In and Out

Christmas came and went so quickly. Just about as quick as our trip to Wisconsin. In on Thursday morning, out on Sunday night.

Santa was very good to all of us this year. (It looks like Toys R Us threw up in our house.) Thanks to the grandparents, aunts, and uncles we are now turning the lone, empty bedroom into a playroom. The boxes of books, puzzles, and singing toys will have a new home tomorrow afternoon. Chad is painting the bedroom ceiling as I type, and he will be adding crown molding tomorrow morning (too lazy to cut the ceiling and it is the only room without molding).

It was nice to see the entire family, but oh so stressful with a baby off of his schedule. Evan did not sleep well in the pack and play, which left us all very tired. Thankfully he is back to his normal 12 hours of sleep!

MKE is my new favorite airport, by the way. There is a children's play area in Concourse E! It was seriously a lifesaver when our plane was delayed an hour because of SNOW in Atlanta. Evan entertained much of the concourse before we boarded. He decided it was time to practice his walking. He smiled and giggled at every attempt! One man came up to us and said that watching Ev made his night :-)

Thanks again to all those Santas out there. You really spoiled us. We love you and wish you weren't so far away. XOXO.

Nice tree, Yia Yia! 

Wisconsin State Fair

While in Wisconsin for Lee and Katie's wedding, we made a day trip to the State Fair. I can't remember the last time I went to the fair - probably about 20 years ago (dang, I'm old)?

I don't want to put down in writing all the things we ate at the fair - but, it was worth every single calorie! Especially Saz's mozzarella marinara (and the sour cream and chive fries).

And of course, the State Fair "Must" cream puff. It was as good as I remember, and totally not a let down. Evan concurred. He thought it was the best treat of the day, although the vanilla ice cream with cherries ran a close second!

Oh, and let's not forget about corn on the cob with lots of butter and salt!

I also want to give a shout out to all the family from Las Vegas! It was great to see everyone and to spend part of the day with y'all. Here is picture of all the little cousins :-)

 

Nelson-Suwalski Wedding Celebration!

We just spent a wonderful weekend in Wisconsin celebrating Lee and Katie's nuptials! I must say, it started off on the wrong note with spilled Starbucks on the jetway and a delayed flight, but after we arrived in Wisconsin everything was great.

The festivities began with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday night. Thank you so much Lee for those lovely pictures in the slide show. I really can't thank you enough! Haha! It's a good thing no one was looking at me...

All of Katie's hard work came together on Saturday. The day was absolutely beautiful - from the weather, the dresses, the flowers, the reception, the food, and of course, the bride! There were a few minor glitches along the way (ahem, Lee leaving the marriage license in his car at the reception), but it all worked out in the end. Lee and Katie were both calm and cool before the ceremony (and if they weren't, they were good at hiding it!). Chad and I were so proud to be standing up at their sides. We had the most wonderful time!

I stole these pictures off of Natasha's, one of Katie's bridesmaids, Facebook page because I didn't feel like lugging my Nikon. I now regret leaving it with my mom. I can't believe I missed taking pictures at the farm. What a huge disappointment.

Congratulations Lee and Katie! We love you!

6 Months

It's been a busy several weeks for us. I made two trips to Wisconsin on back-to-back weekends. Michigan for Steve and Marci's wedding (so fun!), a night in Chicago with friends (W Lakeshore - does it get better? A special thanks to grandpa and grandma Schloerke for allowing us a night out alone), Memorial Day with the family (mom's cooking-yum), dinner in Madison with my besties (xoxo!), and then I wrapped it all up with Katie's bridal shower on Sunday! Now you know why I have been absent from this blog!

Evan turned 6 months on May 27. Yes, 6 months already, can you believe it? His height, weight and head circumference has stayed steady. Evan weighed in at 18# 4oz (50-75 percentile), 27 3/4" (90 percentile), and head circumference of 18 (90-97 percentile). He also endured 4 more vaccinations. I am so thankful that at his next appointment at 9 months there are no shots! Yey!

