Nom Nom Nom.

Ian is a full fledged Billy Goat.... he will grab a magazine and start to gobble like he's a fat kid with a birthday cake. This weekend I'll be throwing out all the magazines that he can get to.  Until then you can enjoy these pictures of him doing what he does best... eating paper.


Nothing to see here, just watching tv munching on a magazine. Totally normal.

Fine, you caught me.

"What? Yes, I am going to eat this page...don't judge."

Magazine inserts are just as tasty as the pages themself

I'll have it my way

If there is one thing this baby knows it's how he's going eat. From day one he has gone against the grain refusing to latch on and now that we've entered the world of introducing solids he has again proven to be a little pistol with is own agenda (I have no idea where he gets this attitude from). When I first stated giving him solids I tried countless times to entice him to take a spoonful of something "really delicious" and he was not interested. On rare occasion he would play the game, take one bite and then he would turn his head and refuse to open. So I started putting pieces of food in front of him... avocado, banana, etc. And guess what?! He would pick it right up and shove it in his mouth. Pure and simple he wants to feed himself. Don't try giving him some crappy baby mush, he wants real food and he wants to feed himself.  I mean I can't blame him... if I was picking between baby mush cereal or a piece of cheese I'd be all over the cheese. So it turns out he is independent not picky. Whew... that I can deal with.

While some babies are having pureed carrots Ian is have pizza

At first I was concerned with giving him little bits of soft food, especially since he doesn't have any teeth and is pretty much like an old man at the nursing home gumming his dinner. However, feeding babies like this is becoming more common practice and a lot of people are choosing this style of feeding their baby regardless because they get better nutrients and learn to chew early. It even has a name: "baby led weaning." Who knew?... Baby led weaning teaches the baby to experience food, textures, and tastes on their own. It increases their hand-eye coordination, and avoids the baby gagging and choking later on because they don't transition from purees to actual solid food since they start with small pieces of solid food.  Now I was NOT trying to be some ahead of the curve, trend setter with my baby lead weaning, it literally just happened and we are rolling with it. 

We're famous!

Well maybe not famous, but I think this is pretty darn exciting... Apartment Therapy... which is a well read & awesome blog especially for the designer type is featuring Ian's nursery! The post can be seen here.

Housing Situation

I took a post down about our recent housing dramas when things started getting dicey due to contracts and whatnot, and it was probably best to not have all that info "out there." Therefore I took a blogging hiatus. However, I think the previous chapter of our housing saga with the contracts falling though and the aftermath is finally behind us. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Apologies for the vagueness.... if you want more detail just ask me in person... cause that's all you're getting here.

So, last I mentioned we had put an offer in on a house in a part of Denver called Stapleton.... it's the land of "we used to live in the city, but had children and now we are here." I swore up and down I would never become this person. And I tried really, really, really hard not to during our entire looking for houses saga. If you remember my blog post that I removed here is an excerpt of that explaining how we decided that Stapleton might actually be a good decision.


Weekend after weekend we drove through neighborhoods we had listed as our "ideal" location, and we saw one over-priced shit hole after the next. Small bathrooms, zero closet space, crap kitchen, small bedrooms, dank basements, creaky floors, lead paint, no a/c, and honestly not even the most amazing block out there (still not the place we are going to open the back door and let Ian run outside unsupervised). This whole ideal of "charm" was becoming a lot less charming. I left just about every place hearing my dad's voice in my head saying "Well, that one was a crapper." My dad loathes old houses... the low ceilings, creaky floors, and musty smells, he is crazy about them. He thinks they are nothing but a money pit, and I hate to admit it but I was starting to see his point.

[Insert adult conversation]

After much debate John and I decided that we needed to look at an area that had a bit more to offer than purely location. We need an area that provides Ian with a childhood similar to ours - one where he can run outside with his neighborhood buddies. We need a place that doesn't cost us top dollar but is still falling down. We need good schools. Blah, blah, blah. So where do 30 year old's with a kid live in Denver? We figured it out....they live in Stapleton. The area just east of Park Hill that is mostly newer construction where you can get a little more for your money (I mean it's still not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but it's more bang for your buck for sure). It's tons of new families, lots of green space, pools, a brand new rec center, etc.

