birthday video

what a difference a year makes, happy birthday declan!!!

allow me to be trite, cliche, obvious....babies grow up SO FAST!!!

one year ago today declan was born very early in the morning after a breeze of a pregnancy and a stubborn entrance to the world. i reflected on his birth as i drove past the hospital on my way to work this morning. how lucky and blessed we were with that sweet little bundle with so much hair. all the doctors and nurses fawned over him because he was the most beautiful baby in the nursery, so they said, and i believe them b/c why would they bother when they see 30 babies a day?

we waited 9 long months for his arrival but how fast the months go on the other end now that he's part of our life!

a brief history
then:
7 lbs 11 oz 21 inches long
now:
25 lbs 6 oz 32.5 inches long (95th percentile)

then:
ate every 2 hours on the button, slept between feedings
now:
eats 3 square meals a day with us, 4 sippy cups of milk, sleeps 7:30pm-7:30am!

then:
anxiety, are we doing it right? how do we stop the crying? just make it through another long day.
now:
laid-back, let him eat mac & cheese and cupcakes. let him open doors/drawers/cupboards for nonstop entertainment. let him watch a little sesame street. let him inspect our computers - ooops he removed tim's "enter" key and my "j" in the blink of an eye! let him stand up in the tub and drink the bathwater. let him chew on his toothbrush and comb. remove the batteries from an old remote so he can have his very own. he is a very happy child.

then 11.25.07


now 11.25.08


we started the day giving him his presents, an igloo play tent and a mini play house. in the evening we had jenna, brad and parker over for pizza and cupcakes. we let the boys loose in the playroom and they had so much fun and didn't stop for a second. i do believe the cupcake went straight to his head b/c he was even more off the walls than usual until 8pm when i put him down for bed then talked and sang to himself for another hour after that. and i made it through the day without any tears, i wasn't sure how i would feel today so that was good.



we love you little man and couldn't imagine our days without you! we look forward to seeing you grow into a little boy (but in the words of mariah carey, you'll always be my baby)!

brrrrrrrrrrr

i don't know where you are but it's getting cold here! bundling up a crazy-active toddler should be an olympic sport. luckily once everything is on he doesn't seem to protest too much.

declan and papa

tim's dad visited recently and we enjoyed the company as always. we also got a babysitter one night so the three of us could go out for dinner. we ate at OAKLEYS - fabulous, fabulous, fabulous! if you live in the indy area and need a new idea for an awesome restaurant consider this place! i'd go here over st elmos every time. i would characterize the menu as "seasonal gourmet comfort food" and the space is very cozy and warm with exposed brick and an open kitchen. we tried all sorts of appetizers, salads, soups, entrees and desserts, they even roast their own coffee blend... everything was wonderful!

playing in the leaves

i took advantage of the sunny, crisp fall day on friday to snap some quick photos in the leaves at the end of our street. my battery went dead before i could go too crazy with pictures, but i got some cute ones and i'm still holding out for one more nice day to get more!

to smile

today i am sad, i am tempted to crawl under the covers for four years. i consider myself open-minded, good-natured and flexible so even though i strongly supported mccain and palin, i now will pray obama has the ability and courage to govern from the center and bring people together. i am scared that he is so far left for me to ever trust him, but if maybe he strays from his former super-liberal record and corrupt cronies like rezko(convicted felon), ayers(terrorist) & jeremiah wright (mr. "g.d. america") and puts a muzzle on pelosi, reid and barney frank... just maybe there's a chance for his agenda of hope.

lucky for me i have a very busy, smiling, laughing, babbling, cruising, unconditional-loving little person living under my roof who makes me smile and laugh all day long, regardless of politics... enjoy if you need a smile too. (excuse the sweet potato face)

baby's first halloween

halloween is not my favorite holiday, but we had a wonderful night! my mom and brother came down from MI to help pass out candy and see the little monkey. the weather was amazing for late oct, it was 70 degrees during the day and cooled off a bit at night but we didn't even need warm jackets which was a nice treat!

we had over 100 kids come by, i bought way too much candy and declan looked so cute in his monkey outfit. he crawled all over the front yard, not even a stuffed belly can slow him down!


checking out uncle andy



with grandma nancy

action shot - he loves to clap!

my mom and andy handed manned the candy post so we could visit with some neighbors

daddy monkey

mama monkey

parker playdate

the boys had another fun, yet short, playdate this week. it is hard to squeeze in playing, dinner for babies and moms and catching up in an hour or two but we do! we try to get together every couple of weeks after work but before 7PM bedtimes.

declan teaching parker how to use his cool laptop

"hey dude, give me a turn on this thing!"

parker = well-behaved smiling child
declan = stinker

my pumpkin!

CUTE pumpkin outfit from ceci (tim's mom)


mr. on-the-go


he loves to spin in daddy's office chair