CRIBS: Annalee

Welcome to Annalee's crib.

We went out on a search for a couch last week and came home with the cutest, girly-est lamp for Annalee's room.  I realized I had never taken any pictures of her sweet little nursery, and it won't stay this way forever.  So here you go!  You can see her bright bright bright overhead light in this picture (hence the lamp - perfect!).

Before she was born, we found a dresser on Craig's List and gave it an overhaul.  Jonathan did the work, I shopped for the hardware and chose the paint! :)

We received some a changing pad cover and sheets as gifts, and I had also ordered some sale items online, so she has rotating styles!  Always good to have a few clean and I love to change it up!

Look at that lamp!!!  You know, I don't put Annalee in frou-frou outfits everyday because those are not the best for moving and playing (and drooling and eating), but since we have done a lot of "neutral" things, I was loving this girly touch!  P.S....if you are ever looking for a great nursery chair that you will be able to use long after you need it in the nursery, talk to me about this one. :)  I'm sure you see her 31 bins on the bookshelf (Jonathan's from college, refinished) and dresser, and the pillow covers are from Blessings Unlimited...I got them during a clearance sale when I was barely pregnant with Annalee and then wasn't sure to put them...as the room came together, I pulled them out and they fit perfectly!

Another sweet little decoration...just added some ribbon to her initials to "tie-in" (ha) the colors.

I'm sure things will keep changing over time...but love having these sweet baby memories in pictures!

MLK Holiday Adventure

Jonathan had the day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so we drove out to a place where we wanted to look at couches.  It ended up being closed, so we made the most of it and headed into the nearby park - the one where Laura and I did our Triathlon!

As we were driving, Jonthan looked in the mirror and whispered, "Look behind you, quick!"

Our little Elmo in the backseat.

Annalee fell asleep in the car, so we moved her carefully to the stroller and headed in!  Connor was delighted to see the ducks, and they were hoping for some food...so he shared a few animal crackers.

Heading up to the playground! 

"C'mon, Daddy, c'mon!"  Connor LOVES having his daddy at the playground.

Annalee woke up in time for a few trips down the slide with mommy.

Connor's favorite thing to do at every playground we've ever been to..."drive" the "car/bus/plane/boat".

Elmo coming through the tunnel!

Connor made a new friend...the only other child at the park!  Her name is Katie and she was very nice to our little toddler...a lot older than Con but he tried so hard to keep up!  She tried to help him too...look how sweet.

Slide on down!

What a beautiful, wonderful day!

Starting the New Year Right!

Be warned...this post has a lot of food in it.  It's not "it's January and I'm on a diet food."  Consider yourself warned! )

Not Annalee's 1st spaghetti, but first time eating it herself!

I have never made a turkey and I have roasted 1 chicken in my life (just kind of guessed and it was cooked but not especially tasty)...but after I ate my friend Peter's roasted chicken and veggies on New Year's Eve, I was inspired!

I looked online for "recipes" and one of the first top-rated ones I found was by Ina Garten...not usually my favorite but she IS one of Peter's favorites, so I thought it was worth a try!  I made a few adjustments but for the most part, stuck to it.

We did not have any "kitchen string" - so the lemon and garlic I shoved into the cavity were bursting out!  Not going to lie, it didn't matter.  The flavor was AMAZING!  I roasted the chicken with carrots, parsnips, and onion.  On the side, I roasted yukon gold potatoes and brussels sprouts.  Yum!  Connor pretty much ate...chicken.  So picky.  Annalee ate everything. :)

We've had some nice days in January (in NC!), so we've tried to zip outside when we have the chance! Getting in a little "catch".

I was making Annalee laugh one morning by tossing a blanket over her head, letting her rip it off and saying, "There she is!"  Connor wanted in, so I would put it over them both, but then he pretty much took over.  She seriously laughs so hard when her brother plays with her.  I love when they play together!

My sister turned 24 this month, so we drove up to celebrate with her!  She already got her sweet penguin footie pj's for a gift, so I tried to make her a special cake.  She likes caramel coffee drinks and also those chocolate oranges (I think you can only get them at Christmas?), so I thought this was a good choice!  It came in my Food Network Magazine, but here is the recipe!

Connor was busy coloring while I was cake-making.  "Brown."  The one color he always seems to recognize for sure!

We went out to dinner at Macaroni Grill, which was delicious, and they brought Laura a birthday dessert....which we did not finish since she had this giant, extremely sweet cake coming!  By the way, I read the one review of that recipe and it seems like the person had a hard time.  I used a boxed cake mix (b/c I didn't think it would be much different), but the chocolate ganache and caramel topping were not at ALL as difficult as I thought they might be.  I actually really enjoyed making this cake...I am not really one for fancy cake decorating, but I loved making the tasty topping and had no idea how easy it was to make caramel...just follow the instructions and DO NOT STIR!

