Grapefruit Obessed

I have a new obsession.  It's grapefruit.  I can't get enough of that smell!  Oh, my.  I LOVE grapefruit candles and lotion.  I can't find my candles right now, but I am craving them.  I will find that box today!  Or maybe tomorrow.  Hopefully by the end of the week.  

I also LOVE cutting up that yummy fruit and putting a few slices in my water.  If you haven't tried it, do it!  Hurry!  Run to the store.  Get some grapefruit.  Grab a knife.  Cut.  Add water.  Yum!  (the longer you let it sit in the water, the stronger the flavor). 

Anyone know any other Grapefruit things out there I might like?  I can't get enough! 

We're in!

Yep, we are finally in our home!  Matt is adjusting well and both Josh and I are so thankful for many things after roughing it for five long months.  We are thankful for a home, not just a house.  We were like to two little kids on Christmas morning when we actually got to sleep in a bed after sleeping on a mattress on the floor for so long!  I can't wait to crawl into our bed at night!  I have my throw pillows back!  Yippie!  :)  AND, after five long months of loading up my car and driving 4 long miles back and forth to my mom and dad's...I now can do laundry under my very own roof!  I have never been so excited and thankful for getting to do laundry!  

The list goes on and on, but I will not bore you.   Now, if I can just find my cord for the camera, I could actually post some pics!  Oh, which box is it hinding  in?  

busy.

Seriously.  Really busy.  And with a cold.  There is so much to do when you sell a house and buy one.  Why did I do this to myself at the same time?  Oh, and having to do one of these 500 miles away.  That's just fun.  I am a little tired of signing forms and I haven't even had one closing.  Now I have to figure out when I am heading back to GA to pack up our stuff.  Who will move it.  How and if they will store it for us until we can get into the new house.  

More posts when things settle down a bit.  I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving.  That means that everything will be done.  We might be up to our eyeballs in boxes, but there will be no more forms to sign or endless calls.  Ahhhh.    

Salsa

So most of you know my love for salsa.  Or shall I say obsession.  When I go to a Mexican restaurant, it is just plain ugly.  I eat those chips and salsa like they are going out of style.  (It is a little embarrassing).  I don't even really want anything else.  Just give me the chips and salsa and some of the yummy white cheese dip and I will make a meal out of it.  Oh, how I love restaurant salsa!  In fact, we thought that Matt would come out of me with a sombrero on due to all of the salsa I ate while I was pregnant!  There is no jar of salsa, even it is says, 'restaurant style' on it that tastes anything like the real deal.  I have been making my own salsa for years, and it never comes close.  It is still good, but not restaurant good.  UNTIL NOW!  I did it!  I did it!  I managed to make restaurant salsa at home!  Holy cow!  It is so good., and cheep and easy!  I am a little baffled as to why it took me so long to come up with it!  I know some of you who read this (Gina, for one) love salsa too!  So, for those of you who love it, here it is.  From my kitchen to yours.  ENJOY!  

1 can whole peeled tomatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro (this stuff is key and cheep.  I got a big bunch for $0.79 today), course salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder.  Take the whole peeled tomatoes and squish them in your hand over a bowl until they are broken up.  You can take your aggression out on this!  Do not put the liquid from the can in the bowl unless you like really watery salsa.  Save it and add it at the end if you want or use it to marinate some chicken!  Add the diced tomatoes, and chop up some fresh cilantro.  Don't use too much...it will taste like soap if you do.  Add the course salt, pepper, onion power, and garlic powder to taste.  Stir.  Pop in fridge for a few hours.  The longer it sits, the better!  We like to add canned, finely chopped  jalapenos for heat.  Now can anyone tell me how to make that yummy white cheese dip?  Pleeeeeeeease! 

Ahhhh....

That was me breathing a sigh of relief.  Our house in Georgia is under contract.  We are blessed to have buyers who want to close quickly.  Now we can move on.  Anyone want to sell us there house in Mariemont?  We are looking and ready to buy now!        

Matt's first birthday photos...

FINALLY!  (only about a month and a half late).  

Matt's party was a success.  We did a "mini" theme.  All of the food and drinks were mini.  That was a lot of work!  I am not sure that I'll ever do that again!  

