Last Saturday, my mom got on a plane to head back to Arizona after an eventful 9 day vacation at our house. Margot was so excited to see her Grammy, it had been 7 months since her last visit. She hadn’t seen our new house yet, and we were really excited to give her the tour of our town.

One of the first things my mom had on her “must do” list was to check out Reading Terminal Market. She and my dad had seen an episode of “Worlds Best Sandwiches” on the Travel Channel, and apparently #1 was at this restaurant called DiNic’s. We headed to Philly in the morning on a weekday, which was good because the lines in the market weren’t too long—have fun workin suckers!  I went to a Mediterranean Grill for a Chicken Caprese sandwich, which was delicious. My mom got the coveted Hot Roast Beef Sandwich with Broccoli Rabe at DiNic’s, she thoroughly enjoyed it.  Our next plan was to get some delicious desserts from Flying Monkey and explore the rest the of market. My mom, lover of olive loaf, found paradise at one of the deli’s and just had to bring some home. All in all, I’d say it was a very productive and delicious afternoon. Plus, this was my first time navigating to Philadelphia via train all by myself…and I didn’t even get us lost or killed–WINNING!

Margot and Grammy had lots of fun going for bike rides around the neighborhood, going to Newton Lake Park and Knights Park, and exploring the backyard. Margot got a new playhouse ( which we  found in our neighbors trash… it’s amazing what people just throw away) and she had lots of fun cleaning it and picking pretty flowers to go inside. It was so nice to see Margot bonding with her Grammy. They spent a lot of 1 on 1 time, which was a nice break for me too .

Another adventure we had to take Grammy on was to the Philadelphia Zoo. We recently became members and I am so glad because Margot absolutely loves seeing all of the animals. However, she was disappointed that they didn’t have elephants. The most exciting part of our adventure was Margot and Grammy getting their faces painted! Grammy went first. Then Margot gave it a try…she was shy, and the lady who was to paint her face was not too supportive or patient. So, we got a refund and went on our merry way. Although, Margot was not happy to leave without her face painted. For the next hour that’s all she talked about, “mom, I want a kitty face, please!” After talking to her about not being shy, and actually looking at the person who is painting her face (rather than burying her face into my shoulder), we decided to try again. This time we had a young guy painting her face. He was awesome. He showed her the paint brush, let her hold it, put some paint on her arm so she could feel what the paint felt like, and he reassured her at every step. He even asked her permission to start painting.  She was so excited to see the finished product. I have never seen her so happy! Of course, now everyday she wants her face painted so she can be a kitty. Grammy came up with a solution, use eyeliner to draw a kitty face. Now Margot requests ”kitty make-up”—of course I can’t resist.  So, thanks for that Grammy .

As when anyone leaves, it was sad to see my mom go. Margot was especially sad when we were leaving the airport. She said, “Where’s Grammy? I want her, I just love her mom!” That one made me cry, but I told Margot to think about all the fun she had with Grammy and to think about what kinds of things she wanted to do with her when we visit her in AZ–that always makes me feel better.

We are so lucky to have family visit us at least once a year. We always look forward to seeing their lovely faces, because we do miss them in our everyday lives.  I was sad that my dad didn’t get to come this visit, but I look forward to seeing him, and everyone, when we come to AZ in August. In the meantime, keep those flight comin and there will always been a warm bed for you here.

Yep, you heard right! The next member of the Crabtree Family will be here in November. We are all very excited…and anxious. Margot cannot wait to meet her new brother or sister–she vows to share both her toys and tutus, which I think is super generous.

Joe’s mom was in town visiting, and we were all waiting to see if “it” had happened yet… I was skeptical. But I went to the store anyways and bought two things, pads and a pregnancy test—I wasn’t sure how my day was going to turn out. The lady at the check out counter looked at me with a weird half smile, and I said “Gotta be  prepared for whatever, right?!” I was going to wait until Joe got home but it was like 10am and I really didn’t have that much patience.  So I took the test and…see for yourself—I took 2 just to be extra sure

I was so excited…and a little scared. I believe the first words out of my mouth were, “Oh shit,… awesome!” I called Casey, but she was at stupid work, pretty sure she must have thought I was dying since I called her like 5 times and sent a text. Then I called Joe at work. He was so excited. I told him that I was sorry that I couldn’t wait, he said he knew that  I wouldn’t be able to (haha!). Then I FaceTimed my parents. It was early in AZ but I didn’t care, it was priceless to see the look on their faces, I won’t forget that.

The fist trimester will be over in a week and I am looking forward to that–s0… much…. nausea.  I am anxious to know the sex of the baby too—I will keep you posted of course .

