Saturday, October 29, 2011

Halloween

It seems like we've been celebrating Halloween for a couple of weeks now...we had our first party at Steve's office - it was so great, they had cookie decorating, games and of course trick or treating around the office. We probably enjoyed the festivities more than Andrew this year, but next year it is sure to be a huge hit. Yesterday was Halloween at Creme, all of the kids dress up and they have a parade around the school, it was adorable! Andrew has two costumes for Halloween this year, the first is a hot dog which I felt was only fitting since I work at Vienna Beef and the second is a Monkey. The Hot Dog costume is 0-6 months, but since Andrew is so small, it fits - however it is a bunting, so it is much more difficult to move around. We tried it out and he seemed to be fine and then was a little annoyed, so we did a quick change (not before a couple of pictures) and he became a monkey. His buddy Max was also a monkey and they made the cutest monkey team. Max's mom (Jen) and I grew up in the same neighborhood and used to play together, so it is great that the boys get to grow up together now. Here are some pictures from Jen, I'll post Steve's as soon as I have them.


Andrew...the Hot Dog


Max and Andrew...double trouble! Jen and I with our monkey's


The class (Drew, Ryan, Max, Andrew, Emily & Effie)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Apple Picking

Last weekend, we packed up the car and headed to County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN for some fall fun! One of the family traditions that I want to start is "apple picking" and after our experience, we are off to a good start. Catherine, David, Josh and Eliza joined us and it was great - despite the fact that all of the kiddos were a bit under the weather - we still managed to get a few hours in. We took the tractor to pumpkin patch first where we were all able to pick out the "perfect" pumpkin, then it was off to the apple fields for some picking! The trip would not be complete without a trip to the barn store that had any type of "apple" product you can think of and then lunch in their restaurant! We had a great time and can't wait to go back next year:)





Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hammer time



Andrew has found a new talent...household repairs...we hope this hobby sticks as he gets older. However, I think that we are going to be wishing that this hammer had an "off/on" switch!

Friday, September 9, 2011

"OG"


Andrew came across my gold necklace this morning and loved the sound it made when he would shake it in his hands. Since it has several thick gold chains and Steve keeps using the phrase "Original Gangster", we thought it would make for a good look for Andrew. I'm not so sure he fits the mold of an OG and since he is mistaken for a girl on a regular basis, we'll hold off on any more gold chains! However, I'll let this little guy run our neighborhood and he can fend off the real gangsters with cuteness!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Papa's Birthday Celebration

We had a great long weekend and one of the highlights was celebrating Papa's Birthday! The entire gang headed to La Scarola (one of Papa's favorites) for a wonderful dinner. The best part was watching Josh, Eliza and Andrew. Eliza is absolutely fascinated with "Ann-do", this occasion was no different as all Eliza wanted was for Andrew to touch her eyes and ears. Andrew happily obliged by poking Eliza in the eyes multiple times. At the end of the evening, we tried to get all of the kids together for a picture with Nana and Papa (easier said than done). The first one is the best out of the bunch, but I think the last one should be their Holiday card this year, I love Josh and Papa's expressions!

**The pictures were taken on our phone, so they are a little blurry**




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Eating Extravaganza

Since Andrew began eating foods (around 5.5 months), his habits have been less than stellar. I followed the books and started out with rice cereal - he didn't enjoy this experience one bit. We stuck with it (approx 10 days) and could barely get him to take any. He would shake his head no and whimper every time he saw the spoon coming close to his lips. So, I tried oatmeal - same reaction - very frustrated - I decided to skip the cereal phase and go to the real stuff! I pulled out the Beaba, went to baby food making class and was ready to go. I had been told not to expose Andrew to sweet foods first as then you may have a problem giving them vegetables later, so we were going to start with Butternut Squash. The squash was prepared and we started the adventure...at first Andrew took a couple bites and seemed to enjoy it or at least tolerate it. However, that quickly changed - this little man was simply not interested in food - the head shaking and whimpering would start as soon as he was placed into the high chair. On rare occasions, he would relent and allow us to shove some pureed mush into his mouth. Extremely frustrated, I caved and bought some peaches. Imagine the surprise to us when he took the first bite with much hesitation, swallowed and then opened wide for another bite. I was so excited, I no longer cared if he was only going to eat peaches for the rest of his life, he finally was accepting "food". So, I decided to go back and try an array of foods since he now "liked" to eat. We had avocado, sweet potato, banana, oatmeal (again) and it wasn't happening, this little man likes his peaches and only peaches - well, mangos too, but he can definitely tell the difference. This has been the hardest part of motherhood thus far, worrying that Andrew wasn't eating enough, but Dr. Starr has assured me that he will eat when he is hungry and will not starve. I've come to accept it and go with the flow as much as possible and hope Andrew doesn't turn orange from all of the peaches he is eating.