I was so excited for Matt to eat his cake.  I was sure that he would dig right in and get it all over himself.  I even removed his shirt in preperation.  I drew an Elmo on the top and he was very excited!  He went to grab it, and messed up Elmo's face.  That scared him and he started to cry.  That was it for the cake!  I ended up with more on my face, and Miller ended up eating it!  At least she enjoyed it.  

We all ended the evening with some playing the back yard of my parents house.  A big fat thank you to my parents for hosting and to Aunt Nicole for taking all of these AMAZING pictures!  The one of Josh chasing Kendall is still my favorite!

Enjoy!

Laundry

This has always been a bad word in my mind, but I never knew I had it so good.  When I was single, I had the washer/dryer right outside my bedroom.  I still managed to complain about doing it.  Huh?  Then I got married and our next house had the laundry on the first floor.  I though that it was so horrible that I had to take the dirty clothes down one whole flight of stairs.  Now I find myself with a child and no washer/dryer.  Yep, that's right.  No washer or dryer here at Doug's new house.  I have to load up the car, and take all of the dirty clothes to my mom and dad's house a few miles away, wait an entertain Matt for hours while we are waiting for it to be done.  What is wrong with this picture?  How is it that when I add more people to my life, my laundry gets farther away?  God, please, please sell my house in Georgia, so that I can purchase one here in Cincinnati and have my very own washer and dryer under my roof.  I promise I will never complain about doing laundry again.  BUT I might complain about the winter weather!      

My Friend, Mr. Internet, is Back!!!!!

I know I haven't posted in a while.  Well, it was because 'Mr. Internet' went on vacation.  But fear not, he came back yesterday!  (This really means that our neighbors got their internet fixed.  Yes, we are borrowing their signal for our temporary stay here).  I promise we will be good and get our own 'Mr. Internet' once we move.  No news on that front.  Our house in GA is still on the market.  Ugh.  I can't even get into it.  I am on the egde of loosing it everyday.  Let's face it, I do loose it about once a day.  Living like this is not easy, and not fun.  And once the weather turns cold, we are screwed.  We have zero cold weather clothes here.  We will have to take a trip down and pick up some things.  And I used to complain about having to switch out our clothes for the different seasons.  Now I have to take a 16 hour round trip car ride with a one year old, just to get clothes.  Pulling stuff out of a big plastic box and hanging it up will no longer seem like such a task!    

I have pictures from Matt's birthday, thanks to his Aunt Nicole.  I will try to post these soon.  I will also try to post some quick funny stories.  

Welcome back, Mr. Internet!  I really did miss you!

Is it wrong that I miss my throw pillows?

As you all know, we are living in Cincinnati with nothing.  Ok, we have clothes and toys.  But all of our stuff is still in Georgia.  It makes me sad to think that we have a house that is filled with our things and total strangers get to see it, but I don't.  I miss my 'things'.  I miss my throw pillows and how they made my bed and my couch look pretty.  I miss my pictures hanging on the walls.  They might not be priceless works of art and mostly from Ikea, but I love them and miss them.   I look at blank walls all day and it makes me sad.  I miss my big Crate and Barrel pasta bowls.  Why doesn't pasta taste the same out of the five small bowls I have here?  I miss our comfy furniture. We only have a small, very old love seat here, and it is the farthest thing from comfy.  How I can't wait to curl up with Josh on our over sized couch again.  I miss Publix (a.k.a. the word's best grocery store).  I'll say that again.  I miss Publix.  I miss the 1 cent sale every week.  I would be so excited to walk through those doors and see what I would get for one little penny.  Oh, and those 'Buy one Get One Free' sales.  I cleaned up with my coupons.  They paid me for so many things.  AND, in true Cheers fashion, they all knew my name there.  And Matt's.  And they always helped us out to the car.  How nice.  Especially with a little one.  BUT none of this can compare to being around family.  I'll see my stuff again someday.  God willing, it will be soon.  And I can get my family settled again.  Life like this is far from easy.  But it is so fun to know that at Matt's first birthday, family will be there.  That just might not have been the case if we were still in Georgia.  God is good.  

What a bust!