Thumbs up for BABY #2!

Margot looking at Turtles

Margot is not a baby—she is a big girl. I have come to this conclusion the last few months, but especially now as she has embraced using the potty. I am not gonna lie, the first day were the toughest. We would sit on the potty forever, then she would get up and minutes later have an accident. Patience is a virtue, especially when making this transition. Also, a potty chart and stickers are a must! She loves that she gets to put a sticker on her chart after she uses the potty. She has an assortment of stickers to choose from so that makes it even cooler! After the first day or so she started using the potty to go pee-pee consistently, poo-poo was another story. She did go poo once in the potty, and for that she got a princess balloon and some Mini Mouse socks from Auntie! It’s all about incentives…

Anyways, I was so proud and amazed by her! Such accomplishment, to think last week she was wearing a diaper! The true test though was an outing. For our first outing we tagged along with Denise to Brady’s gymnastics. I put Margot in a pull-up. Victory again! She told me she had to potty and she did–her first pee-pee in a public potty! This had to be celebrated! The next day we went to the Aquarium! We had another awesome day with Denise and the boys at the aquarium.  Margot loves it there! The best part– no accidents! She told me when she had to use the potty—yeah, we got this!  I was most excited for Joe to get to experience these new changes. This weekend he got an up close view of his little girls accomplishments and he was amazed. It’s been a transition for all of us, and we are so proud of Margot! This week the potty—next week the world!!

Okay,  I know what you’re thinking…”moving again?!” While we loved our townhouse in Delaware, we decided that it was time to put down some roots–possibly in a place that fostered a sense of community. Delaware will always be special to me, but I am excited to be in a place that better suits our needs.

Hiking in DE

When Joe’s sister moved to New Jersey a couple of year ago, she raved about the town they lived in named Collingswood. It had a real downtown, community events for families, a farmers market, and was only 10min away from Center City Philadelphia. When we first moved to the east coast, Joe and I were unsure where we should live. Since his job was in DE, we decided to live there. We lived about 45min from Denise in NJ, and made the drive out there at least once a week to visit. We liked Delaware just fine, we lived right next to hiking trails, parks, and libraries, but it was still very isolating for Margot and me. As we spent more and more time in Collingswood we came to the conclusion that this is the type of environment we want to live in–a place where people know their neighbors, kids walk to school, you can walk downtown to the local shops and restaurants, and feel like you are apart of a community. Since Joe’s work is right on the Delaware/New Jersey border, we decided it was totally feasible! So the house hunt began!

Downtown Collingswood

Denise and I must have searched on our own for a month before I decided to call a realtor. The thing about searching for a house in the Collingswood area is that: (1) there aren’t that many houses to choose from (2) among those available, there are lots of “fixer uppers” (3) the houses that had updates we super out of our price range. Geesh!…all we wanted a historical house with some updates but no huge projects and perhaps most importantly, it needed to be in our price range–is that too much to ask? One day  I found a house that I absolutely loved—spoiler alert!–I am sitting in it as we speak!–eerr as I write! So I called the realtor and set up a few property showings, after all I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. After a few weeks of looking, we decided on a house.

The knocker on our door is an owl!

This is our new home! More pictures to come, this is one from the listing. We are pretty settled already considering this is our third week here. Margot loves it and can’t wait to swim in our POOL this summer (that’s my favorite part). I can’t wait for friends and family to visit! I can’t believe how lucky we have been in our move. It’s a wonderful town, and the best part is that we are only 1 mile away from family!

This would be the first year we were away from the family during the holidays, but we didn’t stop us from making having a great time together. In a way, it was nice to be able to get to do our own thing and be the “grown-ups”.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I was so excited for Margot to experience it this year, she is at the age now where she gets pumped up for holidays too! My friend Tiffany lives in a wonderful neighborhood in PA and invited us for some Pizza and “Trick or Treating” on Halloween night. We had a blast, and the girls were so adorable in their costumes! Tiffany and I took the girls to some of the houses in the culdesac first, so they would get use to the whole process of walking to the door, saying “trick or treat”, and picking a treat. Margot was timid at first, but  when she realized she was getting candy, she got super into it! After dinner, Dave and Joe took the girls farther in the neighborhood to do some more trick or treating while Tiffany and I  passed out candy. Margot had and blast!  A few days later, we went Trick or Treating in Collingswood with Denise and the boys. They had it on a Saturday (not on Halloween) at the shops in their town…a little odd—I mean what happened to old fashioned trick or treating out in NJ? Either way the kids had fun  and got candy, what more could they ask for?

