Thanksgiving weekend

We had a fun time in UT for thanksgiving and I can't believe we are going back in 2 weeks for Christmas. Why can't January and February fly by as fast as time does during the holidays?! Noah had a fun time at the BYU/Utah game, even though it got pretty cold and we left during half time!

It is finally starting to get really cold here in Chicago, but we are still enjoying it here. There are so many fun things to see and do.

And our latest and most exciting news is that Grant was accepted to Northwestern's business school and he starts next month. He will be doing the executive program since he is still working full time, so he will be gone every other weekend for the next two years......things are about to get crazy! It's ranked number one though, so I am so proud of him. He is such a hard worker.... he deserves it! We're just hoping that the small fortune it's going to cost us will pay off in the long run! :)

We hope everyone has a happy holiday season!!! Let us all try to do something for someone in need this time of year and try to remember the real reason for the season, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Santa

Last Saturday we were piddling around downtown at the huge Macy's and it just happen to be the first day they had all of their Christmas up! Santa was there in Santa Land, the tree was up, all of the windows were decorated so cute, and they had facepainting going on, people making balloon animals, crafts, etc. I though Noah would be afraid of Santa this year, but he walked right up to him and sat on his lap. It was pretty funny though, because Noah just sat and listened very intently to what he had to say to him, but he would absolutely not look Santa in the face. Here are some pictures they let me take myself (hence the bad quality).
Noah was totally freaked out of the guy making his balloon monkey...that was pretty funny too.

Here's to Christmas music playing already and only two more weeks until we're in UT for Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays! :)

Da Bears. Da Bears. Da Bears.

We've got spirit how 'bout you?

This is my "two thumbs up" pose for dad. haha. I didn't know Nordstrom sold sports memorabilia. I think maybe it's just here in Chicago...? It's like everyone breaks out the team spirit here on the weekends and is the only clothing attire they wear...team shirts, jerseys, etc. Go team.

Happy Halloween!

We scrambled to get a costume the day before halloween this year, and found this in the very picked over "bad parents that wait until the last minute" section at Toys 'R Us. Next year we'll plan ahead a little more, when Noah can understand halloween a little better. Our ward had a huge turnout at their trunk or treat dinner party. It was a lot of fun.
He's a puppy dog, if ya couldn't tell what the shaggy costume is. ;)

Today we got all bundled up and went back to the zoo. Nice day, very cold.

Happy Halloween!

Here is an animal sounds video for my mom.... (sorry again to the others... can you tell he's a first grandchild for my parents?!) :)

Today I snuck Noah into nursery at church, and for once (it's been a while, okay?!), I didn't leave church angry at my child or in a bad mood! Noah saw balls in the room and just ran in and played. We were all so much happier at church today. It is so ridiculous and hard to feel the spirit while chasing around a very loud and crazy child. There are hardly any children his age in our ward, so any loud squak he makes in sacrament meeting or classes is very apparent.

I heart nursery workers! Thank you! Only one more month until he's official in there. Thank heavens he loved it and we don't have an emotionally attached child who won't leave our arms. He couldn't haven been happier as well.

Ideas

I had wondered what life would be like if my husband didn't travel for work...well, now I know! It has been so nice having Grant home every night since moving to Chicago. He no longer travels every week, and he is so helpful with Noah when he gets home from work. One minor detail though.........I now feel like I need to fix a decent meal for dinner every night. I mean, I have no excuse not to, right? It's not like I'm busy working anymore or anything, and I don't have any friends to occupy my time since I just moved to a new city. All I have going on is a crazy boy and an occasional visit to the gym. It's so cold and rainy here (torrential downpour today!) so we'll be spending most of our time indoors for the next while........ probably until next June.... Now's the perfect time to test out some new dinner ideas. Anyway, so I am asking for your favorite dinner recipes, or recipe blogs. I just need a little something to get me motivated. :)

You can also email me at brigoodson@gmail.com.

Gracias, and happy cooking!

Sunday in the Park

(Sorry for the picture overload of Noah.... meant for a grandma to see.) :)

Cupcakes

It has been so cold and rainy here! Last night we ventured out of the house and treated ourselves to some yummy cupcakes at a cute bake shop. They had the yummiest pumpkin spice cupcake with cream cheese frosting.... I can still taste them my waistline and hips. ;)

Three days & counting

Noah has been off the bink for three days now...yahoo. We cut the tips off a couple of them as recommended. (Thanks Shellie!!) It was hilarious... he put it in his mouth and took it right back out, looking at it like it was disgusting. Naps and bedtime were hard the first day; he had some serious meltdowns, crying and screaming in his crib "baaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!!!!!" I thought it was pretty funny, although Grant had a hard time not giving in to the poor little guy. I just kept telling him that the binks don't work anymore and that they are all gone. Anyway, I think it has worked!


P.S. It's already freeeezing here in Chicago. boohoo.

