Goodbye, Good Friend

Quite suddenly, we had to say goodbye to our dear Clara. Last week, she stopped eating and began throwing up stomach bile. We took her to the vet for 2 days for fluids and medications. She was diagnosed with pancreatitis. It was obvious to all of us that she was getting worse, not better. On Saturday, July 11th, we ended her suffering.

She has been an amazing dog, family member and friend. I could not have wished for a better first pet for our children. She will be greatly missed.

Morton Arboretum with Friends

Thanks to the holiday, Roger and his co-worker, Andreas, got Friday off from work so we decided to take the families to the Morton Arboretum for the afternoon and then dinner back at our house.

After getting sufficiently lost in the hedge maze, the kids (all four of them) decided to stuff themselves inside of this dog house. Owen can been seen peeking out from the back, but poor Robert is hidden from view. Sly little Robbie figured out how to squirt all the visitors to the frog pond by manipulating the water spout. How is it that all boys figure that out??I think this area is the kid's favorite out of the whole arboretum. Water, rocks and frogs. What could be better? Here I am sporting my new blonde(r) highlights! This was one of the rare pictures of Brayden smiling that day. She's not used to playing with older boys. They tend not to follow her bossy ways!By the end of the afternoon, Brayden had announced she was going to marry Owen. He seemed unaffected by this gesture. Rachel and Andreas have been good friends since our days in Jackson Hole. It's so good to be closer to them again and be able to plan fun days like this one!
Blake got very adventurous on this visit. He mastered the bouncy bridge and rope bridge within minutes of arriving. I love the look of concentration on his face!!

Both kids were hungry and tired by the time I forced this family photo on them. Oh well. At least Mom and Dad are smiling!! We all had a great time and delish dinner (if I do say so myself). Here's to good friends, good times and good (healthy) food!

Check out all the pictures from the day HERE!

Take Me (Us) Out to the Ball Game

You're singing the song now, aren't you? Ha! Roger scored 6 amazing tickets to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field for this past Sunday. We were 5 rows up from the field, right behind the visiting team's dugout. The Cubs were playing the Minnesota Twins.

The original plan was for the four of us to go and we invited cousin Bob and his son, Kevin, to join us. When we arrived to pick them up, my cousin Sandy offered to watch Blake for us to we stood a chance of enjoying the game and staying the whole time. We hesitated (for about 2 seconds) because we really wanted Blake to see his first ball game, but then we got realistic. How much would a 2 year old get into a baseball game at peak naptime?? He stayed! Well, when Brayden learned that Blake was staying, she wanted to as well! All right. Now we had 2 extra tickets so Kevin brought a friend and his sister Sara.

It was probably the prettiest day we've had since moving here. Bright, warm sun and not a cloud in the sky. Yes, we got sunburned! The game was exciting (as baseball can get). We even had several pop flies land very close to us! Sara and I ducked every time we saw them coming! In the end, the Cubs won!

Click HERE to see all of the pictures from the game.

Blake's Birthday Lunch - All Aboard!

Like most men, the way to our boy's heart is most definitely through his stomach!! Add some trains and you have paradise! After a little retail therapy, we went to the All Aboard Diner for lunch. I swear, Blake knew that's where we were going when we pulled into the parking lot. He started squealing "Train!" over and over again till we got inside the restaurant.

Just like our last visit to the diner, I was able to eat my salad in peace without too much worry of the kids. They shoveled in their food as the trains kept chugging by. Blake ate more than Brayden with 6 chicken nuggets and a bunch of fries compared to her 1/2 personal cheese pizza. I had decided to order 1 cupcake and 1 scoop of ice cream for the kids to share to keep the celebration going. I mentioned to the server that it was Blake's birthday and they played a song for him over the speaker system! It was a modified version of "Happy Birthday." All the servers and other diners were happy to sing and clap along. If you've ever wondered if there is a difference between a regular digital camera and a digital SLR camera, these pictures show the huge difference. For convenience, I took our little Cannon PowerShot to the restaurant. I am so disappointed in the picture quality. Just look at other pictures below to see the huge difference!

Happy Birthday Blake!

