First trip to the zoo

We live less than 10 minutes away from the Brookfield Zoo so we decided to take Jake there to check it out the other day. 

He had a fun time people watching & was really interested in the geese & peacocks that roam free there. He is still too small to notice the animals, but it'll be a nice place to take him when he gets older. 

it was hot & humid so the animals were pretty lazy

First Mother's Day

I celebrated my first Mother's Day yesterday! 

Jake woke up at 6:30am and Chris took him so I could get some extra (much needed) sleep. 

We relaxed most of the day and Chris & I had a margarita on the porch while Jake napped. 

Then we went to a late brunch at Maya Del Sol and sat outside on the patio. Jake was very well behaved, the food was great, and the sangria was good too! 

We were lucky to spend most of the day outside before the thunderstorms rolled in around 6pm.
All in all, it was a very nice day.

I'm so happy to be the mama to this perfect, happy little guy. 

Celebrating Earth Day

Our neighbor got a fir sapling from work on Earth Day and he passed it on to us since we have lots of empty space in our yard that needs to be filled. 

We decided to put it in the front yard. 

Hopefully it will grow!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! 

We visited Nonni (my mom) last week and took Jake to see his first Easter bunny and this was the result.

I guess it's better than a pic of him crying in terror?

This particular bunny was a bit dingy looking and I was so nervous about putting my baby on his lap that I forgot to take Jake's bib off. Oh well. I'm sure we'll be laughing about this picture for years to come. 

Hope you all have a great Easter! 

Sunday Dinner

This past Sunday, we went to Grandpa Art & Grandma Cindy's house for Sunday family dinner. We had homemade pasta, meatballs, & eggplant parmesan.

Jake got to meet his cousin Max who is 8 months old.

Auntie Adria introducing Jake to Max. 

We had a great time hanging out with family! 

Jake hanging out with Grandpa. 

with Uncle John & Aunt Adria

Family Fun Weekend

This past weekend, Jacob got to meet his uncle Matt for the first time and Grandparents P were in town, too. 

Hi Uncle Matt!

Grandma & Jake. And Maxie. 

Grandpa & Jake. And Buddy!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend & did a lot of eating. 

We went to one of our favorite local restaurants, Jimmy's Place, on Friday. 

Saturday we had nepalese/indian food for lunch at Cumin in Wicker Park. Jake got to try a bit of mango lassi which is a sweet mango drink. I put some on his paci and he loved it! 

On Sunday we went to brunch at Maya Del Sol for Grandma's birthday. The food was fantastic! 

We also ordered deep dish somewhere in between all that eating out...

Sunday afternoon, Grandma & Grandpa P took Jake for a long walk from our house to Scoville Park while Chris & I ran some errands. 

Jake was so exhausted from the weekend that he slept an 8.5 hour stretch for the first time Sunday night! I don't think this will be a regular event for him, but it's nice to know that he is capable of it. 

Busy weekend!

Jake had a busy weekend! 

He got to check out Eataly and meet his great aunts Karen & Sharon. 

morning coffee with aunties

macchiato at Eataly 

Then he celebrated at Auntie Adria's surprise birthday party.

Happy Birthday, A!

And finally spent some quality time with his Grandpa Art & Grandma Cindy.

Hanging out before the snowbirds go back to AZ

Happy New Year!

2013 was an exciting year for Chris & I! We look forward to the New Year and watching Jake grow. He is starting to give us big, goofy open mouth smiles and is starting to coo. It's amazing to think of everything he will learn to do in 2014.

Jake slept peacefully last night and so I'm feeling very rested today compared to New Year's Day of past years... My party days are over, for now. And I'm perfectly happy with that. 

Click here for a video of our past year!

We wish everybody a happy & healthy 2014! 

Merry Christmas!

Despite barely sleeping the night before, Jake had a great first Christmas! He got lots of presents and we are really looking forward to playing Santa in the years to come as he gets older. 

I wanted some family photos so we set up the camera and tried to take a few pictures by our tree. 

We expect to look a bit more rested in next year's Christmas photos...

And maybe Jake will enjoy them a bit more too...

And here is one from the blooper reel... Jake was a little gassy and let one rip just as this picture was taken. 

A visit from Grandma & Grandpa P

Last weekend, Grandma & Grandpa P came to meet Jacob for the first time!

so much love... what a lucky little boy 

We took advantage of the mild weather and took Jacob on a few outings. 

On Saturday, went to the Christkindl market in Daley Plaza & to see the Christmas tree at Macy's. I was so excited to bring Jake to the Christkindl market since it's a tradition of ours to go every year around my birthday. It was soooo crowded but we managed to have a mug of gluehwein and a hot pretzel and that was good enough for me. 

Jake slept through the excitement- snug as a bug in his carrier. 

We also went to brunch to celebrate my birthday and Santa happened to be there. 

Which was perfect because Auntie Adria was really hoping to take Jake to meet Santa for the first time. 

Proud Grandmas...

and Grandpas! 

What a wonderful weekend! 

Jacob's first Thanksgiving

Jacob went to his aunt & uncle's house for his first Thanksgiving! Lucky for me, he slept throughout dinner so that I could eat. 

He woke up in time to take some photos and show off his turkey bib. 

staring at Daddy

Uncle John & Auntie Ange