Thankful for Us.. A Raad family update!

   As 2016 comes to a close I can't help but want to write about how thankful I am for our little unit.  each one of them.  Also how I am thankful for friends who are family. And many other things. 

   This year has been an exciting and exhausting year for the Raads.  We started off the year learning how to parent two little people at once.  The most challenging and rewarding experience of our lives.  I think we have to brag a little and note how much easier our kiddos made it for us!

   We took a trip to San Diego with Nick while he was attending a conference.  Then we drove up to Anaheim to spend a few days at Disneyland and ended the trip with a stop in LA to spend time with Nick's Uncle and cousins which was an amazing time!  

A. having fun with Daddy in the pool In San Diego! 

Trying to get two sleepy kids to smile at Disneyland! 

A giving some love to MM.. Too cute not to share ;)

The kiddos and their cousins <3

   We decided that I needed a long vacation with my Mom and that Nick would join us for a month at the end of our trip.  He was fortunate enough to have some baby bonding time left :) (thank you California).   The kids and I packed up and headed to MA for the summer! We were able to spend some wonderful quality time with Mimi <3 and Bibi.  Although we were chomping at the bit for Daddy to arrive! 

As most of you know our vacation home resulted in us returning home for good! The rest of the year becomes a whirlwind.  We returned to CA for 2 weeks determined to take one last little mini vacation before we departed.  We also had to organize the move back! Yikes! So we head to Tahoe for a long weekend.  What a beautiful place <3 

Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe.  Amazing! 

To finish off our stay in CA Nick was sworn in as a US citizen! Just in time! Eeeeek!

N Naturalization day! 

While we were all super excited to be returning home we were also sad to say goodbye to our CA family.  Friends who quickly became family <3 We still miss them everyday! Our Mentors Sandy and Bob, my sister from another mister and my brother from another mother - Olivia and Jimmy (and Mason too!) our friends Mary and Brian, our amazing neighbors and many other friends we met on this journey. 

Fast forward to today.  I am so thankful for this year (in our personal lives)! I am so thankful for a Husband who works tirelessly for our family and who brought us back home!  I am thankful to be close again to our very little family! I am thankful for a much shorter plane ride for Nicks parents! I am thankful for Nick's family as I love them more than I ever thought possible.  I get tears every time I think about Jido meeting Sammi IRL for the first time (which is happening soon)! I am thankful for friends who are family!  I am thankful for once again having an amazing set of neighbors (they were amazing in CA too!)  and last but not even close to least I am thankful for Amelia and Sammi.  They are two of the most amazing kiddos (I know we are biased).  They are so smart and wow us every day with something new.  Amelia is starting to talk up a storm and Sammi is smart as a whip that one! They love each other so much it's unreal (don't worry they fight too!). They weathered the changes like pros! 

Even though Nick's time off from work has been with everyone sick at home, I am thankful for this time.  I am thankful for us <3 

                     

Kiddos being goofy today.  Sammi's face when he gets a smooch from Sissy! 

THANKFUL FOR US

xoxo, 

S 

New Years Resolutions and Wishes

I was reminded tonight that I can sometimes write well and that same person told me they enjoyed reading my blog.. Doh - MY BLOG! I almost forgot.  Life seems to have gotten in the way of something I very much enjoy doing! So here it is..  My 2015 resolutions and wishes. Grab a cup of tea or a glass of wine (I have mine)  this could take awhile as I have no gathered thoughts (potential ramblings may occur). 

Resolutions (the shorter list, wishes will be a bit longer)

1.  I resolve to blog more - it's good for the soul <3

2.  I resolve to lose the baby weight that I so quickly lost and put back on again (I think - I'm afraid to weigh myself, maybe I should start there)

3.  Get rid of all the sweets in the house left over from the holidays. 

4.  Eat said sweets tonight so they don't go to waste ;)

Wishes

1.  World peace - Seriously why can't we all just get along?! 

2.  A cure for cancer - F*&% Cancer (and if I find out someone is holding out on this one I will probably go to jail for what I would do to this person)

3.  For humans to stop hurting children and each other but mainly innocent children, I have been hearing more and more about parents doing terrible things to their children and it makes my stomach turn and brings tears to my eyes

4.  For every human that desires and deserves to have a child have their wishes and dreams are fulfilled

5.  For my Mom to get on an airplane - for 6 hours (and not yell there is a pilgrim woman on the wing) Love you Mom! 

6.  I wish for cheating husbands genitals to fall off and be thrown into the Atlantic (not talking about my own hubby just for the record) He's still amazing :) 

7.  Amelia should really start cooking for herself - she is rather advanced (just kidding) but she can stop growing so fast. 

