Thursday, March 31, 2011

New York

So I've abandoned the 30 day challenge. This is how I figure-if you don't already know what makes me so amazing, or where I've been, or who my celebrity crush is, then you may have no business reading up on my blog. Oh, but still read it. I'll let slide a lil secret every once in a while. SO-like forever ago we got to go to New York. With kids. It was actually really fun, but definitely different. New York does not take kindly to double strollers. But it was really fun because we got to do things that we've never done to keep the kids interested. Alex was already in Albany working, so the kids and I flew out with my parents because I never travel without an entourage. Here's what happened.
We went to the Natural History Museum-you know, the one where Night at the Museum was supposedly filmed. I say supposedly because it is nothing like the movie. I mean, no way did they film any of it there. They don't even have diorama rooms. But it was still fun to see-and Tessa loved it for about 20 minutes
This is where they put all the dinos. Stone would have freaked. Fun fact: if you watched Top Chef All Stars this season (go Richard Blaze) This is where they filmed the one challenge that they did Carnivores v Omnivores. And this is literally, the only picture of the whole trip with Alex in it. Literally.
Sully and Grandpa Ted. Or as I call him-My dad, Ted. Cutest hat, right?
And Tessa with Grandma Linda. This may have been the one time Tessa was actually nice to my mom. Seriously-we had to have several talks after about how we treat the people we love.
This was in the Hall of Africa. It was more of a wing. But I have no clue why Tessa is so pissed off about the ostriches. She's just cannot believe her eyes in this picture. I totally knocked over a 2 year old in here too. Fun Fact. And Sully loved it.
My mom loves taking pictures like these. There was one other one, but I can't remember what it said, and it was with her camera. But the funny part about this is that this was our third attempt to get my dad to do something funny....bless his heart, right?
Tessa looks super awesome in this. So I added it.
On one of the floors they have a whole observatory area that looks onto Central Park, which was cool. But I hate taking pictures of scenery without having a subject in it, so I don't let Alex take those kinds of pictures. So this is what we got.
This is that guy from Night at the Museum. Tessa kept calling him Dum Dum. But I think that's what he called Ben Stiller. She was happy to find it, because it took forever!
Their first ride on a Subway. I'm not sure what my face is, but it's probably something to do with something Tessa said or did...she's a character.

So after that we went to the American Girl store. I've never been to one of them, so I had no idea what to expect. We got zero pictures, so let me just paint one for you. Imagine if you will, a 3 story building. The first floor, the walls are lined with dolls-dolls with blonde hair, dolls with red hair. Some have freckles, some have buck teeth (no joke). Hundreds of dolls. Then, they have walls just for the clothes. Soccer uniforms, wedding dresses, ski outfits-you name it, they had it. Then you take the escalator to the second floor, where you can pick from American Girls Throughout History-those are the ones that have books with them. But they have full on giant display cases full of at least 20 of the same doll in different outfits. THEN, on the third floor is the hair salon-for dolls. And an ear piercing station. And the pet center. Oh, and in the bathrooms, there was a little shelf in every stall to place your doll while you do your thing. And one by the sinks, while you wash your hands. It was every father's worst nightmare. Especially Alex, who can't say no to Tessa even if his life depended on it. So, hundreds of dollars later, we left. And wanna know where that American Girl doll is now?
So do I.
Tessa with Julie. Or Katie. Her name changed a few times. She had to have her-she seriously had a tantrum and a half to get it. And of course, she got it. I blame myself. I was once an owner of an American Girl.

We also went to Time Square to get tickets for a Broadway show-we ended up seeing Addams Family with Nathan Lane. It was awesome to see Nathan Lane, but the show was not the best. It had some good stuff, but I don't need to see it again. We don't have any pictures, but I do have some commemorative cups if you want to come over and see those. We also visited the M&M Factory for the kiddos. Tessa was indifferent to it until she saw all of the pink ones. Then we spent more money.
Tessa and her friend Baylee. We met up with some friends there, so we got to hang out with them most of the time-I didn't want people to be confused as to why I have a picture of Tessa with a friend, so that was my explanation.
Tessa in Time Square. I have one of Sullivan too.
Here it is. He's bundled.
We spent some time in SoHo where there is an awesome Scholastic book store-like seriously awesome. The only bad thing was it was pouring rain that day-like downpour, so that was the only place we ended up going all day.
Tessa reading on the dinosaur tail. Again, Stone would have flipped. (Explanation: My nephew loves dinosaurs. Seriously, he can tell you the name of any dinosaur. And not just the easy ones. He knows what a dipthiomologist is.)
My brother flew in one of the nights and we got to go to dinner with him, but again, no pictures. He knows he was there. It was a super fun trip, especially since everything we did was new to us. And my parents were there, which always makes traveling with the kids easier.
Ugh, too cute to leave out.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Days 16 and 17

