One Cool Dude

Well the picture says it all. My ever so stubborn child at times has recently forgot about his mitten obsession and now has ventured out onto a sunglasses obsession. Yep, we ran into the Party City store for a few blow horns and New Years Eve party hats and ended up walking out with these one of a kind basketball sunglasses. Don't ask me why, but when he saw them he just had to have them! Needless to say, they are bendable and he wore them pretty much all afternoon.

There's A Mouse In My House

Aunt Kinny got Carter a pair of personalized Mickey Mouse ears as a souvenir from DisneyWorld. They fit him perfect and hopefully in a few years, Mr. Carter will be able to meet the mouse in person as we plan on that being our first family vacation.

Choo-Choo

Carter got a new train table for Christmas from Santa. He and daddy enjoy playing "crash" with the choo-choo's.

I Love Moxie

Darrell, Carter and Moxie. Carter absolutely loves my mother in laws dog. He wakes up in the morning asking for Moxie all the time. We are just so fortunate that Moxie is such a patient dog that doesn't mind little people constantly harassing her.

SNOW FUN

We took Carter out to play in the snow for the very first time on Christmas Eve day and he loved it! Thank you Rose "Ro-Ro" for the awesome snowsuit. It sure did come in handy! The weather was perfect for sledding, not too cold and beautiful snowflakes just kept falling down. Carter kept opening his mouth to try and eat a few flakes! Afterwards he went inside to have a big cup of hot cocoa!

Christmas 08

The Micheli grandchildren on Christmas Eve


Carter sure did love his Elmo slippers! Thanks Aunt Kinny!

The Elmo Restaurant is the favorite Christmas toy thus far. Thank you Noni & Grandpa Micheli!

Belly Shots: 18.5 weeks along

The first "belly shot" to be taken

Still "squeezing" into non-maternity pants and tops. Not for too much longer though!

A McDonald's Day

Carter ate at McDonald's for the FIRST time yesterday. I was SO having a chicken nugget pregnancy craving it was insane. For the record, I have not had a nugget or any other McDonald's menu item since I lived in Arizona over 6 years ago and haven't a clue why baby #2 wants fried foods??? So even though Darell (my health freak husband) was relucant for me to introduce "this type of food" to Carty, my craving won over!
Carter was not a fan of the nuggets. He is definitely a cheeseburger man. He ate almost a whole cheeseburger and let's not forget about the fries. The child loves potatoes in general. He was in heaven dipping his fries in his own ketchup cup. It was a fun lunch for both of us!

One Fun Carousel Ride

We took Carter to the Lincoln Park Zoo lights festival on Sunday. He of coursed LOVED the carousel ride and got a great view of all the fascinating lights while riding!

Decorating Christmas Cookies

What a mess! BUT...what fun! Carter had a blast decorating our sugar cookies that we made today. He especially liked dipping his little fingers into the frosting and licking them. He kept yelling "more" and "cookie!" This little project entertained him for quite sometime.

They turned out to be a very yummy treat! I plan on making Darrell take most of them to work for the guys though. The last thing this prego needs is another sweet!

I LoveYou Aunt Kinny

I love you more than my binkies!!! Thank you for moving home! We are so glad to have you back~

xoxo Carter

Baby Check Up

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. I am 3 days shy of 16 weeks now. All is well thus far! The baby has a strong hearbeat and other than being very tired all the time I am feeling good. My morning sickness has FINALLY decided to go away. I gained 2lbs. which the doctor thought was good, considering I had the nasty stomach flu two weeks ago and was very sick from that.
Next visit....JANUARY 13th we get to find out the sex of the baby! We are so looking forward to see our little one at the ultrasound. So.......stay tune! We will let you all know!

A Morning Off for Mom

Can I just say how nice it is to have my sister living back in Illiniois? Uhhh.....
She moved back about a month ago and since then has been an amazing help to me. She came up last night to babysit for Carter today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, so it was Aunt Kinny to the rescue! She got up bright and early with Carter, made him breakfast, got him ready for the day and even took him to Gymboree class! I had a FULL hour to spare and did not know what to do with myself! It was so relaxing to just run into a store without bribing a toddler with a sucker or just sitting quietly eating some lemon bread and hot cocoa. I sigh again.....
Anyways, our camera is broke so hence the reason why I have not posted many pics lately! Kendra was kind enough to let us borrow hers though for this weekend. Darrell and I plan on baking cookies with Carter. I have a feeling though that "Santa" is bringing me a new camera though!

Carter's 21 months old today

Before you know it, my baby is going to be 2 years old!!! My camera is acting up today, so I thought I would share some fun Carter facts instead.
Carter's 21 most favorite things:

1. Elmo
2. Suckers
3. M & M's
4. Trains
5. Buses & Trucks
6. Balloons
7. Moxie the dog
8. Cats
9. Car Keys
10. Phones
11. Balls
12. Veggie Bootie
13. Gymboree class
14. Christmas tree lights
15. Microwaves
16. Playing basketball
17. Twirling mommy's hair
18. Hairbrushes & Toothbrushes
19. Bathtime
20. Juice Boxes
21. Harrassing the neighbors dog, Marley

I love you baby boy!!! xoxo

Carter's Balloon Trick

Look What I Can Do

This is Carter's newest trick. Typically then it ends with a front roll and a "Ta-Da!"

I cringe each time praying he does NOT break his neck!

A good quote

"Do not pray for an easy life. Pray to be a strong person."

Thanks Ildi for the quote. It is oh so true.....

