Week Up North

We have been up north at Scott's parents for the last 2 weeks house-sitting while they were in Italy. It has been a nice treat to be in the suburbs for a bit - have the space/yard to run around, tons of toys to play with (Scott's mom is a child-development specialist and her garage is seriously like Toys R Us), and we just love Libertyville and it's cute little uptown. I hope that we can afford to live up there someday!

We went to a carnival, parade, the cute little Lake Minear, celebrated Father's Day, played outside in the pool and slip 'n slide, and terrorized the cousins! :-)

The Libertyville Days Carnival - Jack LOVVVVEEED the rides and kept telling the carnies "I'll be right back" when he got off. This dragon ride was his favorite and a "real" rollercoaster!

He wanted to go all by himself.

Lily loves her girl cousin - she can't wait for her to grow up to play!

Jack and Sammy playing "Cooking School" with me

I am finishing up my last week of maternity leave this week, but we have had a great past couple of weeks to relax and take in the "country." :-) I am looking forward to getting back on a schedule (somewhat) and having a routine again (I just do better with one), and have been SO LUCKY to have such a great break. Spring/Summer babies rock - I highly recommend that everyone plan their pregnancy to have one! :-)

Emma G is 2 months old!

Thanks for the GLAMOROUS tutu, Katie! :-)

Ahhh!!! Our baby girl is already over 2 months old!

A little late on the post, but she has really grown up! Scott keeps saying she "has a look about her now" and I agree. Emma is starting to look like HER - like who she may be in a year or so and we are having a blast with her! I forgot what an AWESOME feeling it is when your baby smiles and laughs at you for the first time...so sweet!

I have to admit - We have been blessed with the EASIEST BABY. I thought Jack was easy, but I swear Emma might be even more chill! She pretty much just goes with the flow and is happy just to hang out - when she is upset she gets mad very quickly, but is generally calmed down with the paci or nursing after a few minutes. I hope that she stays this laid back! Sleep, eat, play, smile, be cute, sleep, eat, play...she must know that she has a crazy big brother that is alwasys on the MOVE and she is ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

We had her 2 month appointment today - she is 24 3/4" long (>95%) and 12lb 5.5oz (75-90%)! Long and lean like Daddy (let's hope that she is given his fast metabolism)! She is the same length and 1.5 oz lighter than her big bro at this age. Emma is blessing me with 6-7 hours of straight sleep every night and is nursing every 2-3 hours during the day. Doc said everything looks great! She loves to laugh at her big bro, sleep on people's chest (whoever will let her!), roll to her side, laugh at the ceiling fan, and eat. When she gets really mad, she screams like a cat - I need to videotape it soon to prove it to her at 18.

Big Bro Jack is still in love...

So...I go back to work after the holiday - ahh! I am ready to go back and could not have asked for a better break w/ the kiddos. The only concern that I have is pumping enough for her - I had trouble keeping up for Jack, so hopefully it goes a little better this time since my job is much less stressful.

Cheers to our growing gal - Enjoy some recent pics of our beauty!!

Our gal is almost outgrown her moses basket!

Aunt Kitten's Special Week

My little sister Kensi (Aunt Kitten - Jack couldn't say Kensi, so she turned into Aunt Kitten and it has stuck - now we all just refer to her as our "Kitten!") stayed with us for a week and we had a GREAT TIME! She is such an awesome little "Tween" at 11 years old and was SO HELPFUL with the kids! She and I also got to do some special things during her stay and I really want to do it every summer. She is SUPER FUN to hang out with, always very polite, and just overall a GREAT GIRL!

Aunt Kitten wanted to take her niece to American Girl for the first time - and Emma's Bitty Baby came along!

YUMM!!!

She also wanted to take Jack to the Children's Museum and was SO GOOD at playing with him and making sure he had a good time!

She and I got out for a Girl's Night to see Blue Man Group - it was so funny!

And we went to the beach on the final day of her trip!

Thanks for coming to visit, Kitten! Jack LOVES his Kitten-Girl and we can't wait for your trip next year! :-) (This is written in PURPLE, Kensi's new signature color...)

Love you! XOXOXO

Happy Daddy's Day!

