Visits from the Mickeys!

We've been so lucky to see Jennie, Brian and the girls both in New Jersey and Nashville.  Brian was working in New Jersey for the week so they all came to see us and spend some time in NYC.  Our niece Emma is wonderful with Taylor and Kayla is great with Lily.  We had so much fun with them.  They also helped me feed Taylor rice cereal for the first time - thank goodness I had their help as I really didn't know what I was doing!

The girls did so great watching Taylor while Brian and Jennie worked hard to help us get unpacked! Thanks guys!

Both Taylor and Lily love their cousins!

Summer Part 1 - Goodbye New Jersey!

Once we found out we were headed to Nashville in August, we tried to ensure we saw everything Jersey had to offer.  This didn't take very long :)  Haha!  We have been quite vocal about our excitement to leave the garden state, but in all honestly, there were a couple nice things about it.  Wonderful neighbors, a sleepy downtown with a great ice cream shop, great delis and diners, and easy access to all the East Coast has to offer.

We headed back to Princeton over the 4th of July to show my parents.  It's a beautiful area, though it was VERY hot the day we went.  Poor T was about to pass out.

We also headed to Lynn and Chris Allen's house in nearby Lake Hopatcong for some fun in the sun!  They have a beautiful home and setting and we all had a great time!

Worn out from a BIG day!

How cute are my parents!...

And then there were the fireworks...as my mother said "We aren't in Kansas anymore"...or Chicago, or Austin, or anywhere else we've seen fireworks.   Neighbors had told us Dover, a neighboring town, had the best fireworks.  Craig watched Taylor while my parents and I checked them out.  I don't know how to describe it except we sat on a street corner with the thousands of other people, right between a motorcycle shop and a tatoo parlor.  Definitely the most interesting fireworks setting we've had.  But a good show!

We finished up Jersey with a trip to the Jersey shore.  Overall, it was nice.  The beach was beautiful, the water and waves great. It was T's first experience on the beach.  As typical first-time parents, we were extremely conscientous about sun screen and sheltered him under the umbrella for the one hour we were out together! 
Craig in front of our hotel...

Happy 6th and 7th Month Birthdays!

Oops!  I was reminded today that I was REALLY behind on my posting.  Poor Taylor hasn't had a posting in over two months now.  It's been very busy getting moved and settled in Nashville, but things are finally settling down.  We are loving it here - so scenic, the music, the livability of the city - it's wonderful.  We've been lucky to have family visitors already - Mamaw and Grandpa D, Grammy, Aunt Jennie and Uncle Brian, and our nieces Emma and Kayla!  We so appreciate of everyone visiting, helping us get settled, make meals, watch Taylor, move furniture, fix firniture movers broke, rearrange furniture...and help us explore our new city!

So, what's new with Taylor these days...he's sitting up, eating baby food - though he prefers to just eat "puffs", squacking and talking, grabbing everything in front of him, rolling and rolling aross the family room floor and lots of giggling!  We think we've finally turned a corner (cross fingers) on sleeping through the night.  After some sleep training, we are praying we are done with middle-of-the-night feedings and wake-ups. 

We've found a pediatrician here in Nashville and have already made one trip for what we thought was an ear infection.  They are open nights and weekends, which made our decision on a practice easy!

His sixth month photo was taken near my parents house - right by the "rare book" bookstore.  The flowers this summer were beautiful. It's also by a busy road; Taylor LOVED watching the cars go by.  Grandpa is sure he's going to be a car guy just like him.

His seventh month photo was taken in his new room in Nashville.  We painted it just like his old room and the layout is exactly the same, just smaller.  He actually seemed much happier here once we got his room all put together!

Lily wanted to be a part of things too.

 

Taylor Sits UP!

I love ice cream!

We've been able to spend a lot of time at my parent's house this summer, which has been wonderful!  Western Massachusetts is a sleepy area of the country - not lots of shopping, but rolling hills, cows, and interestingly, tons of ice cream.  My mom and my love for ice cream has taken us to most of the places around their house.  Our favorite by far is the ice cream / used car lot.  Yes, it is a seasonal ice cream trailor, owned by a mother and daughter team (the mother is probably 85 years old) where they also own the used car lot.  It's delicious.  Here are some pics....

This is one of my favorite pics...Mamaw and Grandpa D chatting it up with T.

Gotta show you the backgdrop of the trailor and used car lot. 

My mom's new chemo regimen has a strange side effect with anything "cold" - cold air, cold food, the refrigerator, etc.  So after chemo, she can't handle anything cold for a couple days.  Unfortunately, this includes ice cream.  So we get our ice cream fix on the off weeks.  Hopefully next weekend when I'm there, we'll be able to go!

Happy Mother's and Father's Day!

