Happy Holidays!

The holidays are pretty crazy around here...not only do we have R's birthday, but we also celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Try planning presents for 3 events within a two week period. It's not easy. I can't even imagine what I'm going to do as he gets older and starts to understand presents! But all the rest of the festivities are fun and R has loved spending time all together!

For Hanukkah (R's first!) we celebrated the first night with my family. R helped light the menorah at Grandma's house. We made sure to light our electric menorah at home every night too. Growing up my parents did 8 nights of presents (1 bigger gift the first night and then smaller gifts) and I wanted to continue that tradition. At least he can be happy with a $2 item at this age haha! R got to eat his first latkes and had matzoh ball soup for the second time. He eats pretty much anything and was happy with these. It's so nice to be able to share these traditions with him.

For Christmas (his second since his birthday is the 23rd!), we were with my inlaws and R had fun being spoiled some more. He's enjoying time with his cousin more and more and spent part of Christmas morning chasing after him until he could catch his toys. It's fun to see them playing together. By Christmas, R had a little more experience with unwrapping presents so he actually tried to rip some of the paper. He got to indulge in the Italian side by having some meatballs, too! 

It was fun to see R enjoy himself throughout the holiday season. I'm excited to see how different he is next year!

R's 1st Birthday!

My little baby just turned a year old earlier this week. It is amazing how fast a year can go! Everyone always says it, but it really is true. He gets more fun by the day. Also more daring and into more things he shouldn't be getting into! We had his one year check up this week and he is 29 3/4" and 21 lb 12.5 oz. which is quite an increase from his size at birth-19" and 6 lb 9 oz! 

At a year old, R has 2 teeth on top and 2 on bottom. All 4 teeth came through within the last month, but he handled teething like a big boy with only a few short periods of crankiness/tears. He can say "dada" and "mama" although he will only say mama when he is mad and really wants me! It's nice to know he says it when he means it though. He is a very fast crawler and can pull to stand up. He will cruise along on furniture or with the help of his walker toys but isn't brave enough to walk on his own yet (I'm okay with that!).

To celebrate his birthday we held a party at a local restaurant. We went with a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme and everything came together great. Thankfully there was no snow (a concern in December!) and the little one was healthy! The restaurant was great and everyone had fun.

Mickey decorations!

Oh Toodles Cake courtesy of Lotito's Bakery

It's amazing that a whole year has gone by. I can't wait to see what the next year brings! 

December Update

So it's been a while since I posted. Seriously, life has been busy! 

For anyone who doesn't know, I own a small engineering and surveying company, Civil Tec Engineering & Surveying PC. Our office had been in Orange County, NY and was about a 30 minute commute. A lot of the newer work we had been picking up had been closer to home and in Rockland County. So my partners and I decided to open an office down here which means I now have a commute that ranges from about 5-8 minutes! I never realized how much planning was needed to open an office. Between carpet installation, painting, moving furniture, buying new furniture and computers, having the computer wiring completed, even silly things like buying cleaning supplies and a new toilet paper holder! The last few weeks have involved lots of moving related tasks, but we are finally moved into the new office and my computer is up and running! Now we just need to keep the work flowing :)

We've also been busy chasing R around. He's crawling and cruising while holding on to things. He manages to get into everything! It's a lot of fun seeing him learning more and growing, but I am very scared of how fast he's going to be when he starts to walk!

R's 1st birthday is coming up quickly too so there has been lots of party planning! I cannot believe my little boy is getting so big and is going to be 1. It really has gone so fast! Since we're a big Disney family, we had to go with a Disney themed party. Nick was able to design the invitations on Photoshop and then we had them printed. We've also been working on some centerpieces thanks to some Pinterest inspiration. I'll share pictures after the party :)

December also means holidays of course. We started the holiday season by hosting Thanksgiving at our house. It's nice to be able to have both of our families together so we don't have to alternate sides each year. Thankfully everyone pitches in since I am not much of a cook! Due to R's interest in touching everything that he shouldn't, we've opted to keep our holiday decorating to a minimum. The thought of trying to keep him away from decorations was not a fun one. But he'll have enough celebrating between 8 nights of Hanukkah and all of Christmas! 