WOW!! Our little monkey man is 2 years old today! Before writing this post, I went back on the blog and read about his birth. SO many changes is just 2 years! Already the kid has lived in 3 states (with Illinois being the last one for a good long while!). Since his birthday is on a Thursday, no big plans. I am going to take him to his favorite restaurant for lunch...the All Aboard Diner. He loves watching the food being delivered by train! We're keeping the train theme going from his birthday party this past weekend. Blake's fascination with trains has reached epic proportions so the obvious gift for him this year was a train table. Upon seeing it for the first time, he squealed "TRAIN!" and ran over to it! That's where he stayed for the next four hours! He didn't want to eat, drink, get changed...nothing except play with his new train table! OK! We let him!Friends and family gathered Saturday for some burgers, dogs and cake. We mostly just hung out, talked, ate, played Four Square, and ate some more! It is so nice to have family close by to celebrate these milestones!!Pretty soon, it was time for cake. Needless to say, Blake loved his cake!! The birthday song couldn't be sung fast enough so get could get his new Thomas toy in his mouth and lick off all that frosting!We laid out a blanket for all the kids to enjoy their cake. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day. Notice Robert (the little boy with glasses) looking at Blake in total disgust! LOL! Robert's not a fan of messy eaters and Blake is among the messiest! Too funny!Surprisingly, Blake wasn't pawing at the gifts to open them. Cousins Kyndall and Amy along with Brayden were all too willing to help. Blake didn't care about the ripping paper part anyway. He just wanted his new toys!

I wanted to document some things, much like I did for Brayden, to help us remember Blake at age two in later years...

* He has an intense love affair with trains, trucks and cars.

* He's become a very good sleeper. This is monumental when I remember how awful of a sleeper he was for his first 10-11 months. He now sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night with a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

* Curious George is his favorite character along with Mickey and Friends.

* His vocabulary is limited, but he babbles as though he's holding full conversations and knows exactly what he's talking about. When he wants you to go somewhere, he'll turn you by the knee and emphatically point in the direction he wants you to go (basement, outside, refrigerator).

* He is a LOUD child! He does everything loud....laughing, crying, playing.

* He is very passionate about his likes and dislikes.

* After not seeing us for a long period of time, he will squeal "Mommy!" and/or "Daddy!" and run full sprint toward us, wrap his arms around our legs and bury his head in our knees. It melts my heart every time.

We love you Blakey!! Happy, happy birthday!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an awesome day over Memorial Day weekend. We decided to make a whole day of being tourists. We started by going to the Egg Harbor Cafe for breakfast. It's my new favorite breakfast spot! The food was scrumptious and cheap!! The kids had HUGE breakfasts (green eggs and ham for Brayden!) for only $3.95 each!! Love it!Then we headed into Chicago for the official touristy part of our day...a tour on a double decker bus! We learned a lot about Chicago's magnificent architecture and history. This is a shot of Roger's new hotel, The Elysian Hotel which is still under construction. This beautiful church was in "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts and Durmot Mulroney. The guide said the stained glass above the front door is even more breathtaking from inside. I'll add that to my "must do" list for next time!I wanted to get a picture of the Chicago Theatre marquee but we were a little too close. I still think it came out pretty cool!The breeze off Lake Michigan was unseasonably cold that day. Blake found some comfort and warmth inside Daddy's pull-over!One of the great features of the trolley tour was the ability to get on and off the bus whenever we wanted to. We decided to jump off at Navy Pier and walk around. I'm glad we did because we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon there! The kids got to meet some Ninja Turtles (I don't know their names). Blake was less than thrilled with these guys. He knows and likes the Disney characters, but not the giant turtles!Our favorite part of the day was unplanned (those are always the best surprises). We were getting something to eat in a little courtyard as a local band was setting up on stage. We hung around for a while to listen. They ended up being awesome! It was 7th Heaven, who are apparently pretty big in the Chicago area. Blake LOVED watching the drummer. The roadies got a pretty big kick out of Blake's fascination and gave him a guitar pick as a souvenir. Just what every toddler needs...a choking hazard!

To get a good view of the band, Roger lifted Blake to his shoulders. This is also a great way to keep the little monkey from running away! Well, Blake thought he'd get his revenge by taking Daddy's hat over and over again. He thought he was pretty funny!Somehow, I didn't end up with very many pictures of Brayden this day. GUILT! So, here's one of her poses she asked me to take. She's not camera shy or anything...And finally...evidence that I was really there. Blake and I danced to the music as Daddy captured some pictures. We stayed for the band's first set (an hour) and then caught a cab to Ed Debevic's for dinner. This 50's-ish diner is known for their service...their BAD service! Their motto is "Eat and Get Out!" The kids didn't quite know what to think when the servers jumped up on the counter to dance. It was a fun and exhausting day!!

