family

Much Needed Family Time in New York

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

What. A. Wonderful. Weekend.

After a year of pretty much staying put in our house in Cleveland, we FINALLY made it back to New York to see my parents. My brother had flown in from Germany, so we braved the 8+ hour car ride with the two kids to see him and my parents for a quick weekend. We hadn’t been back to New York since December 2019 – it was crazy to think how much has changed since then. Not just with the pandemic, but even with our kids  — LM was still nursing, in a crib, in diapers, and not talking; FW could barely remember what my parents’ house looked like, and was hardly independent, etc. Oh yeah, and I was not 6+ months pregnant. It really seems like another lifetime. 

20210422_184414

It was a quick trip  – way too quick – but so great nonetheless. I got to enjoy home cooked meals and baked goods, quality time with my whole family, and even some runs with my brother. Here’s a little of what the weekend entailed:

Continue reading →

LM Turns One

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

This weekend is brought to you by the letter F. F is for First birthday, Friends, Family and Food — all wonderful things and well, I’m still smiling over what an amazingly wonderful weekend it was.

Friday was LM’s first birthday. That’s right, LM turned one over the weekend and I can’t believe it! While I’m still emotionally recovering, we had a blast celebrating. Friday celebrations started off early – I took the afternoon off and we were able to get the kids early from daycare to spend some time at the playground. Both LM and FW loved the swings.

And then we took LM to get her first ice cream. No photos of her, but FW loved his 🙂

Friday night, B and I actually got in a date night. My parents came into town, so B and I snuck out to grab drinks.

And then we had tickets to see the Indians – they won!

We even made it out for an after dinner drink on East 4th.

Saturday came early (especially after staying out late Friday), but was filled with celebrations — it was LM’s party! She enjoyed her first cake.

B’s mom made the cake and cupcakes – isn’t she amazing?!

LM thought so. She got frosting in her nose 🙂

The weather was PERFECT and FW enjoyed playing with his friends, cousins and of course, me.

After Saturday’s perfect weather, Sunday turned out stormy. We managed to catch a break in the rain and made it to the Zoo with my parents.

LM is still a little too young to enjoy it, but FW had such a blast. His favorite animals are the giraffes and elephants, and he got in some quality time with both.

Monday morning my parents left, and we hit up the local Memorial Day parade. It starts about 2 miles from our house, so B rode with the kids on the bike and I ran over.

Post-parade included some hot dogs at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, followed by a run home.

Aftet naptime, it was time for bbq #2, this time at B’s uncle’s house.

FW had some more fun and food with his cousins and LM did some assisted walking.

And that was the end of our perfect three-day weekend. Cheers to the unofficial start of summer!

Some questions for you:

  • Did you watch a Memorial Day parade?
  • Did you get outside this weekend?

Pre-Turkey Weekend

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 12 Comments

It’s THANKSGIVING WEEK! Though I’m not going back home and seeing my family this year (womp womp), I’m still excited for the holiday and spending time with B’s family. FW loves hanging out with his cousins, and well, I love stuffing 🙂

This weekend was another nice weekend at home. I got in a few runs – outside AND inside – and as always, we had some good food. Here are some of the highlights:

A run outside to kick off the weekend. It was cold and wasn’t my fastest run, but it was good to get outside early while everyone was fast asleep.

Friday we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early — at FW’s school! They had a Thanksgiving lunch celebration for the kids and their families.

It was fun to stop by in the middle of the day and grab a quick bite to eat with him.

Friday night we ordered in – Aladdin’s Lebanese food. It’s nice when we can all eat the same thing, but because FW is such a picky eater that rarely happens. He does love their pita quesadillas with fruit, though!

Saturday morning included some dancing.

Followed by cookie baking (with a toddler and baby).

And then naptime.

While LM was napping, I was able to get in a short treadmill run. I did 1.5 miles running, then stopped and got water, walked a bit and did about 1.5 miles more.

After naps, it was time to head outside for a little walk! We all bundled up.

We walked over to my friend Emily’s house to drop off some cookies and FW got to play with her son, Jack. The two of them are about 6 months apart.

That night, B made us some pizza. I LOVE his pizza and this batch was especially good.

Sunday morning we did some more baking. This time, FW and I made lentil, banana and zucchini muffins.

The day also included some indoor playing.

And a short stroller run with the family. FW fell asleep while we were out.

Th rest of the day flew by! It included not only dinner with B’s family, but also a haircut for FW!

At last, he can finally see again!

Questions for you:

  • Did it start to get cold near you?
  • How do you feel about running in the rain?
  • Have you run with a stroller?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps.

If Life Gives You A Broken Oven … You Go For Some Runs (And A Walk)

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

What a weekend. It was cold (we saw snow flurries on Saturday!) and semi eventful. Why? Well, Saturday our oven broke. In the middle of cooking dinner (baking pizza dough) for B’s family. So that changed up some of our Sunday plans. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a little look at the past few days:

Thursday morning, I got in a semi-short run (3.11 miles) outdoors. It was chillier than it has been but it wasn’t too cold for me to get outside. B and I both had to be at work early, so I knew I only had 30 minutes or so to get in a workout after feeding LM.

