She's here!!!

Penelope Darlene arrived on 1/9/12 weighing 7 lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long. She is an absolute joy of of a baby and we're so thrilled that she is finally here! Andy and I are both exhausted, obviously, but we survived the first week of parenthood so far:) More later...

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! We're eagerly awaiting our most exciting Christmas present:) Only 2 more weeks to my due date!

New (old) table

I haven't written much about our new house because unlike our first house, we haven't done much to it. Our first house in Rochester was a 1950's cape cod that needed some serious TLC when we bought it. If you look back through the archives of this blog, you'll see some of the work we did.

The house we live in now is actually a townhouse that is only 6 years old, so we haven't had to do much besides paint some walls. Instead, we've been spending our free time (and money) decorating.

Our first big purchase was a nice, big couch. Our living room in this house is much bigger than our last house and our small couch and love seat looked kind of lost in it. So after months of looking and debating, we purchased this sectional.


It fits perfectly in the room and with the addition of a long L-shaped shelf behind the couch that Andy built, and the Ikea wall shelves on the wall, it creates a nice space to hang out in. And the extra seating comes in handy now that we have lots of family nearby!

Our most recent purchase (just this week in fact!) is a new, well, new to us at least, dining room table. We found it at a local antique store. It is a farm table made out of reclaimed barn wood.


It has cracks and knots and even holes in it. We were told it is actually wormwood, which I guess explains the holes:) It is almost a piece of art to look at. I kept saying (jokingly) that I don't want to eat on it, I just want to look at it!



Right now we are using the chairs from our old table and I'm trying to decide if I want new chairs or not. I'm thinking maybe some painted ladder back chairs... what do you think?

Ice storm

We got hit by a bad ice storm over the past two days here in PA, as did most of the country! We already had a foot of snow on the ground, so now there is an inch of ice to top it all off. Luckily we don't have to go anywhere. It is really pretty though... from inside looking out!

Happy Holidays!

We're leaving tomorrow to visit family for Christmas, so I probably won't be blogging again till after the New Year. We have had a rough couple of months here at the zoo and I have to admit, I'm looking forward to 2011, if only for a fresh start. I know I've been kind of absent lately... not blogging much or commenting, but I have still been reading everyone's blogs and I'm hoping to get back on a regular schedule soon!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

All our best,

Erin, Andy, Pumpkin & Patch, Arthur & Guinevere, and Henry!

Merry Christmas!!

Guess who made the Christmas card this year?!?

THE BUNS!!!




Merry Christmas from Pumpkin, Patch, Princess Chloe, Henry, Andy & Erin!!

New house!

Hi everyone! We're finally back online after a couple weeks without internet service. There are still lots of boxes to be unpacked, but we're settling into our new house. We love it here and are so happy to be closer to friends and family again. I'll have pictures up soon, but the zoo seems to like their new digs just fine and everyone survived the move unscathed:) More soon, I promise!

The Real Zoo!

I dragged my father-in-law to the Philadelphia Zoo with me yesterday. After all, what's the point of being unemployed if you're not going to enjoy it, right?!? :) If you ever visit Philly, you should definitely make a visit to the zoo. I've been there a few times now and just love it! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from yesterday.

Goodbye Rochester

So a lot has happened since I last wrote... We moved out of and sold our house in Rochester, we went on vacation to Cape Cod, we moved into my father-in-law's house in PA, we've seen lots of family and friends, and Andy started his new job!

Moving is such a pain in the butt. We decided to do this move ourselves because frankly, hiring movers is SOOOOO expensive. So we rented a trusty UHaul, and hired two guys to help us load it in Rochester and unload into a storage unit in PA. We have sold our house in NY but we won't close on our new house in PA until September 25th, so we had to find somewhere to store everything in between. We are living with Andy's dad in between houses, and I have to say, the man is a saint! He not only welcomed us into his home for a month in a half, but all four of our animals as well! Pumpkin and Patch have a space in the basement that they, of course, disapprove of, Chloe has taken over the whole house, and Henry has decided that Dad is his new best friend. Dad works from home, so Henry now spends all day right next to his desk on an arm chair, sleeping and barking at things out the window. It's very cute.