I keep thinking that things will calm down after vacation, after the holidays, but I'm starting to think that maybe busy is just our new normal...

Disney Trip

Well, we've been back from Disney for just over a week but between being sick, work, and my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower this weekend, I'm just now getting to write about our trip. Overall, we had a great time. R really watched everything and took it all in. He was so good the entire trip. I had been nervous about how he'd do with his sleeping being so off and just the general sensory overload, but he was amazing!

We went with my parents and having the extra help was really great. It's not easy to balance the baby, stroller, and bags when getting on and off buses. Even the days that my husband wasn't with us, we were able to each manage one thing so no one was too overloaded. I think R's favorite part of the trip was just being with everyone all the time.

One of the highlights for me was taking R for his first haircut at the Harmony Barbershop on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. Considering how expensive most things at Disney are, this was actually a bargain! For $18 they cut his hair, saved some of the locks in a little baggy, gave him a certificate, and gave him Mickey ears that say "My 1st Haircut"! The barbershop is tiny so I would recommend making an appointment before you go, but they did a great job with him! They distracted him with Mickey stickers and toys and kept him happy the entire time. I had been worried it would be all tears (he doesn't even like to get his nails cut), but there were no tears here!

Seriously, so cute!

The rest of the trip was great, too. We visited all of the parks and got to see a lot. It was nice to go at a slower pace with R since usually my husband likes to race to do as much as possible. The one negative on this trip was that I got sick halfway through. So that slowed us down, too. Better me than the little one though!

We were even able to bring R on a lot of rides. Some rides we planned to take him on but skipped because it was nap time. It was nice to be able to take turns staying with R but still not having to go on rides alone. The rides R seemed to like best were It's a Small World, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, and the Safari. He wasn't as interested in the darker rides, but there were no tears or real issues. He enjoyed watching the parades and really just watching all the kids everywhere!

I wasn't sure about going with R at such a young age, but I'm really glad we did. Even though he won't remember it at all, we have great memories and got to spend some nice time together as a family.

Bad Blogger!

Ack, I've been a bad blogger! Almost 3 weeks since a blog post is not good! Life has been very busy, which is good and bad. Good because work has been busy and after many slow years with land development, it is a nice change of pace to be busy. Plus it helps pay the bills ;-) Bad because I feel like everything is a blur, and I sometimes forget to take a few extra minutes to enjoy watching R growing up or take some time for myself. 

This weekend has been no different. We leave for vacation on Tuesday and I have projects to finish for work, packing to be done, and hopefully a mani/pedi. Lots to do and hopefully I just don't forget anything too important!

A nice surprise break for me today was a visit to meet my best friend's new baby boy! Baby G was born last night and I'm so excited for R to have a new friend :) G is adorable and I wish the best of luck to his parents! The beginning can be so rough, but it's worth it.

Hopefully it won't take me another 3 weeks for a post, but it will be at least a week and a half til after vacation! Ah, I am so ready! Not that Disney is that relaxing, but I just need a mental break. See ya real soon ;-)

Field Station: Dinosaur

Yesterday we took R to check out Field Station: Dinosaur in Secaucus, NJ. A couple of months ago I won a family four pack thanks to a giveaway on the blog Diapers, Dishes, Lessons & Homework. Life has been pretty busy so we didn't get down there until now. Luckily the weather is still cooperating so we were able to spend some time outside there. Since we had the 4 pack and R is free (kids under 3 are free), we invited my sister in law, father in law and my nephew (who is 2). It was a fun family activity, especially for free!

Entertainment during a Live Show at Field Station: Dinosaur

Field Station: Dinosaur has a number of animatronic dinosaurs along different paths. There are a few shows and areas with activities like an area to dig for dinosaur bones and a place to color in pictures of dinosaurs. At the shows and activity stops you can collect stamps in a little passport type book and if the kids collect 6 stamps, they receive a sticker to show they are a Super Paleontologist. R was a little young for a lot of it, but he enjoyed looking around at things and enjoyed the singer during the show we watched. My nephew really liked digging for dinosaur bones and coloring his dinosaur picture. We were a little concerned that he may get scared of some of the dinosaurs, but he just laughed when they moved and made noises!