I still sort of want to die a little bit at the idea that I am surrendering to Stapleton... come on now, I want charm not newer construction! Yeah, the truth is that I want charm but the kind that comes with a million dollar pricetag (which someone says I cannot have).  Honestly we had first ruled out this area because it's so family friendly that there are literally kids crawling out of the trees down every street. We joked that there is no way we could live near douches who had the "slow turtles" out in their front.

And this is a slow turtle.... it might not actual be a turtle but that's what we are calling it

Then we had the come to Jesus that maybe are actually douche bags ourselves sans the "turtle."  As we talk to people who live in this area the majority are people exactly like us... 30's, lived in the city while they were DINKS, then had a kid and realized they weren't going to find a "family house" in their currently 'hood so they moved to Stapleton because they still wanted to live in city limits but needed a floor plan more conducive to a family.  Yep, that's us. Douche. Bags. Now where do I sign up?


Well, that is exactly what we did. WE SIGNED UP! After the original deal we put in "went away" we then decided to look at the building option yet again (we had initially ruled that out because our place had sold and we didn't have time. My parents came to visit for Labor Day Weekend and we spent the majority of it house hunting when we took my parents to some of the models in Stapleton they lit up like Christmas trees. Even my sister was like "you're crazy if you don't do this." So we're doing it. We have a lot and we're building. They break ground in November and if all goes as planned Ian will have a new castle in late spring (we'll be putting our current place back on the market after the beginning of the year).

As a designer this is all very exciting and overwhelming. True to form I have the entire floor plan in CAD and have starting making changes (which so far the builder has been very accommodating with). Now the overwhelming part comes in because I can pick finishes all day long for my clients but it's about 10x harder to do for myself. I am pretty sure John and I combined are the worst combo for the builder...a designer who wants to make changes and a finance guy who ALWAYS has a laptop and spreadsheet asking "how much will that cost." So there you have it... it will be an adventure nonetheless. Ian, my baby, you have already changed your parents so, so, so much...Onward to Stapleton where you will likely have one million friends.

Post Prego Aftermath

So the dust has settled and it has been 7 months since baby Ian made his arrival. Hard. To. Believe. So I'm now reflecting back on all that my body has been through in the past year. Anyway, I still can't complain about the actual birth... in fact I'd go so far as to say I'd do it again. (yep, this is why people have more than one child, they forget how horrible it is). However, I can't say pregnancy didn't take it's toll. One of the most notable things is my hair. Prior to pregnancy I was a typical greasy Italian; meaning I had to wash my hair EVERY day or you could literally do a slip and slide off of it. Whenever people would say "you know you're not supposed to wash your hair everyday" I couldn't even fathom it. Once I was pregnant I could go one, two, even three days without shampoo... it was ah-maze-ing. I was able to embrace this whole "don't wash daily" concept I had heard about. Then things got a little funky. The hair by my ears started getting wavy the further along my pregnancy progressed. It seriously had a mind of it's own. So I did what any girl would do and bought products to try to tame it. Honestly though nothing helped. Now that I'm a several months post delivery my hair is taking on a new life... it's Italian grease is slowly but surely coming back...shampooing is once again required much more frequently. I can go a day now, but 2 would be pushing it. The worst is that I am shedding like a St. Bernard on a summer day. It's out of control and frankly concerning that I might be legitimately balding. I've read that this is totally normal but I'm over it. The wad of hair I have to pull from the drain after showering is just absurd. Then, equally annoying the right side of my hair by my ears (where things got wavy during pregnancy) is frizzy and super dry. I can't even explain it, but my hair is not the same texture there. I have again purchased lots of pricey shampoos, deep conditioners, and products with little improvement. I'm crossing my fingers that it will continue to go back to normal. All I know is that my hair is not the same as it was 2 years ago.

