Team B and B

Stetso, bringing down the house at 4 and 5 months..

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED in the past couple months!!! Stetson was baptized, thanksgiving, rolling over, holiday parties, grandparents visit, new jobs!!  Where do I begin?

I will try to keep this brief, but our past couple months have FLOWN by!! Honestly, I remember when Stetson turned 3 months old and I thought - wow, that was a loooooong month, rewarding and amazing, but long.  Since then, I blinked and my world has gone into fast forward mode!  I can't explain it, but everytime someone asks me how old Stetson is I am "this close" to saying "3 months" before I have to accept the fact that 2 whole months have passed since he has been 3 months - as cliche as it is- where has the time gone????

So here's the short of it:

Stetson was baptized in early November.  Much like our wedding, we kept it small and intimate.  We invited both godparents (Aunt Becky and Uncle Dan) and did the ceremony in our apartment followed by a lovely dinner with Dan, Becky, Brad, my cousin Carolyn and myself and Stetson.  It was perfect! I hate saying that so much, but often times I imagine a specific event and I end up disappointed because the event does not live up to the standards I built up to it in my own head.  But this baptism was exactly what I wanted.  I didn't want anything too traditional, and I knew I wanted it to be small.  I knew I wanted the ceremony to be about the people involved and not the hoopla that often overlooks what really matters, and that is exactly what I got.  

After the baptism we had Thanksgiving which I already blogged about.  Since than Brad has taken a new job that is based in Chicago, which means starting in the new year he will be working in the loop.  This is good and bad news.  Good because he gets an office to go to everyday and our home doesn't become his work, but bad because I don't get my lunch with him everyday and I can't rely on him to take the dog out when Stetson is in "a mood".  Overall, it is going to be great, and honestly we have been too lucky for too long.  

Last week my folks were in town and we had a holiday party all at the same time.  Now we look forward to our Christmas celebration in Indiana, our New Years here and then we will be celebrating Little Christmas (google it) with our Cleveland family.

Happy holidays to everyone!!

Love,

Brad, Brigid, Stetson and Zeki

Thanksgiving

Ok, I'm well aware I still need to post my 4 month blog for Stetso, but while we wait let's enjoy our Thanksgiving photos:)

Brad and I decided this would be our first thanksgiving ever that would be spent with just "us".  Typically we host thanksgiving for friends and family in the area, but this year we intended to go to Cleveland to celebrate.  However, with Stetson being so young, and Brad having to travel for work we blew it all off and decided we could make dinner for just the two of us and provide our other loves with their appropriate meals (don't worry Zeki got turkey!!)

Below is a photo (or video) depiction of our day. 

The day started off with Stetson in his usual AWESOME morning mood.  Where he got his morning personality from is a mystery, because it's not from his dad or me:

 

We then began the prep for our dinner - starting with stuffing.  I need to note that this is my 6th thanksgiving dinner I have prepared (if not more) due to the fact that I have been on the west coast for many years and hosted dinner with my pals out west, typically at my place, however, this is the first stuffing I have ever made! Typically stuffing was provided by another guest.  I don't want to brag, but my impromptu stuffing was damn fine!

Since the weather was amazing we decided to take a long walk to the park and play some "chuck it" with Zeki. In lay man's term, we played fetch with him using a special throwing device that I was convinced would be perfect since I typically go to to the park with Zeki wearing Stetson in the Bjorn. Let me tell you, it is hard regardless, fetch needs to be played without a kid strapped to you. Now you know. ( by the way, fetch is Zeki's most favorite past time in the world - ask his nephews Owen and Seamus, if you play fetch with him, you are his best friend!!)

 

After our walk Stetson had his first taste of real food!!!!!!! 

While our little buddy napped we continued prepping our meal:

And then dinner was served!