T-Rex at Field Station: Dinosaur

I would not have wanted to pay the full admission price, even if R was a year or two older, but for free (well, $10/car for parking), it was a great activity! I think if would be worth it if you had a 4, 5, or 6 year old who was into dinosaurs though.

Billy Joel Concert

Wow, reading my blog I sound like I have a really exciting life...2 Broadway shows and now a post on the Billy Joel concert! Actually, this is about a year's worth of items that all just ended up being within a month of each other. I'm really not that exciting, I'm sorry :)

Anyway, on October 2nd my mom, aunt and I went to the city for dinner and the Billy Joel concert! This was actually my 4th Billy Joel show-really amazing considering I rarely even go to concerts ha! Since he's been in residence (is that even the term?!) at MSG, we've been talking about going. Last February we decided to order tickets. For October. Yes, that's how far out you have to order. Insane! But it was SO worth it! The first couple of songs were obscure songs that made the three of us think that maybe we had made a mistake by coming to the concert....but then he started up the classics and it was great! I highly recommend seeing him live if you like his music. He really puts on a great show :) Very high energy and a fun personality. Plus, who doesn't love belting out "Only the Good Die Young" at the top of their lungs with thousands of other fans ;-)

My Favorite Season

Fall has been my favorite season since high school when I ran cross country. I love the weather, the fall clothes, apple cider doughnuts, Thanksgiving, and all the beautiful colors of the leaves. The fall always reminds me how beautiful the Hudson Valley area really is. Yes, this blog is Northern New Jersey Momgineer, but we literally live so close to New York State that we can walk to NY! I grew up in NY and still work in NY. I especially love driving to Orange County this time of year. There are so many vibrant colors! Here are a few pictures my husband took a couple of falls ago...

Harriman State Park

Harriman State Park

Weekend Getaway to Maine

Last weekend was a spectacular weather weekend, and we got to enjoy it while in Maine! The weather was warm and sunny which was perfect for spending the days outside, exploring Southern Maine. 

I've been going to Ogunquit, Maine since I was a kid, and it is one of my favorite places in the world. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Thankfully, my husband now enjoys it there as much as I do-and that's saying a lot considering he's allergic to lobster! It's really fun to be able to share this place with my husband and now my son.

Footbridge in Perkins Cove

When in Ogunquit, we usually stay at the Anchorage By The Sea. It's a great location with amazing ocean views, and it's very family friendly. This trip we were even able to take advantage of the pool which Ryan loved! We also spent some time hanging out on the lawn overlooking the ocean while Ryan explored. We were so lucky to have such amazing weather at the end of September!

Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine

During our trip we also walked the Marginal Way, walked through Perkins Cove, visited the Nubble Lighthouse, and stopped by Stonewall Kitchen's shop. We also took a day trip up to Boothbay Harbor since my husband had never been up there. We visited the beach, walked through the village, and had a yummy lunch. It was a perfect end to summer (even if summer had really ended weeks ago, this was definitely summerlike weather!)!

Two Weeks, Two Broadway Shows!

After not going in to the city in 9 months, I have now been in two weeks in a row and seen two Broadway shows! This past Saturday my mom and I went to the city to see Beautiful The Carole King Musical. This was our Mother's Day present, and we had a great time. 

It was a perfect weather day so we took an early bus and walked around Times Square and 5th Avenue for a while before the show. We picked up a sandwich at Cosi and sat outside to eat and people watch. It was nice to relax for a few. When we got near the theater we saw that there was some sort of Indian festival going on. The entire block was closed to traffic and food vendors were set up selling Indian food. They had dancers and music in Times Square, too. Neither of us like Indian food so we headed in to the theater.

