Happy 2012!

It's been so long since I've posted on this blog, I don't even know what to say about that. I learned over the Christmas holiday that I had some family followers that I had no idea I had. That, along with the inspiration from my friends, has motivated me to get back on the horse...or the wagon (however you want to look at it). I'm going to try to keep up.

This post has some photographs we had taken after Thanksgiving by one of Chad's coworkers, Suzanne, who is a sweetheart. Photography is one of her many hobbies. She offered to take some photos for us previously and we finally took her up on it. Our motivation...our holiday card!!
I stress the words 'holiday card' because capturing a photo for that card each year has become a stressful event in our house. Chad and I usually get into a fight about that one. We can never find the right spot or get a good shot and it is usually a problem because we don't have anyone to take the picture. We avoided all those problems this year, and went with a professional. Here are some of the them.

He has hair...

Can you see it???? We like.

Father's Day

I love this picture. It's taken outside the building of our new apartment.



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Wrigley

Lucas at Wrigley Field on fan appreciation day.



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Daddy?

I think Lucas looks so much like Chad in this picture. Most of the time, I think Lucas looks like me and not Chad - but in this picture, I see his daddy!

We're moving....

just not sure where (somewhere in Chicago though)....or when (within a few weeks). But we are in the clear to close on our condo. Yeah! We'll keep you posted!

just some random pics ~

Happy Easter!

We had such a fun Easter this year. Holidays are so fun with a toddler. The Easter bunny brought Lucas an Elmo Easter basket and some goodies. We went to an Easter egg hunt at a city park and to our surprise, it was an indoor egg hunt. It was in a gymnasium with tons of push toys, plastic eggs all over the floor, and the Easter bunny. Lucas loved the push toys, didn't know what to do with the eggs, and didn't even notice the Easter bunny. The park was next to the lake so Lucas took his first stroll on the beach. It was great.

Funny thing...

Although the weather is crappy right now (rain, cool, windy) it was beautiful in the beginning of the week and we had our windows open. Chad came home one evening with a "surprise" for Lucas. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little pink piece to one of Lucas' toys that he found on the busy sidewalk outside of our building. Lucas dropped the piece from our window! The screen was out because the windows were washed and although we have interior bars, there is plenty of space to get his little hand, and arm, out the window.

I hope that the piece didn't fall on anyone passing by!

home sweet home...

I never knew that selling a home can be so stressful. Currently, we are still under contract but the deal has felt like it almost died a couple of times. One moment we are super excited about leaving and moving into a bigger place, the next, we accept the fact that we may be here for awhile and remind ourselves of the benefits of staying in our cozy (way too small but conveniently located) condo, then back to the other side again...I've decided that I need to try to stop thinking about it.

BUT, I'm a little worried...here I go again...that the change might be stressful to Lucas. This is the only home he's ever known and because we are close to Chad's work, he gets to see his daddy everyday at lunch. However, he definitely needs his own room. I mean, Chad and I need our own room! I am embarrassed to admit this, but we have been sleeping in the living room (me on the couch and Chad on the floor on couch cushions) since December. We started doing this because Lucas was waking up so often in the night. Although we don't have to get up with him in the night anymore, he makes noises when he sleeps and literally his crib is one small foot from the foot of our bed and we wake with every sound. And if he wakes and sees us in bed, it's all over and everyone is awake.

Chad and I are dreaming about what life might be like with two bedrooms. We found an apartment in a neighborhood here we like. It is certainly no house in Boise, unfortunately, but it will do. I'm not sure we will get it because our closing date has been postponed for a couple of weeks, but if we do, I'll post some great pictures!!!

It's finally warm!

So we've been havin' us some fun at the park!











(Heather, did I tell you that we love the jeans? Ha, ha!)

Park

We went to the park...



and Lucas met a friend...





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Awww...

There is a used bookstore near us that Lucas loves. He runs around making all kinds of happy noises and I can hardly keep up with him. Last time we were there, he kept hugging this big gorilla.



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Cutie

This is my new favorite outfit of Lucas'. I love it when I open his dresser and see that it's clean so I can put it on him! Thanks for the birthday jeans auntie Heather!


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Uh oh!

Lucas loves toilet paper, unrolling it, tearing it, and eating it. The first time he put it in is his mouth, he cried. That was several months ago. Now he won't stop eating it! I didn't dare get a picture of him with it in his mouth because he will swallow it and that's just yucky (as we tell him)!






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Sweet sounds...

So pleasant to wake to sweet babbles at 7am than cries (screams, really) at 6am. Lucas, keep up the great work. We are three for three today~

Birthday Boy!

Big, bad Lucas turned one year!

We can hardly believe it.

Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Wally planned to come to Chicago to celebrate his birthday, but instead offered their plane tickets to us so that we could go to Idaho and celebrate with more family and friends.

Aunt Gina, Uncle Paul, Dino and Carrie left 80 degree weather in Arizona only to arrive in shin-deep snow and frigid conditions (relatively-speaking) in Pocatello.

Dino and Carrie took to the snow like fish to water and played outside the entire time!

Lucas handled the pressure of the first birthday like a rockstar - all eyes on him, expectations to unwrap and momentarily enjoy each gift before moving on to the next, smile, laugh, remain sociable the entire time, and finish things off by smearing cake all over his face.

(No, his parents' expectations were not too high!)

He did great, but he didn't take to unwrapping the presents and tried hard to crawl away each time we wrangled him in to open another. He also was much more interested in using a fork and trying to grab my knife while I cut the cake than eating it himself.

We had a great time. It felt like Christmas all over again but even better because we had more family and friends together. In fact, we were so distracted that we didn't take many pictures. We don't even have one of him eating his cake!

Opening presents

Oh ya...breakfast at Butter Burrs in Pocatello.

This is where I met Chad 18 years ago...I was a server and he was a bus boy!

It was also the place that his sister and my sister worked as well as many other friends.

Thanks for the hook up, Britt.

Here's a family pic.

Unfortunately we didn't get one with the Vinci's :(

(This lack of pictures for a first birthday really is pathetic. I'll try to get more from my mom. Possibly more to come....)

Second Showing...

We are having a second showing of our condo tomorrow (our first).

PuLeez cross your fingers for us!!!! We need an offer!

Who woulda thunk it?

A TIE chair...from Aunt Gina.

Sleeping update...

So I am going to blog about sleeping (as ridiculous and boring as it may be). We are doing pretty good. Unfortunately, our two night pattern of sleeping completely through the night ended on night three. However, Lucas has woken only once in the middle of the night each night since. Compared to where we were, this is fantastic! Last night was great. Lucas cried a little at 2 a.m. and put himself back to sleep with no intervention from us. The two nights prior to this were not so good. (Thank God we have nice neighbors!)
More to come...(as ridiculous and boring as it may be).

Cabin Fever!!

Mom and Lucas have cabin fever REAL bad!!!
Sometimes I think I cannot take another day of cold temperatures and snow! Thank goodness for indoor activity centers. Last Saturday Chad and I took Lucas to My Gym. It is a center where kids can crawl around and play on mats, slides, toys, etc. They have a trampoline and gymnastic equipment. Last Saturday the class instructors helped Lucas do a somersault...forward and backwards! It was super cute. He seemed to like it so we will be spending many days there in the near future to help with this cabin fever!