At Long Last!

I've been waiting MONTHS to hear this. At long last I am acknowledged. :)

Thanks Aunt Karla for all your hard work! He started saying it the next day! I think your prodding is what finally got him going! :D

O Christmas Tree

As per our annual tradition, the day after Thanksgiving we went out and chopped down our Christmas tree! We got lucky this year and had a beautiful day for picking out our tree. We'd been having rain for days and days, but Friday was sunny and dry! I am really happy with the tree this year. It has soft needles, smells lovely, and has a perfect shape. It is also just the right size for our family room.


Even tho this is Caiden's 2nd Christmas, he didn't really notice things last year quite as much as he does now. So I was pretty excited to see his reaction to having our Christmas tree in the house! And he certainly did not disappoint! :)

More and More Thanks...Giving That Is

This year Thanksgiving was the holiday that just kept on, well, giving! :) We ended up enjoying four separate dinners this year. One with each side of the family, one with our Seattle "family" of Rob, Anastasia and friends, and one at home with just B, C and me. I think we've each gained a good 5-10 pounds as a result!!

Here are some photos from Robastasia's shindig.

So Rob, I'm thinking I'll become a bartender.
Another brewski for ya? *

Whoa...I can't believe how many of these we've gone thru already!No way! She said what to you?!

WOOO!! I'm feeling SAUCY!Hey, how YOU doin'?

*No babies had any booze at this party. Somebody was just fascinated with the empties from the previous poker party!

Early T-Giving Part 2

We had our 2nd early Thankgiving with B's family. We also finally got to meet Amanda's boyfriend Greg! We'd heard quite a bit of good stuff about this new man, and we were very excited to meet him! B and I both enjoyed getting to know him and had fun talking to him. As always, Rusti put out a great spread of food! We stuffed ourselves silly and gobbled up Amanda's home baked pie for dessert. YUM!

After dinner, Caiden wanted to run around the house and have me chase and scare him. We did that for a little while, and then I tag teamed B into taking over. Turns out B was spinning C around and around in the office chair while I was finishing up my piece of pie. After a little while, Caiden comes wandering out and snuggled into my lap. I thought it was so cute - he is rarely cuddly like that. But of course there was an ulterior motive! It wasn't long before the spinning caught up to him and he promptly emptied the contents of his tummy into his lap and mine. Poor guy. He barely got upset, but I think he was a little nervous about it afterward. We got him all cleaned up, and he was back to running around pretty quickly thereafter.

Wednesday was our trip back home. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at a local restaurant and then got all packed up. Once again, the time spent with family flew by all too quickly! The flight home was fairly smooth. We were lucky to get seats together, and Caiden fell asleep on my lap just before take off. He snoozed for about an hour and behaved himself pretty well for the remainder of the flight.

Looking forward to getting back for the holidays in just a few short weeks!!

Outdoor Adventures

On Monday and Tuesday B had to head north to Libertyville for some client meetings. Caiden and I stayed home with the grandparents and had a grand old time! Of course, Caiden could hardly get enough of going outside with G-Dad!

Larry and I took Caiden to get his haircut, and this was the best he's done yet! No tears at all! Sadly, I didn't like the cut as much as I usually do this time around. I also got the chance to run out to Once Upon a Child - the resale shop around the corner from Rusti and Larry. I so love going there! This time I got Caiden 4 shirts, a pair of jeans, 2 books, some cute kid sized headphones and a winter jacket for next year for $30!! Everything is in excellent condition. The jacket is from GAP, looks like it was barely even used and cost only $7!! What a steal! WOO!

Over the Hill and Through the Woods

For the second half of our visit home, we headed down to Joliet to spend some time with B's family. We had two stops to make on our journey south - one sad & one joyous. Just before we left Seattle, I found out my best friend's grandmother passed away. I was very sad for Summer's loss but grateful for the opportunity to provide support to her in person as the wake was being held in Chicago that weekend. B, C and I got to visit with Summer, Reid and the rest of her family, and Caiden and Summer's niece Saffy finally got the chance to meet each other. It was great seeing Summer and her pregnancy progress. She looks fantastic for being over halfway to the finish mark! I just wish we were seeing each other on a happier occasion. Her grandmother was a lovely woman with a wonderful sense of humor, and I am glad I had the opportunity to pay my respects.

Our next stop was a short visit to Evanston to meet a brand new baby. B's friend from college, Cassie and her husband Aaron welcomed their son Eli into the world on Nov 13th. Unfortunately, C and I had to hang out in the car as he wasn't allowed in the hospital due to the whole Swine flu flap. So while B visited with Cassie, Caiden and I drove around my old stomping grounds on Northwestern's campus. I wished it were day so that I could see better! I'd love to go back and walk around in nicer weather. We even drove by the house/apartment I shared my senior year. It's still there! LOL!

