Bring on the Heat!

While most people are complaining about the heat and humidity, I am LOVING it. I love the fact that it feels like summer! Warm weather makes for so many more activities to do with Gwen and we are taking advantage! Every night we take a walk or bike ride, we go to the park, we swing in the backyard, we grill out for dinner, we swim, etc.

Our weekend consisted of not only enjoying the weather but also attending dance recitals both days :) Friday night we went to Reese and Mara's recital in Champaign (we also got a babysitter and go to go to a nice dinner before, outside of course :). Then Saturday we went to Bloomington to Sylvie's. We took Gwen to this one, and she LOVED it. I thought she might fuss and we might have to take her out a lot, but she loved the lights, music, glitsy costumes, and dancing.


We had a great week, and now we are excited for next weekend...my friend Bayer's wedding in Chicago, which pretty much is a Kappa reunion :)

End of May

As always, the weather in the midwest is so unpredictable. There have been lots of storms, so we are trying to take advantage of every minute that it's warm and not raining!
Last week was Sylvie's preschool graduation, so Gwen and I got to go. Cal's in the same preschool, so all of the classes sang some songs. It was really cute.

Today it has been very warm outside and it's supposed to rain later, so we spent the whole morning outside. After story time, we went for a long walk, then got home and Gwen had lunch outside. Then we swang and she splashed in her pool.

We are excited that after a long winter, summer has arrived!

Current Events...

We have been so busy! Here are a few updates:

1. The Royal Wedding I had been anticipating for so long finally took place. I got up early and watched coverage all day long. It didn't disappoint! Kate was a beautiful bride!!!

2. My mom, Kristie, and cousin Emily came to visit last Saturday. We had a girls night, then Sunday had a full day of events planned before we went to see Legally Blonde at Assembly Hall. Well, we ate lunch, got pedicures, ate frozen yogurt and then went to the mall to meet my cousin Shelby and Aunt Carol. After shopping for awhile, we were waiting for Carol to pay outside of Forever 21 when a sea of people started running at us and screaming that there was a man with a gun. I have never been so scared in my life, seeing all the people who looked so scared and not knowing where this guy with a gun was. We all just ran...Kristie, my mom, and I to the back of Forever 21 and out the employee exit, Emily and Shelby to Gap (they were trapped in the back room there for about an hour), and Carol got stuck in Forever 21 before the shut the back exit. After the police cleared the mall and released people, we got as far away from the mall as we could. After seeing the news, we found out that it was in relations to gang members from Milwauke coming down to Champaign because they were after some guy because a drug deal went wrong. The victim was shot at multiple times and the gunman was shot by a police officer. It was such a scary experience that I hope I never have to be involved with again.

3. Gwen and I went on a mother/daughter trip to Tucson. We got there late Wednesday night and came back yesterday. She was soooooo good on the flights and LOVED swimming. Her cousins were so nice to her and she had fun playing with some of their big kid toys. We really had fun spending time with the Roleys and enjoying the summer weather!

Great start to May! Summer is so close!

Easter Weekend

After Adam being gone M-Th two weeks in a row, it was nice that he had Good Friday off from work. We went out for sushi and Gwen loved playing with chopsticks. She also got to try some tofu, avocado, and I let her suck on some pickled ginger. Surprisingly, she loved the ginger!
Sunday we had a busy day. We went to Adam's dad's house in Kincaid to meet up with his family in the morning, and my family came to our house in the afternoon.

We thought it was funny because Scarlett and Gwen are finally seeming close in age. We took the kids to the park to play and they had fun.

The rest of the evening, they colored, did an egg hunt and we grilled out dinner!

Hope Easter was good for everyone!

Great Spring Week!

We had such a fun week, and we saw so many of the people we love to see!

Last Thursday Reese came over to play with Gwen. She is so sweet with her. She told me very proudly that she thinks people think Gwenna is her little sister when they see them together :)
We went to the park and Gwen loved the swing there. We got a swing for our backyard too! She loves being outside, but once we think it's staying nice, it gets cold or rainy again!

