Thank You Cards are on their Way!

Just wanted to let everyone know, I'm still working on getting Thank You cards out for Ripley's birthday! So if you got her a gift, you have not been forgotten! We got professional pictures taken and wanted to include a picture of Ripley with the cards, but the photo shoot got delayed because of rain and we've had a few issues getting the prints, as well. So, sorry for the delay, but they're on their way!! (I'm a poet) Thanks for being patient!

A few randoms...

Ripley was running outside on the grass and while approaching the driveway she fell and scraped her face on the driveway. OUCH! She scraped her nose and upper lip, looked very painful, but after about 2 minutes of crying, she was over it. We were told it wouldn't scar, but even now (about a month later) she still has some redness. My poor baby, she will never be a super model now! Gasp : )

L) The aftermath of Ripley's fall. It later darkened up & people thought she had chocolate on her face! R) She has places to go and people to see!

Below is what happens when you ask Ripley to bring her "a" tissue....

And last, but not least....Ripley eating sushi and loving it!
(technically, it's a california roll, not "real" sushi)

AZ Family Visits

In Mid-May our Arizona Family came to visit - Matt's Dad, Pam, Nicole (Matt's sister) & Ava (our 4 yr old niece). This was the first time all of them (except Matt's Dad-he drove here with Matt when we moved) were out here. Matt took a couple days off from work while they were here and we ended up doing so much....went to Hershey Amusement Park in PA, went to the Aquarium in Baltimore, took them to the infamous Wegman's and just enjoyed each other's company. Since we don't live by family, it's always such a pleasure to have family visit.

Seeing Ripley and Ava play together was priceless. Ava, being older, takes on the "Mom" role with Ripley and Ripley just thinks the world of Ava. Wanting to do anything she does and just looking at her with this big excited smile on her face. So adorable! During their visit, Ripley started to try and say everyone's name while we would sit around for a meal, it went something like this "Papa, Nana, A-ya, Cole, Mama, Dada" then a "YAY" would follow with her clapping her hands & all of us cheering. It was so cute. And since everyone left, it seems Ripley has her first memory from all of us going to the aquarium & seeing sharks, because everytime we take out her animal book, she gets very excited, goes straight to the page with the shark on it, says "shark" and then right afterwards, she starts saying everyone's name "A'ya, Cole, Papa, Nana...." just as she did around the dinner table. We love and miss you family! Thanks for the wonderful memories! xoxo

Above: Pizza Night on our deck!

L) Ripley & Ava on a ride at Hershey Park - this was about 1 minute before Ripley started to flip out, she started to scream, cry and hit Ava. It wasn't pretty and the ride had to be stopped so she could get off and we could avoid Ava being injurred. R) Ava giving Uncle Matt some love.

L) Family pics in our backyard. R) Us at the Aquarium.

Our Last Free Flight

Ripley and I went to Florida the week before she turned 2. We wanted to get one more free flight in, before we are forced to pay for her. Matt had to stay home and work, busy time for him, so Ripley and I went just the 2 of us. We had a great time - took her to the beach for the first time, a water park and celebrated her 2nd birthday with family. I realize this post should have been before the post below, but
I was without a camera and just got the pics back from Ryan...

L) Having fun at the pool. R) Ripley with Chuy, Ryan's dog. She LOVED him and he was soooo good with her. It was adorable to watch them together.

L) Ripley with "Nana". R) Ripley loving her birthday cake!

My Baby is TWO!!!!

Ripley turned 2 today! My little baby is turning into such a little girl now! This morning we opened a few presents with her before Matt went to work and then we had a playdate at the Ultimate Playzone, which is one of those places that has a bunch of bounce houses the kids can go inside and jump around in. It also includes slides, a big doll house and a pirate ship. She had so much fun and we had a good turn out filled with all of her friends from the MOMS Club we're in. Tonight we'll open more gifts and have cake with Matt, then on Saturday we're having a bbq to celebrate even more. Also, our best friends from Chicago (Lauren & Evan) are coming to visit for the weekend, so excited!!!

