Guess who said it.

"Oh great! I can cross two things off my list tonight ... (describes a single list item)... it was on there twice."

"I don't like that wedding dress at all. It just looks like a white tank top with a skirt attached."

"What am I three? Why are you writing down the things I say?"

Where to begin? (November)

It has been at least two months...no, more...since I really, really REALLY updated. Am I even capable of catching up at this point? I guess I'll only know if I try.

November

Quick trip to New Hampshire with some friends and some outdoor activities (I love "unseasonably warm" and "November" in the same sentence).

Playing like she is an angel.

When in fact these two screamed the entire way up.
Can you say "I'm not kidding - I'm going to turn this car around."

Poor Meggie - I forgot to pack her a coat.

Tessa is multi-tasking on a Nap/Hike.

Oh yes, and Thanksgiving - the last we'll have with our "family" Dusty, Crystal and Avery. We've eaten every Thanksgiving and Easter dinner with them for at least 4 years. Sniff.

What is a post about Fall in New England without the requisite foliage picture?

Doh!

Aaron at times is incredibly thoughtful. He says just the right thing at just the right time.

But hey, no one is perfect...

Raise your hand if you've ever had a question that is sort of blunt, but you craft your words in a way to make it sound benign and innocent (ie - Did you get a face lift!? vs. Wow, you are really looking good, do you have any tips?)

This is not what Aaron did.

A former member of our congregation was visiting from Utah, and Aaron's question was meant to ask if our friend's new ward had much diversity - But he cut straight to the chase with this:

"So, are all the people in your ward rich like you?"

Halloween

I'm just going to forgo internet anonymity and brag about living in the town that is the 3rd best place in the U.S. to celebrate Halloween (behind San Fransisco and city I've forgotten). You see, while other people (100,000 - I'm serious) are schlepping around in polyester costumes, looking for parking, wondering where to eat, etc. I LIVE HERE. I have a place to park, I have a legitimate right to trick-or-treating on a street with significant architectural history (i.e. the MANSIONS of federal era ship captains!), and I know that hands down "Passage to India" is THE place to eat.

But enough about how cool I am. I know that the real reason you are here is to see pictures of the girls.

Halloween in my town starts off with a Halloween parade on the first Thursday of the month. Tessa's costume was a work in progress the whole month. For the parade she had her fairy skirt to wear.

Meg's costume, a craigslist special, was much easier and oh so snuggly.

AUGH! Slap me. This kid is so cute!

Daddy is a butterfly (and fairy) hunter. He bagged a big one Saturday night.

When it came down to the ACTUAL trick or treat night (as opposed to the downtown retailers trick or treating, or the ward trunk or treating) Tessa was ready and Boo-yah! Look at that load of candy she collected.

Topsfield Fair Rides

Does this make you dizzy? (Or bizzy, as Tessa says.)

Lunchtime.

Crazy times on the crazy bus.

The all time winner, "pink horses".

A Glimpse: Funny things Aaron says

Aaron, absent-mindedly yet completely seriously, to coworker:
Hey D**, wanna catch the choo-choo with me?

Coworker (with daughters): Sure.

Coworker listening in (no kids): (insert laughter and ridicule)

Picture Catch-up - part 1 of ?

Imagine that the mp3 player is a Walkman and just outside the frame she has knee high socks and sneakers on...you know you dressed like this in the not too distant past...probably while you watched Labryinth...

Self timed family photo - always a winner.

3rd Annual U** Family July Wagamama Lunch

Right now 95 % of you are asking "What? What? What is Wagamama?" Its a yummy international noodle chain with a restaurant in Boston. We first went to in London in 2006. Then they opened their first US store in Boston July 2007. We took Tessa there on one of her first big outings.


For some reason we went again in July 2008 (I think to celebrate Aaron's offices switch to summer hours - it doesn't take much to warrant a celebratory lunch around here).


