Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am most thankful for my beautiful family - I have the most loving husband and the two greatest kids in the world! They get me through each and every day away from my family in NJ and manage to keep me smiling no matter what! I am thankful we are all healthy and happy!

Today we had Alex's parents and brother here visiting and they got to share in on our Thanksgiving feast! Very happy they came to see our new place and they hopefully all enjoyed their stay at Casa Matrale!

Dylan's 1st Turkey Day Birthday!

This year, Dylan's birthday fell on Thanksgiving! He woke up to a morning birthday cupcake complete with a candle and singing from mommy, daddy & AJ! He got to open some fun presents and then got to enjoy a feast for dinner which was great because we all know how much the D man likes to eat!!! It was great having Alex's parents and brother here to celebrate with. Dinner was awesome and was just like home - I missed my family terribly but it was nice to share some of my family recipes with Alex's family! The boys watched some football, AJ played outside with her uncle and grandma and we all had a nice relaxing day! After dinner we had a ice cream football birthday cake - it was cute to see Dylan dig right in with the back end of his spoon and devour it!

Hope you had a great 1st Birthday Dylan - your Daddy, AJ and I are so so so blessed to have you in our life - you are the happiest soul I know - a born smiler! I can't believe how quick the past year has gone and how much you have grown and all the things you can do! YOU ARE TRULY TROUBLE! We definitely have our hands full with you - you are into EVERYTHING - a constant ball of crazy energy! You don't stop and for this we love you - even when you are driving us nuts your smiling face let's you get away with it!

It just seems perfect that the day you remember all the things you are thankful for is the day we get to celebrate 1 year with you, because after all you and AJ are what Daddy & I are thankful for most of all!

Around the House

Family room with views into kitchen and breakfast room-

Breakfast room-

Dining room-

View from front door-

Downstairs spare room-

Downstairs full bathroom w/ tub & shower -

Formal living room we made into the playroom-

Upstairs spare bedroom-

Upstairs-

Upstairs laundry room-

AJ's room-

AJ & Dylans bathroom (connected to AJ's room)-

Dylan's bedroom-

Our bedroom-

Our bathroom-

Mimi Visits GA!

So happy that my mom came to visit us! I missed her so much and so did the kids - it was so nice to have her here and I can't wait for her to come back in January! The holidays are going to be hard here without her! The first night we ate in - I cooked us some quiches and we just hung home and relaxed! The next day we went shopping to look for dining room furniture but found nothing - we managed to still get some other goodies for the house though! That night we ate out at a nice steak house - the kids didn't cooperate too well but we all still enjoyed the meal! The next day we shopped some more and finally found a nice dining room set a Ashely Furniture. We went to the outdoor awesome mall where mom got Alex his birthday/Christmas present from Josheph A Banks - they were running a awesome special - buy a sports jacket and get 2 pairs of dress pant, 2 dress shirts and 2 sweaters for free! He also go a pair of shoes, a belt and a few pairs of socks! He was pleased and so was I because there was a Trader Joe's right next store so I got some wine! We went home and had pizza for dinner! The next day we went out and then had chili for dinner! On Monday mom & I took AJ to American Girl for lunch and so her doll could have a spa day - it was great and we all had SO much fun! That night we celebrated moms birthday home with Chinese and some cake AJ and I had made - AJ gave Mimi a special Princess card and it was nice to be able to celebrate with her a little early! I hated to see mom go home Tuesday morning! Can't wait for January!