Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Thad Man

This boy makes his mommy and daddy the happiest people on the planet.

He's the cutest cheeser in the whole world. :)

I just couldn't get enough of all of these faces!

They just kept coming...

Honestly. Couldn't love this kid any more than we do.

Thad you are the best. We can't imagine life without you. Thank you for the best two years.

Love, Mom and Dad

Gamma Cinney Visits!

Grandma Cindy got the best gift from Santa that the Monsen family could ever think of....A plane ticket across the country! We anticipated her visit with much excitement and it is crazy to think the trip has come and gone (even if we did get her for 2 extra days because of yet another blizzard). You won't hear us complaining about the snow anymore...especially if it can produce the same results for Grandma Teresa in 2 weeks!

Brian made it safely to the airport Friday morning (because he left at 3:45 a.m. and went 35 mph on the unplowed roads) to pick Grandma Cindy up from her red-eye flight into JFK. She arrived safe and sound and we spent most of the day letting her catch up on some much needed sleep and lounging around playing with her handsome grandson.

We went back and forth about going into the city (mostly because of the frigid temperatures) and ultimately decided it would be fun and wonderful no matter what. The city never lets you down.

So Saturday we bundled up and headed into NYC-

We parked near Chinatown and found lots of wonderful treasures in the great little stores that line Canal Street. Don't worry, no illegal stuff for us.

After our "shopping spree" (2 pairs of ear muffs, 1 beanie, 2 pairs of earrings, 3 bracelets and a scarf) we headed towards Ground Zero, but stopped to warm up and get some food in our bellies.

We stopped at Variety Cafe (Brian was a bit skeptical) and it was a DELICIOUS lunch! Thad loved stretching his legs and not being bogged down by all his layers.

Ground Zero was where my mom wanted to visit most. She hasn't been to NYC since the 9/11 and she wanted to pay respect to all those involved in the tragedy. Brian and I didn't think there was much to see because the gates surround the grounds, but I saw the banner that said there is a Preview Memorial Site around the corner...

And it ended up being my Mom's favorite place of the day. It was so neat to see what they are planning to do for the memorial and I can't wait until it's finished and we can go read the names of all those involved and walk on the grounds. 

After that we hopped on the subway and headed to Midtown:

Riding the subway is always an adventure and always so interesting to see how we end up getting our huge, suburban stroller up and down the stairs and through all the turnstiles. Next baby, I'm asking for a compact, city slicker stroller. (Take note, Bri)

Rockefellar Center was our first stop.

It was fun to see the ice skaters because at Christmas there was no way we were getting to the edge to get a glimpse. My mom enjoyed seeing it all and hopefully when she comes next it will be warmer and we'll drag ourselves out of bed and be there for the Today Show.

Again, Thad loved getting out of his stroller to stretch his legs and work up some body heat to keep himself warm. 

Afterwards we headed to Central Park:

If you can believe it, it was colder than it looks!

But Thad put on a happy face,

And we hung out for a bit...but it just became a little to much for our little man and he had a minor melt down. I don't blame him. I wanted to start crying because I was so cold, but I held it together for him.

Yes, we finally made it to the subway, Starbucks (for some watered down hot chocolate), and our car for a warm, restful ride home.

We had a blast and my mom said she will want to visit the city every time she comes. There is so much to do and it is such a different experience every time you go. Yay for NYC!

That night, Gamma Cinney (as Thad calls her) was awesome and watched our little man while we attended our Strengthening Marriage class with a few other couples from our ward. We have had the wonderful opportunity to attend this 6-week course, especially so early in our marriage. I feel we have learned so much from the course material, but also from the other couples in the class. The Lord definitely knows what we need and when we need it.

The rest of her visit consisted of:

Delicious Food

We hit up Stew Leonard's a few more times than we should of and ate at too many awesome local restaurants. I also whipped up my (well Teresa Jensen's) White Chicken Chili that is to die for. It's got some kick, but we all devoured  happily, even if we did have little sweat beads forming on our noses. We also brewed up some other great homemade desserts and figured out how my manual wheat grinder works...so we ate some healthy stuff too...

Crafting

The first night my momma arrived we headed to Michael's in Stamford to stock up on some crafting supplies. Over the weekend my mom made a lima bean wreath because she liked mine so much. We also made an awesome Valentine door hanger for my door. My mom packed all the materials home to make hers because we didn't think it would travel too well in a suitcase. On Wednesday (the day she was supposed to leave) we headed to Wal-mart to pick up some fabric to keep us entertained while being snowed in.

I have to say they turned out pretty great. My house is getting cuter with every inch of snow we get!

Playing

Thad loved having the extra attention! Although he was kinda weird about my mom carrying him and reading to him if I was there, he was totally fine if I was gone and loved playing with her at arm's length if I was there. 2-year olds can be so quirky sometimes!

Thad loved to kick the ball to Gamma Cinney. He's already so coordinated!

I can hardly believe sometimes that my baby boy is already kicking a ball...time sure does fly!