The other big "well this sucks" happened after giving birth... Stretch marks. Frankly I thought I was in the clear when up until giving birth I didn't have any. Well instantly after giving birth when my stomach started to go back down stretch marks came out of no where. I guess from the "rapid" decrease?  Yeah, right. Or maybe the freaking DRY air here didn't help my cause. I don't know... all I know is that once I realized this was an issue I bought this mederma cream specifically for stretch marks and I have not been that impressed, or maybe I had too high of expectations (hello, if I buy an expensive cream I was expensive results). I've followed the directions to a T and I have seen very little fading. I am trying not to complain, because really what is a couple of stretch marks below my belly button? It isn't like I need that region to look pretty for a living or anything.  I'm fine with rocking a bathing suit that covers it (in fact I'd prefer to wear one of those dress things the Mormons wears). And if I had a c-section (which thankfully I didn't)...I'd have a scar there instead. So whatever, it is what it is. It's my marks from "war."

The other notable aftermath (no, I am not going to talk about my boobs this time, but that could be a post unto itself...they will never be the same and I'm convinced my nips will forever be sore, ah I digress...)  is the return of Aunt Flow. She goes away during pregnancy and supposedly while you're breast feeding. Lies, lies, lies. Obviously this is different for everyone, but I was shocked when she returned at 4 months postpartum.  I'm pretty sure I got the short straw on this (I'd like to think it's my dominate alpha female hormones just taking charge). I tell you this not to enter the world of TMI, but because it was something I was always curious about and I just want to give a head's up to my friends who haven't had kids yet but will someday. This is also why so many idiots out there get pregnant and say "but I was breastfeeding, so it shouldn't of happened." Yes. It. Can.

Long story short... I'm going bald, I have stretch marks, sore nips and a period. How hot am I? Don't answer that.This is what they call motherhood. Cheers.

6 month wrap up

Well , true to form I am a month behind. Ian is officially 7 months (booohooo! How is he getting so old?!)... 

So here's where little man was at 6 months:

Weight: 16 lbs 1oz -- 27th percentile

Height/Length: 27 3/4" -- 89th percentile

Head circumference:  17 1/4"  -- 60th percentile

He still remains by long and lean little man. This makes me a bit nervous for the upcoming cooler months because long pants are hard to come by. I'm thinking I'll have to buy them big and then "alter" them.  We shall see. 

Other notable things....

- He now gibber gabbers constantly

- He is rolling machine.  At night in his crib he will start at one side and before long I'll see on the video monitor that he is completely upside down and at the other end of the crib. What this means is that he cannot be left unattended on a bed/sofa/etc...and forget that whole "put baby on his back" thing because you can put him there but he won't stay for long. 

- He has a blankie and he is in love with it. I got a pack of them for a gift and have since bought more. When he sees the blankie it's thumb in mouth immediately. 

- Sucks his thumb... almost exclusively his left thumb.

- Still has that damn blocked tear duct. MAKES ME CRAZY. The doctor told me to just keep on waiting for him to out grow it, but ugh.  

- His eyes are STILL blue! And his hair is BLONDE. I swear he's our child.

- Has started eating some solid foods... his favorites are Mum Mums, and pieces of avocado or bananas.  He is not interested in "mush" or things requiring a spoon.

- Sleeps through the night about 50% of the time. 

My friend Bonnie happened to be in town  from DC right at Ian's 6 month mile marker. She is an architect by day and a photographer by night, and she offered to do some photos of little buddy while she was visiting. I was so excited to have her take his pictures, and clearly you can see she's amazing at it (she took the photo above). You can check out her blog and more of Ian's photo shoot here. And she uploaded the entire shoot here.  Thank you BonBon, you captured him perfectly! 

