Babysitters, Business Trips and Beautiful Weather

David and I had a nice "date" night in the city two weekends ago, as our babysitters my parents came to visit.  We headed to a restaurant called "Alta" in Greenwich Village.  Of course we waited until 2pm on Saturday to look for somewhere to eat, and therefore could not get reservations anywhere (anywhere decent at least;)).  So, we decided to go early and hope we could get in without a reservation.  Luckily, it worked and we were told the table could be ours until 7:45, since we got there at 6:00, it was plenty of time.  We ate (and maybe I drank) too much!  Click here for the menu.  Since it is tapas, we got to try many different things - bacon wrapped dates, scallop ceviche, lamb meatballs, shrimp and chorizo skewer and roasted pork belly confit.  Of course we took food pictures, but let's be honest, they never do the food justice.  Here are a few of us at dinner and our walk after dinner.

My parents of course loved staying home with Elizabeth!

 

 

 

 

David had to travel to Orlando for work, he left on Sunday and returned on Wednesday.  My parents stayed with us until Tuesday.  We did plenty of facetime with David while he was gone.   

 

We went into the city on Saturday, the weather was gorgeous!  I love NYC this time of year with all the Christmas decorations.  We went to Bryant Park, then walked down to the Union Square Farmers Market, and then over to the West Village.  We have discovered the bjorn is great for days into the city, David can carry Elizabeth all day in it, but when it's just me, I have to take the stroller, I can only handle carrying her in it for about an hour before my back starts hurting. 

 

 

 

And, just a few more random pics!

 





Three Months!!

Monday was Elizabeth's three month birthday!!!  Every single day she looks a little older, longer, and bigger!  It is amazing how much more inquisitive Elizabeth has become, if we hold toys out in front of her, she grabs them and you can tell she's thinking about them.  My favorite thing to do is have "conversations" with her.  I repeat back sounds she makes and it's adorable to hear her do the same.  If I say "hi" repeatedly, she gets a very serious look on her face, opens her mouth and makes the cutest sound trying to imitate me.  David loves to read to her when he gets home from work, she is actually staying awake for stories now and looks at the books!  She LOVES to smile back at us all the time now, it's so much fun!

 

 



 

Elizabeth is starting to wear 3-6 month clothing!  We went shopping this week, and picked up a few new things.  This girl has more clothes than David and I combined!  She also got her first pair of new kicks that fit (she got a couple pairs as gifts, but they are still took big)!

 

 

Kisses with Daddy before work



The girl still loves her sleep!  She can still only be awake for about 2 hours at a time without becoming tired and fussy.  I have learned to catch it before she gets to that point, and I put her down in her crib for a nap, she lays there for about 5 minutes looking around and then she is out!  We did have one rough night last week when she was up about 4 times throughout the night.  David and I were exhausted, he said "we are lame, imagine if we had a real baby that never slept, we wouldn't be able to handle it" - I guess as opposed to the fake one we have?? ;)  It made us realize how lucky we have had it!

Vermont!

We took our first vacation as a family of 3 last week, we went to Vermont.  We stayed in northern Vermont and had a nice, relaxing time.  Elizabeth did well in the car, and slept almost the whole way up and back home.  The weather when we got there was similar to home, but by Wednesday the temperature had dropped to the low 50s during the day.  While we were up there, we spent time in Montpelier, toured Ben and Jerry's, toured Cabot Cheese, and went to the Von Trapp Family Lodge.  Along with the tours, we ate way too much (especially maple sugar candy) and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  We were a little late to see the fall colors in the northern part of the state, but as we drove south, the leaves were still on the trees. 

 

Our Tour Guide

 

Ben and Jerry's

Maple Sugar!!

 

Cabot Cheese

 

The actual post office in a general store in West Danville

 

We woke up one morning for the sunrise

 

Von Trapp Lodge

 

One of few covered bridges still around

Most of the trip.....

We got back from our trip on Friday night.  On Saturday morning I ran a 5k with some friends in Hoboken, called the HoBOOken run.  We dressed up for Halloween, along with many other runners.  It was beautiful weather, and the run was along the water, so we had such a nice view of Manhattan during our entire run.

 

My friend also found the picture below on instagram!

Here is one last picture that I took a while ago and just found.  I think it might be one of my all time favorites.



First Road Trip and Pumpkins!

Over a week ago we took our first road trip as a family of 3!  We only drove 3 hours to my parent's house, so it wasn't too far, but Elizabeth did great.  On the way to PA (we left Friday morning), we stopped once to feed and change E, she slept the entire way other than our stop.  Sunday morning on our way home, she slept the entire ride home, so we didn't stop at all.  It cracks me up that we packed more for a little baby than we did for both of us combined.

While we were at my parent's house, David and I went out on Friday night for sushi while my parent's babysat.  Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch, but it was so hot that we took pictures and got back in the car.  I can't believe it was in the 80s at the beginning of October!  Now I need to find a Halloween costume for her!

2 Months!!

Last Friday marked 2 months since Elizabeth was born!!  We had her 2 month appointment on Wednesday and she did so well!  She was due for 4 shots and one immunization that you "drink".  Usually 3 of the immunizations are combined, so babies are only given 2 actual shots along with the drink.  However, since there is a nationwide shortage of the combined vaccine, Elizabeth had to get 4 actual shots.  We debated whether or not to split it up, but decided to get all of them done at once instead of her having to go to the doctor again. 

Weight: 11lbs. 10oz
Length: 22 1/2 inches
Head: 39 1/2

We are still LOVING all the sleep we get every night!  Elizabeth goes to sleep anywhere from 9pm to 10pm and sleeps until about 7am.  She makes up for it during the day and eats every 1.5 to 2 hours!  The doctor said that since she sleeps so much at night, she eats more often during the day...right now I'll take the sleep!  During the day, there are lots of naps!  Right now, Elizabeth is usually only awake about 2 hours at a time before she sleeps again.  We get lots of smiles and she is started to grab her toys, along with playing independently a lot!  E enjoys when we read to her and loves staring up at lights.  During the time when David's parents were here, she was not taking a bottle.  But luckily, that did not last and David is giving her a bottle daily with no problems now.