EE's shower

I am really this behind? Wow. I blame the summer and the pregnancy. For example, this post is about Erin's Chicago Shower and she just had her baby last week. Sigh.

It took place the weekend of Father's day - We all jumped in the car and headed to Chicago for the couples baby shower for EE and Todd and had a great time. It was unlike any other baby shower I had attended, complete with corn-hole, adult beverages, and costumes. Mallory had a lot of fun with the many balloons and music.

The decor was beautiful and the food was delicious. It was so cool to have a backyard BBQ surrounded by the city scape of Chicago. I could see the Willis Tower [Sears Tower] from the backyard as I watched everyone play corn-hole and bocce ball. Since my sister has lived there, I have developed such a love for that city and enjoy every time we travel there. Mallory enjoys going to EE's house too, especially since it doesn't happen that often. On Sunday as we were finally pulling into the driveway at home, she looked at me and said "We at Mommy's house?" I replied, "yes, Mallory - we are home." Her response? "AWE....I want to go to EE's!!!"

Clowning Around

Painting on the Patio

I have been putting off introducing painting to Mallory for a very long time. I was terrified of the inevitable mess and stains it would create and just kept putting it off. Finally, I decided to give it a try. I bought the washable paints and set them up on the picnic table on the patio. Mallory was so excited and painted picture after picture after picture. There were so many pictures strewn all over the patio setting out to "dry," it looked like a tornado had gone through the backyard. Since this afternoon we have painted several more times and now we are out of paint! The best part about this new found artistic side of Mallory is that the mess isn't nearly as bad as I feared :)

Sprinkler Ring

$4.99 at Target and I get endless entertainment for Mallory. Well, maybe not endless, but long enough I could sit and put my feet up. It is just a ring that fills up with water and pushes out water. The height adjusts per the amount of pressure, so turn the water up and the fountains of water will rise and rise. At first she was a little scared of what was happening, but as soon as I lowered the water she was running through it over and over. Gotta love cheap entertainment.

Memorial Day Parade

As the title states, this post is about the Memorial Day Parade so it is quite apparent how behind I am on the blog. Catching up is always fun. In my defense, it is summer and we all know how the summers can fill up and run away with you. Not to mention I am entering my third trimester of pregnancy and tend to run out of gas a little quicker then normal. Okay, enough excuses. Here are some images from (mostly captured by Marc) of the parade and the kids watching it. This was Mallory's 1st parade and she really did enjoy it. Her favorite part was the marching band[s] and she proceeded to talk about them often after the parade. We will more then likely make this a tradition considering it was such a hit with her.

After the parade we headed to Nate and Jenny's and ate lunch. Mallory enjoyed playing in the water table and swinging with Sam. Which made for a very enjoyable nap afterwards. It ended up being a really nice day - one of those that although it is filled to the brim with plans, it is so relaxing and laid back. Can't wait until next year.

Dance Moves

Every Sunday night in the summer, our community has "concerts on the green." Typically it is family oriented and you just bring some chairs and a blanket and sit and listen to the music. Even though it is every week, we have trouble making it there. Both of us work and Mallory is usually heading up to bed around 8, so a 7 o'clock concert is never high on our priority list. However, on Memorial Day weekend, we made an exception since neither of us had to work Monday.

Mallory loves music and has since she came out of the womb. It started by her requesting for Daddy to play "rock and roll" and now she is calling out the instruments while showing us how to play them. So far on her list is guitar, bass, drums, and trumpet. Along with this love for the instruments, she has some killer dance moves. We happened to get a few shots right in the midst of her performance. Now, we just have to remember to break out the video camera.

Our Little Man

Meet our little man. Here are his first [legible] pictures ever. We do have some from the first ultrasound, but really they just look like a tiny blurb in the middle of a sea of darkness. This little one has made a himself quite a comfy home and I must say, so far has been a great guest. He caused me little to no nausea and is even letting me sleep! He has me craving pickles and veggies as opposed to the Sour Patch Kids, cakes, and ice creams that Mallory had me after. Don't get me wrong, a good ice cream sounds good from time to time, but in comparison the need is not quite as urgent as it was for Mallory.

This second pregnancy has been very laid back for me. I am sure it is because I have a two year old at home and I don't really have time to be tired or obsess about every little feeling I am having. I am super excited to meet him and it is nice to not have quite the "nerves" I had the first time around. I am still nervous, and worry about just having a healthy, happy baby - but the pressure is a little "lifted" this time around. What really makes me nervous is having two children, two lives that I am responsible for. I feel like we just got down having one and now we are having two? To me, the best way to think of it is that it keeps life interesting and exciting. New challenges and never ending excitement.

We have tried our best to get Mallory ready for her new little brother, but it is somewhat difficult to explain all this to a two year old. She seems involved and excited, but I am not convinced that things won't go incredibly wrong once he comes into the world and she has seen that he isn't going anywhere and that her spotlight has to be shared. However, for now, she is very excited about her "little brudder" and has started to pet my bare belly and say "hi" to him. She also informed me tonight that on her play set in the yard, the little slide is for her little brother and she gets the "big, big" one. Nice of her to share :) I would have to say above all, her favorite part is her new big girl room. She isn't in it yet, but will be soon and with each minor change we let her go in there and marvel at what has been done. Last time we showed her the paint on the trim she gasped and said "thank you so much Daddy and Mommy." My heart melt a little. I suppose I should enjoy this now because I am not sure how long this sweet disposition will last when he has made his way into the world.

**Also, be aware that we will be forming a new blog for the family once he comes or once I am not too lazy to design one.**

First Foot Print

It's a BOY!