect. I was trying very hard to be nice and help her figure it out, and she just argued with me. She kept saying, well, i'm telling you. Well, Monica, you are wrong. Some customer service I get for being a patron for so long, clearly they don't care. 

I came home all fired up, told Brian all about it, and decided I'd call back and ask to speak to a manager to tell them that I was unhappy with how that conversation went. Monica answered when I called, ugh. I asked for the manager and she replied - "I am the manager, how can I help you?" Double, ugh. I asked for someone else and she goes "who is this?" Really??? So, I said Jessica. She goes - "Jessica, it's fine. You used the gift card twice, but its fine." Oh no she didn't... This doesn't really happen often, but I kinda lost my cool. In the nicest way possible, I told her I'd been a patron for so long, massages, hair, makeup, etc, and this whole thing was not cool. Again, she said it's fine, like she was doing me a favor. Again, not admitting fault, or trying to figure out the glitch in their system. She offered me a free spa mani/pedi - it's vegan and all natural. My blood was literally boiling, are you kidding me right now? I don't want a free mani/pedi. And, I'm sorry would have been nice. I told her that was nice, but I don't think I'm coming back. 

I'm in a bit of a quandary, because I'm in desperate need of a mani/pedi and a free one sounds delightful, but more importantly, I LOVE my hair guy. I tell everyone I know, it costs a fortune, but every time I leave, I'm so happy with what he does. I've tried other people, to save $50 here and there, but he's just the best. I especially, love my cut today. Damn it. Why is it so hard to be nice to people, and provide good customer service? Especially when it's your job, AND you are the MANAGER? Maybe like chivalry, it's just a thing of the past? 

What would you do?

 #worstexperienceever

Tradition

One thing my parents tried very hard to implement in my childhood was the element of tradition. Because they've been together since they were 14, (yes, you read that right!) they started creating traditions early and have a long history of them that they shared with us as a growing family. I kind of feel like as you get older, you either follow along with the traditions you are exposed to, or you rebel and decide to create all new ones. Or maybe you fall somewhere in between. I'm very much the person that has followed along completely, and therefore change for me, can be difficult. Not only with traditions, but just change in general. When it comes to holiday traditions, I almost shutter at the thought of change. Don't get me wrong, change is not bad..  This holiday season though was a good test for changes to come in the future. 

It started when we weren't able to get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving like we always do. No biggie, we went the next weekend, and actually got ours at a different place all together - pre-cut no less. I survived ;) Actually, it was easier with two kids in bad weather, and the tree lasted much longer! Shortly after that we learned that Brian's parents were coming up to spend Christmas with us. We were so excited to have them, and include them in our Christmas rituals! Christmas for me, for 34 years has been Christmas Eve  Mass at 5pm, maybe caroling at God's Acre right after, then a quiet dinner with my family at my parents. Christmas Day is spent with the Krippene's (TK -Tiani-Krippene Christmas) - either at my parents house, or their house. Every.single.year. 

Gramma and Grandpa arrived the day before Christmas Eve, and spent the day with the girls while Brian and I worked on Christmas Eve. Then we all got ready and headed off to church at 5pm, and dinner with my family at my parents house. It was the perfect night. The girls were good during church, dinner was delicious as always, and it was so great to have our families together on such a special day! Christmas Day started at our house, then we went to my parents house for brunch, and then off to Krissy and Jamie's for TK Christmas. It was a busy day, but a truly wonderful-crazy-exhausting-blessed-fun day. 

Looking back, this was the best Christmas ever! It was so wonderful to get to spend Christmas with my in-laws and share my traditions with them.  It was also a very sentimental TK Christmas since the K contingency of TK, is moving to North Carolina this year. So, this was (most-likely) the last time we'll celebrate Christmas together. There were definitely some tears, and probably more to come in the coming months as they prep to move, but it couldn't have been a better day and way to wrap up the holidays. Traditions are a very special thing, and it's only natural for them to change and evolve, and I guess that what makes them so wonderful. I look forward to making more traditions as a family, that we can pass down to the girls!

Here are some pictures of our Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

In the Christmas Spirit

This year, we've tried to do a lot of different things with the girls to get them excited for Christmas. It just so happens that we've had Christmas related activities each weekend, so we've been busy being merry :)  I always enjoy this season, but this year has been especially fun with two little princesses to watch enjoy the Christmas spirit. We weren't able to get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving like we normally do, so instead we wasted no time jumping into Christmas activities in other ways.

I'd heard a little about the Frozen Palace that was set up in a Mall in West Hartford, but to be honest, I sort of dismissed it. Then my sister-in-law texted me one day, from the mall, and said it was pretty impressive. Since we didn't have anything going on, I convinced Brian to go on a little adventure up to the mall. He was a little reluctant, and I admit, I was completely naive. I figured we'd have to wait in line a little, but if we got there right when it opened, how bad could it be. Oh. Mmm Gee. The mall opened at 10am, and we were there at 10:20am. It was still November, so I figured the mall wouldn't be that crowded. I mean, do that many people really start their shopping that early? Coming from the queen procrastinator, its hard to image people are organized that early on! Anyway, we came around the corner to absolute chaos. Brian was silent, with an I-told-you-so-face the whole time. We waited in this line for 3 hours, yes 3 HOURS and 15 minutes, before we could enter the Frozen Palace. A little perk was that at the end of the Frozen set up, was Santa. A very sweet and genuine Santa. Of course you had to buy a few pictures, but in the 10 seconds the girls were on his lap, they managed to snap a decent photo. We left, and I could barely think straight. Its a miracle we avoided complete meltdowns, considering we were standing for so long, had limited water, and missed our normal lunch hour. Anyway, Madelyn LOVED it, and was giddy and smiling the entire time. So, for the stress of it all for Brian and , it was totally worth it.  We got in the car and the girls both passed out immediately.

The next weekend, we got our Christmas tree on Saturday, decorated the house inside and out, and then went to NYC on Sunday for our annual Christmas trip to see the tree, shop and have dinner. Unfortunately, the whole tree sighting and getting to the restaurant situation was beyond hectic, so I didn't have my camera out to take any pictures. Oh well, we had a blast nonetheless :) Hanging and watching TV with just the tree lit up, is one of my favorite things ever. This year, we put our tree in a different spot, and picked our best tree yet so I'm completely obsessed with just sitting and enjoying the tree. Its pretty neat to admire how the tree is filling with ornaments from the last 5 years. Our very first Christmas tree had many generic ornaments on it. Over the years, I've thrown many of them out because we've run out of room, and we're now filling the tree with special one-of-a-kind ornaments signifying our little family. Depending on how our tree is keeping up, maybe we'll keep it up through January :) 

This past weekend, we went up town to see Santa arrive to the park, by helicopter. A fun event for the little ones, and our first time experiencing it. After he lands in the ballpark, he goes around the fence to say hi to all the little ones and give out candy canes. Madelyn couldn't believe it, she was so confused as to where his sled was, and watched in awe as he got out and made his rounds. There really is nothing to compare to the magic of Christmas in a childs eyes. I feel like when she was little, I was always saying - this is the best age, no this is the best. We're getting to go through many of the amazing little milestones with Anna, and that fun age, but Madelyn is at such a great stage and this Christmas season has already been incredible! I am looking forward to getting through this week of work, and the girls being slightly under the weather right now. I'm hoping we can all stay healthy and have a wonderful week next week! Enjoy this magical time with your loves, and since I probably wont write again before next week - Merry Christmas!