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Monday, May 27, 2013

A Dr. Seuss Baby Shower

A couple weeks ago, we feated Morgan and her highly anticipated baby G at 360 Steakhouse. The shower was thrown by her sisters - with a little help from the SILs - and the Dr. Seuss theme was to die for. Every little detail was well-thought out and thought of.

We had a gorgeous day of catching up, cocktails, food, candy and showering this lovely mama with all the love we could shove into one party room. Cruz was obsessed with being able to stare out the windows and see the "choo choos" (err, trains) come and go. Morgan received some of the most thoughtful gifts...especially the handmade canvas painting that Sicily made to match the nursery. It was so sweet.

There are so many people waiting to meet this little guy and we cannot wait for June 19th to get here to meet him and, of course, learn what we are going to be calling him for years to come. Morgan looked absolutely beautiful (are you sure you're almost 9 months along, woman???) and we couldn't be happier for her and Ross.

Now onto the photo overload.

The decor:


The people:

xo

Friday, May 24, 2013

18 Months Old!



Happy 18 months, little man! 

Does this mean I can stop counting in months and start saying he's a year and a half? When does it officially stop exactly? I mean I can't be saying he's 60 months old when he's like five, right? Right??

For the time being, the chalkboard is retired. I know, I know everyone is overwhelmingly upset. You all loved that it took me hours to get that thing just right each month. Not only was it a pain to clean from the prior month, but then figuring out what I wanted it to look like and actually drawing on the board itself was painful. As we all know, I lack any form of artistic talent - what you saw was what you got. Then couple it with the fact that I would forget to keep it out of reach of little man...where he would swipe either his hand or a color through it and I would be back to square one. Done. It's gone. That period in our lives is over.

Onto the man of the hour.

What's New With Cruz

Words:  he is just spewing new words every single day. I can't even believe how he soaks up everything we say or do and then spouts it out right when you least expect it. Some of my favorites of this past month - Mee-Mee (Mickey, as in mouse), Dah (Donald), Plew (Pluto), Goof (you guessed it, Goofy) and Pete-Pete. Evidently the chicks in the clubhouse don't matter or at least they don't to Cruz. He also loves saying "outsigh" (outside) just about every five seconds. Now that the weather is nice we can hardly contain him indoors. A couple other favorites are the overuse of "poo-poo" and "pee pee," but being that he uses them in context and is literally doing one of those two things when he says it, I suppose I can't be mad at that. He's finally learned "down" after saying "up" for both actions the past couple of months, "beep-beep" at cars now that he knows how to use the key fob and "(insert name here) sit!" while feverishly patting the space next to him. It doesn't matter where he is - on the couch, on our bed, in the bathtub - he always wants us to sit next to him. It's really is so darn cute.
Spending time with his new friends "outsigh"
He's also getting so much better with names. Mama, dada, papa, TiTi (Tessa), Jah Jah (nanny J) and Rah Rah (her fiance) are the norms, but this month he has added in quite a few more - Nanu (or Nano or my fave Nana), Bee Bee (Brittany), Lay-Ee (Laney), D (Dom or Duane), Sis (Sicily) and Day Day (Dayvaney).

Sleeping: has continued to be great. Goes to bed between 8pm and 9pm (closer to 9pm for some reason most nights) and sleeps right through until 8am when J gets to the house. Napping is still one a day for about 2 hours. I will say that I have come to luhhh-ove bedtime. We had a great little process down that ends with me getting to rock him for a couple minutes - it is some of my fave time with him.

TV: this is getting to be a problem. The kid just has to watch Mee-Mee. When he sees dada's truck (Nick's is the only one with a DVD player), or our TV in our room we hear "mee-mee" being chanted incessantly. And let's be honest, most times we give in and let him watch it.

Baseball: this kid loves baseball - he likes watching it (I swear he and his dad are the only ones who actually like watching baseball on TV), playing it, talking about it. He loves everything about it. Nick has started to take him to Ultimate Baseball Academy on Saturday mornings during Dominic's practice so he gets used to the field and practices a bit himself. We've also gotten him a tee at home that he loves to hit off of. And can the boy hit a ball! It's truly impressive. Nick taught him to "tap the plate" and put the bat on his shoulder. And Cruz does it every single time. It's the cutest thing. He also got to go to his first pro baseball game when we were in KC - and absolutely loved it.

Baseball practice at Ultimate Baseball Academy
First professional baseball game
Giving mama some love on vacation
Perfecting his baseball swing

Diapers: he's also started this really not so cool thing where he will pull his diaper out from underneath him when we are changing him. There have been too many little things rolling out of this dipe when he does this that I hardly find it funny anymore. I don't care to pick up #2 when it rolls on my floor.

Eating: he still eats well so we can't complain there. He has gotten a bit pickier with is foods, has to dip everything in ketchup, he eats far too many fruit snacks and has gotten thisclose to sticking a pea up his nose that we couldn't retrieve.
Eating some Red Mango
Favorite Activities: this month Cruz continues to love to color. Colors, coloring books, chalk outside and inside. He will literally color anything (no really, don't you remember this post?)  And games, he loves coming up with games. Like the "hidden hand game" that we created and play literally every night. It starts like this - he's laying on his changing table while I'm putting his PJs on...and you know how tight they make toddler PJs so there isn't any loose clothing, well his hands get stuck in the sleeve and we sit and look for his hands for at least 5-10 minutes. It never seems to get old with this kiddo!

Coloring mad man

Hidden hands game

Happy 18 months, you sweet little monster!

"Cheese, mama!"





Sunday, May 19, 2013

Mother's Day 2013



A day set aside to celebrate mothers...and I now get to take part in this day? AND be celebrated by my kiddo and, let's be honest, my husband? Um, hell yes, sign me up.