Thursday night, B and I went out on a date night! We saw A Star is Born and then had dinner. Dinner didn’t start until 10 p.m., so needless to say, Friday I was tired! But look at this beer – it came with a toasted marshmallow!

Friday night was not as I intended. We ended up having to take LM into the dr because of a bad cough that was giving her a hard time breathing. She’s okay, but it’s so hard seeing babies sick – she hasn’t been herself and clearly is hurting 😦

Saturday was when the said oven incident occurred. BC was playing Clemson, so B invited his brother (who went to BC also) and the rest of his siblings and a few friends over to watch the game. We had planned on cooking pizza for everyone when the oven door just fell off. And when B tried to put it back together, we discovered that pieces had disintegrated!

We decided to order in instead, and still got to watch the game. FW hung out with his cousins and stayed up until half time.

The game didn’t quite end as I would’ve liked but it is always fun hosting people in our house. Our apartment was always too small to have to many people over.

Sunday, after the oven incident and some other things that were happening, I just had to get in a run. I knew it would make me feel at least a littke better. So while B and FW were at Home Depot, LM went down for a nap and I got in few easy treadmill miles.

Then, when FW was napping later I couldn’t help myself and got in a few more miles. I mean, look at the weather – it was so nice out! And running really does keep me sane.

We also were able to get on a little walk. It was chilly, but felt good to get out as a family. And it meant we had a relatively active weekend!

After that, it was time for dinner with B’s family. We celebrated B’s dad’s birthday and FW got to hang out with his cousins again.

3 runs, 1 walk and a broken oven … that about sums up the past few days!

Questions for you:

  • Has a major appliance you use broken down? What did you do?
  • What temps make you decide to run inside?
  • Have you seen A Star Is Born? What did you think?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps.

My Kind of Weekend

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

It was a GREAT weekend in CLE. It was warm (in the 70s and 80s!!) for October, my parents were in town, I got in some good quality time with the kids AND we were able to celebrate LM’s baptism. 

It was great to celebrate with my mom – three generations in one photo 🙂

After the baptism, we had everyone over our house for chili, cornbread, chips, veggies …

And look at this cake! B’s mom made a GREAT cassata cake.

We all enjoyed the food.

Sunday, B had tickets to the Brown’s game (and they WON!), so FW and LM and my parents and I went to the Zoo!

FW’s favorites are the elephants and the giraffes. 

I LOVE having my family in town, and FW really enjoyed spending time with his Nonna and Grandpa. And LM is so much bigger than the last time they were in town, so it was fun to have them interact with her.

What a wonderful weekend – family, good food and good weather. I couldn’t ask for much more ❤

Another Wintry Weekend In the CLE

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

Is anyone else sick of this winter? It has been cold and icy and snowy here for weeks and I’m so ready for warm weather and sunshine and a clear sidewalk to walk and run on!

Okay – enough complaining I suppose. Because despite the weather, it was still a good weekend spent with B and FW. I was sick most of the weekend, so it was pretty laid back and low key.

We of course had to start the weekend by celebrating National Pizza Day with my favorite pizza- Marottas!

Saturday, B made FW and I some pancakes to kick off breakfast. Fun fact- I never used to like pancakes or sweet stuff for breakfast- I was much more of a savory breakfast food lover – until pregnancy.

We spent some time later that afternoon at the West Side Market; we used to shop there all the time when we lived downtown, but now we only make it there maybe once every other month or so.

And of course we had to visit Rising Star for some coffee and chocolate milk (tea for me from Cleveland Tea Revival).

After the Market it was time to hit up the Great Big Home and Garden Show! I had won tickets in an online giveaway from Cleveland Magazine and it was a great way for us to get in some running around time and get Francis moving even with the cold weather.

Saturday night, B made us dinner – spaghetti, meatballs and homemade sauce.

Sunday morning we decided it was warm enough and finally not snowing/icing/raining/sleeting/etc. to go for a walk, so we walked to brunch!

FW got tired of walking, so B carried him. He then fell asleep in the carrier

We split some eggs and a  lemon crepe. FW was suspicious of the crepe until I told him it was like a  cookie 🙂

Sunday afternoon after our walk was pretty lazy. I got in some rest, some baking and some peanut butter making.

I realize I can’t remember the last time I bought any nut butter at the store! I got my Vitamix about a year ago and it has been the only way we’ve been doing peanut or almond butter. I LOVE having it and need to use it more!

Sunday night included dinner with B’s family and that was about it. We watched the Olympics with them for a little bit – it was the first time I’ve watched any of the events! I need to start getting into them.

Some questions for you:

  • Are you watching the Olympics?
  • What type of nut butter(s) do you like?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps!

Some NEWS (Here We Go Again!)

