Turner’s trip to the Jersey shore

Turner’s godparents are awesome.  Kelly and Adrian’s family has a house in Ocean City, N.J. and have invited us down to the shore several times.  We finally had one free weekend (well one free day) and decided to take them up on the offer.  The traffic wasn’t too bad.  Tori and I had both heard stories that made it seem worse.  We arrived at their beach house and after a few minutes of resting, changed and headed down to the beach – not before applying a healthy dose of sun block on Turner.

After finding a good spot and settling in, Turner feel asleep.  Not a bad thing, it gave the rest of us a chance to get in the water and get some sun.  Turner eventually woke up and was ready to play in the sand and water; or so we thought.   We each took turns with him but Turner was not a fan of the beach.  I think at one point he was scared of the waves.  We relaxed on the beach and let Turner play in the shade for a while before heading in for dinner.  Adrian grilled and Kelly’s mom made some great sides dishes. 

I think the highlight for Turner was playing with Stephanie; another one of our good friends who was enjoying the shore with us.  Steph enjoyed hanging with Turner and is looking forward to playing with him and babysitting him in the future.  We all agreed that after some swimming lessons at the YMCA or at least playing in a kiddie pool, Turner will have more fun at the beach next summer.

Halloween is right around the corner

My favorite holiday is Christmas but Halloween is definitely in the top 5. My earliest memory of Halloween is from my kindergarten costume party in 1986.  I was into many cartoons at the time; correction, I am still into many cartoons. I was excited to see what costume my mom was going to buy for me.  I thought about being Lion-o, lord of the Thunder Cats or some heroic character.   I waited patiently for my mother to come home with my costume.  She handed me the bag and I pulled out a mask for … Beast-man. Really mom!? You got me a costume from the He-Man cartoons.  Thank you for sparing me the embarrassment of being He-Man but seriously, one of the villains?   Truth be told, it didn’t matter what I was for Halloween.  My sister and I were the only two kids in our apartment building so with little to no effort we got all the candy.

Fast forward to today and it’s time for Turner to start enjoying Halloween.  Turner’s daycare teachers and my coworkers have heard me toss ideas around for the family.  I’d love to see Turner, Tori and I dressed up and Batman, Robin and Cat Woman but Tori has already made it painfully clear on that one.  I was also thinking we could be Peter and Stewie from Family Guy.   The list continues on with several inappropriate ideas. 

Let’s take a look at some of the more age appropriate costumes that won’t get me in trouble at the daycare.  Based on the catalogs I’ve received in the mail, these three seem like they would work well (1) a Puppy, (2), a Lion or (3) a Bee*

I thought it would be fun to create a new poll on the blog and allow all of you to vote.  What do you think Turner should be for his first Halloween?  Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.

*Note: The Bee idea was submitted by Turner’s aunt Ondrea and normally would not be included as an option.

A trip to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets

Turner is growing. He’s 15lbs and I think either 24 or 25 inches.  He’s got some length on him but not much width.  Thanks again to Suron to gave us a ton of clothing that her two boys outgrew.  My friend Kathy has some shoes for Turner as well.  We were able to give some gender neutral clothing such as white onesies to Tori’s sister who is expecting a little girl in July.  All of the remaining clothing we are boxing up and putting in storage.  Our plan is to reuse as much of the clothing as possible for Turner’s little brother.  Now before you get excited, no Tori and I are not expecting any siblings for Turner.  I’m just hoping for another boy.  My friend Suron shares some hilarious stories about the adventures she has with her two sons.  That was off topic, let’s get back to the story.

We decided to drive out to Limerick, PA to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets.  There are usually some great deals out there.  I won't bore you with details about the store Tori and I shopped in.When it came time to pick-up items for Turner, we visited Carters, Baby Gap and Osh Kosh B’gosh.  The deals were pretty good in all stores but we didn’t see too much in Baby Gap on this trip.

I really like the shirts and clothing from Carters and Osh Kosh B’gosh – especially the ‘Boy Genius’ t-shirt and ‘T-Rocks’ since it mirrors Turner’s (a.k.a. Mr. T’s ) mohawk now.   The best part of the day was that being at the outlets and seeing all those new sights coupled with a long car ride really tired Turner out and he slept through the night!

Tori’s First Mother’s Day

A new mom’s first Mother’s day is a big deal.  After all, mothers are the best thing to happen to this world.  Without Tori, there would be no Turner AND there would be no one to sing him to sleep because I’m not doing it.  Turner started things off by having a Mother’s Day Tea party at his daycare with Tori.  We arrived at 3pm on Friday, May 6^th to pick him up and we were greeted with juice and cookies (We later learned that Turner did NOT help prepare these).  Turner gave his mommy her first gift, a magnet for the fridge that said ‘MOM’ and his photo was the ‘O’ – very cute son.

I’m slightly competitive so I pulled out my gift for Tori and when I say pulled out my gift…..I mean handed her a card and a small box.  Unlike Turner I wrapped my gift (take that son).  Tori read the card that Turner helped me select and then opened her gift to find a heart necklace with one side being her and the other being Turner.  She put it on and wears it casually as a reminder of her first born son, Turner.  

The festivities didn’t end there.  I asked Turner to make a reservation at Christopher’s in Wayne, PA.   We had heard from Turner’s godparents that it was a very nice restaurant for brunch.  We arrived and were pleasantly surprised.  The first thing we noticed was a huge dessert table; everything looked so tasty.  We had a seat and proceeded to enjoy an amazing brunch.  Sadly, no mimosa for Tori, she had to feed Turner shortly after brunch.

Happy Mother’s Day Tori!!  Turner and I both lover you very much and appreciate all you’re doing! 

Turner’s first Easter Sunday

Turner was up bright and early and dressed in his Sunday best for Easter mass at Blessed Virgin Mary Church.  Luckily we arrived early and were able to get a seat as it was very crowded.  As usual, the ladies all enjoyed Turners smile during service.  

It was a very nice service.  I wish we could have taken a photo of Turner and Father Corely; that would have been good for the photo album.   Hope you enjoy these photos of Turner in his Sunday best.

Finally getting big enough for the cool toys

Tori and I have been waiting for this moment for a month or so now.  One day Tori went to pick Turner up from daycare one day and when she arrived she saw our son in some contraption of a toy and Turner looked like he was in heaven.   This was the confirmation that we needed; Turner was now  finally able to play with some of his cool toys. 

He only has one so far but trust me, his future will be filled with gadgets and toys that I will.…. I mean HE will enjoy playing with J. 

 Don’t get me wrong; we are both excited about his development with whatever this 'Bright Starts Around We Go' thing is (I really don't know what it's called) and how excited he is while playing with it.  It’s just that when I look at Turner, all I see are Nerf foam and water guns.  I see him developing leg and arm coordination so that he can perform some amazing wrestling moves and one day tackles his mother.   Was I too premature in purchasing the mini football, basketball and soccer ball set from Target? 

And we’re back…

Sorry for the hiatus.  Turner, Tori and I have been a little busy lately and haven’t made time to update the blog with our adventures.  Over the past two month, Turner has had his first Easter, developed his motor sills, and helped me plan Tori’s first mother’s day. 

Luckily, I’ve been able to take pictures from most of the big events in Turner’s life over the past two months.   Thanks for continuing to read the blog.  Expect to read 5 or 6 new stories about Turner a.k.a. “Lil’ Moore” a.k.a. “Turner Burner” a.k.a. “Tony Jr.” a.k.a. “I have too many nicknames”.