UPDATE: We have had a couple of great food days with Andrew. He is now eating 2 meals at daycare - breakfast (oatmeal and yogurt) and lunch (a veggie and peaches). He has dinner at home and I couldn't believe my eyes last night when he actually opened his mouth as he saw the spoon coming towards him and didn't flinch when it was filled with green beans and rice. Let's hope this was not just a one-time deal as I'm about to stock up on more veggies!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Baby of the Month!

Over the weekend, Creme de la Creme had an open house, so we stopped by for a little fun on Saturday. Nana and Papa joined us, but we didn't get there until the tail end of the event, so there was not too much going on. It looked like they had a fun line-up earlier in the afternoon. Andrew scored his first balloon animal, a yellow teddy bear and we were able to snag the last bit of guacamole and a couple pieces of pizza. On our way out, one of the directors mentioned to us that Andrew was Baby of the Month, we had no idea! His picture is featured on the rolling computer screen that keeps the families updated to what is going on...clearly we don't look at it! Here are a few of the pictures from his "Baby of the Month" photoshoot.



Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Cape Cod/Greenwich Trip



At 6 months old, Andrew has become quite the traveler. Last week, we packed up and headed to Greenwich, CT to visit Nick, Nikki, & Isabel for the first time since they moved in November. This also marked the first time Isabel and Nick were going to meet Andrew. Andrew absolutely loved Nick and Isabel. It was so fun to watch Isabel with Andrew as well, she is going to be a great big sister in just a couple of months.

Nikki and I had always wanted to visit Cape Cod, so we thought this would be the perfect getaway for all of us since they now lived so close.

First up was Greenwich, it is absolutely beautiful and the Hartman's really seem to like their new city! After one night at their place, we packed up the kids and two car loads and made the 4 hour trip to Cape Cod. The road trip went very smoothly on the way there and Andrew checked off plenty of states on his list of where he has been. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel/condo at The Ocean Edge Club Resort, perfect accommodations for our stay (a little bit more updated would have been nice, but it was great)
With limited time to spend we made the most of the trip...here is the summary:
Pool, Beach, Shopping in Chatam, Seal Watching, Ferry Ride to Martha's Vineyard and Eating a ton....the lobster rolls and the Chicken Pot Pies from Oprah's Favorite Centerville Pie Company were my favorites.



On Thursday, we made the drive back home to Greenwich - seemed a bit slower on the ride home and we had one blow out from the little man in the back. In Greenwich we continued the fun and ate a ton. Steve accompanied Nick on the train into NYC on Friday so he could take pictures while Nikki and I dropped Isabel off at camp and then went to breakfast and managed to slip in some shopping on Greenwich Ave. We went out to a great place for dinner right by the train station in Rye NY that evening. Saturday, we headed to Greenwich Point to see the beach and the park, so beautiful - this will be great for Nikki when the baby comes, beautiful area for long walks! Then, we headed to a little beach town for lunch where I had a lobster grilled cheese that was to die for and then we went back to the Hartman's to gear up for a great BBQ that evening complete with cupcakes from Crumbs, which were outstanding! We made it back to Greenwich avenue on Sunday morning for brunch before we left to come back home. It was a great trip and we cannot wait to get back to the East Coast for another adventure next year(we decided that we'll do an annual trip with the Hartman's)


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Six Months




Andrew turned 6 months yesterday, so it was time for his monthly picture! We had quite a few "takes" this go around as he grabbed the sign and wanted to hold onto it and wave it through the air. Here are a few of the outtakes and one good shot.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Ships Ahoy!


