Happy Birthday Mom!

Hi everybody, Noah here. I couldn't think of what to get my mom for her birthday and my dad had some lame ideas about flowers or making her a card so I decided to take matters into my own hands and hack into her blogger account. You see, I'm a child of the 21st century so even though right now I write all my letters on top of one another and my stick figures look more like spiders with multiple limbs coming out of the same place, computers allow me to overcome the limitations of my fine motor skills and verbal abilities.

So, for my mom's birthday I'd like to tell you all some things that make my mom great. First of all, she is incredibly patient with me and my little brother. I mean, we go out of our way to make her life difficult. This isn't malicious in any way, it's just what we're supposed to do and trust me we are good at it. In fact, Gabriel may be better at it than I am (he's a quick learner). She's also really good at dealing with my dad, who, let's face it, is not well in the head. I'm pretty sure that med school and residency has turned him into some sort of medical robot so that he knows fancy words but none of them make any sense. The good thing about this is that he pretty much does whatever mom says but otherwise he's really not very useful in any way I can see. I mean it would be one thing if he made good money but we all know that hasn't happened. The best thing about my mom, though, is that she is really, really interested in me and everything about me. I mean I can tell her anything that I did during the day that I thought was interesting and it's like I discovered penicillin. I never have to worry that she's going to be there when I need her, I feel safe and taken care of and she also lets me express my individuality, supporting my clear talent for dance with great enthusiasm. So, here's to you mom, happy 31st birthday and thanks for being the best mom an almost 4-year-old could ask for!

Also, here's a video my dad made me make. Don't worry about Gabriel screaming in the background, it's not because I knock him down 10 seconds into the video, he just can't stand that I look better on camera. Plus, you'll see, he freezes up when the camera is on. Anyway, my poor dad, he's really grasping at straws for presents this year and is using me and my brother to try and get away with not getting her anything good. . .

Spring...

is almost here!

we celebrated by hitting the playground everyday this week so far...

It's crazy to think that we were in the middle of this just a week and a half ago!

as fun as the snow was, we're SOOOO glad the warm weather is here... hopefully to stay!

Art in the Park

We headed down to Central Park last week with Noah's bff, Eddie to {finally} enjoy the rising temps and check out the craft and "Art in the Park".

We had a great time at the playground. Gabriel was so excited to be able to crawl around on the padded ground -- he could hardly contain his giant grin! Noah and Eddie had a blast on the climbing ropes and walls. I had forgotten what a great playground 110th & CPW is especially for an almost toddler and pre-schooler... we'll definitely be returning soon!

Then we headed over to the Discovery Center for to craft some birds out of pinecones, puffballs, feathers, and googly eyes! Noah is totally into crafts right now and he LOVED this project. He got to make one for him and Gabey which was double the fun.

After we worked our bird-making skills, we wandered over to the Harlem Meer to watch the ducks. We sang "Five Little Ducks" and watched them come up to us and beg for food. Noah and Eddie argued over whether they were ducks or geese and then we headed home.

9 years?

It's official... Jon accepted an attending position here at the NYS Psychiatric Institute to start after residency graduation in July. It was a hard decision to make. We never would have thought when we moved here 8 years ago, that we would still be here even after residency. And looking back, we really have had an amazing journey. This is where we started our marriage, graduated from grad school and med school, had babies, and now will {finally} start a career. Honestly, those early years of med school and our first introduction to the 'Heights are such a distant memory, but they have definitely shaped who we are today as a family. And although the thought of moving our family to Oregon, buying a home and a car, being super close to supportive family, and mostly leading a potentially more "relaxed" lifestyle sounds incredibly appealing... it's just not our time {yet}.

We feel really good about our decision to stay, even though it means putting up with some of the many inconveniences that come along with city living for a little longer (including the NYC Dept. of Ed, aaaahhhh!) but we're excited for this next year and more NYC adventures. And we're so lucky to have so many amazing friends here in NYC who help make life more fun and liveable. So, I guess I'll stop drooling over homes in Oregon on zillow.com and start pounding craigslist for an apartment upgrade!

flashback:

our first apartment building

2002

my 5th grade band students, P.S. 218

2005

Jon graduates med-school

2006

bringing Noah home

2006

bringing Gabe home

2009

2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

love,

Noah & Gabe

Snow Day!

