niagara falls

last sunday we embarked on a very spontaneous trip to toronto, canada. 

sometimes when you get in the mood to go somewhere and see something new, you just have to give into it. so we packed up most of our things, since traveling with a toddler requires lots of things, and off we went on a 6.5 hour road trip north. 

on our way we stopped in erie, pa where it was unseasonably warm and sunny, to let logan run for a while and then again once we go to niagara falls. he did pretty great in the car and enjoyed playing with his lego duplos, showing off his mad puzzle skills and watching a little horton hears a who. 

at niagara falls we ate at the worst, most overpriced romano's macaroni grill where my 9 mushroom ravioli ($23) had the most disgustingly sweet marsala sauce i've ever tasted. our waiter kept hovering and almost ripped our plates away from us before we were even close to being done. overall, not a good experience! 

once we got to toronto and checked into the hotel (we stayed at the westin harbour castle) we were all pretty tired but decided to go back out to explore the city a little bit. we ended up just grabbing street meat for dinner since we had (that gross) lunch kind of late. 

and because there are way too many pictures for one post i'll be posting more throughout the week. yup, because isn't that what a blog is for? 

have you ever been to niagara falls or toronto? 

the truth about pumpkins

no, that picture did not get in there accidentally...
this is the truth about pumpkin picking and trying to get one decent looking picture with my son.
i swear it is impossible!

but yes, we went to pick out a few pumpkins last week. lovely, bright orange, overpriced pumpkins in virtually any size imaginable.
we always go to a local farm that also has weekend festivities throughout the fall. to avoid the crowds and because we had nothing better to do on a wednesday night we put on our warmest sweaters and off we went.

logan wasn't really interested in the pumpkins but rather fond of a bright red, antique tractor. this kid has and will be around tractors all of his life. if it has a motor he's gonna go check it out. if it can be steered he will steer it.

so yeah, instead of the pictures I had imagined of him carrying around his pumpkins I got him riding the tractor, steering the cart and of course picking through rocks and mulch. oh well, I'll take it!

finally, i have to admit that seeing my two guys walking together, wearing the same shoes gave me the warm fuzzies infinitely more than any display of pumpkin affection could ever have.

mama

sometimes things that are kinda magical happen when you least expect them to.
if you knew me in real life you'd know it's no secret that for the past 16 months, the one thing I've been looking forward to most, was for this little mister to say that magical 4 letter word.
heck, there was an incredible amount of hoping and praying and wishing and quite a lot of coaxing involved but while other kiddos his age were throwing around that magical word like nobody's business, my little guy decided that he needed to do things in his own time.
instead he went ahead and decided that giving in to his mama's biggest wish was sort of overrated and he would rather go around calling out for his dada all day long.
now of course that is quite cute and sure made his dada, who is away a lot, feel very special and loved.
so eventually I stopped coaxing. well, at least I reduced the frequency of such coaxing...
i hadn't really thought about it much lately, with us being busy and all but then yesterday, after an evening playing at the park with the most gorgeous sunset and the cool fall air clearing out all the fogginess of this past, very uneventful weekend, it happened...

he had just finished his dinner and started tilting his head side to side to get me to play along.
i played along for a while and then leaned in close to see if could sneak a kiss (another thing he distributes very sparingly). as I was looking at him and he was staring back at me with those beautiful baby blues, he leaned in for a wet kiss and then slowly and clearly said mama, repeating it once more as if to make sure I would catch it.
and man did I catch it!

parenthood can turn you into one huge sob ball pretty quickly, let me tell you!
this was one of those rare and sort of magical moments in life that will go down in my own personal history book. never to be forgotten.
like when you get your first kiss from that guy you've lost your teenage heart to or when you slowly sway back and forth during the first dance with you husband on your wedding day and the rest of the world just seems to go away.
those moments are rare and they fade away as quickly as they came, no matter how hard we try to hold on and make them last for just another moment longer.

so yesterday was the day my firstborn son called me his mama for the first time. and as hard as I tried to hold on to that moment and store it away in a jar I could pull out every time he will drive me crazy in the future, just as a reminder of the magical feeling of that moment and why this is the best job in the whole world, I guess I will just have to stick to writing it all down right here instead.

Chicago

ok, so today is just a photo dump from our chicago trip. i didn't get them edited any earlier and there are more so there will be a part 2. no more than that though, I promise ;) 

we had such a great time. jason had an off day while there so we walked a lot, stopped at navy pier and shedd aquarium and ended the day with take-out from the cheesecake factory. i have never seen a bigger portion size from a restaurant, ever! 

of course that day the weather was a little off but the rest of the trip was gorgeous. logan and i did a ton more walking, stopped by the free zoo at lincoln park, played on the beach, had sprinkles cupcakes to see what all the fuss was about... holy goodness! i hope they come to pittsburgh ;) 

but more on that stuff in the other post.

i hope you all had a great weekend. ours was pretty quiet and uneventful. it's nice to not too anything for once and just regenerate. i need that quiet time to myself. 

