Thursday, May 28, 2009

City Girl, Day Three: Shopping and Saying Goodbye


Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when the trip didn't seem long enough. On our last day in Chicago, Mallory, Aunt Erin, and I went shopping while the boys decided to go to a double feature. Yep, that's right - they spent a BEAUTIFUL day watching Star Trek and Terminator. I will never understand it, so I won't even try. Anyways, after our shopping trip we met Bev, Jamie, and Kristy for lunch and had a great time. It was so nice seeing everyone again. We seldom get to see our long time family friends and it was nice to catch up.

Later that evening, we went out for Mexican food and just took it easy. It was a nice relaxing day. It was a nice relaxing trip. Thank you so much Aunt Erin and Uncle Todd for your hospitality, we had a fabulous time. The trip was too short and it doesn't happen enough. We miss you and wish you were here.

I will close this three part series with one more short clip full of smiles...




And this concludes Mallory's first vacation out of Ohio. Her first trip to the Big City.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

City Girl, Day Two: The Zoo & the Lake


THE LINCOLN PARK ZOO







On day two of our big city trip, we headed out to the Lincoln Park Zoo. This is Mallory's first trip ever to the zoo and she was all smiles the entire time. Although I am certain that she didn't have any idea what she was looking at, we still had a great time. We saw a ton of animals and got some great pictures. It was difficult for me to just pick a couple to post.

We also made sure to take a little bit of video on our trip. Here is a short clip of us trying to get Mallory to notice the penguins. No such luck...



THE LAKE





After our day at the zoo, we decided to go home, relax, and then go to the Lake for a cookout. We ran to the grocery, grabbed some hot dogs and burgers and headed down to the lake. It was a beautiful, cool evening that seemed to be full of surprises.

We had two locations in mind for our cookout. We drove to those locations, only to find out that there was no parking. Apparently everyone in Chicago had the same plan that we did that evening. So, against our better judgment, we drove down one more exit. Surprisingly, there were plenty of parking spots at this spot. We parked, unloaded, and set up camp. While we were there, we came across teenagers up to no good (that insisted on sitting right in front of us as if there wasn't enough lake to go around) and an irate lady screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. Although it was incredibly entertaining, Erin flagged down an officer and requested that he try to get her to be quiet and considerate of the many children that were around. She finally left, but she will forever be in our memories. Despite the distractions (or what some would refer to as entertainment) we had a great time and Marc prepared us some fabulous eats.

After a long day and evening we headed back to the house to call it a night. That was day two. Day three to come.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

City Girl, Day One: Out to dinner in the big city



This will be one of three installments of "City Girl" portraying Mallory's first trip to the big city. Over memorial day weekend, Mallory, Marc, and I took our first family trip to Chicago to visit Aunt Erin and Uncle Todd. We had a fabulous time and did so much in the short three days we were there.

Day one wasn't too action packed, but still significant. We woke up on Friday and packed up the car to get on the road. Not completely certain of how Mallory would be in the car, Marc and I were a little on edge and anxious to get going. We were trying very hard to time it perfectly with her morning nap. We ended up getting on the road slightly before her nap time - around 8:20 AM. To our astonishment, Mallory did very well in the car for our 6 hour trip. She slept most of the time and truly only got cranky when she was hungry. We actually had to stop more for us then her! Thank goodness because driving with a cranky baby is no fun.

We arrived around 4:00 Chicago time, and after unpacking and feeding Mallory real quick we went out to "the Fireplace" to sit, relax, and decide what to do that night. We ended up going to a really nice Italian dinner and sat outside on the patio. Mallory was passed around the table until she inevitably got tired and after cuddling with daddy, fell asleep in her stroller. Once we got home, it was a quick and easy transition to the pack and play and she was out like a light. That was day one. Day two to come.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

No more snow!





So, I am not ready to say that the nice weather is here to stay, but man it has been nice outside lately. Being that we are residents of Ohio, it is hard not to wonder if it is just a tease, but I did officially pack up my sweaters the other day, so my fingers are crossed that we won't have snow next week (no, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we did). Anyways, on a nice breezy spring evening, Mallory, Stephanie, and I spent some time on a blanket out in the front yard with some toys. We cooked out brats and just played with Mallory until bedtime. It was a very nice evening with some post-worthy pics, so enjoy.