So, it will be a while still till we're settled in our new home, but we're excited for this new part of our lives together. Andy's new job is going very well. It's only week 2 but he loves it! I've started looking for a new job as well, but mostly concentrating on finishing up all the paperwork for buying our new house. So, that's it for now! I'll keep you all updated, and I promise to get some more picutes up here too:)


The truck full with everything we own!


Empty living room :(



Goodbye to our first home!

Packing.

Wow! It's getting dusty around here. I just wanted to check in and let you all know that we're still alive! We can barely walk around here without stepping over boxes, but it will all be over soon. We're heading down to PA this week to start house hunting, then we will move all of our stuff out of the house and into storage in PA, then we'll go on vacation to Cap Cod (YAY!), then we'll head back to PA and we will all move in with A's dad till we find/buy/close on a new house and then A will start his new job. Did you get all that?!? Not too complicated, is it? :) We don't like to make things easy on ourselves. What fun would that be? Cross your fingers that we'll find a house fast so we don't have to torture my father-in-law for too long!

Happy New Year!!

We're back! We drove home yesterday in a snow storm. Lots of fun for Andy, who does all the driving, but we made it safe and sound. Chloe and the buns were happy to see us return and even more happy for the treats they received:) Henry was very good on our trip and had lots of fun playing with all our family members along the way.

I got a new toy for Christmas this year from A that will definitely help out the blog...

...a Canon EOS 450D!


My father-in-law also got me a photography class so I can learn how to use it! I've taken tons of pictures so far and as soon as I figure out how to download them, I'll put some up.

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice relaxing New Year's Day! Welcome 2009!!

Wednesday Bunday?!?

The buns disapprove that I missed Monday Bunday. I'm in big trouble. Monday was so warm here though! It got up to 50 degrees. A heat wave in December! We're making up for it now though. We got 5 inches of snow last night. Yuck. And another big storm predicted for Friday. Fun!

It's another busy week here at the zoo. A has Holiday shows every night this week. We have to start packing for our big trip to PA and CT. Lots going on and too little time to get everything done! I did get all the presents wrapped though so I'm one step ahead on that. Christmas cards are in the mail too. I'll have to post the picture that graced our card this year. It's a good one!

Thanksgiving recap

So, not surprisingly, Chloe jumped up on the table after I set it. As soon as we could smell the turkey cooking, she. would. not. leave. She hung around all day, which is weird for her, because usually between the dog and the strangers in her house (not that anyone who was here is really a stranger), she almost always hides upstairs and watches from afar. But not when there is turkey to be had! She was on the table and the counter tops trying to get that turkey all day. I know I shouldn't let her be up there, but I feel guilty. We brought a dog into her house! I had to lean up on the rules a little:)


I had to bribe Henry to get him to sit here. And then I had to give them both some turkey. I think everyone gave Henry turkey that day. And I know this because he didn't eat his dinner!


Henry LOVES!!!!! Matt and Robin. Whenever either of them sit down, he jumps right up on them for a cuddle and a warm lap to sleep on.


On Saturday we went out and cut down a Christmas tree! Here is Andy and his dad putting it in the stand. As you can probably tell, I'm very helpful with things like this. I'm helpful by staying out of the way and taking pictures:)

Hope your holiday was fun! Won't be long now till Christmas! We're going on a road trip to PA and CT with Henry! Traveling with Henry is always fun. He makes a long car ride more entertaining. The rest of the zoo will stay home and have someone else slave over them for a change:)

Fun week!

