Snow Day!

Today was our first family snow day! We spent the first half of the day watching crappy shows and movies, followed by Chris getting to shovel the driveway! Chris was very excited about his first snow day ever- until he realized that part of it would be spent shoveling!


Here he is giving me the finger! It is a real shame that pregnant people can't help with this sort of thing!

Now as promised, here are some photos from last weekend!

Danielle's engagement party



The new crib


The Australian animal themed blanket

Holidays and Babies and Shopping, OH MY!

I just realized it has been a very long time since our last post! I don't know how the Earth hasn't fallen off its axis! I guess the world really doesn't revolve around me...i hate it when my mom is right!

We have been crazy busy the last few weeks doing everything and nothing! We have been shopping for holiday deals on the junk we need for the baby as well as some junk for us! We had been searching for crib and hadn't had too much luck! Everything we liked was either $500 or recalled! We finally found a crib we liked (that wasn't $500 and hadn't been recalled) but it was white (the rest of our furniture is wood). Luckily we found it online in wood! We ordered the crib and matching changing table last week and it was delivered super fast! Chris did a great job putting it together and we love it!

We have also been busy putting the finishing touches on our new bathroom! The tile is all in, the walls are painted, the new light and mirror are up, the vanity and sink are in- so all we are waiting to do it put the cabinet in over the toilet and hang the artwork! It looks amazing and i really feel like i'm showing in a hotel! It is a huge step up from the old stuff: pink tile in the shower, powder blue walls, green laminate floor, gray marble sink and nasty (used to be white) vanity!

Saturday was a big day too! Early Saturday morning, Chris was able to feel the baby kick for the first time! While i have felt the little guy practicing his soccer kicks for the last few weeks, it wasn't enough for Chris to feel. So we were VERY VERY excited when Chris felt his first jab! We also had the pleasure of attending Danielle and Aaron's engagement party in Easton, PA. on Saturday. (Danielle was the first friend i made when i moved to NJ in 1st grade!) Once we got over the minor glitch of the GPS not recognizing Danielle's parents new development we were on the road and there in no time! Danielle's mom made lots of yummy food (including mini hot dogs...best party food EVER!!) and we got to meet lots of Danielle's friend's from college. Their wedding next December is my motivation to lose my baby weight so i can fit back into my party dresses!

Other than that we are getting ready for another season of UCONN b-ball, holiday break and the little man's arrival in March!

I promise to post pictures very soon of the crib/changing table, fun baby stuff, the bathroom and the happy couple Danielle/Aaron!

Thanksgiving and More!

The last week has been filled with family, friends and food (my three favorite "f" words!)- here is a recap!

My roommate from college and good friend Lindsey came to visit last weekend. She got to see my belly, i got to see her new engagement ring and her puppy got to be harassed by mine! Linds' golden thinks he is a lap dog and kept trying to climb into chris' lap! Too cute!






























Wednesday was my mom's birthday so we went out to eat, ate way too much and laughed way too much! Also, i had the best apple crumb tart i have every had!!

Thursday of course was Thanksgiving and for the second day in a row i ate WAY too much! While unfortunately my grandparents couldn't join us, Cooper and Ollie had a great time chasing each other around the house. We all had a good time watching them!





























Friday chris and i did a little shopping and then had Thanksgiving leftovers!

Saturday i went with my parents to Long Island to visit my grandparents. Grandpa was out of surgery, doing well and wanted pancakes so we went out! I had great french toast made from challah and again ate to much!! We got home late and my parents wanted to take me out for my birthday so we went out and ate some more!!

In the midst of all this, chris has been very very busy finishing the bathroom. It is almost done and we will post some photos soon!

