Kiss your what?

Asher's new favorite thing is to ask me to kiss his owies to make them all better. Yesterday he fell on a block or something, and comes whining up to me saying...

"mommy, kiss my bum"

I thought it was hilarious, but I had no one to laugh about it with, so I thought I would document it. To make it even better, if he doesn't feel like it is quite "all better", he says "again" until it feels better. So after I kissed his lower back (I couldn't quite bring myself to kiss his bum), he said...

"again"

over and over again. I love my Asher!

A Valentine weekend

Nate and I have never been big on Valentine's Day, even though we do usually do a little something. We didn't really have anything planned this year, but ended up having a fun weekend. On Friday night, our friend Josh came into town from Delaware, so I got a babysitter and we all went to the New York City Ballet. They did 3 different suites. The first one was more contemporary, and while they were amazing, it really wasn't my favorite piece. The second was amazing. It was just what I wanted to see, classic, flowing, waltzing ballet, with beautiful costumes and lifts and leaps. I love how everything they do looks so effortless. The last piece was West Side Story, which was fun, but I think I would rather just see the musical. They had people backstage doing the vocals while the dancers on stage lip-synced. It was a little weird. But the dancing was fun. I still say that the middle piece was the best. 

On Saturday Josh offered to babysit for me and Nate so we could get a quick bite to eat. We went to a restaurant on 108th and Amsterdam called Thai Market, and it was pretty darn good. A very fun ambiance. It was so nice to have a leisurely walk with just Nate and have dinner without the kids, and to actually talk and hold hands. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home, which is one of Nate's favorite things to do... seriously! It's our favorite grocery store, and they also carry Junior's cheesecake, so we picked some up for dessert. It was so scrumptious! To top it off, we caught the bus for a nice romantic ride home ! ;) I had offered to babysit for our neighbors, so we were back early, by 7:00 pm, so they could go out. I spent the rest of the night babysitting, and watching Grey's Anatomy, while Nate and Josh kicked it at our place. It was a lovely weekend!

Tender mercies

It's been a rough couple of weeks with our little Asher. IT has finally happened... he has learned how to climb in and out of his crib. The OUT of the crib is the part that's been a real downer. I realize that I should be extremely grateful that he has lasted this long. He has always been such a great sleeper, and just never questioned that when I put him in his crib, he was supposed to stay there. But, since that dreadful day, I have been getting extremely anxious around bedtimes. I now understand why so many parents put it off, especially when kids are playing so nicely, because it is so exhausting to fight them into bed, and then keep putting them back in time and time again. I am not proud of my parenting over the past few days. It seems that nothing works to keep him in his bed except getting angry, and I HATE being that kind of mom. I hate thinking that I finally got him to be quiet and stay in bed because I scared him or made him sad. Last night was the worst. After so many nights of this "game" that is getting SOOO old, and after a very busy day yesterday, during which Asher decided he didn't need a nap, so he was a MONSTER, I just couldn't take it any more. It was really scary to ME to feel how angry and frustrated I was. I am really grateful that I have the ability to recognize when I am not in control, even in the moment, and that I am able to slow down and ultimately stop myself from doing anything that would hurt my child. The more I think about it, I really feel that anger is most often, not the answer. I believe that it is affective and even appropriate occasionally, but for this, I just don't think it is right... it doesn't feel right. So today, I went and bought a lock for the outside of his door. That's right people, I am going to lock my child in his room and let him cry it out. No more going in to sing another song, or get him water, or milk, or water in a different cup, or read a book, or any other excuses that he will pull out for hours if we let him. It's not going to be pretty, but I know my child, and I know that it will be effective, and that it will only last a couple of nights.  But the most important thing to me, is that my child gets the sleep he needs, and that has not been happening.  The other part to the solution is a big boy bed. I put in a request to have maintenance bring a twin bed up here, and today, I let Asher pick out some Thomas the Train sheets from Target, which he hugged to his chest all throughout the store, while saying "take to our house now?" Which leads me to the point of this post... (geez, I am so long winded... sorry)

