Mardi Gras, 2009

Alright, now let's be honest. How many of you actually celebrate Mardi Gras? And how many of you wish that you did? Exactly. Everyone wants to have a party for no real reason, eat lots of food, and find babies in their cake at least once a year!

After deciding that we were both going to give up things for Lent this year, Jim and I have been eating all the sweet stuff out of the house these past few days. I'm swearing off chocolate while he says he is doing without sweets. It's gonna be a loooong time until Easter...
I thought that it might be kinda cool to seek out a New Orleans-style place to eat dinner tonight, especially since Jason was in town. I found this place-- Bayou Cafe-- in downtown Freehold and made reservations. Their menu looks excellent, with authentic creole-style cooking and reasonable prices. Plus, we've been meaning to try out some more small restaurants in Freehold Boro. They offered an all-you-can-eat buffet for tonight, as evidenced in the picture below.

Trenton was a little afraid of the masks at first, but really liked the idea of confetti. Later, he got some beads to try on and took home a mask of his own.

So at first, Trenton was having NOTHING to do with the band. "Too loud! I don't like it!" he kept saying. I really thought we were going to have to leave with him... but then he got used to it.

Jay took the family picture above--- nice shot!

And of course, the highlight was the King Cake. I had asked the waitress before-hand if she wouldn't mind sneaking a baby into T's piece... sure enough, the little brass behbeh was in there! He saw it right away.

The winner!

He Rolled Over!

Ahh, so it happened today!
Jim stayed home from work and Jason was here for the day... so they took Trenton to his Let's Explore class. Which meant that Ollie got to do whatever he darn well pleased on the floor. Ha!
I left him like this, on his tummy, with his arms propped up underneath him. I went into the kitchen for like, thirty seconds, and when I returned, he had rolled over onto his back! Silly boy! Did it when no one was watching.

Congratulations, Melissa!

Just a quick shout out to my good friend Melissa, who got engaged this past weekend! Craig is a wonderful guy and we are so happy for her. Can't wait to see the ring and hear about any wedding plans! :) :) :)

Happy 60th, Granpack!

Last Thursday (the 19th) was Jim's dad's 60th birthday. It was also Trenton's due date!
For those of you who don't know, Trenton meshed the words "Grandpa" and "Konopack" at a young age. When you hear him say it, it kinda comes out like "Granpack". So that's what we call him. ;)
Mom made a fantastic dinner for the Georges, us, and Great Grandma Wilson on Saturday. The night before, Jim threw a surprise party for his dad at the sportsmen's club he belongs to in town.

Great Grandma Wilson bought ACTUAL HAIR of hers, that she has saved, to the party so that we could compare it with Oliver's. She had a lock from age one, ten, fifteen, thirty, and eighty, I think. All of them were some variation of blonde/brown/red... that's what we're seeing in Ollie!

The pictures above were on the refrigerator and show Oliver and John at 3 months of age. Lots of resemblance!

Momma's boy? Daddy's boy?

Monmouth Fans

Cuddle bug!
He's wearing a cloth diaper, which makes the 6 mo. pants fit just right, if not a little too tight!

This was after naptime yesterday. Both boys have been waking up just before 6 AM lately (joy!) and that's meant that Trenton wants to nap longer in the afternoon. Which is OK with me, so long as he is up by 4:00. Today, I went into his room to try to wake him and was unable to... hair twirling, grumpy face and all... So I started putting clothes away in his room. And turned on the lights. And played music from his CD player. And he still slept! So, in a last-ditch effort, I put Ollie in the bed with him. That woke him up nicely ;)
He loves to hold his brother and then say, "Mommy! Take our picture."

The hand-sucking is endless...

We're going to the library today to be part of a census that is taking place there. The county is thinking of shutting down branches that are not frequented by a lot of patrons. I'm not sure how I feel about this-- I understand the need to save money, but shut down the entire building? Permanently? My MOMS group holds meetings there, we are there at least once a week getting books and DVDs to borrow, and I request a ton of materials to be sent there via inter-library loan for my school projects. What would we do if the library closed? Cry, that's for sure.

Let's Explore!

Each winter, I've signed up Trenton for some sort of indoor entertainment. First it was swim classes, then music class... this year we've been doing something called Let's Explore. It is offered through the Monmouth County Parks District and is basically an arts and crafts class. I generally do not like doing arts and crafts, but I felt it was important for T to be exposed to it, as I'm sure he'll see a lot of it in school next year. They begin by letting the kids free-play with balls and then reading a story in one room. We then move to the next room where there are three stations set up (they rotate each week) and one has a craft that has to do with the story (that is usually his least favorite table).
Above and below, he goes to town on some shaving cream.

He likes using the sink to get it all off. Thank goodness for smocks.
Below, he uses the sponges to make some unique paintings.

After the crafts, its back into the first room, where the teacher blows these incredible bubbles (from Gymboree-- they don't pop as quickly as traditional ones-- I have to get some). Then they bring out the parachute. He LOVES it. Ollie hangs out with me in the sling the whole time (usually gets a nap in).

Aunt Shairna and Nana Curtis have signed him up for the next six weeks, as a birthday present. Thanks! He's gonna love it!

"Mom, Call Me Precious"

That's his new line... "Mom, call me precious." So how can I not? Too sweet. He also said "Mom, take my picture" for this one. And, he says of his brother, "Isn't he adorable?" Now that is cute.

Why do they make annoying train whistle toys for kids? I think he got this in a goody bag. Rest assured, no train whistles in goody bags from T's party.

Yee haw! Ollie successfully grabbed a hold of this lion-- without help! He's been reaching out for things and has even made a bit of progress in grabbing for things on his Exersaucer. Gotta get a pic of that...

See that? He can even grab hair!

Due to the President's Day holiday, we didn't get mail or have our trash picked up (incredible, as the latter is a private company and we PAY for their service). But Aunt Arlene and Billy had the day off from school and came down for a visit. T got to run around in the backyard, show off all of his toys, and have a reading buddy for the day.

Below, a pic from Valentine's Day morning. Trenton was so sweet, writing out Valentines for everyone that morning. The balloon is still going strong! Jim's folks came and babysat for us that night (soooo nice) and we went out for dinner at a local restaurant. We really need to do that more often.