Stetson woke up and realized he was none too pleased that he couldn't be part of the action:

Finally, after a fussy baby, and all day cooking  there was dessert.... (I should note that the wine we had this night was wine that we could only buy in SF and Brad had shipped to us to surprise me....swooooon:))

 

 

I won't say this was the best thanksgiving dinner to date. I still view my dinners with all my cousins either singing church hymns or telling funny stories my most favorite thanksgiving dinners, but this dinner was WAY up there on the list. I got to hang with my two (three if you include my Zeki) men while making my favorite food, and I didn't have to stress about Stetson's "schedule".  I wish I could have been in Cleveland during this time, but not being there was pretty amazing as well!  As I said before and am sure I will say again, I'm too flippin' blessed!  I have family members hoping to see me, all the while an AMAZING husband, kid and puppy at home so excited to just be "us" everyday.  I hope you all feel as overwhelmed with love as I do right now!

Till next time.

 

Peace, love and baby giggles...keep 'em coming:)

Brigid, Brad, Stetson and Zeki

 

The magical 3 month mark...

From the moment I had Stetson I kept hearing "just wait 3 months", or "oh man you're not gonna believe he's even the same baby (as a newborn) when he's 3 months" and "as soon as he's 3 months it will be totally different." and I gotta say, I kinda agree.  

Don't get me wrong, no magical switch was flipped, I still have my occassionally fussy little boy, but I have so much more too! He's gradually sleeping through the night (I get a night here and there), he smiles, and just today he started giggling alot.  On top of that he's begun talking to me in his baby gibberish, which I ADORE!

When Stetson was born I loved him very very much, but it was hard work, and I wasn't expecting nearly any of it.  I thought I was, but I had no idea.  Now I have this precious baby who kicks when he sees me, loves when you buzz your lips at him and still thinks the bath is great!

Here are some pics of our little man, as well little insights into his personality.

He loves when I "eat" his hands (pretend - duh), but when I give him a zerbert (or commonly referred to as raspberries) he looks at me like I'm an idiot.

 

He doesn't show much interest in grabbing toys, but loves to grab for us, our hands, or shirts, I think we're his favorite toy!

He's got his dad's eyes still, we keep waiting for them to change but they haven't yet, and I LOVE them!

It's a struggle to get him to nap - he prefers napping in the bjorn or in the swing, if he naps at all, but he goes down at bedtime like a champ. If I had to pick I would rather have him go down easy for bedtime everytime anyways.

We took a roadtrip with him and I was so worried we would mess up bedtime being on the road, and to my surprise he actually stuck with it.  He was fussy during the parts in which it wasn't bedtime, but a champ regardless.

He fell off the couch because I was stupid and propped him up when I went to grab the bjorn to put him in it.  In the 5 seconds I was gone, I heard a thump and nearly called 911.  He was fine, I was not.

He loves our daily walks.  He is so interested in everything around us, constantly looking from side to side.  In fact I often hear from strangers about how alert he is.  

Whenever he sees this:

He acts like this (I barely get this response) every. single. time!

 

He has really become my little buddy.  He just breaks my heart just looking at him.  I get so overwhelmed thinking about his future, but also so excited! As I see his personality starting to form, I can't wait to be there with him as he changes and grows even more.  He really is going to be the best!

 Till next time..

Peace, love and white noise,

Brigid, Brad, Stetson and Zeki

3 years...

3 years and my stomach is all messed up thinking about it.  Not messed up in a "I might puke" way, but messed up in the "SANTA'S COMING" way.  I can not believe that it has only been 3 years since I promised to never leave you.  I can not believe that has already been 3 years since I promised to always love you.  I can not believe how much we have accomplished together, while at the same time how much we have evolved and changed all the while remaining best friends.

By the way, have you seen what we made?  Dude, we make good work!

If someone would have come up to me 5 years ago and said "hey- you know that cute dude you just met at a bar? well you are gonna travel the world with him, move in with him, get a dog with him and make a baby with him".  I would have laughed and laughed!  

Dear Brad,  thank you for standing by me through everything.  Thank you for understanding me even when I don't understand myself.   Thank you for the last 3 years.  Thank you our happy hours with a shot of tequila for me and and Powers for you. Thank you for our dvr'ed shows which we both wait to watch together.  Thank you for making the best Egg McBrad's ever!  

