definitely a daddy's girl

one look at that smile and there's no denying lucys a daddys girl!  i can spend all day with her and not get a smile like that.  but as soon as daddy walks in the door she lights up and flashes him her biggest smile!  at four months she's got him wrapped around her little pinky already.

finally a stroller!

lucy's stroller finally came in this weekend!!!  i had been researching strollers since lucy was still in my belly!  strollers are such a major item i feel, your kids will sit in them for quite a few years and they can make or break a outing.  i knew before i even started looking that the most important things for me was that it was compact and lightweight and easy for me to handle.  i wanted to have the ease of being able to pop over to the grocery, mall or zoo without anyones help.

it took me a long time to make up my mind and they dont make it easy for you with all the different strollers on the market.  it basically came down to two major brands bugaboo and uppababy.  bugaboo had a small size stroller called the "bee" that i liked quite a bit but it was lacking in a few departments.  it had great maneuverability (one handed push) which is really important when you need your other hand to carry your starbucks frappa mocha caffeine junked drink!  jk honestly being able to have your other hand free is pretty nice sometimes.  it had beautiful colors to choose from.  and thats where it ended for me.  everything else were negatives.  it didnt have a large basket, did not have a snack tray?!  and the seat was really low to the ground so your child is really far from you.  also the seat seemed weird to me its very open and didnt seem to protect the child.

so then i read about the uppababy "cruz", which was suppose to be out in august and i thought perfect just in time for lucy!  well they kept pushing it back.  we almost gave up and went with the uppababy "vista" which is the perfect stroller that has everything!  the only problem is it was slightly too big and heavy in my opinion.  and thats why the company decided to make a mini version of its bestselling stroller.  well im glad we waited because the minute we put lucy in her new stroller, i kid you not she started giggling and smiling.  nate and i looked at each other and thought "whatever just a coincidence." well an hour later after cruising through the mall she was still all smiles from ear to ear.  we felt so bad as parents that we had crammed her into her car seat and snapped her to the "snap and go" for the last four months!  i really didnt know she would be so much more comfortable.  there were signs though, whenever she had been in the car seat for a bit she would start arching her back and making these grimacing faces.  i dont want to say anything bad about the "snap and go" its definitely worked for us the last four months while we were waiting on our stroller.  at only $50 its small, convenient and serves the purpose.  another stroller i wanted to mention that we also really liked a lot is a UK brand called mamas and papas.  they have really great strollers with big baskets and pushes great!

a few things that i love about the uppababy cruz:

1. its small, compact, lightweight without sacrificing functionality.

2. weight limit 50lbs vs the bee 37lbs

3. all kinds of accessories inluded: bug net, rain/wind cover, big UV protecting shade.

4. huge HUGE basket. we went grocery shopping yesterday and was able to put our entire wks worth of  grocerys underneath with room to spare!  you wouldnt think this is important but when you go shopping how do you think your going to be holding all the bags when your pushing your stroller?!

5. it fits in our trunk vertically so that it allows me to have more room and easier to lift the stroller out.

6. the seat lays flat so that it allows you to start using it from infant stage.

we are so happy with the stroller and so is lucy!

holiday cards

i love receiving christmas cards!  every year as the 25th creeps closer and closer i run out to my mailbox as soon as i hear the mail lady drive by to check for any new christmas cards.  its the only time that i beat nate to the mailbox.  nates another weirdo he enjoys getting the mail and going through and sorting them.  so usually i leave it for him but during the holidays i like to get the mail.
for the past few years we always hand make our own christmas cards.  its so much fun and it gets us into the holiday spirit.  this year i knew i probably wouldn't have that much time with a new baby so we did what we'd always say we would never do......PUT OUR KID ON THE CHRISTMAS CARD aaagghhh! one year i put our cat max on the card to poke fun at all the people that did that.  well i guess things change when your a parent.  you become so proud of the little being you've created that you want to shout it from the mountains and share it with the whole world.
we took an afternoon and dug around our basement for some props and waited till the light was just right and snapped a few pictures of lucy.  then mommy did some photoshop work and sent away for our cards.  it was super fast and easy and we think the cards turned out great!

i love to see the cards accumulating on our table.  people are really procrastinating this year still kinda low.

picture of lucy we put on the christmas card.