Today I put Sayer down for a nap at 9:00 am, and took the monitor to my neighbors so she could babysit him, then Asher and I headed to Target to get sheets and a lock for the door. On the way home, I was carrying Asher and the stroller up 3 flights of stairs, with his beloved blanky over my shoulder. Unbeknownst to me, the blanky slipped off on the stairs, and I didn't realize until we were on the train and the doors had closed. I wanted to cry. As the train started to move, I started thinking about everything we were going through with Asher and his sleeping, and the thought of him not having his blanky in the midst of it all, made me want to cry even more. I thought of all my options, thinking I could order him a new one, or I could go back and get it, but someone probably would have picked it up and taken it... this is New York after all. But as the train stopped at the next station, I made an impulse decision and got off the train. I was thinking how I couldn't believe that I was going all the way back there to get his blanket. It wouldn't be such a big deal, except that I had Asher in his stroller, and it meant that I had to carry him down 3 flights of stairs, cross the street, then go up another 3 flights of stairs to get to the North bound train to go back up to the 225th stop. Then I had to go down 3 flights of stairs, cross the street, and go up another 3 flights of stairs to get to where I dropped the blanket, and get back on the south bound train. After I had already gone down and up the first 2 sets of stairs, I was feeling close to tears... silly I know, but I was. While we were on the train, I explained to Asher that mommy dropped his blanky and that we had to go back and get it. He just kept saying "I sorry mommy" over and over. Such a sweetheart. As I was getting off the train at 225th, I was praying that Asher's blanket would still be there. I told Heavenly Father how I would feel so much better if someone would offer to help me down these 3 flights of stairs right now, and that if they did, then surely it would be Him telling me that it was ok, and that Asher's blanket would still be there and that this whole 20 minute detour would be worth it. Well, as the last person past me to go down the stairs, I thought, well, that's that, the blanket is not going to be there, I might as well just prepare myself now. But then the last girl stopped before she went down, and asked me if I would like some help. I wanted to cry. I know this all sounds so silly to you all, but I'm sure that everyone has had moments where they are at their wits end, and they just need a little tender mercy, to know that Heavenly Father is aware of them and their problems, no matter how silly they may seem. Well, this was one of those times. As I crossed the street to get to the last set of stairs, I felt confident that the blanket would be there, and it was. Someone had graciously picked it up and draped it over the edge so that people wouldn't trample all over it. I was so happy that I literally did start to cry. It's amazing that the things that are important to us, no matter how small, are also important to Heavenly Father. 

So yeah, that's all... I just wanted to share that. However, just once, I would love to have a simple, uneventful trip to Target. Maybe next time! Same with doing the laundry... another story for another time!!

The dog show

This little guy won Best in Show, and I was so glad. He is so sweet looking, how could you not want to cuddle him? And I am not even a dog lover.

Guess where I went this Tuesday night? The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. You know, the kind of dog show that gets made fun of in "Best in Show". It was pretty fun. You definitely get some characters sitting around you, commenting on how big of a contender this dog is and how that dog is really at the top of his game. Weird that people get so into this. It was at Madison Square Garden, which I had never been to before. It was cool, not a bad seat in the house, seriously. I went with my friend Natalie, and we had great fun commenting on the outrageous things people do to their dogs and eating overpriced burgers and chicken fingers and cotton candy. Thanks Natalie for a fantastic night out!

This isn't a good picture, but this Chinese Crested dog literally looked like a rockstar. It had long hair that was honest to goodness styled like a human being's with volume and everything. It was ridiculous. Then of course, you add in the "boots" it's wearing, and it looks like a rocker wearing moon boots. Amazing!! By the way, I think this is the ugliest kind of dog, out of all the breeds. Sad, but true.

On to California

During our time in Spokane, I spent some time on the phone with my mom and sister Whitney. Whit had been having lots of contractions and felt like she was going to have the baby any day. Well, I REALLY wanted to be able to see the precious little guy and help out as much as I could, and of course visit with all of my family, so my mom was gracious enough to fly me out there after the wedding. Nate had to head back to NY for school, and took Asher with him. My wonderful friends in my building were nice enough to watch him during the day when Nate had stuff. So it was just me and Sayer heading out to Cali.

