New York New York

St. Patrick's Cathedral.  It is incredible inside, the architecture is beautiful.

I really wanted to see the tree at Rockefeller Center.  Brett's step grandfather Ed, who grew up in NYC thought it was so funny that we wanted to go see a "dead tree."  We didn't get close enough for a picture, but the ice rink, is about 1/3 the size of a normal ice rink, and it cost $40 to skate for 30 minutes.  Crazy!

Next year we are definatly going to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular show.

Baby loved "Ray's Pizza", if you are a fan of the movie Elf you know what I am talking about.  I wanted real New York pizza, and we got it.  Surprisingly, it tastes like all other pizza.  I just love the thin crust!

Yeah for Donny and Marie!  I've met Donny, he's a really nice guy.

Times Square

What do you do when you come to NYC? You take a nap of course!  It was so cold, the wind gets funneled through the buildings and it was icy!  Aunt Mandy taught Brett how to move through the crowds with a stroller and boy did he fly.  You put your head down and walk as fast as you want, everone else will get out of your way.  Keep your head down, that is the trick.

The greatest idea in the world.  A store on 5th Ave dedicated to Charmin.  Public bathrooms that you could use for free.  You stnd in line and wait for the next available room, after every use, IT GETS CLEANED!  It was the greatest public restroom I have ever used.  And, you got to pick which TP you wanted.  Most people apparantly like the Sensitive.

The lobby at the Empire State building is not as big as you would think.

A LEGO Chewbacca, Brett was very happy about.  We walked all down 5th Ave. and all we bought were toys from the amazing Disney store, and FAO Schwartz.

Baby and Delena giving Brett kisses.  Delena is Mandy' baby girl.  She just turned one and is the same size as our baby is.  She wears the same size diapers, and she weighs more.  She is such a happy girl.

Back home.  We had a great trip, and Baby learned a new trick.  And Mommy gets a work out too!

This what our view is like from our back door.  A beautiful Winter Wonderful. 

Slap Stick Baby

For starters, the Henrietta library had a Star Wars day.  I was so excited to get my picture taken with a storm trooper.  We got there early and we waited patiently for the characters to emege, and sadly the whole production was kinda lame.  I think if you were a MAJOR SW fan it would have been awesome, but... We got our picture taken anyway.  I really just wanted the storm trooper in the pic, but how could I tell the Luke Skywalker wannabe to get out of my picture?  It was a funny, and Baby was not impressed.

Our new friend Melanie came with us to the Star Wars thing.  Her husband is a first year med student as well so we are going to be able to spend the next 4 years together.  

Brett and I got to celebrate our 4th anniversary this last Thursday.  Wow, 4 years.  It just flew by.  After a long day, we got to go out to dinner.  We went to the lovin' cup.  It is this great restaurant/dafe/coffee shop/bar/grundge joint here in Rochester.  Every Friday and Saturday they have live bands come play and entertain.  The food was amazing.  They have these fries that have almost the same texture as In and Out, but thankfully taste like Red Robin steak fries.  I got the "Paranoid Android" (philly cheese steak) sandwich.  Brett got the Reuben sandwich.  Sooooo Good!

We really enjoyed our meal. To save a little money, I got come gift certificates off of Restaurant.com, they were having this awesome promotion that lt you get 25$ GC for $3!!!  It was great!  I highly recommend using that.  We don't often get an appetizer, nor dessert, but since you have to purchase $35 worth of product, we did!  Then on Friday, we went to see Harry Potter 7 Part One.  It was awesome!  Long, but really really great.  I am so excited for part 2.  It was a great anniversary.  Now for the reason anybody really looks at our blog, our baby boy...

If there is any type of container one could possible sit in, he needs to.  He loves it for some reason. 

This one we actually took last night.  He refused (and I mean REFUSED) to take a nap all day long.  He was so grumpy and edgy I couldn't handle it.  I tried 3 times to put him down and nothing.  Finally during dinner, he couldn't help himself.  He is completly zonked.  Nose smooshed up against that cup, and he didn't notice.  So adorable!

This is Baby's favorite place.  The reading chair.  He loves to read books. 

This baby loves slap stick comedy.  When we were somewhere I pretended to run into a concrete pillar, you know when you kick it and act like you hit your face, I was trying to make Brett laugh but my baby saw it and just about died laughing.  Ever since, he loves it when we fall down or run into walls.  Brett was doing it the other night and Baby was laughing so hard he couldn't stand up, he was crying he was laughing so hard.  Then, he tried to do it himself.  He walks up to the door does a little belly/chest bump and starts laughing.  He totally keeps his head and face back so he doesn't get hurt.  He is such a comedian.  I will try to get video up, but I am not all that savy when it comes to computer stuff.  More to come, so stay tuned!

Halloween

Baby was a Monkey for Halloween.  I worked so hard on his costume.  It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty awesome.  I always thought it was so neat that my mom made our costumes when we were little, and I have always wanted to do it for my kids.  This was my first attempt and I am really happy with it. 

He would rarely look at the camera while wearing his monkey suit.  We had our ward Halloween party on friday and he loved loved loved running around.

And rolling down the hall.

and some more running.

Searching for candy in the straw was kinda fun.  He didn't really want to wade through it, until they were cleaning it up.  Typical right?

I know the ears are something else.  I love them.  He actually left the hood on all night. Probably because there was plenty of candy around. 

Sharing candy with Daddy.

