We had a fun little party for Ben's 2nd birthday last Thursday. Thanks to all our friends, Ben's buddies, and my mom and Tom for celebrating with the birthday boy. Ben is lucky to be surrounded by so much love and support - thanks everyone!

And here's Laine enjoying the party. =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET BOY! BEN IS 2 YEARS OLD TODAY. I LOVE YOU, BENNY BOO!

Tonight I spent some extra time with Laine. She took what we call a micro nap around 7-ish. She woke up an hour later all happy and sweet. I swear those are my favorite moments with her - when she is just waking up. She gets all smiley and wiggly when she sees me. I just love it. She went back to sleep at 9. Will hopefully do her usual 5-6 hour stretch. I miss my kids during the day. Ben was fun tonight as well. He had my phone so Jeff called him from his. They were having quite the conversation. Ben keeps getting sweeter and sweeter by the day.

My friends Jill and Deb have 'flash back Fridays'. Well, here is mine except it's a few days late. Oh well. Some of you already know what happened to me a few weeks ago. I decided to stop breastfeeding after 16 weeks. It's a tough transition. Needless to say I was in serious pain for several days. The kind of pain you feel by just 'being', just sitting there breathing...in pain. I thought I had weaned her enough, down to feeding only a couple of times a day. On the second night I decided to take a percoset to relieve the pain. I had some left over from my c-section in May and thought after taking two pills four to five times a day for my incision, one would be totally fine for boob pain. Um, wrong. After about 15 min of taking it I started to feel pretty good - very relaxed and the pain was actually starting to diminish a little. And then about 30 min into it I started to get a little dizzy, a little sweaty and just plain sick. Jeff suggested that I go to bed. So I went upstairs, crossed the hall into the kitchen, went to the sink and the next thing I knew I was grabbing the counter and blacking out. Apparently, after passing out in the kitchen I yelled down to Jeff "Jeff! I think I just passed out." The thing is he was already on his way upstairs after hearing the huge THUD hitting the floor. I don't remember any of this, but I guess I passed out again because when Jeff got to me I was out cold on the floor. The next thing I knew he was sitting me up and calmly telling me that I passed out and that he was right there, etc. After the initial shock, I start bawling my eyes out - so scared. And then I started to vomit violently for about 10 min. Yes, this really happened! Yikes. So while I was vomiting Jeff checked me for potential injuries. I landed on my right side so I had this huge bump near my right temple, my jaw was really sore and my elbow was a little tweaked. I somehow made it to the bed. Jeff sat with me for awhile while we contemplated calling the doctor. But after a few minutes I felt so much better and decided I would wait to see how I felt the next morning. It was so unbelievably scary. Ok, so here's the lesson. First and the common sense point - don't take any medication unless it is specifically prescribed to you for a specific reason during a specific amount of time. Um, I apparently was sleeping during that lecture! And second, if you do decide to take medication on your own terms, tell someone. I just can't even imagine what would have happened if Jeff was not at home. So scary! I am still ok, but even after a few weeks my jaw and elbow are still very sore and tender. OUCH! And that's my 'flash back Friday'. I promise the next one will be a little more positive.

food network stars

As most know I am a huge fan of Food Network / TV / .com / Ina / Paula / Tyler / Michael / Giada / etc. So you can only imagine how hysterically excited I was to learn that Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was to feature our all time favorite breakfast place, Voula's Offshore Cafe! It was the day before Laine's arrival. My mom and Tom were in town so we decided to go for some breakies like we have on many occasions. Had no idea Guy's crew would be there to film some B roll for the show. One of the producers approached us and asked if we would like to be interviewed - hell YES! My favorite channel! So exciting. Didn't get to meet Guy - he was scheduled to be there later in the week. They interviewed all five of us (incl. Ben), but only Jeff was awarded a speaking role. There is a quick shot of Tom with Jeff, two of Mom, and a really split second one of me taking a bite - nice. Check it out http://www.voulasoffshore.com/!

i'm back!

Yeah, it's been some time since I have made an entry. Two years actually. I have been inspired to start blogging again by my friends Rebecca H., Deb, Jill and Kiki. And I can't promise I will be as entertaining as Jeff. I am going to make a serious effort to blog at least once a week. A picture or two may be added as well. Yes, I'm back. It's about time.