Pics from the party:

Pics from Lauren & Evan visiting:

25 Random Things About Myself....

If you have a Facebook account, you will be familiar with this, but for those of you who don't, I thought I would share. Facebook started this chain type message, that really seemed to take off. The instructions were to write a list of 25 random things about yourself and pass it around, then others would do the same about themselves. So here's mine, for those who don't have FB:

1. I'm a strong believer in "everything happens for a reason".

2. I love to laugh and am happy my husband makes me do so on a daily basis.

3. Being a Mom is the best "job" I've ever had. I feel very fortunate I'm able to stay at home with Ripley, eventhough it can by difficult at times.

4. I love that we moved away from Chicago and have experienced other places to live, but would like to return to Chicago later in life.

5. I miss our Florida house. I miss my Florida friends, but do not actually miss Florida.

6. Living in Austin, TX for 6 months was way too short, I would like to return there at some point.

7. My Mom died 3 years ago and it makes me sad that she has never met Ripley or seen me as Mom.

8. I am happy to say, unlike other married Moms I know, I do not feel like a single parent. Matt helps out all the time with Ripley. It's a huge help, he's a great Dad.

9. My birth name is Kathleen, this is what I introduce myself as and its what my family calls me. Matt only refers to me as Kat. And to friends, I go by both names.

10. I am afraid of hospitals, needles and blood.

11. I think people do not take marriage as serious as they should and often marry for the wrong reasons. I am happy I waited until later in life to marry the right person for the right reasons.

12. I watch too much television.

13. I LOVE cheese!! All types, the sharper, the better.

14. My favorite drink is a Kettle One vodka martini, extra dirty with blue cheese stuffed olives. YUM!

15. I am not a morning person and can be pretty unfriendly until coffee is made, at least to my husband.

16. I would like to volunteer my time this year, probably doing something with kids.

17. I do not like to clean and because of this, I often wish my house was cleaner than it is.

18. I am a procrastinator.

19. I like really HOT showers, especially after a good workout.

20. I am a very social & outgoing person. I cannot be stuck in the house for long or I will go nutty.

21. I have met or seen the following celebs in random public places: Madonna, John Cusack, David Schwimmer, PINK, Carey Hart, Forrest Whitaker, Bono, Tony Hawk, Sal Masekela (if you consider him a celeb)

22. My brother Ryan is gay. We are best friends and I am happy he is out and my family is supportive.

23. I wish we lived close to family. Its hard not being able to share Ripley with our loved ones.

24. I am a dog lover and can easily spend an hour or 2 at a dog park, just watching the dogs play.

25. When I was about 5, I broke my arm playing Wonder Woman and Super Man with my brother Marty. He instructed me to jump off the couch, over the coffee table and into his arms. I managed to make the jump, over the coffee table and into his arms, but he failed to make the catch and instead fell on top of me.

A Friend's Loss

On Sunday, my friend's daugther died. She was only 8 years old. This is a friend who lives here, her name is Tricia, she's in the MOMs Club I'm in and someone I see on a regular, who I really like. Her daughter, Carman, had something called Aicardi Syndrome, its a rare genetic disorder that only occurs in girls (boys die in utero). Some common symptoms of the disorder include regular siezures, impaired sight and brain defects. Most of these children do not live into their teens, so Tricia knew she would be surviving her daughter, but of course that doesn't make it any easier. Carman was blind, she had siezures often and went to a special school. She had been pretty healthy, but this past weekend took a turn for the worse, very fast. They brought her into the hospital thinking she had the flu, but was having back to back seizures and at the hospital ended up having a stroke. It's all very sad. The Moms club was told on Sunday she was at the hospital and in critical condition and then on Monday morning we found out she had passed. Tonight they are having a viewing for her, so I'm going to that. And on Saturday is the memorial service for her. I had planned to go to it, but they asked for volunteers to help watch their children, since they aren't bringing them to the memorial. Tricia has 2 other children who are younger and her sister Gina who is also in our group who I'm friends with, has 3 children. So instead of going to the memorial I volunteered to help watch the kids, plus 4 dogs and help with food at the reception afterwards.

