We Bleed Green!

The game is on and we're excited over here at the Stella household! Addison and Nicholas have been suited up since this morning in preparation for our favorite game of the season! Eagles-Giants is currently in the first quarter and it's 0-0, but I just had to share these pictures.
I figured that one of our children should
support the Giants, for Pat's sake, hence the Manning jersey.
But what Pat doesn't know is that Nicholas has on his Eagle green socks underneath all of that blue!

Bathroom Progression

Well, it's 11:34pm on Saturday night and I should really be in bed but I had this sudden burst of energy and I taped off the entire bathroom and painted the top half of the wall! I'm so glad I did! We're one step closer to it being done. I'd like to be able to say we're halfway there but we're not....I decided about 3/4 of the way through the painting that I wanted to paint the ceiling. Yes, all you painting "crazies" out there, I'm well aware that I should've painted the ceiling first BUT I had no intention, when I began this project, of painting it! Now I feel like it would make the room and the colors looks so much better if I painted it fresh stark white rather than leaving the off white color that it is now. So, the next step is the ceiling and then the bottom half of the wall and the red will be GONE! YES!
(For those of you who have been to our house, I am well aware that this green color looks very much like the color in our living room, it's not the same! The living room is much darker- the pictures just don't show the bathroom as being as light because I didn't have all the lights in!)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We have had quite the busy day today! We started off our Saturday with music class, which Nicholas and Addison both LOVE! On our way there Nicholas decided to imitate, in his car seat, his Pop-pop and he crossed his legs and relaxed. Luckily, Pat had the camera at his fingertips while I was driving!


After music class we were going to head to Homecoming at my school but Nicholas fell asleep and the kids just weren't up to it! So, we ran a few errands at the mall and then headed over to the New Providence Florist to pick up some flowers for grandma's birthday and also to see one of mommy's friends, Abbie. A nice chance to catch up briefly and pick up some gorgeous flowers!

Then we went to grandma and pop-pop's house to catch a few minutes of the Notre Dame game and then head our for an early birthday party dinner at one of all of our favorite restaurants, Forno's in Newark. We had such a good time with great food and drink and the kids were wonderful! We were a little worried about how they would be in the restaurant but they were great and had tons of food, just like us, and lots of treats including carrot cake and ice cream! Lucky for us, both of them passed out on the way home and are fast asleep now. They are gaining all the energy they can for the Eagles-Giants game tomorrow!

Flashback

I found these pictures when I downloaded my mom's camera to our computer. The top one is from the day Addison was born and the others are the few days after we brought her home from the hospital! I cannot get over them or her!! SO TINY and now SO BIG! Incredible how far she's come...

Post Dinner Picture Session

After a slight fight to get Addison to eat tonight she was all smiles! I even got her to pose with Nicholas for a quick shot! She has been all about sitting up and then throwing her body forward to get at what she wants. Crawling is not too far away!

And So Begins the "Remodel"

As some of you know, we came very close to buying a house this weekend. Well, we came close to starting the process to buy a new house. We found a great fixer upper in Chatham that we could not pass up and we were ready to put an offer in and move forward with putting our house on the market. Well, it turns out that the agency that represents the selling agent lied to us about the house being in Attorney Review during the weekend and we backed off. The house was not in Attorney Review until late this afternoon.

While it looks like we may have missed out on this opportunity we do believe that it just wasn't meant to be. Who knows? Maybe a few weeks from now the house will not have gone to contract...we'll see! What did come of all of this?? We decided to start fixing up our house and "remodeling" so that we can put it on the market sooner than later. We have a feeling, because of the state of the market right now, that it will take a little longer to sell so we're comfortable with taking our time!

What's first on our "remodel" list? The downstairs bathroom/powder room. Originally, I wanted this room to have a nautical theme. Lighthouses, ocean, etc. It ended up having a more patriotic theme- red and white walls, blue towels, blue frames. Not to my liking at all! So, stayed tuned as we dismantle the patriotic potty and move towards something a little fresher! These are the before pictures as I prepare the room for priming and painting.

Sticker Surprise!

I was cleaning and getting ready for guests to come over last night when I heard Nicholas and Addison both laughing hysterically! I walked quietly from the kitchen to the living so as not to disturb the laughter and this is what I saw! My son had taken his Disney stickers and put them all over his little sister's head and she loved every minute of it!

