Chicago

Ryan attended the annual SHRM conference this last week to get his final recertification credits for his SPHR and it just happened to be in Chicago this year.  Of course Lucy and I tagged along yet again because, well, why not?  I absolutely love Chicago and every time I go there I remind myself how much more I love that place!  I've decided it's definitely my favorite big city (of the ones I've been to).  That being said, of all the time I've spent there, it's only ever been in the summer, so I'm sure if I was there one winter, it would be a whole different story. :)

Anyway, we stayed in a Marriott right there in the middle of Chicago, just a block over from the Magnificent Mile.  It really was an awesome location for us during the day, but I now believe that downtown hotels, when traveling with kids, is not always your best option.  We had sirens blaring out of our window at all hours of the night, and they actually paved the intersection right outside of our window at 2am.  Oh well, we still had a blast!

We ate some Chicago hot dogs and a lot of chocolate cake and chocolate cake shakes and some ribs from Portillos, walked the Mag Mile a few times and along the waterfront in the city, visited Buckingham fountain, the bean statue (a.k.a. Cloud Gate), Millenium Park and Grant Park, and went to Navy Pier a couple of times.  So yeah, we had fun!

 This was Lucy's first carosel ride.  She begged to go on it, then was so serious and not loving it while riding, and then clung as tight as she could afterwards because she didn't want to get off.  Make up your mind, silly girl!

Family pic (kind of, not really) at the bean statue.  Lucy loved this place.

That's Buckingham Fountain in the background.  The big tall part only goes off for 10 or 15 minutes each hour, so we hit it at the right time.

I don't know what Lucy loved more, the fountains or hanging from the fence around it. :)  Probably the fence because she was mad when we kept telling her she couldn't actually go swim in the water.

The splash pad statue thing at Millenium Park:

 Lake Michigan in the background (one million times prettier than Lake Erie, that's for sure!), and Lucy was not happy to be taking this picture.

Lucy was totally over riding in her stroller by the end of each day and so Ryan sometimes carried her like this.  She thought it was hilarious when she would have to duck under low trees.

 There was a little space between this counter thing and the window (that is not the kind that opens, so don't worry) and Lucy loved to sit there and watch everyone way below her.  It kept her busy while I got things ready to go for the day.

 Ryan had his fair share of Chicago hot dogs while there, but I think he loved his ribs the most, since he took a picture of them.  It was a really, really good meal though!

And these are just a few of the things we love about Chicago.  The end.

I forgot to mention...

It's a GIRL!!!

That's right, Lucy will have a little sister around to play with.  Ryan and I are excited although given how different this pregnancy has been to my last one, we were certain it was a boy and shocked when we learned the gender.

I was also excited to learn that they moved up my due date to October 6th.  So yeah, it's only 2 days earlier, but I'll take it!  Lucy always measured way small and was a week or more behind where she should have been given the due date (although she still came a couple days early), and so I always had to have extra tests and exams done each appointment, which was not very fun (although it did mean a little extra time away from work)... so I was happy to hear that this one was definitely bigger and that my due date was, in fact, a few days earlier.

People keep asking me if I've got everything ready now and I don't quite get what they mean?!  I mean, sure, I still need to pull out our baby swing, a few toys, and old girl clothes, from the basement but besides that, all I can think of is a crib?  So hopefully I'm not missing something... :)  October is coming way quicker than I imagined this time around but I'm getting really excited!

Happy Father's Day!

Ryan sure set the bar high at Mother's Day and I certainly didn't rise up to this Father's Day, but we still love Ryan just as much!  This particular day, we drove Mark and Janae to the airport to go back to Utah and then immediately headed to Chicago ourselves.  So needless to day, it was a busy day and we weren't home much.

Anyway, Lucy and I are pretty darn lucky girls to have Ryan.  He takes good care of us, keeps us calm in crazy moments, is always stirring up fun with Lucy, and works so hard in every area of his life.  What would we do without him?  So, happy father's day, Ryan!  You're the best dad!  I'm also grateful for such a wonderful dad and father-in-law.  Ryan and I are lucky to have such strong, good examples in our lives.

