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!