You know, I consider myself a pretty strong person, been through a lot and feel I can handle what comes my way (for the most part), but if I had to deal with losing Ripley I think I might just crack. I feel horrible for Tricia and her family. And going to the viewing tonight is going to be tough, going to anything like this is hard, but when it's for a child and now I'm a Mom, ugh. Just wanted to share with you what's going on and to remind us all to be happy for our health and our children's health, etc...xoxo

Ripley Update

Ripley will be 2 years old in April, I can't believe it! She is no longer a baby and becoming a little girl practically. GASP! She has a ton of energy, still loves people, is very happy and loves to smile. Oh yeah, and she loves music and likes to dance! If a song stops, she will say "more, more!". She loves to watch music videos or anyone dancing on TV. She says "bye" to everything these days. This morning, I was in bed with my laptop and Matt brought her in, she told us she was hungry and said bye and waved to my laptop. It made us laugh. Her 2 favorite games: 1) chase the dog and take his bed away from him (poor Amingo!) and 2) go to one of the only unlocked cabinets in the kitchen (which has all our cannned goods) and take them out one by one and line them up on the edge of the kitchen table or any table for that matter. She gets so excited to do this, it seems so strange, but hey, if it will keep her entertained for more than 2 minutes, I'm all for it!

Right now we're not involved in any classes at the moment, but we did join a gym (a perk of matt's job), so I've been going to work out and am able to take Ripley with me, since they have childcare. The best part is - she LOVES going! The first time I dropped her off, I wasn't sure how she would react, she definitely tried to leave at first and call for me, but then that was it. I left and when I picked her up, she came running towards me. They said she did really well - no crying. Then the next time I went to pick her up, she was standing around this play kitchen with 2 other little girls, who were all playing with the plastic fake food, it was so cute. She looked up and saw me and all she did was wave and continued to play. She had friends and already wanted nothing to do with Mommy, no fair! Now everytime we pull into the parking lot, she gets excited. It's been such a great thing, for us both. I get a break from Mommy duties and do something good for myself and she gets a break from me and gets to be around other kids in a fun environment. It's a win -win.

We are still very much involved in the MOMS Club in my area. Now that its not warm enough to play outside, we've doing more playdates in each other's homes, trips to the library, breakfast at Panera, etc...everyday there is something schedule on the calendar. Of couse, we don't attend everything, but depending on the time and day, we try and go to 2-3 activities a week. It's been really nice to get to know the Moms in the group and their children. Staying at home, its a must you have a support group and for me, these Ladies are it!Below are some recent pictures taken of Ripley, she's getting so big! She is tall for her age, in the 90 percentile. She obviously gets that from Matt. So now she has his height, eyelashes & feet : ) A few pictures below...this was after it snowed, she was looking out her bedroom window taking it all in.

A Long Overdue Update

So it seems I have been slacking on updating my blog, huh? It's February and my last blog post was in November! My only excuse is that I joined Facebook and now I use that to keep in touch with many of you. I also update my pics there too, but I realize that's not the same, so I will do my best to keep it updated. Afterall, I don't want to let my fans down : )

So things with the Demaray household are going well. Despite the horrible economy and many lay offs in the game industry (and every industry for that matter), thankfully Matt still has a job he loves. His company hasn't been affected so far and are still hiring, so that's a good sign. Keep your fingers crossed for him!

As most of you know by now, we did some traveling over the holidays. We went to Arizona to visit with Matt's family for Christmas through New Year's. The flight was long (6 hrs) and it was a little more difficult this time around, with Ripley being older and so much more active. I decided to hit up the dollar store before our trip to get some toys to keep her occupied on the flight, stuff she's never seen before, etc...on the way there, she did great. Didn't even have to break out my entire bag of tricks! But on the way home, it was a different story.