 Lucy made these for Ryan.  She LOVED using the paint and had so much fun with this project.

Yogurt face and applesauce

I know it's important and all to let kids use utensils, but do I have to, really?  I don't enjoy giving multiple baths in one day. You might not be able to tell real well, but that is definitely a layer of yogurt over her entire face and all over her entire head of hair, not to mention the usual places like hands, arms, and clothes.  Ay, ay, ay.....

And another thing.  Those squeeze pouches of food.  They seem all convenient because you don't need a spoon or bowl or anything, and kids love them, but they also want to hold them and therefore squeeze it all over everything.  Lucy was laying on our hotel bed last week eating a squeeze pouch of applesauce and I heard her go "oh-oh."  haha.  I turned around to see it on her nose and shirt.  She just laid there as still as could be until I cleaned it up though.  It was pretty funny.  I think she felt like she couldn't move at all because she really wouldn't move hardly at all.  It was also funny to see her go cross eyed as she tried to look at the blob that landed on her nose.  Silly girl.

Martin visit part 5: The rest (swimming, walks, and other good stuff)

A couple of the days we went to our community pool.  Unfortunately the big pool was closed for some filter problem so just the baby pool was open.  That was fine, except it started to get a little crowded as the day went on.  Oh well.  Still fun and relaxing and nice to soak up some sun.

This was Lucy's new swim floaty.  She loved it from the second she saw it in Costco and wanted it on as soon as we got home.  It really was money well spent- she loved using it at the pool and started to catch the hang of how it felt after a little while.

This video cracks me up for a few reasons.  This noise Lucy is making is one she has decided to do a lot lately, but mostly when she's mad or frustrated at something.  She will just start doing this like crazy.  Better that than cry, right? :)  Also, she makes some funny faces during the taping, and at the end she sees Ryan coming in our back door from outside and she gets really excited to see him.

 I was shocked to actually see her floating around the pool without hands or feet touching all by herself.  She felt so old to me.

And some of the other things from this trip, not related to swimming...

Lucy learned really quickly that Grandpa=treats.  He always had treats in his suitcase, in the car, in his pockets, etc.  I'm beginning to realize why she was so good on all of our car rides, because it's a whole different story now that they're gone and she can't figure out why she doesn't get candy every time she asks for it. haha.

 Yeah, she was pretty happy about that fact.

 Reading new books with Grandma.

 Getting teased by Grandpa.

We took a nice Sunday walk around our neighborhood.  Lucy got spoiled with special crazy coupe rides.

Sidetracked on our way home by a bug.  This girl can spot a microscopic bug a mile away.  I guess she has good eyesight.

A couple of funny moments from their visit that had us all laughing good (probably more you-had-to-be-there moments again.  Also not using names for obvious reasons):

Person 1: "I'm not having any more donuts tomorrow."

Person 2: "Yeah because you're eating them all tonight."

Another time:

Person 1: She did like a 365!

Person 2: Really? A 365?

Person 1: Yeah, isn't that what it is?

Person 3: Haha!  You mean a 380!

Person 2: Uhhhh no.  It's a 360.

Martin visit part 4: Scioto Mile

One of our favorite things to do with visitors is go walk the Scioto Mile.  It's such a pretty view of downtown, a gorgeous walk, and free!  We actually came here twice this visit and it was such great weather and good to get some fresh air and just relax.  The favorite feature of ours is definitely the big swings they have along the walk, although Lucy would say hers is more like the splash pad at the end of it.  Janae took a bunch of cute pictures and videos of Lucy at the splash pad but I can't find them right now so I will have to add them later.

We actually walked across one of the bridges this time and realized we should have done this sooner!

 Part of downtown Columbus.

 Ryan and Mark were both standing the exact same way, even with the same foot propped up.  Like father like son.

 Lucy decided she wanted to join the fun too!

Mark found that his iphone took panoramic pictures, which made Ryan realize that there was a cool app for his ipad too.  Even though I'm kind of cut in half, we still love this picture because it really shows the walk we have done and what it kind of feels like.

Lucy realized that she had pockets in her dress and was even more excited to find that grandpa his candy in them!

More pics to come...