A day in the flowers....

Eric gets ONE day off from the show a week. So when Monday comes around we try to savor it and do something special. Most days we get lazy and even though we have good intentions we never seem to do anything "exciting". This past Monday we decided to seize the day and actually DO something.

I had heard nothing but wonderful things about the Chicago Botanic Gardens so off we went! Luckily we had a pretty traffic free drive on the way there (you never can tell with this crazy Chicago traffic).

After paying $20 for parking (ugh) we set off to explore.

The botanic gardens consist of approx. 25+ separate gardens all with an individual theme. Japanese, fruit, sensory, waterfall...the list goes on and on. The place was huge and every garden was BEAUTIFUL and perfect. I can't even imagine how much WORK goes into the upkeep of this place. I would have loved to have this place when I was pregnant! Instead of going walking in the mall and spending money....I could have walked around the beautiful flowers. MUCH less expensive!

Riley had a great day. She loved feeling the various flowers and seeing all the pretty colors. She NEVER sleeps in her stroller and by the end of the day she was passed out.

 

  

 

I think I have a problem

I think I need to submit myself to that show "Intervention" because ... seriously...I have issues.

So what is my "drug" of choice?

Booze...no

Drugs...um...negative

Food...well sometimes but thats not what this is about.

My addiction? OWLS. Yes...you read that right owls.

I am addicted to all things owl. If I see something with owls on it I NEED to buy it. It is no coincidence that Rileys room has a "woodland creature" theme. In fact...Riley just so happens to be wearing an outfit today with owls all over it. Ugh. I really have issues. Here is your proof:

Currently...Riley's collection of owl related things is growing at a fast pace.

She has:

*owl diaper
*owl wet bag (for her diapers)
*owl lamp
*owl wall decor
*owl dress (as illustrated above)

My addiction is not secret. When people are out and about or internet shopping they fuel my problem by sending me the owl link or telling me where to purchase my drug. They are like my shopping dealers!

I know...there could be worse things to be addicted to. I mean...owls are SO CUTE! And luckily (or unluckily) for me the trend this fall seems to be "woodland creatures". I have already spotted several owl related outfits at various stores around town.

Now if only I could find a cute girly owl Halloween costume...then my life would truly feel complete :)

Nom, Nom, Nom

I don't know why but the concept of starting Riley on solid food really freaked me out. There are so many different opinions out there...when to start...what to start with...rice cereal or no rice ceral...baby led feeding...etc etc etc. There really is no clear cut "you should do this" train of thought with solids...and that really scared me.

Riley has been eating solid food for a month now and I still overthink EVERYTHING related to it (gee...what else is new). I remember a lot of people telling me "solid food is fun!" "have fun with it!!". Sorry folks...I don't really know if I would call this fun. It just causes me so much stress!! I guess the whole fact that you are making all these decisions for someone else is kind of a daunting task.

So anyways...about a month ago we decided to skip the rice cereal and start Riley on sweet potatoes. And now...for your viewing pleasure (please excuse my weird baby noises)...Riley's first bite of real food:



I have been making all of the food so far (except for the oatmeal of course). I have really been enjoying making her food and knowing exactly whats going in her mouth. I pretty much go to these websites for guidance: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and http://www.nurturebaby.com/. Surprisingly she is a HUGE veggie fan. Butternut squash is actually her favorite thing so far. Other favorites include carrots, peas, banana and yogurt. Toby is also a very big fan of Riley...especially when she is trying to feed herself. He just sits right next to her high chair patiently waiting for a morsel of food to fall to the floor. Needless to say...he is packing on the pounds.

So, normally I am not a fan of pictures with food all over a babies face...BUT...since the subject of this blog post is about food I guess I will go against everything I believe in (well...maybe thats a little overboard...) and show you some.

banana and sweet potato

Peas

Butternut squash

6 months...a photo journey

In about 10 days Riley will be 7 months.

