Still here...

Hello! We are still in Arizona enjoying the warm weather.  I will try to do some more posts soon but for now I'll leave you with some sweet pictures.

Old school swing

This old school swing was the one my parents used for me and my brother.  It's in perfect shape but I am sure it's not up to the safety codes we have now.  However, Sully loves it.  To make the swing work you have to crank the handle and give it a little push.  He will sit there for a few minutes and then drift off to sleep.  Part of me wishes I brought this swing with us since it seems to be quite the little miracle. 

We made it to Arizona!

It's so good to be here. The flight was a marathon of sorts. It was 4.5 hours long and he slept for about two of those hours. I realize now that babies are people repellant on flights so Arty and I had the whole row to ourselves. That was perfect for us since we kept having to get up and sway Sully and make trips to the bathroom. Sully had exploding diapers three times so I was sooo happy I brought extra outfits along. The fight attendant even held him. Once we landed we met my parents and my cousin and aunt. It was a perfect day...80 degrees! We headed to my favorite brunch spot at La Grand Orange and we did a little shopping. The rest of the day we hung out and just had family time. Sully got loved on by everyone and enjoyed the attention. I took lots of pictures which I'll post soon. Off to enjoy Sunday and I hope you all are doing the same.

Megan

Arizona bound tomorrow

Our flight leaves for Arizona early tomorrow morning.  I am so excited!  I'm not sure how much I will be blogging in Arizona since I am not bringing my computer along.  I bet I will get a few posts done while I am there.  In the meantime I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and is enjoying great weather where ever you may be!

~Megan

Baby Loves...Bath Time

Here is Sully getting ready to get in the bath tub he's laying on the bath mat in his diaper listening to the water fill up and hanging on to his towel.  I know I've said it before but as soon as the water turns on he knows that a bath is minutes away and he is totally excited.

~Megan

Look What Sprouted Up

Yes, this is a super close picture in my baby's mouth.   This was the only successful picture of this precious tooth I got out of about 50 attempts.  Sullivan loves to grab the camera and thinks we are playing when it gets close to him.  So cute!

~Megan

Lookout...Fun Stuff Ahead

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I am getting so excited for our trip to Phoenix.  The weather is going to be great (I hope) and it will be nice to see my family.  Arty and I will get to go on some dates since we will have babysitters...hooray for that!  I got him tickets to go see a Cubs spring training game as part of his birthday gift.  I think it will be fun!  I also signed up for a boot-camp class that we used to take when we lived there.  They say that it can burn 800 calories per one hour class.  I have never been so sore in my life until I took this class.  Seriously I would wake up the next morning in bed and know I was sore before I even started moving.  Its a good feeling.  Plus, I know we will get to eat some good food and my cousin Kaysie will be there to see Sullivan for the first time AND the last time my parents and family saw Sully he was only one month old.

I need helpful tips for traveling with a baby.  I am planning on bringing our stroller and ergo and have no idea what the process for the stroller is.  I assume its a gate check thing?  Arty will be with me on my flight there but I will be solo on my flight back.  Yikes!  How did your babies do on their first flight? I already pulled out the suitcases and am trying to slowly pack stuff that I know I will need.  So much more thought goes into things when you have a baby to pack for.

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Tomorrow is our stroller exercise class and I just have to say that I am so glad I joined.  The other mom's are really nice and we have a good time with our babies.  On Monday, Sullivan was not a happy camper during class so I put him in the Ergo and did the work out with him there.  My legs were pretty tired after doing lunges, wall sits, dips, and squats with an extra 18 pounds strapped to me.  He slept as soon as I put him in the carrier.  

~Megan 

There is a birthday boy in the house :)

Today Arty turns 30.  I can't believe we met when he was 21 and I was 18.  When I type that, it looks so much longer than it feels.  Time has really flown by.  We have had so many amazing adventures already and I know there is so much more to come for us.  He still makes my heart flutter.  Each year he gets more attractive to me and I remind him of that often.  So to celebrate 30 I wanted to do a list (I love lists) of 30 reasons why I love him.  WARNING this list may be mushy and overly gushy.

Newport Beach, California 2010

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 2009


Ok, so I love...