I would say I can't wait for the next 3 years, but really I can't wait for the next 33 years and beyond.  It's really nice to know you will always be there with me, whether we move across the earth or stay exactly where we are.

I love you and all you do!

Brigid

It's been awhile -and I'm not even sorry!

Ok, so I'm a little sorry, I know it's been almost 2 months - but we have been so busy tending to a being that weighs less than our dog.

Since the last time we posted my life has changed as I never thought it would.  Seriously, I never in a million years thought my life would change THIS much so dramatically.  For some reason I was convinced that I would sink into motherhood gradually.  Start at waking up early, all bleary eyed and drowsy, but ready to assist my young one.  Then learn to deal with the cries that I would easily console, followed by casual nights out with friends while the baby sleeps gently in the stroller at my side - WRONG!

This past two months have been AMAZING! Truly amazing, but that's not to say there wasn't a struggle.  I'll give you the good and the bad - along with some well anticipated pics.

Good - Stetson was born at a healthy 7 lbs 9 oz, not to big and not too small.  He came out absolutely perfect.  Which still amazes me.  I just can't believe that he was getting all his pieces and parts together - INSIDE OF ME, and I didn't mess it up. I mean I know millions of women have succeeded at this same task, it just fascinates me that the whole process actually works - who knew!

Bad - after Stetson's arrival I was unable to walk for a couple of weeks because he was basically holding my hips in place, something, my abs used to do.  Once he came out, I had no baby, or abs to do the job and was forced to do physically therapy to help regain strength.  It's all good now though, I just ran 2 miles, something I have been looking forward to since I stopped running at 8 months prego.

Good - He smiles, it's not often, but when he does it rocks my world.  The other day I bent down to pick him up out of his swing, he made eye contact with me and gave me the biggest smile ever!  Dude, can't beat it! (haven't caught it on camera yet)

Bad - He also cries - much more then I expected.  I'll admit at almost 8 weeks old the crying has gotten MUCH better, but those first 3 weeks I didn't know what to do, I'm giving him walks, running water, dancing with him, everything, and I have NO IDEA what he is trying to tell me.  I never thought I would be so lost by a simple newborn cry - but there I was. 

Good- on the crying note, today we noticed he was sleepy and I told Brad to "put him down and give him 5 minutes".  He started crying and Brad was like "I know he's tired" and I said "he'll fall asleep, that's his 'i'm tired' cry, which sounds like 'boo hoo, i'm tired', his I'm hungry cry sounds like 'GIVE ME FOOD NOW, BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS'".  Then I realized, holy crap, I know my son's cries - it really can happen!

Bad - when the baby was first born I was stuck in the house.  Completely housebound.  I am a go- go- go person, so when I realized I wouldn't be able to leave for WEEKS at a time, I was pretty shell shocked. 

Good - Being stuck at home has given me time to have to stop moving. I don't get much sleep at night, and in another world I would ignore my tiredness and keep moving regardless, but because I have to be home I have been able to catch up on Bridezilla, and just realize that I have to sit and nurse today, that's all I have to do, so I might as well try to relax while I'm at it. (don't get me wrong, i sneak in cleaning when I can, I would go insane otherwise.)

Bad - Did I mention I don't sleep.  this seems to be the most discussed part of new parenthood, but you truly will never know how hard it is until it happens.  I thought I would be tired, but I didn't know what tired was until now.  There are times when Brad takes the baby and tells me to fall asleep and then he walks in on me to wake me up, and I complain that "but I haven't slept yet" and he informs me that I had been asleep for over an hour I was just so tired I didn't even realize I was sleeping. 

Good - We have officially started date night!  We found a babysitter who comes over every now and then and watches Stetson while we go enjoy time just the two of us.  This was a rule of mine when I found out I was pregnant - once he was old enough for a babysitter we must take time for ourselves, the two of us started this family, and because of that the two of us  must remain a priority.  Plus, my parents came to town last weekend so we could see the SF Giants whip the Cubs' butts!  Mission accomplished!

