Chicago Trip - Part 3

We drove back to Chicago the next morning and dropped Philip's cousin off at the airport. Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we ate lunch and then played at a little park until it was.

We tried to go to a little frozen custard place in Lincoln Park but the traffic was so bad and there was no parking at all, so we ended up just eating at McDonalds and heading back to the hotel. Luckily we saw another frozen custard place on the way back, so we ate there and then relaxed for the rest of the night.

The next morning we packed up and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Again, the traffic was really bad, it started raining, and we had to make a 2:30pm flight home anyway, so we didn't get to see all that we wanted, but it was still nice.

The flight home was horrible. We ran out of Michaela's diapers and didn't have room to pack a newly purchased package so we tried to use up the last of her swim diapers instead. Apparently swim diapers don't hold as much as regular diapers.

So she peed out of her swim diaper at the airport and we had already checked our luggage so she was running around pants-less. I was THAT mother. Then she decided to throw a tantrum right before we got on the plane, about the same time Rafael decided he was hungry. So we boarded the airplane with 2 screaming children, trying really hard to ignore the glares from the flight attendants and other passengers. Rafael calmed down as soon as we sat down and I could feed him. 2 hours into the 4 hour flight, Michaela finally calmed down a bit and was able to play with some toys the lovely flight attendants had plied her with.

We were so glad to finally get home and relax. I'll tell you though, that experience is not something I would wish on my greatest enemy! I think we'll stick to driving from now on!

Chicago Trip - Part 2

After we left the Children's Museum, we picked up Philip's cousin from the airport and drove down to Southbend. We had been planning to meet up with a good friend who lives in Michigan for dinner after we dropped off Philip's cousin and let the kids take a quick nap at our bed and breakfast.

Unfortunately the traffic was really bad and we didn't count on there being a difference in time zones. We didn't get a chance to get back to the B&B for naps, but we were still able to get together with our friend, the woman who had been campus minister when we were in college. She was like a second mother to me and I was so glad we were able to meet up.Then we drove to our B&B, which was absolutely amazing! We had to drive through a long winding road in the forest to get to it. I felt like we were driving to the Cullen's house.It was basically a little apartment over a family's garage. It was so great, and so private as opposed to a hotel.They had kids too, so they had a little jungle gym that Michaela took full advantage of.The next day we just relaxed and went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Michaela screamed through most of the rehearsal, so I was a little worried about whether or not she actually make it down the aisle for the wedding. I ended up walking with her, but she did great.

As soon as she got down the aisle I whisked her to a quiet area right outside the entrance and bribed the quietness out of her with toys and books. She wasn't really into taking formal pictures afterward but she did wander over with a cookie in hand and plopped herself down right next to the bride and groom. I'm sure those were some cute pics.

Philip with his mom & cousin, who is the brides brother and is becoming a priest.

At the reception.

My handsome man with his Grandma.

The flower girl & ring bearer, having fun now that they are out of their fancy clothes. By the way, Michaela had been pulling at her dress the whole day and I just thought she was uncomfortable. Turns out she had a needle sewn inside the lining that was stabbing her the whole time! Yeah, we'll be getting a refund.

Philip is showing them the way to escape.

Chicago Trip - Part 1

Philip's cousin got married this past weekend in South Bend Indiana and had asked Michaela to be her flower girl. So this past Wednesday we loaded the kids into the van and headed out, knowing a 4 day road trip would be better than several hours on a plane with screaming children. Oh wait, no, we weren't that smart.

Actually, the flight over was fine. Other than me losing the folder with our passports, the kids birth certificates and our boarding passes. Yeah. Thankfully a very kind TSA agent found them and had Southwest page us. After that, things went smoothly. Michaela was kept occupied with various toys, books, and snacks, and Rafael slept most of the time. Michaela had a little bit of a meltdown when we landed, but that was understandable considering she had been up since 4:30am.

We rented a van and drove to our hotel in downtown Chicago. It was right on the river and so beautiful! After the kids took a little nap we headed out for a walk downtown and ended up at a huge public fountain in Millenium Park. Michaela had such a blast running around and getting soaked.

After we went back to the hotel to dry her off, we returned for dinner at a restaurant in the park.

This little bird had built a nest right over the entrance to the restaurant and attacked the back of my head right after I took this picture.

Then we visited the "bean," which was kind of cool.

Philip's mom flew in late that evening and the next morning we went to the Children's Museum on Navy Pier. The exhibits were amazing and we could have easily spent the rest of the day there if we hadn't of had to drive down to South Bend.

Breakfast Time

I asked Michaela if she had finished her breakfast and she told me that her babies were eating the rest. Apparently this teeny tiny gorilla and the number 2 are her babies. The next morning she had her monkeys join her for breakfast. She even gave them plates with their own food.

I love how her little mind works.

Perspective

Sometimes it's really easy to get really down on my life and wish we had more. I see the families with nicer houses, nicer cars, money to go out and do amazing things with. I look around and think of the improvements I would make to our house and to our life if we had a little bit more money. I get jealous of the couples without children or with older children who can go out, go on vacation, go to the bathroom alone or take longer than a 5 minute shower while the baby is screaming in the background for goodness sake!

But then I realize.

We have a home that is ours. In a nice neighborhood, with enough room for our growing family. We are not upside down on our payments. We are not in any risk of losing it.

We have two vehicles that are ours free and clear. They are not the top of the line, but they are ours. We don't have to worry about monthly payments or unnecessary credit.

We have no outstanding debt and while it would be nice to have a bit more money, we have enough to create a safe little "just in case" nest egg for ourselves.

We have food in our stomaches, clothes on our backs, and a faith in God that will get us through anything.

We have two gorgeous kids who are normal, healthy and happy. They make my heart so full of love that sometimes it feels like it will burst.

And Philip and I. We have each other. We're a team in this marriage and a team in raising our children. We are the steady and safe foundation for our little family. Watching how hard Philip works to provide for us, and how loving he is towards me and the kids, I know just how lucky and blessed I am.

I've realized that if I spend my entire life thinking about what could be, or what it would be nice to have, I'll waste all the time I could have spent enjoying what is.

This is what is.

And it's perfect.

Food Preferences

Rafael has been reaching for and drooling over my food every time I hold him while I'm eating, so I decided to give him some real food. If you can consider rice cereal real food. He was not at all pleased. Actually, he was pretty pissed.

I guess he prefers to forage for food on his own

Oh, hi there!

What? Have you ever tried it?

He'll be crawling soon!

Sometimes when he's trying to get something he'll wiggle his little butt back and forth and occasionally will manage to scoot forward a tiny bit. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll get there before his sister did, who didn't start crawling until 10 months and who screamed like a banshee whenever the horrors of tummy time were forced upon her!

She is very very sneaky...

Michaela isn't much of a dinner eater, but it's mostly because she eats so much the rest of the day. Usually if she does eat dinner, it's because it's a type of food she really really enjoys. So when I left her with a full plate the other night to go nurse the baby and came back to an empty plate, I was super glad that she liked my dinner.

Ok, to be honest I may have been completely disbelieving. I checked the usual culprits. There was no food in the trash can or on the floor. The dogs were outside, so she couldn't have given it to them. She hadn't thrown her full plate of food in the sink.

Allright, cool, I guess she really DID like my meal!

Until I found this the next day.

Clever girl.