Time to Baby Proof!

A new and exciting development is taking place in this household. Prior to yesterday, my baby boy would get on his hands and knees and sort of rock back and forth and then lunge himself forward to get what he wanted. Well, yesterday I saw four or five unmistakable crawling "steps" forward. I tried to get him to replicate the motion by enticing him with toys but to no avail.

This morning my mom stopped by and was wearing some bright green sandals. Well, my boy took one look at those and crawled himself right over to see them. After that he sort of realized that he could do it and now he's been a crawling machine. It's just so amazing (and scary!) how one minute they can't do something and the next minute they can.

I'm not sure I'm quite ready for this. Next on my to do list? - googling baby proofing and home safety hazards.

(Photo by MNC Photography)

Vegas

Well, I survived three days in Vegas, but more impressively I survived three days away from my baby boy. It was my first time in Las Vegas and my husbands 6th. (Damn bachelor parties...)

It was a "work related" trip for my husband. "Work related" because we went with work people but there was no work involved. I guess you could call it a reward for hard work trip. Translation: the flights, hotel, show tickets and dinners were paid for. Woo hoo! All we had to pay for were breakfasts, lunches and some cocktails.

We stayed at the Encore which is brand spanking new and unbelievably luxurious. I mean, it was totally over the top to the point that it made me a little uncomfortable. How many people have to lose at the gambling tables to pay for all of this!? Here are some photos...

We saw the Beatles themed Cirque show "Love," which of course I loved. Other than that, we really just ate like pigs, hung out by the pools, (There is something so wrong yet so right about having a "chilled" swimming pool in the middle of the desert.) and didn't even really do much walking along the strip. We didn't even go to any clubs. It was a perfectly lazy get away.

Some general thoughts on Vegas...

So, would I go back? - Yes. It's a nice get away that is easy to access via direct flights and a quick cab ride. However, now that I've been to one of the fanciest hotels it would be hard to go to one of the "lesser" ones. This poses a slight monetary problem. Everything is SO expensive. Like I said, I didn't do much sight seeing or anything, so maybe this was just the case at my hotel, but holy cow. $17 mojitos? $18 omlettes? A $4 banana?! Bottom line.. I think I'm still a mountain cabin or beach shack kind of girl but if you only have three days to be away, Vegas is a nice option. Oh, and if you have any reason to visit the Encore on someone else's tab.... Do it!!

So how did baby boy fair? He stayed with my Mom and did great. No problems there. I think he was glad to see me but that might have just been because it was close to feeding time and the boobs had arrived. He had had enough of that frozen milk stuff. :) I pumped and dumped while I was gone so my frozen stash has dwindled quite a bit. I was thrilled to see him and needless to say I pretty much smothered him with cuddles and the next day.

Oh- He did learn how to get himself up to the sitting position while I was gone. It is so strange to walk into his room after a nap to see him sitting up and waiting for me. I guess it's time to lower the crib!

Out Enjoying the Day...

We had a little outside playtime today so we could take advantage of the beautiful weather. I also managed to capture the very elusive smile. Normally my little guy is just all giggles and smiles but as soon as I whip out the camera he gets very suspicious and just stares at it. I got this one by playing a little peek-a-boo from behind the lens.

Hope everyone is enjoying this day as much as we are!

Non-Baby Photos

A few baby-free photos from the summer. These have been sitting on my little point and shoot camera that I rarely use now that I have the DSLR. The tiny camera is much easier to take out on "adults only" nights though!

Dinner in Milwaukee... I went to Milwaukee for less than 24 hours last month to attend a work dinner for my husband. I stink at taking photos. It was such a pretty party. Those turquoise tablecloths had sequins sewn in them and the flowers were gorgeous! Oh-- and my cheapo magenta peep toes not only survived the Milwaukee trip but the wedding below as well! $19.99 well spent!

Another work-related function. This one's at the Four Seasons. We actually love going to these things even if they are work related. I love to dress up! This dress is one I still love even though it is several years old. Looking at these pics I am rethinking the shoe choice though....

And a wedding we attended last weekend. It was at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park. I had a blast at the wedding and it was really beautiful but OMG. It was a roaster. 98 degrees all night long without a breeze in sight. The poor catering staff and band. Not to mention the bride and bridesmaids in their long dresses. It was a gorgeous affair though. They had a major fireworks display. Totally beautiful and over the top. And I got another wear out of the Anthro dress and cheap shoes!

Ok, I couldn't help myself. Yet another baby/pool pic. You'd think this was all we do!

Summer Reading List

I'm not going to be giving full reviews here, but I thought I'd give my two cents about some of the books that have been sitting on my bedside table this summer.

The Tender Bar - This was a pick from my book club. (Not my choice.) I would have never picked it up on my own simply because it's sort of "masculine." It's written by a man and pretty much about men and father figures and quite literally, a bar. (As in drinking establishment.) Come to think of it, I can probably tally the women even mentioned in the book on one hand. That said, I sort of loved it. Beautifully written. It's rare that I like a book that I would then recommend to my husband. Great characters.

