A sign that it's cold outside....

Really? Isaac - you think that's a good way to get warm? Mommy doesn't think so....

Christmas Train at Meijer Gardens

This week, we went to Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas displays. Every year, they line the main hall with Christmas trees decorated to reflect countries and cultures around the world. This year, in addition to that, they have a train set up. This train is built by a gentleman who is famous for his scale model train sets. All of the buildings are replicas of historic buildings of the area - and are all made out of wood, bark and twigs.

Isaac was absolutely captivated. I can't describe his reaction any other way. It was a joy to watch! I am sure we will go back again soon to watch the trains!

Mom's Gone Wild - Cancun

Well, I know this is a bit belated, but here is my report on my first post-child, no-child getaway. The adventure of Katie, Mary, Jen and myself.

We left late on a Tuesday night and headed to Detroit. We got up at 4am to get ready and head to the airport. Unfortunately, the cold that I had come down with on Monday wasn't letting up - but I was still determined to have fun!

We made it down to Cancun around 2pm. It was BEAUTIFUL out. The airport was immaculate and we made our way to the hotel without any problem. Within the hour, we were in the pool....:)

The next 2 days were filled with reading, napping, swimming, sunning, eating and a tasty beverage or two. My cold did not let up, but I still have a really wonderful time. We were hit on by a group of "mature men"...ok, we weren't really hit on, and when I say mature, I mean about 30-some years older than us...but hey - I can pretend, right!? They were actually really cute - on vacation with their wives, and we made them take a group picture together!

The sand was so white, the water was SO blue, and every night, we slept with the door open so we could hear the waves! One night, we split up for date night - Katie and Jen to the japanese place and Mary and I went to the "meat place"...(brazilian?). I had a wonderful time getting to know Mary better, since this was the first time we had met. We also hit the Pacha - (disco, anyone?) and Katie honored us with a fabulous air guitar performance, in honor of her husband. We saw the most captivating couple dancing there, and were all left with a sense of...."dude, wish WE could dance like that!!!".

Katie drinking a "dirty monkey"


We took TONS of pictures, which are mostly on Mary's camera....While I was there, I read Eat, Love, Pray - which was a GREAT book!

I had a great time. I would totally vacation with these gals again! I did miss Isaac and Brian, of course, but for a Mom's getaway...

Happy Thanksgiving....

We hope that everyone has a party in their tummy this Thanksgiving!

Sunshine - Here I come!

Well, the week has finally arrived. My first girl-fest vacation. Brian has gone on lots of manpanionship adventures in recent years - and now it's my turn! Tomorrow night I will leave for 4 lovely days in Cancun. I am quite excited. I am going with 3 fun gals (Katie, Jen and Mary) to soak up sun (on my uber white body), drink fruitiness, read books and have a good time. This will also be Brian's first time staying home while I travel somewhere - so wish him a happy, content monkey-Isaac!

However, before I go...here an update on the last week or so....
- We enjoyed the rest of our time with Ms.Samantha. We made visited to the play area at the mall, Brian took her to Meijer Gardens, we made cakes, threw a tie dye party and played with balloons! It was a lot of fun, but it's amazing what a different level of energy a 3.5 year old has!!! Sam is happily back home with Jon and Dawn - and Dawn is recovering nicely. :)
- Thank you for all the birthday wishes. It's weird to think I am 32...seems like just yesterday I was 23! I am amazed and thankful for all that has happened in the last decade of my life. From meeting my husband, graduating from college, our first home, several exciting jobs. many travels...to having my son. Growing up isn't so bad... :)
- Brian and I had a quiet and restful Sunday at home. I was able to start my packing for my trip, and watch a few of our sitcoms.
- Today and tomorrow I am working (we leave tomorrow night), so the days are going to zoom by!

Well, enough for now...off to pick up some last minute items for my trip!

Happy Birthday to Me....

Wow. Since I don't remember my birthday last year - and it's not because of malty libations, but probably excitement over prepping for Isaac's baptism and the visit of Molly and Robert... I figure, I can say that - right?

Oh hum, happy birthday to meeeeee....

A nice birthday present would be if anyone in Flint could go out and vote for Walling, since I can't...ha. You think I am joking?

