He looks like such a little man!
Let us out!!
Taking the boys for a walk...of course Rudy now wants to be in charge of Rufus and take his leash
Kitchen, or what is left of it.
Another view of the kitchen...yikes!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
A Mouth Full
Last night we were getting ready for bed when I noticed the top row of Rudy's mouth looked quite different...2 teeth had broken through and 2 more were visible! In just a matter of time, Rudy will have 4 upper teeth. Unbelievable!!
Have I mentioned how much of a busy-body Rudy is? The kid never stops moving. Sit up, pull up, stand up, try and stand alone, fall, play with this toy, play with that toy, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. It never ends.
Over the weekend, Mom, Dad, John and I went to Bloomington to see Tony's final college production, Julius Cesar. The performances were great. It was so impressive all the lines the actors had memorized and how well they moved about the stage. On the other side, we had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on 90% of the time. Rudy stayed home with Grandma Cicci.. he's still too young to go to a show quite yet. Tony is moving to the Chicago-area very shortly and he will be very close to the Brookfield Zoo. Rudy will love taking a trip to visit Tony and the zoo! That activity is much more his speed.
We are having carpet installed in the basement of 2042 today. One step closer to putting it on the market!!
The last couple months I've thought several times, "At this time last year...we were putting together the nursery, we were just finding out Rudy was a boy, etc..." It made me go back to the emails I sent out while I was pregnant with Rudy. To make this "story" of Rudy in our lives complete, which I believe began before he was born, I decided to add my emails to the first post. It was surreal reading through them all. It feels like it was just yesterday...and makes me even more excited for the next time I'm pregnant!
Have I mentioned how much of a busy-body Rudy is? The kid never stops moving. Sit up, pull up, stand up, try and stand alone, fall, play with this toy, play with that toy, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat. It never ends.
Over the weekend, Mom, Dad, John and I went to Bloomington to see Tony's final college production, Julius Cesar. The performances were great. It was so impressive all the lines the actors had memorized and how well they moved about the stage. On the other side, we had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on 90% of the time. Rudy stayed home with Grandma Cicci.. he's still too young to go to a show quite yet. Tony is moving to the Chicago-area very shortly and he will be very close to the Brookfield Zoo. Rudy will love taking a trip to visit Tony and the zoo! That activity is much more his speed.
We are having carpet installed in the basement of 2042 today. One step closer to putting it on the market!!
The last couple months I've thought several times, "At this time last year...we were putting together the nursery, we were just finding out Rudy was a boy, etc..." It made me go back to the emails I sent out while I was pregnant with Rudy. To make this "story" of Rudy in our lives complete, which I believe began before he was born, I decided to add my emails to the first post. It was surreal reading through them all. It feels like it was just yesterday...and makes me even more excited for the next time I'm pregnant!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Happy Easter!
...and happy it was! We took Rudy to Iowa to spend Easter with the Keough's, Aunt Maria, and Grandma and Grandpa Cicci. All things considered (traveling with a baby, adjusting sleep/naps in a new environment), Rudy did really well! We had a lot of fun and it was great getting to spend time with everyone! The boys have so much energy and say the funniest things. Grandpa Ray was like a live-in chef, between him and Nicolette we ate like kings all weekend (that's the expression, right?). Nicolette and Dan always make us feel so welcome and right at home. And as John and Maria pointed out, it wouldn't have been a holiday without LeeAnn running to the store the night before a holiday to "get a few more things."
Before we left, Maria came over while John was at work and my mom and us made these rice krispie treat eggs to take with us. They were very simple (except to Maria :)) and tasted yummy! And we had a fun time making them together. Not a great picture, but you get the idea...
Gran also gave Rudy (and us) an Easter basket full of goodies...including these sweet shades and Cubs hat. Of course he wanted both off as quickly as they were put on, but they will come in handy on walks when I get him used to having them on!
We also celebrated Easter with the Burke's last week. Isabela liked playing with Rudy and seeing him, but did not want him too close "He drools! Eww!" Here Rudy is with a puff he found in one of his Easter eggs...
Jack Keough and Grandpa Cicci's birthdays were also celebrated while we were in Iowa. Rudy LOVED the balloons. He had so much fun trying to grab them and eat them (like everything else).
We dyed lots of Easter eggs. Mark was all about the quantity, while Daniel focused on quality. Mark had us laughing when he used his t-shirt to "dry off" the eggs and wipe off his hands from the dye. About as much as we were laughing when Michael used almost his whole hand to dunk the eggs and hold it in the dye. He cleverly figured out that Windex took it off, though!
The Easter Bunny left a jelly bean trail for the boys to follow to lead them to their baskets. Along the way they had to complete little tasks, like hop on one foot and spin in circles, saw hello in Italian, kiss Baby Rudy, do push-ups, etc. The last clue led them to the garage door where a new puppy, Lily, was sitting behind it! It was very exciting and fun to be there for. Mark thought it was too good to be true. He said, "Who's puppy is that??" He had to be convinced she was there to stay before he got too excited.