The Help - My number one book of the summer. (I would say Tender Bar was #2) In contrast, this one is almost exclusively about women. I'm going to go out on a limb here and compare it to To Kill a Mockingbird. It deals with similar racial issues and I think it could become a real classic. I loved these women! I can guarantee you that it will be made into a movie... Who knows... maybe it already is. Read the book first!!

Heart of the Matter - I've read all of Emily Giffin's books... She happens to be a relative of mine. :) This is definitely in the "chic lit" genre. Of her five books I probably like this one the least. I might be biased but I love her writing and think her characters and writing style is better than most chic lit, but I sort of identified with one of that characters in this book, and it wasn't really in a good way. One women is a stay at home home who does just about anything for her kids and loves it and that is sort of cast in a negative light in this book. Boo. I do recommend any of her books if you are looking for a light summer read.

My Name is Memory - This is written by the author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. It is billed as her first "adult" novel. It is also compared to Twilight. I'm going to guess that is because it involves unrequited love that spans lifetimes and centuries. I really like the concept and liked the characters and overall it kept me really engrossed. The problem? I didn't know it was the first of a series and it is the only one that has been released. It was sort of like all along I'm following the story with bated breath and then I realize that there are only like 15 pages left. Then I think "how the the hell is she going to wrap this up in 15 pages?!" The answer? -- She doesn't. You have to wait for the next book. And it's not coming out any time soon. Double boo. I should have waited for the entire series to be published like Twilight.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - This one was sort of like The Da Vinci Code for me. Exciting, fast paced, dark, suspenseful. The crazy Norwegian names and placed can trick you up a bit, but if you can get over characters named things like Jorgenvuargd (made that up) you're home free. This one did have quite a bit of grotesque sex crime stuff which I have a hard time reading, but it's definitely one of those you can't put down.

I Spy With My Little Eye...

Something small... hard... and white...

A tooth!!!!! My husband actually spotted it on Monday and I thought he was crazy and that it was just a spit bubble. I was wrong! It's a little bottom side tooth and it's just the beginning of a stump but it's there! It's impossible to get a photo of and actually quite a challenge to see at all unless you poke your finger in there and move his tongue out of the way.

What a big boy I've got! Since there are no tooth photos available I will share another bath time one and get a little risque with some skinny dipping. :) Those rolls are too much!!

The Floor Plan

I thought I'd go ahead and post our floor plan. We've made a few tweaks since this version, but the new, finalized version has all the measurements and a bunch of other architectural mumbo jumbo making it pretty hard to read. These are just better for online viewing.

First a bit of background. This is a "custom" home. I'm not just trying to be fancy by calling it that. It's just the term that is used. What I mean by that is that it's not like new construction is "normally" done. It's not in a new neighborhood with display homes that we choose from. We could basically do anything we want given the restrains of the yard and what the community architectural board allows. (They basically just want something that fits in with the overall architecture of the rest of the neighborhood.)

And this is what we came up with... The lot is narrow and deep, so the house is as well. After going in a lot of newer construction in the area I discovered that I like a pretty basic center hall plan.

My "wish list" was as follows...

-Open floor plan. I know these aren't for everyone and are certainly a "popular" thing right now, but I love cooking and with as much time as I spend in the kitchen, it was just the way to go for us. Also-- It will be easier to keep an eye on the little man playing in the family room while I'm busy in there.

-Large master bedroom, bathroom and closets. The house is coming in at around 2500 square feet, so although it will feel big to us it's really not all that huge considering it has four bedrooms. I wanted a large master so the "kids" bedrooms had to suffer. And all these imaginary future children have to share a bathroom and have standard size closets. The horror! I'm a selfish mommy.

-Finished space in the basement. More then half of the basement will be finished and the stair well going down there will be open as well. The floor plan shows a bathroom down there, but while we are having the plumbing "roughed in," we won't be finishing the bathroom just yet. (Trying to save a little bit of moolah.) A bit of finished space in the basement was a must have for me. We've got to keep all those toys somewhere!

-Screened in porch. Yeah... I didn't get this one. Just not enough space and we wanted to have some semblance of a yard.

-Mud room and first floor laundry. We have a basement laundry right now and really no place to dump our stuff when we come in the door. I'm looking forward to the extra utility space.

My husband's wish list... A basketball hoop in the driveway and a butler's pantry with a sink. He doesn't ask for much, does he?

There was probably more, but I'll stop there. Here's the first floor...

Nothing is labeled, so starting from the back... Garage, then mudroom/laundry room, then kitchen/family room, then stairway/butlers pantry/powder room/hallway, then dining room(larger one) and office, then front porch.

Next we have the second floor. Once again, starting from the back... Master bedroom/bathroom, then 2nd bedroom and stairs, then third and fourth bedrooms, then bathroom.

And finally the basement. The half at the back of the house will be finished and the front will be unfinished storage.

So there it is... and coming up with that only took like 3 months. Seriously! It's a lot to consider when you can really do whatever you want. (keeping the budget in mind, of course.)