This year we went on July 1st. Aaron, always the romantic, invited me to come into eat lunch on the 9th anniversary of our first date. We were also celebrating his LEED accreditation (if you are asking "What? What? What is LEED?" then you missed this long and detailed post). As you can tell from the picture we had other people with us (hi Nicole(also LEED AP), Jenny and Josie) , which is why Mommy gets to make a cameo in the picture. Sadly this picture was taken inside because of the incessant rain.


There, did you see what I did just now? I blogged about this, thereby firmly embedding this outing into U** family tradition. I'm gonna go ahead and put this standing date on my calendar for next year.

And speaking of expectations - Josie...Candy?

LEED AP

As of this morning Aaron has a title, you may now address him as

Aaron U**, LEED AP

CONGRATULATIONS!!

This means that he knows all there is to know about "green" building practices and so people will pay him oodles to design their buildings. At least that's what I'm hoping. I actually was able to utilize his vast knowledge last night when I was writing a newsletter article for work, but he hasn't billed me yet, so I don't know how drastically his fees will be increasing.

A match made in ...

A few months ago: (I don't care to know the exact date, it would just make me sigh louder) Aaron took the bathroom sink off the wall - and it hasn't worked since.

This week: He finally replaced the tiny little piece that needed to be fixed to get it working again.

An hour ago: I slipped into a nice little "baby on your chest after nursing" doze and when I woke up I was informed that Aaron got that gouge on his nose (which luckily for me was not still spilling blood down his face when I saw it) while trying to reconnect the kitchen sink sprayer and that it was broken.

"Your nose?"

"No, the sink."

"That's okay, it hasn't worked in 2 years."

"No, not just the sprayer...the whole sink doesn't work."

All of this happened in twenty minutes and less than 20 feet from where I was sleeping.

"Don't worry though, I cleared a path to the bathroom sink* so use that until I get back from H--- D----.**"

Sigh...

I grumble about the house, wishing we would just order pizza for dinner to save me the hard labor of frying up already formed hamburger patties***. But I bite the frugal bullet and decide to get everything ready to eat the minute the intrepid remodeler and his bubbly little sidekick return from the store.

Eight minutes later: The microwave beeps that the thaw cycle is done...a few reminder beeps go by and I head into the kitchen. I open the door. No hamburger. Did I take it out already? I look again. And again. And finally I find the hamburger, in a bowl, next to the window. And having never made it into the microwave at all they are of course, still frozen.

I'm really just worried about the children.

---***---

*We hadn't been using the long awaited bathroom sink because there was construction debris blocking the way, and because dirty doesn't come near describing its condition.

** I have grown to loath this particular construction supply store and would rather not mention its name in entirety.

***Edited to add: It turns out that having to use the bathroom sink while cooking makes for a pretty inefficient work triangle.

Edited once again with this update: The kitchen sink was fixed within two hours of this post. This means that I am now blessed with TWO working sinks...can you imagine?

Cupcakes are like snow

Just like you shouldn't eat yellow snow, you should also beware of yellow cupcakes. Someone might have pee'd in them. Or in the case of Aaron's cupcake last night - put peas (the green vegetable) in them. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

It started out a bit more elaborate than that. Alicia and I (okay, just Alicia) was going to make cupcakes and then make one single meatloaf cupcake and frost it with mashed potatoes and give it to Aaron for desert. Turns out that was going to be complicated, for a number of reasons, so we decided to frost a regular cupcake with mashed potatoes.

At the last minute we also added green peas to the cupcake batter (just one cupcake) and it was a good thing we did. Because turns out the consistency of mashed potatoes and frosting aren't really the same, and I put too much food coloring in the potatoes so it just wasn't going to be believable. However Aaron had no doubt heard the incessant giggling between Alicia and I and would suspect something was up.

So we pretended to get "caught" putting the mashed potato frosting on a (non pea) cupcake and then feed him the pea cupcake with regular frosting. He "caught" us and our plan worked perfectly. "Oh dang" we said, "you are too fast for us." Then he proceeded to pick out three of the cupcakes - NONE OF WHICH WAS THE PEA CAKE that we had artfully displayed front and center. Grrrr...