So to sum it up, it was totally awesome to have my mom in town for 8 whole days! There was a lot of nothing done, and the day after she was supposed to leave we didn't even leave the house, but sometimes those are the best times. We love our wonderful Gamma Cinney so much and are so grateful for the sacrifice she made to come out here. It was such a bonus to have her for 2 extra days! Thank you for everything Mom, we love you and can't wait until you come again.

Random January Days

Like I said, January has been a suprisingly good month for us and although we have been cooped up in the house many days, Thad always finds a way to entertain:)

He still loves to make anything that resembles a hat, his hat. Silly guy!

Climbing in and out of anything and everything! He always acts so accomplished when he does this and says, "Mommy! Look!" I always give him his deserved applause and he climbs out.

His newest home entertainment is helping. Who wouldn't want that, right? Even if you are just grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen and he ends up throwing a fit, yelling, "Helping, mommy! Helping!" It really is adorable...most of the time;-)

The Snow

So if you haven't heard about the snow back east, you definitely haven't been keeping up with your current events. No problem, I wouldn't know about it if I didn't live here. There have been a few blizzards. Within the first 2 storms we had exceeded the amount of snow accumulated in an average entire winter season here in Norwalk. And it just keeps coming! I'm from Utah (and lived in Cache Valley for the 5 years previous to here) so I know about snow. But when you live in a compact area and the cities don't anticipate the arrival of this much snow, there is just no where to put it and roads not as clear as they should be. It's hard to see around corners and nearly impossible to park on the street or most parking lots because MOUNTAINS of snow are taking up all that space. If I was a better blogger I would give you more statistics, but I don't want to do the research. Take my word for it...there is A LOT of snow! 

The Silver Lining = Play dates with Dad (He's already had 3 snow days this month!)

Brian spent an hour and a half constructing this bad boy...A slide w/ stairs!

Thad loved it and took several trips down.

Mom and Dad even gave it a try! 

We were pretty much the coolest people on the block;-)

So the snow is crazy and I hear we are supposed to get another whole foot this week...from one storm...aaaahhhhh! Will it ever stop? I'll keep you posted.

Happy New Year 2011

Wow. How does one month go by so fast? Isn't January supposed to be kind of a downer? I thought it was going to be, but it has turned out to be a FABULOUS month for the Monsen family...which in turn has gotten me behind on my blogging. This is it though. We are back in business and I am going to keep up like I was, because like is said, this is my scrapbook from here on out, so be prepared for lots of updates and EVEN MORE pictures! (There will be a few posts before the day is over)

2011 started out with a BANG! We celebrated the New Year with our good friends, the Francias, at their beautiful home here in Norwalk. They live right on the water and have a quaint east coast home that is perfect for hosting a party....

So PARTY we did!

We were in great company...People AND Food!

Thad was an angel as usual and just loved playing in the new, unfamiliar surroundings.

He also loved playing with the party favors...so we broke the rules and partied a little before midnight:)

Too bad this adorable kid couldn't make it to midnight! This would have been the perfect first thing to see in 2011 ;-)

So Thad got his early New Years kiss...

And the rest of the kids went to sleep too. (Isn't this picture to die for?!)

So the grown-ups got their groove on and produced some pretty great music with Rock Band. But honestly, Colleen is the best drummer ever! It is the hardest instrument and she killed it every time! She also knew the words to every song, so that made it much more entertaining :)

After rocking out we anxiously waited for the ball to drop and ring in the New Year...

Midnight Kiss...aaawww:)

We headed out to their awesome deck, right on the harbor, and made some crazy noise and watched a couple fireworks.

After all the fun we woke our little monster up and headed home. Thad was so sweet with Nicki when he woke up. Cuddly kids are the best!

Thanks for such a fun party Colleen and Josh, what a great way to begin 2011!

New Year's Day was spent lounging around and playing with the left-over snow from one of our crazy blizzards back here.

This consisted of:

Picking the snow up,

Adorably taking it to this spot,

And tossing it in the puddle.

At first, Dad was just a spectator...

But Thad insisted he get involved (it doesn't take too much to convince Brian to get involved...especially if Thad has a really cute smile on his face).

We did this for about an hour out in the 50 degree weather that we are missing terribly right now :(

What a fun day we had! There are no pics of me because I didn't even take the time to get ready. It was a LAZY day! 

Going Private

So I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks because I have been debating about going private. I have decided to do it because I am going to start using my blog as my main scrap booking method from here on out. Because I am going to be doing this I am going to be a lot more specific about places and people, and I just think it will be safer for my family and anyone else I include in my blog posts.

I decided to do this because I have yet to finish Thad's First year scrap book and there is no way I am going to keep up w/ a family scrap book, children's scrap books and all the other things I want to do. I enjoy blogging and because we are so far away from family and friends I feel like it is my way to let people have a little glimpse into our life so I know it is something I will for sure keep up with and can print out at the end of each year.

Please leave me your email address in the comments, email me (shellmonsen at gmail dot com...Brian told me to write it out like that so I wouldn't get spam) or send me a message on Facebook. I don't care if I don't know that you look at my blog (we're all a little guilty of blog-stalking here and there) go ahead and leave your email and I will send you an invite.

Hope to hear from all of you!

Happy New Year!

Love, 

The Monsens