Sunday (today) was the big 27 and so far we have done lots of errands, sewed the new shower curtain, chatted to some friends/family and relaxed! We are supposed to go out to eat tonight to celebrate but i just don't know if i can eat any more!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

6 Months

6 Months......see pic....enough said!

Babies"R"Us - I don't think so

I cant believe Dani has made several posts and neglected to mention that she subjected me to 5 hours of dealing with intolerant and rude pregnant ladies and annoying toddlers while dragging me around Babies'R'Us to do ur registry this past weekend. I insisted on being in control of the gun thing, so Dani doesnt realise that i added a few key items on that she doesnt know about.

It actually wasnt terrible, aside from the fact that according to the people in the store you apparently need 3,452 items to raise a baby. We opted for more like 40, so they weren't too happy with us.

For those with kids, or expecting, please let us know if you think we left anything off our list http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp.

But before you suggest it, i am not getting a baby wipe warmer.

Big Day in NJ!

Happy Birthday Christopher!

This Week

Well, a lot of stuff has happened since our last blog.
1. We enjoyed a fun-filled Halloween. Both Chris and I dressed up at school (me as a pregnant army chick, Chris as a Doctor...fitting seeing as he teaches Health).
2. We enjoyed the company of good friends of ours Jamie and Lauren who are expecting their first baby around the same time as us.It was great to catch up with them and enjoy a nice meal. Only problem was the 200 or so kids who kept coming to the door asking for candy. I guess that's what you get for having friends over on Halloween?!!
3. I reached the 5 and a half month pregnancy mark. This is not a feat worthy of comment on its own, but now that i finally look pregnant and not just fat, i am much more happy when people stare at my stomach.
4. Chris and my dad demolished the bathroom.
5. Tile is being cut and laid in the bathroom as i write this.

As promised...

Last week i drove up to PA to visit Danielle in her new house, with her new fiance and their doggy! They have a great house with lots of color (hate white walls!) and she is lucky enough to have snagged a really great guy! Not only did he put up with us gossiping but he put up with me being super nosy about their wedding!

All of a sudden i have gotten quite large! I feel like 2 weeks ago i barely looked pregnant now its hard to put on socks! The first photos is of my fancy new maternity outfit my grandma got me (at about 4 1/2 months) and the second is my official 5 month shot from today! We took it after school (all the others we took first thing in the morning) so i am bit bloated, but basically i'm just big! I can't believe it has been five months already!!

5 months!!

Five months already!! I can't believe how fast the months have gone by! We have some new pictures to put up of my 5 month belly, a play date with Danielle and her new Fiance, and we'll get some Halloween stuff up too! Check back soon!!!

October Snow?

That's right my friends and not just a little snow either! My school had about 5 inches at the end of the day, we were without power/heat for a few hours and the last bus didn't get to school until after 5! (Can we say unprepared??) Chris only got an inch or two at his school (about 20 minutes away) but had a rough time getting home. All (yes all four) major highways were closed or simply at a stand still! He had the joy of all back roads to get him home! I was really really hoping to get a picture of all the snow when i got home (5 minutes away from my school) but was surprised to find only a dusting!!! My school is on the Mt. of Mt. Olive Township and we live in the valley...hence so snow at our house! Needless to say it was quite the eventful day! Lets hope it warms up for Friday or Halloween isn't going to be too fun!

IT'S A BOY

Not only do my boys swim, but they make more boys! We had the level II ultrasound yesterday and were pleased to find out our little guy is healthy. He has fingers and toes in the right place, has a healthy heart, organs, bones etc. We were also very pleased to find out our first little one is going to be a boy. See the picture below for proof!!!!

The arrow is pointing to his tackle. Its almost like he sat on a photocopier naked and this is the resulting image!

Michelle's Bday

On Saturday we drove up to Hartford, CT to visit Dani's sister, Michelle. She had just celebrated her birthday so we drove up to see her. We met Dani's parents there for a nice afternoon of schmoozing and walking in the park. Michelle has a very nice condo in a beautiful area. Here are a couple of happy snaps from the day.

Super GREAT New!

