Unseen Footage

We have TONS of pictures of the Christmas weekend - thanks to our (my?) new camera that I had been asking for since our trip to Disney when I saw how much better Bill and Jill's photos were with their fancy camera.  And, Santa didn't disappoint!  Santa even put some cash in my stocking, which was a first.  I guess that is what happens when you don't decide to open gifts before Christmas until the morning of.  Anyways, we are camera happy in our house and basically just waiting for opportunities to take pictures.  As I was organizing my photos this morning I found a few that made me laugh and had to post them. 

We were opening gifts the day after Christmas and Caitlin was running around with mini bottles of tequila from Joe's man gift.  They are definitely keeper photos for a wedding slideshow.  

CHEERS!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!  I love you so much and am so lucky to have you as my Grandma!  You get more excited to see me than anyone else I know, and I love all the attention!  I can't wait to come visit you in Arizona once mommy books us a flight!!  Love you!  

Not my best pic, but a good one of Grandma

Our Holiday Gift...

We had such an amazing Christmas weekend - and judging from the toys and boxes all around the house, Lucy must have been very good these past four months!! We were lucky to spend the holiday with both of our families this year, making it an extra special one for the memory books for Lucy.  On Christmas Eve we celebrated with Joe's family and it is always such a fun night with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins and kids!  We ate amazing food, drank champagne of course, had a grab bag exchange and even sang some Christmas carols.  Don't worry - I captured some photos of Joe's participation!  Joe's (our?) cousin Kristy and John made an amazing slideshow of family pictures that almost brought me to tears (happy ones and maybe some anxiety tears) as Joe's aunts and uncles laughed at how young they looked, I realized that will be me and Joe in about 30 years.  Agh!!  Lucy got many special gifts from her aunts and uncles - from clothes and toys, to a CD of lullabies that her cousin Amy made for her.  We had such a great "Eve" and can't wait until next year's party!!

On Christmas morning we celebrated with Grandma Chris and Grandpa Bill and then visited with my parents/Katie and learned we will need to drive a U-Haul around next year to get everything home.  For such a little person, she has quickly taken over our condo with her things! But, we LOVE it all and can't wait to dress her in all her fun outfits and break out her new toys this winter!  Thank you!

We ended the weekend with a special "Christmas morning" at our house with Beth, Rob, Caitlin and Abigail.  Rob mentioned they didn't have enough big gifts in their house so Abigail got a Cinderella castle and Caitlin got a bubble mower.  You are welcome Rob!! Unfortunately I have a feeling they will be coming our way in a few years :)  

Lots of pics below since I heard "I just like the pictures" at Joe's family party.  Enjoy!!!

Resting before the big family party

                                     

With my cousin Renee

I wish Amy could babysit me!!

Hanging out with my family

Fa la la la la.....

I love my cousin Kristy

                                   

With Grandpa

In my santa dress from Grandma

Miles didn't miss any action - he got a toy to keep him busy but destroyed it within minutes

Checking out my new Dailey Method onesie from Aunt Katie

Celebrating a completed crossword puzzle (check out my dad's pearly whites!)

I LOVE my new bookcase from Aunt Beth, Uncle Rob and the girls.  Let's fill this thing with books!

 Abigail and Caitlin checking out their shared gift

Check out my Cinderella castle!

Happy 3rd Birthday Abigail!!!!

Happy 3rd birthday miss Abigail!!! You are so special to us and such a great older cousin to Lucy.  She is lucky to have you to give her so much guidance and advice as you guys grow up together.  We are sure she will learn all of her manners, rules and how to keep herself organized from you!  You are the sweetest little goddaughter and we love you to pieces!! We had fun celebrating with you at 2Toots last night.  Too bad Uncle Joe got in trouble by the conductor for putting a miscellaneous item on the train!

Enjoy your special day! (Sorry no pic of Abigail in her bday shirt at 2Toots because I left my camera at Beth's house.)  But, a pic of Lucy with her big cousin on Thanksgiving.

Our Magical Vacation

Warning - this is a super long post!

On Tuesday we got home from our first family vacation in Disney World.  It was an amazing trip with Grandpa Bill, Grandma Chris, Aunt Jill and Uncle Jake.  I am pretty sure 99% of everyone reading this blog is from the Blandford/Lacny family so don't have to tell you how much the Blandfords love Disney World.  But for the other 1% of my followers (ha!), Disney World is like a 2nd home to the Blandfords.  Joe and Jill grew up going there and have so many fun stories - but on this trip Joe told us his favorite memory of Disney World and it is not surprising.  He most remembers a time they ordered Pizza Hut in the room and watched a movie. Hopefully Lucy has many more memories over the years!

Anyways, the entire trip was so much fun!  Lucy was an angel on both the flight to and from, sleeping through the flights and landing.  We were lucky to get an extra seat on the way there for her car seat but on the way home we shared a seat and I loved my 3 hours being "forced" to hold her :)  Although we had twice as much luggage and a lot more confusion, it was a fun experience traveling with Lucy.

We got to Disney on Friday and stayed at the Animal Kingdom for the night! It was such a cool resort, with animals right outside the windows! Not bad eating breakfast and seeing zebras (or animals that look like them) outside your window! We then headed to the Magic Kingdom for our first day and had gorgeous weather!  It was super crowded - seems like everyone in Florida visited for the day - so we just wandered the park and had dinner that evening in Cinderella's castle.  Although Lucy didn't enjoy the characters as much as her bottle of food, Jake did!  He is a closet fan of Belle and we got some great character photos with Lucy and Jake!