8.  I wish for a way to have all of our families together for at least 3 months out of the year (myself and Nicks)

9.  I wish for shipping to be less expensive as I have many pine cones that need to find their way to MA and potentially SC :)

10.  I wish CA would sell margarine

11.  I wish for all our friends and family to have a happy and healthy year and years ahead.  I am reminded all too often that life is too short. 

12.  All friends and family to visit us is CA

OK, so that wasn't as long as I expected and some of them are way more important than others but that is what is on my mind tonight.   

Life update: Nick, Baby A and I are finally starting to get settled into our new home.  While we miss everyone back east we are over the moon grateful for the wonderful neighbors that we have.  We have been fortunate for a 2nd time to find the worlds best neighbors, seriously!   Baby A is growing like a weed and teaching us her new skills every day.  We are beyond grateful for our super happy healthy baby girl.  Nick is loving his new job with PG&E and I am beyond grateful that I am able to stay home with Baby A.  While she is a ton of work I don't think I could have done it any other way. She is our love and our light <3 

We look forward to seeing what 2015 has in store for the Raads! 

Much Love, 

S

This post is dedicated to my best friends 2 little angels in heaven <3

Before you judge.. Hear me out..

I know, I know it's a bit early.  Hear me out.. 

My husband and I have been living together for about almost 3 years now.  While living in our small apartment on the 3rd floor, we decided to forgo a Christmas tree and just put up some small decorations.  Last year during black Friday weekend we bought a fake tree which we were hoping to put in our new home that we had just purchased a month prior.  Due to unforeseen construction this never happened. Now that construction has been complete for awhile I decided that we could jump the gun a little bit this year.  To make my decision easier I knew that we would not have time to put up the tree next weekend and the weekend after that is Thanksgiving and we will be on the Cape.  If we wait until the next weekend it will be the first week of December and that only give us about 4 weeks with a tree.  Still not quite with me? Let me explain more my love for the holiday season. 

As much as I love the holiday season, I have always had issues with the greed that comes along with the it.  I hate it! I have to be honest and say that I am not the most religious person (I used to be but that is a post for another day) so I do not celebrate the Christmas that is known to Christians however I celebrate a season of giving.  The holiday season of giving really starts for me in November.  Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday as it focuses on family and togetherness.  So this really is my favorite time of year. So why not celebrate such a wonderful season.  Who doesn't get a little warm and fuzzy when they see my formal living room?!

A year ago my Husband and I decided to forgo the usual Christmas "gifts" and decided to "adopt a family".  We still bought a few small things for close loved ones but in lieu of larger gifts we bought gifts for a family that would have not been able to celebrate Christmas without our help.  You might say that this defeats my whole argument and in some cases I agree however when you read the lists of "wants" from a family in need you know you made the right decision.  It is such a great feeling waking up on Christmas morning knowing that 2 little kids who probably expected nothing got everything on their small list (warm clothes, books, board games etc.) as well as a few gifts for the parents.  

Christmas will be difficult for me this year for very personal reasons.  I am thankful that these beautiful decorations can keep me smiling throughout the whole holiday/giving season :) I  thankful that we are in a position to help out others in times of need.  I am thankful that my Mom is so supportive of me.  I am also thankful that my husband went along with my crazy request to decorate for the season this weekend (I was worried he might think that I went off the deep end).  I tried to listen to some holiday music while we decorated but that is where he drew the line! Haha I guess I can't blame him.  Although I will secretly admit that while doing errands today I stayed in a few stores a few moments longer just to hear some holiday music.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year, There'll be much mistletoeing, and hearts will be glowing, When loved ones are near, It's the most wonderful time of the year."

Much Love, 

S