Rock Me Mama Like a Wagon Wheel

Thank goodness I had such a great helper while putting together this wagon. Aaron tried to taste every part, and got very mad at me when I took the hammer away. It's a good thing he's cute!

Thanks, grandpa and grandma Bosch for my wagon!!

White Castle, Windy City, Wedding

How's that for alliteration? That describes my weekend. We had our friends' wedding this weekend in the Chicago. And this was also my first night away from Aaron. Wine makes everything ok.

Before we got to the city we had to make a stop at White Castle. I think Bryan, myself and my cousin may be the only ones who like White Castle. Most of my co-workers gagged when I was bragging about getting to eat there. Is that not something to brag about?? I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry. Those little onions are like flavor crystals exploding in my mouth....and Harold and Kumar would agree.

Once we got to the city, Ryan and Kristen took off for the Cubs game, and Bryan and I relaxed and got ready for the wedding. It was held in a lighting store. Yes, you heard me (or read me) correctly. It was on the roof of a place called Lightology. It was very unique and very pretty. There was even a horse with a lamp shade on its head. I guess you can say it's a horse with bright ideas. I'm hilarious.

Love this couple.

The reception was held at ZED451. If you've never been to a Brazilian steakhouse, I highly recommend it. If you've never been to ZED451, I highly HIGHLY recommend it. You can't go wrong with 13 different types of meat served to you on a stick. We ate copious amounts of food...and that was before the meat on a stick course. The meats included moroccan chicken, sausage, crab cake, salmon, blackened catfish, venison, ribeye, duck, and a ton others that I can't remember.

I've known James for about 10 years now. He is the nicest guy and has the best sense of humor. We worked together at Carlos, and he was my alarm clock for one of my very early college courses senior year. He drove by my house on his way to class, and if my car was still in the driveway he would lay on the horn the whole length of the road to make sure I got up and got to class. And even if I didn't get up (don't read that mom and dad), I still really appreciated the effort. What a good friend. Sarah is a good match for him. She is so much fun, and I'm glad I've gotten to know her.

After the reception, 5 of us piled into a Prius and headed to some bar that I'm way too old for. Fog machines, glow sticks and '80s themed bar crawls are not ok. Actually, '80s themed bar crawls are VERY OK, and I plan on having one for my 35th birthday. I stayed up way too late, got up way too early, and paid for it all with a nice little headache come Sunday morning. But I cured it with a foot-long Subway sandwich, large Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, Garrett's popcorn, and a nap as soon as I got home. It was all worth it.

It was a beautiful, intimate wedding and reception, and I couldn't be happier for these two. Congrats, Sarah and James! Thanks for letting us share in your special day!

A Mickey Birthday Party.....Oh, Boy!

Did you really think my kid would have any other type of party?! 

Aaron's first birthday party was celebrated Mickey style. I had a lot of fun making the decorations for this party. But I can't take credit for that adorable sign. Aaron's Aunt Caitlin made that for him. She is so crafty! I'm glad Aaron's grandma Nickel got a picture of him standing next to it!

So what are you waiting for? Come inside for a tour of Aaron's 1st birthday party!! 

(decor pics courtesy of Caitlin Lisa....thank you!!) 

I have all of these random blocks in Aaron's room that I was so happy to put to use for his party.

Balloon Wreath - takes more balloons than you think, but super cute in the end. 

I found these Mickey Mouse colored straws on Etsy, or maybe Amazon....somewhere online. 

These were so much fun to make. I just spray painted my terra cotta flower pots, hot glued buttons on them and put a styrofoam ball in the bottom. To make the topper I just spray painted styrofoam balls, pinned them together with floral pins and placed on some chopsticks. Add some shredded paper, or even balloons, and Voila! Homemade centerpieces. (PS: not my idea - thanks, Pinterest!)

 I will never attempt to make these again. My mother-in-law and I had the toughest time getting these to turn out. After 1 package of almond bark and 3 packages of candy melts, I got something that was somewhat cute. And after all of that work I didn't even eat one.

Cupcakes & cake courtesy of Walmart believe it or not....and they were very tasty. I thank my cousin, Sarah, for the tip on Walmart cakes. I hate Walmart, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a cake Aaron probably would end up crying at, or refuse to eat. This was perfect!

But he actually LOVED his cake!! Cried when I took it away....well, maybe that was because I dropped it on the floor right in front of him. Whoopsiedoodles!

My baby is now 1. He's technically considered a toddler. WAHHHHHH!!!!! 

But he'll always be my baby forever. 

Gee, thanks for taking a trip inside Aaron's first birthday party. It was a super fun day! Hope to see ya real soon! OK, I've definitely watched too much Mickey. 

Seriously, though, thanks to our family and friends who helped make Aaron's birthday so very special. It was a great day!

TOODLES! Ok, I couldn't resist! 

Aaron's First Birthday!!

Yesterday we celebrated Aaron's 1st birthday. Where did the past year go?? Exactly 1 year ago today I was cuddling with my new baby - he was 1 day old in this picture.

I was also quickly figuring out what no sleep was like, and would continue to be like for approximately 7.5 more months. Man, I sure am glad those days are over. 

Yesterday Bryan and I spent the whole day with Aaron doing fun, birthday things. 

