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.

Our little guy

He is getting so big. What a cutie. Just another adorable pic of Carter to share!

The Microwave

Darrell and I found this "gem" at Toy R Us the other night and needless to say Carter loves it! He loves our "real" microwave, so this toy has been keeping him really busy these days. With some many buttons to press, a door to slam and fake food to "eat" it is a great toy to have at our house!

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha

Anyone else a die hard Brady Bunch fan? Well, I sure was back in the 80'-90's. I think I saw ever rerun episode 5 times. So, anyways Marsha was by far my favorite character. She was everything I wanted to be as a young girl. She had beautiful long straight blond hair. I did not. I had curl, brown "frizzy" hair. She had cute little dimples and the perfect size lips. I did not. I had chubby cheeks and puffy lips. She had a Kitty Karrel doll. I did not and REALLY wanted one! So, when I heard that Maureen McCormick (Marsha Brady) was doing a book signing at the Borders store on Michigan Ave. last night, I had to run down there to meet my long lost BFF MARSHA!!!! She had actually just written a book about her "not so perfect" live and some "hidden secrets" of the Brady Bunch clan so I really was excited to buy the book as well. My sister Kendra of course was making fun of me when I asked her if she thought there would be a big line. She was like haha! You are the only one that wants to meet her, NO you won't wait in line too long. Well, sister Kinny......you were SO WRONG! Apparently a lot of 30-40's year old ladies and men shared the same passion as I did with the Brady Bunch, because literally there were about 200 people in line. So I got my book and waited in line. There I waited, and waited and waited and then the impatient & hungry person that I was decided to bolt. I got to see Marsha from a far, but didn't get my ever so desired photography with her and autograph. Well....off to reading her book now. I guess I will just continue to admire her from a far......

Happy Anniversary Neighborhood Nannies

It is hard to believe but I have officially been in business now for 1 year! When Darrell and I agreed that I would stay at home with Carter, we also tossed around different ideas of a small start up company that I could manage from home. With my love for children and my experience hiring caregivers and working hand in hand with parents at the daycare, I decided to try opening up a nanny placement agency. Initially I was going to go work for another small "boutique" agency but then my entrepreneur of a husband encouraged me to just take a chance and open up my own! I can't really remember who or how we came up with the name "Neighborhood Nannies" I believe I was thinking on the lines of.....Chicago trendy neighborhoods???? That part slips my mind. I did know that I wanted to go with the blue/brown colors because of course other than the pink/brown mixture they are my favorite. This year has been quite the experience needless to say. I have worked with some phenomenal nannies and some truly amazing parents. On the flip side I have had my "challenging" parents that have cost me many nights of sleep and too much unneeded anxiety. A big thanks to Darrell & Tricia for always allowing me to vent to them about you know who!!! Neighborhood Nannies took off with a bang and although we have never done any paid marketing the phones keep on ringing. In August I decided to hire on Nicole Neuhalfen. Nicole used to be an employee of mine at Bright Horizons and babysits for Carter occasionally. She is hands down a blessing and has helped me out tremendously and continues to impress me with her drive to succeed. Lastly, I dedicate this posting to my husband, my "rock" Darrell. Without his encouragement, knowledge and creativity Neighborhood Nannies would not be were it is today. He forever drives me to do well and I look up to him professionally and strive to be a "small version" of my workaholic hubby! Darrell also designed my Neighborhood Nannies website and I continue to get compliments on how awesome it looks. It by far knocks the socks off of all my competitors dinky websites. If you have yet to see, please go to www.neighborhoodnannieschicago.com
Well, as I start another year of NN we will see where it takes me......it can be a struggle to manage the business and be a stay at home mom. There are days I want to throw my cell phone out the window if I have to speak to one more non-English speaking nanny, or one more nanny calling to complain, etc.... BUT there are days when I truly enjoy helping a kind family find a the perfect nanny to care for their most precious gift of all.....their child.

I leave you with this quote. It made me laugh and reminds me of how I feel some days about NN.

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing; that's why we recommend it daily."- Zig Ziglar

Door County, Wisconsin

Our family picture

Grandpa, Aunt Rene, Carter and Noonie. Carter isn't sure what Aunt Rene has around her neck??

Carty & Daddy playing out in the woods

The beautiful trees that me and mom were obsessed with. They were breath taking.