1.  His giving heart-he always asks me if he can get me anything or make me something to eat.

2.  He will randomly turn on our wedding song and we drop everything to slow dance.

3.  His intelligence has always been astounding to me.

4.  He LOVES to cook-what's not to love about that??

5.  He is so sweet with Sullivan.

6.  I love that he lets me have free creative range to buy him clothes; dress him...when he's not wearing scrubs :)

7.  I love his hands

8.  I love that he gives amazing massages

9.  I love his strong hugs

10.  I love that we can go anywhere together and always have a great time

11.  I love his competitiveness-we love sports and games

12.  I love that he knows how to make me feel better when I am sad

13.  I love when he winks at me 

14. I love his smile and laugh

15.  I love that he will get pedicures with me
16.  I love it when he surprises me with...a bath, a note, a special meal
17,  I love to hear him speak Spanish
18.  I love that he does the dishes most of the time
19.  I love his voice when he sings
20.  I love his cute texts to me while he is in school
21.  I love watching him interact with our son
22.  I love his cuddles
23.  I love that he treats me like a queen
24. I love that he can walk up to a piano and actually play something pretty
25.  I love that we can talk for hours and never get bored
26.  I love that he supports me in everything that I do
27.  I love that he listens to me talk about anything
28.  His eyes...in the right light they look green
29.  When he talks he sometimes uses gestures and hand movements...I love it
30.  I love seeing him next to me in bed when I wake up...he always looks so peaceful :)

I love you Arty...I'll never let go.

Happy Birthday!

~Megan

Girly apron all the way!

I sewed this little girls apron yesterday.  I am giving it to my cousin's daughter, named Ada.  She is only one and a half years old and this apron may be on the big side...but better to be too big than too small.  I crocheted her an adorable hat for her birthday in September and it was way too small...fail.  I imagine her wearing this one day helping her momma make dinner or my aunt make one of her raw, organic desserts and I can't help but smile thinking about that.  I hope that it endures lots of spills and memories.  I made this from a tea towel I found at Target during Valentine's Day.  Super easy and really affordable.  I'll give it to her next week in Phoenix...yay!

~Megan

Great news today!

I am so excited that my cousin and best best friend (who has been in Africa for 4 months but is back in Phoenix now) finally found out the gender of her sweet baby.  I will not say it here yet because I want to make sure she announces it everywhere first but I am so extremely excited to have another baby in the family.

UPDATE:  She is having a BOY!!!  Hooray...I just know that our boys will be best friends!

Here we are at a wedding.

Congratulations Kaysie and John!  I can't wait to see you in a week.  I envision lots of crafting and baby projects ahead for us! Yay for babies!

~Megan

Embrace The Camera 3.10.11

There is something so special about the bond between father and son.  Whenever my husband talks Sullivan is almost always completely focused on him and his voice.  I know these two will be best buddies.  I don't think there is anything sexier than seeing my husband become a father.

~Megan

When it rains...momma takes pictures

Baby boy was all smiles this morning during play time.  He did tummy time and sat up with his hands on the ground supporting him.  This was his first outfit of the day.

 We did run a couple errands and then just camped out inside because it rained all day.  I'll take rain over snow any day.  I decided it would be a good idea to snap some more pictures of this cute little bundle of love.   Second outfit.

Third outfit of the day for this little cutie pie.  He spit up all over the blue one.

See that nice stream of saliva?  Well his first tooth just started poking out today on the bottom. It feels pretty sharp.  Needless to say I have a little drooler right now :)

My oh my how I love this baby boy.

`~Megan

Adventures in Mall Walking and Pictures From Today

As you know, I took Sullivan to the mall to try out a stroller exercise group there.  It basically consisted of squats, wall sits, dips, lunges, and of course walking.  I think the walking was my favorite part because I got to chat with the other moms.  It was fun but not physically that challenging but I will take what I can get.  Conversation, babies, and exercise...YES PLEASE.  We will be going back.  The group also does activities like go to the children s museum together.  Sullivan was so alert but perfectly content chewing on his giraffe.  He also loved it when I held him and did squats.  To show his approval he let out squeals of happiness.

Here are some pictures I took today :)

Smiling with his giraffe

Loves to grab his shirt or bib

There he is again with his shirt :)

Happy Momma and happy baby

He's just pulling on my hair again...ha!

~Megan

Sullivan Laughing

I said I would post this cute video of Sully laughing and here it is finally :)