So our week here on Cape Cod is coming to an end, but we still have another week of vacation! As you can probably tell, I've been doing lots of relaxing and not too much blogging:) We had a great week filled with sitting on the beach, reading, and eating seafood. Doesn't get much better than that! Tomorrow we drive to RI to meet up with family, friends and even more family. (All my side of the family.... lucky Andy!) I'll have much more to say and many pictures to share when we get home. I've been getting reports from our pet sitter. Patch is being a royal pain in the you know what. He's decided since we're gone he no longer has to behave himself. He's gotten out of his cage and his room a few times already and bit his babysitter once! Naughty boy. She was too slow to give him the carrot apparently... He hasn't learned any patience:) Oh well, I tried! Henry is being crazy, as usual, and Chloe comes out of hiding long enough to get food and teats before disappearing again. Typical cat behavior. Life at the Zoo is never dull!

Husband=Saint

Me: That's that guy from that movie, you know?
A: Yeah I know.
Me: How do you know what I'm talking about?
A: Because I speak crazy.

I'm moving to the country

Our next door neighbor has been weed-whacking her lawn for two hours. TWO HOURS!!!! We live in the city. Our yards are less than a quarter of an acre large. The only possible explanation for this behavior is that her lawn mower is broken and she is using the weed whacker to mow the entire lawn! But I know this isn't true because she mowed her lawn with her functioning lawn mower earlier today. So that leaves me with the only remaining conclusion. That she is in fact insane. Or maybe she's just bored. Or maybe she just hates me and wants to make sure I go insane. If that's true... well, it's working.

I'm moving to the country. I want my neighbors to be some cows, maybe a corn field or two. Sounds really good right about now...

Have I told you my husband is a saint??

Scene: Last night while sitting on the couch watching the season premiere of The Closer. A strange noise comes from the dark outside the open front door...

Me: What's that noise?
Husband: It's the cat.
Me: No it's not. It's coming from outside.
Husband: (rolls his eyes)
Me: Hoooonnnnnneeeeeeyyyyyy!!!! Go check! You're supposed to be big and brave and strong and protect me!!!! Go see what's out there!!!!
Husband: (sighs loudly, peels himself off couch and walks to open door to look outside) Oh no!! It's a POLAR BEAR!!!!!
Me: I'm totally putting that on my blog.

End scene.

Wednesday

Boy did we have fun last night! Everyone at the zoo got mani/pedis, except for Henry, but even he got his ears cleaned. We had to get them done last night because A left this morning for Colorado and I needed his help! We wrapped the buns up in a towel so they couldn't squirm and clipped everyone's nails. Pumpkin HATES having anything done to her, but Patch, as usual, barely seemed to notice and was more concerned about when he was getting his Craisins.

So I'm living the single life for 10 days while A is away. His orchestra plays out there every year. I went last year. It's absolutely beautiful but wow! is it expensive. Expensive to get there, expensive to eat once you're there. It's much like eating in New York City... $20 for a hamburger is considered a good deal! So I decided to stay home this year. So it's just me and the kids for a few days! Wish me luck...

Here is the view A will be seeing today on his drive out of Denver up into the mountains...

Weekend Warriors

I never thought I'd see the day! Ok, NOW we're done:)







Planters are stained and planted with snapdragons and peonies. (listen to me spouting off names of flowers like I have any idea what they are! or how to keep them alive!) We finished this all off this past Sunday afternoon. And man was it hot out there! But we got it done and it's a good thing too since next Sunday we're having 30 people over for a BBQ!

Weekend Warriors

Look at what I built!!!



Well, HELPED build at least. And we built two more! They are planters by the way. In case you can't tell. This is the first one we finished before we stained it. They all look really good and are sitting in our driveway right now drying. I'm hoping to fill them and plant stuff in them this weekend.

And, as you can see in the picture, my flowers are still alive! And they are actually getting bigger! And the herbs I planted are growing too! The buns will be getting some fresh parsley someday soon:) This is very exciting because as I've mentioned before, my thumb isn't green so much as it is brown...