Thirty doesn't have to be dirty, does it?

Welcome 30, let's do this gracefully, shall we?

It's been almost a month now since I've turned 30, but we had a grand celebration, so it deserves a blog post for sure!

The good thing about being born the week after Christmas is that usually people already plan to take off work, and everyone is already in celebration mode. This was no exception for my folks who were already off on Dec 29 and offered to keep Owen (overnight!) so that Mike and I could quick trip it up to the Windy City. Chicago is one of my favorite towns by far, and an entire date day with my wonderful hubby in a great city = the perfect birthday present.

We took the 6:30 am train out of STL and arrived in Chicago around 12:30. We dropped our bag off at the Schusters' amazing downtown condo (so swanky!), and hit Michigan Ave. I got to pick the way we spent the afternoon, and Mike & my folks had the evening planned.

View from the Schusters' Condo.. Thanks again for letting us stay!

Love this city!

It was an absolutely gorgeous winter day, especially by Chicago standards! It was probably 40 degrees, and sunny! Lindsey had given me a real winter coat (not usually needed in Seattle), with matching accessories, but the wind was just too much for my hair and I had to wear a hat.

So since the weather was so nice, I picked to walk down Michigan Ave. I'm sure you're shocked. We mostly shopped for Owen.. bought baby boy Gray Converse shoes (oh.my.goodness), and a few things on sale @ Gap Baby =)

Well, hello, Marilyn!

 

I love walking over the river. Some day I'll be there on St. Patty's day... would love to see it green!

So handsome =)

I've never been in Chicago in December (I don't think...), and I thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas decor.

Mike planned dinner which was at the Signature Lounge @ the top of the Hancock! It was such a wonderful and memorable meal. The views were gorgeous... especially at night!

We were super impressed with our camera's night time photo work!

My cup runneth over....

AND, if that wasn't enough, my folks surprised us with tickets to Second City (Britt's Alma Mater). The show, of course, did not disappoint. We laughed and laughed.

What a full day! We caught the 7:00 am train the next morning so we could get back to that sweet baby boy. Thanks so my love, and Grandma and Papa Cooper for allowing the day to be so memorable! 

I am thrilled to see what God has in store for this next decade!

When in Rome

When in Rome, Do as the Romans do.

When in Seattle, work in a Naturopathic Doctor's office. Do as the Seattleites do.

We won't live in Seattle forever, and I can almost guarantee I'll never get another opportunity to work with naturopaths if we spend the rest of our lives in the Midwest.... so I went for it!

I've been working 'away from the home' for 2 whole weeks now. This week we've had so much snow I haven't attempted to get across the bridge and over small neighborhood roads to Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.

Anyway, I've already learned a lot about how I'll refine my next nurse practitioner job search and the questions I'll ask during the interview process. Nonetheless, I am committed here for a year. I started out really discouraged because I had only seen 2 patients in 2 weeks (and I only get paid by the patients I see).. but I had coffee with a good friend "Danielle the dietitian" and she was really encouraging. She started her own business (building clientele, etc) 2.5 years ago.. and she really helped me to see how many opportunities I have at this clinic, and she gave me some marketing tips too. Thanks Danielle! 

To introduce myself to the patients, I wrote this Blog Post to explain a little bit about nurse practitioners and how they can fit in to naturopathic medicine.

Check out the website. 

Check out the blog. 

Check out the office door:

Like us on facebook! Naturopathic Family Medicine =)

I'll keep you updated!

Giggle Monster

We've had a few snow days here in Seattle, and so Owen has had some neighbor friends over to play. Yesterday, Owen and Will had a blast playing.. or stealing from each other. I love Owen's giggles. He's so social!

12 months: Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

I know that he is now 12.5 months old, and I am already taking notes for his 13 month post, but I think it's still important to highlight our little man's VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY! Here's the invite, for those of you who haven't seen it!

So we celebrated St. Louis Cardinal style. I wanted to have a theme to really separate it from all Christmas celebrations. Everyone wore their Cardinal red, and we had a great time!



Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks



I don't care if I EVER get back. For it's ROOT ROOT ROOT for the Cardinals!

 

Baseball Cupcakes for O and German Chocolate for Grandma Cooper!

 

Livi looks like a princess no matter what she's wearing!