Weekend Randoms

On Friday after Arty (husband) got done with school we went grocery shopping, had some lunch, and went on a walk to Starbucks.  The weather was pretty nice and I just love getting out whenever the sun is out these days.  That was the first time Arty pushed the stroller and it was also the first time Sully has ever fallen asleep in there.  This gives me hope for tomorrow's stroller exercise class.  I plan to bring the ergo just in case he is not a happy camper.  I will be squatting and lunging my way through the mall with other moms.  Should be entertaining!  The class moves outside to parks when the weather warms up.  Which I thought was happening until is snowed today. Boo!  So back to the weekend, Friday night was normal just dinner, bath, and bed.  Have I mentioned how much I love bath time?  Seriously as soon as Sullivan hears the water turn on he starts laughing and "talking" to me! This is how I do bath time these days... first I put Sully in the bathroom on a comfy bathmat by the tub. Then I take a bath and slowly cool the water down.  Next, I bring him in the tub and he just melts and completely relaxes.  I know this method won't work forever but for now its great.  He loves it, I love it, we all win! Alright, Saturday we just hung out inside because is rained all day.  We ate good food and the three of us lounged around in comfortable clothes.  Today, I took Sullivan to church again.  It was nice and he fell asleep during the music at the beginning. After church I decided that I wanted to get a newspaper for the Sunday coupons.  So let me ask you where do you go to get a paper without getting out of the car due to snow and a sleepy baby????  Starbucks drive-through of course!   I want to try to save money and we'll see how the couponing (is that a word?) goes.  We spent most of the day playing with Sully, he rolled over again, watching netflix, snuggling up, and just enjoying our time together.

~Megan

1st MOPS Experience

Yesterday I went to a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group for the first time.  I was nervous, excited, scared you name it and I probably felt it.  I just kept reminding myself that if I am serious about meeting people and trying to make friends here I need to be able to follow through.  Silly yes, but this is how I was convincing myself to go.  So anyway, I woke up and gave Sully a bath, got us dressed, ate breakfast, made coffee, pumped a four ounce bottle, and dropped Arty off at school.  Then it was time to head over to the church where the group meets.  I also called my mom who encouraged me that this was a positive thing for me and for Sully.  So I followed the signs and walked in.  I saw rooms for 5,4,3, and 2 year olds.  I briefly thought ok if I want to leave I can because it doesn't look like there is a room for the infants.  A nice lady told me where the nursery was so on we went towards the nursery.  I filled out some paperwork and just got the diaper bag and bottle situated.  A couple other mom's with babies walked in.  Some babies could crawl and others could sit up on their own.  I left Sully there and went to the room where the event would be.  They had brunch and coffee there and all I had to do was fill out some paperwork and put on a name tag.  They just started a table for the new people so I found my seat.  Everyone at my table was really nice.  It was great to just chat with mom's.  It's been a while since I had any girl talk in person.  I kept expecting one of the nursery workers to come find me (because they don't let the babies cry, if they can't be soothed within a couple minutes they go find mom) but they never did.  The whole two hours I just sat with the women and my table and talked.  It was truly refreshing.  When I went to go pick Sully up he was in a swing sound asleep where he had been the WHOLE two hours!!  Never ever does he take two hour naps for me, plus he hardly likes our swing.  I was in awe because there were about ten babies there and it was not quiet but there he was peacefully asleep.  A-mazing!  So needless to say we signed up and will be back.  The whole experience was like a breath of fresh air.  Thank you to those who encouraged me here :)

~Megan

Food Pattern

I know that I mostly post about my life with a new baby but I am currently so obsessed with a few food items that I just have to share.

1. Fage Greek Yogurt: this stuff is sooo thick and addicting.  I love it with natural peanut butter swirled in, you know the kind with the oil on top.  Then I take a banana or apple and dip it in this and it is HEAVENLY goodness.  

2. Old Fashioned Oatmeal:  I had this for breakfast and then I had this for lunch.  I don't cook it for as long as the instructions say because I like it undercooked.  I add a couple dollops of....you guessed it natural peanut butter and a sliced banana.  If you are sensing a pattern of natural peanut butter and a banana, you most definitely are right!

3.  Dark Chocolate:  The darker the better.  I had one bar this week that had cacao nibs in it and it made for the perfect crunch.

So that's what I have been eating lots of lately.  Do you ever get in a food pattern or am I the only one?  I'd love to hear!

~Megan

Wednesday's Randoms

Today Sullivan and I went to the grocery store.  I am serious, I really think he likes it there because he starts making his sweet noises and smiling at me.  I LOVE it.   We got a couple things and headed home.  I had to drop off some stuff to Arty at school so we did that and then I needed to pay my bill at Victoria's Secret so we went to the mall.  I also secretly wanted to see if I could check out the group of stroller walker moms there and see what kinds of exercises they do.  It looked like fun, and I saw a couple moms with the same stroller as mine and they were all doing lunges.  I had found out about them online and they meet Monday and Wednesday mornings.  So I think I am going to join up next Monday.  Now tomorrow is the first MOPS meeting for March. I am nervous because I don't know anyone AND because I have never left Sully with people I don't know and he will be in the nursery at the church for two hours.  I am worried he will cry the whole time.  I guess I need to pump in case he gets hungry and bring extra diapers and changes of clothes.  This is new territory but I think it will be good for me.  Yikes, I am getting more and more nervous as I type this.  I will check back with you guys tomorrow and let you know how it goes. 

check out his sweeet blue eyes

~Megan