Chicago

Our family went to Chicago for St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Tyson ran the St Paddy’s Day 5K and we wanted to see the river dyed green.  It was my first time to Chicago so I was super excited. We left early on Friday morning and had our first stop at the Chicago Airport for Tyson’s international re-entry interview. He can now enter the country faster. He doesn’t have to go through customs each time. While we were waiting for Tyson Lilly found a little stage (what looked like a stage) and did a beautiful dance for everyone. At the end she even made sure to bow. I am not sure where she learned that.  

After the airport we went to pick up Tyson’s race packet and got some lunch. We had lunch at Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The food was yummy but expensive. After checking into our beautiful hotel we went to Sears Tower which is now called Willis Tower. It was a foggy day so it wasn’t too crowded. I thought it was worth only being able to see a mile just for the lack of crowds.

The Hotel

 

 Once visitors are on the 103^rd floor they are able to ‘step outside the tallest building’ by using the glass observation decks. The decks allow people to see directly below them. It was amusing watching all the people that were scared of heights trying to persuade each other on the deck but then when it was our turn our 2 year old went rushing out without a second thought. She saw some teenagers doing handstands on the deck so she immediately tried to do it too. It was super cute. She also liked looking in the binoculars and insisted at stopping at each one.  

 

What the deck looks like

Lilly doing handstands

 

After the tower we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel. The food was alright but I ended up getting food poisoning. It was the worst experience in my life. I spent most of the night with extreme stomach cramps and vomiting. It felt like I was in labor. I was about 5 minutes away from making Tyson take me to the hospital. The only thing that stopped me was the fact we were in Chicago and I didn’t want to go to a hospital in Chicago.

Tyson’s race was early in the morning and I was still felt sick so I had to stay at the hotel. I felt so awful for not being able to make Tyson’s first race. If I could stand for more than a minute I would have suffered through it but I couldn’t … Lilly even had an adorable St. Patrick’s Day race outfit. Tyson was super sweet and got me some breakfast to try and gag down before leaving. Tyson did really well on his race. He finished and his time was where he wanted it to be. He enjoyed lapping people.

Tyson at his race

 

Lilly's St. Patrick's Day Outfit

After the race and Lilly’s nap I was feeling a little better so we ventured out to Michigan Avenue for some shopping. We stopped at the American Girl store. Lilly really loved the infant dolls but we thought she would grow out of that quickly so we didn’t buy her anything. We also visited the Macy’s and picked out Lilly’s Easter dress. Unfortunately, I only lasted two stores before I had to be done.  On the way back to the hotel we took a driving tour of Chicago. We saw the dyed green river, the sight of the Chicago World Fair, Lake Michigan, and downtown Chicago. Since it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend we also got to see all the partiers out in their green outfits. 

We then headed back to our hotel. For dinner Lilly and I had Wendy’s (I eat a plan backed potato) while Tyson went out to find me some milk. It was amazing how much better I felt after drinking some milk. I really appreciate Tyson taking care of me.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and went to the Shedd Aquarium. It was a nice aquarium but the line was very long and we had to stand outside in the cold. Another drawback was that parking was more expensive then admission for the whole family into the aquarium.  However, once we were in the aquarium we had a good time and we wore Lilly out for the drive home.  

 

Of course we couldn’t be so close to a Boston Market without stopping there for lunch on our way home. Yuuummmy!! I love that food and no food poisoning from them.

 

Lilly’s New Interests

Lilly is getting bigger and her interests have started to change. Here are some of her new favorite things:

Bears: Lilly loves bears. They are her favorite animal (at the moment). She collects all the bears she has and brings them to bed with her. She talks about them and loves to wrap them up in her blankets. I usually find one bear that Lilly has wrapped up in a blanket and put to bed in each room of the house. I am kind of shocked she has so many. She also loves watching YouTube videos of bears with daddy.

 

Princesses: I tried really hard to keep Lilly away from the princess scene. However, she has seemed to have figured it all out on her own. I am not sure how she learned about princesses. I am thinking it is from the princess commercial on the Disney Junior channel. She also likes Rapunzel and the Disney movie Tangled.

Now that she has learned about princesses she can’t stop talking about them. If someone is wearing a dress and a hat that looks like a crown they are a princess. She wants to be a princess and calls herself one every Sunday when we put her in her dress. She saw some of our wedding pictures and she called me a princess in my big dress. She also likes to play dress-up and is always a princess.

I finally broke down and got her some princess things. I bought her a crown, fancy jewelry and a princess book.

Sharks: Lilly has decided she is scared of sharks. If she sees one on TV she hides her eyes and usually comes over to me so I’ll protect her. I have no idea why she decided she is afraid of sharks. It is a little funny though.

 

I am so amazed with how much Lilly is learning. We talk about a word or subject and she’ll remember it a week or month later. I mention something to her once and she catalogs it in her little brain and pulls it out when she comes across it again. I assume she has forgotten but she shocks me every time.  She still remembers Christmas and likes to talk about Santa. She is also trying to figure out numbers and counting. She can count 2, 3, 6, 8, she can hold 2 fingers up and when she has 2 of something she can tell you but that is as far as her numbers go.  She also knows a couple of shapes and can tell you when something is blue.

January and February

As you all know by now I am pregnant. This is the reason I did not blog in January and February. I have been exhausted. I feel way more exhausted with this pregnancy then my last one. Maybe that is because if I was tired before Lilly I just took a nap. Now I have to suffer through sleepiness and attend to all of Lilly’s needs.