We had tons of fun for our first Mother's and Father's Days.   For Mother's Day, Dad and Taylor got me a spa day.  It was everything I hoped for and more - the perfect gift.  They also made a steak dinner and cleaned the house. Really, what more could I really ask for?  Father's Day we got to spend with both of our families - the week before in Massachusetts with my parents, and on Father's Day in Chicago with Craig's family.  Taylor picked out some of Dad's favorite things for Father's Day, which included a Starbucks card, a grill thermometer for all his grilling, a Michael Jordan outfit for Taylor (yes, they make them for infants!), and best of all new cowboy boots for our move to Nashville!

For those of you who haven't heard, we are making our way south to Nashville TN for Craig's next rotation with Mars.  We are really excited about it!  We have loved Nashville ever since attending a friend's wedding probably eight years ago.  Another big change coming with our move is I'm going to take a break from work!  This will give Taylor and I the flexibility to spend more time with my parents in Massachusetts and get to enjoy our time together when he's litle.  My company has been incredibly supportive and I feel lucky I'm going to be able to do this.  So now the only challenge is we have no where to live - there is a rental shortage in Nashville due to the flooding, so it's been a challenge.  In the meantime, Craig will be in corporate housing and T and I will be spending some time in Masachusetts. 

Happy Five Month Birthday!

Oops!  So we missed the 4 month picture.  As you can see, we're about two months behind so we've got some catching up to do.  Taylor spent his five-month bday with Grandpa D and Mamaw.  Between some fussiness and rain, we had a tough time getting this picture.  Mamaw and Mom spent a lot of time making funny faces at him trying to get him to smile.  He was in a rather serious mood, as you can see!  We loved dressing him up in one of his summer outfits from Mamaw.

Then the next day Mamaw and I took some more pics, hoping for a bit of a smile, which we got!  He has his funny looking hat on because he has cradle cap and keeps making his head bleed because it itches!  Poor guy!  We've received lots of advice from fellow moms and dads and it's starting to get under control.

This has been such a fun month so far - he's super smiley, wakes up most mornings with a big smile on his face, is alert, chatty, and loves to stand on his legs.  He also wants to grab everything in sight! 

Signing off now for Taylor's last feeding of the night - more to come tomorrow.

Happy Three Months!

It's hard to believe he's three months old!  He's outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes (sad) and laughing a lot more.  We're still working on tummy time - he doesn't last long before the tears start flowing.  Nighttime sleep is great - pretty much 7 PM to 7 AM with a 10:30 PM feeding.  His days can still be a bit tough - if he doens't get his naps he definitely is a crabbypants!  He's been at "school" for a month now...they love him there and he seems to like it too.  He is mesmerized by all the activity around him and all the big kids like to check out the "little guy". 

We just started putting him in his little chair - he seems like such a big boy sitting up!

Lily was pretty sure the photo op was for her

Reading with Daddy

God Bless Texas

We had such a great time heading South with my parents and Todd and Sarah for Caroline Baldwin's wedding. We rented out a house for the weekend and had lots of fun catching up with Kansas City friends, eating Mexican food, and enjoying the great weather.  Taylor was a great flyer on the four hour trip (though we did have some meltdown moments going through Newark security - brutal!)

Having lunch with my SMU friend Erin and her daughter Finley.  It was great to see them!  Erin and her husband Andrew were so nice to babysit Taylor!

Post wedding brunch

Craig recovering from the wedding - we don't stay up late like that anymore

Almost got a smile out of him in this picture...

Minneapolis Weekend

The Mickeys have been quite the travelers in April and May.  Our great friends Jen Elving and Brett Asbury got married in Minneapolis.   Sarah and Todd played babysitter while we had our first night out since T was born.  It was a beautiful wedding and great to see our friends as well as Todd and Sarah.

Tood prepared a delicious Mexican fiesta Friday night

Craig and Taylor resting up for the wedding

Jen, you looked gorgeous! What a great wedding!

Brunch with our friends Steve and Kimmy! So glad they are back in Chicago so we can see them more.

Easter in Chicago

Heading back to work has slowed down my blogging!  I've got lots to catch up on...
We had a great time seeing our friends and family in Chicago over Easter.  Taylor got to meet his lots of family, including our nieces, Emma and Kayla, and nephew Collin for the first time.  The kids were so cute and gentle with Taylor.  We saw lots of friends and their kiddos too. Grammy watched Taylor for the week while I worked out of our Chicago office - it was a nice transition back to work having Grammy watch him. 

A short walk with T through downtown...pre meltdown

Easter Morning - Outfit #1 for Taylor

Easter with Grammy and Grandpa

The grandkids!

Taylor and his buddy Marty Bohan!  They were born on the same day.