So I did what any self respecting wife would do. I stole one of his cakes right in front of him and popped it in my mouth - then I feigned remorse and went to get him a new one. He He he. Ooooh, I am so sneaky.

Two bites in he sees the peas and Alicia and I snickered. THEN HE FINISHED THE CUPCAKE - which, after a day of anticipation was simply too much for us and we hit the ground laughing.

Poor Aaron, no one likes to be the brunt of a joke perpetuated by two other people. But hey, it was April Fools with Connell girls in the house so what was he expecting?

Delicate Genius

Things are going pretty well for Aaron. Two Sundays in a row he won Settlers of Catan and is thus the reigning "Lord of Catan." (Go ahead, call him that, he'll revel in it). You'd think that it couldn't get better but wait - he also passed the 5th of his Architectural Registration Exams. If you are keeping track that means (only) four more to go.

Lets evaluate what Aaron has going on in his life.

Work.
Church volunteer work.
Studying for at least two exams (LEED and next ARE).
Wife on bed rest = more housekeeping, cooking and childcare than usual.
Bathroom reconstruction.

Hum...am I missing something? Probably.

So pretty much he's Superman. Rock on.

The reason for the 7 year itch

This year I've really noticed that all the stuff we got for our wedding is...old. I think this may be why couples experience the seven year itch. All the irons/towels/frying pans that symbolize their happy union are broken/dingy/peeling - leading inevitably to dissatisfaction.

Case in point - (or case and point...not sure which it is) - behold the very last of the beautiful glasses we were given seven (almost eight) years ago...


It was one of eight but one by one they were knocked off (quite literally) leaving just this little guy. We drank from him for a long time even though he had a short little crack down the side. And just a few days ago (after drinking milk, that is why he looks so dingy) I noticed the crack had extended all the way around and now connected to itself. Somehow it had not broken - but I decided to just put him out of his misery and tossed him.

But - don't you fear. You see we are in our eighth year of marriage, with the 9th just around the corner, and as such have mastered all there is too know about teamwork and cooperation.

Case in/and point -

One of my year long goals is to be organized, and I had broken this down into a monthly goal for January of having the dishes done each night before bed.

If you've ever lived with me you'll know that this goal is HUGE and I was going pretty well with it...then bedrest hit and I thought that goal would go out the window.

Enter my eternal companion, who knew about my goal (it would have been hard not to notice the drastic reduction in kitchen clutter). He stepped up and as a team, I feel like we accomplished this goal.

Okay - yes, DUMB little thing, but if he hadn't done that it would have been another goal I had that I failed to accomplish. And having something in the "I accomplished this" catagory means a lot to me.

So thank you honey!

How old is too old to have Pizza on your Birthday?

On Monday night I was reading a book about Labor and Delivery (you know, practicing my hee, hee, hoo's) - the first I've done this pregnancy. As we were getting ready for bed Aaron said something about the next day being my birthday and I thought/said "How funny, 29 years ago my mom was DOING what I was READING about tonight."

I was (and still am) sick on my birthday, which only meant that I didn't get to take Tessa to her Early Intervention Toddler group. Actually that is sad because it is nice to get out of the house and she is getting so brave with the other kids. It also meant that I didn't want to go to Cheesecake Factory for dessert (as I look back I find that rather shocking). My main reason was that I'd still have to make dinner which would mean going to the grocery store, one of my least favorite "chores."

Instead, while I dozed in bed Aaron ordered pizza. When I'm pregnant - I consider pizza to be the ultimate food choice. Carbs, veggies and protein (and a little bit of fat thrown in). And of course we had a yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting - my all time favorite cake combo.

Tessa hasn't really acted sick yet, but she did have pink eye earlier this week. Putting that ointment in her eye has been one of the worst things I've had to do for her. It worked twice to put it in her eye while she was sleeping, then she caught on and started shaking her head at me in her sleep everytime I'd get her out of her crib. So sad. Finally on Tuesday (birthday day) I just bit the bullet and put it in her eye before her nap - I figured waking up to the person you trust most in the world torturing you must be wretched. After I finished some work I decided to take a nap and moved Tessa to our bed to snooze with me. I woke up with a tickle in my throat - reached for some water - it slipped out of my hand and dumped all over the sweetie pie sleeping next to me.