4 moons

in honor of lucy turning four months we gave her bananas!  her first banana experience was so cute, she had the funniest expression.  i think she was expecting rice cereal and instead got a mouthful of banana!  happy four months lucy!

weekend in pictures

im getting behind on uploading pictures to the blog.  i guess its alright since its the holidays and i can just say im busy.  here are our pictures from the weekend.

baked chicken drumsticks is a recipe that is in heavy rotation at our house.  its easy and healthier then the deep fried version, but just as delicious!  i need to work on some veggies other then broccoli!  i think brussels sprouts are in season?  will pick some up next week.  (i only cook mon-thur)

we took lucy to her first dimsum experience at sunflower.  too bad she couldnt have any.  nate and i do love us some dimsum.  especially the egg custard tarts for desert.  all the little ladies that push the carts around would stop and play with lucy, they said she's cute!  but we already know that.  =) 

then we played around in front of the christmas tree.  we tried to get lucy and max to sit for a picture.

EDIT:  so apparently on 11/17 i had already posted a pic of the baked drumsticks.  LOL! i told you guys it was in heavy rotation!

bolognese with a dash of christmas tree

i love bolognese sauce.  its one of my favorite classics.  simply put its tomato and meat sauce.  im not a huge fan of red sauces in general but i think the reason why i love bolognese is because its not a true red sauce, traditionally you add milk or cream and tomatoes are added minimally.  anyhow real bolognese sauce takes a few hours to cook and they add a few different types of meats.  well who has a few hours these days to just dilly dally around in the kitchen?!?  certainly not me!  so i came upon this truly yummy simple version of bolognese,  its so yummy you'll think its been simmering all day.  and best of all it takes less than 30 minutes to whip up!  so take that rachel ray!!

tadah! now tell me that doesn't make your mouth water!

after dinner we put some christmas music on finally got around to setting up our christmas tree.  lucy sat on the couch and watched daddy drag piece by piece of our giant christmas tree from the basement.  then we turned all the lights down and lit the tree up!  lucys eyes got really big and she stared at the tree.  she's probably wondering why there's a giant tree in our living room!

what do you think, i think she's got daddys eyes

reading

i love to read but since lucy's been born i haven't much time to read anymore, well at least leisure reading.  now i get to read baby books, parenting magazines, and lucy's little books.  we think she might have a love for books as much as her mommy does.  she will sit quietly and listen to you read.  she looks at each page and the pictures.  she also can hold the book on her own.  i love it that my little girl likes books!

rice cereal

lucy tried rice cereal for the first time the other night.  we decided to go ahead and give her some rice cereal even though she's only a little over 3 months.  i mixed it with her formula and we spoon fed her.  we were so excited for her first "solid" food experience, that when she cried and didn't really want it we were so disappointed.  we laughed about it and thought how silly we were to think that she would just miraculously take to eating something she's never had before and off a spoon!  we waited a bit then gave it another try.  this time she took to it!  we couldn't tell if she liked it or not.  

last night we tried giving her some again and this time i mixed it with water.  she seemed to like it a lot more then the previous night.  she ate quite a bit.  and last night slept for 8hrs straight.  not sure if it had anything to do with the rice cereal.   doctor said she could start on rice cereal at 4 months.  well she's almost 4 months and lately we've noticed she gets hungry quicker and quicker.  so we thought it was time to try some solids.  we're probably just going to stick to cereal once a day for now, but i cant wait till she really starts eating.  i'm really looking forward to making my own baby food when the time comes!

give me more!!

nom nom nom

look mommy im sitting up and eating!

thanksgiving

thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!

im thankful for the pilgrims that landed on plymouth rock and started this holiday so that every year

i can gorge myself on this yummy yummy day!

there was lots 'ole turkey, check out lucy eyeing the turkey.  next year baby next year.

there was lots of playtime with lucy and the kids, lucy loved all the attention!

this is the reason why thanksgiving is my favorite day!

first round done~

guess i'll take a nap since everyone is stuffing their faces except me...

working off the extra pounds with some football

poor lucy only liquid diet for now

all the grandkids with nana

and finally getting ready for the next holiday...christmas!

no pictures mommy!

she snuggles in her towel like this every night after bath time.