The Second Trimester has begun.....

Well, I am officially in my second trimester today. 13 weeks along! Now, let's hope all the morning sickness disappears this week too! Only 27 more weeks till we meet baby!

Make a Wish

Happy Birthday Darrell! Cousin Mallory and Carter are helping daddy blow out his candles!

Our Baby

This is a pictures from an ultrasound that I had today. The baby is currently 12.5 weeks old. "It" is quite active. I got to watch the baby move around and kick like crazy. It looked like he/she wanted to "hop" right out of my belly. My new nickname for the baby is "hopper!"

Baking Daddy his Birthday Cake

Tomorrow is Darrell's 32nd Birthday, so Carty and I decided to bake him a cake! Carter LOVED helping me stir, mix and test taste the batter. He put the final touches of sprinkles on too!
Happy Birthday Darrell!

Yes, We're PREGNANT!

Darrell and I are so excited to share this wonderful news! We are expecting BABY #2!!!! I am due June 1st. Carter got to hear the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office today and had the biggest smile on his face when he heard it! I have definitely been much sicker this time around, but as I approach my second trimester I am feeling better each day. We feel so extremely blessed and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the baby!

The Soon-to-be BIG BROTHER

Some pictures of the soon to be BIG BROTHER Carter in his new shirt!

Dirty Dancing Tickets=Parents Night Out

The four of us getting ready for the show!


Tricia and I LOVED the movie Dirty Dancing. So when we found out the play was coming to Chicago, we hurried up and purchased tickets!

Darrell and I enjoyed an evening out with our friends Tricia and Dan on Saturday. We went to the ever so AWESOME seafood/steak restaurant called NINE and then headed over to the Cadillac Theatre to see Dirty Dancing. The play was incredible and it was nice to have an adult night out! So as the show goes....Nobody puts Baby in the corner!!!

Happy Anniversary

I just wanted to wish my husband a very Happy 3rd wedding Anniversary! Darrell~ I love you more each day and year. You are an amazing partner and father. I am so blessed to have found you. Thank you for the beautiful flowers too. You made my day. Cheers to many more years of marriage bliss together. Love always~D

Guess Who is 20 months old today?

This 20 month old can put his very own hat on. And prefers to do it HIS way!


This 20 month old LOVES to run around the park!

This 20 month old knows how to play Peek-A-Boo with mommy!

This 20 month old knows how to play nice with his friends and is enjoying snack with them!

This 20 month old knows how to share snacks with his friends~

Future President of CommonMan

Hmmm....dad is not lookings, so maybe I should just press a few keys.....

ok, daddy let's work on the computer together. You can show me how to "work!"

Darrell's dream come true.... a son whom is as passionate about "puters" as he is!

Carter and I stopped by the CommonMan office to visit daddy today and then had lunch together.

Trick or Treat

This year Carter officially trick or treated and he had a BLAST! We went with his cousins (Jake, Lily, Kyle & Kora) cousin Tonya and Aunt Rene too. Carter did a great job keeping up with the big kids, but mostly preferred to suck on his Tootsie Pop and let mommy and daddy carry his treat bag around. He even tried his first piece of cotton candy. Yum! The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect night for Halloween!

Welcome to the family baby Katherine Cruz

Last Tuesday we welcomed a new additon to the Cruz family. My Uncle Joe and his wife Tracy had a little girl! Katherine "Katie" Cruz arrived healthy and big bro Kyle & big sis Kora eagerly awaited her homecoming. Carter and I got to meet baby Katie for the first time on Friday. Carter wasn't jealous at all that I was holding her. He did come by a few times to point at her, but then was off playing with the bigger kids. Baby Katie is a real cutie. I didn't get a chance though to take any pictures. Hopefully, we will get some soon and update the blog! Congratulations~

Bath time Fun

What could be more fun than sharing a bath with another little person? Carter was taking a bath and when cousin Lily caught wind of it, she stripped her clothes off and hopped in!

ELMO, M & M's & TRUCKS

These are Carter's 3 most FAVORITE things. Anything Elmo, the ever so messy, but yummy chocolate M & M's (thanks Noonie for introducing us to those!) and trucks of all sizes and colors. So when I found this Elmo sweatshirt at Kohl's I couldn't pass it up. He was super excited to be wearing it!

Halloween Party

Our playgroup had our second annual Halloween party at Alissa and Sophia Sulkin's house this year. Unfortunately I was unable to capture any group pictures because as you can image....all of us were chasing our toddlers around! I did however manage to get someone to snap a picture of Carter, Luke, Colleen and I. Luke and his mommy Colleen are dear friends of ours!

Halloween Parade in Spring Valley

Our little Pirate


The Pirate's mommy following him around




Captain Carter, mommy & daddy

Carter with Noonie and First Mate Moxie

The Pirate & The Duck

Carter with his great grandparents. Grandma Shirley & Grampy Iggy

Each year the small town that I grew up in has a Halloween parade. So we put Carter the "owl" in it last year and this year Carter the "pirate" was in it again. Although this year, his buddy Chase Burkart the "duck" celebrate his 1st Halloween and strolled in the parade along with us. Carter the pirate had a first mate "Moxie" the dog who sported a neat puppy pirate costume. Noni Micheli also turned her wagon into a very cool pirate ship! Thank you Noni for my awesome ride! Although the pirate and the duck did not win a prize, they were both winners in our eyes! Carter had a lot of fun looking at all the kids in the costumes and seeing the firetrucks drive by.