Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had as great of a Christmas as I did. We were able to go to my parent's house in Minnesota and see all of my family! It had been a while since I had seen my nieces and nephews -oh yeah- and Jeff, Amy and Shelley :). And of course, they were all excited to see Jude (and me and Ryan). The kids are all getting so big. Jude LOVES walking around with his Tonka Truck or moving along any piece of furniture he can get ahold of. He would probably walk on his own if he could muster up the courage. Jude is also starting to become much more vocal. Which is good and bad.... He was trying to say "Stitch" the other day which was cute, but he also knows how to scream REALLY LOUD! That little stinker! I have a feeling the word "NO" will become quite popular in our house. He has always loved monkeys- and now is definitely becoming a Curious George of his own. The other three little stinkers we got to see during Christmas are amazing as well- Aislinn (who is only 9 months) is already standing by herself, Garrett made my day when he loved the giant chocolate Pee Wee the Penguin I gave him as an extra present on Malia's birthday party day, and Malia (who turned 3 Christmas day) lit up the room with her smile. She had a Mickey and Minnie Birthday Party the day after Christmas and loved the singing, cakes, and presents. Although she asked for a football at the last minute, the big hit was the real camera and real cell phone (old ones that aren't being used/hooked up). She cracked us up when she put the timer on her camera (not really) and would run to the other side of the room to take a pictue with her mom and say "Cheese!" after she saw Grandpa doing that to take the big family picture. She just didn't understand why her camera wouldn't flash.
Oh- one last good Jude story- I answered the phone the other night and said hello- I looked down at Jude and he put his hand up to his ear and said "Mmmmhhh?" (hello- with a pacifier in his mouth). Definitely the son of two actors...

Jude is 1, and Christmas is only two weeks away- time is flying!!!

Sorry I haven't written much lately. Been pretty busy at work, and with Jude all over the place, the computer doesn't get out much at home. Jude is really starting to look like a big boy now- he has 4 teeth, with pretty much ALL of the other teeth coming in at the same time (yeah!?!?), he is standing and walking with the furniture like crazy (if Stitch is on the couch- he will be next to her in no time- he LOVES grabbing on to her tail- makes him giggle (side note: Stitch gets him back by eating all of the Cheerios he drops on the floor)), and eating, eating, eating. If the kid likes the food at that particular moment, you can't give him enough. A whole grilled cheese (with corn and pineapple afterwords).... half of mommy's Maggiano's ravioli (Mommy doesn't like sharing that much)... He has moved up to the "Turtle" room at daycare. It was a tough transition for the first week, but yesterday he did really well the whole day. I think he is starting to really like the bigger kids, and getting to move around and play more. I am sure he will be walking and talking in no time. I have to admit, as well, that I gave him a little haircut last night. His bangs were in his eyes, his ears were covered, and he had quite a fine duck tail working in the back. I should've tried to get a picture of the half-way haircut - short in the front and party in the back kind of mullett - HILARIOUS!!!! But now, as Ryan says, he looks like a 13 year old boy. It is really cute.
I will try to post more pictures soon. We just did a mini portrait studio in the Hall house the other day and have some really good shots. The family in matching "Ho Ho Ho" t-shirts. (we wanted to do matching sweaters and make it look like a family from the 50s - mom serving dad and child cookies and milk, etc, but we didn't quite make it that far this year), and we even got Jude in his outfit cousin Malia brought back from China for him. Good thing we put it on now, because in another month or so his "budda" belly would have kept it from closing! :)
Quick note on me and Ryan- we shot a commercial for a local carpet company - Luna. I will try to post that on here as well. It is quite funny- if you understand that a Luna commerical is supposed to be really big and over the top, of course.
All I can say is, I am really thankful that I have Ryan and Jude in my life!

Jude's First Birthday- November 21

Here are some funny pictures - I will write more details later. As you can see- he had a good time, eating mac and cheese, opening presents, wearing hats, and EATING CAKE!!!

Merry Christmas- I mean, Happy late Halloween, and Happy Thanksgiving?

I promise to add a picture of Jude in his pumpkin costume soon, but we just got back from the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's in Ohio, and have been busy every night since. But, I did get this picture emailed from a friend of Ryan and his family growing up. She had a boy a few months after we had Jude, and couldn't wait for them to play together now that they are a little older. Well, you can see from the picture how that turned out. Logan just reached over and grabbed Jude's Halloween shirt and he just started wailing..... He had a long day the day before- daycare during the day, traveling all night, sleeping in a new place, etc. He is still getting used to the daylight savings time change now too.... Used to wake up everyday at 6:00, but now it is 5:00. (no matter what time he goes to bed.... little stinker) . But he is pulling himself all the time now, and the doctor said that he lost the reflexes in his foot and that he will start walking any time now! Wow- we thought we were busy before, but I think it has just started.

