Larry and Laurie News

Happy New Year 2010!!

2010-01-02T17:40:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year to all who enter and read our little blog. Here's hoping 2010 is a great year for all of us!

We ended 2009 with the Finley's sitting on the couch after a nice dinner. Non-eventful from where we would have been 5 0r 10 years ago, but more the speed needed for the moment.

Christmas in Long Island was great, although it's always hard to miss those you aren't with for the holidays and this year was no exception about missing all the folks in Rochester and AZ. We did love spending some dedicated time with the Mulligan family. We did a lot of playing and opening presents, and visiting with Grandy, Grumpa and Aunt Christine. We went into the City for a day and had brunch with Great Aunt Alice and Great Nana Helen. We then walked over to see the Tree at Rockefeller Center.

On Monday after Christmas we went up to Connecticut to spend the day with the Flatley's. Nora had a great time with all the kids and really liked swimming in the new indoor pool! We enjoyed the day a lot!

Our time with the Finley's was awesome. It was freezing in Chicago, but we made the most of our time together with some good meals, lots of playing and a trip to the aquarium to see the sharks and fishes.

As we start 2010, here's hoping that we continue to have the good luck, health and friendships we have today.

2009-04-04T11:19:00.003-05:00

Long time no update, but at least the new pictures have been flowing. So Little Miss Nora is 8 months old. She's doing great and is still just a true joy to have around!!

We've had a lot of firsts in the past month, and pictures of most of them are on her picture pages. She had her First Haircut, First St. Patrick's Day, First Walk in the Desert Mountains and First Spring Walk on the Prairie Path with the doggies.

She has 8, yes 8, teeth. She's graduated to some people food, and loves bananas, cheese and puffs. Her favorite mode of getting around is still the barrel roll, but there is a greater amount of commando crawl each day. She also loves to try and pull herself up on things, she isn't quite there yet, but it's coming soon. If you do stand her up next to something, she'll stand and dance and butt wiggle for a good five minutes. Needless to say we've begun childproofing the house. Zeke wishes we could childproof him. = )

We had a nice visit with Grammie over St. Paddy's day and are looking forward to Grandy's arrival in a few weeks!

We are looking forward to spring really arriving and getting dirty in the backyard in our newly planned victory garden.

We also got a little video camera, and have a bunch of videos of Nora, but since Daddy doesn't like to put video on the web, you have to email us for them and we'll get you access to where they are hidden!

Hope you are all well and our love to each of you!

New Nora Photos

2009-03-01T11:02:00.000-06:00

I've added a new Nora photo section (6-9 Months).

Christmas in Chicago!

2009-01-02T18:00:00.003-06:00

As we were in Rochester over the holidays this year, we celebrated Nora's first Christmas with Larry's parents a bit early via webcam!! Nora enjoyed herself and got plenty of practice opening presents. It was wonderful for us to be able to share it, albiet remotely, with Grandy and Grandpa.

Nora loves her Interactive Zoo, and played with her new activity cube in the car all the way to Rochester!! See pic here for proof!

She also loves ELVIS. No, not the real Elvis, but her new rocking horse named Elvis. We even geared him up with real reins so that she can hold on and rock in the future. See pic here!

We also are thankful for the clothes and contributions to Nora's ever increasing college fund. She may have enough in their for one whole credit in 2020. Or here's hoping she does!!

Although we missed being with the Mulligan's at the holidays we KNOW that next year will be a whirlwind of a time with a fully active 16 month old running around opening everyone's presents.

Peaches

2009-01-02T17:53:00.002-06:00

So, my sister (who did daycare for 10 years) has a theory that when kids have peaches for the first time that ALL kids do this full body shiver. No theories on why, but she says it's damn cute and always happens.

Wanting to test this theory on yet one more child, we volunteered Nora for further testing when we were all together at Christmas. So, HERE for your viewing pleasure is our little girl's reaction to her first peaches.

Three Months Already??

2008-11-01T18:11:00.005-05:00

Pretty active week for us out here in Chicago lots to report and catch up on.

Nora went to day care with Miss Jen for 3 days this week to get both of us accustomed, and comfortable with the process. I go back to work full time on Monday, and am both excited, and shocked that it's been 3 months already.

Nora had her first plane ride, and it was great!! She saw all the sites from above in NYC including the Statue of Liberty. She was soo good on both flights, even though we were stuck on the tarmac for an hour and a half at LGA on the way back, she was actually better behaved than some of the adults on the plane.