Wow! That is one big pumpkin!

Carter playing it cool at breakfast with his John Deer hat and shades on!

Hey, Carter can you really get more leaves in your Elmo car?

The kid is obsessed with his Elmo car. Yep, it traveled with us 4.5 hours too. We don't leave home without the Elmo car these days!

Carter "Binkie Boy" & Noonie outside our hotel.

Carter and Daddy painting on wood at a local shop.

This weekend we traveled to Door County Wisconsin with my parents and my Aunt Rene. My parents decided to treat Darrell, Carter and I to a little R & R in a beautiful little town called Door County. It was such a beautiful and relaxing little town were we enjoyed walking thru the pumpkin festival, going to a Scandinavian fish boil, snacking on Carmel apples and checking out all the neat little shops. We stayed at the Landing Resort which was a super cute little Inn nestled back in the woods, surrounded by BEAUTIFUL trees and leaves. We went at the perfect time of year where we got to see all the leaves changing and the weather was perfect.

Carter, Grandpa and the BIG MIXER

Carter has really taking a liking to trucks and buses lately. There isn't a day that goes by that he does not point out a random truck that is driving by. It really is quite cheap entertainment for our little backseat driver. I have to laugh when I look back and see those little chubby fingers pressed up against the window shouting out "Dee,Dee." That is what he calls his new truck friends! It is always...." MaMa, MaMa"...."yes, son"......Dee's! Dee's!!

Needless to say, Carter is one lucky kiddo because it just so happens that Grandpa Dave drives a "Dee" or cement mixer. So last time we were home, Carter got to go see what it is like to sit in a big truck and even beep the horn! Of course, he was completely mesmerized and cried when he had to get out. Thanks Grandpa Dave!!! I had so much fun. When can I come back and drive it again?

Our Pumpkin

Carter and Darrell carved a pumpkin together. Let's just say.....Darrell did most of the work, but Carty enjoyed smashing the "pumpkin guts" and stirring them around. We think he was trying to make some pumpkin soup!

A beautiful day

Today was a beautiful day, simply beautiful......I am forever grateful for it.

Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm

Carter and Mommy picking out a pumpkin!


Silly Carter trying to eat a pumpkin! Must be time for lunch


Where's Waldo? I mean....Where's Carty? With his bright orange shirt on, he blended right in with the pumpkins!

Wow! This is cool. Carter and Daddy are feeding a giraffe. They were handing out icecream cones filled with seeds and the giraffe was gobbling it all up!

Hi Mr. Pony! Carter loved the pony ride.

Ding Dong! Fireman Carter is taking his turn ringing the bell with a little help from Daddy.

Wanted Dead or Alive! Too funny!

Yesterday Carter turned 19 months old. It is so hard to believe that he is closer to 2 years old now! So, Darrell and I took Carter to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm. We heard about this farm last year and went with Carter as well. This year Carter was able to really enjoy it and had so much fun running around in the fields of pumpkins, visiting the petting zoo, feeding animals and even riding a pony. The petting zoo was absolutely amazing and definitely worth the drive out there to see. Carter got to feed a live giraffe with the help of daddy of course. We are definitely going to make this a family tradition each year!

Goal Oriented

This little face spells TROUBLE! Basically the shirt "Goal Oriented" fits Carty's personality perfect. When he sets his mind out to do something there is no stopping this little toddler!

Carter's New BIG BOY chair

Is Carty having a pumpkin for dinnner?


Feeding Daddy some breakfast!



What a space saver this chair is!!!



Hooray!!! Darrell and I found a solution to our messy eating problem. Ta-da.....it is the Phil and Ted's "ME TOO" clip on chair. I know my friends Ildi & Colleen both have them and loved them so we decided to give it a try with Carter. Much to our liking, he sits very proud in his new chair and thinks it is pretty cool. So, out with the Graco big, bulky highchair (which we do NOT recommend our model because it is SO HARD to clean up) and in with the new ME TOO!

Pretend Play

Helloooooo!!! Who is it on the phone??? Could it be Noonie or Moxie or Aunt Kinny or DaDa? We found this old phone in the closet and set it out for Carter to play with. Never did I think he would enjoying playing with it as much as he does. He has really been into pretend play lately and doing a lot of imitating. He loves to "style" his hair like DaDa, pretend to drink coffee from his cup and talk on the phone these days....