A Wild Rumpus for Henry

It seems like just yesterday that our little man made his speedy entrance into our lives, but its already been a whole year! Saturday we celebrated Henry’s first birthday which was definitely bittersweet for me. I’ve been looking forward to and dreading that day for months, knowing that while I’ve loved watching him grown and learn so much it has gone by way too fast. So, while I know that Henry’s first birthday party isn’t something he will remember, I wanted the day to be as full of joy and celebration as I possibly could. As I’ve mentioned previously, Tim and I decided to go with a Where the Wild Things are theme and give Henry his very own Wild Rumpus.

Being one week before Halloween, I decided to give the theme an autumn spin so I incorporated predominantly orange and yellow color scheme and used a lot of fall leaves. I did my own illustrations of Max and Moishe (or Carol if you’ve seen the movie) for the invitations and some of the decorations, then used puzzles, stuffed animals and toys to bring in more elements from the book. I also found a cute Max costume and a hand painted onesie on Etsy and made him a crown and bib. To top it all off, Tim designed and built the most wonderful one-of-a-kind boat to fit on top of Henry’s new red wagon. The bonus is that we’ll be using it to pull our Wild Thing around on Halloween.

The weather ended up being wonderful and we enjoyed every minute with our great family and friends, and their little ones too. Henry seemed to love all the attention and activity (and his cupcake!) so I would say it was a success. Tons of pictures from the big day below.

Happy birthday sweet little boy.

fun with poladroid

Well I know I’m way late jumping on the bandwagon, but I finally got a chance to play with the poladroid application. The results are so beautiful and nostalgic, and the process is fun in and of itself. Ah, one more irresistible time waster, just what I need in my life!

lovely, beautiful, wonderful day

Yesterday was just one of those days that makes you feel great. It was sunny and in the mid 70s and I was able to spend half the day outside at a ballpark for a photoshoot. The shoot started at 2pm and was nearby my husband’s place of work, which is about an hour from our house and my office, so I had the rare opportunity to meet him for lunch. It was just the two of us and we sat outside which made it so relaxing and enjoyable. After that we stopped into Starbucks where I learned that my FAVORITE DRINK EVER, pumpkin spice lattes have just arrived for the season.

The photoshoot went very well and it was the first time I’ve had the pleasure of working with my neighbor, who is a very talented photographer I may add. We wrapped up an hour earlier than predicted, which meant I made it home shortly after Tim and the little guy. We decided that we’d put the kid in a sweater and eat dinner on our relatively new and under-used patio. The dog played in the yard while we ate, the cat lounged on the back porch and Henry ate dinner happily without even a fuss (which is rare).

Oh, and I also forgot to mention that the little man has been having some tummy troubles as of late and just when we’ve decided to have tests run, he seems to have turned the corner and is getting better. This is a big weight off my mind.

So, although nothing about the day was extraordinary in itself, it was a lovely mix of little things and quality time with my family that made the day nearly perfect.

on the move

I can’t believe its been nearly a month and a half since my last post – darn facebook. Well although I have many things I’d love to post about, such as my sister’s wedding, my recent trip to visit friends in Nebraska, my addiction to watching LOST, etc., today I just want to share a little mommy brag…

My little man is FINALLY crawling!

I know that crawling is not truly a milestone because babies start to crawl at a variety of ages and some not at all, however that knowledge didn’t make me any less stressed out when I read what my baby “should be doing” by now in all the parenting books/websites. For the past few months we’ve been watching him roll around and scoot on his back and reach so far forward when sitting that we thought it would be any day, but he just didn’t quite put it all together.

Despite my worries, when we were staying at the home of a friend out of town, I actually remarked that it was nice he wasn’t moving yet because we didn’t have to worry about her house being babyproofed. Well that must have done the trick. No sooner had the words left my mouth that we put him down on her soft, carped floor and he was on the move…straight for her dog’s ball. Luckily my dear friend is expecting her first child and her house is halfway to baby proof already, so we only needed worry about a few outlets and doggie toys. Once we were back home, his newfound mobility had not lost its appeal and he was on a mission. He crawled right out of his room and straight for the dog’s bed, then the dog’s toy, then the cat, etc.

Everyone has warned me that its a mixed blessing because he’ll be getting into everything, but I’ve been waiting for this so long that I’m prepared and ready. I just think its a blessing.

better than a red rabbit’s foot

Last weekend was a fun but busy one. Besides being the first easter for the little man, it was also his first ever Cards game. We lucked out with a beautiful, sunny, Saturday afternoon and arrived at the stadium just in time for the first pitch, decked out head to toe in Cardinal red. By the way, I do believe Henry has more Cards gear than Tim and I combined.

Although it would be a memorable event for our little family regardless, of course we hoped we would see a good game. However we never guessed that we would be treated to an 11-2 victory, complete with a Pujols grand slam and 3-run homer! I think that Henry might just be luckier than the red rabbit foot keychain that I brought along every baseball game as a child. Looking back, it doesn’t seem to make sense to give a child a dead animal apendage dyed red for luck, but I digress. Our little lucky charm had quite a day and we had so much fun introducing him to the best fans in baseball.

this post is for Tim

honey, I just know you have something wonderful planned for my first mother’s day, but in case you need any help, here are a few gifts that i would not secretly return when you aren’t looking…

baby birthstone necklace – its extravagant, but i’m sure you think i’m worth it.
adorable little dish – customized with my little man’s moniker of course
new momma tea
gift card for a massage or mani/pedi

oh and here are some more ideas in case you plan to get your own mom a gift for a change. don’t worry I’ll get a backup gift just in case you still forget.

ps. mothers day is sunday, may 10th

congrats brother!

