One More Pulle: January 2011

Yuuummmmmm

Happy 6 mos birthday, Baby Max!! And, to celebrate??? Sweet potatoes. YUM

Must Love Dogs

Wondering how much dog hair a baby can ingest before it's unsafe???

I have no reason to include this picture in this post, except it's cute...

After our exciting day in St. Louis, we had a quiet evening in at the carriage house where we were staying the night before an early flight out to Hartford the next morning to visit the Pulles in CT and NY. MP2 was pretty beat after our very exciting day (and on his third night of not the best sleeping ever), and went right down at 6:30.

At 10pm MP and I were ready to crawl into bed ourselves, alarms all set for a 5am wakeup. Not seconds after my head hit the pillow, MP2 began to stir...and then wimper...and then cry...and then wail. Not wanting to have the Holleman kids join the late night fun, MP and I quickly grabbed MP2 and brought him to bed. Unfortunately, he just could not get comfortable. The only way he would fall asleep was if I was sitting up and holding him. I would let him sleep a bit and then ever so gently try to lay him down beside me. The minute I pulled away my hands, POP!, his eyes would open and the cycle begin again. I spent a lot of time just watching this fire...and feeling each second of lost sleep tick by...lost forever.

This lasted all the way until his next feeding at 12:30am, at which point something happened, and I was able to put him down in the pack and play and he was out (for a few hours at least), 5am - with one other feeding around 3a - came much too early. Somehow, it was also barely enough time to get us out the door, to the airport, checked-in (luckily the kind ticket agent let us go even though we'd forgotten MP2's birth certificate), thru security, and immediately onto the plane. Crazy. To think I used to be such an efficient business traveler (who now doubt snubbed my nose a time or two at people just like the "new" me).

You'll note no pictures of MP or I from the trip - we were looking pretty haggard. MP2 on the other hand, enjoyed a nice long nap in MP's lap...

...followed by a cheery mood. He knew we were heading to see Franma and Grandan!

We had a great nearly week-long visit. It was so fun to spend time with MP's parents, and I think they enjoyed seeing all the ways in which MP2 has changed and grown. But, all that aside, the best part of all was getting to meet cousin Isla!! At two and a half weeks old, she is just the cutest little snuggly baby. (Was MP2 ever that tiny? What happened? When did he get SO big???) Here are the Pulles (sans Grandan who was at work):

We spent the day at TP's hanging out with babies and just enjoying a nice visit.

We went out to Chelsea Market for a walk and nice lunch.

...and MP enjoyed getting to know Isla

After work, Grandan headed over, and the happy grandparents spent time with their two grandchildren!

A budding soccer star for sure, and I bet Grandan will be his #1 fan :)

Franma and the babies...

Later in the week, we headed to White Plains to meet up with MP's childhood friend, Ken, for lunch. It was clear Ken's had lots of practice with his own nieces and nephews...MP2 took to him just right away. And Ken even intercepted a french fry that MP2 was trying to sneak. (What terrible parents would we be if MP2's first solid food was a french fry?!?!)

On our last day, MP, MP2 and I went out for chinese near FM+GD's house. While we were eating, we noticed the pretty snowfall and hoped that it wouldn't affect our travel plans. The weather had only called for up to 3 inches, so we were sure we'd be fine. Until we left the restaurant! At least 3 inches had fallen - while we were having lunch! - and it was still coming down. A treacherous trip up the hill to FM+GD's found us safe and warm, and enjoying the view out the back door.

Luckily, the snow stopped, the roads were plowed overnight, and we got home without any problems at all.

Party Like It's...

NOT 1999. Yes, back when we were partying like it was 1999, it involved parties, dressing up, free rides from THP (for which you had to wait forever, but at least it was safe), and a big fat hangover.

These days find us with a very different reality on NYE. For the second year in a row, we hosted our dear friends, the Hollemans, for New Year's Eve. They made the drive from Nashville to CoMO with two kids in tow. This year I have a new appreciation for that dedication! We planned a quiet evening in, that turned into more of a family-friendly dinner party. A few other friends (and friends of friends) came and enjoyed some beer and wine and dinner, then headed home to put their little one to bed. Shortly after, as we were preparing to watch the ball drop, we heard sounds of crying from upstairs. I won't go into details, other than to say that it required a late night pajama change, a pack & play swap out, and a friend to join us for ringing in the new year - a much younger friend, one we expected to be sleeping. :)

New years day, and the following day found most of us battling a little stomach bug of our own (guess this is the new hangover?). We each pulled through and managed to have some fun along the way. Including a cold walk through historic Booneville

...and a second trip (for the Pulles, at least) to the Hotel Fredrick, where we hoped to grab a drink at the picturesque hotel bar - which was closed, so we just hung out in the lobby for awhile. I am sure the desk clerk enjoyed our presence.

By the end of the weekend, we all headed to St Louis, where a "quick" trip to see the arch turned into an afternoon of educational fun, and long trip to the top of the arch.