Living Rich

2011-02-14T13:35:00.004-05:00

Here is a picture of the Fam from our last trip to seattle.

Vacation & New Schools

2010-09-16T21:51:00.008-04:00

Well I know I kind of dropped the ball last week. Like I said my goal was to post once a week but last week our family was able to spend a relaxing week of vacation at the Jersey Shore. Every year Monica's mom rents a house in Ocean City New Jersey for the week of Labor Day. This year Monica, Missy and I were lucky enough to be invited down for the entire week. Mon and I decided It made more sense to go down on Friday night to avoid the traffic on Saturday. Our plan was simple, be packed and have the truck loaded by 7pm so we could get on the road just about the time Missy would be ready to got to bed. Monica had to work Friday so It would be up to me to do some necessary prep work but she would be home by 4:00 so that would give us time to throw a couple of suitcases together and load the truck, right? In a perfect world, maybe. In this world everything would go smoothly and a 14 month old would not require 5 times as much junk as both of her parents combined. In this world silly little errands would not take half a day to complete and would be done before the sun was gone from the sky. However, as most of you know from your own experiences, we do not live in this "perfect" world. Needless to say we finally got on our way around 10:30. By the time we arrived at our destination we were exhausted. But the next day we were on the beach and it was all worth while.

Please click here for more pics of our trip.

After an amazing week of sun, fun and relaxation at the beach it was time to get home and get back to the grind. We got home Saturday afternoon and began the tear down right away. We needed to get as much done as we could, Monica had work on Sunday and we still had to get Missy ready for her first day of nursery school on Monday.

Monday I had a lot to do to get ready for my own new school experience. My mind was all over the place as I woke up. I needed to think about what Missy would need for the day, what I needed for my appointments and a timeline to get it all done with out being overly rushed. I got up early, took my shower, shaved and got a little daddy fuel in me to help me through the morning. Next, I woke up my little girl on her big day. I got her changed, dressed and fed. I packed her school bag, her lunch and all the stuff I would need for the day. I got us out the door and on the road in plenty of time. I was so proud of myself. I was Super Dad! We got to the school. She was doing great. She began to wave to her new teachers and new friends before I could even set her down on the floor. I watched as she began to explore her new classroom. I began to put her stuff away. I talked to the teachers about her morning, the things I had brought for her and... Wait, what was missing? I had done such a great job getting out of the house this morning. How could I have forgotten her lunch? Oh shoot! Now I had to go home and get it before I could go to my appointment. When I left I stood outside the door for a minute and looked in on her. She was doing great! But by the time I got back with her lunch and got back on the road I was running really late. Later that afternoon, when I arrived to pick her up I was told how well she had done. She played with the other children. She ate her snacks and lunch at the table. The staff seemed genuinely impressed! My little girl is already starting to grow up.

We're back!

2010-09-01T00:16:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! Sorry we've been away so long. Monica and I started this blog as a way of letting you stay up to date on what's going on with the Rich fam and we dropped the ball. However, it is a new beginning here at Living Rich. Monica has begun orienting to her new job on the transport team at CHOP, Missy has had her first birthday and she and her daddy both start a new school this month. My new goal is to post a little something each week.

As many of you know Monica has been all over the country with her new job. She has been able to ride in ambulances, helicopters, and jets. She has been all over PA, NJ and DE. She has even been able to go as far as NC, MI and NY. She seems to really enjoy the team and alway has a good time when she works with them. While on orientation she has been bouncing around the hospital, getting familiar with every unit and learning all she needs to know. Unfortunately this has her working 4 or 5 days instead of her regular 3 day schedule. However, this will only last another couple of months.

Missy begins her new day care soon. Monica had a little "getting to know you" conference today with one of her teachers. I think it went well. Monica and I hate that we have to have someone watch her but we both feel really good about the school and all the staff.

I took a math placement test last night. Unfortunately I do not think I did all that well. I am still waiting to get the results back but I just did not feel confident. I was looking at the questons thinking "man, this looks familiar. I know I learned this in high school." As it turns out high school was a long lime ago. All I can do now is hope for the best. Other than that I can not wait for classes to start. I feel like last year was just practice. Now I will be at a real school. I know it will be much harder but I am looking forward to the challenge.