The show was another winner! My mom and I both love Carole King, so I'm sure that influenced our enjoyment of the show. If you aren't familiar with Carole King's Tapestry album, please check it out! It has been one of my favorites since I started listening to her in high school (I have odd music taste-anything from Justin Timberlake to Blake Shelton to Carole King). The show follows Carole's life from her days starting as a song writer through the release of Tapestry. There is drama, good music, impressive singing, and some fun dancing. The lead, Jesse Mueller, was incredible. It would be difficult to imagine anyone else playing the role. I definitely recommend this show to anyone who enjoys Carole King's music!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

After dinner my mom and I headed downtown to Eataly. I had never been before, and it was cool to check out. We ate dinner at the Pizza and Pasta restaurant. We ordered the lasagna al forno and penne rigate con pomodoro. It was good, but we weren't totally blown away. Everyone raves about this place so I would try it again, but order something different.

Overall, it was a fun day and a great Mother's Day present!

Taggies Toys for Babies

My son is almost 9 months old and it is always amazing the toys that he enjoys playing with. A while ago we noticed that he loves eating the tags on his toys. I have no idea why, but if there is a tag, that will be his favorite part of the toy. When he finally was able to sit in a regular high chair at restaurants, we took out the high chair cover we had registered for and received months earlier. We noticed that the high chair cover was by a brand called Taggies and it had a bunch of ribbons that were like tags. Ryan loved them! Since then we have found a few different toys by this brand and he loves all of them. A whole toy full of tags, what could be better?! It really is amazing what babies like. So, anyway, if you have a baby who likes tags as much as Ryan, I highly suggest checking out these baby toys :)

Girls Night Out at "Kinky Boots"

Last fall my friend M and I saw a scene from the Broadway play "Kinky Boots" during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and decided we HAD to see it. Well between the baby and work and time just flying by, it took us until this past weekend to finally see it. It was definitely well worth the wait!

M lives and works in the city so I took the train in to meet her for dinner before the show. Life has been so busy that this was my first time in the city since last December - so crazy! We had dinner at Cara Mia, a small Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. The location was convenient and the food was pretty good, although the service was a little rushed. It was nice to get to catch up though!

After dinner we headed to the theater. We were both excited about the show, but I think we both enjoyed it even more than we would have anticipated. I loved the music, the dancing, the story, the costumes. I've been seeing Broadway shows since I was 8, and this was one of my all time favorites. I think it's right up there with "The Lion King", but it's too different to even compare the two. If anyone is looking for a fun show to see, I highly recommend "Kinky Boots!"

Another Playbill to add to my collection!

When You Wish Upon A Star...

60 days from today we will be heading to Disney World! This will be Ryan's first trip which makes it extra special and exciting (he'll be 10 1/2 months while we're there)! It will be me, my husband, Ryan, and my parents. I can't wait to see Ryan's excitement at everything. Even though he won't really know what's going on and, let's be honest, he gets excited just to walk around the mall, I know he'll love watching everything and seeing all colors. 

I've been doing my homework on bringing a baby to Disney. I'm planning extra items to pack, learning how we can ship diapers/wipes/food or order from Garden Grocer, and ordering a travel bag for our City Mini GT. I've been reading up on the Baby Swap and figuring out which rides he can go on. 

Well, today marks 60 days which also means today is when we can book Fastpass+ reservations. This is much more stressful than it should be. First we had to pick which park to be at on which days and decide which 3 rides we wanted to get passes for. Even 60 days out, there were days with no availability for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or a Meet and Greet with Anna and Elsa. Luckily Ryan is too young to voice an opinion and we don't care about meeting Anna and Elsa since that seems to be the hardest one to book. While there were some days where we couldn't book the Dwarfs, we were lucky to get to book 1 pass for the whole family and 2 other passes for the days when my husband won't be there. I have to say, I miss the days of just hopping on whichever bus showed up or going where ever you felt like going depending on mood or weather. 