we're back...

we're back home and man does it feel good.
as much as I love traveling and seeing new places, I really love coming home just as much.
there's just something about the familiar smell and the way it feels to crawl into your own bed at night with the dryer steadily humming until you fall asleep. is that just me?
i think even logan could tell since he went straight for his toy box and then, when he curled up in his bed to go to sleep after this long and stressful day, it definitely seemed like he had missed it as well.

traveling with a 15 month old is much different than traveling with a 6 month old or even a 12 month old. he is just so much more active now and hates being confined to his stroller or a tight airplane seat.
i sure am glad the flight was only an hour long ;)
i am planning to share a little bit more about traveling with an infant vs. traveling with a toddler in a separate post soon.

the rest of this weeks posts will be way too many pictures from our trip to chicago, a giveaway that I can't wait to share and maybe a style files post?

if I haven't returned your email or comments, please forgive me! i will try to catch up this week :) i really appreciate every single one.

this week I...

... found two humongous and luckily already deceased spiders in the house. one under the dining room table and one on logan's play area rug. i still get chills wondering about whether he played with it or not.

... turned the oven on preheat and forgot that I still had the dessert from the night before in there.   covered with plastic wrap. yup. did you know that plastic wrap easily peels off of glass after it's been melted? now you do.

... cleaned up baby pee in the living room.

... thought the play yard was locked. realized it wasn't when I caught logan stirring my cold morning tea with my iphone. i have no idea how it survived but it still works.

... found a box of shoes underneath a box of purses in my closet. cool. new shoes :)

what fun stuff happened to you this week. do share :)
happy friday!

family pictures

a couple of weeks ago I had the glorious idea to take family pictures, on our own, with the tripod and remote. yahhhhh i think the first picture shows quite well how that turned out and the second how logan felt about posing and sitting still, looking at the camera and of course: smiling.

we ended up with some quite hilarious out-takes so it was definitely worth it.
however, i guess i'll just have to suck it up and pay someone to take our picture next time.

are you a control freak like me? because i sure always feel like I just can't trust anyone else with my creative vision. like i'm the only creative person in the whole world, right? right!  ;)

i am now taking recommendations for Pittsburgh area photographers.

bits&pieces

just a few bits&pieces from life lately, including...

... getting down and dirty on hot days playing with sand and water. is there a better combo for a little boy?

... your own sandwich creation that turns out amazing, fresh vegetables from the garden and a sweet surprise from that wonderful husband, because parenting on your own for extended periods can get pretty though sometimes

... a box of free goodies from everlane and a few new things to wear for fall. labor day sales folks! 

... various shopping carts and rides

... play dates, big puppies and sunshine

... a date night, the first well baby visit without dada and some early morning book reading in bed with the sun coming through the window

happy friday and a great weekend :) 

a couple of videos

yup, he sure is a funny one, that one! must get it from his mama ;)

15 months have come and gone in what seems like the blink of an eye. just yesterday he was this tiny little newborn and all he wanted to do was eat and sleep. now he has turned into this funny, independent and oh so smart little man who pushes his play yard through the room to get where he wants to go.

15 months is pretty awesome.
15 months means...

waking up between 7.30 and 8 am 

only nursing once a day, in the morning

2 big meals a day

drinking only water and milk

learning to use a fork and spoon

napping for 3 hours every afternoon

going to bed at 8 pm

running 

walking on tippy toes

saying "uh oh" when he drops things or they end up out of reach

saying "nein, nein, nein" when upset (he is being raised bilingual, german and english, more on that soon)

saying "num num" when he knows food is coming

saying "dada" but refusing to say "mama" (one day, right?) 

getting excited and yelling "dada!" when ichat starts up or the phone rings

pretending to talk on the phone using play phones, real phones or old iphone cases 

making car sounds when playing

loving his puppy friends

climbing on everything

opening and closing doors

pointing at lights and fans or pretty much just about anything while continuously saying "da!" (there in German)

books are his favorite

mischievous looks and grins

kisses only rarely but more and more hugs

12 teeth 

puzzles and balls

pushing carts or his stroller

cuddling stuffed animals and dolls

still taste testing lots of things

being very musical and dancing all the time

loving bath time

being absolutely adorable most of the time!

i am honestly having the time of my life and i am so grateful to be able to stay at home with him every day. i know how blessed i am to have the opportunity to experience every little milestone and so thankful to that wonderful, hard working husband of mine who makes it all possible.


wishing you a wonderful weekend!

bits + pieces

bits + pieces from a good day

1. A small harvest fresh from the garden.

2. Carrying his favorite doll.

3. Out of focus hugs

4. Hiding from the dogs but secretly wishing they would come find him. 

5. Da! Lights are being pointed and looked at all day every day.

6. Left behind.

7. Puppy paws and dirty long nails that need some attention.

8. Wood+Stripes 

9. Puzzles keep little guys busy.

10. My most favorite in all the land.

11. Ladybugs.

12. Best buds. 

13. Testing how far one can go.