The Big Apple with the Gallaghers!

Eli was very excited to have his Gallagher Girls come visit for 3 days at the beginning of June and we were very excited to see Kim & Bill and celebrate Kimmy's 31st birthday (31?  When did we get so old?). 


We had an amazing time, doing some fun tourist things in NYC and showing the Gallaghers our city (Bill, Ally and Mckenzie had never been here before!).  I am very impressed by how well all 3 kids did!  What were we thinking, traveling all around the most populated city in the US with a 5-month-old, a 17-month-old and an almost 4-year-old?  They were all great though!  We might be crazy, but we have fun!

Here are LOTS of photos to tell the story of our great trip! 

When the Gallaghers arrived, it was early evening and a nice night, so we headed to the Bronx and our favorite Orchard Beach (which also has an awesome playground) ...

Eli & Kenzie enjoying the swings!

Eli's first slide ride.
(LOVE his expression in this one!
"Mom, why are you always embarrassing me?")

Kenzie and Ally enjoying the beach!

The Gallaghers

The Wynnes

That night, we went to our favorite little Italian restaurant and gave a quick driving tour (since the Bronx really looks nothing like a beach!). 

The next morning, we headed out for a full day of sight-seeing in Manhattan!

Eli's first boat ride!

Kenzie & Mommy

The Gallaghers on the Harbor Tour

Eli was enjoying our view of NYC from the Hudson River!

Eli & the Statue of Liberty

Ally & Lady Liberty

We then went on one of those double-decker bus tours!

Ally listening to the tour guide

"Wow, these buildings are big!"

"Wow, NYC is awesome!"

Who doesn't love sitting on the top of a bus?

Our version of Occupy Wall Street

Yum!  Ice cream!

Eli -- don't you know that you're not
allowed to sleep in Zuccotti Park anymore?

The 9/11 memorial was beautiful

The Gallaghers at the 9/11 memorial

Back on the double-decker bus!

The Wynnes in Times Square

The Gallaghers in Times Square

 After hanging out for a late night on Broadway, we brought the kids home and relaxed.  It was such fun to sit around and have some beers (and read some notes from high school!) while the kids are asleep!

The girls in my most favorite pjs
(Whales and mermaids!)

We followed up our exhausting tour of Manhattan ... with another day of touring Manhattan!

Day 2 on the bus!

Ally pushing Kenz through Central Park

Off to the Central Park Zoo!

Kenzie & Ally in Antarctica!

Ally & Kenz watching the penguins!

Eli loves his sea lions!

Eli & the polar bear

Such fun!!  Next visit we'll have to hit up Queens & Brooklyn!

Eli & his Gallagher Girls!

Playdate with Reagan!

Eli & Reagan
May 25, 2012

How could we forget?

Back in May, Eli had a lovely playdate with little miss Reagan.  They took turns napping while we had fun with Reagan's mommy and daddy (Meghan and Greg), eating delicious grilled food and cupcakes! 

While I think of my Eli as tiny compared to all the other babies we know, Reagan is 3 months younger than Eli and a little peanut!  It was so crazy to hold a tiny little baby again!

Surely the first of many, many playdates!

"Hmm... I have never courted a girl younger than me before.
Hope she wakes up soon and sees how cute I am!"

Give me an "E"

Eli is lucky to have an amazing "Uncle" Billy (He has lots of amazing "Aunt"s and "Uncle"s that aren't blood related, but might as well be!).  Uncle Billy is awesome in many ways, but one special way in which he is awesome is that he crafts wooden name letters for all the babies.  He started this 4 years ago for his first daughter (adorable Ally) and recently for his second daughter (cute Kenzie).  We were so excited that he cut some letters for Eli just after he was born. Currently, they are hanging over his door.  I have been meaning to get photos and post them for months now and here they are, finally!

Thanks Uncle Billy!

Seriously, adorable, right? (5)

There is just something about this photo that I adore.

Oh yeah, it's Eli! 

A swinging good time

On a random, nice Thursday night, we decided to check-out the local playground and take Eli for a swing.  At first, Ryan and I were surely more excited, but Eli quickly joined in on the fun!