7 months??? Seriously I feel like she was born yesterday. It sounds cliche but time really does go by SO fast.

So on this Friday night I present to you a photo journey .... 6 months of Riley

Still cooking....

A few seconds old

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months (and working on her fathers day gift)

6 months!!!

Hello Hello.....

Wow. It sure has been a while. I have decided I want to *try* and start blogging again. I can't promise anything but I am going to make an honest effort!

Lets see...where to even start???

Since my last update that seems like YEARS ago so much has happened.

Riley is now 6 months old. It is crazy how fast she is growing and how 6 months have gone by so quickly.

Just Born!

6 months!

6 months is so fun. I feel like something new is happening everyday. Lets bullet point some exciting things that Riley is doing/can do:

• Riley can easily sit up and play with her toys by herself.
  
• The little girl that used to HATE being on her tummy now prefers to sleep there and enjoys scooting around in circles on her belly.
• Riley has now eaten sweet potatoes (yum), carrots (delish), green beans (not really sure what she thought), bananas (fabulous), pears (still deciding how she feels) and avocado (GROSSEST thing she has ever tasted).
  
• Is *kind of* sleeping through the night...when she wants to. On GOOD days she goes to sleep around 8pm and wakes up at 5:30ish...on bad days...who knows. We don't discuss those days.
  

There are a ton of other things that are fun and exciting but those were just a few bullet points to get you started :)

I guess another *exciting* Gutman family update is that we have moved AGAIN. Since I have not written in a while I guess I will go back a while to get you up to date. I got pregnant in New York. We did not want to have the baby in the city (hello city hospitals and studio apartment...no thank you). So at 31 weeks we moved back to Michigan and had the baby at home. Due to the fabulous Michigan economy I still had my condo that I bought right out of college waiting for us at home....so there we moved. The place was great for a girl right out of college...BUT was not the most ideal for a new family and a crazy puggle. We made things work ... but hopefully someday soon the thing will sell (we could use all of your good thoughts).

Anyways....when we were nearing Riley's 6 month birthday Jersey Boys came calling again and requested Eric come to Chicago. We did not have very much time to make this decision and basically decided last minute...ok we will do it for the short term. We had like 2 weeks to pack up EVERYTHING, find a mover, find a place to live...etc etc. It was a bit stressful with a baby in the mix. So here we are in Chicago for the next 6 months. We found a place in Lincoln Square in a nice family building and we are slowly beginning to feel comfortable here.

We trying to make the best of the situation. It was a little sad to leave Michigan again as all of our family is there and we were leaving all of our friends AGAIN. It was especially sad as several of my friends are having babies while we are gone.

So what do we do to occupy our time here? Lets see.....Every Thursday we go to Bubbles Academy and Riley LOVES it. We are slowly joining playgroups and meeting babies Rileys age which is also very fun. Soon we are going to enroll in swim lessons (this will probably be a baby/daddy activity as mommy still does not really want to get in a bathing suit!) and we love strolling around our new neighborhood (Hummm...everything seems to have a baby-centric theme...)

I think thats it for now. I promise I will try and keep updating but I can't promise anything!!

Before I go I would like to just leave you with this. It is World Breastfeeding Week. Riley has been exclusively breastfed since she was born and I have to say I am pretty proud of making it to 6 months. A few weeks ago Riley and I did a "photoshoot" for Mommy Necklaces (a great Michigan based product for nursing moms. They are BEAUTIFUL necklaces make by an amazing woman. I already have 3 necklaces and want more!). Anyways...here are a few pics from the shoot!

Shes growing!

Today I am 22 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Pretty crazy!!! I feel like it is going super fast. Here are some 20 week pictures for you:

I am actually still feeling kind of crappy. I definitely have my good days and my bad days. I will say the bad days are pretty bad. I am ready to just feel "ok" again. While the nausea is slowly starting to fade, other fabulous side effects of pregnancy are starting to rear their ugly head. Back pain...round ligament pain (for people that don't know what that is...it's what is most commonly referred to as "lightening crotch")...acne...etc etc etc.