Oh, yeah- one more thing- GO OBAMA!!!!!! This country (and world) needed a change, and that is what we got. We are so excited at the Hall household..... This is going to be amazing! (Jude even wore his Obama sticker at daycare all day yesterday to cheer him on.... and both Malia and Garrett called to say "Go Obama" - even the two year olds knew who the best candidate was)

It's almost Halloween! (or the beginning of Christmas with my family)

Well- only one month until Jude's first birthday! I can't believe it. Time is flying, although it seems like he has always been in our life. He is crawling and moving like crazy - our time of just playing on his little foam mat is over. Now it is on to better things, like finding the dog food, or discovering the little orange lights we hung around the window (Christmas is going to be fun!). Grandma and Grandpa from MN came in this last weekend. We had a great time shopping on Michigan Ave., popping into my work (and Ryan's) to show him off, going to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and shopping at Old Orchard (oldy but a goody). Then on Sunday after the took off for their car ride back, we met some friends at the good ol' Apple Holler. It was a lot of fun, but a little disappointing that they only had 2 rows of trees that had any apples left at the far end of the orchard. We just got some that had already been picked- but man, were they were delicious. Perfect crisp, sour but sweet apples. Apple Holla! We got a big pumpkin to carve and a little one for Jude to decorate. I think Jude wasn't quite sure why we put him on the dirt next to those pumpkins, but the photo op was too cute to pass up. I wanted to put him in his pumpkin costume next to the real pumpkins, but it got left in the car (which was good, since it was hard enough walking the 10 miles (it felt like) back to the car with Jude, a 16 lb pumpkin, 6 lbs of apples, a diaper bag, you get the idea...). But he will get a chance to wear it at Grandma and Grandpa Halls when we go there for Halloween weekend. Maybe we will make him trick or treat at the gas stations along the way!

Jude is crawling!

We had a great time this last weekend. We took a car trip to visit the family in Minnesota, and to help host a baby shower for a long time neighbor/friend of the family. Betsy and I grew up together (one year apart) - taking dance, driving to High School, etc. It was a lot of fun - except for the mistake I made on the game I put together (really my one and only job and I messed it up! - opps!!!!). Jude was such a trooper through it all- car ride, missing naps, different schedule on his food... But, he thought it was all worth it to get to see everyone - Grandma and Grandpa, Shelley and Malia, and Jeff, Amy, Garrett and Aislinn (and the answer to the picture on the side is Jude, although you may think otherwise). And most importantly- Jude was excited because he got carpet and started crawling!!!! YEAH!!!! He also was standing up all on his own, holding on to a little Winnie the Pooh scooter. I can't believe how in just a few days he is doing so much more. We will have to get out his truck Grandma and Grandpa bought him so he can do that at home too. I picked him up at daycare yesterday, and they showed me the pile of toys that he had taken down from the shelves and played with - they are glad he is crawling, but maybe not so glad either :) I also have to wish my sister-in-law Amy a Happy Birthday. Poor girl had to go to three showers (yes, three) this weekend (two on her birthday), and then we heard a good story that cute little Aislinn threw up in her mouth and on her shirt! AH!!! (Amy was holding her up for a kiss after a long day of work, and... surprise!) I am not sure what Ryan would have done if that had happened to him. We don't even want to think about it.
In other news, I guess Ryan has a new spot on TV for Papa Murphy's now. Everyone thought the one was done playing, but now they came out with another spot, and he is in that one too! Everyone in MN is pretty excited. Tomorrow is October, so I will be keeping an eye out for the Luna spot. And anyone in the western chicago/suburban area should be looking out for Ryan on a car shop spot. (I know, I know- Ryan as a mechanic?)
Well- hope everyone had a great summer. The high is 60 today, so I think fall is here. And remember, only 31 days until we can start playing Christmas music! :)

Ryan is 30!!!!!

So, today is his big day! I already told him he doesn't have to worry about getting older- we already are old.... We have been married for 5 years (this Saturday), own a condo, have a baby, our big night out is getting Chillis to-go and renting a movie. Actually, we had a big night out on Saturday. We went to the new Trump Hotel and Residences and ate at the restaurant, Sixteen. it is (obviously) on the 16th Floor and had great views of the city (see the dark picture with the close up of the Wrigley Building in the background), and great food. We went with our good friends, and had a perfect evening. (Thanks to everyone for coming along with us, and humoring Ryan on his expensive dinner) We then went to our old hangout "The Irish Oak" in Wrigleyville for drinks. I limited Ryan on the drinks at the restaurant because they were so expensive, and figured we should just wait until we got to the bar for some "cheaper" drinks. We did get some chocolate covered strawberies that said Happy Birthday for Ryan, complementary from the chef. It was a great night! Our neighbor watched Jude (and Stitch) for us - it was really nice of her. Especially since she ran a marathon the next morning! And... we are lucky enough to have another night out to see a dance show this Friday for our anniversary. I know, I know, a dance show? But, I swear, Ryan wants to see it too!
Jude had his 9 month check-up, and did really well. He is now 20 lbs 4 oz, and is 27 inches tall! Poor guy has an ear infection, but the doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about (like too many in a year, etc). He is supposed to start eating more foods and really start working on that sippy cup. We tried to mash up some spaghetti for him last night (that is what we were eating), but it was a little hard for him to eat it. Oh- and he did one crawl for me this morning.... He gets on his hands and knees now, and will move his hands forward but just can't quite get the legs going. But I am pretty sure I saw the knee go forward once this morning. Anyway... he is getting really close!
Hope everyone has a great week, and make sure to wish Ryan a Happy Birthday!