YUMMY!

Grandma had sent this costume in the mail.  Baby wore this to a Halloween party thrown on by Melanie and Aaron Butler.  Mel loves Halloween and had an awesome party.  She made some really cool snacks.  Baby loved the Werewolf Claws (chocolate covered pretzels.)  We put Kung Fu Panda on and let him eat and watch the movie.  We caught on that he was covered in chocolate right before he tried to touch something.  It was a close one. 

We had a great Halloween!

Remember how I said Baby likes to yell at me then shush me when I answer?  The following picture is not a picture of Baby making the boring sign, but shushing.  He makes an SSSS sound while he does it.

He did it in WalMart today and everybody around thought he was SO cute and funny.  I have to agree, he is!

This is the face Baby makes when you tell him to smile.  It looks painful huh?  He is so much fun.

Did you know plates can be worn at hats?  Yes, but only when you have spaghetti to squish in your hair to hold it in place.  Whenever he climbs into his chair either for a meal, a snack or a drink, he folds his arms ready to say a prayer.  I have even caught him trying to close his eyes too, which I have never told him to do.  He is such a smart boy. 

Baby loves to read.  He loves books, and stories.  Especially rhyming stories.  His new favorite is Llama Llama Mad at Mama.  It has a great cadence and is really fun to read.  However, afte the third time reading it, I constantly thinking in that cadence. He also loves anything to do with a dinosaur or a train. 

I love the way he makes a train noise.  It is a high pitched CH CH.  It is so sweet.  He is so sweet.  He loves to give kisses and hugs.  When he gives a kiss he closes his lips (not all the time, and sometimes he sticks out his lower lip) and leans in while he says Mmmmm.  I love being a mom.

Apples, Pumpkins, Cute Boy, Crimes, and so much more!

We learned that New York is apple country.  We decided to go and pick a ton of apples to make our own apple pie filling.  We got a 5 gallon bucket and filled it up with Granny Smith apples.  There was a sign that said one bucket filled is about 70 pounds.  I thought that was plenty.  So we got an entire bucket.  We also got 3 pumpkins for the season.  We got to ride a wagon up to the pumpkin patch and then we got to pick our own pumpkins.  Of course while picking pumpkins, baby tripped and just about cut his eyeball.  Instead, just some flesh was sliced.  It wouldn't be a family trip out if someone didn't get hurt.

See our Daddy, Mommy and Baby sized pumpkings?  And our 70 pound bag of apples (which actually were 0.70c per pound we only got about 30 pounds.  40 pounds short of what I thought we were getting.)  Aren't those pumpkins adorable?  They are so cute.  Stay tuned for more on our pumpkins.

Rubber boots are a must if you are going to grow up in New York.  Every puddle had to be splashed in.  It remind me of someone, but I can't put my finger on who...

Brett helped me can 15 pints of appl pie filling.  It was so much fun and we got some yummy yummy pie filling!

Baby got a halloween treat in he mail fom Mimi.  He loved the candy and the owl.  (the tv was on while we were trying to take the picture, but he loved it!)  Remember our adorable pumpkins?  Well, a crime has been commited!  Some people open their doors to find someone has smashed their pumpkin in the street.  Not many people walk outside to find their pumpkins half devoured! 

I believe the criminal to be 3 inches tall, long front teeth, teeny feet, and stripes on the back.  I suspect that the criminal also lives underneath the Sturgill's front steps (our next door neighbors, can you believe they are abetting this thing?)  Two of our pumpkins have been attacked in such a fashion.  I think we can say there is a serial pumpkin killer chipmunk living next door.  I was wondering why there weren't any pumpkins outside anyone else's house.

At the National Museum of Play, we spend at least 10 minutes at the train table.  (That's a long time for us.)  It is nice to live so close all these places that have sooo much to offer.

This is just HIM.  He's so adorable!

This is Him too.  I love it!

The museum changes the exhibits pretty often, and right now they have an exhibit of explorers.  This is replica of a tent this guy lived in as he hacked through a jungle in Africa.  Baby loves this room.  I really like it too.  It makes me want to go out and save the world.  Some fun stories about Baby, sometimes he yells at me saying... "Mom! Mom! Mommmm!"  I then say... "Baby!"  Then he puts his finger up to his mouth and says..."Shhhh!"  If he wants me to go somewhere, he either pushes my legs or he grabs my hand, finds my thumb and starts pulling me to where he wants to go.  He has to hold my thumb, I don't know why.  Hewill go to the fridge and knock on the door and say some kind of word that starts with a D.  I say... "You want a drink?"  and He nods his head enthusiastically and say "Haghda!"  Which I think he is trying to say "Oh Yeah."  He is so funny.  He can say Shoe, chair, and train.  He loves trains and dinosaurs.  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  He is so smart. 

I am really trying to learn to sew.  I have found that sewing things for kids makes learning a bit cheaper and easier.  There is a woman in our ward that just joined the church, she has a little girl who doesn't have a dress.  So I decided I would make her a dress.  I already had this fabric for another project that I forgot what it was for.  So used it for a little girl dress.  I really like it.  We had our visiting teaching conference and I found out that this new sister is my companion.  My first thought... "Now I have to be a really good visiting teacher so this chick will figure out how this works."  It was a little scary, but I think it will be good.  I told Ally today that I have this dress for her daughter, I thought she would be offended, but she is so excited.  I am really excited to see it on her little girl.