Or, for my friend Dawn to wake up feeling fabulous after her surgery today! That might be a stretch, but hey - good vibes can't hurt.

Anyways, I am going spending the day with Jon and Dawn's daughter Sam - doing fun thing, like baking cakes, hanging out - just doing things a 3.5 year old girl likes to do. Hopefully Isaac can be patient with us and doesn't go monkey wild on any of her toys!

Ohhhhh...happy birthday...to me.....

Monkey Causes Carnage - News at 11

 

Today was Halloween. It was pretty eventful! We had a good time! First, I went to Isaac's party at Rainbow. I thought it pretty funny when he went "ape" on the stuffed animals. He enjoyed the parade and got knee deep into a big sugar cookie with orange frosting. Ah, it's good to be a monkey.

This evening, Brian took Isaac around the neighborhood with a group of neighbors while I stayed home and gave our the candy. They were gone for ages - having made the rounds to EVERYONE! Ha. Isaac's favorite loot? Three duckies that have colored LED's in them - causing me to want to call them the "X-tasy Duckez". (is that wrong?).

Anyways, here are some pictures from Isaac's second Halloween. Fun was had by all. :)

Blue thinks to self...can I have that banana when you are done with it? (guess what folks...he did!)

Couple of Videos

It's been a while since I've done a video. Since everyone always complains that I put them on YouTube and make them private, I'm going to give it a shot and do a couple of public ones to please the masses.


This one is of Blue, a Balloon & Isaac


This one is of Isaac when he was in his, I want to sleep 2 hours before bedtime so I don't go to bed until past Mom & Dads bedtime.

MM....good...?

Only in babyland are bizarre combinations of food uber good.

Today's lunch...scrambled eggs with peas and carrots, a cheese slice and pineapple.

Once, at daycare, I saw a meal that consisted of chicken chunks, mandarin oranges, break chunks - all slimed in something resembling cream of mushroom soup.

Or - the ham and butter on bread-wiches. Eww.

Wanna play a game???

This morning, as we were leaving the house - Brian and I noticed a very interesting collection of items in our neighbor's yard. I decided it would make for a humorous game...can you name all the random items in our neighbor's lawn....

There are at least 16....

Bringing back the Berridge - Brother Brag...

My brother does a lot of cool things. Saving old buildings and making them awesome places to work and live is just one. Here are a couple articles about about one of his recent projects - the Berridge Hotel.



http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=5719610

FLINT (WJRT) - (10/22/07)-- A multi-million dollar renovation project for a historic hotel in downtown Flint gets underway later today.
This is the latest in a series of projects that will get underway in the Carriage Town neighborhood. When this project at the Berridge Hotel is finished, there will be 21 new condos in downtown Flint.

The Genesee County Land Bank is heading up the $6 million project, which calls for renovation of the old hotel inside and out. Each of the units will be about 1,000 square feet and will have either a loft or townhome style design. Sizes will range from one to three bedrooms.

You may remember in February, a fire damaged part of the building, but didn't stop the plans to renovate the building.

Plans also include turning the old Tinlinn House, right near the Berridge, into four rental units.

This is the next step in the Land Bank's plans to revitalize the Carriage Town neighborhood. The group last month announced it would place eight new homes and renovate several others along Stone Street.

That project is expected to be completed by the summer.

In the meantime, the Bringing Back the Berridge project kicks off this morning at 11. The public is invited to tour and learn more about the building at 421 Garland Street.

The Berridge Place Project is expected to be finished sometime next year.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=5720619

(this one has a nice video!)

FLINT (WJRT) - (10/22/07)--In downtown Flint , a building that has been known for decades as "last-resort" housing will soon get a new look and a new image.

But before the major transformation begins, developers decided to give the public one last chance to take a look inside the old, run down Berridge Hotel.

Floors feel like they're going to give way. Broken windows and plumbing and electrical bathroom fixtures are ripped out throughout the building. But the structure of the building seems sound.

Developers say they will be totally gutting the inside the of the building but maintaining the structure of the outside walls and some features in the lobby as part of a $6 million renovation project.

The financial package from government -- as well as some local foundations -- is already in place.