Ahhh, a long holiday weekend.  I couldn't wait!  We planned on heading up to to see Josh's family at the last minute (Wednesday night).  I know that they were all looking forward to seeing and playing with Matt.  So, I quickly made a 'to pack' list and a 'to do' list.  Thursday was going to be a crazy day packing us all up and running out to get last minute items.  On top of it all, I had to go buy a laptop for Josh in case he had work to do that weekend.  My apple laptop is not compatible with all his fancy schmancy lawyer files.  (Ugh.)  As Matt was napping in the morning, the freezer made this really long loud noise.  It even woke Matt up.  Of all days for a short nap, this was not the day!  I went up to get Matt came back down just in time to hear the freezer make a noise that closely resembled a screeching car, then a crash.  Then nothing.  Nothing.  Oh, no.  The freezer just died.  Today?  Really?  Not today.   I have too much to do.  Good thing I live close to family so they can help.  I call Doc.  No answer.  I call my mom's cell.  She was just finishing up at the dentist then had to run errands.  But she told me that Doc was home outside with the tree guys (huge tree fell and somehow missed four garages...praise God).  So I pack up all of our freezer stuff, and get it in the car.  All while holding Matt in one arm.  I make my way to my parents house and no Doc.  He left to play golf.  I should not be surprised.  So again, with one arm, I took all of the freezer stuff out of the car and into my parents extra freezer in the basement.  I am sure I don't need to tell you that the errands did not go well, and that the fridge also broke.  FABULOUS.  We were so lucky that there was another fridge in the garage.  Not so lucky that it has been sitting there unplugged for close to two years.  You can imagine the mess.   I plugged it in.  I crossed my fingers.  It turned on!  Whoo! Hoo!  By this time it is late Thursday night and we knew we would have to cancel our trip.  It killed me.   I knew how much everyone wanted to see Matt.  It took us all day to clean the fridge (YUCK!) and move the old one out and the new one in.  Need I remind everyone that this was only the start of the weekend.  

Friday was gone.  Onto Saturday the 4th!  This is the first holiday in two years that we were in Cincy.  The family always gathers for the 4th at mom's or Aunt Marty's.  The day was rainy and cold, but we would be with family that night.  We get to my parents and we are the only ones there.  Everyone else made other plans.  What?  Welcome home, to us.  Sad.  

Sunday morning.  Doc and Gigi were coming to watch Matt so Josh and I can go to Church.  Ahhh.  A little date.  Wrong.  Matt woke up at 4:45am in a mood.  We called off the babysitters.  (Not fair to the grandparents to make them deal with that).   Wow!  He stayed in that horrible mood until he went to sleep.   We still have no idea what was going on.  Nothing we did helped.

And Andy lost in the finals of Wimbledon for the third time.  Poor guy.  He played so well too.  Not fair.  Still very proud of my big brother, Doug!  

  

So, one of the best summer weekends there is, was terrible.  No trip.  No family get togethers.  Lots of work.  No fun.  Is it crazy that I am happy that it is Monday?  Hoping next weekend is better....  

Update

My apologies for those of you who look at my blog and have not seen anything new in quit a while. We have been super busy as many of you know.  We just moved back to Cincinnati two weeks ago.  It was a tough move.  We had to leave the house in Georgia fulling staged because it has not sold yet.  We thought that it would help to sell it faster.   So I had the honor of figuring out what we can live with and live without for an unknown period of time.  Think about that one for a second.  Look around your house and see what you can live without not knowing how long it might be until you can get it all back!  Oh, and everything you need has to be able to fit into three SUVs.  Two of those SUVs are what I like to call "wanna be's", because they are small and want to be a big SUV!  And on top of that, you have a baby who needs so much stuff.  I think I gained 5 lbs with all of the stress.  I was eating candy like it was going out of style.  

BUT, we are here in Cincinnati living in my brother, Doug's, new house with borrowed furniture.  Our decor is a mix between fraternity house and garage sale mixed with lots of colorful plastic toys!  :)  We are so grateful to Doug and his wife, Cori, for loaning us the house that they have not even lived in yet!  They were nice enough to let my other brother and his family live here while they remodeled their new house a few months ago!  I guess that is what family is for.  

Matt is thriving being around family.  He gets to see people everyday besides me!  He loves playing with his cousins, but we can already see the fights developing between he and Miller over toys!  