Gwen has so many fun things to do at our house, but her FAVORITE thing to do and her favorite toy is her wipe box! I swear, every time I turn my head for 1 second she has every wipe we own sprawled all over the floor!

We finally got to meet baby Paisley!!! She is 2 months old now but still sooooo little. When I picked her up, she felt like a feather compared to Gwen. It was so fun having them for the day. I got us drinks from the coffee shop, we hung out all morning at our house and caught up, went out for lunch, and for a walk with the girls. Pais is such a good baby too. They were the perfect <1 yr old pair to hang out with :)

Adam, Gwen and I went to Chicago all weekend. I couldn't ask for a better place to visit just 2 hours away that is home to so many people I love to see! Andrea's mom Kristen has a business called Kitchenistas that is just so much fun. She comes to your home and does cooking classes for you and your friends. Our topic was soups and stews and I learned a lot, had some drinks, and ate some really good food. It was so fun to catch up with my girlfriends. I hadn't seen Pope or Ford for 2+ years! Before the class, Ford (a photographer) took Gwen's pictures and I can't wait to see the results!

We stayed with Auntie Emily (really Gwen's second cousin, my first cousin, Gwen's Godmother, but we call her "Aunt"). Her apartment is in such a great location with a beautiful view.

We walked to Navy Pier. The weather was cold and rainy, but we brought Gwen's stroller rain shield and dressed for the cold. We ate lunch, met DD and Amy, went to a really neat grocery store/cafe for coffee, and hung out! That night we met Emily's boyfriend Eric for dinner at a restaurant right at the base of her building. It had good food and drinks and was perfect for having a baby on a rainy day!

What a great week! The only downfall was the tornado sirens going off last night. Adam's out of town again, and the news said to take cover, so Gwen, Diggy and I sat in the closet for about an hour just to be safe :) Even though the tornado has passed, I was scared to have Gwen sleep in her crib (right near a window), so I put up the pack in play in my room and we had a slumber party.

Tomorrow evening starts a holiday weekend, and I am so excited to see Darah and Evan for dinner!

April's Beginning

April is here and so is SPRING weather!!! Sometimes it's warm and sunny, sometimes there are tornados, sometimes it snows. That's the midwest, but we take warm weather when we can take it!!! Gwen eating some fruit in the nude to keep the clothes clean! First bike ride!

Auntie Panichi came to visit!!!! They had fun playing!

Panichi got through to Andy Cohen on WWHL on Bravo! We were so excited. We had a good question, but the lady told her what to ask, haha. We took what we could get!

Ready for dinner with Dad for his 30th birthday! Of course, we went out for Mexican, Adam's favorite. Gwen loves Mexican restaurants because the servers pay so much attention to her!

Great start to spring! We also went to Kincaid to visit Adam's dad and Carol. They cooked an awesome lunch (Carol makes her own pasta and made a DELICOUS soup from her homemade tortellini and Steve grilled Asian chicken breasts, yum!) and Gwen was so good playing at their house. We have had a fun filled April so far and are excited to go on a trip to Chicago next weekend!

Birthday Parties!

First and foremost, happy 30th birthday to Adam!!!! We had his party awhile ago, but tonight we are going for Mexican food! We have had two fun birthday parties in the past two weeks. Mara Schick had her first birthday party last weekend in Morton. They had it in a gym with bounce houses and all kinds of kid cars and toys. It was so cute, Gwen sat on a little car and Mara (who's learning to walk) held onto the back and pushed her all around the gym. They had a great time!!!! We did too! Saturday we went to Adam Pletcher's 40th birthday party. It was 80's themed so everyone dressed up. Robin has so many cool decorations and details in the party. It was really fun!

In other news, we moved into our new place. Thank you to everyone who helped! We are finally getting settled!