Sayer was in full "charm" mode for most of the trip. He was so smiley and loved all the attention!

First we flew in to Sacramento for a few days, as Whit hadn't had her baby yet, and I wanted to visit with everyone. It was great fun. I love hanging out and laughing with my fam. Unfortunately, Sayer had a touch of the flu when we got there (he was really hardly sick at all... both he and Asher threw up, but only once, and there were really no other symptoms... Nate got it the worst, poor fella) but my whole family including my Grandma Leni came down with the flu pretty badly. It actually turned out to be pretty perfect for me and Sayer, as on Wednesday, everyone was supposed to be at school and work, but instead, they were all home with us. Selfish, I know, but we had a video fest, took naps, and visited all day. If they hadn't all been sick, I would have just been home all by myself all day long... so not fun. So it was really a blessing in disguise. So, family, you are welcome!

Unfortunately, my mom couldn't find any of the old baby toys, so Sayer had to resort to playing with plates and buttons on electronics that he was not supposed to touch!

On Wednesday night, after Ashley touched up my horrible looking roots,

Sayer and I drove down to Sunnyvale to visit with Ben and Whit and Joelie and Kadin.

It was so great to visit with them. I think Whit was trying desperately to get that baby out, as we had spicy (and delicious) Thai food one night, and spicy (and delicious) Indian food another day. We also saw Bride Wars, which was fun (I'm really not hard to please) and hit up In & Out (de-lish). We watched Stardust, which was so fun... Ben insisted that we watch something I had never seen before. Apparently, he loves watching movies that other people have never seen, with those other people.

Hailey. Graduating from high school this year! Crazy!

On Saturday, I will have you all know, that Whitney ran 4 miles... the day before she gave birth... yeah, that's all I have to say about that. Later my whole fam (minus Jill... we totally missed you sista) came down to visit and pick up the van that I had driven down.

Hailey, Whit, Kadin

We chatted, laughed, ate, watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (SO cute!), ate some more (chinese food), listened to music, and watched my dad play with all of Joelie and Kadin's cool toys. He played trains with them, and built huge puzzles... he is such a cute grandpa. It was so fun to be able to visit with everyone.

That night, Joelie woke up with the flu... several times. So sad. I do feel bad for bringing the flu upon everyone. What are you gonna do though?? Anyway... On Sunday, Sayer and I were all packed to head to the airport for our 1:20 flight, and of course, Whit announces that she was pretty sure she was going into labor. Perfect timing, of course. So a friend of theirs took me and Sayer to the airport, and Whitney had little Oliver approximately 7 and a half hours after I left. I was so sad. Oh well. I think there is some rule that that is just how things go. My whole family had been in town the week before I was due with Asher, hoping he would be born early. They left Sunday morning, and he was born that night... it's just the way things go.

Anyway... I have to say that my whole 2 1/2 week trip to Washington and Cali was pretty much perfect. It was so great to be in so many different places for short periods of time. It makes it so that we were never bored and really got to see EVERYONE... well, except for Analee and Tyler who were in Australia, Erin who was in SLC with a new baby, and Jill who was in Provo. But I would still call that a VERY successful trip. By the end, we were feeling re-energized and ready to come home and get back to reality. We are all pretty much back to normal sleeping schedules, and I have made dinner pretty much every night. We'll see how long that lasts! ;)

I just had to show off this beautiful picture of my youngest sister Lexi. She got her braces off, and then had to have some teeth capped, and she looks gorgeous... so grown up!