Matt just turned 11 months and I can hardly believe it!  The big birthday is right around the corner!  I am having fun planing it knowing that family will be here for it!  It won't just be the three of like when we were in Atlanta for so many big occasions.  Matt has been walking.  I am not sure that I am ready for that!  He does prefer to crawl because he is much faster, but I know those days are numbered.  Oh my.

Josh started his job, and is enjoying the new challenges.  He has to wear a suit and tie everyday like a real grown up.  I LOVE it!  He looks so handsome.  I do feel sorry for him, because I am always a mess.  He never gets to see me looking nice!  Maybe I can get back to it after the 'baby years'.  :)  

Happy Fourth of July to all of you, and Happy Birthday USA!  What a great country we live in!

Yum Yum

My little Matt is a great eater.  He especally loves his oatmeal in the mornings.  I found some new cereal and thought that Matt would love it.  He loves all foods!  It looks like a swollen version of Rice Krispies and you just mix it with water.  Aunt Nicole caught the whole thing on camera when he tried ti for the first time.  Needless to say, we haven't tired it since!  But it was worth it just to get these pictures!  

Blah, Blah, Blah

Ok, I know the real reason most of you check this blog.  It is not for my writing, but for the pictures of Matt.  So, here they are.  And for the record, Aunt Linda is still the only Spreen that reads this.  Hello, family!  You are starting to make me mad.  See if I return your phone calls now!  (Oh, and a special shout out to Aunt Nicole for taking this great pictures!).  

So Ugly...

Okay.  My blog is just plain ugly.  How do I get one of those cutes ones, Gina, Jessica and Meghan?   Yours all look so professional.  Mine looks like a third grader did it.  No offense to all the third graders out there.  A little help here. Seriously.  This thing has to go!

The Score and #3...

Looks like I might be right in the fact that not too many people read this, but I am going to keep on blogging.  Maybe there are just people who read, but do not comment.  In any case, I told you all that the Spreen's do not read this.  And I am right!  So the score is Minks-2 and Spreens-1...if you can count my Aunt Linda who is technically a Budelsky, but she was once a Spreen before marriage.  I'll take it.    I guess I can't blame anyone.  I did take an absence from the blogging world for a month.  But I am back on.  For those of you who have not read my previous entries, the next item might not make much sense.  I advise you to read below then come back.  

#3.  Remember when I said I would clarify my third reason for my blogging hiatus?  Well here it is.  I have been busy getting this house ready to be put on the market.  That's right.  We are moving.  We are headed back to Cincinnati this summer.  We could not be more thrilled to be moving back to a place where family is waiting with open arms.  I love them (even if they don't read my stupid blog), and really want Matt to grow up with aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents.   We want him to live in a place where he will have a big yard to run around in, a place where he can walk to elementary, junior and high school, and a place where, well, everyone knows your name.  We are so happy to be MUCH closer to Josh's family too.  Now  we can throw Matt in the car and go see them all.  We hate that we have only gotten to see most of them once since Matt was born.  So, it looks like my little peach will grow up a buckeye and later become a hoosier!  :)  

Josh got a job with  a law firm in Cincinnati and is so excited about the new challenge.  I am so happy for him.  Now comes the really fun part...selling a house.  Boy, is it fun keep a house perfect with Matt!  It will all be worth it soon!  I have to tell myself this daily.  I'll keep everyone posted with the progress.  In mean time, pray that God sends us a buyer soon!

Do I need to change the name of this blog now?!  Buckeyes to Peaches to Buckeyes!?  

Touching Noses 2

While I am at it (and Matt is sleeping), I thought I would post one more story.  A while back, I blogged about Matt 'touching noses'.  For those of you who forget, this is how he shows affection.  It is so sweet.  Lately, when we read him stories, he likes to 'touch noses' with the people on the pages.  How cute, huh?  Here are some pictures of Matt 'touching noses' with Elmo, Mama, Grandpa, and Aunt Nic!

To blog or not to blog...

I haven't blogged in ages, as you have been able to tell.  There are three main reasons for my absence in the blog world...

1.  I have been a little too obsessed with Facebook.  Seriously.  It has sucked me in.  I resisted for as long as I could but I finally caved.  Wrong move.  Now every time I am on the computer, Josh asks me "Are you social networking?".  The answer is always "yes".  Yikes.  I need help.