Wow, this is taking way longer than 30 days, huh? Well I'm gonna keep at it....I'm half way through. I have so much more stuff to blog about after this. I went to New York, Lady Gaga, and St. George, but you can't know about any of that because of this stupid blog challenge thing. So as soon as day 30 is done, expect a hurricane. It'll probably be sometime in May at the rate I'm going...
Day 16-Something You Are Looking Forward To
Um. Day 30 of this blog challenge, anyone? JK. I'm looking forward to April 7, which is only 1 week away sort of! Why, you might ask? Well because April 7, 2005, this magical thing happened...
My First Kiss.
Ha. Just kidding. You all have to know I was pretty slutty in my younger days, so this was most definitely not my first kiss. BUT, April 7th is my 6 year anniversary. And I'm looking forward to it for sure. Since our first anniversary Alex always tells me we aren't going to do anything big, because he doesn't want to set any precedent.
Year 2 we went to New York.
Year 3 we went to a scary movie. (awesome)
Year 4 we went to Washington DC
Year 5 we went to NYC-again.
So doing good on the no precedent thing. So this year Alex was all hush hush about what we were going to do, then he decided he would tell me after I had a melt down about not being skinny...seriously, that's the truth. I'm really vain. Anyway, Alex planned an awesome anniversary. We are going to Park City to stay at the Waldorf Astoria-check it out, it's incredible. There are some perks to only having a weekend husband...it means he gets points that pay for hotels that we would never ever ever be able to afford. We are also going to eat at some awesome restaurant up there. I can't remember what it's called, and Alex isn't here right now so I can't ask him.
And I'm pretty sure he's getting me a karaoke machine. Or he'd better be, since I've asked for one every day for the past 3 months. Literally, every day. And I don't just ask, I sing for it. And then I say, "see, if I could get a karaoke machine, I wouldn't have to sing random things, I could sing actual songs." I'm pretty sure he loves it.

Day 17-Favorite Book
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I love this book-it makes me cry every time I read it, which I try to do every so often. AND, if Sullivan had been a girl, his name would have been Harper. So next girl we have, that's her name. Bet on it. Read this book. I've never heard of a person that doesn't like it.

Monday, March 21, 2011

I'm Skipping Day 14

So I'm skipping day 14 because I don't wear any make up...ha ha-you think this look just happens?! Well it doesn't. I just don't want to take a picture of my make up bag. It's pretty full, trust me. It takes a lot to look this good. Onto the next day!!

Day 15- My Family
OMG. Have you ever heard of my family? Well if you know me, you should know I have the most awesome family in the world. Not even kidding. And I'm not just talking about The Madsen half. I'm talking about the Osborne half as well. I seriously have the most awesome in-law family ever. Whenever I have friends talk to me about their crazy mother in law or their crazy siblings in law, I just smile and nod since I don't have any crazies. Sorry if you are jealous... But you should be. Alex most likely also feels the same way since my family is amazing too.
So here is the Madsen Family. My mom always makes us dress up the same for family pictures. It is always a blast. Don't you want to be part of this family? We're delightful.
And the Osborne Family. The only downfall of these guys is that they like outdoorsy things...it's really opened me up to a lot of dirt and water...Just Kidding. I'm still not open to any of those things. Don't mind the picture-we were hiking. And my baby was only like 3 months old, so I look horrific still.
But really-I have the best family. And they can probably beat up your family...unless you are in my family. Then it could get awkward.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Days 12 and 13

Day 12- A photo of you taken 10 years ago
I actually don't have any pictures of me taken ten years ago-so this one was taken 7 years ago. All my older pictures are at my mom's house, and I don't know how to scan things. This was when Alex and I were dating and we went to a football game where his little sister was dancing. I used to get my nails done...then I realized I'm not a real housewife...or from Jersey. JK. Nails are fun, I just stopped biting mine so I don't have to get fake ones anymore. Can't you tell how in love we are? What happened? JK-we're still in love.

