Chicago Memories

Making memories that will last a lifetime. That's what we did. We were really busy the whole time, but well worth it to get out and have fun and visit so many friends and family.  It was a good idea for me to stay as long as we did, so I had time to visit with others I hadn't seen in a long time. 

So the plane ride is now the easiest part of flying. Getting there and through the airport is a whole other story. Here is M on our way to our flight in the baggage section of the stroller. I don't know why, but that's what he wanted and I didn't care as long as he was happy.

However the plane ride was amazing both times. The first flight he was great and watched shows and the second flight home he fell asleep on my lap and slept the whole time. 

Lets start out with our first week with the Hooker's. M and I went with Grandpa G(ary) to Lake Katherine on Friday to feed the ducks and take a walk on a beautiful day.  They have a cute little museum there with snakes, turtles, and fish. I was so happy not to be in the 90's.

 Grandpa did Micah's hair for me and made sure they looked like twins!!

The next day we took a trip to the County Line Orchard to pick some apples. Micah walked through the fields like a pro picking apples. He even picked one that I thought his dad would appreciate. Looked like a butt. LOL

 Hay maze

 Hannah and I on the tractor ride. She is getting so big. Almost a teen!!

 That's the best looking apple I've seen in a while. Maybe that's where the phrase comes from, "Apple bottom jeans."

That night Kim had all the grandparents over for some Apple Crisp. Micah even got to see Uncle Mark. He loved playing with him so much. I'm sure he reminded him of Craig. 

Monday Tammi and the kids took off school to go to Fair Oaks Farm. We had a great time learning all about cows and even seeing one give birth live to a baby calf. It was foreshadowing my future. Looked pretty painful and I was glad it wasn't me. haha We even got to visit the pigs.

Did you know this is where all that meat comes from?

  Micah loved little Palin (the dog) and of course his Gma and Gpa. He was so happy being with them and playing. He especially liked Hannah and Zeke's room. If you didn't know where he was...he was usually in their rooms playing with all their stuffed animals.

On Tuesday I got to spend a whole day with Grandma Schaver. She took us to Cracker Barrel and then we even shopped at target while M slept in the stroller. We had no choice since the Hooker's were getting their driveway redone. It was too loud at the house.  It all worked out though.

Tuesday night I got to see one of my best friends from high school, but totally forgot to take a picture! She is pregnant too and due in February. I think we could have talked all night. It was nice to get out a bit without Micah and have some girl time.

Wednesday, the 21st, I was 26 weeks prego. I took a pic with M at the park and tried to get my bump and him in the photo. We were waiting for my friend Vanessa and her two boys to join us. I can't believe how big our boys are now. This was the first time my friend Vanessa even met Micah and the first time I met her youngest, Logan.

 The boys were discussing sports.

Thursday my mom picked M and I up and took us to the O'Neal's house. The first night we stayed in and did some chalk (with the artist in the family) Maybe M will get some of his artistic talents. 

 bubbles!!!

Here's me at 26 wks 2 days.

Friday we traveled to Aurora to see my friend Kamron. It has been maybe 4 or 5 years since I have seen her IN person. She has a little girl named Brooklyn and she's about 18 months. I couldn't believe how much these two look alike. They are the cutest. They could be brother and sister.

Micah didn't take the best nap that day. He fell asleep on my at Panera for about 30 minutes. So needless to say it was a rough night...but worth it to see them!!

Saturday we traveled to Indiana to see my cousins and Stephanie's new baby Jaxon. It was so fun to hold him for a little bit. All my cousin's from the Morris side were there and it was so fun for all the kids to play together and hear what's going on in their lives right now. So many things to pray for and write in my journal when I got back. I love them all so much and was so glad I got to spend some time with them.

 Arden and Micah (only 2 months apart)

My mom and auntie tried to photo bomb us....LOL

I'm tired just thinking about all the stuff we did. haha. On to Sunday....We visited my old church that I worked/sang at in Des Plaines. It was an amazing service and I loved seeing everyone. Junior and Nicole invited us over after for lunch. Micah got to play with their two little girls...and well as you can see he learned a new past time...dress up. Looks like he may be liking his sister's clothes one day. Or maybe she will just dress him up and he won't mind. I took a pic and sent it to Craig. This probably never would have happened if he was there. haha

Monday we went to the mall and shopped a little bit for baby NJ. My mom won't be here for my shower so she wanted to get her something with me. We picked out some super cute SPRING clothes for her. PINK and more PINK!!

Micah also loved it because he got to ride the carousel and Thomas the train.

Now as I sit here and I'm 27 weeks today I am filled with Joy that my son was able to spend quality time with his grandparents. I can't tell you how much it means to him and me to have those memories that we made. I'm so glad I found those plane tickets and jumped at the chance to be with everyone. I know I will see them soon when the next ones joins us, but it won't ever be the same. 

I'm so grateful for family and friends and staying in touch even though we are so far away. Our hearts are always thinking of you all and praying. 

What a wonderful life I get to live with my littles. I am so blessed to be a mom. Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.

Weekend before our trip

Thursday I picked up my parents from the airport and we all went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the way home. M loved every  minute of being the only grandchild. He loves the attention and of course being with Papa. Thursday night I had band rehearsal at church, but M still got to be with them all night.

Friday we packed them back up and headed out to Hannah's. We met her and the kids at Chickfila and let them play for awhile. M and I headed back home after that.

Craig and I decided to make something else with all the apples we had. I found a recipe for Country Apple Fritter bread and we whipped that up together. It's so fun to bake as a family. Micah loves to help stir the ingredients.