Rudy loved finding his Easter basket. It was too cute! I was not expecting him to get so excited about it. He found his eggs, too and cracked them open himself to find his puffs (luckily he found his eggs first!)
Rufus was happy with his Easter treats, too. But he especially had fun playing with Lily all day. They wore each other out running around in circles.
We all went to Easter mass and then went to brunch where the Easter bunny made a special appearance. Everyone wanted a picture holding Rudy, even Mark.
We also were able to walk through the Keough's new house that is in the process of being built. It is going to be beautiful and we can't wait to vacation there, Rudy will love it! Nicolette has decided to "get rid of" several pieces of furniture in their current house that won't quite work in their new house. We joked that we will have to bring a U-Haul back next time...except it wasn't really a joke!
Rudy turned 8 months old over the weekend! I haven't gotten out my "What to Expect..." book, yet so hopefully I haven't messed up something again already. Besides his sleepless nights, he's been doing really well. Definitely attached to his "mama" -- which he is associating with me :) If I'm around or in sight, he doesn't want anyone else. But I'm ok with it, he eventually won't want anything to do with me so I'm soaking it up while I can.
I have also let up on the record-keeping book. Would you believe until this past weekend I was still writing down every time Rudy ate, how much, what he ate, the times he took naps, and the times he had a stool?? I realize I'm ridiculous. Rudy is getting more routine and he pretty much eats the same amount of times, sleeps the same amount of naps, and has been pretty regular so I don't think there is as much of a need anymore. It is handy when Rudy is passed around throughout the day, though.
Rudy's newest obsession is the refridgerator. He loves standing in it whenever he can. He's a weird dude sometimes.
Since we've been home, John has been busy working on the roof at 1933. A large crew started Monday morning and are still at it. It should be done this week...we'll see, though (pictures to come soon).
The house came with a nice swing set, so I bought a baby swing and took it over there. I'm hoping to walk there often, visit John, and let Rudy swing. He went to the park with Nicolette and LeeAnn this weekend and I hear he really enjoyed the swings!
Ok, enough for now...have a good weekend!!
Gran also gave Rudy (and us) an Easter basket full of goodies...including these sweet shades and Cubs hat. Of course he wanted both off as quickly as they were put on, but they will come in handy on walks when I get him used to having them on!
We also celebrated Easter with the Burke's last week. Isabela liked playing with Rudy and seeing him, but did not want him too close "He drools! Eww!" Here Rudy is with a puff he found in one of his Easter eggs...
Jack Keough and Grandpa Cicci's birthdays were also celebrated while we were in Iowa. Rudy LOVED the balloons. He had so much fun trying to grab them and eat them (like everything else).
We dyed lots of Easter eggs. Mark was all about the quantity, while Daniel focused on quality. Mark had us laughing when he used his t-shirt to "dry off" the eggs and wipe off his hands from the dye. About as much as we were laughing when Michael used almost his whole hand to dunk the eggs and hold it in the dye. He cleverly figured out that Windex took it off, though!
Rudy loved finding his Easter basket. It was too cute! I was not expecting him to get so excited about it. He found his eggs, too and cracked them open himself to find his puffs (luckily he found his eggs first!)
Grandpa reading Rudy one of his new Easter books
Rufus was happy with his Easter treats, too. But he especially had fun playing with Lily all day. They wore each other out running around in circles.
We all went to Easter mass and then went to brunch where the Easter bunny made a special appearance. Everyone wanted a picture holding Rudy, even Mark.
I was trying to get Rudy to look when Mark said, "Ok, someone better take the picture!" He is too funny.
We also were able to walk through the Keough's new house that is in the process of being built. It is going to be beautiful and we can't wait to vacation there, Rudy will love it! Nicolette has decided to "get rid of" several pieces of furniture in their current house that won't quite work in their new house. We joked that we will have to bring a U-Haul back next time...except it wasn't really a joke!
Rudy turned 8 months old over the weekend! I haven't gotten out my "What to Expect..." book, yet so hopefully I haven't messed up something again already. Besides his sleepless nights, he's been doing really well. Definitely attached to his "mama" -- which he is associating with me :) If I'm around or in sight, he doesn't want anyone else. But I'm ok with it, he eventually won't want anything to do with me so I'm soaking it up while I can.
I have also let up on the record-keeping book. Would you believe until this past weekend I was still writing down every time Rudy ate, how much, what he ate, the times he took naps, and the times he had a stool?? I realize I'm ridiculous. Rudy is getting more routine and he pretty much eats the same amount of times, sleeps the same amount of naps, and has been pretty regular so I don't think there is as much of a need anymore. It is handy when Rudy is passed around throughout the day, though.
Rudy's newest obsession is the refridgerator. He loves standing in it whenever he can. He's a weird dude sometimes.
Rufus started barking right when I snapped the picture, hence the serious face.