Her Christening in LI was great, and we were happy to have the family, Flatley's and friends with us for the big event. Larry's dad did the ceremony and was a little over zealous with the anointing oil at one point, so she was a pretty greasy monkey for a few days, and still has a lingering smell of a Christmas ham.. all clovey.

We weren't planning on doing anything for Halloween, but I was in the store on Friday and saw this cute pumpkin costume on sale for cheap and couldn't resist... it's a good thing too b/c she was so cute in it!! See for yourself on her photo page, as there are lots of new picture loaded.

I Can Giggle!

2008-10-18T13:19:00.002-05:00

This week was full of firsts -- our first giggle and our first road trip! The giggle is sooooo cute, and I wish I could capture it on video. Soon enough, and when I do, I'll be sure to share it.

Our road trip to see Cousin Beth and Morgan was great!! Nora slept like a champ on the 4 hour ride up to Ann Arbor, we had a great afternoon of just hanging out and relaxing, ordered dinner and watched the debate. Thursday morning Dave cooked us breakfast, we hung out for a bit, mugged for some pictures and went out to lunch before heading back to Chicago. Apparently the limit for Miss Nora in the car is not more that 7 hours in two days, b/c the last 50 minutes of our trip back from Ann Arbor were shear torture. Baby girl let mommy know how very ANGRY she can get, luckily mommy controls the volume on the stereo and knows that Miss Nora would calm down as soon as we got home... but it was a tough ride through Dan Ryan and Ike traffic...

We've posted a whole bunch of new photos, some from Ann Arbor, some from around the house, and some in her very cool boots from CD!!

Next week is also a big week.. with our big trip to NYC!! We can't wait to see and meet everyone!!

Blowing and Growing

2008-10-02T11:47:00.003-05:00

Nora had her 2 month appointment and shots on Tuesday and came through with flying colors! She clocked in at 9 lb 13.3 oz in weight and 22 1/4 in length. The doc said she is growing well, plodding right along her projected growth curve! Doc also said she's got great head control and good eye tracking and interaction for a kid her age. Shots went off without a hitch, a few minutes of crying and then right back to smiling her goofy smile.

As you can see from her pics, she's been quite the party animal recently! She had a great time at our Annual Halfway to St. Pat's party, and mommy barely held her all night because she had soooo many other admirers. Last weekend we were at L. A.'s house for C.T's goodbye party. This time she slept through the whole thing, until it was nearly time to go and then she got up to give everyone some big smiles and coos.

She is smiling a ton now (especially when daddy changes her and does "Maniac" -- yes think Flashdance) and likes to tell stories and coo and blow spit bubbles!! She has also got a new nickname it's Princess Meaty Cheeks.

She is getting a pretty good nighttime routine down, we put her down at 9/9:30 pm and Larry gives her a bottle at 11/11:30 and she sleeps most nights until 4:30/5:00 am -- and this means we are all getting a fair amount of sleep, which is great.

As for what's next in October:

we are still interviewing day care providers b/c Mommy plans to go back to work Nov 3
we hope is that we'll be able to go up and visit our new "cousin" Morgan Alexa
we have our first plane ride on Oct 23, when we travel back to LI, NY to see Larry's family!!

Stay tuned for more, our love and Nora's bubbly spit to all of you!!

New Nora Page

2008-09-28T13:44:00.004-05:00

I've changed the Nora page again to, hopefully, make it easier for people to find things. The Nora page is still in place but the format has changed. There is a section for Nora links now that will take you to the Nora Photos page and Nora stories like Nora related blog entries. The Nora Photos page has been changed so that they're are currently only two sections: the Nora (0-3 Months) page link and the directory listing link which has the raw, unedited pictures suitable for printing. We'll add more sections as Nora gets older.

New Picture Setup

2008-08-24T18:56:00.000-05:00

All right, we're going to try something different. Complaints have been pouring in from across the nation that we haven't been uploading pictures of Nora as fast a people would like. I've heard your cries loud and clear so here's what we're going to do. I've created a page that has every Nora picture on it. It won't be formatted or edited in any way. It's just a big dumping ground for her pictures. I'll keep this page loaded with fresh pictures as best as I can. Take a look at All of Nora. The other page takes a bit more doing to make pretty and is the reason for, what some people say, my lackadaisical posting schedule. Take a gander at Nora Photos for the more souped up version. Please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email to let us know what you think.