I have to say, I am very envious of the people that say they LOVE being pregnant. Do not get me wrong...I am so so SO excited to be having a baby and I feel very lucky that we got pregnant so easily...but this is not what I would refer to as "fun". I know once she gets here all the ugly side effects of pregnany will dissaper from my memory...but right now this is not easy and certainly not fun.

One thing that is fun....the baby is kicking up a storm! She is totally going to be a little swimmer (with the way she is kicking I am predicting her stroke will be butterfly)... or a Rockette (although I doubt with her parents height she will get past the first auditions). Eric has felt her kick a few times as well which is of course very exciting.

I think we have also decided on our furniture. We just have to put in the order!

Today we made our first big baby purchase! Not only did we make a purchase but we got one hell of a deal. I had a craving after the Martha show. For some reason I wanted a hot dog. Eric and I leashed up Toby and heading to a hot dog place about 15 blocks away. On the way up we stopped at a new baby store that had recently opened. They happened to have a floor model upholstered glider that was in PERFECT condition for 50% off. This is like a top of the line 700+ chair and we got it on super sale. It is actually EXACTLY what I was looking for in the exact fabric and color that we wanted. It was totally fate! Now we have a big ol' chair in our small apartment just covered by a sheet until we can get somewhere that has a room for the babies nursey.

As far as bedding goes. I found a fabulous vendor on etsy.com that is going to custom make our bedding with some super sassy fabric AND Michaels girlfriend Eliza is going to make us some custom artwork for the nursey as well ( I am SO excited about this, her work is AMAZING). This babies room is totally going to be a million times better than my bedroom!

So there is your update! A couple other exciting things going on that I will have to update you on when everything is set in stone. Stay tuned :)

Chillin' with my girl Martha

I know ... I know. It has been a while. I will spare you the apology and just say that I will TRY and post more often.

Anyways..onto the excitement of the day.

Today my friend Jenna and I were in the studio audience for the first (in studio) episode of the Martha Stewart Show.
We showed up around 8am and there was already a line down the block. It was crazy to see the weird mixture of random Martha Stewart fans. You had the crazy Martha psycho fansd, the angry husbands that you could tell were just dragged there by their wives, even the local scrapbooking club.

Once inside you had to go through a through security check. I am talking FULL purse check and a metal detector! This was serious business I guess. We were all herded into the "waiting area" where you were made to fill out random waivors and watch past Martha shows on TV.

About 30 minutes before the show started we were allowed into the studio. Jenna and I had prime seats. Totally in the center a few rows up. We had a full view of everything going on.

Check out the in studio kitchen cooking before the show

They were totally playing...lets "warm you up" music in the studio. Definitely NOT things that I imagined being played at Martha Stewart...Usher..Rihanna...etc. It was also funny people watching and checking out the older woman in front of me trying to clap (off beat may I add) to the beats of Usher.

After about a 10 minute warm of up the crowd (an explantion on how to clap...turn your cell phones off...get excited...bla bla) the live show started!

It was a very uneventful show to be honest (tomorrow is Perez Hilton...dang! missed him by one day!!)...especially for her first show of the season. There was a chef on who made some ice cream (not that we got to taste it or anything), Martha's snarky daughter (they totally ripped on each other the whole time), a crafting segment, a cake decorating segment (once again...not something we got to taste) and thats about it!

After the show Martha answer some questions from the audiance...

and then we were hurried out the door. We did get a bag full of Martha swag but nothing huge. A crafting tool, kitchen gadget, some scrapbooking crap and a gift certificate to Michaels.

OF COURSE I tivo'd the episode and you totally see me and my orange shirt clapping and smiling several times. If you missed it I have it on the tivo...you always have an open invitation to come over any day and check out my famous-ness!