First things first....birthday presents!

We had Aaron open his gifts right when he woke up. And by Aaron open, I mean I opened and he just focused on his new chair. He really loves his Mickey Mouse chair! And I think he likes his John Deere tractor, especially when the really annoying fun tractor sounds come on. What was I thinking??

After presents I wanted to make him a special breakfast, so I made him a waffle. It immediately went on the floor. Guess he's not into waffles just yet. 

For lunch Aaron got his first Happy Meal. None of that meal went on the floor. 

After lunch we went to the Miller Park Zoo. It's a pretty decent zoo for Bloomington. The big cats are usually sleeping any time I've been, which was the same for this trip. But it was still pretty cool to see the other animals. Some of Aaron's favorite animals, alright, alright - they're my favys, were the billy goats, the otters (they look like little old men), the monkeys, and the tortoises. 

After the zoo we ran some errands, got pizza and headed home. I even got Aaron to eat some of his birthday cupcake before throwing most of it on my freshly mopped floors. That was my blonde moment for the day. Why did I think it would be ok to give him a huge cupcake anywhere but outside?

This past year has been the absolute best. He makes me so incredibly happy. It's amazing how much love you can have for one person....your person. He's learning and changing so much each day, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us. 

Some of Aaron's Favorites (in no particular order): 

1. Mickey Mouse

2. Music - still the "Hot Dog Song" 

3. Reading books

4. Imitating sounds, especially "baaahhhhhh" for a sheep 

5. 'Lil Crunchies (they're like stale Cheetos) 

6. Giving mommy kisses

7. Getting into cabinets & drawers

8. Balls 

9. Saying "ahhhh" after he takes a drink 

10. Bananas 

Aaron's first trip to the lake

Last week my family and I went down to Lake Sinclair in Georgia. My aunt and uncle have a lake house there (my mom's brother). I was very excited to take Aaron to the lake. I love going to the lake, and want Aaron to love it, too. And boy was it an exciting trip. Filled with many firsts, and lots of vomit. And, NO, that is not because I drank too much vodka - although I definitely deserve a vodka IV drip after this trip. But I digress.

You quickly realize, though, that it's not really a vacation for you once you have kids....especially very mobile babies. Sorry, mom and dad, for all of those trips to Indiana Beach, various amusement parks, the Ozarks, etc. Did you guys really have fun??

But this trip was a chance for many firsts for Aaron. First time meeting Uncle Kurt, Aunt Deb, Sam and Collin. First time in a lake. First time on a jet ski - we rode the Ed (the jet skis are named Ed and Willa after my grandparents). First time on a boat. And I think he enjoyed it all.......

until the vomiting started. See, I really wasn't referring to myself. My poor baby got the flu on night #3. Vomited all over me. And this proceeded for the remainder of the trip. I haven't been puked on that much since I gave birth to him. Now I know what a frat house toilet feels like. You can really tell you're a mom when you just sit there and let your baby puke all over you, and use your shirt and hands to catch the vomit and/or wipe the puke off their face. One of the beauties of mommy-hood. It was pretty stressful for me, and vacation quickly became "suckation".

It was Aaron's first time being sick, and he handled it very well. I guess I still consider myself lucky that I made it almost a whole year before he really got sick.  We cut our trip just a little short to get back home. I think being at home, in his own surroundings, and back with his daddy helped him. I took him to the doctor Friday and was told that something was going around. I also called the babysitter and she had 3 sick kids this past week. I can report that he is feeling much better, and he is keeping food and formula down now. A big relief for this mommy.

But the above pictures do prove that he did have a fun vacation. It was a nice trip spent relaxing by the lake and visiting with our family. At least for the first 3 days....

Photo Shoot with Grandma

Grandma Nickel loves pictures. And she especially loves doing photo shoots with Aaron when she has him on Fridays. Pretty soon he's probably not going to let her do this, so she has to take advantage now before he hates getting his picture taken.

I had to share a couple of pictures from last Friday. So cute & funny!

Cubs Rooftop Game

I got to experience my first rooftop game over the weekend. Every year my dad goes up with some people from his company and some family members And every year I'm not invited. So this year I invited myself! Hey - it was my 30th birthday after all. So Bryan, myself, and a bunch of my family drove up to Chicago, met up with my brother, his friend, my cousin, and her boyfriend and headed to Wrigleyville.

It was a Cubs/Cards weekend, and I was kind of surprised by the number of Cardinal fans there were in Wrigley. We all go booed when we....CUBS FANS IN CHICAGO....got on the L to head to the game. We were the only Cubs fans in that car. Seriously. But I always like meeting new friends.

If you've never been to a rooftop game, you really should try it. It may seem like a lot of money for a ticket, but that includes all you can eat food and drink until the 7th inning. You have really clean bathrooms (and you don't have to feel guilty getting up and saying "excuse me" 500 times to get out of your row), a few different bars to choose from, TVs to watch the game on, bleachers at the very top, great food, and a really awesome view of the stadium and the city. It was very relaxed and easy. AND....they walk around serving cookies, brownies and carrot cake towards the end of the game. Yes, please!

It really is always a good time in Wrigley as long as you don't mind a little claustrophobia, and a team that probably will lose. Which they did.

Go Cubs!