2.  I am not really sure that anyone reads this (except for you, Gina).  Does anyone read this?  I know the Spreen family never does.  Thanks, guys.  I set this up this up, so that you call can keep up to date with what we are doing.  Are you reading or not?

3.  I'll explain this one later when I can.  

So, I guess I'll just post some pictures until I know that you all are reading and until I can fully explain #3.  (I promise, I will).  Josh's family came this past weekend for a visit and his sister took more pics!  All I wanted for Mother's Day was a good pic of Matt and I.  I feel as though I am always behind the camera.  I have a zillion pictures of Matt and Josh!  She got some really good pics.  Here are a bunch of them.  Enjoy!

We love spring!

What is not to love...eating outside, playing outside, the sunshine, windows open, March Madness!  The sun makes me so energetic!  I feel so much better when it is warmer.  Can you say seasonal depression?!  I really think I might have it.  Yikes.  

Anyway, here are some fun springtime pictures.  The first ones are of Matt and his cousins Miller (1) and Kendall (4) in the wagon.   At first Matt held on for dear life, but by the end he was loving it, and holding on with only one hand!  hahaha  The next couple of pictures are from today.  Matt and I had lunch outside (yippie!), and we played on the grass for a while.  Matt  is wearing his IU t-shirt to morn the fact that the Hoosiers are not in the 'big dance' today.  How sad.  

Matt smells like yummy outside air and baby sunscreen, and is fast asleep in his crib!  :) 

Saturday Night Fun!

Since Josh and I have zero babysitters here in Atlanta, we have to have date nights here at home after Matt goes to sleep.  And yes, he is sleeping in his crib now!  So, I planned a little date night for Josh and I, and I was so excited.  Matt started to feel a little sick in the afternoon, and I thought that it was just another cold.  As the day went on, it got worse and worse.  It was so bad that I had to call the free nurses hotline, otherwise known as 'The I am a first time mom and have no idea what to do" hotline.  I thought that the nurse would give us some helpful tips to make Matt feel better, instead, she listened to his breathing through the phone and told us to go straight to the hospital.  OK, scary.   Matt is fine now.  He has Croup.  He was given a 72 hour steroid that made him so hyper!  It is really funny to see your 7 month old scurrying around playing with every toy, and loving being up at midnight!  He was crawling so fast on those steroids!  So much for my romantic date night with my husband and all of that planning! Now we just have to make it through the next few days with Mr. Crab-a-soris until he feels like his usual self.  

Touching Noses

Thanks to Uncle Greg, Matt now loves to "touch noses" with those he loves.  Greg started this with him at Christmas, then again while we were home for Doug's wedding.  Last week when Aunt Nicole, Grandma and Grandpa (Josh's parents) came to visit, Matt showered them with nose touches!  Now when we say, "Touch Noses" he leans in, and touches his nose to yours.  I think it is his way of showing affection.  It is too cute!  Thanks Greg!

Congrats Cori and Doug!

Yep, the rumors are true.  Doug Spreen actually got married!  Josh , Matt and I headed up to Cincy this past weekend to be at the wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding on a beautiful day.  All along I was hoping for one of those freak warm days in the middle winter, and we got it!  It was 55 and sunny!  

I wish I had better pictures, but we were so busy with Matt that we didn't have time to take many!  Both of my boys looked so handsome in their ties.  When I get better pics, I will post them.  I know the phtographers had a field day with Matt in his tie!

Josh was an amazing dad!  I was busy running around doing wedding stuff, and he took great care of Matt!  I could not have done it without him.  Thanks, babe!  I love you!!!!!!!     

My Favorite Day of the Year!

Nope, not my wedding day, not Christmas, not my birthday, and not Matt's birthday.  Today is the day I met Josh...my very favorite day of the year.   Just three short years ago, we met on a cold night in Cincinnati at a political fundraiser.  In those three years we: met, got enganged, got married, sold a house, bought house, moved to a new city, started new jobs, had a baby, welcomed a new neice and a new sister-in-law in the family, run a marathon (Josh, of course, I will never do that.), passed ANOTHER bar exam (again, Josh).  Crazy, huh? 