After picking up B from the hospital, we were finally on our way to our final destination. We made pretty good time and got in around 8:30pm. Just enough time to stuff Caiden with dinner, clean him up and whisk him off to bed! We then spent the rest of the evening relaxing and catching up with B's folks. A nice ending to a bit of a crazy day!

Early T-Giving Part 1

We got to enjoy an impromptu trip back home to Chicago thanks to a business trip B had! Yay! I spent some miles to pay for my ticket, B's ticket was paid for, and his work also picked up the tab on the rental car. WOO! It was a short trip compared to my trip back in September, but we made the most of it and got to see lots of family. :)

The flight in on Friday was on time and we even got to bring the car seat on board. Caiden was a little restless and squirmy on the flight, but overall he was a pretty good boy. After collecting our luggage and car, we set off for my Mom's place in Huntley. My brother Dave met us at the door and promptly took Caiden inside and entertained him while we dragged all our stuff in. Mom had some yummy pizza waiting for us when we got there, and we all greedily devoured the food.

On Saturday, we squeezed in a quick visit with Jim & Sharon and enjoyed some delicious fresh baked cookies! Not long after we got back to my Mom's the family started trickling in for our early Thanksgiving celebration. It has been many years since we've gotten to celebrate T-giving with the family, so it was really nice to share a nice meal with everyone. We almost even got to see the Beckers, but sadly they were on too tight a schedule to make it out our way.

We had a great time hanging out with the family and as usual the evening was over way too quickly. Luckily we'll be back for Christmas in a month! :D

New Food Love

As many of you know, I am pretty resistant to trying new foods. I generally like to stick with what I know which can truthfully be quite limiting at times. But Sunday night I threw caution to the wind and discovered some FABULOUS new (to me) cuisine. B and I joined some friends of ours for an evening out to celebrate Heather's birthday. She and her hubby chose a Moroccan restaurant in downtown Seattle called Marrakesh. I have never had Moroccan food before and was a little hesitant at first. But then I decided what the heck - it's her birthday, it'll be a fun night out and we get to leave the munchkin at home with the sitter!

I had no idea what to expect and opted to keep an open mind. When we arrived, I was immediately entranced with the decor of the restaurant. Flowing fabric draped from the ceiling combined with colorful rugs hanging on the walls and low lighting from the ornate iron and colored glass lanterns made you feel like you'd instantly slipped into another time and place. I could easily imagine myself stepping into a large beautifully decorated North African tent. There were several low tables ringing the room and we had the choice to either sit on low cushioned benches with backs or one of the many circular cushions scattered around the table on the floor. The men all opted for the round seats while we women lounged on our elevated benches.

We decided to dine family style so that we could all get a taste of the many fabulous dishes offered. The waitress poured water over our hands at the table and then began serving us our feast. And don't forget, tradition states that you eat the entire meal with your fingers - no utensils needed. We first enjoyed a Moroccan salad with bread and lentil soup. After that we had B'stilla Royale which is ground chicken cooked with almonds wrapped in phyllo pastry and topped with powdered sugar. Oh, so delicious! And then we began the feast! We had eight different dishes that we all passed around the table several times. They included chicken, lamb, veggies, and cous cous. I could not get over how amazing all this food tasted!

And during our meal, we had an extra special treat - a belly dancer came in and performed for half an hour. She danced with a scarf, the finger cymbals, and even a sword. Best of all, she pulled up Andrew and B and taught them a few moves in honor of Heather's birthday! We all had a great laugh watching them dance, and B earned a $1 tip for his moves. :D

We finished up our feast with milk pudding and mint tea. Our waitress also splashed orange blossom scented water on our hands which smelled divine.

All in all, it was a most fabulous night out. I am thoroughly in love with Moroccan cuisine and can't wait to go back for another meal there! Thanks Heather and Andrew for introducing us to such a great place!!

Caiden's October Photos

Here is the photo album from Shutterfly showcasing photos of Caiden from October.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Just Like Mom

Caiden has figured out how to climb up

on the dining table chairs all by himself!

And promptly wasted no time in

getting his hands on that computer!

Maybe we'll cultivate a little computer geek after all. :)

Ever Smarter

Just a short little story to share. :)

This morning I was reading to Caiden on the couch. Our usual routine if for him to bring me a book, we read it, and then he goes and gets another book to read. Lather, rinse, repeat. :)

So today we're doing our usual, and he goes and picks out The Cat in the Hat. On the way back to the couch, he got distracted by something and set the book down. After a few minutes, he decided he wanted to go back to reading but forgot where he left the book. He turned to me and signed where book? I asked him which book he wanted and he signed back book followed by hat for The Cat in the Hat. That was the first time I'd seen him sign something more complicated like that completely on his own! Clever little boy we've got there.

In other news, he is also really starting to work on expanding his spoken vocabulary. He is working really hard on repeating words we say without any prompting. Altho, he is still being a little stinker about saying mama. We'll be on a roll of repeating words and I'll toss in mama. He promptly replies with dada. :P