And BEST - There's this:

 

He is the most amazing little being.  His head wrinkles up when he is first waking up and looks like and old man.  He loves baths so much I call them the baby spa, and he makes the best grunting - cooing noises you have ever heard.  He  has no idea how to even crawl, but he can cuddle like a mo-fo.  We are so excited to watch his life unfold before our eyes.  And we can't believe how blessed we are to have such a wonderful little man in out lives.

I hope to post updates more frequently, but, if not, make sure to keep checking back, I want to keep this blog as current as possible so even Stetson has something to look back on from this time in our lives.

Till next time,

Peace, love and bumbo seats,

Brigid, Brad and Stetson!

He's HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gotta keep this short and sweet cuz I got a newborn to deal with but, the best news in the world is that our little man has arrived!

Stetson Sharkey Schaefer was born July 17 at 5:49 pm. He weighed 7.9 lbs and was 19.5 inches long.  Brad and I went to my final doc appointment Monday to see how he was doing and it was determined he was running low on amniotic fluid thus we were told to induce. When my doc told me this she said I gave the reaction she least expected - I cheered so loud I think the whole office heard.  I guess most new mom's cry because they aren't ready - I think they are crazy. Get him out! Let me meet the bugger!!

Stetson is a family name on Brad's side (also Brad's middle name), and Sharkey is my beloved grandmother's (Gammy's) maiden name.

Labor was about 30 hours long - and well worth it!  He is perfect.  He never lets me sleep, and he eats ALL THE TIME!  But he's perfect and I can't wait to watch him grow.  Enjoy some pics below:

 

Till next time - 

Peace love and lots of diapers:)

Brigid and Brad

It's coming along nicely....

Hi Kids!

I know our last blog we said we probably won't be talking to you until we are parents - so don't get over excited, cuz that hasn't happened yet (every day I wake hoping "today is the day!" alas, it has not been the day just yet). Anywho, we are settling into our condo quite nicely and I just wanted to share some pics of the progress we have made in the past 3 weeks. Keep in mind we still have to finish the "play nook" - as there is only a swing there now, we hope to get some fun kiddy flooring as well as some low bookshelfs for that area.  Also, we are looking to purchase a kitchen table for the dining area, and a futon for the office.  And, as I'm sure you can imagine, there are countless little things that we are gonna do, but we are settled for now and will slowly chip away at that list as the time comes.

But, in the meantime, enjoy our pics:

Here is the progress we made with the main living area, which consist of the kitchen, family room, play nook  and entry way.  this area we only painted the baseboards and windows - to freshen it up a bit.  Otherwise we kept the original paint job:

Here is the entryway on our move-in day

And here it is today:

Here is the family room area on move in day:

And here it is today (from several angles)

The Play Nook on move-in:

And today - as you can see we still have some to do with this area, but it will do for now:)

Here is the kitchen on move-in day:

And several shots of it from today:

This is the hallway - actually BEFORE we closed (I didn't take a pic at move-in):

The hallway today:

Guestbath before move-in (not a very good depiction, but it's all I got):

 And today:

Master bath before:

Master bath today:

 Master Bedroom on move-in:

Master Bedroom - a few days later:

A few MORE days later:

 

Master today:

The Office on move-in:

Office a few days later:

and a few MORE days later:

and the office today - this is still a work in progress, we plan on getting a futon or couch and we (just) put some art on the walls, which I didn't capture.  Brad's brother posted a blog about a standing desk he created for his work space (http://elasticdog.com/2011/01/shelf-made-standing-desk/) Brad followed his instructions and is trying out the same work environment, I think it's working out quite nicely:

And finally the nursery on move-in day:

The nursery a few days later:

And the nursery today:

Thank you again to everyone that helped in any way, shape or form!  We could not have done it with out you!

 

Till next time:

Peace, love and NO MORE PAINTING!!

Brigid and Brad

Getting There...