Here is the finished result:

Saturday Rachel came over with Caleb and we got to play at the pool all day. I don't know why but I didn't take any pics. It's hard when you are in the pool. We came home for naps and then went out for burgers. It was a great day for Caleb and Micah to be together. They play so well and love each other. Micah likes to touch Caleb a lot and hug him and I don't think Caleb is really into that. haha You can tell who doesn't have siblings around. M just wants love all the time. 

Sunday I had to be at church at 7:30a.m. to sing for the kids in C3. The songs were so fast and so many words I would say I started off my rapping career with a bang. My two neighbors Betsy and Kristi even came to watch me sing. They are so sweet. 

Craig and I might be leading a life group soon. We signed up to be leaders and took a training class on Sunday too. I hope it works out. The only problem is the parking situation at my townhouse stinks. I didn't even think about that. I'm determined to make it happen so I will try and figure something out. 

This week is so busy!! I can't believe it. We are leaving on Thursday for some COOL weather in Chicago! woohoo. so excited about that. Today I got to meet baby Eliza while Micah and Noly played. They are so cute playing together. Here's a little video of them this morning.

She is so tiny! only 6 lbs 9 oz when she was born. She is such a good baby and so chill already! Leslie has already got this two baby thing down. It's incredible how quick she is bouncing back. She makes us all believe in miracles!! lol

Tomorrow is out first Bible Study Fellowship in Roswell, Wednesday is my OB appt and Thursday we have a music class in the morning before leaving for Chicago! I haven't decided if I'm going to go to it yet. Depends how I'm feeling and if I'm ready to make a 1 p.m. nap happen. He needs to nap before we get on a plane!! HE will have his own seat this time though, so it will be a piece of cake when we are ON the plane. 

One more thing... Craig decided to shave his beard off and surprise me at church yesterday. Micah was obsessed with talking about daddy's beard so him and I took a picture of us trying to look like daddy did.

Happy Monday ya'll!!

Pee in the Potty

Today I stayed home. I know right? Like what's wrong with me? What happened? It was weird, but also really nice. My parents are coming into town to take my nephew and niece to Florida for the week. I am picking them up at 330 and since I didn't want to go anywhere and rush home for nap I decided to stay here. We took our time and got up this morning. I was about to change M's diaper and then just didn't put one back on him. I figured we were staying home, so I could try out the naked approach to potty training. I really haven't been pushing it on him since I don't care myself. Yesterday after MOPS the childcare worker told me he was ready to be potty trained. I don't know why she told me this, but I guess she was right. He peed twice in the potty today and was so happy about it. I think the naked training will work best for him, but I never stay home all day so I am really going to have to commit to it soon. I just don't want too. I know it would be nice to have only ONE in diapers soon. It just really doesn't bother me to change him.  It's nice to know he can do it if he wants. And he definitely loved getting M&M's for it. I think I may have slipped him a few too many.

Here's a pic from today:
It's PG rated.

We had a blast at the Apple Orchard and can't wait to go again with the Hooker's in Illinois. It was still a little hot outside and the bees were everywhere. I'm glad M didn't get stung because that would have been a sad situation. We got like 70 apples. haha I made apple crisp last night and will probably make something else soon. My neighbor let me borrow her apple peeler and it's the best thing ever!! I was so excited to see my apple peeled like a flower pedal. ha M loved it too!

Here he is just as excited as I am to eat a peeled apple.

Tuesday night we went to food trucks and it was 100 degrees out. BLAH. I'm so ready for fall ya'll!!! just like 80's would be nice. I'm getting all hot and bothered. I'm so happy I'm not going to be huge while it's 100 degrees. I'll probably be wearing dresses until December here. haha

Here's a pic of Lindsay and baby Weston at food trucks. They are the cutest.

First dress I ever purchased for my sweet baby girl. It's from screaming owl. IT's an online boutique. It's so cute and actually matches the coral color pretty well in her room. I can't express how excited I am to be able to see these cute outfits and actually buy them for my own! I'm trying to keep calm right now and wait awhile till I see everything I have. With hand-me down and gifts. I don't want to go too crazy. But c'mon...this is too much cuteness. Now all we need is a sweet face to put in it.

Can you guys believe it's Thursday? I don't even know where the time has gone. We should have Monday's off every week. I declare MONDAY as FAMILY day forever! (only in my dreams) 

Love you all.

Eliana's Bday

On Saturday morning we had a nice visit from Hannah and her family along with her in-laws who were in town for the holiday weekend. They ran a 5k in the morning and got to come over for a bit afterwards since the run was in Marietta. I did the 5k last year, but obviously didn't want to do it this year. Rachel was supposed to do it, but the boys were still sick today so she had to stay home.

At 2pm we had Eliana's first birthday party. Everything was so cute. She is the cutest little girl. I grabbed some awesome photos with my phone. I was so proud of myself. This just makes me so excited for headbands, skirts, sparkles and everything pink!! Micah stayed up past his nap time and did well. He then went to bed around 4 p.m. and woke up at 6:30pm. I took a nap at the same time and was surprised when I woke up that late. So now it's almost 10 pm and we are all up and still going. haha At least it's the weekend.  We might go apple picking on Monday. I'm so excited for this month and for it to get a bit cooler outside. I hope to take some cute photos of M picking some apples. It will be his first time doing it.


Here are some pics from the birthday party today. So cute!!

So happy to have these people in our lives. They make life so much fun. Micah loves these tents and has one of his own now! I might want to get one for NJ's room too. I love how they look. 

On Monday we are celebrating 7 years! Can you believe it? Wow. It's crazy and so nice that it doesn't feel that long. 

Happy Labor Day Weekend to you all!!