Where's B?

The kids have been playing this game after meal time lately. Brayden hides behind Blake's chair and pops out to surprise him. If you can get past her annoying scream, it's darn cute to watch! Blake turns his hands up and continually asks, "Where's B?" his adorable nickname for her! They howl with laughter and then he asks for more. Ya gotta love sibling love!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Family Photo Session

Part two of my Mother's Day gift happened today...a family photo session! We haven't had a formal picture taken since Brayden was a year and a half old! It was long overdue and SO much fun!The photographer worked well with Blake, who is less than thrilled to have his picture taken in a studio. We were able to get so many great shots of all of us. It was hard to pick just a few! Luckily, I didn't have to limit my choices because we got the CD of ALL the photos taken today. YAY!! I'll be printing a LOT of pictures VERY soon!

After we finished at the studio, we found a fun little restaurant in the same shopping plaza...The All Aboard Diner. As you can imagine, it was all about trains - Blake's new favorite subject! There were trains EVERYWHERE in there! The best one was the one that ran along the edge of the counter to serve us our food! Both kids were very excited to see that train appear each and every time! Roger and I haven't enjoyed a meal so peacefully in months!!

Mother's Day Weekend

For those of you that follow the events chronicled on this blog, I’m sure you’ve figured out that the contributions have all come from my better half, Jennifer! Considering these entries are about our family, I’ve decided to take an active role in contributing to this site. It couldn’t be more fitting than to make my debut sharing our Mother’s Day celebration.

Over the past several months I’ve missed the “blonde” Jennifer, so I selfishly asked Jennifer if she would consider going back to that look. Little did I know that she was just as eager, if not more, to lose the red hair? She took the whole afternoon on Saturday to go through the transformation (who knew you could spend 3 hrs in a hair salon!), and we were not disappointed. Given the stresses of our move and not having the “family time” that was so desperately needed, this year was dedicated to give Mom (Jennifer) the ultimate family experience. We gave up the conventional Mother’s Day brunch or a day of indulgence at the spa. Instead Brayden & I planned everything to include the entire family in a manner that she would not have to lift a finger.

First on the list was a bouquet of flowers. Brayden really stepped up here; we each got to pick flowers for mommy. Mine was easy, a dozen red roses but Brayden surprised me by selecting white calla lilies. We selected the appropriate vase and Brayden directed the arrangement of flowers. Knowing mommy would be home soon we eager began working on dinner which included shrimp stir-fry and sushi paired with a glass of pinot noir. Kids had their favorite mac & cheese w/ hotdogs. When Jenn came home from the salon we were all in amazement on here new color & style… very non-mom!! While the color was not blonde, we loved the brown with blonde highlights and how the style framed her face. All throughout dinner mommy was thrilled at the prospect that she didn’t have to cook, clean, or worry about any of the meals this weekend. The evening ended with a family walk around our new neighborhood with discussions focused on our future and all the opportunities available to us in the Chicago-land area.

Mother’s Day arrives!!!
At 5:35am I was woken up by Brayden who was eager to surprise mommy with our plans. Needing more time to sleep I talked her into climbing into bed and getting more rest. However it was too late, she had me thinking of all the things we had to coordinate before mommy woke up and since she usually gets up at 4:45am, sleeping in could mean anything from 6am til 8am, so I motivated myself to get up. We went to the kitchen and wrote the card first. This included several discussions on how we felt about mommy and the best way to let her know. In the end we felt we had communicated effectively our love and appreciation. Next was breakfast, and not knowing when Jenn would wake up we decided to leave a note by the clock asking her to call us when she was ready for breakfast. This worked perfectly! We got the call at 7:30am just as Blake was waking up and quickly went to work assembling the fruit salad, potato pancake, quiche Lorraine, chicken sausage, English muffin, and fresh squeezed juice. As we entered the room, Brayden lead the way with breakfast followed by Blake with the card and then myself with the juice & tray table. We all climbed into bed where mommy was surprised to find a family photo sitting confirmation included with her card. Soon after, everyone was sharing in mommy’s breakfast feast.