Uncle Ryan & Steven really got in to it!

For more pictures of the party.. click on this link: Cupcake Master. I couldn't figure out how to post the slide show this time. It used to stream out of Picasa Web Albums, but now my options have changed once I joined Google +. (Sorry Chelsea, I am helpless!). You can also check out Alison's blog for some great shots!



He did an impressive job with the cupcake!



And kept his shirt clean! He's his daddy's boy!

We had an amazing time visiting with family and friends! Thanks to the Willards, the Wrights, Nina, Frank, Ali & Tyler for making the trek to St. Charles to celebrate with us!



Unfortunately Owen ended the party with a fever of 103. We got some more cuddle time in, though.
Also, don't you love this picture?!

In other 12 month news, our little squirt weighed in at 21lbs 6oz (25%) and is 30.5 inches long (75%). I forget his head circumference, but it's still small (10%)! He is a Cooper-Wade, that's for sure!

• At his 12 month birthday, he still only had ONE tooth, but stay tuned for the 13 mo post. We've made some progress in that area!
• He is starting to imitate more which I find to be so so exciting! He imitates brushing hair and some vocal sounds. 'Dog and Bop'
• He says 'DOG' constantly.. and he actually knows what a DOG is!
• He LOVES to be chased. We crawl after him and he just takes off. He usually finds sanctuary underneath a chair or table. Somewhere we obviously can not get. Smart little fella.
• He CAN stand on own, but it's very occasional and he can't be concentrating on it. He still seemingly has no interest in walking, but I have noticed his feet are flattening out, and his toes are uncurling. As little as even a month ago his toes were still so curled under that the skin would macerate!
• He has mastered going forward UP the steps and backward DOWN the steps.
• He still has his eyebrows raised all of the time.
• When he wakes up in the morning and I pick him up out of the crib, he sticks his hand straight up in the air like he's hailing a cab. I've yet to figure out what this means!
• Oskee is still his best friend (much to her dismay), and he loves to 'deliver' toys to her while she is lying on her bed.
• When he plays he breathes really loud and hard.. like he's working out. We crack up. 
• It is so much more fun to see him in action than to try to describe it in words. Though I like doing this so that I can look back and remember, I really hope 2012 is the year in which we move closer to most of you so that you can know him like we do.

Happy New Year! Love, The Wades

A Crazy Cooper Christmas

On Christmas morning we had some home made cinnamon rolls at the Wades (thanks to Dax for whipping those up), and then we headed over for a fun-filled day at the Coopers.

I tried to get Owen to wear his Christmas hat just one last time!

Look at that baby boy standing. We are working on the 'no-hands' stand. He's still pretty tentative.

Love this wrapping job by Uncle Steven.

Starting to finally getting the hang of unwrapping.

This year Ryan, Steven, and I all had one thing in common: budgetary restraints. So my mom came up with a new family tradition to play a game. I'm not sure what it's called.. maybe White Elephant? Either way, we had a blast. We each contributed a few cheap gifts, and then took turns opening, stealing, and laughing hysterically. My mom bought ridiculously random gifts, and it seemed my dad opened all of them. We'll keep this tradition for sure!

Steven got some MTN Dew.. a perfect gift for him!

Uncle Ryan with a coffee mug.. a perfect gift for him!

My dad opened up dog bones, flowery lotion, and a loofah.... dare I say perfect gifts for him?  

Later in the day, the Wehmeier Party of 5 came over for dinner. Sometimes I don't know how my Uncle Jay has survived so long living with Aunt Sharon, Katie, Kelley, and Kayla! They are hysterical, and once again wore Owen out. He really liked cousin Kelley, and he even fell asleep on her shoulder for 30 minutes!

The whole gang in the living room. Great-grandma enjoyed all of the commotion too!

Abbey is still kickin it. She'll be 16 this year...

We stayed with the Cooper clan for the remainder of the trip and celebrated the mega-birthday week from their home base! Owen's fever really kicked it up a notch on the 26th, so we had a quiet Mizzou bowl party. We also had a VERY special visit from Kim Dodson who got to meet Owen for the first time. Thanks so much for spending time with us!

Stay tuned for Owen's 1st birthday party post extravaganza!

