The Bear Den #4

A lot of changes in the den.  First, Gunnar is full on walking!  It is the cutest thing I've seen so far.  He toddles around with is arms out for balance.  He been climbing the steps for a while now but now he goes up to the top without stopping.  He holds my hand as we walk around the house.  He just loves going from one end of the room to the other.  He also waves bye-bye.  Every morning when I leave I say "bye-bye" and he smiles and waves at me.  I can't stand it!

Next big news, Kevin got a job!  His days of being a SAHD are over. While I'm sure he's happy to be working again, I know that he's going to miss being able to snuggle with Gunnar any time he wants.  Now, everyone in the house is going to be fighting over Gunnar when we all get home from work.  It should be interesting.  With Kevin going back to work, it means that Gunnar will be going into daycare.  We are lucky to have a nice daycare located less than five minutes from the house.  My friend's son already goes there and says nice things about it.   I'm sure it's a great facility, I just have your typical mommy anxiety about handing over my child to someone else.  I believe that daycare is good for kids.  It teaches social skills and survival in a way a parent can't teach their kids.  I was a daycare kid and I have always been proud of that.  I think it taught me how to be independent, think on my feet, make friends and be confident.  To this day, I have no problem going on adventures and meeting new people.   I make friends fast at new jobs and I truly enjoy learning about different people.  I hope that Gunnar will get all of those things from being in daycare as well.

Kevin and I have also started thinking about where we would like to live permanently.  This is the scariest thing I think I have done yet.  We know that we want to stay in MI.  But where?  I work in Ann Arbor and Kevin will be working in Jackson.  All our family and friends are in Metro Detroit. And how do you pick a good school system?  Will it change before Gunnar even starts school?  Do we live in the country or stay close to a city?  How long will it take to get food, clothes, health care? Is it safe?  Are there other children around to play with?  Is there a church near by?  How far is too far to live from work?  Ugh.  The questions are endless.  It's the most expensive purchase of your life.  How do you really know you made the right choice?  I mean, you are going to have to commit to a place for a few years.  A lot can change in a few years...

Being an adult is hard.  While I'm excited about this next chapter in our lives, it is still overwhelming and scary.  I hope that the universe sends us a house that will fit all the things we need.  We just have to be patient.

Cheers

Gunnar's Baptism

I put off getting Gunnar baptized way longer than I wanted to.  Mostly because I didn't want him baptized in Florida, I wanted him in MI with all our friends and family.  When we finally moved home, I quickly went about setting up his baptism with the church where we always go to midnight mass.  I  worked so hard to get everything perfect for Little man's big day on July 19th.  I ordered a cake and cookies, had prayer cards printed, elaborate invites made and planned a reception at the restaurant on the golf course.  I even got some decorations for the tables.  

When it was all said and done, there were things I loved, and things I hated.  I always tend to go overboard when planning events because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE to plan parties.  And with pinterest available, the possibilities are endless.  And it doesn't help that only rarely does anything meet my expectations.

Gunnar did a great job at church and I'm so pleased that he has started his spiritual journey.  Now, I get a bit of a break until First Communion...

Cheers!  

Notice Gunnar is hanging on by my hair.

Eleven Months

I know, I know.  REALLY late with this one.  But, better late than never, right?

Anyway.  I truly can not believe how time just seemed to fly by with our little cub.  Sometimes I can't remember the little bundle we brought home from the hospital.  That baby was so skinny with long legs.  Gunnar has filled out a lot but he still has those long legs, like his Daddy.  I can't wait to see what's up next.

Cheers!

- Eyes are holding at mostly blue but with a little brown.  They are very pretty, but a manly pretty.

- Loves the swings

- He is so close to walking it's killing us!  He races along the furniture holding on, he just doesn't seem to trust himself enough yet to walk without holding things.  He'll take a couple steps and fall down.

- Loves skinny dipping in his kiddie pool

- Starting to eat more big people food.  We feed him small pieces of what were eating for dinner.

- His flirting is out of control!  He practically gets whiplash whenever a girl walks by.

- Loves going down the slide with Mama

- Likes to "give" things to you

- Points at things he wants

- Making new sounds almost daily, some are pretty funny

- Went under water in swim class!

- Still hates shoes

- Likes to turn the pages in the books if your reading to him

- Learns pretty quickly.  If you show him how to do something once, he will try to do it himself 

- Eight teeth and counting!

- Showed him how to use the light switch.  Now he just stands on his changing table and flips the switch on and off.  It's really cute.

Baby's First Fourth of July!

I  haven't seen my Dad's side of the family for a very long time.  Out of the blue, the siblings, decided to get together in Minnesota where my Grandma McNulty lives.  Kind of a small family reunion for the fourth.  So, we hopped in the RV and headed over.  It was the first time any of them would be seeing Gunnar.  We met at a really nice park in Eden Prairie.  We had a BBQ and Gunnar played in the water.  I was a nice day.  We even managed to see some fireworks from the windows when we were driving though Milwaukee.

Cheers!

Still doesn't really know what to make of his feet in natural water

The McNultys

First Father's Day 2015

Kevin celebrated his first Father's Day last month!  I tried my very best to make sure that he had great day with Gunnar and me.  He used to always go to the Saline Antiques Market with his dad, so we continued the tradition with Gunnar.  I was scrambling to get Gunnar's present together in time the night before, but everything worked out.  

Here's to new Dads, experienced Dads and Daddy-to-bes!

Cheers!

This has turned into the spot to take pictures (see Mother's Day).  And check out that cool shirt Gunnar is wearing!  ;)

Gunnar's gift

????

Any guesses?  :)

Cheers!

#tbt Boho

October 29, 2013

Last week I decided to go boho with this silk skirt I found from Goodwill and the Target sandals I've been wearing everywhere lately.

Holla!