Nora Arrives

2008-08-05T16:35:00.000-05:00

Nora Helen Mulligan arrived at 10:57AM on July 29, 2008. Baby and mother are both doing fine. You can read more about the event here. Pictures can be found here.

Enjoy,

She's Late

2008-07-26T11:56:00.003-05:00

Okay, so most of you who know me, know I sometimes have a problem being on time. And most of you who know both Larry and I know we can each be a bit stubborn. Well it's now apparent that our little bundle of impending joy is certainly taking after each of us!!!

As of today (and depending on whose count you go by) she is approximately SIX DAYS LATE!!!

We went to the Dr. on Thursday thinking we would go over to the hospital and induce labor, but the baby is fine, and overall besides being tired and having some hip and foot pain, I am fine, so there really was no medical reason to do anything... except wait some more.

And, those of you that know me know that patience and waiting are not really my strong suit, so... overall, I'd say I'm doing pretty well considering!

We'll send along any more news as it warrants, but for now, it's one big holding pattern.

Eviction Notice

2008-07-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Since the little girl is taking longer than expected to make her arrival, we decided to serve her with papers. Here are the pictures.

Sorry for being lazy

2008-07-19T16:53:00.000-05:00

I/we have been delinquent in posting. Sorry about that. Nothing too great to report. Laurie is doing well but still no baby. Her due date was yesterday so we're on borrowed time now. We'll let everyone know as soon as something happens.

We had a bunch of people in town the week before last. Sandra and Michael Nanney were in town. We had a fun time on a lake cruise and walking down Michigan Ave. Here are the pictures.

Kim and the kids were here and stayed with us nearly all week as well. Megan P. was here too. Pictures from their stay are here.

New Pictures

2008-06-09T20:11:00.000-05:00

We finally got around to posting some new pictures. You can find pictures of Beth and Dave and the Baby Shower at Ryan and Jeff's. Enjoy.

3D Ultrasound - It's Cool!

2008-05-03T18:57:00.009-05:00

Today we had our "just for fun" 3d/4d ultrasound, and it was pretty cool!! We learned a few things:
1. She is still a girl.... which is good considering how many pink outfits she has received already!!!
2. That it is her feet that are kicking my gallbladder/ribs etc and causing all of the heartburn I have been having this week, and
3. We actually witnessed the move she has been doing that feels like she's using my bladder as a trampoline (which is on the video at about 14:45 - 14:55 minutes.) It's a big stretch and a punch motion all at once!

The full 16 minutes of video are up on the videos page. If you have trouble playing it in your browser, download it here. There are some really good shots of her face around 2:30 - 4:30 on the video-- and a lot of shots of her little hands and fist as she pummels me and hides from us!! The photo page has some new still shots of her cute little face and feet!
Larry has also just put up some photos from our wonderful baby shower held in Long Island in April. It was a great time and it was wonderful to see our families and friends and share in the love and support that they have for us!!
So, as of today we have just 11 more weeks to the actual due date of July 20! It's hard to believe that it's really right around the corner and we'll soon be able to hold our new addition!
Our love to all, and enjoy the photos!

Baby Belly Pictures

2008-03-30T10:12:00.000-05:00

Everyone has been asking for baby belly pictures. So here you go. Take a look here

It's a girl!

2008-03-14T21:14:00.000-05:00

We just had our second ultrasound. Mother and baby are doing fine. The father is doing fine as well if anyone cares to ask.
Pictures of our new soon to be baby girl have been posted. Click here.
Enjoy.

Please Welcome Our New Addition

2008-01-11T19:27:00.000-06:00

We've added pictures of Junior's first pictures.

Larry's Parents in Town

2007-08-12T16:13:00.001-05:00

Larry's parents and sister were in town this weekend. We went to Millennium Park on Friday night and listened to Mahler's 5th.

Saturday we ran around town and saw the sites, and then went to dinner at Arun's. It was great! I highly recommend it for groups. Each course was unique and all of us enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday we laid low and had a big birthday dinner for Larry.

Life With the Mulligan's

2007-02-20T11:11:00.000-06:00

Our first attempt at Blogging, seeing as all the cool kids are doing it.

Stay tuned. We'll have house pictures, dog pictures and more Chicago mullings soon.