We stayed the rest of the trip in the most amazing suite at the Bay Lake Towers - the newest resort which is walked distance from the Magic Kingdom.  We had a three-bedroom condo overlooking the Magical Kingdom.  The most exciting part was that we could sit in our living room for the fireworks show every night.  It was so beautiful, like a private show right outside our window!!!

Everyone else had a much more eventful trip and can share much better stories about the rides and meals than I can.  I spent a good part of the trip in the Baby Care Center feeding and changing Lucy, but still had so much fun just being there!  We visited Epcot, took Lucy on a tour of some of the resorts along the monorail, and did a lot of walking of walking around with our little ladybug.  Lucy went out two "rides" - she slept through the Circle of Life show twice and rode The Land "ride" once during a nap!!!  And, we did a lot of great eating, although I missed the exciting meal in Germany due to an unfortunate incident with Lucy and her diaper, and needing to buy her a new outfit.

For me, the best part of the trip was seeing Lucy hanging out with everyone in the family - especially Jill and Jake since she doesn't get to see them as often.  She was mesmerized by Uncle Jake - maybe the beard?!  And loved her one-on-one time with Aunt Jill!  And, of course, she loved all the attention of grandma and grandpa who bought her first souvenirs and showered her with gifts throughout the trip :) She is one very lucky little girl!

Here are some of our favorite pics from the trip!  Thank you Grandpa Bill and Grandma Chris for such an amazing trip!  And, thank you to Grandpa Joe, Grandma Kathy and Aunt Beth for nursing Miles back to health while we were away!!

Trying out my new stroller....I fit!!!

I love flying!!!

First stop on the trip - the Magic Kingdom!

First monorail ride

In my Princess dress from Grandma and Grandpa

Trying on my "Lucy" mouse ears

I look scared, but really just wanted to eat!

Much better!

                                      

What a gorgeous background!

  

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa

I am so cute!

With Aunt Jill and Uncle Jake

A view of our condo from the 2nd floor - amazing!!

Fireworks at night - it doesn't get any better than this!

 

Lunch in China

I am ready for a day in the sun!! Wait, I have to wear this stupid hat all day?

I always look forward to a good book on a flight

Happy 3 months (and 3 days) Lucy!

Happy 3 months Lucy!!  You are the most amazing little girl in the world and make us happier than you could ever imagine or know.  We love everything about you and are so lucky you are in our lives.  We love watching you grow, we love seeing your smile, we love how much you seem to take in the world around you every minute, we love hearing you "talk" and laugh, and we love being your parents.  If your first 3 months could be this exciting, we can't imagine what the next 3 will bring!

Last week Lucy had some 3 month pictures taken (at our house and also a few at a studio).  I can't share all of them because one turned out to be our Christmas card and it would ruin the surprise :)!   Below are two of her cute pics, and her monthly "number" photo.  At the end of the year I will put all 12 up together!

She looks like she just got home from a Jazzercise class with the headband and hoodie!

I was impressed we got these shots.  Lucy had just visited Santa and was pretty hungry but we did a quick shoot and got a few cute ones. 

A Week of Firsts

Although every week is full of firsts for a 3-month-old, this week we had two memorable ones!  Wednesday was Lucy's first snow! It was really light and barely noticeable, but still her first snow which holds a lot of meaning for me as I try to keep track of all her firsts.  We also had another first this week - Lucy's first visit with Santa Claus!  Lucy and I headed out to Woodfield Mall, figuring that it would be pretty dead on a school day but we were very wrong!  I am not sure why none of these kids were in school but there was quite a line - and when we finally got to the front we learned Santa was "going to feed the reindeer" from noon to 12:30.  So, we had to take a lunch break too and get back in line.  But, the wait was well worth it because Lucy's first picture with Santa turned out really cute!  It was a no-camera zone so I don't have any pictures on my camera, but bought a picture and took a picture of that.  She has the funniest look on her face, probably freaked out by the enormous man I just gave her to.  

Lucy posing in the Narnia exhibit

Before we went to see Santa, I put Lucy in a chair to brush her hair and I thought she looked so old sitting up

 And then I got a smile!

Lucy's First Turkey Day

It was a great first Thanksgiving for Lucy!  Every year we switch between Thanksgiving in Schaumburg with the Muskovich/Wennerstrom families and in Arizona with the Blandford family.  We were lucky this year because Grandma Chris and Grandpa Bill stopped by so Lucy got to see everyone on Thanksgiving!  In keeping with tradition, we had way too much food but every bit of it was delicious although the "Rita Rice" turned out to be a clear favorite :)  We continued tradition with the annual lighting of the Muskovich Christmas lights which involves all of us taking a shot of vodka on the front lawn as the lights turn on.  (Much classier of an event than it sounds).  My dad usually turns them on and runs out to join us on the lawn but next year we have challenged him to devise a way to turn them on from the lawn so we can't wait to see what contraption he comes up with! 

It was a great Thanksgiving and of course we have so much to be thankful for this year with our little turkey here!  

We are ready to finally eat!  More stuffing for Joe!

Caitlin LOVES turkey day

Almost ready to see the lights...

Cheers!

Best buddies

Lucy with the chef du jour, Grandma Kathy

We got a first family shot with all 3 of us smiling - makes me smile every time I see it!