Crazy Father's Day Weekend!

This past weekend was a complete whirlwind of fun.

Friday night my parents watched Anabelle while John and I went to his cousin Jennifer's wedding. We had a nice time and it was good to visit with his Dad's side of the family, we don't see them very often. Unfortunately I was having such a good time, I forgot to take any pictures, but it was a lovely reception. While Anabelle slept at Grandma and Grandpa's, John and I slept at the hotel where the reception was so that we could relax and drink a little.

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to go to the Cubs game. Mom and Dad dropped off Belle and we were on our way to Wrigley Field. It was a beautiful day; warm with a nice breeze. Our seats were in the corner by 1st base, in the upper deck. The Cubs were pretty bad and lost by a lot, however we still enjoyed the game. Belle loved the breeze and stayed entertained by friends, family, and an empty beer cup.

Becky and Belle hanging out

Joe and Kari

Gotta love that beer cup

Belle's a little sleepy by the end of the game

After the game we went back to Kari's for a little bar-b-q and some rest. Then while John and his brother went to a comedy show, Belle and I were happy to be go home to get some sleep.

Sunday was the Warrior Dash. John and I had signed up for this race a few months ago. It is a 5k with obstacles thrown in like scaling a wall, jumping over a fire pit, and crawling through a mud pit. We thought it sounded crazy and like a ton of fun! Well a couple of months ago I re-injured my knee and am now on dr's orders not to do any running =( So since we had already paid for me to run and didn't want to waste the $$, John's Dad decided to take my place. So the plan was for us to go to the race in Joliet, watch John and his Dad run, and then Anabelle and I would go have lunch with my Dad. This would leave John and his Dad to watch his brother Joe run the race, who was scheduled to run in a later heat.

In reality; the race was in a field in the middle of NOWHERE, it was a hot, humid, and sunny day, and the amount of mud associated with this event was unreal! Bringing a baby in a stroller, which I could not push, through this deep, thick, wet mud was a bad idea. John, his Dad, and I sloshed through the mud carrying Anabelle in her stroller and got us settled into the only dry spot in a 2 mile radius. Anabelle and I hung with the other Mom's and babies who thought this would be a fun day to watch their Daddy run a race. It was less than ideal, but we were near the finish line so we were able to see them finish. Anabelle hung in there as long as she could and then let me know by screaming her head off that she had had enough. I couldn't blame her it was hot and muddy. So Anabelle and I left to go visit Grandma and Grandpa. John, Joe and his Dad did a great job completing this tough race. It did look like a lot of fun, but I wouldn't bring Anabelle next time =)

Nice and clean before the race

While waiting Belle tries on Daddy's warrior hat

Joe nice and clean before the race

Joe and Alex get ready

John sloshing through the mud pit

Yay! He did it!!

After the race (Um honey you're not getting in the car looking like that)

John's Dad sloshing through the mud pit

At my parents we also got to see Uncle Mike and Aunt Steph, who had a surprise for Anabelle; her 1st baby pool. Of course we tested it out right away and she loved it. We will be using this a lot in our new yard.

Checking out the new pool- thanks Uncle Mike and Aunt Steph!

The weekend was a blast, but so exhausting! This week we have been painting, packing, and more packing. It probably will be a few days till my next post since we move on Friday, have a great weekend everyone!

9 months old

Trying to get Anabelle to sit still for a picture can be a challenge =)

Anabelle turned 9 months old yesterday and here are her stats:

weight-20 lbs. 2 oz

length-28 1/2 inches

head circumference- 17 7/8 inches

tooth count-2 bottom, 1 top

Sleeping- Typically Anabelle sleeps 7:30 pm to 7:30 am (awesome!) with 2 naps during the day. She will not nap unless at home in her crib or in her pack and play. This makes running errands difficult, as she won't sleep in the car or stroller. Oh well, I'll take it-at least she sleeps at home.

Eating-She has been eating a lot of fruits and veggies. Now she is trying out real table foods, and learning how to munch. Likes: bananas, sweet potatoes, pancakes, and gelato. Dislikes: meat, green veggies on their own (she'll eat them when you mix them with something else), and avacado.

Movement-Belle is using an army crawl to get around, and man she is fast! She is starting to look for things to pull herself up on. She gets angry when you put her in any type of holding device-be it your arms, highchair, or jumparoo. Lately she attempts to crawl away during diaper changes, making waste removal challenging and dangerous. The best way to keep her from hurling herself off the changing table is to either sing to her or make goat noises.

Talking-Anabelle has been doing lots of babbling and noise making. She frequently will squeal and scream for no apparent reason, choosing inopportune places like the grocery store to test out her vocal chords. She can say ba-ba, da-da, and ma-ma. However these sounds are not linked to an actual bottle, dad or mom. But it's fun to hear =)

Happy 9 months Belle!

Here are some pictures, I took her to the park across the street yesterday, she is wearing a dress that I wore as a baby.

Ravinia

To celebrate John's birthday we went to see Steve Martin this past Saturday. Not many people know it but Steven Martin is a fantastic banjo player and has even won a few grammy's. He plays with a great bluegrass band and is currently on tour. We saw him at Ravinia, an outdoor venue where you can sit on the lawn and bring your own picnic. It is a really fun place to see a concert and every time we go I wonder why we don't go more often. They allow you to bring in whatever you want and so being located on the Northshore (an area notorious for their wealth and extravagance) people go all out. These "picnics" often include huge meals on fancy tables with candleabras and vases full of flowers. It is quite a sight to see and very fun to walk around and look at the "spread". Of course I love this sort of thing and fall easily into the trap of creating the perfect picnic. This year I sprung for a cute little table that Crate and Barrel sells called table in a bag, which works great for picnics. You see many of these at Ravinia. So loaded up with our blanket, table, chairs, citronella candle, and cooler stocked with yummy foods we set off for a night of bluegrass. Joining us for the fun was Becky, Joe and Kari. Despite a little rain, we had a really nice time and I am already trying to figure out when we can go again.

Here is a view of the lawn at Ravinia

Here is a view of our picnic

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers

Joe really got into the bluegrass music

Anabelle decided to stay up late and dance to the music

Anabelle really seemed to like the concert and wanted to dance and make some noise. She kept us laughing with her sounds of happiness and excitement and bouncing around. Sorry for the darkness on this video, it was taken by candle light and my video camera doesn't have a flash.

Beach take two!

Exploring

Now that Anabelle can get around on her own, her favorite thing to do is to go exploring. This entails Belle army crawling around the condo while I follow her (usually with camera in hand) to make sure she doesn't eat something potentially deadly (you know like one of John's dirty socks)

"Look Mom I'm in your closet!"

"Ooh look at the shoes."

"Hmmm-what's in this drawer?"

A little later in the day Anabelle decided to explore Merlin's cat tower/tunnel. He was not happy about this and sat nearby meowing at her the whole time. This did not deter Anabelle from checking it out. Unfortunately she didn't crawl in the tunnel, that would have been a great picture.

What's cookin'?