That rest of the day was followed by time spent at Morton Arboretum where there was a great kid’s area, garden maze, and beautiful areas to hike and bike. As Blake’s nap time approached we decided to drive into the city and give the little man a chance to recharge his batteries. We took this opportunity to drive by the Elysian Hotel and show Jennifer the progress that has been made since last February. Just as Blake awoke we decided to have a late lunch in Water Tower Place. This was followed by a walk along the “Magnificent Mile” (Michigan Ave) to Millennium Park. We made sure to stop by the Hershey Store where the kids walked away with samples of chocolate and smiles. As we came upon the park, we were greeted with mounds of tulips throughout the park which provided us with a new welcome page photo (above). One of the most amazing pieces of sculpture was a piece known as the “bean”, which reflected the city skyline off its silvery exterior. By this time the temperature began to drop as the wind picked up off the lake, so we stopped into a Starbucks on the way back so the kids could enjoy Hot Chocolate and a cookie. Jennifer & I shared a Chai Tea (Thank s to Cousin Sandy for introducing this wonderful beverage to 2 non-coffee drinkers). The day finished driving back with two exhausted kids and enough leftovers in the refrigerator to satisfy everyone’s appetite. The family and myself are extremely grateful to have such a wonderful and deserving Mom such as Jennifer!!!

Chicago Drama

Well, we've had quite a week with our transition to Chicago. We were most anxious about the flight and logistics getting from LAX to O'Hare, but come to find out, that would be the least of our worries!

We saw all of our house for the first time Saturday (4/18) afternoon. Up until then, we had only seen 6-7 pictures of the house in Naperville and none of them included the upstairs. We relied on our realtor to find us a house, which worked out beautifully for us in the past. When we walked in, our world crashed. Aesthetically, it was ok on the first floor and basement. The second floor was a completely different subject. The 4 bedrooms were incredibly small. There would be no way to fit our king sleigh bed so new furniture would have to be purchased. The walls were thin enough to hold a conversation through and the floors squeaked so bad we thought we were going to wake the kids. Not to mention the lack of insulation, small water heater, and more things I could list....Knowing we made a commitment to this place, we resigned ourselves to making it work. After all, it was only a rental for one year.

That all changed the next morning when Roger fell down the very steep stairs (he's ok) with no way to recover since the bottom 4 stairs did not have a hand rail. Moments later, Clara (our dog) fell too. We also discovered the laundry chute in the floor of the bathroom was the perfect size to fit Blake and was simply covered by a wooden tile. That did it. We re-packed our suitcases and left. We checked into a hotel and found a new realtor who would look out for our best interests. We informed the owners that we were not living there and anticipate a law suit for breech of contract. We've been in contact with a lawyer and are trying to work things out. The drama never ends.

By the next Saturday (4/25), we had found a new house and had moved in...suitcases only as our belongings have STILL not arrived (or our cars for that matter). We are much happier with the new house and have even started mentally decorating it in anticipation of our truck delivery in 2 more days.

So...there you have it! The good news is that we have a roof over our heads and are in the process of getting settled in. It's just taking a little longer than we hoped!

Deja Vu

Not so long ago, I posted this entry about our move from Jackson Hole to Southern California. Now I am reliving it again! Allied (we love them!) is here today to carefully pack all our belongings for the journey to Chicago. Those three guys have gotten more done in 4 hours than I would have been able to accomplish in a week! Once again, my job is to just stay out of the way.

Allied returns tomorrow to load the truck. Unfortunately, the driver thinks it'll take close to 11 days for delivery. To save money, we decided to "camp" in our new house. We're borrowing sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, etc. from my cousin Sandy to get by. Thankfully, there is a refrigerator already there so we can stock up on groceries. I just realized that my coupons got packed in a box some where. Darn! I hate not being able to use my coupons!!

We fly out soooo early Saturday morning. After our last flying experience with Blake, we're really dreading it. I feel like I'm a little more prepared this time with new surprise toys, treats, movies and yes - Benadryl! At least it's a one way flight!

I have a feeling this will be my last post for a while. We'll be back with new stories and lots of new pictures just as soon as possible!

Good Bye to Good Friends

One of the best things about moving to a new area is the opportunity to make new, wonderful friends. The worst thing is to have to say good bye to those friends. I have, once again, been blessed to have met some really amazing women. Shelbi (above), Eleanor and Marcie (in order, below) were even able to be a part of my TV show! I will miss them greatly!!