Thankful

After a fantastic (and much needed) pre-Thanksgiving tradition of getting the hell out of dodge for a weekend while my mom watches the kids, we came back to ABQ and spent the holiday week trying to show my mom a good time. It's a hard balance considering we need to find just the right combination of museum visits, brewery stops and day to day activities. We managed to make everyone happy with a trip to the nail salon....

A day at the Coronado Monument.....

And a few Thanksgiving holiday cocktails at the inlaw's house. Oh and some kids who were at least trying to act thankful!

I am thankful that my mom was able to come and visit (and watch my kids for a few days!) I am also thankful for our health and the fact that we are (mostly) happy. I will let you know if I am thankful our house has an offer and we are moving in a month this time next year!

Keeping Portland Weird

Last weekend we went on our second annual couples trip with our amazingly funny and fun friends Ian and Paige. It's interesting...even though we all have established careers...Ian is an attorney, Paige a nurse practitioner, Tony a firefighter and I a Craigslist baller, we sure do know how to turn all the pressures of the job off and have a good (too good?) time!
After arriving late on Saturday night, we wasted no time resting up and preparing to tackle a new day. That would be the smart thing to do. Instead, we dropped our bags at our uber swanky crib for the weekend and helped to keep Portland weird!

At some point that night I took the liberty of teaching everyone the "Happy Baby" yoga pose, which not only helps relieve lower back tension but also helps soothe your central nervous system in times of stress. It is a bit of an awkward pose and it got even more awkward when, for the rest of the weekend, we could not stop saying "make me happy, baby!"

Namaste

The absolute best part of the weekend (besides for when we left the boys at Deschutes Brewery and went on a shopping spree at Free People) was the Sunday Brunch. It was decadent. It was indulgent. It was delicious. It was 3 hours. It was expensive. It was bottomless mimosas. It was EVERYTHING.

Salty's on the Columbia

I would love to fill you all in on the rest of the trip but to be honest, I don't remember much. Lots of craft brew, lots of walking, lots of drizzle and lots of fun with friends that I love!

Mazotti Halloween

After listing our house for sale on October 14th (and subsequently being forced to stage our house for pictures and live like a Better Homes and Gardens pictorial could be taken at any moment), we did not get to host our annual pumpkin carving event / contest. When I say "we did not get to" I really mean "I did not want to" because after all the work that we put into moving things out of our house to make it look bigger along with all the projects to make the house near perfect condition, the last thing I wanted was to clean up pumpkin seeds and guts off the floor for a week. And although I may have taken the easy way out, I definitely wanted to "walk the hood" for what I can only assume will be the last time as residents. One thing I will miss about Kit Carson and our neighborhood is Halloween. I have never been to another neighborhood in my life that had more kids than this one. It has provided our kids with great memories as they have grown up.

This year Cienna wanted to go as a Hollywood Tower of Terror bellhop, which meant that I had to get creative. She convinced her friend Azlynn (a fellow firefighter's daughter) to join her, and since her mom is currently pregnant with her 4th baby girl, I decided to volunteer to make both of their costumes. Thank GOD for Goodwill Stores and hot glue guns! Overall, I think they came out pretty awesome!

As for AJ, he was easy peasy. We went to Target and he picked out a zombie football player costume. After applying some zombiesque makeup, he went straight into character with absolutely no problem!

I am not sure if it was all the pizza, juice or candy consumption, but after about an hour of trick or treating AJ doubled over with a stomach ache and needed to go home. After high tailing it home and snuggling on the couch for a bit, he quickly recovered and we headed back out to try to fill the pillowcase. The weather was amazing, the candy was abundant, and it was a great final Halloween in the hood!

Twinsies for Lindsay!

Last weekend I got to fly home to meet Lindsay's twinsies! Born on October 7th, Lindsay's "Japicans" Mario and Kamryn were absolute doll babies. It seemed like ages since I had held an infant, yet it brought back many memories that I had long since forgotten. On one hand I had so much advice that I wanted to share, tips to make it easier (if that is even possible), funny little stories that came back to me. On the other hand I didn't want to be that annoying girl who couldn't stop talking about HER babies and HER experiences and, let's face it, I really don't have a DAMN CLUE what it is like to have twins!

Twins are on another level. I mean, I know what it's like to have one baby who loved the swing and one baby who loved to be held, but not at the same time! Lindsay and her husband got lucky though...they have one chill baby (boy) and one high maintenance (girl) so God gave them a bit of a break. And although Lindsay appears to be a pretty calm and easygoing mom, I can't help but want to drive home how fast it goes by. How important it is to soak it up and relish in the midnight snuggle time because it won't last forever. Just like generation after generation of moms tried to tell their babies when they had kids...we want so badly for them to understand how true it is. But it is futile. It is the nature of the beast. Moms with babies are bogged down by being moms with babies and moms with toddlers are bogged down with trying not to lie down in traffic somewhere, and moms with school aged kids are bogged down with shuttling them everywhere, and moms of teenagers are bogged down by trying to keep them alive, and moms of adults are bogged down with the thought that it all went by too damn fast.

I wish I lived closer. I wish I could pop over and hold them every day until they didn't want to be held anymore. And then I could play with them until they didn't want to play. But for now I will have to settle for daily pictures via text message and stories from 3 states away....

Birthday Celebrations!

Anthony Turns 7!

Where has the time gone? Our little Anthony Michael turned 7 years old today and I can't quite believe it. I mean, it doesn't exactly feel like yesterday that you were born but it certainly doesn't seem possible that you are now 7 years old. I have seen a HUGE difference in you in the last year. Maybe it's the fact that you have completed your first year of "real" school, or maybe you are just growing up. Either way, you have become "quite the little man" as your dad likes to call you. We are so proud to call you our son (which is a good thing because you and your dad share the same name so it would be hard not to want to claim you as ours!)

At 7 years old you like:

-Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's and Pokemon
-The iPad
-Anything having to do with Great White Sharks, including toys, movies, clothing, school supplies and pretending that a shark is killing someone in the ocean at any given time
-Legos...LOTS of them
-Drawing pictures in great detail, bringing your sketch book anywhere, having people watch you draw pictures
-Playing soccer, hitting baseballs, grappling, shooting HORSE with the older kids in the pool, learning the game of golf, playing tennis, riding your scooter or bicycle, and jumping on the trampoline
-You LOVE telling jokes and making people laugh. In fact, once you make someone laugh you will repeat the same joke, saying or behavior over and over until they finally tell you it is not funny anymore. Class clown is an understatement.
-Your favorite foods are Smuckers crustless peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, pretzels, goldfish, Gatorade, meatballs, cheeseburgers (just meat, cheese and bun), hot dogs (with sweet relish only), any kind of soup, lots of water, candy and ice cream!
-Your best friends are Aiden, Caden, Evan, Ryan, Christopher and sometimes Cienna

Your the best boy (most of the time) that two parents could ask for. Thank you for being ours!

NJ Meets NM!

Last week our friend Joy and her 8 year old twins Benny and Gianna flew out to NM for the first time. They were excellent sports considering we don't have a guest room and were happy to sleep in whatever little nook that we could find for them. We wasted no time showing them what New Mexico is all about, which meant that we all slept very well each night. Our first stop was the Route 66 Diner, followed by a trip into Old Town where we stocked up on all things Native American and desert scenes!

We could not let them come all the way to New Mexico without a trip to the Santa Fe Plaza, the Saint Francis Cathedral (complete with authentic southwestern wedding and mariachi band), and our newest (and greatest) tourist attraction Meow Wolf. It was hot, hot, hot but we didn't stop!

No trip would be complete without a visit to our favorite fire station to see our favorite fire fighter! The kids had a blast learning about the trucks, equipment, trying on the gear and even watching the jaws of life create a "taco quarter" for each of them as a souvenir.

We took them to an indoor trampoline park, down route 66, ate at Frontier Restaurant, and spent a TJIF at the country club pool. The fun didn't stop!

Our last day before saying goodbye we spent at Cliff's Amusement Park riding rides and playing in the water park. We made the most of every moment and were able to squeeze in more fun in a week than my kids have in half a year! It was a fantastic trip!

The New Jersey / New Mexico Gang!