Approaching Mother's Day this year, I just had to dig out photos from last year and came across this little gem. Oh, my sweet little helmet baby. How I love you so. I really had an amazing first Mother's Day.


This year was no exception. So far I'm 2 for 2 on having kick ass Mother's Days.

The day started off with some me time before anyone was awake and then Cruzer and I cuddled on the couch with coffee, milk and Mickey. Not a bad start to the day at all.

Brunch was at Louie's Wine & Dive (hmmm, I wonder who picked this place) and I was stoked for the all-you-can-drink mimosas (oh yeah, it was me). Food was great and C got time with two of his grandmas, Britt & Mook, "D" (aka Duane) and auntie Jen and Laney. After brunch, half the group parted for the track for some live horse racing and the other half headed to the zoo for a day of walking, great weather and animals.

Surprisingly the zoo wasn't as crazy busy as I thought it would be and I absolutely loved watching Cruz interact like a real, little toddler with his cousin, DeLaney. He was in love! They held hands, shared popcorn, petted the animals, rode the carousel and cruised around in our 2-seat stroller (tested and approved for baby #2...whenever that should occur).

And per the norm, we had to do ice cream after the zoo. Generally we stick with Zesto's which is right outside, but I had planted the seed for eCreamery in Dundee and easily talked my mom and Jen into trekking over there. We got five flavors of ice cream to pass around between all of us (kiddos included) and owned each bowl full. Plus, I got to fulfill my dream of going because eCreamery was on Shark Tank, which is one of my favorite shows ever...and one I can't wait to be on. #mytimewillcome  #ineedaninvention

The day was absolutely perfect. We were missing some of our fave people, but all of us there made the most of it and had the best day.

Now onto a ton of photos. Enjoy!

Grandma Dianne and her littlest babies - DeLaney & Cruz

Kissing cousins....cutest.thing.ever.
I love how Laney is taking charge in that first shot!

Cruz w/ Grandma Carol

First carousel ride - he hated it!
(This smile was before it started moving -
I spent the entire ride holding him)

DeLaney & auntie Jen

My main squeeze

Could this pic be any cuter? The pose, the bird, the face

eCreamery ice creams featured on my fave show, Shark Tank

A day is simply not enough time to thank mamas for all they do. Especially my own. I will never be able to fully explain to her all that she means to me and thank her for all she has done for us.

Mom & I in Little Italy in NYC
We both share a love of NYC and Italian food
Happy day to celebrate the best job on earth!


Well, Hello There. It's Been Far Too Long

I have to say I've felt a bit of a void by not having spent time on the blog this past week. And admit that I was a bit stressed knowing I had tons of posts to write, but not actually writing them.

Well, I'm back. And let's hope that we don't have another one of these absences any time soon.  I've got loads to talk about and share, but for tonight just a quick little preview.

I'm just not quite myself today because this mama may have went out last night and tried to party like she was 23. Let's just say I'm not. And let's also say that mixing champagne, wine, shots and vodka probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. I woke up in my SILs basement with an equally hungover husband and had to do the walk of shame - mascara smudged down my face and all - to father-in-laws house to pick up the kiddo. Not my proudest moment as a mom. Thankfully Morgan had clinic-grade ibuprofen she had snagged from work to take my headache away.

This pic makes me smile....memories of a good night out with my girls

I have so, so many posts that just need to be shared or I may burst...bad mama has not finished little man's 18 month post from Monday (I know, I know you all have just been holding your breath waiting....) and I feel like the biggest jerk. I've also got Mother's Day, Morgan's baby shower, Kayden's first communion and so many others to share. Be prepared for some Yellow Mango action this week.

I turn 32 tomorrow.


And this is where I've been spending my favorite time at home with little guy lately. I never really used this chair during C's first year, but now? We use this bad boy all the time. I love our late night cuddle sessions, especially as he gets so tired and murmurs "law loo, mama." Melts my heart every time.

Err, yes I mentioned tomorrow is my birthday. Thirty-two years old. I've never been big on celebrating my birthdays. Trust me, I expect tons of FB posts, texts and calls (if you weren't going to make sure you do now, dang it!) but otherwise I just want to get off work early and come home and hang with my boys. Oh, and a tattoo. I really want to get another tattoo.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Mango Mini Vacay {Day Numero Tres}

{For the rest of our vacation recap - day one and day two.}

On Monday morning, we laid around the room for a while with our coffee and Cruz's milk and breakfast in bed. I was able to sneak in some work while they watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and then I suited little man up for some swimming.

I'm fairly certain those on our floor hated us
after he repeatedly pressed the alarm button

I had the best time watching him squeal when the water splashed him and playing with a little girl around his age in the toddler pool. I even attempted to take him up to the big slide to try it again, but as soon as we were up to the top and walked over to the raft, he got a super scared look on his face and said "no, no, no!" while shaking his head. I decided I didn't want to force him to go down it again and had to be happy that he'd went down them twice already.

Love babies in swimming shorts...bellies and all

The bell dings....

...the water releases...

...watch out below!
After swimming, we packed up the room and loaded the truck to head out, but first had to make yet another stop back to Legends so Nick could check out the Converse outlet. Apparently the two pairs of shoes and coat I had picked up for him wasn't enough...so he proceeded to pick up two more pairs of shoes and a couple t-shirts.

Next stop was Chick-Fil-A - as much as C talks and talks about cows, we thought this would be a great place for a quick lunch. And he loved it.

Eat Mor Chikin

Whelp, that's it. Our quick little vacation wrapped up. What great memories we had with our little guy. Definitely can't be beat.