I found out I was pregnant on Christmas Eve. It was a nice little Christmas present for our family. I didn’t start getting sick until mid-January. On my first doctor’s appointment they did an ultra sound and told me I had a Subchorionic Hemorrhage which caused me a lot of worry. By the time they did a second ultra sound, 2 weeks later, the hemorrhage was gone and they said everything looked good. I am hoping they are correct and am looking forward to the next doctor’s appointment. My due date is August 31st.

My nausea has mostly gone away. I am feeling pretty good other than some dizziness, occasional headaches/migraines, and lower abdominal pain. I am still exhausted and my house is a mess. I have to pick and choose which chores I am going to do for the day.

I did finally blog about Christmas and our Utah trip. I posted dated them though so you have to look a couple of posts back to see them. I needed them in order for our 2012 blog book. The Utah trip post is kind of fun because it has pictures of the family so take a look.  

January and February were busy months for Lilly. She has officially stopped using her binky during the day. She only has it during nap and bedtime. It was surprisingly easy to get her to stop using it. I told her we only use it at bedtime and I have her put it in her crib every day when she wakes up. Every once in awhile, she will head upstairs very quietly and when she comes back downstairs she has her binky in her mouth. I tell her to go put it back, she’ll roll her eyes at me, and then bring it back upstairs. I am very impressed. Now I just have to take it away at bedtime. I don’t think I am personally ready for that. She is my baby and babies have binkies. Maybe at 2 ½ I’ll be ready for that.

Lilly had her first official haircut in January. She just needed a trim to even out the back. The day of her haircut was kind of dramatic. She tripped in the driveway into the house of the individual that was cutting her hair and lost it. The trip wasn’t even that bad, she had no injuries. But she was a drama queen for the rest of the haircut. Luckily the crying and wiggling didn’t cause any slips of the scissors.   

Lilly also went to her 1^st and 2^nd friend Birthday Party in February and March. They were for two of her nursery friends and we had a lot of fun. One was a Minnie Mouse party (which we know she loves) and the other was a dress-up party. Lilly’s new favorite thing is dress-up so she was particularly excited about getting to wear one of her outfits to the party. They also had play earrings that was an exciting new toy for Lilly to play with and a cat that she could follow around the house.  

I was just planning to take a picture of Minnie Mouse and her funny bibs but Lilly insisted on being in the picture. But then she wouldn't even look at me or smile.

Lilly and I have also stayed busy with some fun Mommy and Me classes. We did our music class again. Lilly has fun with the drums and the parachute activities. She likes to come home and do the activities we did in class all over again. It is cute because she’ll use things around the house to try and make it look like the class. She uses the hot pads to make a circle for Ring Around the Rosie. We started an art class as well. She loves the art teacher and follows her around. She likes the praise the teacher gives her about all of her pictures. We are also taking advantage of story time and music time at the library and the children’s museum. I am trying to squeeze as much Lilly and Mommy time in before the new baby comes.

Tyson has been busy with school. He has two classes this semester. He is gone Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Lilly and I sure do miss him when he is gone. He is still enjoying running and is preparing for his first race in Chicago during St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Lilly has become quite a daddy’s girl. If he is home she is next to him. When he gets home she screams “Dadda Dadda Dadda” until he comes in and then follows him around. I need to teach her the primary song “I am so glad when Daddy comes home.” He is way more fun than Mommy is these days. I am glad they love each other so much.

 

Herbert's Very Important Message

Please read my sign. If you click on my picture it will become larger.

Sewing Machine

I bought a new suit two weeks ago because I don't fit in my old one anymore. I had the pants tailored  and the woman who did it didn't do a very good job. When I went to iron my pants in anticipation of a high profile meeting on monday I noticed that two of the seams were already coming apart.

 

So, in a rush I threw the pants in my car and ran to the cleaners to have an emergency repair done. Too bad when I got there I found out she wasn't going to be at work until Monday. So, I finally broke down and bought a sewing machine. I've wanted one for the last 2 years and I've spent easily at least $500 in tailoring since then. Looking back on it I should have just bought one.

 

After unpacking the machine I had to learn how to thread a bobbin and the machine. Luckily Singer included a DVD showing how to do all that. Then a few YouTube videos later and I was ready to sew my on my suit. Turns out it is much easier than I thought and the result is as professional as anyone could do.

Alterations - "Check".....Now it's on to learning how to make dress up clothes for Lilly.

 

 

Valentines Craft

I thought it would be fun to do a Valentines craft with Karen and Lilly. So we got in the car and drove to Michaels to see what we could find. About 30 minutes and 20 dollars later we had a bag full of foam hearts, “bedazzle” hearts, some glitter glue and a couple wooden cutouts. Once home we put everything on the dining room table and went straight to work on our Valentines. Lilly had so much fun and even went a little overboard with the glue and bedazzle hearts. After we finished our crafts we put them on the table to dry and gave Lilly a Valentine cupcake that she had picked out at the grocery store earlier that day. I am excited to put or valentines on the fridge but not as much as Lilly, she really loves seeing her artwork on display.

 

Lilly Builds A Fire

I taught Lilly how to build a fire. It started with her wanting to watch and help. Now that we are several weeks through winter she has had plenty of practice and takes the lead. Here are some photos of her hard at work....of course Lilly never gets to actually light the fire and I make sure to use a safety lighter that is kept hidden and out of her reach at all times.

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First she brings in the wood from garage

 

Then she gets out the kindling from the kindle box.

Then she adds newspaper under the kindling.

Then she puts the logs on the fire.

Lilly enjoying the fire she built.