As if being pregnant wasn't cool enough, TWO of my VERY good friends are now engaged!! Big shout out and congrats to Linds and Danielle!! Can't wait to see how beautiful you'll both look on your big day!

We hope this means that you'll jump right into having kids so we can have real play dates and not just puppy play dates!!!

Love you both!

4 months down, 5 to go

As you can probably tell, by virtue of the fact that i am writing this, Dani has not offed me for changing the template of the blog. This is mainly due to the fact that i have been monopolizing the computer of late. So i thought id post some lovely snaps of Dani at 2, 3 and 4 months. Enjoy.

My Say

Having the second name in the title of this blog allows me certain rights and privileges. Like changing the template style whenever i like. You will know when Dani has checked this blog next because you will either a) hear about my unfortunate death, or b) see that Dani made me change the template back, or to something else she likes better!

Bella Band

Possibly the coolest pregnancy thing ever (or at least that i have discovered so far!)! This tube top looking spandex band goes over the top of your too tight pants. It allows you to leave your pants un-buttoned or un-zipped! The band lays over the top of your pants, keeping them up, while allowing your "expanding" stomach to be more comfortable!! While i realize eventually I'm going to have to get maternity pants, I'm not big enough for them yet but I'm big enough for my regular pants to be too tight! Super cool solution for now!

Check out the website! http://www.ingridandisabel.com/

From the Baby Mama!

Having to keep the secret of being pregnant was a lot of work! Not only did it stink not being able to share the great news but it was just hard! I am happy to say though that so far everything has been going quite well! I have not been sick, only tired, and have been feeling pretty good! The only issue...bloating! While I'm only three months and not really showing, as the day goes on i get quite bloated (not that i can really complain b/c it has been the only downside!). I start the day off nice and slim (or as slim as i normally am!) and get increasingly larger as the day goes on! By 5pm i look like i am about 6 months pregnant! Because of this i have had to be very careful with my clothing selection because what fits at 7am when i get dressed, doesn't at 4pm when i leave school! But other than that all is well!

We got out latest test results back and we only have a 1 in 10,000 chance of the two most common chromosome diseases (very very good news), my blood work is good (also good news), and we haven't gotten any phone calls on Chris' blood work so he should be clear too (more good news!). Our next round of tests are in mid October when we go back to listen to the heart beat and they steal more of my blood!

Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Little Baby Marangon

Well the big news of the day is that Dani is pregnant. Although not big news to us as we have known for a few months. She is 3 months along and everything is going well so far. She had her second ultrasound today for her 3 month checkup and we were able to get some photos. Pretty cool that we had them zoom in on one to see the hand bones. Dani wasnt too happy having to chug a ton of water before and after the ultrasound but she was a big girl and did it anyway. Listening to the heart beat of the baby during the ultrasound is pretty amazing. We actually listened to the heart beat the first time (at 2 months) when the little guy was only 2cm long (i am assuming its a boy because i want a boy but we wont know the sex until the end of October!) .

Picture at 2 months

Dani had a good first trimester and didnt really have morning sickness but was just very tired for a lot of it. Dani thought we would take a while to get pregnant as statistically it usually does take a while. Fortunately for us, we got pregnant first time we tried! I joked with Dani straight after, that she was pregnant and it would be a boy. In fact for about a week after, i greeted her with "first time and a boy" in a fantastic announcer type voice, which i guess got a little annoying for her seeing as we had to wait a week till she could take the pregnancy test. Or just the fact that it was annoying?!


In any event we are very excited and have a lot to do now to get ready. We wanted to share our news (and pics) with all of you.

So long to summer!

That's it, it's over! We have enjoyed our last two weeks of not working and now must return to the world of 9-5 (well it is really 8-3). While we haven't exactly been sitting by the pool getting drunk, we have enjoyed the end of our summer. Chris has been very busy attending 4 days of new teacher meetings, i went to a 3 day reading workshop, chris has been visiting the schools he'll be at and getting all his supplies together, i have been unpacking my classroom after having to move rooms, and chris has been super busy planning for the first few weeks of school! We managed to squeeze in some other stuff and have been able to get a few things done around the house, sleep in a little, and eat way too much junk food!!