The project will move ahead immediately to turn the 70-year-old building and the Tinnin building next door into 21 loft apartments with an upscale look intended to draw people to downtown living.

What is significant about this project, officials say, is that the building -- which has functioned as housing of last resort for the city's poor -- could soon function as an attraction for the city center.

Renovation will begin within days.

The two- and three-bedroom apartments will be ready for occupancy by this summer. They'll range in size from 855 to 1,500 square feet. They start at $960 a month.

And even before they're built, the project is attracting spinoff development right across the street.

And the duckie lives on....

This past weekend, I helped throw a shower for my friend Kathy. I will post pictures soon - but in the meantime, I just had to post this.

I brought home one of the balloons from the shower - the big ol' duckie. Isaac has fallen in love, and he has been playing with it all day. He even refused to let go to eat breakfast and dinner. I just had to post a picture!!!



"This duckie? It's too important to me"

Baked Apples

Today, Isaac tried to steal my apple. So - I decided what would be more "fall-ish" than to make him some home-made baked apples with cinnamon of his own.

Baked Apples

1. Core apple and leave peel on
2. Place a wee bit of butter (if baby is ready for or has had dairy) on the inside of the cored apple (sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in the apple if your desire and if baby is ready for or has had cinnamon)
3. Place in a pan with just enough water to slightly cover apples – about an inch of water
4. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until tender; be sure to check on the water level.
5. Once baked, either cut apple into little bits and serve as a finger food or mash

The flu and monkey blue

This week, the Spratke house was hit with a bug. We presume it was the flu - whatever it was, was wicked and unrelenting. However, in the midst of it, Isaac still managed to make us laugh, and Blue still managed to amaze us with his patience.


Here is Isaac making sure Blue is paying attention to his dental hygiene.


Isaac is like the energizer bunny. I think Brian and Blue thought they might get some of that same energy with the power of the bunny ears. I will say - it did not work!

Have a great weekend everyone...stay healthy!

Chicago Marathon and werewolf movies...

Last weekend, with the babysitting assistance of our mothers, Brian and I were able to go on our first "post child, no child" getaway with our friends, Jon and Dawn.

We left Saturday morning, taking the train out of Michigan City, IN. It was so easy! We all decided it's totally the way to go in the future. 2 hours, no hassle, no gas, no traffic, no parking fees....

Anyways, after checking into the Swissotel on Wacker - Dawn and I went to spend some time on Michigan Ave. Unfortunately, we didn't find the store we were looking for until a half an hour before it's bizarrely early closing time, but we did get to walk the town and see some sights. That evening, Jon, Dawn, Brian and myself headed out to dinner at a wonderful italian place called Bella Bacino. Even on the walk back, around 10pm, it was bizarrely warm and humid for an October evening.

Perfect for werewolf movies (that's for Jon).

I must mention - I think that the Swissotel lies about having a floor 42. Dawn and I tried numerous times to get there, with no luck.

6:17am. That's the time the phone rang - Steve and Ellie had arrived. According to them, it was already 74 degrees out. Although we all realized this was bizarre, and it was going to be a tough day for running - I don't think any of us realized what was really ahead. So, we packed our bags and headed out on our adventure.



Brian, Ellie, Dawn and I had a nice breakfast before heading to Mile 3 to try to see the boys. When we got there, we thought that we had already missed them (however, as it turns out, we probably didn't!) - so then we charted our course to the next spot - the halfway point - Mile marked 13.1.



This was our rendezvous point to hand off Jon's mp3 player. We made our way there, using the EL, and were shocked that so few other people were using it. Hello people, it's air conditioned!!! By the time we staked out a spot at 13.1, it was hot. I mean....like, Collective Soul hot.

So then we waited....Dawn video taped some seriously irritating girls, and one painfully continuous cowbell...and we still waited. Finally, Dawn got the text message that Jon had hit the 13 mile mark...noticeably behind where she had expected him to be. Steve and Jon were hot...and I don't mean in a pretty kinda way...they said that the water stands behind them were empty and people were suffering big time. After some drinks, wringing out some drenched socks and some stretching - they were off again. It was hard to watch. According to the news, by this point, it was 88 degrees - and technically the race had been canceled. Apparently nobody at 13.1 knew this, because they kept running..even the poor man in the testicle costume. I know, I know, he was running for testicular cancer - get your mind out of the gutter!