I’m very excited to announce that my baby brother proposed to his girlfriend this weekend! (and she said yes of course). I think they are one of the cutest couples ever and have hoped Molly would be part of our family not long after I met her. My brother had planned a whole weekend trip for Molly’s birthday to one of her favorite places, Galena, Illinois, and proposed on a beautiful snowy drive in the woods. He even planned a dinner to celebrate with a surprise appearence from Molly’s parents.

You might remember that my sister was engaged in August of what was a very eventful 2008, and it looks like 2009 is off to quite an exciting start as well! Our family is rapidly expanding with no signs of slowing down, and we’re sure keeping mom busy with all the big events.

Congrats Dave and Molly! Love you guys.

farewell 2008

Its been way too long since I’ve posted on the blog and so I couldn’t let 2008 come to an end without looking back on what a year its been. Consider this my little online version of a holiday update letter.

Its strange for me to think that this time last December I didn’t even know we’d be parents this year. We went out to ring in 2008 with friends and family and later that week Tim left for a business trip and was gone for our 3 year anniversary. January flew by and then in early February I spent a week in Mexico City for work while Tim was off to Vegas for another convention. After that we celebrated Valentine’s Day and my promotion at work and by the end of the month we knew our life was changed forever. We kept our secret for a few weeks and then only told close family.  At that point we didn’t know if Henry would be a boy or girl, what he would look like, or if he would be healthy, we only knew that we loved him with all our hearts and that if all went well we’d be a family in late fall.

In March, my sister and I surprised our brother with a visit to Notre Dame for St.Patrick’s day and then spent a couple days in Chicago. In April we got to see teeny tiny peanut-sized Henry for the first time, welcomed my cousin’s son Jacob, and shared our news with everyone. In May it was back to ND for my brother’s graduation and in June I was back in Mexico. However this time was not for work but rather a (mostly) sunny cruise to celebrate Dad’s 60th. A couple weeks later we learned we were having a healthy baby boy! July was a bunch of summer fun and working on the house. In August Tim’s family had a beautiful baby shower for us and over labor day weeekend my sister got engaged! September brought another beautiful shower, this time elegantly thrown by my mom and sister. At the end of September I went back to Chicago with my mom to visit my brother and do some shopping for the nursery. By the time October began, we were so excited and counting down the days to Henry’s arrival, and a few weeks before the big day, my coworkers had a wonderful surprise baby shower. Before we knew it, two weeks before in fact, Henry decided to come racing into our arms.

Since then, life has been a blur of diapers, tiny clothes, teeny fingers and toes and tons of snuggly baby kisses. Henry arrived just in time for Halloween so he has celebrated just about every major holiday by visiting friends and family. We love being parents and are getting quite used to functioning on very little sleep. I can happily say that 2008 has been one of the best years for our family and I’m looking forward to 2009. I plan on continuing to blog about our family and post countless pictures of our little Henry, plus its a resolution of mine to include a bit more about art and design. Look for one recurring theme to be the design of my sister’s wedding and invitations – she has a bunch of great ideas so it should be plenty fun.

I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!

little pumpkinhead

My ever talented friend Kristie took some photos of Henry one week after he was born. Although Henry didn’t quite cooperate as well as we hoped, and in the process peed on me and pooped on daddy, Kristie captured some beautiful shots of the little guy despite his crankiness.

There are a selection of photos in his nursery and in our backyard posted on Kristie’s blog that you can check out right here.

ps. the title of this post is dedicated to molly, who affectionately refers to Henry as little pumpkinhead.

the first 3 weeks

Friday we marked Henry’s 3rd week with his first trip to grandma and grandpa’s house for dinner, which was also the first time mommy packed up the diaper bag and car to take baby on the road. Aside from forgetting my wedding ring, which I later found in my pocket from doing dishes, I managed to leave the house with everything we needed – yeah me! Seriously, with the amount of sleep I’ve NOT been getting, its amazing we made it out of the house at all.

Aside from the sleepless nights, life has been pretty amazing the past few weeks. For the first two weeks I don’t think I did much but stare at a sleeping baby all day and study each of his tiny little features, which is largely thanks to my wonderful mom, sister and mother-in-law for coming by to take care of the cleaning cooking. Since then we’ve started to settle into a bit of a routine and now that Henry is awake quite a bit longer we’ve started playing, reading, singing and dancing – and by we I mean me, Henry just watches.

We have also started to take other mini trips out of the house. We went for walks with Odie when the weather was nice and we visited our new buddy Cash over the weekend. We also made our first of many trips to Babies R Us, and yesterday we went out to lunch to see Uncle Charlie while he was in town from Colorado.

I can’t say that I’ve been the most productive person while at home, but being a mom is just so much more fun and meaningful than doing anything else. So, don’t be surprised if our birth announcements and christmas cards are one in the same this year :)

Also, health wise, Henry is doing wonderfully. He gained back the weight lost after birth within the first week and by his second doctor appointment he had gained nearly a pound since birth. His color and complexion are great, he is moving and growing right along schedule and he is feeding really well. We are so lucky to have such a healthy, happy little boy.

Here are some photos of the little cutie from the past couple weeks.