Thanksgiving happens to be Joe’s favorite holiday. Food, family, and football! Denise and her family came to our house this year. Joe and I made the main course and some sides, and Denise brought some delicious dessert and cranberry relish! Making the turkey was comical, and made me appreciate all the work my parents did growing up. Everything turned out delicious, if I do say so myself, and it was a super relaxing day. As if by magic, all the little kids napped at the same time, so all of us adults could do the same on the living room couch and floor lol! Denise and I worked up the energy to go to Michael’s for their Black Thursday (?) sale. We got some good deals, but didn’t go crazy. The best part was that there was no one there—the best kind of shopping!

I was so looking forward to Christmas this year! We got to do so many fun things with family and friends, I seriously think this was one of the best Christmas’s ever! Denise took us to Adventure Aquarium for Scuba Santa. It was crowded, but super fun! The best part was when Scuba Santa actually got in the shark tank…Margot was mesmerized. Besides seeing Scuba Santa, Margot also got to visit Santa at a small workshop in PA with Lizzy and Charlie. Margot was excited about the idea of Santa, but up close…not so much. She waved to him at least .

Margot was excited about all of the decorations and the idea of getting presents. She helped me decorate the house, which was something I never bothered to do before. Thank goodness for all of the hand me down decor from friends and family. We got a fresh tree, Margot actually picked it out, and it was so beautiful.  The best part though was experiencing it with Margot. Throughout the whole month all she talked about was Santa, snowmen, presents, and when Burmer was coming. My parents couldn’t make it over this year, but Joe’s mom Shari and Grandma Sue spent 10 days with us!  It was great having them over to visit and spend Christmas. We had Christmas dinner at Denise’s house. The best part is that it was relaxing–no hustle and bustle–just lounging and spending time. I did miss having Christmas Eve with my family but maybe next year. For now Skype and Facetime have worked in our favor!

So, I just realized that the last time I posted was back in September! In my defense, A LOT has happened since then.

Margot and I had such a wonderful time visiting family and friends in AZ.  Although we didn’t get to see everyone, I felt our visit was relaxing and fruitful. The best part was just lounging in the pool with my girl and Casey! I also got a “mama’s day out” with Casey. We went down to Tucson, and visited with her adorable mom and dad- Peggie and Bill. Bill actually drove us to Bisbee to take a mine tour and walk around the town. Of course, we had to get Eegees while we were down there too…Delish!! The mine tour was so much fun! We got to wear jackets, helmets with a headlamp, and a big belt–it truly made you feel like a miner. After the tour we set out to walk among the shops in Bisbee, I bought 4 ceramic tiles with skulls painted on them—I then added felt to the bottom and made them into coasters–they were great souvenirs!

Casey + Explosives= YIKES! (haha)

10 Days went by so fast! But I felt we were able to maintain a balanced and relaxing feel to the vacation. I was so glad we got to see all of the family, especially my cousin Mandy and my Tio Tim.  My mom-in-law Shari was such a gracious host, as usual. Margot had so much fun playing with her cousins, meeting some of them for the first time. For me, it was great to be among familiar faces faces again, but it made me realize AZ isn’t home. That’s not a bad thing though, I wasn’t sure how it would feel to be back in  my old stomping grounds—”would I miss it too much?…would I want to move back?”–I was glad to feel like a visitor. I most definitely want to come back for a visit, but I am also excited for people to come visit us so we can explore this new place together.

Although we had such a great time and were sad to go, Margot and I were ready to come back home. The first great news that we received after we returned from our trip was that Joe PASSED is comprehensive exam. Since then, he has completed his course and has his Masters Degree hanging on our wall! I am so proud of him, but I am glad he is done with school ( I am sure he is too). Now that that’s out of the way, we need to schedule that family trip to AZ!

Tomorrow, Margot and I will be heading to Arizona for a 10 day visit! “What will Joe be doing?” you ask…he will be studying his tushie off for his comprehensive exam next Friday! This is his last step in completing his Masters in Electrical Engineering. We thought it would be a prefect plan for Margot and I to be gone so he could focus on his studies, but we neglected to take into consideration how long 10 days was. I have been with Joe for 10 years and not once have we been apart for more that 2-3 days, and he has NEVER been away from Margot. Needless to say, we are going to miss the lug.  I am glad we got to spend some family time this weekend before our trip, between work and school  (and my training) there has not been much down time. We took Margot to Linvilla Orchards this weekend for the Apple Festival. We left with a apple crumb pie, apple cider, apples, and cider doughnuts…yeah it was a good day!