What gets me through the day...

So when I travel (which is usually often), I rely HEAVILY on technology to get me though the day.  You may think that I am referring to all the jumk that allows me to continue to do my job no mater where I am in the world.  And in some respect you would be right, but only because I use the same 'junk' to keep in touch with my family.  We try to video chat every night and Sarah, J and my mom send me random pictures to keep me in the loop.  We have also started to send videos back and forth.  Here are a couple from this past trip....nothing melts my heart faster that Ayden's sweet little voice and giggle.

Girls Trip

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of going on a little girls trip with my friends Emily and Michelle from college.  We met in Palm Springs (CA not FL like you east coasters tend to think) and did a whole lot of nothing =) While there, I got daily updates from J and Sarah (our amazing nanny - and no I will not share her last name so you can steal her!!). I swear everyday they sent pictures, Ayden got older and more mature looking....where has my baby boy gone??

The Finding out Party

I cannot believe it has been four weeks since we had our 'finding out party'.

What is a 'finding out party' you ask?

First...what rock are you living under???  Apparently it is all the craze these days.  So as to maintain the trendy status that J and I have (in our dreams!) we decided to jump on board.

A finding out party is a party where the parents-to-be find out the sex of the baby at the same time as their guests.  Typically, the parents take a sealed envelope from their ultrasound to a cake shop where they request a cake be made with either pink or blue icing, depending on the contents of the envelop (which may only be opened after the couple has left the shop).  At the party, the cake is cut and the sex revealed.

J and I put a tiny twist on the plans by making the cake an ice cream cake (in true Tess and J fashion), so...since we couldn't bare to have an ice cream cake made that didn't have our favorite ice creams simply to satisfy a needed color scheme, we decided that the sex indicator would be the flavor of the cake layer, not the ice cream filling.  So, vanilla = girl and chocolate = boy.

Let me tell you...it was a blast!!  I had high hopes going in, mostly out of anticipation of finding out, but this party blew me away.  Jeremy and I found ourselves surrounded by 50+ friends and family and 10+ children.  I literally cannot express the feeling it gave me to look around and see everyone's face...to feel the support for J and our growing family...and most of all the love.  Not only the love they give Ayden, but the love they already give the growing little boy inside me.  As if those who were present weren't more than enough, we had family from all corners of the country dialed in on a video chat!

[I have to insert here that we were not successful in getting my dad on the line, though it wasn't for a lack of trying, but just knowing that he was at his computer thinking of us made the moment that much better.  Why would the thousands of dollars in technology actually work when you want it to?!?!]

Without further adieu, here are some videos from the revealing.

Finding Out Party - Video

As you might have guessed the large majority of the group believed it was going to be a girl....weren't we all SURPRISED to see the chocolate cake!

Having not found out the sex with Ayden, I feel I have earned the right to say that finding out was WAY MORE FUN***!!!

[*** I must caveat this statement by explaining that my experience having a C-section (ug!) stripped all the fun out of having the baby.  I felt so drugged, then so sick from all the drugs, that I was barely aware of the moment.  I have no doubt this plays into my feelings on finding out.]

If/when J and I take this plunge again we will most certainly be holding another 'finding out party'.

Paint Party

During Rush at our sorority we had what was called a paint party.  By the end of the night we looked a little like this....

Only not as cute or innocent ;) 

[Probably one of those stories best never shared with the kids....or parents for that matter...]

We have had this paint set for a few months and have done very well to keep the paint on the paper until the day Ayden accidentally bumped his nose.  It was then the joy of painting oneself clicked!  Thank goodness for washable paint!!

It's a BOY!! And his name is....

ICE CREAM....


well according to Ayden is should be.

This post is a bit out of order, but I wanted to get this down before I forgot.  I will soon be posting about the fabulous 'finding out party' we had two weeks ago with 50 friends and family that just warms my heart to talk about.  But not on this post....

The day after we found out it was a boy, I went into Tessa Panic mode because I was adamant about finding a name that we loved as much as Ayden William Riley.  When Ayden was born there was no question about what to name him.  We knew I think before we were even pregnant.  The girls name didn't come as easily, but we had one we liked.

This time around I really have to admit I thought it was a girl through and through.  Which just happened to be perfect because I had fallin' in love with a girl name (Quinn Camille Riley) and didn't even have a list for a boy.

Low and behold...it's a BOY!

So yes, back to the day after the party.  Despite all the (wonderful) advise that I had plenty of time to figure it out....it didn't feel right to me.  I knew it was a boy...I wanted a name.  A great name. A name that had all the flow, eloquence and meaning as Ayden's.

So I began to bounce some names off a few select folks...one of whom was my adorable son Ayden.  When I asked Ayden what his little brother should be named...he didn't hesitate..."Ice Cream".  This was two weeks ago.  Without fail, any time you ask him or even talk about 'little brother', Ayden says 'ice cream'.

While we won't be naming our next child ice cream, you can be rest assured we have found a name that we love and hope all of you will as well.....

You're just going to have to wait a few months =)

J's 4.0

When Jeremy announced last weekend that he had a 4.0 in his Executive MBA program, I was ecstatic!!

Little did I know he has a consultant...

My smart boys....

Thomas and his Friends

TRAINS TRAINS AND MORE TRAINS!!!

Ayden has a huge vocabulary now but the word most commonly heard (beside 'momma' - which I'm not complaining about) is TRAIN!!  Boy does he love his trains.

So...last Saturday Toys R Us was have a 'huge' sale on Thomas the train stuff.  Well...being the indulgent parents (and grandparent) we might be, We (J, Gram-e, Ayden and I) took a ride down to the store.  We spent a bit of time looking around unable to make any solid decisions on what Ayden 'needed' when we decided we should try the other Toys R s in town just in case they have a better selection.  So we piled back in to the car in the 100 degree weather and drove across town to the other store.  [I see visions of many many many Christmas to come.] 

There, we finally made some decisions.  And after Ayden went to bed...his Thomas the Train set came to life.

When Ayden woke up he almost couldn't believe he had a train set in his own house!  And within the first hour, this unexpected event occurred....

I walked away for two seconds....

[Don't worry, Ayden (for now) has good listening ears and he understands we can't climb on it and doesn't try to any more (for now).]

The hours of enjoyment are endless and to be honest, it wasn't as much damage as I thought since those train tables don't actually hold that much track (buyer beware!)!  And so this is how Ayden spends his morning afternoon and evening.  Thankfully, we have a wonderful Nanny that is able to drag him away for other activities outside the house.

Future engineer???