Saturday, January 30, 2010

Updates

Life is good with Mr. JB. He's rolled from belly to back twice. Although he is categorically denying the paparazzi access to this act. We'll get it on video at some point. He's becoming quite chatty and smiley, which warms our hearts each time.

I'm back at work this week, which has it's pluses and minuses, and JB officially starts day care next week. We'll get to that more in a later post. For now, enjoy these videos. Disregard my silly, high-pitched mom voice. The post-bath video is fun because he loves taking baths, but he loves the lotion massage the best. He makes the funnest noises.

And comment so we know you are out there!




Thursday, January 14, 2010

Julian at Two Months Old

Julian turned two months old on January 9, and we took his monthly picture with Yoda.

He was really unhappy at first at having to take a picture.


But then I cuddled him long enough for him to fall asleep.


But he was still a bit fussy.


But a pacifier took care of that problem.


JB was wearing his elephant outfit (Thanks, Mike & Amy D) in honor of the University of Alabama's win over Texas for the national championship in college football. Roll Tide!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Holidays (In Review)

After much hard work, I finally got the lights on the Christmas tree. It only took three weeks to finally get it done. This was in the days before Julian started taking long naps in the afternoon. I swear, I had to watch White Christmas three times before I finally finished. We decided to pass on ornaments this year. If it took three weeks to get the lights on, think how long it would take to put on ornaments...or heck...take it all down.



Our stockings are looking quite lovely in a row. Everyone (four-legged family included) has one. Julian's was made by our dear friend, Barb. She even read my mind about what I wanted. I was planning to make one for him myself that had his name on it and was decorated with snowpeople. Great job, Barb!


(Stockings L to R: Vince, Julian, April, Gumbo, Dora, Luna)

My family came up for Christmas from Texas and Louisiana. My brother Jake, his wife Robin, and their dog Maggie drove from New Orleans to Jackson, MS to pick up my dad, and then they all drove up to Chicago. They brought 20lbs of satsumas too (a Louisiana citrus fruit compared to a tangerine, but better)! Our fantastic downstairs neighbor Kim was going to be out of town for the holiday, so we had two apartments, which worked perfectly.


(Uncle Jake and Julian...chillin')

Jake and Robin took great care of JB, so that Vince and I could have a baby-free night on the town. We went to Davis Street Fish Market (YUM!) and then to Barnes and Noble for browsing and coffee. We chatted and worked on our list journal. (More about the journal in another post.)


(Aunt Robin and Julian spent a lot of time bouncing.)

Dad made some delicious picnic chili, which we munched on for days. And we all worked together to cook a delicious Christmas dinner with Jake making turkey, Dad making dressing, Robin making brussell sprouts, and me making Eller beans (fancy green beans), pies, and cranberries.


(JB and Bubba...my dad)


(Vince reading one of JB's favorite books...my favorite line: "Don't meander, salamander!")

It was great to have them all here for JB's first Christmas. Here's a picture of JB in an outfit from his Sweetie (my mom).
Santa's favorite, indeed!

And an outfit from his GG (Vince's mom).

JB's grandpop (Vince's dad) is a firefighter afterall.

A few days after Christmas, my coworker and great friend Jonathan and his girlfriend Meghan came over for Jonathan's birthday. We had homemade meatballs in a tomato gravy with radicchio, gnocchi and a great cake that Meghan got at a bakery near their home. It was a great time!


(Ready to blow out candles)


Look at that beautiful carrot cake!


Julian and me before the IWJ holiday party

Monday, January 4, 2010

Nap Time

I do have some pics and whatnot from Christmas, but I'll have to upload those when I have more time. But this was my experience today:

JB and I were a bit off our schedule today, but he was still super sleepy. I put him down in his bassinet, not quite asleep, and hoped he would settle down. He was squirmy for a couple of minutes and then he settled down. So, I went in to check and make sure he was asleep. And this is what I found:



No nap for me, Mama.



How could you resist this face?