One of us is all ready in the wardrobe department for our trip to Cape Cod!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Rice Cereal

In honor of Andrew turning 5 months, we decided to try out rice cereal! First, we had to go out and buy a highchair. We decided on the Fisher Price space saver which just straps onto a dining room chair. It is nice to have another baby item cluttering up the floor. As far as the rice cereal is concerned, Andrew wasn't a big fan, but we have tried it a few more times and each time is getting easier. Between the spoon and the texture of the cereal, it was a challenge. But, he is slowly acclimating to the spoon - I keep opening my mouth to coax him into doing the same thing - as you can see it didn't really work. Maybe next time.

Friday, May 20, 2011

5 Months

Andrew is 5 months old today...wow has time flown by. This is probably my favorite "monthly" picture so far, he is just so happy. This month was more of a challenge with the sign as he really wanted to eat it, but we got a cute shot. The lion is really starting to look like a toy now.



He also happened to accompany me to work for the morning so he could meet Donna who moved to Florida before he was born. He did such a good job at the office, I probably could have kept him with me all day!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Just Hanging Out

Steve wanted to introduce Andrew to the world of music videos. We don't usually allow Andrew to watch TV, it is amazing how engrossed he gets already, but who doesn't like to listen to Katy Perry in the morning and even better watching the music video. Andrew was actually bopping to the beat! At least he was getting some quality tummy time in!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a great weekend...it started with my first Mother's Day gift when I picked Andrew up from daycare and caught a glimpse of his latest masterpieces, so precious! He definitely gets the creativity from his Dad.



Grandma and Grandpa arrived late Friday night and Ruby welcomed them with open paws as she knew she would be getting more attention than usual. Saturday morning, Andrew was quite surprised to see his grandparents when he woke up and he was very excited to say the least!


(Andrew and Grandma on Mother's Day)

The ladies ventured out in the morning for a little pampering with manicure/pedicures. Once we returned, we made a quick stop at the doctor where we were pleasantly surprised that Andrew had no sign of another ear infection building in his left ear. We were concerned as he had been more fussy than usual and pulling on his left ear, which did not have an infection when we were at the doctor earlier in the week. I was so glad to hear that he was "faking it". The doctor's office is conveniently located by Michigan Avenue, so we decided some shopping was in order. After brief visits to Bloomingdales and Nordstrom, we made our way home. Steve had planned a "surprise" night out for us to celebrate our 4 year anniversary and we had Grandma and Grandpa to babysit! We had a great night out, we went to an art auction benefiting Gilda's Club at the Flat Iron Building which was the same place that we had our first date about 6 years ago. Then, we went to dinner at One Sixty Blue.


On Mother's Day, we headed to brunch at Meli Cafe, which was perfect and will become a regular brunch spot for us, the food was excellent. We had some downtime before we headed over to David and Catherine's for a BBQ. Catherine's parents were in town as well, so it was great to have both sets of parents together! Josh and Eliza are great with Andrew and get very excited when he comes over. This is a sample of what happens when you attempt to get a "Mother's Day" picture with 3 children including a little girl who "loves" babies - especially her cousin Andrew!


Eliza finally got to hold the "baby" and Josh and I were able to sneak in a quick shot!


Friday, May 6, 2011

It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's....

...ANDREW!!!

You wouldn't know that this "Man of Steel" is fighting another ear infection. His smile is certainly contagious...I think he is just so excited for the weekend, he must know that Grandma and Grandpa are coming for a visit.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Andrew goes to the Zoo

It is almost May and it seems like we are still in the midst of a Chicago winter. Ugh! When the forecast was predicting sun and high 50's to low 60's as the temp - we were determined to take full advantage of being outside. What is better than taking a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo?! We headed over and in true Andrew fashion, he slept through the beginning of the tour, however he did wake up in time to see the chimpanzees migrate from their inside habitat to their outside home! The highlight of the trip was when the white cheeked monkey decided to show off her skills and swing throughout her home with her baby latched on to the belly, it was quite a sight! A good first visit and many more to come...

He's Rolling Over

Well, it finally happened...Andrew rolled over for the first time last night while on his playmat! Unfortunately, the event was not captured on video as I had just finished chasing a certain puppy upstairs to confiscate her favorite accessory - Andrew's pacifier. Ruby can sniff it out from miles away and she has perfected her "skills" to being able to grab it from under the straps of Andrew's car seat. I guess it was a big day for both of them!

UPDATE: Andrew is now a rolling over machine and I finally caught one on video!