(Thanks to Aunt Kimmy for lending us her Hugga Bebe, which allowed Eli to sit in the swing and is awesome and gets daily use at the Wynne house!)

Curiosity

Excitement

Contemplation

Joy!

Working Mom (Summer)

While posting photos of Eli is my favorite blog activity, I thought I would dedicate a post to my (current) thoughts on being a "Working Mom".

I have mentioned before that I never really planned to take a lot time off and went back to work part-time 7 weeks after Eli was born.  The Spring semester was tough, for both Ryan and I, but we made it through with only a few minor glitches.  Overall, I think we did pretty well!  I took Eli to work twice (Thanks to awesome grad students Carlee and Katie for baby-sitting!) and Ryan took him once (Thanks to wonderful undergrad Kim for baby-sitting!).  3 schedule conflicts over 10 weeks wasn't too bad!  And we are both so lucky that we work at places where it's possible to bring in a baby and no one bats an eye ... actually ... almost everyone was overly excited to see Eli!  You really gotta love academia!

It's Summer in the land of academics now, and I am back "full-time".  Well ... not really full-time, but my full-time summer schedule, which is Monday-Thursday.  I usually work all 15 weeks of the summer, but I am taking off about 3.5 weeks this year.  It's been a nice transition back into work.  Being away so much during the Spring semester was actually very frustrating for me.  I LOVED being home most days with Eli, but my replacement emailed and called daily and there were quite a few issues when things would normally run smoothly.  By the end of the semester, as much as I would miss Eli, I was happy to be back to my job.  It's almost easier to be at work then it was to be at home worried about work. 

How is it possible that I can now be back "full-time"?  Now that it's summer, Ryan is totally off from work.  Well, not totally off, but he teaches online classes, so he is a "Stay At Home Dad" this summer.  Yes, it is true.  He is AMAZING.  I should have him blog and tell you all about his time home with Eli, but, in my opinion, he is doing a great job and I am so grateful that when I am at work, I know that Eli is at home with Daddy! 

It has been wonderful to be spending more time with my students and I even worked with some old colleagues on a manuscript recently.  I feel so satisfied being able to accomplish things at work.  I have a big workshop coming up that I am in charge of and I think it is actually all coming together nicely.  Overall, work has been going well and it feels great to be back.

Though I do really miss Eli like CRAZY while I am at work and often rush home much earlier than I used to, just to get some good snuggle time in.

While I totally get how some moms love staying home with their kids (I LOVE my days home with Eli), I actually love my career and feel accomplished because of it.  I think that's what makes the difference.  I am a happy Working Mom. 

Though check-in with me in the Fall when I am back at work completely full time and Eli's spending 20 hours a week with a baby-sitter.

Eli's first pet

Could the son of two nerdy science professors possibly have a normal first pet?

No, of course not.

Eli's first pet is a shoal of transgenic zebrafish known as GloFish.

Eli with his GloFish!

 What are GloFish?, you ask?

GloFish are a zebrafish (Danio rerio, as my 8-year-old nephew quickly identified!) with an inserted transgene from either a jellyfish or a sea anemone.  These genes are for fluorescent proteins that are expressed in the muscles of the zebrafish and make them "glow".  They now sell red, orange, green, blue and purple (you can now buy them at your local pet store!).  Eli has a few green and a bunch of blue ones.

Green GloFish
(Photo by Ryan Wynne)

Blue GloFish
(Photo by Ryan Wynne)

 
Sure, Eli is probably a bit young for a pet of his own (Wait, I am not supposed to buy my 5-month-old his own pet?).  Truthfully, these are some research subjects that are just spending the summer with us from Ryan's lab.  Ryan has been working on a few shoaling studies with his undergraduate students, based on some experiments I did during my thesis work** (a long time ago!). As Ryan is home with Eli all summer, we thought it would be fun for Eli to start doing a bit of research and earn his keep (Wait, I am not supposed to have my 5-month-old doing research?).  


**Totally nerdy side note -- While getting some links for this post, I discovered that my old thesis paper is actually mentioned on the GloFish Science page.  I am that much of a nerd that I am a little excited about it!**