Fall Fun!

We had a great weekend full of fun fall activities! Adam got back from Alabama after 2 weeks there (minus two days home last weekend, and he has to go back tomorrow) late Thursday night, so Friday he only worked half day. We got to enjoy the weather and go for a long walk in the sun and out for lunch. After he got home for work, we met the Pletchers for Indian food at a really good little place they discovered.


Saturday morning the weather was beautiful again, so we made it to Reese's soccer game. It was cute to see her team "The Blueberries" play their game. Gwen had fun playing with all of the spare soccer balls and watching the part of the game when the parents could go out and play soccer with the kids.

After the soccer game, we picked up Shawna and Makayla to go to Curtis Orchard. It was really fun, we let the girls swing and see the little animals, we had snacks, we picked apples, etc. Makayla is about 6 months older than Gwen, but she's a little peanut and Gwen's big for her age, so they are about the same size.

Makayla was not scared to feed the goat right out of her hand, it was so cute!

Today we went to church, out for lunch, ran errands, and entered into a new phase of parenting. We think today might have been the day where Gwen entered the "Terrible Thirteen Months" (an early version of the Terrible Twos). She hit Adam a couple of times and pulled my hair. She yelled "No No No" to us after about everything we said. She fussed at everything if she didn't get her way. The grand finale was when she had her first one minute time out in her high chair, haha. We felt like we had to do something after she pulled Adam's lip, he said no, and she bit his shoulder as hard as she could. I always used to think kids learned to hit or bite from older siblings or other kids, but it is definitely instinct because she has never witnessed these types of naughty behaviors. Don't get me wrong, she was sweet and good for most of the day and is currently smiling and playing happily, but I think we have a sweet yet very feisty one on our hands :)

13 Months and Getting into Everything...Literally

Gwen's busy, busy, busy and has been "getting into" things ever since she was old enough to crawl and pull herself up. Lately, though, her hobby has been REALLY getting into things. She must like to sit in small snug places because I have found her playing in suitcases, trying to get into open drawers, crawing into her armour, etc. Below are a few of the times we have actually caught her with the camera when she gets into things.

Watching TV in the toybox

Lounging in the laundry basket at Grandma and Grandpas

I have a feeling she's going to be the type of kid that has a lot of childhood injuries because she's pretty daring. Her other newest hobby is climbing. She can get onto things like beds, chairs,couches, etc. This past week she was playing with the toys in her room and I was in the living room folding laundry. I heard her start laughing and squealing happily, so I went into her room and found her standing up and bounding on the chair in her room! She was clapping and so proud, haha. I had my phone in my hand, so quick snapped a picture before I told her "No No No!" and got her down.

Never a dull moment :)

Pumpkin Fest. 2011

This past week was the Morton Pumpkin Festival. I hadn't been there in 5 years, since I have lived in California, so I was excited to go back with Gwen and Adam!

Wednesday, for the kickoff, Gwen and I went and met Duvy, Paisley, and Andy and Darah and Evan to watch Sylvie in the Little Miss Pumpkin Pagaent. I let Gwen try Pumpkin Ice Cream, then we watched the show!

There definitely was some stiff competition (and kids whose moms probably practiced with them for weeks!), but Sylvie wasn't nervous at all and was just excited. We don't even think she really knew it was a competition, but more of a dance recital type event. Anyways, Sylvie didn't walk away as the Princess, BUT out of 10 girls only 3 prizes were given, and Sylvers won best costume. I did definitely think she looked the cutest, but as her aunt, I might have been a bit biased :)

Friday night we went back and had dinner at Darah and Evan's since Joanna and Eric were home from Florida. Then Saturday we headed to watch the big parade. Kristen got Mara and Gwen matching pumpkin shirts that were SOOOO cute so they were twins for the parade!

Sylvie got to be in the parade and Kristie had to walk with her. After the parade, we took the kids to the festival for some lunch, rides, and snacks. Gwen rode the merry go round and the big slide with her big cousins. Adam was excited to sample some of the pumpkin fest food, so between all of us we had a corndog, apple cider slush, pumpkin chili, porkchop sandwich, and pumpkin ice cream. I think Adam was impressed with how big and nice the Pumpkin Fest is, it's not just your average street fair!

I had more fun at the Pumpkin Fest this year than ever before. I love sharing fun things from my childhood with Gwen!

