"Remeber guys, Santa is watching" - NOOOO!!!

Just spreading a little Holiday Cheer!

Blessed

I feel so blessed. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm not just talking about being reflective of my own good fortune over the Thanksgiving holiday. I have, for much of a year now, been rather in awe of my life and I'm always trying to find the right word to describe my feelings. I've considered words like; lucky, fortunate, prosperous, fortuitous, but I keep coming back to blessed. I have to admit that I feel somewhat hypocritical b/c in my mind blessed implies some level (typically a high level) of religious beliefs. I'm not a religious person. I love the idea of religion and faith. I have the utmost respect for the people in my life who are religious and honor their faith by attending church. I would even say I've had a wide and varied opportunity over the last 2 decades to get to know and learn about several denominations and while I was moved, without a doubt, by some no one experience ever took hold in my heart. Still, when I think about my life and just how fortunate I am, I always come back to feeling blessed. So, recently I looked up the definition and while there are numerous definitions that describe the religious connotations of the word there was one definition that worked well for me: blessed adj 4. characterized by happiness or good fortune a blessed time.

Here's hoping that this blessed time lasts a very long time!

I realize I owe everyone some updates and I also know that if I don't do this now there is a very good chance that I'll simply get out of the habit of updating this blog.

Samuel Andrew Tarnuzzer was born on August 28th (his grandmother's birthday) weighing in at 9lbs 9oz and 21" - he is truly the sweetest, happiest, most loving child and there certainly is something amazing and special about the mother/son bond. He smiles like a great big toothless, wide mouthed, jack-o-lantern with his eyes looking off to the side. It's hard to describe but it will absolutely melt your heart. The girls absolutely adore him and are wonderful big sisters (except when they wake him up which is often ;).

We sold our house and moved to a larger one closer to RI where I will be relocating early next year - it was a crazy time with the closing 2 weeks after Sammy's birth and the move 2 weeks after that, but it allowed us to have some major work done on the new house before we moved in. The house is wonderful and the land is beautiful. John has promised me a tree swing and we hope to put a deck/screened in porch off the back next spring. The neighbors are welcoming and we are thrilled to be there.

Meaghan came in October and it was such a wonderful visit. I'm always amazed how Meg and I can take up right where we left off whether it's been a couple days since we last saw each other or over a year. As always, she's an inspiration to me and I started "reclaiming" my body right after her visit (I refuse to diet). Unfortunately, I slipped a bit while in Tupelo (well worth it) but have to get back in the game b/c I want to fulfill my personal goal of being a hot mom someday. I have gorgeous children and a gorgeous husband and I don't like the idea of people thinking how'd she land him? or, thank god those kids got their looks from their dad! ;)

We just returned from spending Thanksgiving in Tupelo which was amazing. There were no major illnesses or injuries to speak of! My Grandma Clifford came down and we had an age range of 3 months to 90 years, add in two dogs a cat and a little girl who decided on her own it was a good time to start potty training and it was an eventful, crazy, wonderful time. So many cute things happened while we were there, here are just a few:

• Caroline called Great Grandma Clifford "Clifford the big red dog". I believe it was "Where Clifford Big Red Dog go?"
• Loretta got angry with me for forgetting a drawing she had made and gave me the death sign where you draw your finger across your neck with a spitting mad look on her face (I have no idea where she learned that but I almost died laughing).
• Loretta got very adept in playing some difficult games on the computer impressing us all.
• Caroline, as mentioned above, decided it was time she started using the potty and instigated many oh many "Caroline tinkled on the potty" celebratory parades.
• Jordan was well ambushed and abused by Loretta on many occasions and Sammy took a very real liking to Jordan too - smiling like crazy whenever Jordan came near.
• Sammy pretty much wrapped everyone around his little finger and I have a feeling he'll keep us there for a very long time.
• I got to see New Moon and enjoyed it. Much better than Twilight, but still the acting is sorely laking (with the exception of a few).
• Chris, Trish, John, and Ed all went to New Orleans to see the Pats play the Saints and misbehave appropriately.
• Mom equipped me with enough reading material to last me at least half a year, as well as, the time to actually get some reading done during the day... for pleasure...unheard of people!
• Loretta tied Paul up and made him walk the plank
• Loretta tried out my flag and actually did some pretty good moves - she only watched me once and she was mimicking my movements.
• Santa stopped by for a visit and the girls were absolutely thrilled to see him - asking where his reindeer were.
• The house was a winter wonderland complete with outdoor lights set to music. It was so amazing.
• Grandma Clifford taught me part of a song that she use to sing to my dad which I have now sung to Sammy dozens of times:

He's all the world to me

He climbed upon my knee

To me he'll always be

That little boy of mine.

There is so much more to share, but I'll close for now with some pictures and videos. Love to all!

Ahhh...The Cake!

We had such a wonderful time at the Cape with Ed, Sharon, Juliette, Christian and Mom and Dad T. Caroline was a little confused thinking we were going to the "cake" but the sun, sand and water made up for any disappointment! Both girls absolutely loved the water and my beach babies were tanned and exhausted at the end of each day.

We had our annual dinner at Swan River with Mom and Dad T which is always entertaining, but never more so than this year b/c it was family karaoke night and Juliette sang a song from High School Musical 2. Takes some guts to get up in front of a lot of strangers but she was a super star!

Unfortunately, John had to spend 2 of the days back at home working and attending a wedding, but the time he was at the cape was well spent at the larger beach where he and the kids created an elaborate hermit crab resort. We all got chastised for climbing on the rocks but found dozens and dozens of crabs and hermit crabs to enjoy the splendor.