Birthday girl!

Laura: "I'm six!"  Lindsay: "Uh, no.  You're 2-4, 24.  I didn't think you'd want that many to blow out." Laura: "Oh noooo I was thinking I was still 23!" :)

We met Laura's friend Pat and he had dinner and cake with us too!  He also held his first baby ever (Annalee) and kept her quite entertained while I was making the caramel and Jonathan was loading the car (Laura drove down our Christmas gifts for us!).

Laura and her nephew/Godson....Con was very happy to go on a trip to see Laura!  Happy Birthday, Sister, we love you!

Our friends Paul and Shelley are having their second baby this spring, and Mandy threw a beautiful shower for them!  The gender is a surprise and the theme was "Ready to Pop", everything was poppin' in some way!

Shelley with some sweet friends.

I wanted to make a diaper cake but had never done one...so my other friend Shelley (who made a diaper cake for Annalee) made it with me!  She did all the hard part...all the diapers and stacking...I did the add-ins.  The lollipops were our contribution to the "poppin'!"

Can't wait to see if that baby will be a boy or a girl, my guess is BOY!

CUSE

Okay.  This is the last of my Syracuse/Christmas vacation posts.  Lots of special things were happening!  This post is a little Jonathan-and-Lindsay filled, though, so if you want baby pics, skip to the end!

All in one day (12/29 I believe), SU had their bowl game (Pinstripe bowl, WIN), we got to go watch an SU bball game at the dome (another WIN), and TCU had their bowl game (Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, loss, so sad).  We watched all of them.  It was quite the sporty day.  

Here's what my parents' house looked like during the SU bowl game...ha!  All cozied up but the kiddos still being wild. 

The Orange weren't quite to conference games when we went....to be honest, I'd never heard of the school that they played!  They kept them on their toes for some of the game, though!  Loved this one dunk I caught - CJ Fair, I think!

Date at the dome!  We took Connor to his first game when he was about 3 months old...sadly, we didn't think that Annalee would be happy to sit there (or fall asleep) at her age!  The kids had a great night with my parents and we had a great night out (especially because Jonathan had his fave, a dome dog!).

Just one more pic when we got home so we could show off Jonathan's awesome Christmas gift I got for him...orange cords!

A few days later, we zipped downtown for a little lunch date, while Jonathan's parents played with the kids.  It was another beautiful, snowy day, so we went ICE SKATING!

Showing off his moves with beautiful old Syracuse buildings in the background.  There was exactly one other person on the rink...there she is in the back!

...and then she sweetly offered to take our picture.  We ate at a delicious restaurant downtown called "Pastabilities" - if you are ever in the Cuse, you must go there and the Dinosaur BBQ!

Annalee and I got to spend a few more moments with Karina, Peter, and baby Jackson.  Jackson loves to be bounced!  We love him already. :)

We tried to get a cute pic of Papa and Marmee with the babies before bed the last night there...hahaha...not so good.  I THINK I got a better one on Dad's camera...send it to me, Dad!

...and what better to leave you with than...dessert?  "Ahhhh!"

NEW YEAR'S 2013

My dear friend Carey turned 30 in October and she told her hubby Matthew that all she wanted for her birthday was to spend New Year's in NY with the Hagans and the Schallmos.  You better believe that she got her wish!  Carey and Matthew had their 1st baby in February, Charley is exactly one month older than Annalee.  Peter and Karina had their 1st baby in October, Jackson!  Carey and I did not even get to meet him til this Christmas, so we were excited to spend time with friends and get all of the sweet babies together!  We picked up some matching New Year's shirts and I made little tutus for the girls for some sparkle...which proceeded to leave sparkle all over the Hagans house...sorry guys!  Lesson learned, no more glitter tulle on the next tutu!  Okay...please just enjoy the ridiculousness of our little photo shoot!

This handsome little man did not want to stop moving to have his picture taken, either.  There was an SU bball game on New Year's Eve, so he was decked out!

Carey got a squeeze, anyway!  Charley definitely loved playing with Connor too, now that she is really on the move!

We had a WONDERFUL dinner cooked by Peter himself and then attempted to get all the babies down to sleep before some more party guests came over!

Plenty of eating, chatting, singing, and dancing ensued!  I know this picture is so blurry but Andrea just makes me laugh every time I see it!

Love these friends!  Happy New Year!