Rain or Snow...

Sun, rain, snow or sleet. Missy (my walking buddy and next door neighbor) & I along with our two kiddos are always up for a walk. There is this great park a few blocks away that has a half mile loop where we go every day. There is nothing more refreshing after a day cooped up in a small apartment with a toddler than to breath in the cool air, stretch our legs and allow the kids to enjoy a change in scenery. For the most part the kids allow us 45mins. of mommy time-- excercise and great conversation.
These two pictures were taken last week when we headed to the park as it started snowing. This picture doesn't do justice to the flakes that were falling. You can see a bit of accumulation on Ella's stroller cover below. (By the way, the Graco rain, wind cover is the greatest invention ever! It keeps Ella quite toasty.)

Ella's first steps

With a little help from her push toy, Ella is just beginning to learn how to walk. It seems like she has a long way to go but I know by next week she will be off and running. It is amazing how quickly they learn something new.

This week we went out to historic St. Charles to meet up with a bunch of our college students for a study break dinner. The restaurant we ate at was nestled on this quaint little street all decked out with Christmas lights, wreaths, and bows. We couldn't help but try and capture the ambiance.


I neglected to put this picture in my last post. This was Ella's face as I opened up our boxes of Christmas decorations. She has this new noise that she makes when she is excited about something. She somehow vibrates her vocals making it sound like an wheezy machine gun laugh. It is hysterical! Anyways, she could not stop doing this as she explored the contents of the boxes.

Christmas in the House

The fresh smell of pine, the twinkle of christmas lights, hot apple cider and the perfect book is the best remedy for a tired mom. I love Christmas time....

Thanksgiving in review

My sister Sarah came to visit this past week. It was so great to have her around. I always love chilling with her. She was very sweet to come out here and graciously love us even though our daughter wakes up at 7am and wants the rest of the apartment to play with her. She was willing to sleep on the couch because ahhhh...we don't have a guestroom and was ready to hangout around the house instead of spending all day shopping due to some cute little ones nap schedule.

Turkey day was spent with great friends, the Woods and Andersons. We ate super yummy food and had a great time just chilling watching the kiddos play as we leisurely talked about our futures. It was a bittersweet time knowing that the Woods are leaving us in just a couple of weeks to head to NC. We are going to miss these seminary days of gathering together as families. (Sadly i failed to take any pictures--who does that???)

On Friday we headed to Indiana to meet Sarah's boyfriend Danny and his two sisters. It was so good to get out of the city and unwind. We spent the weekend relaxing and getting to know this guy my sis has been raving about for the last couple of months! It was great to finally get to meet him and see them interact together--i loved it!

Then to finish off our trip we headed into Chicago for a long day of exploring the city.

Ella has just begun to love books--especially the ones you can touch.
ben, ella, sarah, danny & laurie on the shore of lake Michigan
view of the skyline from Navy Pier

the famous ice rink at Millennium Park

Visitors

Last week Sheila and Gini came out to visit. Ella loved having them here. She always had someone eager to read her a book, get on the floor and play with her toys, or take her to the playground. I also loved the extra hands in taking care of Ella. It was nice to be able to put my feet up some, have help with the dishes, and go out on dates with my hubby with free babysitting.
We also enjoyed some fun outings together. One highlight was an afternoon spent roaming downtown Historic St. Charles and browsing in all of the boutiques that line Main Street. Thanks for coming to see us and loving on us so well!!

What a sad face huh? Ella was not excited about her visitors leaving!

Laughter

This is the sweetest noise I have ever heard.