Adventures of a {MAMA}razzi on New Years Eve

Rainy Friday...

Yes, this post is being written today...December 30th...and it is raining!  We have only been in Illinois for 2 years now so we are no experts, but I do believe there is usually supposed to be SNOW on the ground by this time of year!  This weather is making me more nervous about what is yet to come...

Well, since there is no snow yet, Rylie and I decided to try out her new toy in the house.  Can't wait to take her for sled rides when it finally snows!  I think she'll love getting bundled up in her new snow suit (thanks Grandma and Grandpa C!) and seeing what real Chicagoland winters are like - get used to it, Baby!  hehe

We definitely needed to get out of the house today, so we met up with a friend and her daughter at Grounds for Hope Cafe.  It was way more crowded than the first time I went there (today was rainy/friday/kids on break, etc).  But we still had a good time!  We only had to fend off a few bigger kids at various times - think: flying legos, toy thieves, kid cursing out my friend, etc.  Haha!

And Rylie got her first war wound from her face meeting up close and personal with a jumbo lego piece on the floor.  Thankfully it is just a little red mark:

And finally... Mouse had the right idea today:

Play Date Fun...

With the winter months upon us now (although you wouldn't really know it by looking outside - not a speck of snow on the ground and it even rained last night!), I am so glad I have made a few Mommy friends to hang out with and prevent us from going too stir crazy. Between house play dates and adventures to various kid-friendly venues, our calendar is filling up!

Yesterday, Jenn and Matt brought Jack over for a play date with Rylie.  The funny part is, our hubby's quite enjoy playing board games together (nerdy ones), so we aren't exactly sure if the play date was more for the kids or for them (wish I had taken a picture of them!).  But here are a few of Jack and Rylie:

I love that they are actually starting to notice with each other and interact:

And I have been on a quest to catch a picture of Rylie's cute little teeth.  Here are a few from yesterday (when she wasn't gnawing on Rufus, ha!):

Wacky Wednesday!

Today started at 4:30am for Rylie and I...from that moment, I knew it would be a wacky day! I gave her a bottle and tried to convince her to go back to sleep for just a little longer...I can handle the 5 o'clock hour, but anything in the 4am range is just too early! She obliged by falling back to sleep in my arms for a bit, but when I put her back in her crib and crawled back to our bed, she was perfectly content with lying there quietly chatting with her paci and her blankie.

The problem with that is, I don't just fall back asleep even for only a few more minutes...I can't help but listen to her sweet voice and watch her in the monitor! So out of bed I crawled again and we started our day!  I knew all her feeds and naps would be off today because of this early wake up, but that was fine with us because we didn't have anything we had to do today.  And we ended up catching a nap together in the afternoon, so it was all worth it!

We made some more food for the baby today, since we didn't get it all done yesterday.  Rylie helped again... this time she used her new pans and oven mits we found at Michael's yesterday :-)

On the menu:

- Asparagus and Green Beans
- Cinnamon Apples
- Chicken with Sweet Potato and Apple
- Squash puree
- Mango puree

We also made sure to get lots of play time and story time in today!  Today, I sat her next to me on the couch to read (usually we hold her in our laps).  She kept looking back and forth from the story book to my face...I swear she was really soaking it all in!  Oh, and don't mind the outfit...I told you it was a wacky day!  Complete with several wardrobe changes...

Here's a video of Rylie showing off one of her new tricks!  Holy cow, time is flying!

And every good day must end with a fun dip in the rubber ducky tub (this video was actually from last night, but we had some more fun again tonight!):

I also finally got some new pictures in the new frames....now we just have to get them on the wall :-/   Don't hold your breath!  Ha!

Chef Boyar-RYLIE...