VAAAAY CAAYYY - Part 1

I can't complain that we don't go on a lot of trips and luckily for us we live in a vacation spot and within an hour or so a dozen of additional vacation destinations. However, it is a rarity that we take a whole week off. Typically, we are the "long weekend trippers" but this time we took a whole week off over the 4th of July holiday and vacationed in Cape Cod.  And boy was that wonderful.  Since returning to work in April I had been essentially saving every newly accrued PTO day for this trip (and I used them all but .08 hours... big spender). We are really lucky that John has family (Aunt Kathy, Uncle David, and Cousin Katie, her kiddos JD & Evangeline, and husband, Gary) who live at the Cape which is just perfect because we get to visit with family and enjoy such a wonderful place.

So here's our trip deets PART 1...  

July 3rd: 

Only downside, it takes a really long time to get from Denver to the Cape... especially if you don't fly direct, but Ian was a total trooper on the plane there we never had a moment of being "those people." Ian pretty much slept or just sat up and played with his toys the whole way.

Angel baby sleeping on the plane

After an entire day of traveling on July 3rd we finally made it to John's Aunt and Uncle's beautiful house at like 10pm. Travelling east is the pits because you lose so many hours, but the vacation was well worth the long trip.

July 4th: 

First things first, Ian met Evangeline (John's cousin Katie's baby girl who was born 2 months before Ian).  And I'm sorry but could they be any cuter playing with the toys?! 

Good morning to my new cousin! Ian also started sitting up on his own this trip!!
Still a little wobbly but cousin E showed him how it is done. 

Evangeline "Easy-E" is all smiles!

Happy 4th from Chatham

Little buddy played on the porch with toys and enjoyed himself a  happy 4th!

Ian discovered Mum Mum's!! When Katie was feeding Miss E,  Ian grabbed
one of the Mum Mum's out of her hand and the rest is history... he is a Mum Mum addict.
Major progress in the foodies world.

More playing after dinner

Ian hanging with "Gaga and Papa"

I don't think there is a more patriotic looking place to be on the 4th of July.  I mean seriously the town is covered american flags, stars and stripes, and red, white, and blue.  Such a great day! At the end of the night after getting the kids down we sat on the porch and watched the fire work shows up and down the ocean. We could even see shows across the water in Nantucket - picturesque! 

July 5th: 

BEACH DAY. 

This story was on the cover of the news paper while we were there... clearly we are hard core for braving it. We had to get Ian some beach time though...

Beach Babies... Ian's first dip in the ocean

Not Convinced.

REALLY  not convinced.

Dad taking little man on a beach stroll

Dinner for the little ones... Ian eating ANOTHER Mum Mum.

Starting to sample some of the "good stuff"!! YAY!

John maning the grill for dinner... Yes that is the ocean RIGHT there. Pretty amazing.

I had to document our dinner... because JOHN ATE FISH! Yum!

Yet another wonderful day at the Cape and equally important both my boys hit some milestones with their eating. Life. Is. Good.

July 6:

Today we did a stroll through down town, lunch at the Squire and Cape Cod Brewery Tour. Katie texted John a few weeks before we came to town to let him know that her and Gary had won a private tour at the Cape Cod Brewery and wanted to know if we'd be interested in doing that. Of course to John this was NOT a question, but wonderful news.

Ian hanging out at the Squire

Being a silly guy sticking out his tongue!

FISH AGAIN! Both John and I got the Cod... sure it's fried but hey, John ate it.

Shop in Chatham... questionable name.

Ahhh....dorable.

Amazing. And they are all over. 

Our personal tour... yes we bought our babies. Judge all you want, they enjoyed it.
A couple owns this brewery and  the wife is in the floral dress leading the tour. 

Great tour and the owner personally spent at least an hour and half with us.

Evangeline is very curious. 

Ian is starting to nod off with all this beer talk.
(Note: moments later he passed out in his car seat for the rest of the tour)

"A vacation in every pint" Cheers to that.

No blanket for Evangeline to crawl on? No worries, this box will do.

No caption needed :)

.... More to come.... Stay tuned...