It has become more difficult to get ready with Rudy around. Wherever I am, he insists on being right there. Even if its in front of my feet at my armoire. It might be one of the worst places for him to hang out...full of hairspray, perfume, hair, etc.
Here is the inside roof around the chimney. It had a lot of damage and thankfully, Mark (who is doing the roof) was nice enough to make these boards and match the current ceiling while the roof was open. It would have been so difficult to redo from the inside and Mark did an awesome job matching it! So thankful!
Here is some progress on the kitchen from before we left last weekend that I wasn't able to see until this week. That was the paneled wall between the kitchen and hallway and all the kitchen cabinets removed. Already looks so much better!
The house came with a nice swing set, so I bought a baby swing and took it over there. I'm hoping to walk there often, visit John, and let Rudy swing. He went to the park with Nicolette and LeeAnn this weekend and I hear he really enjoyed the swings!
Ok, enough for now...have a good weekend!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Before...
Well its officially ours! Here are some "before" shots...
Car port (eventually garage)
Walk way to the front
Front door (isn't it so inviting?!)
Window into the kitchen from the front "patio"? We were discussing what to call this little area over the weekend..."fountain..." something. What'd we say, Dawn??
Front hallway -- hall closet to the right, two doors to the kitchen
Kitchen
Looking into the kitchen from the "dining" room
Pantry behind the kitchen
Living room from the far corner - courtyard to the left, kitchen wall through the opening
(which I believe is being removed as I type)
View of library/dining room from the hall way
View of courtyard from the library (hard to tell but the courtyard patio is all brick)
Bedroom 1
(eventually our master bathroom)
Bathroom 1
(eventually a half-bath and the tub area will be wall-ed off and house the washer and dryer)
Bedroom 2
(evenutally play room)
Bedroom 2 view to the courtyard
Bathroom 2
(attached to Bedroom 2)
Bathroom 2
(attached to Bedroom 2 -- view of closet)
Bedroom 3
(with the exposed brick wall and sky light - my favorite)
Bedroom 4
Bedroom 5
Bathroom 3
Original addition
(eventually our master bedroom)
Outdoors project #1 - remove the tree that is notched into our roof
Hard at work
Wasting no time getting busy -- Ray taking down the wall between our master and what will be the master bath
John tearing our the hall closet to "open up" the maze we have going
I took hardley any outdoors "before" pictures. It was too overwhelming. The outside needs just about as much work as the inside. Its unreal how overgrown the yard is.
...More to come on all of that later...
Dave, Dawn and Peter came in town for the weekend. Peter had a baseball game against SHG and Dave was coaching. We took Rudy out for the game. He did ok...he really is not himself if he isn't well rested.
Hanging with the guys
So interested in whatever Kurt has to say
Clapping for Peter
Borrowing Grandpa's beats
And while we were there, we went and checked out the new football field. It is so nice! They did such a great job with it, down to every detail.
Monday Rudy and I had a day to ourselves and it was MUCH needed. We did laundry, went to the grocery store, visited Dad at the new house, ate good meals, and had great naps. It was a perfect end to an exciting weekend.
Rudy was so happy Rufus was actually sticking around (only because he was too scared to leave his treat). But nontheless, Rudy was thrilled he didn't run away immediately (like he usually does these days!)
He has been SUCH a needy baby this past week, especially over the weekend. We have had some awful nights of Rudy crying hysterically, for no reason. When we picked him up, he would be quiet immediately and fall right back to sleep. But as soon as we set him back in the crib, he'd freak out. It was like a panic, frantic, cry. This happened Thursday night from about 1:30-4, Friday from 10:30-4 (from about 1-4 John slept with him on his bedroom floor using Rufus' bed and The Hungry Caterpiller stuffed animal as a neck pillow), Saturday from 8:30-11 (when I resulted to sleeping in his bedroom on the floor next to his crib so I could reach my hand in to him when he started to wake), Sunday luckily from just 7:30-9 (and then stayed asleep until 6:30) and last night was glorious and he slept from 7:30-4:30, took a quick bottle and went back to sleep until 7:00. He must have heard us talking about which "crying it out" method we were going to try. I even took him to Prompt Care on Sunday morning, just to make sure nothing was wrong. And nope, he was a-ok! From his behavior lately, I think he was just wanting extra comfort. He has been pretty attached to me and with all the activity and him getting passed around through Saturday, I think he was getting tired of it! It broke my heart to come back to work today. We were having such a great day yesterday, were so in sync and he slept great. After this past weekend, I'm a bit apprehensive about our trip to Iowa coming up on Thursday. I hope it doesn't throw him off too much and he is his happy self! Only time will tell...
1. Rudy babbles "mmmma mmma ma ma ma ma" and I love it so much. I can't wait until he associates it with me! :) Until then, I don't think we can count it as his first word.
2. In my recent weekly/monthly emails about "what's going on with your baby now," it said by 8 months Rudy should be able to see the equivalent of an adult with 20/20 vision and that his eye color is here to stay...which means Rudy should get to keep his baby blues!! :)
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