A Wade Family Christmas

I will let the pictures do most of the talking in this post, but I should say that Christmas this year was absolutely awesome. It's the first Christmas we "Seattle Wades" have been able to get home to in the last 2 years. Fortunately, our extreme anticipation was met with wonderful family, friends, food, birthdays, train rides, and a Missouri basketball victory over Illinois.

Before we left for STL, we celebrated our Wade (family of 3) Christmas here in Seattle.

It was Owen's first taste of mountains of packages, and he wasn't quite sure what to do. He certainly needed prompting to tear the paper, and quite honestly, he was usually more interested in the box than in the toy.

He did like this little gear toy from Santa, and he's very good at stacking the gears. He's also very good at moving these gears all over the house, and I find myself stepping on them quite a bit =)

GaGa and Papa Wade gave him this great riding toy. He didn't understand the bouncing OR the riding at first, but he's really getting the hang of it now that we're back home. Quick side note: Thank you to both grandparents for being cognizant of the size of inside toys you sent. Our 930sq ft thank you.

The box is soo cool.

So we travelled home on 12-19 (Monday). Owen did amazingly well on the flight, as he always does. Our first order of business was to introduce Uncle Mike to sweet, adorable, cuddly, calm Baby Ava. It turns out Uncle Mike is a baby hog, and he would hold her for HOURS at a time. I think part of the appeal was that we didn't know some babies actually sleep for hours at at time while being held. It gives us hope that maybe another child of ours could be like Ava.

GaGa Wade is also a baby hog, but she did share some...

She even shared with Grandma Cooper (who it turns out is also a baby hog). Are you noticing a theme here? Ava is the best ever, and everyone wants to hold her. She sucks really aggressively on her paci and then almost twirls her tongue playing with it. I have never seen a baby do something like this. It's hilarious =)

Uncle Mike and sweet Livi playing

Olivia dressed up for baby Owen.

Aunt Heather got talked in to playing horsey.. more than once =)

Thankfully Santa brought Livi a doll horse to play with. Then I was off the hook.

Thursday night 12-22 brought the bragging rights game. Mizzou vs Illinois. May the best team win. And.they.did.

Because we were staying @ the Wades, I figured I should dress Owen in his orange and blue. We've had the discussion that despite his occasional outward blue and orange appearance, he actually bleeds black and gold. Also, he will be attending the University of Missouri.

I love this picture. Owen does love his GaGa.

These Christmas PJs had me at hello.

The next morning we all took turns at opening gifts. Carson and Livi were thrilled to help Owen (and Ava) open their gifts. At the Wade's house, we open gifts one at a time so that you can see what people get. At the Cooper's it is a free-for-all.

Owen received these two cars in his stocking, and he now holds one in each hand everywhere he goes. He enjoyed them so much that we brought them on the plane. (You have to be a very special toy to get to come on the plane). It's a good thing we had lots of toys, because he didn't sleep a wink of the 4.5 hour flight on the way home. I think I'm still tired from that flight.

Playing with the cars.

Licking the snot that was constantly draining from his nose the entire vacation. Fortunately he shared it with GaGa Wade, Papa Wade, Daddy, Grandma Cooper, and Papa Cooper. Oh Owen.

I am obsessed with this little backpack from Aunt Lindsey.

Worn out.

The box really is more fun than the toys.

My Christmas present came at the end of the day. Owen was so worn out (and slightly feverish) that he fell asleep in my lap and then we cuddled. It was the best part of my day =) Well, the whole day was amazing, and I loved every minute with the Wade clan.

Merry and Happy 1st of Everything

We have just returned from an amazing 12 day vacation to STL celebrating Christmas and MANY birthdays: GaGa Wade, Grandma Cooper, Owen's 1st, and my 30th. I will devote more time to pictures, and descriptions soon, but I wanted to post some teasers.

Merry Magical Christmas morning. He was more interested in the paper than the gifts.

He loved his first bite of sugar, and he had no trouble eating the entire cupcake.

He ended his birthday with a fever of 103 and a subsequent diagnosis of roseola =(  Poor little love.

We're all glad to be back home, and Oskee hasn't left her bed since we picked her up this morning. I start my new job on Wednesday, so please be patient with the posts... but know that we wish you a happy and healthy start to your 2012.

xoxox, Heather