While we had a great summer, as we report for our "welcome back to school" meetings tomorrow, we will be gazing out the window wishing for just one more week of summer!!! And i'm sure everyone else will be too! :o)

New Job

Some of you may know this already but for those that don't.... i finally said goodbye to the Executive world of the Camping Industry and in 2 weeks will start my "new" career of teaching. I am going to be teaching K-5 P.E. and Health at a great school not too far from home.
I am really excited to teach again and be on the same schedule as Dani...not to mention being able to wear shorts and sneakers to work all year. I am also going to be starting my Masters degree in Educational Leadership (leading to principal licensure), which should take around 3 years.
So the Marangon household is now officially an all Educators household (except for Cooper the lazy S.O.B. who just sleeps all day and then eats and then sleeps again).
We have both been busy with orientations, reading over curriculums and setting up classrooms but are both very excited to be finally able to eat at least 1 meal a day together!
Hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to seeing / speaking / reading about you soon.

Finally a Post!

yes i am aware of the fact that i have not posted in a long, long, long time! I am super sorry and promise to be a better blogger! the summer has flown by and while we spent most of our time in camp, we did take part in some other note-worthy celebrations!

1. Lorri's Girls Nigh Out (prior to the big wedding!)- While i had to miss the spa, i did make it to her house for tons of food, super girlie drinks, games, swimming and fun!

2. Lorri and Nick's Wedding! The weather was great, they both looked amazing, and there was tons of food and dancing!
3. Chris played in the US vs. International Soccer Game for camp! It rained, the game was a mess, and the US won, but Chris didn't get hurt!


4. Camp took all the senior staff out for a nice dinner, then after we all went out to the bar for some drinks and dancing!
5. OLYMPICS!! (Please note that i cut two shirts in half and sewed them together by hand!)


You are now officially updated!
I promise to do a better job of keeping you all current!!!

Do you have a dog?

I would like to introduce you all to the Furminator!

You HAVE to click on the link below and check this thing out! This is by far the best thing i have ever purchased. This super cool dog brush gets more hair off Cooper than i thought humanly possible. Cooper doesn't have long or thick hair but he sheds like crazy! My friend Julie recommended this brush and i love her for it! I have brushed Cooper three times since we got the brush last weekend and have filled bags with his fur! He is shedding A LOT less which means no more "tumble weeds" trying across my floors and way less vacuuming! I know i sound like an commercial but you HAVE to check this thing out!

http://www.furminator.com/

Class Trip!!

So today the 5th grade took a trip to the Camden Aquarium and had a super fun time! We always bring enough parents so that the teachers don't have to walk around with an assigned group, that way if there is a problem, a kids gets sick or anything like that, the teachers are free to handle it. It also means though, that if there are no problem, we get to walk around and enjoy ourselves! Well Kristy did such a wonderful job planning this trip that that is exactly what we did...here are some silly pictures to show how much fun we had!

4-D Imax Show
(Please note the super super cool student designed neon shirts)

Kristy is the clown fish, Monique is the turtle and I am the shark!
(Art reflects life!)

Kristy trying to make out with me inside the shark!
(I know I'm hot but let's control ourselves!)

Lorri's Showers

This summer one of my good friends Lorri is getting married. Last week our school held Bridal Showers for her and Dawn (another teacher getting married). I was a good friend and helped Lorri keep track of her presents as well as make her a swell hat! (Lorri, like a good little bride, is the one in white.)
Then on Saturday we had a surprise Bridal Party for Lorri as well. It was held at a great Italian resturant we they served us TONS of yummy (all of which i ate) and her sister made tons of yummy cookies, chocolates and cup cakes (again i ate them all!). I ate so much of yummy pre-main course stuff that i didn't even touch my veal parm! Luckily they were nice enough to wrap it up for me and i brought it camp so Chris could eat it for dinner!!In case I hadn't had enough to eat at the party, i then met up with my parents for dinner! I only had room for a salad... However my set was there and i got to see her new hair cut! Still super blonde but shorter. This is a really cute photo my mom took...i think it is funny b/c mouse looks so little and i look so big!