NYC was pounded with snow on Wednesday closing down schools and leaving us no choice but to get out and play! We met up with some neighborhood friends and set out to make the biggest snow man ever! The boys had a blast (even Gabe didn't mind the blizzard-like conditions) and luckily Eddie's dad was there with his serious snowman building skills. They were all so proud of the finished product... especially Noah (even though his contribution was mostly the "eating snow" part)!

***One of my favorite things about living in NYC is being just short blocks away from so many friends. We literally just bumped into friends on our way out and had an instant playdate. We feel really lucky to have so many good friends here which makes our decision to stay so much easier... (yep I said it -- lots of decisions lately, hence, the lack of posts... stay tuned for more details :)***

An Oregon Christmas

I know, I know... it's been forever! Talk about technical difficulties lately. We had camera issues over Christmas (i.e. our camera finally died and when we opened up the new camera box Santa brought us for Christmas, that's literally all it was! a box, no camera!) Needless to say we finally got a new camera but I had to gather pics from other people's cameras which is always a little tricky (but thanks Cathy and Chrissy for getting me those pics!) AND I forgot my memory card in the picture printing kiosk at Rite-Aid which had our ever-so-precious Macy's Santaland pics on it! We seriously stood in line for like an hour-and-a-half and I've got nothing to show for it! So, I guess that's my excuse for not blogging since Thanksgiving -- lame, lame, lame. (whatever... I can blog whenever I want to blog... cuz it's my blog... so there!)

Anyway, we headed out to Oregon for Christmas this year and had a really great time. Even though we always said we'd never fly across the country with 2 young kids (especially around the holidays!) we did it anyway. The boys were at really good stages to fly and luckily the flights were uneventful (we even missed the huge snow storm that shut down NY airports for the whole weekend... LUCKY!).

We spent 2 weeks with Jon's family for Christmas and had a great time catching up with them. It was only the second time they had seen Gabriel, so it was fun for them to get to know him (even if it was at 5am every morning because of the time difference!) Noah loved the masses of attention he got from everyone and Christmas was really fun for him this year. I was worried we would have similar issues to Halloween (i.e. huge build-up to the big day and then melt-down... but he was pretty stoked about all of his presents!)

We had loads of Oregonian fun: cutting down our own Christmas tree, a ride on the Polar Express to the North Pole to see Santa (i.e. the Mt. Hood Railroad at Hood River), trips to the zoo, the Children's Museum, and the Science Museum, and lots of family fun in the rain, snow, and sun! (who said it only rained in Portland?)

**Noah did seem very confused by the weather. He kept saying, "is it daytime? do I have to go to bed?" because it could get so cloudy and gloomy during the day. The funniest part was when we were flying back to NYC, we took off in Portland and finally got above the clouds... Noah said, "look Mommy, it finally stopped raining!" HA!** I felt like I was in Forks, Washington the whole time...

Thanks to the fam for a great visit!

Here are the pics...

(isn't this so Forks, Washington?!?)

Bella.... Edward?

a fine Horey family tradition!

the fam...

the star!

spotting the North Pole

Santa finally made it to our car!

Gabey's first Christmas present!

Noah not nearly as excited about the dinosaur playset as I thought he should be!

baby-elf on the loose!

a little elf-fight...

awww... an elf make-up hug!

Jon opening up our camera... box.

oopsie!

elf-nap with grandpa!

(too much excitement on Christmas Eve)

I call this: "baby-elf-robber"

(watch out... he might be coming down your chimney!)

Christmas Eve dinner with Mike & Amber

birthday cake for Jesus!

storytime with grandpa

trip to the zoo

a little New Year's Eve bowling!

SNOW!

lots of kitchen time with grandpa!

trip to OMSI to see the T-Rex exhibit!