Memorial Day 2010

It's here...the beginning of summer!!!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend was great!  We started the weekend on Saturday doing the Soldier Field 10 miler.  This was a bday gift for my dad's 60th and the whole family participated (minus Uncle Joe who was out of town) by either running or walking!  After the race, we went out for breakfast and drinks and enjoyed the beautiful Chicago weather!!!

Look how cute Daddy was at the race!

After the race, we headed up to Bass Lake for a great weekend.  The weahter could not have been more perfect...and the company was equally great!!!!  On Saturday, we just stayed around the cabin and enjoyed the weather and all the fun toys the kids have up there (pool, water table, sand box, slide).  Then, on Sunday, while the boys were golfing, Nana and I took the girls down to Uncle Al and Aunt Gam's beach!  Abigail had such a great time doing LOTS of new things!!!  As much as she hates bugs, she loves outdoor activities!  Caitlin also enjoyed the time outside....she's our little beach bum!

Caitlin enjoying the "tub" of water!  (We are trying to keep her out of the lake because the bacteria can cause infections in her tubes).

Nana teaching Abigail how to "surf" with a present from the lake (what we call it when toys wash up on shore).

Stina teaching Abigail how to throw rocks....they had a great time!

Beach Ballerina

Abigail loved the minnow bucket and was reaching right on in to get the minnows to go fishing.

Stina taught Abigail how to fish

The BEST place to nap....the beach!

Swimming + building sand castles + surfing + throwing rocks + fishing + riding in the golf cart = EXHAUSTED

On Monday, we were able to take the girls out on the boat (Caitlin's first boat ride) and enjoy more time outside!

Thank you to all our family and friends for the wonderful weekend.  Thanks of course to Nana and Papa for the great time at the cabin.  Thanks to Aunt Gam and Uncle Al for having us to the beach.  Thanks to Uncle B, Auntie  MoMo, "Luca", Stina (and her friend Carla), and Grams and Gramps for all the fun times this weekend.  And thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Julie and Aunt Katie for the great start to the weekend...and to my running buddies for the fun run!

So, now it's officially summer!!!!  Swimming pool opens this weekend and we can't wait!

Heat Wave!

We've been LOVING this hot weather and were in our pool both Monday and Tuesday!!!

♥♥♥

"Blue Jean Beauty Queen"

What else have we been up to????

Rob:  Work, Work, Work, Golf, Work, HAWKS

Beth:  Clean, Work, Play, Run

Caitlin:  Try to Crawl, Start to talk

Abigail:

Art on the Wall

We can't wait for this weekend!  We are doing the Soldier Field race, then a relaxing weekend at Bass Lake!!!

Morton Arboretum and More

Wow...this Sunday was a scorcher!!!!  We had a really great weekend....non-stop busy from beginning to end! 

On Sunday, before heading to B and Mo's to celebrate a BIG win and the Hawks heading to the Stanley Cup, we headed to the Morton Arboretum for the day.  It was our first trip there, and we had a very nice time.  It was HOT so I don't think we enjoyed it as much as we would on a cooler day, but luckily they had lots of things to do with water!!!!

My attempt at a sister picture....someone is never cooperating!

It is tadpole season, so they had thousands and thousands of tadpoles swimming around the ponds.  The kids could walk in there and catch the tadpoles.  We were pretty surprised that Abigail wanted to take off her socks/shoes and hop right in with all the little tadpoles swimming around!!!!  It was really a neat thing to see, and it only happens 3 weeks a year so we were lucky we were there to see it!

Abigail LOVED the maze above the trees!!!!

Daddy is so much fun when it comes to water and making messes!!!!!

Cooling off and skipping rocks

Caitlin had a nice time too...but she had to stay in the stroller most of the day because of the heat!  She did dip her feet in the water a few times!

Smelling flowers!  Abigail kept saying "Mama, it's nnnniiiicccceeee outside!"

Last week, we met Lisa, Parker, and Aubrey at Brookfield.  Abigail's doll (who's name is Dolly Wennerstrom and goes EVERYWHERE with us...always without clothes) had her first visit to the zoo. Abigail made sure her doll could see every thing!  It was really cute.  She found this log, sat down, and told me "Mommy, Take a picture of Dolly" (but was being too nosy to actually look at the camera and miss all the action!)

On Saturday, while Rob golfed, the girls headed over to Just Play, which is a big free family event that Carol Stream does every year.  We had a lot of fun playing with all the different things set up for toddlers.  Abigail's favorite part was meeting some of the preschool teachers and making a bracelet.  I think she's really going to enjoy preschool!  In addition, we played "water table" with Reese and Chase and went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa after Rob and my dad did a big job of bringing my sister's new wood floors to her apartment!