I really hate those stupid cups, they are plastic and blue and too big for my hands. Obviously. Later that night, after I opened my presents (and got a manicure from Aaron... I KNOW!) I spilled the cup again, this time in my lap. (I'll refrain from a lame joke about having a drinking problem).

Now, just to clarify - I had a great birthday. Aaron was so sweet and nice and I just felt happy* and loved when I went to bed, and you can't ask for more that.

*in addition to damp, coughy, stuffy & achy

Old School Christmas Tree

According to old Hollywood movies people used to get and decorate their Christmas trees on Christmas Eve, or sometimes Santa himself would deliver it. How magical.

I personally prefer to have the tree up the whole month of December; however, in our life, things rarely go according to plan (someday I'll explain our family motto of "Completely Unprepared for Absolutely Everything"). So, its not really to surprising that being out of town in the beginning of December threw everything off. Add to that a big snow storm this past weekend and we found ourselves out on Christmas Eve looking for a Christmas tree.

The only "real" place (i.e. a plant nursery/tree lot) that still had trees was selling $80.00 trees for 40% off...I'm sorry, not a good enough deal for the Udys! So what if they were beautiful, they still shoud have been $20.00 - IMHO. So we finally gave in and headed to Wal-mart (not even the nice one in the next town over, but the trashy one down the street from us) for the tiny trees I'd seen leaning against the building for $10.00. And lo, they had been further discounted to...

...wait for it...

...$5.00!!

A Christmas miracle. (Okay - don't worry, we aren't that poor, we were planning to spend a lot more than that but still - FIVE DOLLARS! You can't loose!)

Before - Aaron is trying to put on a "poor me" face next to our shrimpy tree.

As you can see, it turned out wonderfully and I loved the idea that Tessa would wake up to a Christmas tree, lights, decorations AND presents. Yeah!

After - LOVE IT!

More proof he's paying attention

On Tuesday night I saw Twilight.

I went with some girlfriends, which was good since Aaron may not have appreciated the 13-year-old-like giggling that was happening in the theater (not from me though...of course not).

When I got home that night I was on a sexy-seventeen-year-old-vampire-induced-high (yikes, I know, creapy). Aaron was waiting with his lips puckered - however the high could not cover up the need I had to visit the ladies room (16 oz. of soda) so I had put his kiss on hold. When I came back in the room he puckered up again and when I kissed him his lips were ice cold.


Apparently he had remembered this blog* I had him read...remembered and applied...good job honey. Good job.

I included this a the most recent pic I have of him - the cat has nothing to do with it...but he's cute.

*The blog I linked to is really long, so in summary, if you want your Edward infatuated wife to fall head over heals for YOU try, among other things, sucking on an ice cube before kissing her.

Desire

Friday night, after Tessa had gone to bed I was quite flattered when Aaron leaned over to me and whispered

"I want you.

Then he continued with

"To take a picture of this meal I made and post it on your blog.

Don't worry, I wasn't too disappointed because the meal he MADE was WONDERFUL.



P.S. Christin - The fish came from Haymarket, which means I actually remembered to ask Aaron to pick some stuff up! Yeah me!

October Side Note - Major Clue #4

Here is a picture of the whole family in costume, under the glare of the always flattering fluorescent lights.

Just in case you don't get it Aaron is a baker and I am an oven.

Get it...Get it...?

Cause a lot of people at the party didn't.
"Oh I get it, he's a chef and you're a microwave..."

Of course you all have the benefit of 3 previous clues...and above average intelligence.

I was afraid that this costume/announcement would be bordering on tacky (and who knows, perhaps it was), but so many people didn't get it that it ended up being rather clever*.


*Since I'm now addicted to using asterisks you should check out this funny post about Halloween costumes on the blog "Stuff White People Like" ...