MacKay's wedding

Nate's little bro MacKay got married on January 17th, and we were fortunate enough to get to go. We flew out to Spokane about a week and a half before the wedding to spend time with the fam, first in Spokane for a few days, then on to the Tri-cities area where his sister Lizza lives with her cute little fam, and then back to Spokane for the wedding and more visiting. We had such a great time, the boys were great, and I got the break from the city that I didn't even realize I needed. Once we got out into the wide open spaces, I felt much more relaxed and free. It probably had something to do with the fact that I hardly ever saw Asher. Every house we stayed in was very spacious and had many toys to be entertained with, as well as numerous kids to play with. He was in heaven, and so was I, as I didn't have to do an ounce of entertaining. So what did I do with all my spare time? I spent a lot of it chatting with my sisters in law, laughing hysterically with Zach and Lizza at the shows "True Beauty" and "A.I", running, getting pedicures (ok, only one), shopping, going to Chuck-e-cheese (twice... Asher loved it), going out to eat (or getting take-out), watching some movies, and reading a BUNCH of books. In our tiny apartment, there is literally no where else to go but in the family room, so whenever I try to read a book, Asher usually just comes up and tries to take it away or close it, so it's really not worth trying. As a result, I haven't been able to read as much as I would like to. Twas not the case in Washington. I read North and South, Princess Academy, all 5 of the Confessions of a Shopaholic series, and started reading I am a mother. Loved them all. Of course it was all very light reading, but that is the best kind when you are on vacation.

Anyway, I digress... the wedding was beautiful and we are so excited to have Rebecca as part of the Olson fam now. Thank you to all of the Olsons and Caziers who put us up, and put up with us. We love you and miss you!

Here are some pictures of the wedding and fun times from our visit to Washington...

Asher with Andy and Kacey's kids

Riding bikes at Zach & Lizza's house. This was so hilarious to watch. Those boys go SO fast on those big wheels, while Asher is just daintily peddeling away on the tricycle.

Riding the cars and trains at Chuck-e-cheese

Sayer as cute as ever at C-E-C. So I swear he didn't wear this outfit everyday. He just happened to be wearing it on the days when I took my camera out. It's cute though, it used to be my brothers!

MacKay & Rebecca, just after the sealing

Duffy, Nate, Me, waiting for them to finish pics at the temple

The spread. I heard it was delish, but I was too stuffed from dinner to try any.

The cake. It was yummy!

Those pretty looking things are mints. Yum!

Home again home again

Wow. I have really been slacking on the blogging lately. I don't know what my deal is. I have 2 posts ready to be published, I just need to upload the pictures, and that takes some effort, but I am getting there. We got back from a nice 2 1/2 week long vacation a little over a week ago, and things have been great. I feel rejuvenated and have been more productive than I have been since the beginning of December. We even had a gorgeous day on Monday and I got out of the apartment with the kids twice in one day. I can't even remember the last time that has happened! We went to the park and to 2 different grocery stores. That's how it works here... our neighborhood grocery store for all the groceries, then to another on 110th and Broadway for our produce, bagels and hummus. 

The kids have both readjusted to being home... Asher complete with a black eye from falling into a metal chair at church, and Sayer with his new found love for eating cheerios and anything else he can feed to himself. Man, I really do have the most precious kids in the world. Everyday I have been feeling so blessed to be their mom and to get to stay home with them. They make me smile and laugh everyday. 

Nate is back in school and is busy busy, but seriously loves it.  He is always trying to talk to me about the "interesting article" he read that day.  It takes all of my effort to focus my mind and pay attention to whatever it is he wants to say about it.  It's usually some obscure thought about culture and society and the differences between the two and how it affects the things we do everyday.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's not interesting... it's just that it's not as fascinating to me as it is to him.  Which is good I suppose, as he is the one getting his doctorate, not me.  

I have started training for my second marathon, and am in my 5th week of training.  It has been going really well actually, and I am enjoying being more consistent in my running.  Yesterday I went running in the snow, and it was a little weird... trying to see where I was going through the snowfall flying in my eyes and trying not to fall on the snowy/sloshy ground.  Yeah, I don't think I'm a fan... it takes way more energy than normal.  But the cool thing about my run is that A. it was beautiful, and B. I saw a movie shoot, complete with about 6 or 7 actor's trailers.  They were pretty cool looking.  Some of them had actual front doors with decorative windows and everything.  I thought that was pretty funny.  I couldn't really see what was going on, but it looked like they were using a local apartment building as their set.  I saw one of the actors coming out of her trailer with someone holding an umbrella for her, as she was saying something about not wanting to ruin her hair.  I couldn't tell who it was.  It looked like that blond chick from Studio 60, but I couldn't be sure.  Oh, that reminds me.  In Enchanted, the apartment building they used as Patrick Dempsey's apartment is by my house.  It's a couple blocks over, but is right across the street from one of the park's we frequent.  I thought that was so cool.  