Friday, May 15, 2009

My first Mothers Day





My first Mothers Day was wonderful, memorable and very relaxing. I started my Mothers day the day before, on Saturday May 9th. I went to get my hair done and when I arrived home both Marc and Mallory were taking a nap. I took advantage of this time (seldom do I get quiet time with both the husband and the baby asleep) and started to pick up and clean around the house. I took the monitor from our bedroom so Marc could sleep a little longer and began my chores. To my astonishment, I got a good half hour of time before I started to hear that little whine coming from the monitor. Although I was enjoying the quiet time, I was secretly anticipating Mallory's little noises as I was excited to see her. I went up to her room and opened the door. Sitting there before me was a Jeep 3 wheeled stroller completely assembled with a card sitting in it. Mallory had gotten me a card and a stroller. Now, I know this is a completely selfish gift for her to give me, but you must understand how badly I have been wanting this stroller, I was so excited! He have trails through the woods in our neighborhood that our other stroller just couldn't cut it on, so this is very exciting for me!

Then, on actual Mothers Day, I got a beautiful card from my husband along with a family themed picture frame with a family picture in it. It was wonderful and beautiful and I loved it. Thank you Marc and Mallory for the thoughtful gifts. I love you both very much.

Next, we went to Grandma Preston's and had a very relaxing day. We stuffed our bellies, talked, laughed, and played outside. Ivan and Mallory were adorable again, and watching them together just made my day. However, the day wasn't quite complete until we arrived home and Mallory and I took a good 2 hour nap together on the over stuffed chair in the living room. So comfy and relaxing - I had a great mothers day.

I would also like to take this moment to recognize the great mothers in my family that have been amazing to me. So, thank you mom for your constant love and support. Thank you mom (Marty) for loving me and treating me like I was your own. Thank you Lori for being such an amazing mother and teaching me how to be a great mother to my child. Thank you Grandma (even though you don't have a computer and won't see this) for loving me unconditionally and helping to make my childhood amazing. I love you all and you are all amazing women and mothers. Happy Mothers Day.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

First Farmers Market of 2009!




Saturday morning was the first Farmers Market of 2009 and Mallory's first time (out of the womb) to attend the Market. We got up early and left the house around 8:45 and made our way to downtown. Katherine and Liam joined us on our walk. We were worried at first because it was very cloudy, but it turned out to be a beautiful day and both babies were very good. It was incredibly enjoyable and I think Mallory and I are going to try and go every weekend we can as long as the weather is nice. She had a great nap to and from the Market and while we were there she was incredibly entertained by all the tents, people, and colors.

Mallory & Ivan





Last weekend, Mallory and I went over to visit with Aunt Lori, Aunt Kelly, and Cousin Ivan. While we were there, this little boy just melted my heart as he constantly wanted to give Mallory hugs and take care of her. He was hugging her every chance he got as well as bringing her fallen binkys and toys that he thought she may want. Each time, exclaiming "baby" in his adorable little voice. We had a great time watching the two of them interact.

Friday, May 8, 2009

The Learning Process






Remember the post when Mallory discovered she had hands? Well, now she has discovered that there are these small extensions on the ends of her hands that can be used to grab things. They come in quite handy when there are objects in her near vicinity that she must pick up, right then. The only problem is that typically when she picks them up, she doesn't know what to do with them and ends up just randomly throwing them in a manner that can only be described as looking like a spontaneous muscle spasm.

Her latest and greatest using the fingers, is she is now taking her Binky in and out of her mouth. This is fine and dandy until she realizes that she did in fact, want her Binky and gets angry because instead of putting it back in her mouth, she randomly throws it out of arms reach. I guess it is all just part of the learning process.

Smiling is Hard Work


For Mallory's three month pictures, we went out to Grandma Sachs' house hoping to get some great photos (still in editing, soon to come.) It was a long day of constant camera flashes, wardrobe changes, and of course smiles. The only difference is, Mallory doesn't smile on command. Now, she is a very happy baby most of the time, but trying to keep her smiling for several hours was not only hard work on us, but also on her. These were the last couple of quick photos of the day and she is in such a deep sleep, I don't think anything could have woken her up.

The pictures of Mallory turned out well, but we had to sift through 300+ photos, narrow it down to 30 or so that we liked, and now we are trying to get the best quality possible using photoshop. I am sure that we will post them long after her 3 months (well, she is four months as of May 2nd) but do know they are on there way.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Party Pooper




Every party has a pooper, and in this case, it was Mallory. During Grandpa Morley's birthday party (and also the one year anniversary of when I found out that I was pregnant with Mallory) we tried to enjoy the beautiful weather as well as keep Grandpa company while he grilled and this is what happened. What a party pooper.