October Fun - Part 1

"Have you been to the Fair?" In how many towns across the country do you hear that question? I guess despite our incredible sophistication there is something inherent in our make-up that draws us the the wholesome goodness of the fair.

Well, goodness, except for the occasional shyster that tries to steal $10 from an innocent passerby/patron by using the ol' "Oh no, you only gave me a $10" trick. Luckily for this innocent passerby (you know of whom I speak) his wife was there to, in her sweetest, nicest voice demand the correct change back. Close one...that almost obliterated all possible enjoyment our day at the fair.

Other than fair food (you know in all actuality the "going rate" for fair food itself is a bit of a con act) our main goal in going to the fair was to show Tessa the animals in the petting zoo.

She was completely put off but the rooster who pecked at daddy's hand. But the bigger animals were okay by her and she tried to pat each one.



We forgot to go back and get a picture of Tessa next to the giant pumpkin. Obese veggies are apparently a fair favorite. But we did get to ride on a school bus which billed itself as a "shuttle" from an "economy" parking lot at the highschool. This picture, and the one with Tessa pushing the stroller show exactly how thrilled she was by the time we ended up leaving. We are lucky that when she gets overwhelmed it exhibits itself in out of control silliness instead of a more standard grumpiness.





Here are two pictures of the garden exhibit. The "greener" one is for my dad...this tree is really cool and the layout was very peace inspiring. I think would look great in an indoor pond (I have more pics if you are interested)...



And here is my attempt to copy a photo layout that Alicia did when we were in Palmyra...Alicia, how come you never posted the original pic on your blog?



And now moving a little into random territory:

We went to the Fair on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend. On Monday Aaron went to work but invited us into the City to go to lunch with him and some co-workers. I was pretty much in heaven after getting to play all day Saturday and THEN have a lunch date on Monday. That afternoon Tessa and I played in the backyard - I took pics because her coat is sooo cute!







Tessa is such a good example - one day a few weeks ago she spend most of the morning reading an Ensign magazine.



And finally - we feel it is our duty as good parents and design professionals to teach our daughter that sometimes you have to pay good money for good art. Here she is handing over the plastic in exchange for "Tower of Learning" by A. Udy.

Lucky in love

This picture is not an uncommon one at our house. Am I enforcing bad behavior by letting Tessa pull the DVDs out of the cabinet? I don't really know, but it doesn't seem like it is worth the hassle to STOP her since it is not going to ruin the carpet, or hurt her, and frankly, if one of the DVDs gets ruined, well we probably won't ever watch it again anyway.


But wait...what is this...


Did my 18 month old STACK all of those DVDs gently next to the chest? I can assure you she did not!

I think the culprit can be quickly identified. If it wasn't Tessa, me, or Quincy - the logical, yet alarming conclusion is that it was the 31-year old male member of the family, who obviously thought if it was okay for the not yet 2 year old to do it, then it was okay for him. (I mean sometimes you just CAN NOT find anything to watch...and then you are expected to clean up after yourself!?)

Anyway - it is kind of petty for me to post this considering it happened a few weekends ago and he did (eventually) clean it up. And it is beyond petty when you find out that last night he spent all evening doing a deep clean of the living room in preparation for the 3 weeks of visitors we'll be having for the rest of this month. I have to say, it looks a-MAZ-ing!

While he was cleaning he found a note...written to me on 4/21/1994. It was unsigned and I don't recognize the handwritting from 14 years in my past (YIKES I'M OLD!) It was a chain letter that I was to "copy word for word and give it to 7 (double underline) girls in 4 (another double underline) days. Remember No (double underline) boys." Then on the "4th day drink a glass of milk and say a guy's name 5 (you guessed it, double underline) times." If I did this he would ask me out within 6 days, but if not I would have bad luck in love foRevEr!

Do you remember the part of this post when Aaron spent all evening cleaning the living room? I guess we can surmise that, although I didn't have a date invitation when I was 14, I must have followed the instructions because that doesn't sound like bad luck at all!