During the trip, she ended up getting bad ear infections in each ear, so we got her on antibiotics before our trip home, but it still ended up effecting her (or is it affecting? I always get those 2 mixed up). Our flight had an hour connection in between on the way home and unfortunately the only time she slept during the return trip was in the airport between the 2 flights! Yay, for us! Or should I say Yay for me! Since she wasn't feeling that great, she decided that Mommy's lap was the only lap she wanted to be on for the ENTIRE trip. That was rough, especially since she would get so close to falling asleep and then boom, she decided taking a nap just wasn't for her. Oh and did I mention the puking episode? Yeah, well with the long flight and all (& no real food served on the flights) we had to resort to tons of snacks and McDonald's chicken nuggets to feed her. Well, apparently she had WAY too much and needed to get rid of it. Don't forget, she is on my lap! Oh, so fun, but guess what? I caught some of it, so no worries! Haha. So not pretty. Oh and if you remember one of our previous trips I blogged about - the one where I was fully prepared with an "emergancy outfit", but didn't need to use it and then on the way home I happen to forgot to pack the emergancy outfit and definitely needed it? Well, I did the exact same thing this time too! I don't know what's with that return flight that I decide not to bring the extra outift, I should know better by now! So this time, thankfully we had hoodie with us, so we stripped her from her shirt and zipped up the hoodie and it worked out, since she didn't end up getting much on her pants. As for me, I was lucky to only have it on my hands and such, so that was that.

After we finally arrived in Baltimore, we had to deal with baggage taking forever, them changing the claim number on us and then us taking the shuttle to get our car (at night and in 20 degree weather) to realize we forgot to write down what letter & number of aisle we were in!! Thankfully, there was another person on the shuttle who arrived the same day as us and it helped us figure out which lot we were in and after some riding around in the bus, finally found it. About 5 minutes after us pulling out of the parking lot, Ripley was OUT. Poor little lady, she was a trooper!

So after all that being said, the trials & tribulations of travel was well worth to spend the holidays with Family. We got to meet our new nephew, Jax, for the first time and Ripley got to have fun playing with her cousin, Ava (who is 4). Seeing the 2 of time together, running around holding hands, was priceless! Also, besides getting to see Matt's sis, brother in law and Matt's Dad and Pam (who all live in AZ), we also got to spend time with Matt's Mom, who lives in Naperville, IL. She came out for the trip too, so that was an extra bonus, having us all together. The only people who weren't there from Matt's family, was his brother Jake and his wife Kelly. They were both greatly missed! Below are some pic's from our visit (after returning from our trip, I realized most pictures were taken of the kids and not adults. me and my sis in law didn't get even ONE pic together and me, matt and ripley didn't get a family pic either. bummer):

Matt's new job...

For some of you, this might be new news, so sorry if I haven't had a chance to tell you myself. It all happened pretty fast. Matt was unhappy at his job (for a few reasons). So when he was approached by this other company, he decided to do an hour meet n greet during his lunch to get more info about the company and the game they're working on...after the meeting he was intrigued and decided to go back for a full on interview. After he came back from the interivew, he was super excited about the game, company and the people he met, especially the guy that would be his new boss. So shortly afterwards he got an offer and the rest is history!

So now he's into week #4 into the new job and LOVING it. After his first day, he came home saying it was the best first day he had ever had. Then after the first week, the same comment. And now if you ask him, I am sure he would say it has been a great month. The things that were issues at the other company, aren't issues at the new company and he is LOVING his new boss. In fact, I am starting to sense a little bro-mance going on! lol. I got a chance to meet his boss and all he did was rave about Matt, so I guess it goes both ways. So, long story short (never) he loves his new job and I have a feeling we'll be sticking around Baltimore for possibly the next 2 years.

p.s. the new company is called Firaxis.