Well stuff is about to start happening.  As you know our Schaefer clan is about to expand shortly, in an effort to prepare we did a little something called - buying a condo.  No big deal.  Anywho, next week we FINALLY close on the condo! After this, movers will be here two weeks later, then I guess the only thing left to do is have a real live baby - WHOA!

We just had our 32 week ultrasound, which was supposed to be our last one before the birth but due to the size of our baby we were asked to schedule another ultrasound for my 36 week appointment.  Apparently our baby is somewhat of a chunk, don't tell him I said that, I don't want him to have a complex.  In fact Brad doesn't believe he's a chunk, he thinks he's just "Schaefer-Sized", you see Brad was 8.5 lbs at birth. You might not think that is too big, however, Brad was only one of two 8.5lb babies!!!  WHAT?  Brad and his twin, Aaron, were 17 lbs together, and apparently broke records at the hospital they were born at for size.  Unfortunately, Brad's "Schaefer Sized" baby is in a "Brigid Sized" container, and I fear it may overflow.  But let's look on the brightside, at least he's healthy:) (and I'm not having twins!)

Here are those Schaefer Sized Boys:)

 

Also since our last update we have had two AMAZING baby showers.  The first was here in Chicago and hosted by my good friend, Rachel.  The second shower took place in Cleveland and was hosted by my sister (as well as Mom and Dad), not to mention a helping hand from my good galpals to top it off!  Both events were completely different, but equally wonderful.  We can not express how grateful we are for all the efforts and wonderful gifts we were "showered with"!

Chicago Shower:

And Cleveland:

Well, it looks like our next month and a half is going to be rather busy, we may not have the time for a update between now and then.... that being said, next time you hear from us we will probably be parents.  Chew on that! It's still so hard for me to believe, phew.

Here I am earlier this week:

Till next time...

Peace, love and even more to love,

Brigid and Brad

This Stuff Just Got Real....

Life has been anything but same old here in the B&B household.  As many of you know we are expecting a real live human baby to "magically" appear into our lives this July.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? There was a time in the not too distance past (ok, about 7 months ago) that the idea of being pregnant was so alien and, no offense, but gross to me. But now, oh now is a totally different story.  Just minutes ago Brad and I witnessed my stomach move from the swift kick of our baby boy.  Yep, it's a boy, and it's gonna be the cutest, stinkin' boy that has ever been born.  In fact, he's already the cutest boy that has ever been created - we know, we have pictures:

Besides for pro-creating we have been super busy with as many life changing things we can fill into one year as possible.  Brad started a new position and is working remotely for his team out of our apartment.  I, on the other hand, have not found a job yet and decided about 2 months ago to put the job search on hold due to the fact that  - well, I will be due soon.  We decided it would be for the best to have the baby first and then start to search out my options career wise.  Before I found out I was pregnant I was actively interviewing and hopeful something would come soon, but alas the universe had another plan for me.

We also just purchased our first big adult purchase ever - a CONDO!  That's right, we will be home owners as of June 1.  Why June 1 you ask?  Well after looking at our lease we realized the only way to break the lease would be to spend a very pretty penny on our parts, not only this but the seller of the condo we found works with patients and she has to give them 2 months advance notice before she moves - win, win for both parties.  All the paper work is done, inspection, etc. we are just waiting to close as of June 1.  We are very excited! The condo is located in the Lincoln Square area of Chicago, which is a quieter, German neighborhood.  There is a park 2 blocks away and a back deck for some grilling and margarita drinking - who's coming????

