This Moment

My baby matches my childhood Cabbage Patch doll, Max.

This Moment

When your husband brings you flowers because he knows you expected to witness history, but instead you're avoiding TV and the Internet as tRump is sworn in as President.

Carnegie Museum Pass

This year we decided to get the Carnegie Museum Pass again. We went one year without it because we were gifted a yearly pass to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and thought that would be enough for our family. After going to the Science Center once this year and then checking out the dinosaurs at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, we realized it would just be cheaper to do the year pass. So that puts our yearly passes at 3...the zoo, the Children's Museum, and the Carnegie Museums. What can I say, we like to be active and take advantage of all that our city has to offer!

Jack has been loving the dig site. He doesn't quite get the concept yet, but he still asks to do it every visit. I love that he's learning about fossils and dinosaurs now at 3, that will hopefully make him be more eager to learn when he's in school, connecting what he's grown up doing at the museums!

I also love that in all of the museums there is a spot for Ezra to play. He's not yet 1-years old, but he can have fun there, too! I tend to baby wear when go out so that we're more mobile, so it's certainly nice to have a spot to let him out to crawl around and play.

I'm so glad that we decided to get the pass again. I know it will be especially useful in these winter months and then rainy days throughout the year. 

This Moment

Watching Jack and Ezra play at Nona and Papap's house brings me back to my childhood. I'm so glad they get to know each other!

We Moved!

We moved at the beginning of this month to a new house! We found one in Moon Township, right in the next town over from where we were living. The house was for sale and for rent. We are not ready to buy, but we signed a two-year lease to test the waters of living with Mom and Dad long term. If at the end of the lease we feel comfortable then we will buy it! It's exciting to have so much space and make the home our own, even if it's just for now.

It's a four bedroom, 2.5 bath with a huge backyard. The house has great bones, but needs some updating. I think it could be the perfect place to make our own! Living with Mom and Dad isn't what I expected but when I think about the short and long term benefits, it works out for everyone! I'd like to do a long blog post about living together! Stay tuned!

THIS WEEKEND I:

Watched: Mariah Carey bomb on Rockin' New Year's Eve
Listened: to Jack bang on a little pan to ring in the new year
Learned: a new crochet pattern 
Ate: pork and sauerkraut for good luck
Read: Little Tug, Jack's new favorite bedtime story
Drank: non-alcoholic blueberry sparkling cider
Thought: about my resolutions for the year
Wished: that Hillary Clinton was being sworn in as President in 2017
Realized: that I might never feel the same about this country with Trump as President
Bought: nothing! 

A Very Matching Christmas!

Happy Christmas! My family is amazing and let my sister and I pick out matching pajamas for everyone to wear! I really didn't think everyone would go for it, especially my father-in-law, but everyone agreed! They were such good sports in the fleece Star Wars PJs! I will cherish these photos and memories! 

 I think the boys had a fantastic Christmas in our new house! Santa stopped by with more presents than they could count and they played all morning long! I'm so in love with this family that I get to call mine! Merry Christmas!

Yelp Makers and Bakers Night

The Ginger and I went on a super fun date night recently. I'm a Yelp Elite member and every month Yelp Pittsburgh hosts fun events for it's community. This time we attended a craft night at a cool hotel in East Liberty. Lots of local shops and businesses were there to help us make a few crafts to take home or to give as a gifts. Plus, we got to eat sweet treats the whole time!

We ended up stopping at almost every table, making everything from hand stamped cards with Pop Craft Pittsburgh, to Shrinkydinks with the Make Shop from the Children's Museum. We painted canvas ornaments with Paint Monkey, laser cut gingerbread men from the Tech Shop, and sewed our own cup cozies with Contemporary Craft. It was such a fun night interacting with Pittsburgh businesses and I'm so thankful we have such an active Yelp community in town! You can't beat a free night out just for posting reviews and checking in on the app. There's always free fun to be had if you're willing to look for it and sometimes put a little effort in! 

My Nona's sister, Aunt Sylvia, lives in Evans City. We don't see the family as much as we used to, but with everyone getting older we are trying to make a point to get together every season. My Dad's cousin Kathy organized a giant party for our family and her husband's family. It was a fun day to see everyone and celebrate the holidays. 

I know it means a lot to my Nona to see her sister. I can't imagine not seeing my sister at least once a week. I hope that we can always make time to see each other, no matter how far, busy, or ill we get. 

 
So much can get in the way of family...distance, politics, opinions. I don't want to let those things be a barrier to the love that can exist in a family. I'm not sure everything can be fixed with older generations, but I plan on doing everything I can to keep my generation together. I don't want to look back and regret any decision. I want to know the people that are my blood. I don't want to just make generic small talk, I want to really know the members of my family. This kind of get together really reminds me of that. 

Christmas in the City

The Ginger and I lived right in the center of the city when we were in college. We spent years exploring Market Square, going to Light Up Night and taking in all the sights during the holidays. It's so special that we get to do this with our kids now. It's such a fun progression of life, from college kids to married couple to family.

 We took the boys to the PPG Winter Garden to see the Santa display and the gingerbread houses. Then we stopped by Market Square to see the big guy himself. I hadn't planned on getting photos with him, just a quick stop to get Jack used to seeing him. But to my surprise, Jack went right up to talk to Santa and we got a cute photo! Ezra slept on me the whole time in the carrier so we'll have to do more photos later!

Pittsburgh is such a fun city in the winter. The holiday market in Market Square is such a fun addition. It really helps to get one in the holiday spirit! And to see the kids enjoy this makes the holidays even more fun!