Nascar - An Excuse to See Sydney

Grandma and Pap Pap Denk came out in mid November to go to the Nascar race at PHX International Raceway, but we all know it was just an excuse to come to Phoenix to see Sydney. :) While they had a good time at the nearly 12 hour event, they enjoyed their time with their beautiful grand baby. Their visit also allowed mommy and daddy their first night away from Sydney. We took the chance of the free baby sitters and headed up to Jerome, AZ to hear one of our favorite musicians and enjoy some time alone together. As a first time mommy, it was admittedly a little hard to leave her, but I knew she was in good hands, so that helped. Thanks to Grandma and Pap Pap for everything you did for us while you were here. We enjoyed your visit!

Fira Stout Visits

In late November, we were treated by a visit from Fira Stout. Fira was my second mom growing up in Illinois. I'm pretty sure I spent more time at her house than I did my own. Oh, the stories... ones that Sydney will never hear. Anyway, this was Fira's first time meeting Sydney. As we explained, the rule is that if you visit, you end up on the blog (eventually).

Mommy, Sydney and Fira

Fira playing with Sydney

Fira, thanks so much for stopping by on your way back home! It was such a pleasure to see you! Sydney loves the toy your brought her as well! We get to hear the piggy sounds a lot. :) Lots of love to you!

Announcement

I apologize for the lag in posts as of late. I'll back date them so they fall more in line with when the events actually happened. To explain, I was part of a RIF in mid-November. My former employer has filed for bankruptcy so as a result over 200 people were given the incentive to find new employment opportunities. For me, I have embraced this as a chance to be an official stay-at-home mommy and project manager of the Denk household. Funny, I now have less time than I did before to do things like update this blog. It's all worth it though... taking care of Sydney (and baby daddy, a.k.a husband, a.k.a, Dave) is the best job in the world!!

I'm not sure how long I will be able to stay at home, but we've chosen not to worry about it for at least the rest of the year... maybe through Sydney's first birthday. We'll see. I just hope that when i do decide to return to work, there is a job out there for me. Kind of scary with these tough economic times. Stay tuned.

Happy Holidays!
-Carrie (a.k.a. Mommy)

P.S. Don't buy anything based on a rebate. You might not actually get it.

Happy Halloweenie!

Of course mom waited until the last minute to get a costume for Sydney and the pickins' were slim. We went for the 0-9 month puppy costume knowing she wouldn't be in it for very long. Yup... about 4 minutes. Just long enough to take a couple of pictures. She was just too big for it. Everytime she straightened her legs, the zipper came undone. Luckily, I bought two. Her second costume was a little angel, which was really too big for her, but it worked nonetheless. All in all, it was a short Halloween. We sat outside for a while and got one trick-o-treater, then it was in for a bath, bottle and bed. Next year should be more fun for her.

Mom w/ puppy Sydney

Sydney humoring us with a smile, but I know she was thinking, get me out of this damn thing... I'm WAY too old for this!

Sydney reaching out for Raz wondering if his "puppy suit" felt as soft as hers did.

Mommy with her little angel

First Hockey Game

We took Sydney to see her first hockey game the night before Halloween (hence the outfit). The Coyotes were playing the Penguins. There were a group of us that went and she did great. It was a late night for her, but she was a trooper. The only thing she didn't like was the buzzer that went off after a goal and the crowd going crazy. She'd cry for a minute, then she was over it. I won't tell you who won (but... go Yotes!)

Big Girl Changes - Crawling & Toofies

For a while Sydney has been doing the army crawl. When we were in Pittsburgh she was able to take a few more "crawl steps" before falling to the floor. After we came home, I caught a cute little snippet of her first moves towards really crawling. Today, she motors across that floor like nobody's business. We can't take our eyes off of her for a second! The dogs are afraid of her now that she's mobile. Very funny.

Not only is she crawling, her first tooth started popping through while we were in Pittsburgh. We also noticed this morning that the one next to it is now cutting through. Those gummy smiles are about to be a part of the past! :(

I can't believe how big our little girl is getting. She's growing up soooo fast!

Steelers & Primanti Brothers

Two of Dave's favorite things in life: Pittsburgh Steelers & Pittsburgh's famous Primanti Brothers sandwiches. I have my opinions on both, but we'll save that for another blog. The family threw Dave a birthday party for the Steelers game that Sunday at Mark's house. A good time was had by all. To finish out the special birthday, Dave HAD to go to Primanti Brothers and get one of their sandwiches. If you've never had the pleasure, the sandwiches are made with your favorite meat, lettuce, tomato (good so far), then you add cole slaw, french fries and if you feel really crazy, a fried egg. One of a kind.

Sydney's first exposure to a Primanti Brothers restaurant.

The famous sandwhich itself.

Mommy and Sydney at the Steelers party

Bill and Lorrie with Sydney

Denk Family Photos

Having everyone together was a good opportunity to get some Denk Family photos.

The whole clan

Sydney with new baby Bradey

Denk Grandkids with Great Grandkids

Denk Grandkids

Bella, Sydney, Joselyn & Paige

Uncle John & Aunt Ginnie w/ Sydney

Trip to the Burgh

We recently went to Pittsburgh to visit the Denk family and friends. We thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Dave's birthday and give everyone a chance to see how much Sydney has grown or meet her for the first time. As you can imagine, there were plenty of good photos so it's hard to choose which ones to post. The biggest thing I noticed from the series of pictures is that Sydney will fall asleep on just about anyone. Here are just a few snapshots. :)

Grandma Denk

Uncle John & Aunt Ginnie

Cousin Jesi

Pap Pap