...sous-chef, I mean... It's a pretty crummy, cold, windy, overcast, almost-raining-or-snowing kind of day here.  Chris was home this morning since it's his late start day, so I headed out to run some errands (so much easier without the baby!).  I picked up the groceries for the week, and a whole bunch of ingredients to cook up some fun stuff for Rylie!  We are on a mission to expand our little girl's palette - so far, no picky eater here!  She thoroughly enjoyed being my sous-chef :-)

On the menu:

- Beef stew
- Beef with apples
- Meat and {sweet}potatoes
- Zucchini and green beans
- Chicken with apples
- Beet puree
- Mango puree
- Chicken noodle soup

Taste-testing the apples:

Now the baby is down for a nap, and I get to play pot-washer!  One day I'll learn the "wash as you go" method, haha!

Next on my "To-do" list is to put pictures in some frames so that we can finally get some decorations up on these walls:

Merry Christmas!!

This Christmas morning was unlike any other Christmas that Chris and I have ever had. Sure there were some similarities to all the past years:

1) We woke up early in anticipation of opening presents
2) We ventured downstairs together to find our stockings filled by Santa
3) We opened our gifts one by one, oooo-ing and aaaaa-ing over each other's surprises
4) We ate some breakfast
5) We sat in the living room and enjoyed our presents
6) We talked with our parents and other family and friends
7) We went for a walk
8) We took a nap
9) We baked Christmas cookies
10) Most of all, we enjoyed spending lots of quality time together.

So how was this year any different, you may ask?? Well take a look:

1) We woke up early in anticipation of opening presents. This year, our 6:30am wake up call came from a tiny voice over the baby monitor. So I gathered her up from her crib and brought her to our room for a few early morning snuggles and a bottle.


2) We ventured downstairs together to find our stockings filled by Santa. I carried little Rylie downstairs, sat her down in the family room and oooo-ed and aaaa-ed at the stockings that were set by the fireplace as we started the fire, turned on the Christmas tree lights and opened the curtains to let some light in. She was mesmerized by her stocking!

3) We opened our gifts one by one, ooo-ing and aaaa-ing over each other's surprises. We sat with Rylie and helped her open all her presents. Of course, she had to taste EVERYTHING! She liked the wrapping paper the best :-)

4) We ate some breakfast. After opening presents, we gave Rylie her favorite: cinnamon apples and oatmeal cereal. By then, it was time for her nap so we put her to bed (gosh, opening presents takes a lot out of a kid pretty quickly!). We (Chris) then made fried eggs and a Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring for us to enjoy...yum!!

5) We sat in the living room and enjoyed our presents. We opened all of Rylie's toys, assembled all the parts, inserted batteries, and away they went making loud noises and amusing the baby!

6) We talked with our parents and other family and friends. Since we were here at our house for the first time this year, we texted, e-mailed, facebooked, and FaceTimed with family and friends. Everyone was eager to with Rylie a Merry 1st Christmas (Oh, and a Merry Christmas to us, too)!


7) We went for a walk. Yes, we are still here in Chicagoland and were able to go for a walk this Christmas, with a stroller! No snow on the ground, as it has been about 45 degrees all week and sunny! Can't complain there...if Rylie wasn't going to have a WHITE Christmas this year, then I'll take the sunshine!

8) We took a nap. Instead of crashing on the couch after eating a huge Christmas meal (we didn't make one for just us this year), we all jumped in to bed after our walk to settle down for a nap. Rylie jabbered on for about 45 minutes (love her babbles!) before falling asleep and Chris read for a while, but then we all got to take a 2 hour nap together. Even the cat, Mouse, joined in... bliss!!


9) We baked Christmas cookies. Instead of making traditional sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies to decorate, I made Chris these Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies. Next year we will bring back the cookie decorating - bring on the mess with a toddler!!

10) Most of all, we enjoyed spending quality time together. It was great enough to have Chris home for two days and for us to spend it together, not having to run errands or do stuff around the house. It was even better that we had Rylie here with us this year to snuggle with and share in the joy of Christmas. We realize this will probably be our easiest Christmas for the next few years (a sitting infant who is not able to move very far vs. a very mobile and curious toddler!). This was just a taste for us of what is to come in the future of Christmas at the Chalko's :-)