Birth Days

2009-07-03T10:22:00.004-04:00

Well here it is. July 3rd. As many of you know our little girl was due yesterday but has yet to make an appearance. Today is her Grandpa's (my dad) birthday and I know he would have loved to share it with such a special little girl. But not my daughter. She has no plans to share her birthday. Not with her grandpa and not with this nation. She is very comfy and is not going anywhere for now. It is a shame too. Her Mom-Mom (Monica's mom) has bought her a very cute little forth of July outfit for the parade tomorrow. As of now it looks like if she is ever going to come out and greet the world she will need a little persuasion from the doctors. We are all set to go to the hospital Tuesday evening and get this process rolling. If all goes well her birthday should be 07/08/09. Now my mom will not hesitate to tell you that Mellisa Jane is not to unlike her father in this. I was in no hurry. She would tell you that I was somewhere around 5 weeks late. Of course it was the late 70's and they did things differently then. Today doctors are not as comfortable waiting beyond 41 weeks. I am sure this makes my wife very happy. She has had a rough pregnancy and is ready to let me help carry this baby everywhere we go. I am looking forward to being able to take this job on and be a much more active help to my poor wife who has been working very hard for this baby. Well as the week goes on please keep us in your thoughts. Please check back soon as I think we may have some very cute pics and very exciting news.

Cooper vs My Prescription Bottle

2009-04-24T11:26:00.009-04:00

I was only in the shower ten minutes to return to find Cooper underneath my bed with my prescription bottle and pills scattered...luckily the pills are very bitter so he didn't eat any....

the bottle however, that's another story...

He is lucky he is so cute...

Melissa Jane

2009-02-28T15:58:00.004-05:00

Well we did something we had said we wouldn't. We named our daughter before we met her face to face. We had originally talked about going into the delivery room armed with 3 to 5 names we liked in the hopes that when we see her she would just look more like one than the others. We felt strongly that we could not name someone we have not even met. And still in the last week or 2 we came to the decision that her name is Melissa Jane. Obviously she is named for her Aunt Missy and I think it is such a special thing for her to be able to always have this connection to some one so loved and missed. Now as we see it she will go by any number of nick names (Missy, MJ, Missy Jane, Missy J, etc.) but all will fit this spunky little trouble maker in her Mommy's belly. I know that no matter what we call her as she grows she will likely want to be called by different versions. As a little girl I will probably refer to her mostly as Missy. As she gets older she will probably not think that is cool any more and will inform me that her name is Melissa or MJ or even Jane. Who knows? What I do know is this little girl inside my wife's pregnant belly today is full of life and spunk. She has been shaking things up in there for 23 weeks already. Not giving Monica more than a few days peace at a time. She has recently begun moving and dancing around in there like crazy. She certainly will be a handful but with the spunk comes passion and excitement. Both things that as she grow could cause me to go bald even faster than I already am. But I can not wait. We are both very excited for her to get here and begin seeing what she has to offer.

Thoughts for her room...

2009-02-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

This furniture collection is from Romina-Nerva. We absolutely love the set and it is one that will stay with our baby girl until her college years. The crib is a convertible crib (crib->toddler bed->full bed). I wasn't planning on going with this type of crib but fell in love with it in the store. It's made of sold wood (no particle board) which is another reason why I like it so much. Its on the pricey side, so we will see...

This is the Penelope collection from Pottery Barn Kids. We picked it out because we both love green and with the pink and yellow colors we thought it was adorable.

Tiffany Blue...

Before Nate and I even found out it was a girl my Dad had this idea that the baby's room should be painted "Tiffany Blue". I have no idea what sparked this thought but he is pretty insistant this color is best. Unfortunately with the Penelope Bedding the color just doesn't seem to work. I have a feeling this is just the start of compromising with my Dad and the new baby...

Our Girl

2009-02-16T22:36:00.000-05:00