What Season is This?

When the sun sets at 4:30pm there is no mistaking that it is winter, but it does get a little confusing (at least for a Midwesterner) when the temperature is in the 60s every day, and the leaves in the park across the street have just now changed colors.



I have the Christmas tree up and garland and lights festoon the balcony, but I feel like Christmas is still a long way off.

The one face he doesn't have...

is a poker face!

What a Year!

He Makes Every Day Special

Thanksgiving Week

The baby is napping and so I am going to try to do a quick update on Thanksgiving!

It was our first time taking Remy on a plane. They say it is good to fly while he would normally be sleeping so we took a non-stop, red eye to Chicago early, early Monday morning. It appears that "they" are right! At the airport he slept until we got to security and then fell asleep after take off as soon as the plane leveled off. The only rough patch was during the climb - even though I was feeding him a bottle he did seem to have problems with his ears. Same thing on the way home.

When we got into Chicago at 6am it was 61 degrees, about 20 degrees warmer than it had been in Las Vegas when we left! That didn't last long though and over the course of the week there were some truly frigid days. It was good though, it made saying goodbye to family and coming home a little easier.

We fit a lot of visiting in over the course of five days. Some of the highlights were seeing Mom and Dad's new apartment in Elgin (love all the windows!), playing Yahzee with Kristin and Mark (I can't remember the last time I got to play Yahzee!), Harry Potter with the Stangers, the big photo shoot with Sara, Crystal and Steph, a Thanksgiving feast at the Reardons, coffee with the girls, seafood with Jason, Dee, Mom and Joey, and a lovely coffee date with Dad.

Here are some pics from the week:

(((swoon)))

When Wonder-baby Remy and brilliant photographer Sara get together, this is the result! If you live in the Chicagoland you need to check out Autumn Fields Photography!

I have to say it again...

I love Flylady!

Yesterday morning, before Ross had even left for work, my friend Anita came by. A year ago, if someone had stopped by at that hour, I would have been mortified - but instead I was happy to invite her in. I was dressed, the baby was dressed, the bed was made, the dirty laundry was in the washer, the kitchen counters were empty, and there was one cereal bowl in the sink. The first thing she said was "Mmmm, smells good in here!" I have four cats and a garbage can full of diapers, so that was saying something!

I love that the habits I have picked up from Flylady free me up to concentrate on more important things, like being a mom, and that I don't have to feel embarrassed or overwhelmed by a place that should be a refuge for me and my family!

What's Up

• One more week until our trip to Illinois to see the family for Thanksgiving! We are going to be staying with Steph for optimal family time, we'll do Thanksgiving dinner at Jason and Dee's, and it sounds like friends will be coming over on Wednesday and Friday as well. Yay!
• Hoping to take a mini-vacay after that since Ross has some days to use up and no deadlines looming at work. Probably stay at Red Rock Resort & Casino because of the child care. (I may just be dreaming here, but I am pretty sure Ross is on board for this.)
  
• Have to go to the storage unit and get the Christmas decorations out. We just signed a new 10 month lease so there may be some other things I'll want to get out of storage as well...
  
• Planning to spend the last week of December in Raleigh with Ross's family. I love Raleigh, and I love the Cangelosis!
  
• Finally got some car repairs done this weekend so the world is my oyster. Maybe Remy and I will go to the park. :)
  
• Started on Gabapentin for my Fibromyalgia. So far, nada, but he has me on a ridiculously low dose so I still have hope for it.
• We ordered a Kinect sensor thingy for the XBox! I am so excited. My fantasy is that I will love it so much I will want to play every day and I will find myself effortlessly transformed into a trim and athletic person. (((happy sigh)))
• I suck. Remy's six month appointment was Friday and I totally forgot. So I will reschedule and hopefully have those much anticipated weight and height figures to post soon.
  

Six Months Old!

Friday was Remy's half birthday and out of the blue we got a wonderful package from his great-grandma Jeri, so we had a little impromptu birthday celebration! Thank you for making our little guy so happy, Jeri!!!

Eating Solids!

On November 9th, 2010 we put Remy in his highchair and fixed him a small bowl of baby oatmeal for his first meal! He had been watching us eat with intense interest for weeks, so when he saw that spoon coming he apparently knew exactly what to do! While I was feeding him, Ross was sitting behind me eating his dinner, and I think that made it even funner for Remy - to be eating with his daddy!

The plan is to do oatmeal for three days, then add veggies, and then in about a week start adding fruits (so that he doesn't decide early that he only wants sweet things!)

Afternoon Outing

It looks like this may be the last really warm weekend of 2010 so we decided to head down to the strip and make the most of it. I felt a little weird about taking a baby there, but Las Vegas is more family friendly than you would think. We saw lots of other parents pushing around strollers, and that made me feel better. Remy liked the autumn themed garden at the Bellagio, and he enjoyed the water show set to Elton John's "Your Song," but his favorite part of the outing was watching all the traffic on Las Vegas Blvd. I think somebody is going to be getting some toy cars for Christmas!

P.S. My favorite part was corn dogs and beer at the Serendipity sidewalk cafe outside Caesar's Palace.

Halloween

Here are pictures from Remy's first Halloween! We didn't do anything exciting, just baked a cake and sat at home waiting for the trick-or-treaters that never came, but just having a little guy to enjoy the day with made it special.

Unfortunately little guy is waiting until he is 6 months old to eat solids so no cake for him.

I think next year if we take him out to trick-or-treat we will do something less furry because he got hot pretty fast in this costume!