Five Years!!

That's right! This past weekend was our five year anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long already! It feels like yesterday but still in that time we have accomplished so much: Chris moved to the US, he stated his job at Cayuga, i crashed Chris' car! and then he got a new one, we bought a condo, i graduated from college, we got our matching Carollas, I got my first teaching job, we got Cooper, we sold the condo and bought a house (and then re-did it all!!), Chris started at a new camp, I finished my masters program...and poof...five years is gone!

Chris was able to take the whole weekend off work and we had an amazing time! We spent lots of time together:

1. We saw a super cheesy circus which i loved! My favorite part was the elephants and the ponies (they had pony rides but they said i was too big...) and Chris loved the Ring of Death!
That is three motorcycles going around at the same time and then they split the ring in half!! Super cool!

2. We hung out with some friends in their backyard bar. The best part was Julie, the girl in the back made brownies that had peanut butter chips in them...yummy!
3. We ate at a great restaurant on the lake.
4. Michelle and Olly came over to play.


5. Our good friends Kristy and Sean also joined us for a great Memorial Day BBQ...way too much food, wine and laughs!!


It was a great weekend and a great start to another 5, 10, 15, no 50 years of happiness!!

For Lauren!

A crappy picture of me and my fantastic flowers!!!

Chris who?

Yes I know there are never any photos of poor Chris!! Thanks to the timer on our camera here it is...Chris in a photo!! (I do have to say though that this is not a great photo and does not due our weight loss justice! I've lost 10 and Chris 30!!!!)

Olly

My sister recently graduated from UCONN and will be beginning her doctoral program at University of Hartford in September so she did what every busy college student does...got a dog!

After much searching, she found Olly at a local shelter and yesterday he became a Bobier! Olly is super super cute and had the coloring of a cow! He is white with lots of big patches of brown and I'm calling him a Pocket Pit...he has the pitbull face with the big square head and "smile" but he weights about 25 pounds (probably should be closer to 30 but my mom and Michelle will fatten him up soon enough!). He is a giant goofball and is still quite the puppy at (we think) about 9 months old.

Cooper and I went over today for their first puppy playdate and after old man Cooper grumbled for a bit they were good friends. I'll try to get some pictures of them up soon!

One down ...One to go!

For those of you that don't know, the Greenbaums (my mom's side of the family) are very good at making stones! No not diamonds or any other useful kind of stones, kidney stones. And as a good Greenbaum (by way of Bobier and Marangon) I too have the gift of making stones. But unlike any of my relatives I make lots of them at one time! YEAH!!!!

So when we found out a few months ago that I currently have three of the little suckers we thought that maybe we would do something about it! So last week I went had the ones in my right kidney crushed. Now, several days, lots of sleep, some bruising and some pain pills later I am all ready to go and have my left side done! Yup, next week we get to do it all over again!!!! Who's excited????

Black Thumb

I would love to say that i have a green thumb but based on last summer's flower disaster i am pretty sure i have a black thumb! (Who knew you really do have to water flowers like every day!!) This year, i am attempting to redeem myself and hope to advance to a brown thumb.

I am happy to report that some of my lilli's survived from last year and that i have not yet killed my three baskets of flowers on the front porch. If anyone has some tips for me i am all ears...otherwise i will continue to do my best to make the world a prettier place!

Chris' deal...

Chris has been super busy getting ready for another camp season. He has been hiring tons of staff and organizing all the Teen Travel Program's trips. They have had lots of tours and new families and are doing several big renovation projects around camp so it looks like it will be another good year!