Anyway... just wanted to do a little "hello, I'm back" post to put up until I find the resolve to upload my pictures from the camera.  Until then...

Giveaway

My friend Hannah is having a fun pie kit giveaway on her blog Sherbet Blossom Studio. Her blog is so fun... talking about fashions, decor, cooking, baking, lots of hand bags and shoes and also a little bit of photography. Such a fun blog. Check it out! Oh yeah, and she is also a graphic designer, she did my blog design, and would LOVE to do more!!

10 months...

Sayer is now 10 months. For all of Sayer's sweet and sensitive nature, he has got quite the attitude. It has been coming out a bit lately, and I think it is hilarious. I may not think so when he starts walking and talking and throwing tantrums, but for now, it's pretty cute.

Sayer is very big on cuddling. He is becoming increasingly attached to me, which I'm not too sure about... as long as he is good to stay with a babysitter, it's all good. He loves to cuddle, and when Asher tries to intrude on our cuddle time, he will literally push Asher away. He is not afraid to "speak" his mind. He gets furious when Asher or I take something away from him. A few weeks ago, he was playing with a twisty-tie from a bag of bread... well I intervened and he was ticked. He dramatically threw himself to the floor, repeatedly slammed his legs down onto the floor, and threw a full on tantrum. I have never seen such a little baby throw such tantrum. I admit that I thought it was hilarious.

Sayer is very musically inclined. Whenever he hears music or singing, he will automatically start dancing, or in other words, bouncing up and down. It is so cute. Today Nate was clapping for him, and he got SOO happy. So we think he is going to love the stage. We only wonder what instrument he is going to want to play. We are pretty sure we are going to get Asher a mini guitar... he is obsessed. He does really well with it too. He is not rough with it, he will just sit and hold it nicely and strum away. I think he would be content to sit and do that forever.

Sayer loves to play with toys... not baby toys, but cars and trains, and all those big boy toys. I love it when he will entertain himself for awhile, going from room to room, finding things to play with. He does this frequently and will usually keep it up until Asher eventually pushes him or takes a toy from him... does something that ultimately ends with Sayer in dramatic tears. He is getting tougher though. I try not to give him attention when he has a minor bump or fall, and he has started to not cry as much after them.

Probably the funnest thing about Sayer is his crawling. He is such a deliberate crawler. I don't know how else to describe it. He is just so fast, and so precise with his hand/knee placement. It's like he's a perfect crawler. It is just so funny to watch. All I know is that this kid is going to be a riot. He has so much personality. Along with that though, I imagine will come his fierce little temper that we get glimpses of every once in a while. It is very different from how Asher ever was. But something tells me that he will be just as challenging. Fabulous.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I think Sayer's first word is "Asher". We noticed him saying "A-der" a lot, and when we would repeat "Asher", he would say it again. It makes sense if you think about it... why wouldn't "Asher" be his first word when that is what he hears being said all day long... "Asher, don't do that", "Asher, that was naughty", "Asher sit down and eat your food", "Asher, it's time to go to bed"... and on and on and on. It's pretty precious. We will have to try and get it on video sometime so we can get a second opinion.

Celebrity sighting... in Sacrament meeting??

Today was our first day back in the Lincoln Square Chapel, which was so great. It's so much easier to get to and is so much nicer. Not to mention that it is all on one floor instead of spread out over 3 or 4 floors. Anyway... guess who was in Sacrament meeting today???

......

No guesses??

Ok, since the suspense is just killing you, I'm sure, I will just tell you...

Ace Young from American Idol. 

He has been playing the part of Kinicke in the Broadway production of Grease, which closes today. The girl he was with bore her testimony, and she said she was an actor and the show she has been in for the past 2 years was closing today, so I imagine that is how she knows him. Not that I talked to him. I was never a big fan of Ace myself. He past right by me while I was putting things in the stroller, so I got a good look at him... in real life he is pretty short and skinny. His muscles are super cut, and he has a TINY waist.  I guess that's the look they go for. Regardless of my lack of support for him on A.I., it was cool to see him in our Sacrament meeting. I couldn't help wondering what he was thinking about it.