We toasted marsh mellows and had smores, built and (in Carolines case) went Godzilla on sand castles and jumped waves for days. Couldn't have asked for a better time!

As of tomorrow, I have 2 weeks until my due date and 3 weeks until our scheduled c-section. Hope is my parents will be able to come up for the birth. We are getting very excited to meet this little man! Time to get the baby clothes out of the attic and get ready for his arrival! Love to all!!!

June In Review

Wow, what a great month we've had! So much to celebrate. We had John's surprise 40th Birthday party, Father's Day & Caroline's 2nd Birthday party! The house is still on the market, I found out that I'm being relocated to the Smithfield, RI. office, Caroline started swim lessons and absolutely loves it. Loretta is taking t-ball (with gymnastics on summer break) and a c-section date has been scheduled for Baby Boy. Enough for the quick recap, here are the fun details:

John's Surprise B-day Party
Yes, it was a surprise months in the making. There were actually two surprises, but one has yet to come to fruition. My mom, dad and the girls and I reserved a flight on a hot air balloon for John's 40th the morning of a surprise party at a great local restaurant with awesome outdoor seating overlooking a lake. Me, with my pregnant brain, completely forgot to tell John that he needed to take the whole day off for his birthday festivities so John had to wheel and deal with employees to re-arrange his schedule, all for naught since weather did not cooperate for the balloon ride. We've tried several times since, but anyone in NE knows we've been pretty gypped here weather wise for the last month or so. Anyway, I managed to convince John that this balloon surprise was really all I had in my back pocket for him with the exception of arranging a sleep over for the girls and reservations for dinner. When we got there, so many of Johns friends were able to attend and I think he was genuinely surprised by the get together. Friends from college, new friends, family all made it a great great night. I had a shirt made up, we had a cake with "Lordy Lordy John is 40!" on it and I even made up favors for the guests, little tins with mints that had a picture of John on them (around 9 years old maybe?) and "40 and handsome as ever!" written on them. John had such a blast and I'm just hoping we can get his flight in before this baby boy arrives! We are trying again this Sunday, so we'll see.



Father's Day

Next was Father's day which was so nice, as always. I helped the girls make t-shirts that said "Loretta/Caroline is Daddy's Girl" on them and they wore them for both his birthday and Father's day. Mom and Dad T invited us to lunch at a golf course which was lovely and has become a tradition. Ed and the kids and Ana, Hooman and Aryana we also there. We seem to be the only ones there each year with the exception of a couple of golfers who idle up to the bar so we pretty much have the place to ourselves. I neglected to bring my camera that day so I don't have pictures of everyone at lunch, but here is one of the girls in their t-shirts:

Happy Birthday Caroline!!!

I can't believe our little girl is two years old! She is such a riot, really funny and I can tell she takes after her uncle Paul and Chris because the girl already has a quick wit and loves to make people laugh. I made my first true tiered cake complete with dowels to support the extra weight and a cake board under the top layer so I could separate and server more easily. I'm really happy with how it turned out but I had made a cool 3D fondant butterfly to stick on the top but with all of the rain and humidity it never dried out enough. Speaking of rain, we had hoped to have a backyard party complete with kiddie pool and sprinkler but the weather did not cooperate, yet again, and it ended up being a cooler, misty, driveway party. But all the kids had a great time riding trikes or pushing bikes, doing chalk and getting tattoos. By lunch we were able to move to the back yard where we did "kanada" pinata fun and cake. Some kids took turns hitting the wiffle ball and our little left batter Loretta can really kill it! Caroline loved standing in line and taking turns along with her friends and when it came time for cake and singing she sang the entire birthday song to herself right along with us. After the kids went home and a little rest we opened her gifts and she barely got past her first doll gift from Grandma. The girl LOVES her baby dolls and for the first few days wouldn't bathe without her baby doll coming into the bathroom to be near and every time she ate her baby doll was in her carrier right next to her. She's such a lovey dovey and not just with her dolls. She is my Snuggle Bunny and every morning she wants to lay with me and wrap her little arms around my neck and just gives the best head hugs which last forever. I love every second of it!

Ok before i sign off - a couple of Lorettaisms:

Loretta telling her friends that her Daddy works at a restaurant called "John" Harvard's because everyone there likes him sooooo much.

An ambulance goes by with The Rod of Asclepius - Ancient Greek symbol for healing with the snake and staff (yes I had to google that - hooray for wikipedia) and Loretta says (really sympathetically) "oooohhh Maaannnn, I guess somebody's got snakes in their house".

Next steps for the Tarnuzzer Clan

Well, we are ever so lucky that we'll be spending a few days with Ed, Sharon and the kids down on the Cape again this year. The girls absolutely love playing with their cousins and being at the beach. That's at the end of July. The very next week we get to spend a few long overdue days with the Blakes!!!! Yeah!!!! They'll be visiting at the beginning of August for a couple of weeks and we'll get to spend a few days with them at their farm house. I look at pictures of Dev and Alex and I just can't believe how grown up those boys are! And don't even get me started on Izzy. I saw her at 3 months old and now she's 16 months old and wearing the same size clothes as our Caroline! I'm so anxious and excited to spend some quality time with Meg. After that I think we'll pretty much hunker down and await this baby boy's arrival! By then it will only be 3 more weeks at the most!

That's all for now! Hope you and yours are healthy and happy!