I love Josh more than I ever knew was capable.   He is an amazing friend, husband, and father.  I am truly blessed.  

Family...

For weeks now, I have been trying to put into words just how wonderful it was to be with family over the holidays, but I can't.  We were blessed enough to get to spend several days with both Josh's family and my own.  Matt got to meet two sets of great grandparents on Josh's side.  How cool is that?   It made me smile to see four generations together, but at the same time it was bittersweet.  I wish with all of my heart that my grandparents could hold Matt and kiss his little cheeks.  I just know that my Mema would love to spoil him.    Since I cannot put it into words, I will let the pictures tell the story.  It was great to see everyone!  We hope to see you all soon, and we miss you all more than you know!

Again!

I thought that Matt falling asleep in his jumper was a once shot deal.  Nope.  At 6pm the other night, Josh was talking on the phone sitting in front of Matt, and the head bobbing started!  I was laughing so hard.  And what was the first thing I did?  Grabbed Matt?  No!  Grabbed the camera?  You bet!  Who needs a crib when you have a jumper, right?  Just kidding, Doc!  We really are working on sleeping in the crib!  Enjoy the pics!   

I feel like a jerk...

Here I am complaining in my blog about Matt and his lack of sleep/sleep issues.  In reality, we have zero problems.  So what if Matt is not sleeping in his crib?  He is healthy and I have God to thank for that.  My dear friend Gina is back at the hospital with little Lilah.  They need your prayers.  When Lilah swallows, she is getting food in her lungs.  To fix this problem, Lilah will be having surgery next week to have a permanent gastric tube inserted into her stomach.  This was something that Paul and Gina wanted to avoid, but the good news is that Lilah has been sparred any major illness from the food getting into her lungs thus far.  Thank God.  Please pray for God's protection over Lilah, the wisdom for her nurses and doctors, and strength for Paul and Gina as they have yet another mountain to climb with their precious little girl.  Thank you.

Tears, Tears, and more Tears...

So there has been a lot of crying in our household lately.  Poor Matt has been working on his first tooth for weeks now.  Saturday night it made it's appearance.  Josh and I made it through Matt's first tooth.  What a long and rough ride that was!  How many more teeth to go?!   Yikes.  He was so much better on Sunday, but the poor little man has no idea how much more crying he will be doing this week.  I am going to get him to sleep in his crib starting today!  I am sure there will be tears from both Matt and I.  BUT Josh and I are beyond ready to get him back to sleeping where he should be!  So say a little prayer for us!  I think it will be a long, rough week!  

Jump! Jump! Jump!

We finally got Matt an activity center with a seat that he can jump in.  We thought that he would just love it since he is perpetual motion!  Josh put it together as Matt watched and watched this colorful thing take shape.  Once it was all put together, we put Matt in it, and he LOVED it!  It made us so happy.  He has a ball every time he is in it.  Fast forward ten days to last night.  Matt woke up and would not go back to sleep, so I brought him downstairs so Josh could sleep.  No sense in all three of us not sleeping!  After two hours of trying everything to get Matt to fall back asleep, I gave up and put him in his new favorite toy to play.  The kid jumped and jumped and jumped.  This went on for an hour!  By now it is 3am.  I decided to catch up on some emails while I listened to him jump.  I looked up a while later to find him alseep in the thing!  His sweet little face was resting on the plastic in front of him!   And back to bed the two of us went!  :)

Bad Blogger, Bad Blogger

I know!  It has been forever.  I will not bore you with all of the details, but all I can say is that I never knew the holidays would be this crazy with a little one.  Short recap...

1.  Shopped for and made Thanksgiving dinner!  (Well, all but the pies because I could never make ones as good as Josh's mom!)

2.  Bought and wrapped all of the family Christmas gifts, traveled to Ohio (Cincinnati and Warren), and visited with family for two weeks.  

Now I am in the middle of mounds of laundry and lots of stuff to put away.  Who dropped the bomb on my house?  Yikes!  I'll be cleaning for weeks...

In the mean time, I know some of you would like to see some new pics.  My very talented sister-in-law (who happens to be a professional photographer) took some great shots while we were home.  Thanks again, Nic!  And if any of you want to use her services, just let me know.  She will travel to you!    Here are some of them...