Aunt Mel, Budding Photographer

Erik's sister Melissa recently got a new camera, and we are enjoying her wonderful photographs so much! I have already been given a couple CDs worth of photos that are better than anything I've gotten taken professionally (talking about the kids here, of course - rest assured I am not out there getting portraits taken of myself -ha!). I'll share just a couple here that we love, although they are all truly precious photographs that I will cherish as my kids grow older and the time flies right by. Some of the candids she takes are my favorites, she just catches that moment in time. Thanks so much, Aunt Mel!

Our Friends from Louisville

Our great friends Jamie and Eric Haru (Jamie and I were college roommates!) and their son, Kainoa, drove up to Chicago from their home in Louisville for a visit. Kainoa is just a few months younger than Cassidy, so they had great fun playing together. Cassidy also had fun goofing around with Eric, who she named "Blue Daddy" because he was wearing a blue shirt when he arrived and well, because she thinks all men are called daddies. Anyway, with us all being exhausted parents (Jamie and Eric are expecting #2 on Thanksgiving Day!), we kept the weekend plans very relaxed. We ordered in Thai for dinner, got Oberweis shakes for dessert, and took a nice walk to a nearby park to meet up with Mandy Hoffmeister (another college buddy and my wonderful neighbor!) and her 2 boys. We also took a trip to Wagner Farm, one of Cassie's favorite pastimes these days. It's free and only 5 minutes from our house, so we go there at least once a week to visit Boo the dairy cow and her new calf, Maddie. (Cassie also chases the cats and taunts the chickens with her versions of their sounds.) Kainoa was a little stunned by Boo (she is an enormous cow) so he kept his arms wrapped tightly around Jamie's neck. But the toddler games inside the farm museum kept Cassie and Kainoa very busy! We had a really fun visit with the Harus. I always tell them (and my other great girlfriends who live out of state) that I wish we could all live on the same street and hang out every day.

Late Summer Fun

August 2009 has been a fun month. On August 9, Erik and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! Grandpa and Grammy Brown gave us the day off, and we took full advantage. We started with a relaxing lunch at a great Irish pub in Old Town. Next, we saw the matinee for the "Best of Second City" at the famous comedy club. Very funny as always, but the improv was by far the best part of the show. (Isn't that always the case? SO hilarious!) After that, we tried out a delicious new restaurant for dinner (new to us, anyway, since we don't have many meals out these days!) over in Wicker Park. Our plan was to head home after dinner, but we were having so much fun that we decided last-minute to go see a movie - a comedy, to stick with the theme of the day. We saw "The Hangover", which was actually very funny - exceeded our expectations! We highly recommend it to any other sleep-deprived parents of small children who need some easy laughter to end their day. (Although, I have to say how proud we are of Gavin - we have gone 3 nights in a row now with wonderful sleep - no waking from 7pm - 5am - not even for a pacifier, which has been a big hurdle - Go Gavin!).

In mid-August, we took part in a family picnic for Erik's dad's cancer support group. Many of the group members took part, and all were invited to bring their families so we could all meet one another. Don handled the grilling for the group and everyone brought side dishes for the table. It was a beautiful sunny day for a picnic. It was windy, too - we were wishing we'd brought a kite! The picnic area was on the same grounds as a huge childrens' splash park, so Cassie brought her swimming suit and had lots of fun playing in the water. She's a little unsure about anything that will dump on her head, like waterfalls or those giant mushrooms that pour water down all sides. But she's happy to splash around and enjoy the scene. Gavin even got in on the splashing action!

C is for . . .Cupcakes, Cell Phones, Crawling and Cereal

Funny that the 4 things I jotted down on my post-it note for this blog all begin with the letter C! First of all, Cassie and I have been doing some fun baking lately. I love to bake (really I love the end result of dessert!) and I'm finding many new baking mixes on the grocery shelves that are milk and nut free. Good news for Cassidy! So we are having fun baking things together, especially with the rainy days we've had lately. We mostly bake cupcakes (with homemade icing and sprinkles) and brownies. She loves to stand on her pink step-stool and watch me mix and pour, and of course she helps me out from time to time. She picks out her sprinkle color and doesn't leave one bit of icing on her plate when she's done. She almost always asks for "more cupcakes!"

Erik and I switched cell phone providers, which meant changing phones too. So as we spent one evening on the couch trying to learn the new functions and transfer contacts, Cassie became very interested (uh-oh - already???). The amazing thing is that she can work my phone just as well as I can. There is a free application on the phone that allows you to "doodle" with paint colors and input all sorts of icons (animals, hearts, raindrops, etc.) and she creates her own drawings all by herself. This photo gave me a flash-forward to about 14 years from now (probably less - who am I kidding) when Cassidy will be too busy texting (or whatever it is they'll be doing on cell phones by then) to talk to mom and dad...