Email Apologies

Hi All!
I just wanted to issue an apology to those of you who received the notification that our email address was changing- 3 times or more! I didn't realize it was going out at all, and to my entire address book! So sorry to cram your inbox with "junk" but at least now you know you can reach us at our new address!!
On a "fun" side note, Addison tried Avacado tonight and did not enjoy it! I don't think she really enjoyed the texture of it. Maybe it's a stage 3 or 4 food or next time I need to food processor it rather than just mashing it! We'll try again in a few weeks! The whole experience was so brief that a camera really was not even a thought.

Happy Birthday...Part Deux!

So, Addison Hilda Stella is 6 months old and she had quite the evening celebrating! Addie tried bread tonight...she gnawed on a piece of frozen Italian bread and LOVED it! After dinner, she had her first taste of delicious Vanilla Ice Cream and again, LOVED it!! It was quite the happy birthday for Addison and we have the pictures to prove it!

Happy 6 Months!

Happy Birthday to our little peanut, Addison Hilda Stella! She turns 6 months old TODAY! It is very hard to believe that she's already 6 months old! What a wild pregnancy followed a crazy birth and wonderful first 6 months! We are so excited to see how the next 6 unfold!!
Pictures to follow! Happy "Birthday"!

GO MEAT!

So, Addison had her first taste of meat today!! She had Apples and Chicken for dinner and DEVOURED it! I was really surprised considering how much Nicholas HATED meat...just goes to show how different kids can be! I REFUSE to use the plain meat in a jar and I've tried making my own meat baby food and NO MATTER what you do, it still tastes and looks GROSS! I bought a couple of different combinations...the apples and chicken, some turkey and sweet potatoes, etc. Addie really did love it and I was thrilled! As was Nicholas who was also eating!
After dinner, Nicholas decided he needed to get dressed and put on my green pumps and proceeded to walk around in them. Thank goodness Daddy was at work! The shoes were a little big but he's got a purse that just matches them PERFECTLY!

Breast Cancer Walk

This morning we walked in the St. Clare's Walk for Breast Cancer in Rockaway, NJ. The kids did really great and it was very important for them to recognize the survivors and remember the victims of this horrible disease! Nicholas walked in memory of his Grandma Hilda and Addison "walked" in honor of her Great-Grandpa Ed.
I did this walk two years ago when Nicholas was just about the same age as Addie is now and there were only about 1/4 of the people that were there today. What a wonderful showing of support and hope in the close to 500 walkers that completed the 5K. It was a gorgeous morning and it just showed me how much we need to work to find a cure. The amount of babies and children that were there who deserve to have a cure and their moms and dads and whomever else also deserve it! Thank you so much to everyone who donated to our "team", we are so grateful and know that your money went to a WONDERFUL cause. If you would like to donate you can send it directly to the St. Clare's Foundation, just email me and I'll give you the address! Thanks again!!

Just in Case the Pics aren't working

Breast Cancer Walk

Best Friends

Jamison Marie Hartman was baptized today. Addison and I went down to Willow Grove to see my best friend, Megan, and Addison's best friend, Jamison, and to help celebrate the baptism! What a gorgeous day it was!! Jamison looked BEAUTIFUL in her gown and then, again, in her party dress after the ceremony!
We were able to get a few pics of both sets of best friends. I think these shots came out better than the ones from Addison's baptism. The girls "played" on the floor a bit where Addison proceeded to try and claw Jamison's eyes out, but Jamison and her mommy wouldn't have any of it!! :) It was such a nice day and so much fun to see everyone, including George, Jamison's daddy, and Megan's friends and family! We can't wait to visit again!

Cookies and Sandals and Tuesday Nights

We're back in the swing of things around here! I'm back to work full time, leaving the house between 5:30 and 5:45 each

morning. Pat is getting the kids up and out the door to daycare. It seems like things are flowing quite smoothly!
Nicholas decided, today, that he wanted to be like Mommy and wear my Adidas sandals. I caught him sitting in the hallway taking off his shoes and socks with the sandals sitting right next to him. I thought it was just too cute to pass up and I tried to get a candid shot of him but he caught me! So I just tried to get him to pose...no such luck!

While I was away this past weekend Pat decided to bake cookies with Nicholas. Quite ambitious for my husband who was extremely patient with Nicholas. They discovered a little too late that there was no brown sugar. Actually there was brown sugar but they just couldn't find it. So, my boys made the cookies with double white sugar. Can you say YUCK?!?! They were not good.....by anyone's admission! In the process of making the first cookies, they used all of the flour and chips in the house so Pat went and bought more yesterday. Tonight, he decided to tackle the cookie mission again. It appears to have worked well because the brown sugar has been found and I taste tested the dough and I must say it's MIGHTY tasty! Can't wait to grab some milk and taste them for real!