Cupcake

Rubber Ducky, you're the one. Rubber Ducky, you're so fun. Rubber Ducky, you're the one for me!

Aunt Jenn made - THE BEST- ducky cupcakes for Kirk & Laura's baby shower. Seriously, they were delicious (and adorable)! Alexander ate 3 while sitting on Papa's shoulders before the shower even started!

Aunt Amy, Connie, Jenn, Grandma & cousin Lindsey did a fabulous job organizing the shower and celebrating the new Leventry bambino! (I have my money on an 8 pound boy!).

After the shower, we took Maia & Zander around Mama's alma mater to look at all the trees & new construction. Ah, the memories.

And then, we headed to Jack-a-roos! Whoa-hoo!

We had so much fun with all the kiddos, Mama forgot to take any pictures before we switched over to our jammies...

Liam. Can I just say, cutie-pie! About 20 seconds after we pulled up unannounced in the driveway, the front door swung open & Liam was there yelling, "AlexZander? Where's AlexZander?" Oh, and the way he say's "AlexZander" and then shortens it to just "Zander" oh my cuteness!

Our little hambone warmed up very quickly to all the mini-geologists. And, I mean, who wouldn't warm up to Fat Daddy when he kept offering up ChipsAhoy, juice & chocolate milk. Alexander kept running back to FD to beg for "Cook? Cook?"

And about an hour into our sleepover, Alexander fell in love with Liam. The little guy would keep zig zagging back to his new blond-haired little friend, grabbing his hand & leading him to the trains/toys/"cooks." So cute!

Our second night sleeping at Jack's went... much smoother. I wouldn't say it was restful, but it was definitely enjoyable. Alexander finally passed out at midnight. Whoa.

And then he woke up, "Liam? Liam, night night?"

There is a house for sale just up the street on Wissinger, I just have to convince D that he wants to live in Johnstown again, and maybe Liam & A can be best friends forever...

Big Boy Bed

"OK mama and daddy, I'll try out this new 'big boy bed' idea, but I promise to come back to your bed at 1 am." (I asked Papa to write the first line of this blog... He could have been a little more optimistic about this big boy bed idea... )

Anyway, our little sleeper, hasn't been so sleepy lately. He's up around 3am, looking to snuggle up in Mama's bed (& banish Papa to the guest room). Then he starts to toss around 5am. Up, at the latest, by 7am. Only naps after a long car ride. And if we're lucky, falls asleep during a short walk around the block around 7pm. So, the night can't get any longer; why not put the little man in his own big boy bed?

If the cuteso's in his own bed, maybe, at least, he can crawl down & into Mama's bed in the middle of the night without Mama ever waking up? Yeah, fat chance, that's what I thought...

But isn't he so cute in his new hand-me-down bed from Aunt Jenn? Cuddled up with JB's monkey? Under Granny Smith's blanket? And soon-to-be hugging Nette's blanket? And those of you with a keen eye might even notice Mama's "Mr. Bear" crawling up the bottom of the bed!

And what better way to prepare the boy for a fabulous night of dedicated sleep than a "peaceful" bath with his best little friend (after a very long afternoon of crazy play?)

Did you notice the lack of cute videos? Yeah, that's cause our shock-proof, water-proof Olympus camera is now dead. Yep, the Tiki Tubbing didn't kill it. Salty Key West didn't kill it. But the boy, yeah, the boy killed it! Now Mama needs a nice i-pod to video all the cute stuff the kid does!

Baby's First Shower

When I'm getting Zander's bath ready (I still wash him in the kitchen sink with the rest of the dirty dishes...), I let the naked babe stand in the kitchen with me. We've had a few too many carpet peeing incidents...


Anyway, last weekend I put Zander down next to the stove, in his usual spot while I started the water. But when he heard his daddy taking a shower in the bathroom off the kitchen, he crawled over, pushed the door open & jumped in with his papa. It was adorable!

Lately, we've imported our Louisiana road-tripping tradition in an attempt to find something exciting to see/do/hear/drink in the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. Well, that and it's also our lame attempt to avoid all domestic duties back on Edgwood. So far we've met half our goal; our house is a mess!

Two weekends ago we decided to see where National Road would take us... we ended up at Piedmont Lake in Ohio. After a quick picnic on the lake & a pee in the woods, we were off again.

Mr. Cranky Pants really needed a nap!

Then we went to go see Bingo Bob in J-ville. Not too long ago he tripped on a bingo dobber while he was looking for his lucky rubber nickle to scratch off a Pennsylvania Lottery ticket and broke his arm. It wasn't his lucky day.

Pappy is recovering well, but he was pretty tired the day we dropped in to visit him. I wish Zander napped half as well as gramps does!