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 6 Comments

For those of you that don’t know, B, FW and I have some EXCITING news to share.

We are well onto our way in expecting Baby #2!

It’s pretty evident that I’ve been hiding a baby, as you can sorta see in the above photo.

Can’t really see it? Okay, how about now? (Took the sweater off)

Yup! There it is – baby #2 has been hiding. So here are some of the updates for you:

  • Baby #2 is due at the end of May.
  • Once again, B and I are not finding out if it’s going to be a boy or a girl.
  • I’m feeling overall okay. I felt much more nauseous at the beginning of the pregnancy, and now I’m feeling much more tired. I’m still waiting for the second trimester high to kick in … but, I’m thinking that life with a toddler may be preventing that from happening! #sotiredallthetime
  • I’m still running! It is MUCH harder for me this time around, and I’m much slower than I was last pregnancy, but I’m happy to be still running (or walk/running) these days, even if it has been a lot of treadmill runs.

  • We have so much to do before baby #2 arrives at the house! We have to move FW into a toddler bed (and get him one of those …), we have plans to move him into a different room (the baby will get his room, as it has a built-in diaper changing table that B made), and a few other things. Oh, and somewhat finish our third floor and convert it into a guest room …
  • I had no idea the we’d need so much stuff for baby #2 – we were super minimalistic with FW because we were in a tiny apartment, but now that we have a house there are some basic things we’ll need that are still big ticket items – like a comfy chair for the new baby’s room for late night nursing! (In the apartment, I just used our current living room chair)
  • We probably have a boy’s name picked out, but still no girl’s name. It was the opposite with FW – we had a girl’s name (which B now no longer likes) but no boy’s name.

So there you go – the news is out! What questions do you have for us? Any tips for being pregnant AND having a toddler? Or surviving life with two kids?

I’ll leave you with this- a photo from when FW was just a newborn. Wow- time flies and I can’t believe we will have another one here in must be few months!

Weekends with a 13-month-old Baby

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

FW is officially 13 months. No longer an infant, he’s even older than a year right now. He’s almost a toddler! How did that happen?! Anyway, before I get too mushy, here’s a little about our weekend. For having nothing planned, the weekend ended up being pretty busy and flew by.  We did some housework,  went for a long walk (since I’m still not running), and had some good food.

Saturday I babysat FW while Brian did some housework.  So naturally we started the day off with some banana pancakes.

It rained most of the morning,  so we were stuck reading and playing inside.  But as soon as it cleared up,  we went for a walk.

While FW took his afternoon nap, I did some meal prep – cauliflower tots were a success (If only FW liked them …).

The afternoon also called for a bath. I think FW rocks a mohawk pretty well 🙂

B finally got home and brought us pizza. Mama Santa’s was delicious as always. 

We ended the night catching up on Game of Thrones. I can’t believe we’re finally up-to-date on all the seasons!

Sunday, the weather was gorgeous, so we spent some time outside. FW loved splashing around the fountains and splash pad!

We ended up taking a pretty long walk that afternoon. My piriformis has been bothering me, so I haven’t been running at all – but we did get in a long walk! Unfortunately, my piriformis started bothering me toward the end. But it was a pretty day!

We spent some more time working at the house (aka B worked while I watched FW). Here is a progress pic  — hopefully we’ll share some more soon!

And then we finished off the day with B’s family for dinner. We enjoyed a great meal inside after hanging out outside some more.

Questions for you:

  • Do you watch Game of Thrones?
  • Did you get in any good walks this weekend?

I’m linking up with the weekly wraps!

Weekends with Nonna and Grandpa

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 7 Comments

This weekend was sunny, warm and I got to spend it with family – what could be better?

Friday was in the 50s so we started off the afternoon with some swing time with FW. He LOVES swings and it’s so much fun to see him giggle and smile on the swing.

20170217_175557

Saturday was another GORGEOUS day. It was nearly 70 degrees! B and I didn’t have much to do until my parents got into town around 5, so I decided to go for what I’d (right now) consider a long-ish run – 6.66 miles. I wore my Sport Skirts skirt, it was that warm!

20170218_111537

After the run, B and I took a look at some houses. But before we knew it, it was time for my parents to come! We had some fun playing around the apartment.

20170218_170018

And then of course, dinner. We had beers and pizza and salads at Masthead. 20170218_182135

Three pizzas for four of us 🙂20170218_185051

Sunday started with brunch at Yours Truly with the 5 of us.6748

Followed by a nice walk – it was again warm outside, so we went for a walk around the park.20170219_120834

And then snuck in some lunch! No, FW didn’t have anything off the menu – bananas and pears for him 🙂20170219_133905

And that night, we celebrated birthdays with B’s family – our niece turned 9!20170219_194459_005

And that was our weekend. I’m back at work this morning (jealous to all of you who have off!) after saying goodbye to my parents. It’s always SO hard when they leave … but I know I’ll be seeing them in a few months.

Because it’s Monday, I’m linking up with Katie and the weekly wraps.