wildlights

we took lucy to the zoo for the wildlights this past weekend.  we think she would've enjoyed it if she was awake for it!  she slept the entire time.  i guess i would sleep too if i was all bundled up and cozy in a polar bear suit.  we did wake her up at the end and she got to see some of the lights.  we're going to take her again and not let her sleep this time.  hopefully we'll get another warm night to do this.  it was in the 50's when we went.

i think im one of the few people in their 30's that still LOVES the zoo.  i try to drag anyone and everyone i can to the zoo with me!  i remember taking my parents and cousin there thinking it would be a great outing, i think i was the only one that enjoyed it....=(   i have since realized not everyone enjoys the zoo like i do.  so i bought a zoo membership and started going there almost on a weekly basis by myself.  last year when they finally put in the polar bear exhibit i was there so often that the keepers were probably thinking "here comes that crazy girl thats obsessed with the bears!" i could sit for hours just watching those polar bears!  i love them!  naturally when i had lucy and saw the polar bear suit at carters i had to buy it and take her to the zoo in it! =)  i cant wait 'till lucy gets older and i can drag her to the zoo with me.  she'll probably turn out to be the only kid that hates the zoo because she's so sick of it!

3 moons

yay lucy is 3 months old!!!  it seems like its been more then 3 months, so much has changed and happened.  in the span of three months lucys gone on her first overnight trip to nana and grandpas house, went on her first airplane ride, saw the beach (even tho she was sleeping).  Drank her first 8ouncer!  watches tv (daddy doesnt like this).  rolls onto her side.  laughs and smiles at everything.
i think back to when i wrote the post about my first trip out with lucy and what an experience that was.  back then i never thought i'd get to the point where'd i'd be comfortable with just packing lucy in the car and going anywhere.  now we go everywhere, to the mall, take her to meet daddy for lunch.
i also remember back when lucy would not stop crying, if she wasnt eating or sleeping she was crying.  wow!! so much has changed, nate and i constantly say how lucky we are to have such a good baby.  its like someone flipped the cry switch at 5 weeks.  she never cries not even when her diaper needs changed nor when shes hungry.  i have to set my watch to feed her because she doesnt cry.  she's been sleeping every night for 10 hrs.  she always sleeps 7hrs the first stretch then wakes and eats and sleeps for another 3 hrs.  yes i know i'm very very lucky to be getting so much sleep.  the other night she slept for 10 hrs and we had to wake her up to feed her.
well we hope she continues to be a happy baby for us.  we'll see how things go when her teeth come in! 

dinner last night, nothing special but quick and yummy!  i made this meal in under an hour thats including chicken baking time!!  when you have a baby you learn to cook fast.  i cant believe im back to cooking dinner again.  after lucy i thought there is no way im going to be able to cook with a baby, how do people do it??  well three months later back on track!

and of course a lucy pic

giant leaf we saw on a walk we took lucy on

city by the bay

we flew out to san francisco for my closest friends wedding last weekend.  we were nervous about the trip traveling with lucy at only two and half months old.  but she did great!  she slept the entire time on the flight out there and the flight back she did pretty good only fussing a little.  i thought i would have to pack so much stuff with such a little baby but surprisingly it wasnt too much different then when it was just the two of us traveling.  of course it is a little different with a car seat and stroller and diaper bag but it really wasnt as difficult as i thought, which is a good thing because we will be more inclined to keep traveling with lucy.  of course we also had grandmas help which made a huge difference!  we cant thank her enough for going with us on the trip!

we visit san francisco quite often with audrey being there and every time i'm there i cant get over how beautiful that city is.  im reminded that the place you live can make a world of difference in your everyday life...does that makes sense?  i love the fog, the ocean and the people there.  i feel very at home there.  i guess part of the reason is that, that was my childhood home for a few years.  my family lived there during my elementary years.  i remember going into the city on the weekends and getting dimsum, flying kites in golden gate park, the pink box filled with yummy egg custard tarts, and telling my dad to go faster and faster up and down the hilly streets.  its a beautiful place that holds some fond memories.

the wedding was so special!  nate and i both agreed it was the best wedding we've ever been a part of.  words cant really describe it and my poor pictures really dont do it much justice either.  all i can say is there was a lot of love that day up at the marin headlands!  congratulations audrey and craig!

can you believe this is airport food!