Gavin's biggest updates are 1) cereal and 2) crawling! He's not actually crawling yet, but he is on all fours, belly off the ground, staring down those toys that are a few feet away, and "revving up" for minutes on end, just trying to get all the motions together to make that first lunge forward. I keep running for the video camera each day when I see him about to crawl - but all false alarms thus far. It's not far off, though. Time to baby-proof again!

Gavin is also really enjoying his rice cereal that we started about a week ago. I started out trying to feed him in his bumbo chair - which allows him to sit upright. But he was so excited about that spoon that he would literally lunge forward whenever it came near - usually ending up with a jab into his cheek or nose. It was honestly so difficult because of how excited he was that I ended up moving him to a reclined bouncy chair for the next attempt. Much better with that. Now, he kicks his legs and opens his mouth wide and gives me a huge smile after each bite. He just loves the stuff! I wish he was as enthusiastic about his bottles (not so)! It usually takes a few attempts and various feeding positions for Gavin to finish a bottle. But he has yet to leave a drop of rice cereal behind. In the next few weeks, we'll start trying more "solids" - mashed bananas, pears, carrots and peas!

The Reders Head South

At the end of July, we headed down to South Florida for a Reder family gathering. The trip included my parents, my 2 sisters and their families, and of course the 4 of us. This trip has become an every-other-year tradition that we look SO forward to! With my sisters and I all living in different states and staying so busy with kids' schedules, we don't have many opportunities to spend time altogether, with the exception of big holidays. So this trip allows us to relax at the beach and catch up with everyone. And of course all the cousins keep each other busy, ranging in age from 13 down to 5 months! They love spending quality time with Grandma and Grandpa too.

We packed a whole lot of fun into our week at the beach! I can't capture it all - this blog would become a short novel. But I can surely cover the big things! Besides the daily fun-in-the-sun of the ocean, beach and pool, we...

...had a tie-dye party on the beach!
...went deep-sea fishing...and caught a 7-foot bull shark!
(this was guys only - the girls happily stayed behind)

...spent a morning at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, seeing baby turtles (among other things!) prepare for their journey out to sea.

...took Cassie on a special dinner date to Cap's Place with just mommy and daddy.
...helped Grandpa catch sea life and kept it as a pet in a bucket for a few hours.
...got some wonderful help with bedtime stories.

We always have fun spending time at the beach! Missing it already...

Out-of-Towners Come For a Visit!

We had 2 very fun visits in the past couple of weeks with close friends that we don't get to see often. One of my best girlfriends since college, Tara, and her family live in Ohio, but find themselves in Chicago from time to time. A few weekends ago, they were in town and we had a really fun morning playdate. Ella and Cassidy were born weeks apart and are both busy 2-year olds! We adore Ella! She is confident and chatty and such a little sweetheart. Gavin and Brady were also born weeks apart, and they spent the playdate doing joint tummy-time. Brady is adorable. He's got Gavin beat with his size - he's 10 weeks old in this photo, while Gavin is 4 months. (He had quite the head start, weighing 11+ pounds at birth! Go Brady go!) Tara and I, along with two other close friends, Jamie and Meg, have planned a Fall reunion with all of our families (8 adults, 4 toddlers, 3 infants, and Jamie with one on the way!). We'll be spending a long weekend at a log cabin in Brown County, IN. I can't wait!

We also got to visit with Erik's great friend from high school, Kai, and his wife Angelina and their new twin daughters. Kai and Angelina spent 5 years living in Hawaii, and last summer moved down to Texas. But a family wedding brought them back to Chicago for a few days, and we all met up at Erik's parents' house in the western suburbs. Cassie got to watch Cooper tire himself out chasing the corn that hangs from a bungee cord in the Brown's backyard (usually meant for the squirrels!). The Bouchard twins, Charlotte and Aria, are little angels - hardly make a peep! And I'm wayyyy jealous, because they are sleeping through the night for their mom and dad (please teach Gavin, girls!). Here's a shot of Gavin with the little ladies. It's always so fun to catch up with old friends!

Gavin's Special Day

On Gavin's 4-month birthday, we had a very special event - Gavin's baptism! We spent the day celebrating with family. Gavin slept through much of the service, and only opened his eyes a few moments after the water was poured over his little bald(ish) head. He never made a peep! We all went out together afterward to celebrate over dinner and dessert. It was a really special day.
We got to spend some extra time with the Harding family over that weekend, since they had driven in from Indiana and stayed overnight with us. We had all sorts of fun! The kids got lots of playtime with their cousins, Kelsey and Ethan. We built train tracks in the rec room, spent time at the beach at Gillson Park, went out for ice cream that evening and pancakes the next morning (yummmm!). We also chatted about our mutual love for the Cubs and had the games on throughout the weekend. It was a wonderful visit!