Addict

Help! We have an addict on our hands; Noah is seriously addicted to his binky. He calls for it and cries for his "bah." He will be old enough (hallelujah!!) to go to nursery next month, and I would really like to get rid of it before then. Any suggestions or ideas? I know some people think he's still young and it's okay for him to have it, and some think it's definitley time to get rid of it, like me. Although, it is just so easy to give it to him and plug his crazy 'teradactyl screams' sometimes. How can I help his little mind realize that he doesn't need to have it anymore?

The best $50 we've ever spent

Noah has never been a good baby on any flight we have taken.... all he wants to do is get down and walk around (same goes for church). It doesn't help that he has the loudest baby scream known to mankind. (We've had a passenger on a previous flight who was sitting in front of us cover their ears before....that's how loud this kiddo is.) Two weeks ago we broke down and bought a portable DVD player. We bought it after Noah was so loud and naughty at our last infertility consultation. Low and behold, Noah was so good on our flights to Utah last week; he just sat and watched a variety of sing along and nursery rhyme DVD's. I am tempted to start bringing this to church with us and hiding it in the pews behind hymn books or something! haha.

My boy

Some cute pics my sister Camille has taken since we have been visiting Utah.... we'll be here all week...yay! :)

TMI... i know.

So last week Grant and I met with an infertility doctor here in Chicago. Yes, we are trying to get the process going again, and aren't lucky ducks that just happen to get pregnant the good ol' fashioned way.... rather, we save, save, save, then hope that one of the many treatments we go through actually get us prego. I wish I could say our insurance covered the costs, but they don't cover a single penny!



We had a fabulous experience with our last doctor in Los Angeles that brought us little Noah. Now, that is a long way to fly to from Chicago, but after our experience last week, I'm thinking it may not be too bad of an idea afterall....we just have to gather the funds together!



So this doctor's office wanted me to go through all of these tests, pay $2500 (just for the tests), and wouldn't tell me the total price of what the IVF was going to cost me until after I paid the $2500. Um, hello? I am not paying that kind of money for tests before knowing what exactly the FINAL IVF pricing is going to be as well. Plus, their office was old, their scale was 15 pounds off (I made sure when I got home that I hadn't just been eating too much great food here in the last three weeks), and to top it all off, the doctor seemed totally annoyed that I had Noah there with me (I did call ahead and make sure it was okay to bring him). I finally went to the front desk and told them that I wanted to cancel everything with their office, and I told their receptionist that "honestly, I'm not too impressed with your doctor."



So my reasoning behind sharing all of this info on my blog is this: if anyone reading this has friends/family in the Chicago area with any doctor recommendations, please let me know. As much as I'd love an excuse to fly to L.A., we would love to do the IVF process a little closer to home. So if you know of anyone that has gone through the process out here, let us know! It's amazing to hear actually how many couples have problems getting pregnant, and is more common than most people think. And frankly.....

excuse the potty language....just sayin' it how it is! haha.

Chicago

Our new apartment. This is the street we live on. There is a park at the end of our street, and another one that's pretty close; there are so many parks in this city!!
View of the city from the ferris wheel at Navy Pier.

Mom came to visit - here with Noah at Navy Pier.

Here we are at the Lincoln Park zoo last weekend..... we went again today! It's free!

Noah looks like he's wearing goggles... they are actually sunglasses with velcro around his head. They are the only ones we can keep him from taking off.

Chicago life

I need to find my camera cord.... I will post and update recent pics of Chicago and our new pad. We are finally settled into our new aparment and are getting to know the area pretty well. Chicago is a great city, and we have had great weather since we've been here. I know it's just teasing me for what is right around the corner - the terribly cold and windy winter here that whips through your clothing. I've been here once before in February a few years back, so I know just what is to come.

Drivers here are absolutely insane, as is the traffic. It is a good thing we live so close to downtown (about 4 miles), so it doesn't take Grant long to get to work and back. The shopping here is fabulous, and there is any store you could possibly want - all within just a few miles. I love it! It's much different than Lehi/Traverse Mountain, where we had to drive forever to get to some shopping, gyms, civilization, etc (in my opinion, at least). :)

Other than that, we are missing our families, our great ward, and just the all around nice people in Utah.

My mom came to visit this last weekend and we had a lot of fun touring the city. I will post pictures soon.

Hope our Utah peeps are doing well! We are missing everyone.

The Lake

We hit up Jordanelle for one last boating trip before leaving to Chicago. Lots of fun!

Goodbye Utah!

Busy Week

Noah is finally walking....although he still prefers to crawl most of the time. We've had fun catching up with friends this week before we leave to Chicago.
Lunch with my high school bff's Kitty and Keri.....some things never change. :)

Peterson wedding at La Caille....absolutely beautiful. We hadn't been back since we took our engagement pictures there over six years ago!

Oh....and I dyed my hair dark. New city, new Bri. I'm still trying to get used to it. I feel goth and very pale! :)

Tomorrow is our last day of boating............then off to the big city!