Solid food continues to go well. He is now eating twice a day - cereal in the morning and a veggie or fruit in the afternoon. Unfortunately, daycare does all of the feeding so I feel like I am missing out on all the fun! Last night I made my first attempt at baby food - broccoli. Not that it was really an attempt, steam and puree, not that difficult. We have been so busy lately that he has been eating Gerber Naturals for the last month and a half. Evan has tried everything that Gerber offers in the 1st Foods, and he really needs to branch out and embrace his inner foodie! Apparently, we are going to work on bringing out that inner foodie because he didn't care for the broccoli. Oh well, we will give it another try next month.

New this week is the introduction of a sippy cup and water. When daycare first told me about the water, I was thinking isn't he too little? I consulted the Baby 411 book, and I guess at 6 months babies should drink 4-6 oz of water a day. Good thing for daycare...they can tell me what to do! I can't wait for Saturday so I can watch the sippy cup in action! Miss Eugenia says he is doing really well with it. Awe, such a big boy...

I must also document Evan's first airplane ride. He was fantastic on both flights. I knew the flight to Wisconsin was in the middle of naptime, so I was anxious that he would be "one of those kids" on the flight. He did fuss for about 5 minutes before he fell asleep, but overall he did well. Thankfully, he had no ear issues on the takeoff or decent.

It's another busy weekend. Chad has a mini-convention in Atlanta this weekend so we will be having some of his franchisees over for a cookout on Saturday night. Then on Sunday we are having Evan's 6 month photos taken. I am so excited! I took a photography class last fall to learn how to use my digital SLR. My instructor from that class will be taking the pictures. Jeff Roffman is the photographer for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and also shoots weddings, engagements, and kids. Be prepared for some of the cutest pictures ever! Until then...au revoir!

Evan's First Vacation - Savannah, Georgia

I only have two weeks left of maternity leave, so we decided to get out of town for a long weekend. We've tried several times to make it down to Savannah, but for one reason or another we never made it. Despite the lackluster weather forecast we decided to make the trip this past weekend.

We hit the road Friday mid-morning, and about 2 hours into the ride we realized that we forgot the stroller. Other than Evan, it was probably the worst thing to leave at home! I tried calling a baby equipment rental, however, I am still waiting for a return phone call. We ended up buying another stroller frame as it would be a miserable weekend without it. Having solved that problem, we checked into the Spring Hill Suites in Savannah's Historic District.

Although it was drizzling, we headed out to find dinner. It was in the mid-60s so it wasn't a bad stroll. We ended up at the Moon River Brewing Company. According to some, it is one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah. When we go back to Savannah without Evan, Chad and I want to do the Haunted Pub Crawl. Moon River Brewing Company is one of the stops on the tour.

Saturday morning we headed out early for a walking tour of the Historic District with Savannah Dan. Unfortunately it was a bit cooler and windy, which made it not as pleasant as it could have been. Evan was a challenge on the tour, but we managed! We HAD a reservation at Lady & Sons for lunch, however, Ev was not having it so we had a quick sandwich at Leopold's (recommended by Savannah Dan). We made one last stop at Forsyth Park before heading back to the hotel so Evan could nap.

Saturday night we walked through City Center where I had my very first praline. Not a fan; it tasted like pure sugar. We continued down to River Street and had dinner at Rocks on the River at the Bohemian Hotel. As a side note, if Chad didn't have Marriott Rewards I would love to stay here!

Sunday morning we headed home. We will definitely go back when it is warmer. There is still so much to see and do...SCAD (like Harvard for art students), Tybee Island, Ghost Tour, Bonaventure Cemetery, Lady & Sons for dinner, and Hilton Head is only 45 minutes away for some golf!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite shots of the weekend. We'll be back soon Savannah...

Forsyth Park

Honky-Tonkin' in Nashville

Chad had to take a last minute business trip to Nashville this weekend to work the Pillar and Post Convention. Evan and I went along with the hopes we would get to sightsee. As luck would have it, Nashville got hit with a huge (and out of the ordinary) snowstorm. We didn't leave the hotel at all, as the city was pretty much shut down. I guess we saved enough to do for our next visit to Nashville (like visiting the honky-tonks on 2nd...but we probably need a babysitter for that!).

Oh well, here is a video we took in the hotel room. Of course, all the good smiles came before we took out the phone to hit record.