School

For those of you who don't teach April is budget month. Due to the changes in state funding, our school district had to cut 300 dollars per student. With 4 elementary schools, a middle school and a high school that added up real quick! Cutting money means cutting activities and jobs and that is just what they did! As a non-tenured teacher, it has been a little scary. They had their first round of cuts and I'm still here but we don't get out "You're been hired!" letters until late May so fingers crossed!! If i make it thought this year, i get tenure in September and then they are stuck with me!!!!!

Excuses..

Reasons why i have not posted anything in...um... months?

1. Chris hogs the computer.
2. It has been really nice out and Cooper and I have been playing outside.
3. I have a student teacher in my classroom right now and she is awesome! She is really good and I don't have to do anything right now! I spend a quite a bit of time online doing "research" and therefore don't go online much at home.
4. We are boring and I don't have much to report!!!!

Enough Said

Our latest update....Dani sucks at blogging.

Near Death Experience....almost

Monday was beautiful so in the afternoon i decided to take Cooper for a nice long walk. We had been out for about 20 minutes when we turned a corner and found a dog wandering the street. It was quite large and looked like a husky mix. (Please note that my fear is that I'm out walking with cooper one day and a stray dog attacks cooper and there is no one to help and nothing i can do...). So i turn around and start walking the other way. Of course the dog bee-lines it for us (no tail waging I'll note) and starts following us. I start to get worried and cooper senses it and starts to growl. Now the dog is walking at my side and I'm super nervous because i have visions of the other dog starting to growl too and attacking us!! So i pick up cooper and keep walking. The dog keeps following. So i start to yell at the dog , hoping it would go away or someone would hear me and come help me. Nothing... So now what!?!? The house in front of me had two cars in the driveway and a fenced yard, so i rang the doorbell and ask if i could go in their backyard and wait for the dog to go away (keep in mind the dog is still standing next to me) Luckily the woman was VERY VERY nice and invited Cooper and me inside. She knew the dog's owner and called them. Apparently the dog is half wolf and not too friendly. The owner knew the dog was out but said she couldn't get him back inside! Long story short, I ended up going out the nice lady's back gate and walking home a different way.

While i know the dog never actually attacked Cooper or me, it was horrifying to think that it could at any moment and i wouldn't have been able to do anything other than scream or try to kick it! After a bottle of wine and some ice cream, I am feeling much better about the situation and will not be walking anywhere near that street again!!!

Health Status

I am happy to report that both Chris and I are feeling much better! We are both still very drained from the flu and have been eating dinner and going to bed very early! I make Chris eat dinner as soon as he gets home and I have been in bed by 8:00 every night for the last week! (Chris says I should move to Florida with the rest of blue haired old ladies who eat dinner at 4:00 and are in bed by 8pm!)

This week is also my Spring Break! However I haven't done much relaxing and have been filling my days with appointments! Monday was the Spa (Lauren the one you and I went to!), i had a 50 minute massage and my nails done. It was AMAZING! Tuesday was the dentist (for 2 hours!), Today was the chiropractor and the girlie doctor (boo!), Thursday is the dentist again (i grinded through my night guard and Chris is sick of listening to me grind my teeth at night so i have to get a new one!) and a hair cut, and Friday NOTHING!!!! I plan to sleep, walk and do nothing!

Chris now has the flu

See the title of this post. Enough said.

Dani has the Flu

Even though she had the alleged "flu shot", Dani has the flu. She is soldiering through, so we are waiting to see if the rest of us that live here (that didnt have the flu shot) will get it. Actually Cooper is a dog and cant get it, so i guess i am SOL.

UCONN V RUTGERS

What a game. We had the worst seats in the house (nosebleeds) and the best seats in the house (courtside) and were able to rotate between them. Overall a great night and great result. Awesome job by Gary to get the seats in the first place and good to see Kimmy, Ian and meet Rob. The pics explain the rest.