man to man defense

parker and declan on a walk in their matching bugaboos

the happy family

parker's first time in a high chair, loved it


tim and i babysat for parker for a few hours this saturday night so that his parents could have date night. brad and jenna haven't been out for a long date night probably since parker arrived in early january! the boys smiled a lot at each other, we took a long walk around the neighborhood (and got some funny looks with our matching strollers), did tag team bottles and rice cereal dinner and took turns playing in the exersaucer. it wasn't that hard watching two, but it was pretty hard to entertain both and try to eat the papa murphys pizza and salad we had planned for the night. dinner basically took the backburner to the babies but that was fine and not entirely unexpected.

they are both very well-mannered little guys and it will only get easier to watch them together as they'll be playmates and want us to get lost anyway. we look forward to them growing up together!!!

it's about time

it's about time that my mom would buy me a bigger chair for the car, i was filling out all the edges of my infant car seat and hated that i couldn't see out the window at that low angle for babies.

now i'm a very big boy and i love my new britax. it arrived this week and my mom tore open the box and immediately put me in it for a trial run, you can see in the photos that i really like it already! it is very big and comfy and soft.


i look out the windows and talk to myself about everything i see. it is a whole new world. now i have lots of extra room to wiggle and grow too!

happy memorial weekend

my mom and lynn came down this weekend and brought my grandma and grandpa who have never had the chance to see our home yet. i really think everyone just wanted to see the baby! i have been really sick all weekend so i'm not in any pictures, i look gross and pale. it was sad to be so sick with all of our company, but my mom and grandma helped so much - with declan as well as preparing and cleaning up our meals. they let me rest whenever possible which i really needed. the weather was so beautiful and warm finally! too bad i was in my thickest sweats, wool socks and wrapped in a blanket underneath my covers to stay warm from my chills- my body is definitely fighting a mean memorial bug.




he did not like his first exposure to grass... prickly!

happy half birthday little guy!

declan was born nov 25th, today is may 25th so that makes him 6 months old today! he is a super-lengthy 30 inches long, and tips the scales at 20 lbs. it is truly amazing how time flies - we love our little guy.
here is what he is all about these days:

very happy
big smiles
one serious head of hair
giggles when tickled
wakes up babbling and cooing
rolls back & forth across the floor
holds his own bottle
likes to hold on to his feet
high pitched babbling
loves being sung to
eats everything we give him (so far)!
relaxes in the bathtub
loves his green stroller
great shopper
stands all the time, does not know how to sit yet
likes to watch sesame street and ellen (with mom)
great sleeper

from aunt tina with love

thanks to aunt tina, declan scored two brand new original onesies this week. she came up with the ideas and then ordered them from some crafty gals on etsy (which is a website dedicated to really unique handmade items).

here is little man showing off one of two fabulous original creations from tina. gotta love those chubby baby thighs. mr. 5 month old is in 12 month clothing. still off the growth charts, we'll see by how much next week at his 6 month checkup.

true story, tim proudly wears crocs. they came about initially to be lawn-mowing and yard shoes, however they have morphed into his weekend dad shoes.

proud mama!

happy mothers day to all the moms! here are some pics of our wonderful day today... despite the freezing, windy, rainy weather it was an awesome first mothers day for me. we were in chicago and went to brunch at exmoor cc with tim's mom and his sister's family (his dad was out of town golfing). here is our newest family photo, i love it!

ce-ce and all her grandkids: mitch, declan, mary kate and caroline. impossible to get them all looking and smiling.

cousins in jammies

i was quickly preparing his oatmeal the other morning and found i didn't have to rush... he was totally patient relaxing in his chair waiting! he sat still like this for a good couple of minutes.

cute as a button

crawling is just around the corner

uncle andy's visit

my brother, andy, came down from michigan last weekend to spend some time with us before he heads up to boyne golf resort for the summer for his new job. boyne is way way up north michigan and summer is their busy season for golf (obvs) so we figure we may not see him until the fall or even thanksgiving.

when he walked in, declan snuggled right up to him and laid his head on his shoulder (captured below). it was kind of unexpected and so cute.


we went to ted's montana grill for dinner. a weird favorite of mine, mainly because it is baby-friendly yet has a cool ambience and delicious food - a rare trifecta!

just hanging out before andy left, loves his uncle!

chairman of the house

we suddenly realized that our little man is quickly outgrowing his bouncy seat on the kitchen table for feedings. tim brought up our new high chair from the basement where it has been in the box since my baby showers.

declan seemed very pleased with it and made himself right at home lounging in his new chair, which does recline by the way. reclining high chairs with adjustable footrests, what will they think of next?

wait a minute?!.... something's not quite right with this picture


that's more like it.

exersaucin

we really should check into baby modeling for hair products... i just saw that bobbi brown has a new baby product line at saks and everything smells SO good. too bad we go through far too much shampoo to be spending $15 a bottle!

dec's been loving the exersaucer in the past two weeks, he can play with all the toys and scoot around unlike last month when he was slightly too small and just hung by his armpits.

rock the vote - primary day

don't forget to "rock the vote" today as mtv used to say! hoosiers have a very big role this time (for once in history). the candidates have descended on our state this month in a very big way! democrats can get their kicks by voting for a woman or african american - history in the making. for republicans, on the local level we can vote out people like dan burton who has enjoyed 13 terms in congress only to accomplish the best golf score and worst voting record. he's been doing a disservice to his constituents by missing key votes while hobknobbing out on the golf course. also of note, burton just spent $200k of taxpayer dollars just for postage for campaign postcards for himself...mailers that tout how he "protects your tax dollars." yeah right.

record turnout is expected! the lines for absentee ballots were very long over the weekend. go Operation Chaos!

cheers to electronic voting and no pregnant chads this time around

indianapolis idol

our nanny jane has been telling us that declan looks just like a guy on american idol. i don't watch the show so i never paid much attention, but in flipping through channels tonight, NOW i totally know who she is talking about and there is a resemblance in the hair!

david cook

our indy idol

these pictures don't really do the comparisons justice, but take my word for it. same color, parted on the left, long at the ears and sticking up like a turkey in the back. i guess david's is probably on purpose too since he is a rock star... ours is just natural baby bed head.