In addition to booking our Fastpass+ reservations, we have also booked a few dining reservations and a reservation for Ryan to have his first haircut at the Harmony Barbershop on Main Street! I am so excited for the haircut! Ryan has a lot of hair and could definitely use a trim :) But I'm excited because they give our Mickey ears that say "My First Haircut" as well as a certificate and a package of his trimmed hair. For dining, we are only doing 3 table service meals this trip. Since the baby's schedule may vary from home, we don't want to have too many meals planned. We will be dining at Garden Grill at Epcot and Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. My husband and I are also going to Boma for a dinner date night while Grandma and Papa babysit (thanks!)!

Can't wait for our trip! I'll try to share more updates and tips as I continue to plan!

The Perfect White Lace Tank Top

Do you ever find an item of clothing and buy it on a whim only to realize you will be wearing it all.the.time.? I recently got a white lace tank top from the Banana Republic Factory Store and I am in love with it! For starters, it comes in petite sizing which is great considering I'm only 5'. I tried on the regular length as well but was much happier with the fit of the petite. I also liked that it's more of a lace overlay and there is a t-shirt like layer underneath so I don't have to worry about wearing a camisole underneath which I just find annoying. Initially I tried it on because it was on sale ($50 but 50% off plus I had a coupon for an additional 20% off!), but I quickly realized that this could be a very well used item in my closet! 

I have been working on expanding my work wardrobe and thought it would go well with a pair of navy crop pants that I have. I've already come up with several other outfits based on this top, too. I have worn it with a camel colored pencil skirt, black heels, and pearls for some work meetings and with green khaki shorts and flip flops for a casual weekend look. I love versatile items like that! I'm even considering stopping at Banana to pick up another in case it gets dirty (shhhh!) :) If you live near a Banana Republic Factory Outlet, I highly recommend you stop in to pick up this top!

Victoria's Secret Sport Bra

The motivation for me to finally start the blog I had been narrating in my head for a while was being chosen by Influenster as a #VSSportTester to try out Victoria's Secret's Sport line. I have received various products over the last few years to test, but none of them was impressive enough to me to warrant the start of a blog. This time I received a #VSSportBra and crop workout pants and was actually excited enough about them to write about them!

The sports bra is from their Incredible line. It has a cute design, but more importantly it is supportive for a high-impact workout. I am a runner (although I haven't been running as often as I would like to recently) so I tested out this bra on a recent run. It's annoying that there is a clasp in the back (hard to do by yourself but luckily my husband was home to assist), but I have found this on other high-impact bras as well. I was a little nervous of how it would function during my run, but I found it to be very comfortable. The bra has molded, padded cups so you actually have a shape while wearing it compared to the usual squished uni-boob look. Come on, you all know what I'm talking about! Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with the bra. It looks like it sells for $54.50 on the Victoria's Secret website which is a little steep for me. I usually get my sports bras from GapBody during clearance sales. I will definitely watch for sales at Victoria's Secret though and hope to pick up another bra during a sale. I would say the material and function were similar to my GapBody sports bras, but the Victoria's Secret ones gave a better shape which is a nice change.

A little post run sweatiness in my new #VSSportBra!

As for the crop pants, I haven't gotten to wear them to run yet since it's been too warm, but I did wear them around the house. They are a very nice, thick material-no worries of seeing through these pants! They have a small pocked in the waistband which will be great to hold my key during my run. I liked the length of the pants too. I'm short (only 5'!) so some crop pants come down pretty low on me but these did not.

I was so excited to be selected for this freebie. I will definitely be getting a lot of use out of both of these items!

**This is a sponsored blog post. Influenster provided me with complimentary Victoria's Secret products to test and review as part of a contest.

Intro

Welcome to my first ever blog! I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while and finally gave in. I figured I would start with a little intro about myself and what I will be posting about...I am a 30-something mom to one son, Ryan, and my family means everything to me! I am also a Civil Engineer, and I own a small engineering and land surveying firm in Orange County, NY called Civil Tec Engineering & Surveying PC. Family and work are my two main focuses, but I also love traveling, shopping, and running. This blog will be a little bit of everything - life updates, product reviews, baby stuff, travel info, and maybe even a recipe or two (I don't cook, they will only be recipes from someone else and will give them credit-trust me, you wouldn't want my cooking advice otherwise!). I look forward to sharing a little bit of me through this blog :)