Before we could get back on the road to Wheeling, Alexander identified his newest favorite toy... the Prius steering wheel! One particularly cranky day last week, D was able to keep the little crank box happy for the particularly traumatic 30 minutes before bedtime.

It makes me so happy to those two so happy!

Oh yeah, and then those boys went out looking for girls while I stayed home "cleaning." D & the gang took Zander to the Wheeling Stern Wheel Festival last Saturday, which was an excuse for D to eat festival food and an excuse for me to not cook dinner...

When they got home, Amber reported that ladies man Zan was attracting the attention of all the little ladies. Especially this hot number. Abigail is also about 8 months. Unfortunately, Daddy has been out of the game a little too long; he forgot to ask for her number! Well, never mind, I guess that is VERY fortunate!

Our Super-Sweet Baby Shower, October 11, 2008

My mother & sister thought of a thousand special little details to make Baby Boris' Baby Shower a special memory for me, and a warm celebration for all of our friends and family who traveled to share the afternoon with us.

It is wonderful to see (and feel) how much everyone cares for D and I, and our growing baby boy. It means so much to us, especially because we live so far from all of you! Family & friends came from Brooklyn, Johnstown, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Mt. Joy and from right down the street to eat Jenn's delicious baby cake (not the diaper cake, of course!)



And when Jenny Brown heard that Jenn made white cake... (can you BELIEVE Jenn made that cake? She cut out all those little onsies, diapers and buttons with three kids running loose! Hoy vey!) Anyway, when JB heard that we had white cake, even she showed up with her trumpet! What a great friend!

Like every good baby shower Jenn & my mama organized some games for everyone to play. The first game was to come up with a list of baby names for every letter of the alphabet; surprisingly, no one suggested Baby Boris' real name (yes, D & I have decided on a real name:), but my Aunt Connie did suggest we name him Popeye... Hmmm... interesting!

We also played the what baby food is this game & a quick game where everyone had to choose which features I wanted Baby Boris to pop out with... D's curly black hair & dark skin & my blue eyes and freckles, of course! Someone even suggested he should inherit Jenny Brown's musical talent :) (You thought all those pictures had disappeared, didn't you JB?)

But more important than the games, was the food! Jenn and my mama made little baby-sized cookies, miniature sandwiches and our favorite spinach dip. Aunt Amy made every one's favorite fruit salad and Aunt Connie tested her new peanut butter cup brownies out on us... they passed with flying colors!

Unfortunately, I don't have too many pictures because I misplaced my camera rather early in the shower... hoy vey! Jenn will email me some pictures soon & I will add those to the post!

After the games and the yummy spread, Sarah & Amia helped me open all of Baby Boris' (don't you wish you knew his real name?) presents! Everyone was SO generous!

Baby Boris (what do you think his real name is?) received a stroller, onsies, sleepers, toys, a bigger-than-baby Elmo, a car seat and a million other presents...

Being the dork I am, I organized everything when we got home & laid it out to show Daddy D... Hoy vey, it was slightly overwhelming! With all the big stuff (strollers, swing, bath tub, etc.) in the basement, the little stuff filled our whole bedroom! Hoy vey! ...And of course, i took a picture... what kind of weirdo would I be if i didn't?

After the presents, Jenn and my mom sent everyone home with their own goodies! Jenn hand stamped little packets of Tall Ageratum, Morning Glory & Cleome seeds that my mom gathered from both her garden in Carlisle and my "garden" in West Virginia to give away as party favors. Now Vickie can turn her "wedding" garden into a "wedding & baby shower" garden!

And because we love to give things away so much, my mom also made banana, cranberry and strudel breads and I made peach preserves for everyone to take home. Yum!

After the shower, the men-folk invaded with their sausage & potatoes, (I crack myself up!) and grilled up a delicious meal before everyone began their journey home. Unfortunately, D & mike cooked way too fast, and before I knew it I was hugging everyone goodbye & we were on our way back to Wheeling.

I wish we had more time with my Aunt Bubba & Nora, who made a day trip of their five-hour drive from Rochester; and a few more hours with George & Larry (te-he) who I've barely seen since college; and few more minutes to talk with Lindsey about her wedding planning; and in general a little more time to be with everyone who came to the shower and with everyone who couldn't make it!

Thank you so much! You are the best friends & family that a girl (and her baby) could ever ask for!

The Cutest Shower Invitation... Ever!

How well does my mother know me? This is the best baby shower invitation envelope... Ever!

I absolutelylove it! My Mama couldnt have done a better job!

Reduce, reuse, recycle! Yeah!

And the invitations? Jenn is amazing! I cant believe she made these awesome invitations... and she has 3 kids! Hoy vey! The little blanket is so cute; almost as cute as the little curl on the top of little Baby Boris' head!

Thank you so much! I love them!