Oh yeah, and Nate thinks that I should mention that Marlin K. Jenson from the Quorum of the Seventy and Richard Bushman, author of Rough Stone Rolling, were also in our ward today.  Richard Bushman is actually in our ward, which is cool.

Together at last

This is their first night together. Asher was so excited to have Sayer sleeping in his room. He is so cute, he knows he needs to "be very quiet" when Sayer is already sleeping. What a good big brother.


I have finally made the huge leap of putting Asher and Sayer in the same room to sleep at night. I have been so nervous to do this as Sayer usually doesn't sleep well when he is sick and/or teething. But he has been sleeping pretty solidly for the past few weeks, so I decided to try it out and see how it went. Well, to my surprise, things have been going great. Sayer has been sleeping better than ever, and so far, neither of the boys have woken each other up, which is very surprising to me. Usually one of them wakes up first in the morning, but they never wake up the other one, which is fabulous. I think Sayer likes his new crib better than the pack & play, as it is more comfy and spacious. For all I know, he could still be waking up and talking, but neither of them are crying out, so it doesn't bother me. I have been sleeping so much better as a result. Now I remember why I NEVER had Asher (or Sayer, until we moved here) sleep in our room. Kids know when you are in a room with them, and they will milk it for all it's worth. I think I will finally start to get caught up on my sleep now, which is fabulous, and much needed.

Sometimes they laugh and talk to each other. It's pretty cute. We've had one relatively bad night where they both kept each other up for a while, and it made Sayer cranky, but to make up for it, he slept until almost 9 am. Thank heaven for good sleepers!! Plus, doesn't he look so cute in his big crib? He gets so excited whenever you put him in there.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was a lot of fun with Asher. He was so excited to open presents, and even more excited when he saw what was in them. He of course wanted to open everything immediately so he could play with it. Which was nice, as it gave me and Nate some spaces to open our own gifts. I got a much needed warm puffy coat which I love, a purse from China, a cute winter hat, some classic movies, and then Nate got my the Elizabeth Gaskell collection which includes, Cranford, North and South, and Wives and Daughters. I can't wait to watch them. Asher got some Thomas the trains and tracks, Blue Clues dvd and Thomas dvd, some clothes and a LOTS of matchbox cars, which he was so excited about. Nate got some jeans, shoes, movies, a running jacket, and amazon gift cards. We also got a nice air mattress to make your visit here more comfortable!

We had a nice quiet day at home. I made some rolls and a yummy fruit salad to take to a potluck with some friends in our ward that were also still in town for Christmas. It was so nice to be able to be with people for Christmas. We had a nice dinner, good conversation, and then Nate and Clark played some Christmas bluegrass for us to sing to. Sayer was in great spirits and was such a little show off. He had great fun playing around on the couch and flirting with all the ladies, and just laughed and played all night. Asher was a little sick, so he was in rather low spirits, but still a trooper. It was all great fun. Sadly, we had to leave before the game playing began... those darn kids and their early bedtimes!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas filled with the spirit of our Savior, friends and family, and lots of great memories.

Christmas Eve

I'm not gonna lie... Christmas Eve started out terribly. Asher woke up with a horrible cold and was in a really bad mood. I did not get enough sleep, so I was in a terrible mood as well. Nate and I discovered that we are not very good at having Christmas on our own yet. We don't have any traditions of our own yet, and quite frankly, we were both a little too lazy to do too much about it. Part of the reason is that it has been very quiet and lonely around here, which just reminds us even more that we are not with our families, which made me very sad. But thankfully, we were able to straighten out our attitudes, and ended up having a wonderful Christmas Eve. We headed over to the East side, to the Church of Heavenly Rest Christmas pageant and live nativity. I was so glad that we went, as it really helped to put me in the spirit of Christmas. The spirit was there in abundance, and just the simple singing of Christmas hymns brought tears to my eyes. The chapel was beautiful and there was even a live donkey that Asher got to sit on and pet.

