Long Beach Island

Today we took a little drive out to the shore. We walked around Barnegat Lighthouse and found a beach where the Boogie experienced sand and surf. I think these pictures of her with her uncle are sweet.
This is not a shore picture, but it's the first time that she saw the camera, said "cheese" and posed!

Happy Birthday!

Dear Eric,

Today is your birthday! I remember the first birthday you celebrated after we met -- you were here and I was in Washington and I wanted so badly to be able to spend it with you. Thankfully we've been together for each birthday since then.

I love you so much. I am so thankful that God has given you to me. There is no doubt in my mind that God planned for us to be together! You complete me and complement me the way no one else can. Watching you be a father to our sweet little girl warms my heart. When you come home from work and she runs to you saying "Daddy," well, it just makes me happy all over.

I hope that you have a really great day today. And just in case you may have forgotten for a few minutes ... you are my favorite! :)

OXOX

-Rachel

It's That Time Again

Nursery schedule time. It comes at the end of every month. I have put it off as long as possible. It has to be handed out at church tonight. I enjoy being the nursery coordinator and I don't really mind doing the schedule, but lately there are some other things that are starting to concern me. I will not blog about them. I will, however, have a meeting of nursery workers soon. That is all I am going to say about that.

Yesterday was the annual fall fest in our little town. It was tres, tres ... lame. It was so lame that we didn't even bother to attend it. On our street there is always a car show. Cars didn't start showing up for it until about 9:30 and when we got home at 1:00 every single one of them was gone. All six of them. Or thereabouts.

Last night we had the R family and SIL3 over for pizza. DH set up the projector and the Rs brought over their xBox and everyone played Halo for several hours. Later on more friends and relatives appeared and our apartment was full up once again. It's fun to have a bigger place where we can actually entertain folks without sitting in each other's laps.

The Boogie will not nap today. She slept in the car for about 30 minutes on the way home from church this morning. I've tried twice to put her down but she refuses to sleep. This means that she will either 1.) Fall asleep on our way to church tonight and be crabby in the nursery, or 2.) Not fall asleep on the way to church but still be crabby in the nursery. Either way I have a feeling I will be sitting out of the service tonight.

Enough stalling. Time to start scheduling.

NYC

DH and I took Furry to New York City today. We drove up to Staten Island and took the ferry across to Manhattan. We visited Battery Park; wandered through Wall Street where we witnessed a silent protest and riot squads ready for anything to erupt; took the subway uptown to Times Square; browsed through the Hershey and M&Ms stores and the NBC gift shop; saw Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Columbus Circle; braved the crowds in Grand Central Terminal; attempted to go up in the Empire State Building but were discouraged by the doorman who said we wouldn't be able to see anything; counted 15 Starbucks! It was a really great time, despite the damp and sometimes drizzly weather. There just isn't anywhere quite like NYC ...

I made a slideshow but am unable to embed the code, so click here to see it!

Fun With Furry

Yesterday was a lovely fall day. We went for a walk and after dinner went miniature golfing and had gelati from Rita's. It was great! Today we are having lunch with DH then going shopping for his birthday presents since he is turning 26 next Monday.

Just For The Record

In reference to an earlier post, I want you all to know that I do not pee and brush my teeth at the same time. But I believe that it is possible.

Furry slept on my couch for a long time yesterday afternoon. I finally had to wake him up because I was afraid he wouldn't be able to sleep at all last night. We had dinner and then BIL1/SIL1, the LCs, and the R family came upstairs for brownies and ice cream. Amidst the madness another family from church stopped by so we had lots of people in our apartment! It was crowded and loud and growing increasingly warmer for a few minutes there ... but it was fun. :)

The Boogie was shy around her Uncle Furry for a little bit but she soon warmed up. He's asleep in her room right now and it's all I can do to keep her out of there. I guess maybe I should feed her some breakfast. Maybe she keeps going in there because she thinks that he'll give her food. Poor little neglected thing!

Uncle Furry ...

... is here! I am excruciatingly happy. :D He is, as I type, fast asleep on the couch. I think it was a loooong flight. We are going to have a wonderful week!

Our Apartment

Mrs. Specktacular asked me recently to take a video of our apartment and post it. I was too lazy to do that but here are some pictures of it.

Living room ...

... dining room...

... kitchen ...(it's teeny!)

... our room ...... the Boogie's room ...
(it looks a little different now with the bed in it)
... and lastly, because you have to see it to believe it, the bathroom.
You can pee and brush your teeth at the same time.

We got our new mattresses yesterday! Old ones (circa 1990):New ones!
We slept so great last night. It was heavenly. Mr. and Mrs. Specktacular, we are sorry you have to sleep on our old bed when you come but I promise it isn't that bad. I bought a brand-new mattress cover today to put on it.

And last of all, as a free bonus, something cute.

This is Frog Eyes: