Romantic, Enchantic Atlantic City....

(Ten weeks old)

Wild Hearts Can't be Broken was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It is about a girl who rides diving horses during the great depression and they go to Atlantic City "where all your dreams come true." It may not be the most glam place in the world but it was sure exciting for me!

We drove down to Atlantic City on Friday night and stayed at a cheapish hotel at the end of the boardwalk called the Flagship Fantasea. What a mistake! The room was large and had a fantastic view of the water and the city but had one big problem...NO HEAT! After returning from dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe we noticed that the room was still as cold as it was when we left despite turning the heat on when we arrived at the hotel. We called reception and after having a repair man come and check the heater, moved us to another room on another floor. We had all of our luggage unpacked, Ezzy's pack and play assembled and were in our pajamas! Hardly the most convenient time for a move...not to mention it was almost 1 am!

We arrived in our new room only to discover that the beds were as hard as rocks! We had to call and request to be moved, yet again. We had to wheel Ezzy and her pack and play down the hall AGAIN! Third room was a charm.

Stephen and Ez on the Balcony of our final room...


Stephen wheeling Ez down the hall for the final time.


Stephen and Ez in the Elevator...


We spent all day Saturday strolling the boardwalk. I was expecting Atlantic City to be dirty and plain but it was quite the opposite. The sun was shining, the waves were crashing on the beach and it had an old school elegance to it. All of the tacky souvenir shops and philly cheese steak stands added to its appeal and we hope to go back one day.

Ezzy had a major blowout on the boardwalk (bribe pic!)


The water




Stephen, Ez and I


More of the boardwalk (Bally's)


My favorite picture of my Mom and Esme ever!


I had no idea that Atlantic City had a feral cat problem! We spoke to a man who feeds the cats (all 76 of them!) everyday and knows all of their names and he said that they are very well taken care of. There are houses and beds of straw under the boardwalk to keep them warm in the winter and they have all been trapped and spayed/neutered to prevent more unwanted kitties being born. It made me sad to think of the kitties sleeping alone under the boardwalk at night but after seeing how robust and well fed they are, I know in my heart they are happy with their life!

The cats at the boardwalk (the grey tub behind the cat is full of food and supplies)




No trip to the Jersey Shore is complete without at least on garish purchase! This onesie is in homage to her massive boardwalk blowout! The funny thing is that I had JUST changed a poopy diaper minutes before the accident happened! I guess I was one minute too soon!


Not much else happened this week. Esme is smiling and laughing all the time and it melts my heart every time. She is an incredibly happy and chatty baby and she brings an unbelievable amount of joy to all of our lives.

One of my favorite pics. The lighting makes her hair look dark but I assure you it is very light these days!



She's got daddy's blue eyes!


I am posting this a bit behind schedule so I know that there will be a lot of interesting things in the next blog! She has starting using a few big girl toys and has learned a few new tricks! Will post soon xxx

Weeks 6 & 7

The past two weeks have been absolutely amazing. I really can't believe that my little angel is going to be 8 weeks old tomorrow! She is growing too quickly- I wish I could stop time in it's tracks.

Grandma Julie arrived on January 30th and has been looking after Ez while I am at school. I attend school three days a week but am only gone from 7am to 1pm Monday and Wednesday and 1130am to 4pm on Friday. I really dislike the school I am attending and am only attending it because it is one of the only forensic science schools in NYC and is the cheapest. I had some issues with financial aid last semester while attending Pace University and decided to transfer to John Jay. People always say wonderful things about the FS program at John Jay but I am not convinced. I guess we will see!

Esme has made amazing progress in the last two weeks. I know every parent must think their baby is well advanced, but I truly believe Ez is! She smiles in response to things and baby talks a lot! Here is a video of her smiling when daddy tickles her.



Esme experienced her very first Superbowl last sunday. The game was between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. Our apartment complex put on a Superbowl party complete with food, drink and prizes so we dressed Ez up in her little Colts sleeper and joined the fun. We don't normally support either team (GO SEAHAWKS!) but decided to choose a team on a whim and, unfortunately, we chose the Colts. The Colts lost but we had tons of fun and I met several other moms in the building. Stephen was a little grumpy that we didn't win any of the drawings (we all know he is not the most gracious of losers!). Lucky for him his name was drawn at the last minute and he won a beer mug and Superbowl t-shirt!

Mommy and Esme at the party


Daddy and Ez


Grandma and Esme cheering for the Colts!


Ezzy passed out from all the fun!


One of the more exciting things that happened in the past few weeks was Ez finding her thumb (she used to suck on her whole hand) and her tongue! She is constantly sticking her tongue out and moving it in different directions...she even manages to click it every once in a while! I was amazed when she found her thumb but try to keep a binky in her mouth so that she doesn't become a thumb sucker! You can take a binky (dummy) away from a baby but it is pretty hard to take away a thumb!

Ez and her tongue (it is a bit fuzzy as it is a picture from my phone)


Stephen and I decided to splurge and buy Esme a Kushies play mat. The mat is wonderful because it uses a lot of black, white and red and different textures. Babies only see a few colors when they are young and the Kushies company is the only company I have found that used that info to make a fun, educational play mat. She is extremely stimulated by the mat and spends a lot of time laying under the mobile and kicking her feet. She talks a lot when she is on the mat and you can practically see the little wheels in her head turning! The creatures are a bit scary but she seems to love them!

Each leg that makes the mobile has a different black and white pattern. You connect the colorful creatures to the legs wherever you want them. One side of the mat is very colorful and has three different textures. It also has several removable toys that you can rotate to different places on the mat.









The other side of the mat is great for tummy time. It is completely black and white and has a ton of different patterns, numbers and pictures on it.



Her hair is getting soooo long! It wont be long until I am able to put it into a pony tail!



The last thing I am going to write about today is something that happened yesterday! Grandma and I were giving Esme a bath and she decided that it was the perfect time to go to the bathroom! It was lucky we had just started because there were poopies everywhere!! It wouldn't have been so funny if we hadn't been talking about the fact that she had yet to poop in her bathtub at that very moment! This really is going to be a year full of firsts!!

We will leave you with a smile....