Abigail in the firetruck at Just Play in Carol Stream.  She could NEVER pass a firetruck without sitting in it and talking about "Papa's truck" which is red! 

Hope you had a nice, cool weekend!!!!!  Today we are breaking out the swimming pool for the first time....so excited!!!!!  And can not wait for next weekend, which includes the Soldier Field 10 mile race to celebrate my dad's 60th bday, and then heading to Indiana for the weekend for sun, fun, relaxation, and pop'n'wines!!!!!

Our Princess

I thought it was time for an update on Abigail!

She is quite a character lately.  She LOVES to dress herself!!!  Almost every outfit she wears is picked out by herself.  She also loves to choose how her hair will be done!

"I do it" is the phrase we hear most often.  She wants to brush her teeth, dress herself, go potty by herself, buckle herself in her carseat, get her food, etc! 

She still LOVES Mickey Mouse every  morning.  However, the rest of the day, she only wants to watch Princess and the Frog!  Everything is Princess and the Frog now!!!!

She knows most of her letters...and knows what letters stand for her favorite people!  (D for Daddy, C for Caitlin, etc).  She can count to 20 to. She loves to sing "Down By the Bay" and "Sticky Bubblegum." She's a little sponge!

If she says something that makes you laugh, she'll say it LOTS more...and crack herself up every time!  We were watching Mickey Mouse and she said a line  "Oh, I know" before the monkey said it...and we both laughed...so now every time she watches Mickey Mouse, she says it and literally falls over laughing at herself!

She does not forget a thing!!!!  It is amazing to me how she remembers things months later....for example, if you mention swimming, she'll talk about the Easter Bunny from our Egg hunt.  And she remembers who gives her every toy...and tells me where she got it from before she plays with it!

Probably our favorite thing she is doing right now is imitating us, especially with books.  She'll sit and read the books we read...it's so cute to listen to.  She had this book from the library about ladybugs and reads it just like we read it!

She is still afraid of ladybugs and still claims there are ladybugs in her hair!

She still LOVES ketchup!!!  But yesterday I asked her what her favorite food is and she said "Edamame"...ha ha!  What a character!

Her aunts, uncle, and grandparents are her favorite people of all time!  She always wants to know where they are...and talks about them (or to them on her play phone) all day long!

She is really excited to have a new baby cousin!!!  (Only, mommy isn't as happy when she tells me I have a baby cousin in my belly too!)

She is a wonderful big sister.  She loves to help with Caitlin..and is always concerned about her if she's crying.  She loves to make her laugh, always reads to her, and gives hugs and kisses before bed!

She is going to start 2 1/2 year old preschool next year.  I'm a little sad to send her, but I thinks she's ready and will love to have friends to play with.  It's only 2 days for an hour and a half so it's just enough time for Caitlin and I to do a class together or do some errands....but it seems a little sad that she's old enough for preschool.

Here are a few cute pics from Abigail, Caitlin, and Aunt Katie's adventures at a park in Chicago!

Can You Hear Me Now????

YES!

Yesterday was Caitlin's tube surgery.  It went great!

We got down to Children's Memorial at 10 am.  After checking in, we had some cuddle time!  Caitlin hadn't eaten since 4am, so we were expecting a crying baby, but she was so wonderful!  She didn't cry at all!!!  It may have something to do with the magic pacifiers at the hospital (she doesn't use a paci, but these are vanilla flavored and she LOVED it...we got a few extras when we left!).  After lots of cuddling and meeting all the drs, nurses, and anesthesiologists, they finally took her back around 12:00.  We went to the surgery waiting room, and by 12:30 we were called to the recovery room.  She was cuddling with a nurse...very content.  It was a wonderful way to find her...there were lots of kids really upset when they came out of the anasthesia so we were lucky.  They didn't have to give her an IV, they just put her to sleep with a mask, so it was a relatively painless procedure. By 2:00, she was able to take 2oz of sugar water and we were headed home.  It was a fairly easy day...just a little stressful watching them carry her away for the surgery.  And of course, Caitlin was a total ham for the nurses and doctors.  She couldn't have been more cute the whole day, and as always our day was full of comments about how cute she is!  Not that we didn't already know!

