17 months

My little girlfriend will be 17 months old in 2 days. I have been referring to her as my 'year and a half old' because I am really trying not to be the "shes 43 months old" kind of mom.

Tori is:

-Talking up a storm. She has added "uh oh" and "woohoo" to her vocab over the past couple of weeks. It is adorable.
-She is a fan of collecting things (like every pacifier she can find, etc.)
-She loves going for rides in her green bucket. The neighbor boy puts her in it and then just pushes her around in it, it is hilarious and adorable but not so fun when she wants mommy and daddy to do it. Its pretty exhausting actually lol.
-She loves water. It is all she drinks. And when I say drink I mean chugs.
-She still loves her fruit, her favorite right now are strawberries.
-She will randomly stop what she is doing and just lay flat out on the floor. It is hilarious, then she reaches up to you with her little arms like ok come get me up now.
-She loves her pool. She will play in it for hours if we let her. She is like that at bath time too. I would love for us to get a family membership to the pool next year so I think around her 2nd birthday swim classes will be in order.
-She is still obsessed with babies. She must talk to and look at every one that she sees wherever we are and as soon as she sees one on tv she adorably says "baby" over and over again.
-She hates getting in her car seat.
-She hates getting her diaper changed and runs from me every.single.time.
-She is down to two bottles a day. Taking her morning bottle away was actually really easy (thankfully)
-The curls on the back of her head are getting longer but she still barely has hair on top so she is still rockin' a baby mullet

Everyday she is getting smarter and more and more beautiful. My favorite thing about her is her silliness and the fact that she always knows the exact right time to just come right up to me and give me a big hug or kiss. Shes my bestie that one. <3

1 Salvatore Court

I was tired of the amateur status of my blog so I made the leap and got a template off of Etsy. $16 bucks total got me a simple and chic template and also took care of the installation. A big thank you to Johanna at NeatDesignCorner for taking care of it so promptly.

So my listing.. 1 Salvatore Court in Lancaster. Its in the Hawthorne Ridge community.
I wanted to give you a little tour in honor of the open house I am hosting there this weekend.

The home is an end unit, attached on one side in a private and quiet cul-de-sac.

Back:

 



 

Front:

 

Upstairs bedroom 1:

 

 

Upstairs Bedroom 2:

 

Dining Area:

 

Kitchen:

 

Living room:

 

Upstairs main bathroom:

 

Upstairs master bathroom:

 

Master bedroom:

 

Open house this Sunday 8/3 from 1-3 p.m.

Come visit!

 

Halfway through the summer

Ew, I cant believe I just said that out loud.

Summer is (like usual) flying by! It is a combination of Dan working a part time job, real estate being busy and Tori being older.. she's into everything but more fun because we can do a lot together. This house is perfect for the summer because of our beautiful back yard. We are pretty much outside for hours every single day. I don't know what we would have done for this little lady if we were still in our old house. We had a backyard but there was no grass. LOTS of dirt and cement lol. These days are filled with lots of swimming pool days, walks to the park a block away and thanks to our neighbors... lots of fun running and jumping on the trampoline. Tori is the youngest out of all of the families in our little circle but it is working out great because the other kids are at an age where they like playing with her and "watching her". They come over almost every day to play with her even if just for an hour or so, she gets so so happy to see them and even asks for a couple of them by name.

Next weekend we are visiting one of Dan's fraternity brother's (and his wife) for a night. They are having a huge housewarming party complete with tents set up for sleeping, lots of food, drinks, etc. It should be a lot of fun. Dan has a fun relationship with his frat brothers. A lot of them don't get to see each other often but when they do.. they are totally annoying and crazy and make fun of each other and its like watching a bunch of college freshman boys all over again LOL (in the best way and of course leaving out some major things that grown married men cannot do lol).

I think the end of the summer is going to creep up fast. Next month we have birthday parties, a trip to Long Island to visit Dans family, I have a fun weekend with friends for a bachelorette party, etc. Let the beach dieting begin!

Me, Christine and Lauren out for my birthday

 

 Tori enjoying some pasta

 

 A beautiful summer day with my Lulee Bear

16 months and an anniversary

Tomorrow Tori will be 16 months old and it is also Dan and I's 3 year wedding anniversary!

At 16 months:
Tori's hair is FINALLY growing in lol! It is still a baby mullet and only really coming in on the back of her head but it is adorable and it is CURLY. Curly brown hair and blue eyes, I can hardly handle the cuteness. She has mastered going down the slide at the park all by herself and when you ask her where her shoes are she looks around the house for them.. finds them, brings them to you and sits right down in front of you and waits for you to put them on her. It is adorable. She actually really loves shoes. She likes to wear them so much that sometimes that is all she is wearing besides her diaper. We went to wal mart the one morning with my mom and we were putting a bunch of different sandals on her and she thought it was the best thing. Shoes make my girl happy. She loves to throw balls and she RUNS everywhere. Tori is also copying everything that anyone says.., she loves trying to say new words and she loves to watch your reaction when she nails it. She also LOVES scaring people. It is is the funniest and strangest thing ever. Constantly covering her eyes and pulling them away from her face super fast to shock you.. or hiding her face against anything (including the wall) and popping out to scare you. I dont know why I think its strange considering I think it is hilarious to scare the crap out of her and hide behind walls and pop out all of the time. Dont worry, she loves it. Tor also loves being outside and her baby pool...she loves getting baths.. going for walks.. she is such a happy baby. I cant believe shes creeping on a year and a half. Her growing independence makes me so happy/proud and sad at the same time. Also, the pediatrician said they like kids to be off of bottles by 18 months.. so today I tried giving her a sippy cup with milk in the am rather than her bottle. She took it from me.. looked at me funny.. looked at the sippy cup funny... took a couple sips and then was over it. There is currently half of her usual amount of breakfast milk sitting in her cup. Day one: not a great success.

