Party Weekend Part 2

18 Months, Week 1

The day after Evelyn’s party, we met up again with the Cowans and Godfrey-Morris’ to go to a church festival. The festival was very small and the rides never showed up and it rained... so we ended up going back to the Cowans for pizza - which was probably more fun!

Evelyn got a sweet ride for her birthday that Nora gave a spin... and loved it.

Mount up!

Nora doesn't need her banana cut anymore!

Oh boy!

Latest Thrift Find:

18 Months, Week 1

A sweet pair of sparkly pink Converse - luckily they aren’t terribly flashy, but for $5 - heck yeah!

Party Weekend Part 1

18 Months, Week 1

Nora’s pal Evelyn Morris turned 1 on June 7th and had a big circus-themed bash to celebrate. Nora had a great time with all the other kids - her other friend Ellie Cowan and her friend Alice Stender whose Mommy took the same Hypnobirthing class as me! 

The food was fantastic and all types of beverages and sweets galore! 

We gifted Evelyn with a UC Bearcat onesie - go Bearcats! 

Oh - and I thought I’d make Nora cute with some tights under her dress. Nice try, Mom. Ripped through those before we even arrived...

Nice try, Mom.

Evelyn & Nora

Circus Krons!

Betsie & Ellie Cowan joining us on the blanket

Alice & Nora pal-ing around.

Silly goose

Tim being worked!

Muffin Monster

18 Months, Week 1

She took my muffin!

Photo Dump!

18 Months, Week 3

Was waiting for my college friends to share their photos so in turn I could share them here!  Thankful for people who still use nice, real cameras : ) 

Zomkowskis [Paul took the photo], Mealys, Heyls, Timmans [minus Chris], Krons, Fearings and Joyces 

So sweet!

Nora liked trying to hold Baby Elliott.

Kara taking a photo with Nora...

Where’d that tongue come from?

18-month Check Up

19 Months, Week 1

First, I’m amazed at how Nora’s vocabulary is starting to take off these past two weeks; “Daddy car!” “Mommy shoe” “Ailo go!” It’s awesome that we can somewhat communicate with Nora and understand one another. 

Today was Nora’s 18 [!] month check-up and the good news is she’s super healthy and growing well! 32.25" tall [70th percentile] and 26.4lbs [70th percentile]

The rough part of today was everything else. Nora now gets her weight and height checked on an adult scale - making her stand with her feet and head against the wall? Not easy. This same nurse took Nora’s head circumference - simply laying back on the paper-lined table made Nora anxious and want to sit up - I had to force her head down : ( So that made her cry. 

The very sweet doctor came in and immediately Nora says, “Bye bye!” The stethoscope made Nora anxious, which only snowballed for lying back again on the table for her eyes, mouth and ears to be check which set her off and crying “All done! All done!” Oh my God. It’s bad enough when your child cries at the doctor’s office, but when she can verbally tell you how upset she is? Wrenching.

We still have two shots to go. Sigh. The third practitioner comes in and asks if Nora should lay down or sit up. “Sit up!” Nora can already tell something is afoot and starts reaching for me to pick her up. I hug Nora, but keep her seated and keep her arm out of reach so she won’t disturb the nurse administering the shots. As expected, the two shots send Nora into a tailspin. I know I’ve been through this since she was an infant, but it never gets easier. 

Thankfully Nora bounces back easily and she’s eager to get her clothes back on and go “Bye bye!” I’m also thankful she’s never had adverse reactions to any shots other than being a little extra sleepy from the drama and a little loss of appetite. 

Those Special Moments...

Month 19, Week 1

It’s those special moments as a family that make you so grateful... Like when you’re giving your 18-mo daughter a bath and she’s learned to dump cupfuls of water out of the tub and into your lap with glee. And once you and your loving husband are drying off that lovely daughter with a towel, all huddled in the tiny bathroom and your faithful dog, just at the threshold of the door, emits a curdling, eggy fart that engulfs all three humans in the bathroom to the point of choking them out... 