She slept most of the day.  Today she seems to be doing good. She does have a slight fever and threw up once, but that's fairly common.  As for hearing, of course I'm driving her crazy seeing if she can hear.  She can definitely hear better than before.  The doctor said one hear hear a lot of clear fluid, the other side had a very thick substance like peanut butter, so there is definitely a good reason she couldn't hear.  She seems to be startled by noises now and turns her head to her name.  In about a month, she'll go back for a hearing test and we'll learn if her hearing is fully restored or not.  Until then, we are just enjoying our same old happy Caitlin, who now just can hear a little better!!!!  ;)

What do you want, Mom????  Yep, I'm wearing my new pajamas...sort of my "coming home from the hospital" outfit!!!  Also, thanks Nana and Papa for dropping off a new "sound" toy that Caitlin can play and HEAR!  How exciting!

"Hello, Ball!"

Abigail also had a great and busy day yesterday.  My dad took her to the Dupage Children's Museum, McDonalds for lunch, and then Cosley Zoo.  At the Dupage Museum, they even went to a story time and made an art project.  She had a really great time with grandpa and hasn't stopped talking about it today!  My dad taught her some saying from the honeymooners "Hello Ball" and she is saying it to everything.  They also must have sang "This Old Man" a lot because she's singing it today!

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!!!! 

Post through Pics *Updated*

Post through Pictures!!!!!

We DID celebrate Caitlin's 6 month birthday with a treat...I just didn't put pictures.  It's actually half a cake-shaped brownie!!!!

UPDATE:  Also, I forgot to post about Caitlin's 6 months stats!  She had her 6 month app't last week, and she weighs 13 lbs 1 oz (3% for weight) and is 25.25 inches (22% for height).  I don't think Caitlin is going to be as tall as Abigail, but they are both gonna be skinny mini's!  We are trying to add weight to Caitlin (same as we did with Abigail) by adding calories to her formula...but maybe we'll just give her frozen yogurt instead (see below)!

On Friday morning, Abigail got herself breakfast!

Tour De Caitlin!  She's getting up on all fours and scooting backwards!  Any day now she'll be crawling!  And she was sporting her Tour De France pajamas Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe brought her back from France.

Today, we had a great day enjoying the weather.  We started at Cosley Zoo!

Then, we headed to downtown Wheaton to walk around and go to the park.  After the park, we found the BEST frozen yogurt place EVER!!! YoYoLand!!! It's my absolute new favorite thing!!!!  They had all these different types of yogurt, and tons and tons of toppings (fresh fruit, candy, etc).  You just make whatever you want, and then they charge you $.49 per ounce.  It was so much fun!!!

Abigail enjoyed her Vanilla with sprinkels.

Caitlin tried Mommy and Daddy's peanut butter with chocolate chips and oreos.  Obviously, she's our kid!!!!

Also, a few random pics from our wonderful Mother's Day! I got to spend Saturday shopping with my mom all day, including a fun lunch with GREAT drinks and coffee! Sunday I woke up to a LARGE Starbucks and flowers to plant!!!  I also got new running shoes (so excited) that I could pick out myself! We went for a family walk.  We met Rob's parents at a really fun restaurant in Bolingbrook...where we had alligator for an appetizer.  And we went and saw my grannie Frannie!  And then today (following week) I got a pedi thanks to my parents, coffee thanks to my sister Kate, and new shoes thanks to my hubby and kids!  So yep...it was a great Mother's Day and I feel so blessed!!!!

We went for a family walk around the "fountain" in Carol Stream!  Searched for ducks...found mean geese!

At dinner with Nana and Papa, Caitlin was being cuddley, which she never is so we had to document it!!!!

Tomorrow is the big day...Caitlin's ear tubes surgery....hopefully!  Of course, both kids got sick this weekend.  They both had a touch of the stomach flu; Abigail on Friday and Saturday and Caitlin on Saturday and Sunday.  They both threw up only once each day, so we really, really hoping they will do the surgery tomorrow and by noon tomorrow, Caitlin will have a whole new world!!!!

Also, thank you to Aunt Katie for taking the girls on Saturday so I could go celebrate the soon-to-be-arrival of Luke Hackney and Rob could golf in a benefit golf tournament!  It's much harder to have the girls in the city and I give you credit for taking them to the park and finding a bathroom!  :) You have to send me the pics from the park!  And thanks to Jules for meeting the girls later for lunch!  We loved seeing our neice growing!!!!!  Sorry guys that Abigail got sick at the restaurant!  ;)  But the girls had a great time....Abigail LOVED it...but sorry to say, the best part of the day was the moment UNCLE JOE came to the window to say hi to her.  HOURS of talking about it!!!!  ;)

Update as soon as possible tomorrow about Caitlin!

SWAGGER WAGON