Our Anniversary:
Three years and a baby later. Dan and I are spending the day together tomorrow (Thanks to my mom who is watching Tori) and it should be a lot of fun. Just like our past anniversaries.. the weather is going to be brutal. Heat index of 102 degrees, ew. We both agreed we HAD to do something indoors or in water. The only indoor options that gave us was basically shopping which is not a favorite way to spend my time with Dan lol (he hates shopping with me just as much). So...we decided on Mt. Gretna. We are going to have lunch in the town (which is cute as a button I might add)... go for a swim at the lake/work on my tan (because I am SO PALE I can barely stand it)... go for a hike... then obviously get ice cream at the Jigger Shop.., because its the best and I would not make a trip there without stopping for ice cream.. their bananas foster... a dream.

Currently

Inspired by a fellow blogger..

Making: a blog post.

Cooking: Completely homemade banana cupcakes with molasses icing. I will def post the recipe.
Reading: Nothing but I want to be. I need to finally commit to something.
Wanting: a vacation. I have friends on an all inclusive in Mexico right now and its making me dream of Dan and I's honeymoon.

Looking: at the computer and tv (Orange is the new Black)
Playing: Pandora
Sewing: absolutely nothing, I don't know how to sew anything but a button anways.
Wishing: for more motivation.
Enjoying: Sam Adams Belgian Session
Waiting:  for Danny to get back from Bocce so we can cuddle
Liking: the weather today.

Wondering: when is the best time for another baby and why is it so hard to know?
Loving: Our house. Dan just asked me TODAY if I still love it.. we are always randomly saying how much we do and we had a lot of fun showing it off this weekend.
Hoping: The weekend gets here fast.

Marveling: at how much Tor is learning lately. She is picking up words left and right.
Smelling: the air conditioner
Wearing: pajama shorts that are very, very short and should never be seen in public and my color run t-shirt
Following: Celebrity baby bumps. Totally into all of them.. Mila, Snooki, Hayden.. Im on it.Noticing: How other kids behave. I find myself noticing and wondering how every parent ends up parenting so differently. Crazy.
Knowing: This weekend is going to be a lot of fun. My mom is keeping Tori overnight on Saturday so Dan and I can have friends over :)

Thinking: this post was harder to do than I thought!
Opening: Another beer.Giggling: At how crazy people get during our Bocce games
Feeling: Happy & Tired

Downstairs bathroom

So yesterday my mom came up and spent the day with us to help catch up on things we needed done in the new house. When I say 'spent the day with us' I mean the entire day. Like I picked her up at 9:30am and she stayed until 9:30 p.m. Shes crazy. We have our housewarming parties coming up pretty soon... a family party... which is in a little over a week and a party for friends which is the week after that. Those have been our motivation. We got SO much done.
One of our projects was to get the downstairs bathroom done. I am a total sucker for a gray room. In our old house Toris nursery was gray with splashes of pink and blue. I loved and had to have another gray room. Downstairs bath it is. Dan painted it gray (we have a white mirror, toilet, sink, etc...& then silver toilet paper rack, etc) and then by the end of the night, mom and I had found a PERFECT yellow and white valance at the Christmas tree shops that is just the right amount of pop against the gray. I am obsessed with the bathroom.

Facebook questions

So, I love facebook.

I have noticed people either love it or they hate it. OR they pretend they hate it and then they just quietly facebook stalk everyone they know. CoughEVERYMANIKNOWcough.

To me, its the connection. I LOVE that I can post pictures and they will be there for me to look at whenever I want. Facebook has given me my own time machine for my life. I love that I can go to Target, sign onto my fb and develop whatever pictures I want. I love that I can see friends' pictures. I love that I can feel involved in a persons life. I love that I can show people a little or big piece of my life, my work, my child, my husband, the fun. I love that I can support other people. I love that I can watch families grow. I love that I can regularly see the changes my clients have made to their homes. I love that I can promote my career as a realtor and have had so many leads from facebook. And I love that since I also have a TON of family in Italy who I see once every few years (if that) it is an awesome way to keep them included in our life.

I have never deleted my facebook.
I have only ever blocked two people from my fb (and it was only because I was in college and she was the mother of a friend I was making questionable decisions with lol and then this creepy guy).
I have unfriended a couple of people who lets face it, we basically friended each other because we knew of each others names.
I have removed a couple of people from my timeline as there is only so much drama and complaining that I can handle.

What has your facebook experience been? What do you love? What do you hate? Have you ever blocked someone from even being able to find your name on facebook? Have you ever deleted your facebook? What is your primary reason for having facebook?


The man, the myth, the legend...