After the pageant was over, we decided to walk through Central Park instead of taking the bus home. It started raining and was pretty slushy, but it was really nice for Nate and I to talk about things that were important to us, especially after a rough couple of days with low spirits. Asher was getting hungry and cranky, so we stopped at McDonald's for our Christmas Eve dinner, which Asher loved, and it was just what he needed. We made it home and got the kids into bed, and had a nice relaxing evening wrapping some presents, putting presents out and watching tv. Nate didn't want to watch A Christmas Story, so it sadly wasn't anything Christmasy. Oh well. Nate and I were in bed by 10:30. It was a really great Christmas Eve.

Santa and Grand Central Station

The day before Christmas Eve, we made it down to Macy's to see Santa. It was not nearly as crazy as the day after Thanksgiving, which was nice, but it was still a bit of a mad house. It was so worth it though. Going to see Santa in NY is a big deal. You go up to the 8th floor and get in line. It normally takes about 20-30 minutes to get inside the train, but luckily for us, it wasn't too busy so it took about 10 minutes. I almost didn't make it in because I thought it would take longer, so I went to get a sandwich as I hadn't eaten a single thing all day, and it was almost noon. Apparently, they are super strict and don't let you get back in line once you get into the train. Thankfully, Nate and the boys had JUST gone in, so she let me past... but she almost didn't. Inside the "train" was so cool. It was like another little world in there, with trains, singing and dancing teddy bears and polar bears, and toy making factories, Christmas trees... it was so fun. Asher could not get enough of the trains. He kept asking to see more. We were probably only in there for about 20 minutes or so. People in line are so funny, or annoying, one of those. Clearly, there is no where to go. The line moves at it's own slow pace, so when the person in front of you moves forward, it's not like you have to rush to catch up to them. Well, we were taking our time, (not too far behind the people in front of us) taking pictures, showing Asher the toys, etc etc. Then some lady behind us has to ruin our fun by saying quite rudely: "could we move it along here?!" Well, excuse me for wanting to give my child a fun experience and not just rush through the line. I was so bugged, but decided to just let it go. When you get to where Santa's houses are... yes, housES... there are 5 from what I hear, they direct you to a certain one. One is black, one is Latino, maybe an Asian one, and then of course a white one, maybe two. I thought that was really funny at first, but it makes sense I think. We got a white one, obviously. He was very kind and jolly and asked Asher what he wanted for Christmas. Asher just sat there looking so confused. At least he didn't cry. Sayer was having a grand old time. He loved Santa and his beard and just looked around smiling and charming all of Santa's helpers. It was really fun though, and I am glad we made the trek down there to see him.

After Santa, we went up to Grand Central Station to see the train show. Asher of course LOVED it and couldn't get enough of it. He kept asking for "more" trains and kept circling around trying to find new ones that he hadn't seen yet. What can I say, the kid loves trains. There was also a light show in the main concourse where they play Christmas songs and have pictures out of lights dancing on the walls, which was a lot of fun and again, Asher loved it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After that, we decided to head home as the kids were super tired, and it was SOOO cold. Asher refused to put his mittens on, so by the time we got to the subway station, his hands were icicles and they hurt, so he was crying. Then they started hurting even more when they started thawing out on the subway. They turned bright red. Poor little guy... although it serves him right... he should have listened to his mother and put his glovies on! Aside from the cold hands, it was a fun day and it was so nice to get out of the apartment.

Rockefeller Center

Nate is finally finished with classes for the semester, and now has a whole month off. I am so excited to be able to do some more things as a family. Especially these next few days before Christmas. We are really going to try to make this a nice, fun, memorable Christmas, even though we are not going to be with family. Which I have to say, so far, it's been a little depressing. But this last Thursday, Nate and I managed to get out to see the window displays on 5th avenue and the tree at Rockefeller Center. It was cold and Christmasy, and just what I needed. I loved it!

The window displays were so awesome. My favorites were the Disney store

and Bergdorfs

Check out these"knockers" in the Juicy Coutoure window...

hmm....

I got a lot of good ideas for decorating in the future

and just enjoyed the holiday atmosphere.

Next week we are hoping to go on a few holiday outings to help reign in the feeling that it really is Christmas, even if it doesn't always feel like it.