Day 13-Something You're Afraid Of
So before I had my children it was spiders. Then Tessa decided she wasn't afraid of them, so she just stomps the crap out of them when she sees them. So really I have no fear. Jealous?
No but for reals, watching little kids swim freaks me out-thanks to my nephew-he was in a floaty thing in Myrtle Beach last year and flipped over in the pool and couldn't flip back over, which caused an 8 months pregnant Chelsea to sprint through the pool to flip him over, then immediately I started sobbing...I still can't think about it without crying a little. I just feel tense the whole time because something might happen to them! Alex once told me to calm down. That was about 2 minutes before Tessa fell into the pool and my sister in law had to jump in and save her since Tessa couldn't swim yet. So you calm down, Alex.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Days 10 and 11

Day 10-People I Love
Well. If you know me, then you know I love me some people. JK. I really tend to not like a lot of people, but it's cool. It's part of my charm. So this is a small list...
Ugh-who doesn't love these two? I know I do. They are the best-seriously, even though Tessa has major attitude most of the time, I love her. She says some funny crap. And I love this little boy. Even if he's going to have red hair...jk, the red hair genes in Alex's family are really pretty, so it's totally cool. I love these kids. HAHAHAHAHAHA. You all know I love this picture. Maybe even more than this guy. Seriously, Alex is the best. We both have been feeling super sick this week on account of my diseased baby gave us colds, and even though he feels like crap he's been taking care of the kids and the house and everything while I sit here. Seriously. He's the best.
And it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I love me some sisters. We're totally like the Kardashians. Except I'm not Rob. Or Armenian. This picture was when I gave birth to Sullivan, and they both dressed really cute-they were just trying to compete with me in my hospital gown...better luck next time, ladies.
Day 11-Favorite TV Shows
Do we have a year to talk about this? Because I have a ton of TV shows that I love. You all read my hobbies post, right? I just love television. But if I had to pick some favorites..
I love Degrassi. It's Canadian, and it's the best. Alex calls it smut, but I call it real life. And you know the awesome rapper Drake? Well look closely at the kid in the wheelchair. Yep. I knew him before he was a rapper.

Smartest show on television. It's seriously so funny. I love Amy Poehler. And Rob Lowe. And Chris Pratt. Oh and Aziz Ansari. And everyone in this show. Someone once told me that I reminded them of April and it was the best compliment ever. I still don't see why, but I'm cool with it.

Modern Family-There are so many awesome lines in this show, it's ridiculous. I seriously can re-watch episodes for hours. I love it. Sometimes I try to find ways to make instructions into song form like Phil. The computer and the printer must talk talk talk, control print makes the image walk walk walk...you would know the tune if you watched this show.Dexter-This show is the best. Seriously, I love it. I hate when I have to describe it to people who have never seen it, because I think it makes me sound like a weirdo, but I know a ton of people love it. And I am one of them.

And basically I love anything with Bret Michaels, or with the word love in it. Like Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York...you know, those shows.

JK, I don't love those anymore. They stopped showing them, so I don't love them.


Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day 8 and 9


So I've been missing, huh? Well I was actually in NYC with the family. So not really missing-but I bet y'all were missing me. Anyway, I'm about a week behind, so I'll just start where I left off, and do a twosie.

Day 8-A hobby of yours
Well. One day my sister had me come over to eat dinner at her house with some of her friends. She was actually setting me up with a guncle (I've always wanted one), and so she had been talking about me before I got there. The story is as follows: She has a piano in her front room, and she is an amazing pianist. So he was talking to her about people's talents/hobbies in our family. She is the pianist and Cailey used to dance. So then he asked what my thing was. And she said-quote-watching television. And she's right. It just comes so naturally to me...if you can consider television watching a hobby, then it's my top.
But seriously, I love to sing. I don't know if that's a hobby, but I love it. I think Alex gets super sick of it, but he has to love me no matter what, so I don't stop. I've been trying to get him to buy me a karaoke machine, so if your reading this Alex-our anniversary is in a month. My little sister sometimes starts to sing songs just because she knows I'll finish them. I can't not sing along to things. But don't ask me to sing for you. Because I won't. OR I will, but never look you in the eye and be super nervous.

Day 9-A Place You Love
Myrtle Beach. We've only been once, but it was great. Except I was 8 months pregnant. And Tessa couldn't see the whole time. And I was 8 months pregnant. BUT, we're going back in a month and I'm super excited. I feel like I'll be much more pleasant this time around...
Isn't this the cutest picture? Ugh. I love that little bum.
This is outside the awesome Marriott Villas. See-pregnant and Tessa is blind. Alex looks alright.

That's it!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Day 7

Pets I would have.
NONE.
We have a fish and I'm shocked it's still alive, because I rarely feed it. My kids are lucky they eat...

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 6-Celebrity Crush

Let me just preface this by saying I loved him way before he was sexiest man alive. Dreamy dreamy
ryan_reynolds.jpg
Ryan Reynolds
He just is so darn cute. Plus he's funny. AND Canadian! Doesn't it seem like everyone who is worth anything is Canadian these days? It's like they are taking over...