East Coast Vacation

Gwen and I made it back to Illinois late last night after a great vacation. We saw and did so much in 9 days...

We had this northeast roadtrip planned for awhile, and then Hurricane Irene hit. We almost switched direction, but I'm glad we didn't! We had no problems whatsoever. We planned the trip around Gwen (to minimize the amount of time she had to spend stuck in her carseat), so we only drove 2-5 hours per day and paced ourselves. She was sooooo good thanks to lots of books, episodes of Nick Jr. shows, snacks, and naps!

We left last Friday evening, made a pitstop in Dayton, Ohio to sleep, then drove onto Pittsburgh the next day. Adam goes here for work quite a bit, so we went to his favorite restaurant there for a late lunch/early dinner and walked around the riverwalk and the city.

Sunday we spent the day in Philadelphia. We basically walked to see everything we could in one day. We saw all of the main tourist attractions (Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Love Park, etc.) then just wandered to different neighborhoods and streets that looked appealing. We ended up in a little neighborhood that I think was equivalent to Hillcrest in San Diego that had the coolest little gift shops and restaurants. We also had famous Philly Cheese Steaks for lunch! By the time we walked back to our hotel, we were worn out and it was late, so we found a Mexican restaurant closeby that had a huge patio and ended our night there.

Monday we arrived to where we spent the bulk of our time-Cape Cod. It is such a pretty unique area. There is water everywhere, but it's still very green, and very hilly. My favorite part was looking at all of the classic older homes and buildings, they are so pretty! We spent 4 days basically just exploring each part of the cape. We visited beaches, lighthouses, the little downtown areas of each town, looked in shops, ate LOTS of AWESOME seafood (thank God my nausea went away right before we got here!), took walks, went for ice cream, went swimming, etc. My favorite part of the whole cape is Provincetown, the very tip. It had the coolest little street of shops and a big nice beach. I think Adam's favorite part was when we finally saw a cranberry bog after 4 days of trying :) Gwen's favorite part was probably Cape Creamery's homemade ice cream (see below).

Our last day on the cape, we took a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. When we got there, it was cloudy and cold and after about a half hour, it started POURING. Not light drizzle, windy buckets of water falling down. Lucky for us, we were right by this adorable restaurant called Slice of Life, so we hung out there for an hour and got some coffee to warm us up, Gwen had a snack. When the rain died down, we went out to explore and ate lunch at a Jamaican restaurant that Bill and Hillary Clinton apparently frequent (pictures of them everywhere :). We went back outside and it was PERFECTLY sunny and warm. We got to spend the rest of the day walking along the beach and looking at the beautiful houses, parks, water, etc. in the sunshine. I was hoping to see a Kennedy or Maria Shriver, but no such luck :/

Finally Friday we headed to Boston. We spent the whole day sightseeing, mainly just following Freedom Trail. We also walked to the Boston Common and to Beacon Hill where the Cheers Bar is at. This area had the coolest restaurants and home decor shops and awesome townhouses. I was surprised at how pretty and nice Boston is. Very clean with awesome buildings and parks.

Saturday we spent our last half day of vacation in Cambridge, MA. We went to Harvard and walked around the campus and Harvard Square, did a little shopping, ate a really good lunch, and Gwen and I headed to the airport.

Adam stayed on the go for a work trip, but Gwen and my flights home went fine. She was really good and slept the whole second flight and drive home. Then we got home, and she was ready to party with her toys! Today we went grocery shopping, but besides that I am doing laundry galore and letting her just play at home all day. We had a great vacation and saw so much, but it always feels good to be home!

The End of Summer and My First Trimester

Time flies! I absolutely can't believe that 9/11 was ten years ago...so sad watching the memorials this morning. It made me remember how lucky I am to wake up every day and be in good health and have my little family here with me!

And I am very happy that our little family of 4 (3 people + Diggy) is going to be a family of 5 this spring! I am about 12 weeks pregnant, and this pregnancy is going so fast! My due date is March 29. I finally feel pretty back to normal (not so tired and grossed out by all foods). We are excited to see if Gwen will have a brother or sister!

This pregnancy probably has flown because it was a busy summer. We tried to savor the last few pool days we could and are still spending time outside very often before the weather starts to turn!

Sylvie's birthday party

Jason had to be the backdrop for the game :)


Going down the slide!

We will miss you, Pool!