So, unaware of the events unfolding, Brian, Ellie, Dawn and I made our way to an establishment for some refreshments and lunch. When we left...Dawn had a text message saying Jon had crossed the finish line....an hour later? We were very confused - but stuck to our plan - go check out of the hotel, head to the meeting point.

It wasn't until we got off the EL near Grant Park that it hit us. I think we overheard someone. We walked past a man, passed out on the ground with cops watching over him. People were everywhere. Dawn and I with our pile of luggage set up camp in a little park next to the Institute of Art. Brian and Ellie went off in search of Jon and Steve.

As it turns out - Jon hit about mile 18 when they rerouted the course. He thought something was up, but just kept running. Since he had his headphones on, he didn't hear the people on the blow horns or the helicopters above. he said after he got out of the finish area, there was no water and he had to (ahem) borrow some from an unwilling volunteer. Once we were all together, we stayed in that park, in the shade for a few hours, since our train didn't leave until 4pm. The sirens went on for almost the whole time, it was very surreal. So - we sat, drinking our beers - as it was the only beverage we had, listening to sirens downtown Chicago. I can't say it was a bad time, we actually were having some fun - but it seemed almost wrong, when you knew so many other people were suffering from the intense heat!

So then, we took the train home...had a wonderful dinner at Jon and Dawn's - tried on the bunny ears from the marathon that we didn't get to use and relaxed. It was a very memorable weekend!

Breakfast of Champions

My son decided to alter his normal breakfast menu today.

He tried out some dog food.

It took a while to chew...a few brown bits came out, but he finished it.

The jury is out on whether he liked it or not.

Sneak peaks!

Sneak peaks of Will and Isaac's photo session are on Hayley's site!

go to the Live, Laugh, Love link to see them!

Birthday fun, part I

Here are a few pictures from the birthday party!

Rambles, rambles...

My entries have been sporadic lately, I know - we have been so busy. It's been hard to catch our breath! From trips to SC, to birthday parties...we are finally starting to slow down! It's no wonder Isaac is a busy guy - how else is he supposed to keep up with our ridiculously paced life!?

I just finished the book Freakonomics. Last night, I went out to a "fondue restaurant" to meet up with a book group for the first time to discuss it. A totally new experience for me, but I had a really great time - to get together with some people to talk about something intelligent, as opposed to diapers, schedules and baby formula was really nice. The dinner was awesome too - a three course "fondue" meal with "mini-tini's" that were tasty, but not too strong. Mmm...good. Side note: Bizzarely, one of the people at the dinner was an old high school classmate of Brians! He said "how do you find all the Alma people?"

[pause to stop Isaac from attacking poor Helen]

I was invited to the book club dinner thingy by Katie and Jen. I met Katie almost a year ago at the breast feeding support group at Baby Beloved (www.babybelovedinc.com). We hit it off right away - having a freakish amount of things in common. Next thing you know, she invites me on a trip to Cancun this November with some other "new" mothers (insert Jen)...which I have now dubbed "Mom's Gone Wild".

[pause to remove sweatshirt from son which he has just sunk his sleeves in toliet water - at least it was a stationary item of water, not the water bowl]

Aside from book clubs and trip planning....not much has been going on. Today Isaac and I are going to hit the gym, take a friend to Baby Beloved, try to find the Saturn keys, and possibly a walk if the sun stays out. People who truely know me have read between the lines..."and laundry, clean the bathroom, go grocery shopping, and send about 20 emails in between...."

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

p.s. Pics included for people who don't care about my ramblings and only visit this site to see Isaac.

12 Month Appointment

Isaac had his 12 month wellness exam today.

He is 20lbs, 12oz, 30" inches tall - and, according to Dr. Davis - he is at the 50% percentile! That's a pretty good jump from 2 months ago, when he was around 20th!

Today is also my nephew Will's 2nd birthday! The bid birthday bash is this weekend!

Edit: This was totally not the picture I meant to upload! It's not the most flattering...but what the hey - it's there now!