All we could do was laugh and cough. And Nora laughed because we were laughing. I’m pretty sure she can’t detect rancid dog farts yet...

Special.

10-Year College Reunion

I use that term loosely because about 36 people were invited [?] and about 8 of us showed up with our families. Nor did the organizer show up because he had a sick child. None of us cared because we were all so close in college, it was just fun to see everyone and meet their kids/toddlers/babies!

We met at Ault Park at 11am so we all brought a picnic lunch - thank heavens the weather held out amazingly. We had picnic tables, a few swings and a mulch pile - everything those kids could need. 

Our small group is about halvsies - Half of us are still in town and the others came in from Cleveland, Indy and Huntington, Alabama! [Those Zomkowskis are amazing travelers] Nora enjoyed the other kids, but still had her own agenda, running here and there and everywhere. 

Nora relaxes with a book on the way to the park.

It was so great to see everyone - I miss the out-of-towners and it feels like we just easily pick up from the last time we were together in person. I liked high school, but I loved college and feel my friendships in college meant a lot more. 

My friend/old roomie Kara, posted this fantastic photo on Instagram that I nabbed a screengrab of:

So sweet!

Memorial Day Weekend

17 Months, Week 4

The Friday of Memorial Day weekend is so awesome because of the feelings of anticipation; the office is half empty and the workload isn’t too terrible. Tim and I both got off work around 2pm so we decided to take advantage and have a small day-date while Nora was still at the sitter - wooo! 

We first hit Allyn’s Cafe in Columbia Tusculum - where we had our first date! We each had a beer and an appetizer. We decided to squeeze one more location so we went to Hahana Beach in Mariemont - it’s a “beachy” theme with large open garage doors and lots of volleyball courts - we enjoyed a beer and chips/guacamole there. Crazily enough, the high that day was only 68˚ so Tim and I sat indoors. 

Outdoors and cold!

Indoors with the “beachy” vibe.

Saturday we had completely open - we had zero plans and it was great! The most eventful part of our day was going through the carwash which freaked Nora out : (

Sunday we had a Kron family shower for Tim’s cousin Joe and his wife Kristen who are expecting a baby boy in just a few weeks. It was a lovely day and great visiting family - Nora loved seeing her cousins, Gabe, Bobby and Ben - whose names she says every day! 

Monday we visited our friends Maren & Chris in Mariemont - they had a small cookout that Stephanie joined as well. It was a very nice time, not too hot. Nora loves seeing baby Adrian and says her name fairly well.

All in all, it was an awesome, relaxing weekend!

Business Trip!

Friday at work was the start of Memorial Day weekend. Around 10am my director came up to me and asked if I could attend some consumer research in Indy Tues-Wed! Doh! I easily said yes because 1. That’s my job and 2. I was glad it was only one night and very close to home; i.e. no plane trip.

I carpooled with a coworker who is just a year older than me with a 10-mo old, so we had a lot to talk about and she’s just someone I enjoy and could see myself hanging out with outside work .... if that ever occurred.

Tuesday night our clients took us out to St. Elmo’s steakhouse - which apparently is famous and historic. Mostly for their shrimp cocktail - ?! Two of our male clients ordered this and one asked for extra cocktail sauce for his baked potato. I just had some wild Alaskan Cod which was awesome - cleaned my plate with the fish and the quinoa with green beans and my coworker’s mashed potatoes - YUM!

We stayed at a Westin which I expect to be fairly top of the line, but was a little dingy. They have “Heavenly” beds which I think delivered - I slept quite well!

Unfortunately as soon as we pulled into the driveway from a long day of research, Tim and Nora came out - Nora was her usual bubbly self with one difference - a freakin RASH all over her face! We hustled in the house and Tim said Nora didn’t eat anything she hadn’t eaten before. We called the doctor who said she’s simply at the age where her usual food - especially acidic - can react more with her skin. Tim said Nora had smeared hummus all over her face which perhaps was the cause - so we’re going to back off that jazz for a while. 

Not so dreadful...

DREADFUL.