Other than that we are waiting for our trip to Cleveland to celebrate this baby's life with friends and family in April, we also have had visitors in and out of town, plus we were able to make one final trip to Salt Lake City to visit the fam and some really great friends.  We were also very lucky to host the whole Schaefer sibling clan last weekend.  We had a great time going to Second City and having dinners both in and out - here's a pic of us on our way to Second City. Becky Bull Schaefer is the photographer, so she is missing:( 

This past several months have been so eye opening to me. I have gone through every emotion you could go through, from scared out of my mind, to so being so excited that I can't sleep.  I find myself crying over orange soda and laughing over absolutely nothing, but the one true emotion I have felt above all else has been gratefulness.  Everyday I look at my amazing life and can't believe the journey it took to get me here, the wonderful friends I met along the way, and how very, very, very lucky I am to have the most wonderful people in my life that a girl can ask for.  I hope I give out as much greatness as I have received, because I really don't deserve everything I have been given. Life is gonna get scarier from here on in, but it's also going to get even more blessed, if that was even possible.

Oh, here's a picture of Zeki- cuz we know you missed him (how could you not??)

Till next time, Peace, love and baby, baby, baby boy toes:)

Brigid and Brad

Ooops, Forgot Yesterday - Final Post

Ok, I didn't forget, I came home after working on my photo stuff all day and my brain hurt and Brad doesn't feel well, and the puppy needed to go out and I just didnt' feel like writing the blog.  So today my friends, I give you ten things!  What a bonus, right?

I'll say this, when I commited to 5 fun facts in five days I had no idea that 3 fun facts in 3 days would have been much more entertaining for you and me - but we are almost done now, thanks for tagging along:)

1. We were so lucky to already have some great visitors.  My friend Emily from SF was able to visit while Brad was in Utah, and Becky Schaefer was here just last week.  We had such a great time with both visits, and also with both we were able to go to the Purple Pig.  It's becoming a new favorite.

2. On the note of Becky Schaefer visiting, she was able to be here during Dan's birthday party.  My bro just turned 30 and it was quite the event.  We all gathered at Newport Bar and wore matching t-shirts, so fun!

3. Speaking of birthdays I turned double 3's a few days before Dan's bday.  We kept it low-key, invited friends to our local bar and had a very good time (oh, and there were shots too!)

4. I unfortunately lost our beloved Canon Powershot while saying good-bye to all my friends in SF.  We are hoping to replace it soon, so there are fewer pictures in our future.

5. Brad and I are going to go to Second City for the first time tomorrow, we are both super excited.  I know most of SNL originates there so it will be fun to see some good Improv.

6. On a moving note: Mayflower did our big cross country move for us.  After hearing complete horror stories about cheaper freights and doing much research we decided to go with the best, and the best it was.  We were in the airport on our way to move to Chicago when we got the call saying our stuff would be there the next day!  Insane, they had just left SF 5 days before that.  We were pretty excited because it meant we got to move in right away.

7. Also, living in the high rise we live in we are only 0.6 miles away from our favorite Chicago Kelly.  This is so ideal because it means I can walk Zeki over to her place for a quick drink, or we can meet half way for lunch.  She even calls me when she is at the grocery store just so we can say "hi" in person.  And is super big help by coming and taking Zeki out when we are gone for too long.  Almost like old times:)

8.  Sooo, do you know the whole Kristin Cavallari (the reality star) and Jay Cutler drama?? Well if you don't here's the short of it - krisin does reality tv, meets big football player, gets engaged to him, then they break-up and now they are apparently back together.  None of that matters except for the fact that we went to a local pub that allows dogs outside, and brought Zeki (duh) and they were both there and Jay loved Zeki, he kept petting him.  I clearly had no idea who Jay was, but I knew Kristin the second she started talking (her voice is unique, I will say that.)  So yeah, that's our claim to fame:)

9. I am heading to Cleveland for Halloween in a couple weeks.  If you don't know already, my sister's family just moved back to Bay Village, and I can't wait to see those kids all hyped up on sugar and dressed up!  It is gonna be a blast!

10.  The Chicago Marathon is this weekend.  After this weekend everyone I know will finally be able to hang out again.  I'm not kidding, it seems like since I moved here everyone has been training for the marathon, so I'm pretty excited to play!  But also: GO KEL, RACHEL, ERIN and SARA!  You are all going to do great!!

Well, that's all for now.  Until next time (and I promise not to be so long winded!)

Peace love and David Letterman

Brigid and Brad