Monkey and the Carousel

With some persuasion (and by "persuasion" I mean the constant phone calls from my mother telling me she can barely remember what her grandson looks like since I haven't blogged in weeks even though she just saw him 4 weeks ago - must be chemo brain) I've decided it's time to post again.  I haven't been ignoring my blog... I just haven't been inspired.  I mean, how many times can I tell you that my house STILL isn't done (and Mother Nature isn't making it happen any time soon), that this apartment has gotten way too small for Evan, Brian, and I, that I'm still pregnant with a little girl, and that my mom still has chemo?  Seriously, all that does is bore you and depress me that nothing (literally nothing) has changed in my life in the past couple of months.  I'm in a holding pattern. If I were an airplane the FAA would have fined me already for keeping my passengers hostage for so long and my passengers probably would have taken control of the plan and flown off to somewhere warm and exotic.  At least that's what I've been thinking about doing recently.

Anywho... on to the blog.  We finally had a break in weather this weekend and the 4 inches of snow that caused Atlanta to shut down for a week (mostly because Atlanta didn't plow and then it turned into inches of ice on the road with no salt) had mostly disappeared.  So, when the weather is good, the Castruccis head to the zoo.  It's an enclosed area where Monkey can run around, Daddy gets to watch the animals, and Mommy gets to meander.  Everyone wins. 

In addition to animals, the Atlanta zoo also has a fabulous playground, a kiddie train that goes around the kid's section of the zoo, and rides.  We decided to take Monkey on the carousel this past weekend.  Mommy kept her pregnant (and huge) self on the sidelines while Daddy escorted Monkey on this dangerous ride.

Of course Daddy chose the manatee for Monkey.  As you can tell, Monkey just isn't sure what the heck is going on.

So he started looking around a little bit.  Then behind him.

Then the carousel started and Monkey got a hang of things very quickly.

The little boy screaming in terror on the other side of the carousel didn't even faze my little man.  I declare this a good day at the zoo.

Evan's Snowy Day

In honor of the snow we may get in Atlanta tonight/tomorrow/Tuesday/never, I wanted to share with you this video.

When we were in NJ over Christmas there was a snowstorm. Evan had received a snow suit for Christmas and my sister was kind enough to pick him up some snow boots. So, we took the boy out for his first snow experience.




Looks like Evan is all southern. Our 10 minutes in the snow ended when Evan was standing on the sidewalk, shaking his snow covered mittens with the saddest look on his face and moaning.

Not everyone can be a snow bunny.

It's a Girl

Brian and I found out that we are going to have a little girl in May. While I'm excited to have one of each I have some trepidations about having a daughter. I look forward to all the bonding and mother/daughter moments we can have, but I'm terrified of puberty, boys (or girls, however she will roll), high school, other girls who can be so incredible cruel, and raising a daughter who believes in herself regardless of media/society/and anyone else who will attempt to pull her down.

And then I came across this today. It actually brought me to tears and I only hope I can convey this to my little Chloe someday.



PS - Apparently I've already gone against one of my New Year's resolutions to blog more. I have tons of Evan Christmas video waiting to be seen so I'll share soon... I promise.