New York {Part 1}

After graduation in May, Joanna took a job at a marketing Agency and moved to start her big girl job at the first of June. We took a trip to The City mid June to visit her and celebrate John’s birthday! 

Funny story how we actually ended up there to begin with though.  I gave John tickets to a braves game for the weekend of his birthday for our Anniversary {first anniversary= paper}.  That same weekend he realized the Angels were playing the Yankees in New York and suggested we go there instead.  My cousin pitches for the Angels so we would be able to see him and also visit with my baby sister.  Two birds, one stone. After hours of calling hotels, we had one booked and were then looking at flights.  For whatever reason he decided to check the schedule again and realized he had looked at the Angels schedule and not the Yankees… the games were in LA.  The whole family got a big ole laugh out of it but we decided to continue on with our trip.

We took the late flight Thursday night.

Friday was John’s actual birthday so we were up bright and early to start the day.

Breakfast for the Birthday Boy!

The girls shopped while the boys tucked into a bar…. with the babies. 

We later met up with them for a drink {or two} at Rudy’s.  Apparently it’s a must visit- the history is neat and for all you hotdog lovers, they have free ones 24/7. 

John’s one of many one request for the trip was to tour the NYL Home Office so we all hopped into cabs in that direction.  I have to say while at times it was a tad boring, it provided for great views over the city. 

It would be his dream for Anderson to be a third generation NYL Agent.  He was in heaven.

Top of the gold roofed building.

The view from the top of the building stairs all the way down. Did I mention I’m scared of heights?

I did leave a pretty proud wife though!

The office just so happened to be right around the corner from Joanna’s office so we grabbed lunch with her after.

We split again from the boys for the afternoon- boys to the bar, girls to the shops.

For his birthday we celebrated at Rosa Mexicano and it did not disappoint. 

The guacamole was some of the best I’ve ever had and they make it right there fresh at your table.  Their margaritas weren’t so bad either.

Our little New Yorker hailed a cab for us and we ended our night back at the hotel bar.

Solids

I’d been wanting to add rice cereal into Anderson’s diet for awhile mainly because everyone advised it would help him sleep.  He was sleeping ok at night but not great. I usually couldn’t keep him up past his 9:00 feeding and he’d be back up anywhere between 3:00 and 4:00. 

A week shy of 4 months, I decided to give it a go.  He didn’t love it but he didn’t hate it.  I had the consistency really runny so once I got that right he started to enjoy it more. 

Dr. M gave us his blessing to start with other foods at his 4 month appointment.  We tried bananas for dinner that night.  He was a huge fan at first but it seemed he didn’t care for them after a day or two.  We waited 5 more days and introduced sweet potatoes on Friday.  I have every intention of making baby food fresh at home but I admit his first taste of sweet potatoes were right off the shelf at target.  Truth be told, I hadn’t prepared any yet and I was ready to explore with more foods.  He loved them nonetheless.

I didn’t think he would eat the homemade after he tasted the store bought. Boy was I was wrong.  We can’t feed him fast enough without him demanding more!

Weekend Rewind

We started our weekend Thursday with a slumber party at Grandmama and Granddaddy’s.  It’s always so fun to get the three little ones together and see how much they’ve grown.  They have changed so much since the last time we snapped a picture.

{Mak- 8 months, Anna West- 9 months, Anderson- 4 months}

Friday we planned a pool day with Aunt Boo, Mak and the older Dupree kiddos.  Anderson and I stopped by target to grab a few things when I realized he was shirtless.  Thank goodness for an extra blanket floating around the car and I was able to disguise my naked babe. 

This was Anderson’s second time in the pool but first time in his own float.  He loved it so much he fell right asleep and stayed this way most of the day. 

At least until daddy showed up then we were all smiles and ready to play.

That night we had dinner at one of our favorites, Salud, with Aunt Addie and Uncle James.  We visited the mansion they were house sitting at then passed out as soon as we got home.  Friday nights have changed so much I tell ya!

We slept in Saturday morning and were hoping to spend the full day on the lake.  The weather was nasty so we hung around the house awhile before going. 

A enjoyed his first dip in the lake…

his first {big} boat ride and some tummy time talk with Uncle Ed. 

After mass Sunday, I pulled out the PB chair I bought for A last year to test out {we actually used it for his 4 month pictures Thursday}.  I’m sad he is old enough to “sit up” on his own but its nice to not have to hold him all.the.time. anymore. 

We’ve recently introduced solids so I tried my hand at making baby food.  My little taste tester seemed to approve of the sweet potatoes! 

Of course we ended our weekend back at Grandmama and Granddaddy’s with Sunday night dinner. 

We have a short week before we are off to Charleston Wednesday to visit some friends then the beach for a long weekend! 

{4 months}

Snapshots…

because I can’t get enough of this little blue eyed boy.