My husband is the best Daddy! (Jack even said so last night "Dad, you are the best Dad.") What I love most about how he approaches fatherhood is that he is constantly thinking about how what we say, do, teach our kids will affect them. He is incredibly patient and is a great teacher. Scott is very loving and never forgets to tell Jack and Emma how much he loves them. I knew that I loved this man when I married him, but having a child with your partner just makes that love so much more profound. Nothing makes me more proud than seeing him with our kids and watching how much they adore him. My favorite part of the day (his also) is when he walks in the door and Jack SPRINTS into his arms with a huge smile. And Scott ALWAYS smiles and greets him back with tons of energy no matter how long his day was or what he has on his mind. I love that. Jack told him this week "Daddy, I love it when you come home." We all do, honey!

I also feel so lucky to have had such a FUN and giving father who loves my two kids SO MUCH! I knew that Jack was obsessed with his Pappaw when we started noticing a few months ago, that everytime he sees him, he starts laughing HYSTERICALLY when he walked up! Jack loves to ride Pappaw's boat, fish, wrestle, Reggae dance, among other things. Pappaw basically lets him do anything he wants, so it is a special treat to go to his house!

My grandfather is also very special to me - I was so blessed to have them live right next door to us growing up and have so many memories of walking over at anytime for dinner, to watch TV or just to sit in my grandfather's wood shop to talk and pet our dog. He is a very funny (Jack calls him "Goofy") guy - he used to call all of his grandchildren "Oliver Shag-Nasty" when we were little...and is very loving and cuddly under his gruff exterior. He is truly one of my favorite people on this Earth.

So...Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful fathers out there - I am glad to have so many great ones in my life!

Honoring Miss Emma

Well...It's Miss Emma Grace's turn to shine.

(Big Brother's charisma and charm seem to hog the stage at times...)

Emma has had 2 "Sip 'N See"s over the past few weeks and we are so grateful! They were both very fun and a great chance for everyone to meet our new little gal!

The first one was in Chicago and thrown by my girlfriends Ellen, Jane, and Courtney. We had a blast and Jack loved the pink and yellow cupcakes - Emma's signature colors as you could tell by her announcements! :-) My college roommate Krista also made the trip from Columbus and we got a night out for sushi to ourselves - what a treat of a weekend!

The wonderful hosteesses - Courtney, Jane, and Ellen

Big brother obviously enjoyed his FOUR cupcakes. :-)

Katie with her new student!

The second was in Anderson and thrown by family friends April (Diedring) Dock and her mom Carla Diedring. My brother and I grew up with April and I have very fond memories of our playing together! It was at Carla's beautiful lakeside home and many of my Mom's best friends attended. Thank you - the food was DELISH, April!

These shoes are HEELS! They are called "Heel-ar-ious"

Thanks to Carla and April - we had such a nice time!!

Our Week in Indiana

Sorry for the delay - I ended up taking over 200 photos during our week back home in Indiana and it took a while to go through them!

As I said before, we had a GREAT trip - Thank you to all of my parents, grandparents, aunt/uncle, etc that made it so wonderful! We had great laughter, food, relaxing time, pool time, and overall, just BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES.

Jack and Emma did great being away from home for 9 days. Jack didn't sleep in a crib once and did a pretty good job considering that he LOVES LOVES LOVES his own crib at home. Emma adjusted well except for a 4 day pooping strike (which she is continuing to do every 4 days, so maybe this is just her BM routine? Sorry, TMI). They both put on a show with everyone and enjoyed all of the extra attention. And Mommy and Daddy enjoyed the extra hands and moments to relax and enjoy!

I put together a slideshow of some of my fave shots of the week - Enjoy!

A little behind

...In posting any more stories of our trip to Indiana, Kensi"s stay, etc. We are up at Scotts parents for the next two weeks while they are in Italy and I honestly just have not had time to get on and upload the many fun photos I have...

It is on my to-do list for tomorrow (guess that means no 2 hour nap with Miss E on the couch) along with more thank you notes, Emma's baby book, and working out - oh yeah, "that" needs to start up again - these last 5 pregnancy lbs aren't going to disappear on their own...fun times.

Mucho Memories

We just got back from our 9 days in Indiana and had a great time! Lots of great photos and stories to share, but I really need to unpack so no time tonight!

And as a special treat - Aunt Kensi is here with us for a little Chicago vacation of her own this week - having so much fun and we took Emma to American Girl Place for the first time today with her Bitty Baby for tea! :-)

Updates later...

A little dirt don't hurt