Addison's First Day of Kindergarten!

5 1/2 years ago, one special little girl came into this world!!! Addison Olivia was born and she became my god-daughter!! She has brought so much joy to my life and I have loved watching her grow up into a precious young girl. Well today, she starts KINDERGARTEN!!!! I can't believe it!! Seems like yesterday I first held her at the hospital and now she's in school!!!

Addi, I pray that this is a beginning of a wonderful journey for you. I pray that the Lord watches over you and guides you through school. I pray you make wonderful friends that become lifelong. I pray that you are a light in others lives. You are one special kid and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for you!!

Love you to pieces!

Carter's 10 Month's Old

10 MONTH'S OLD!!!

This little boy melts my heart!! He's such a sweet tempered boy. He's hilarious. His favorite thing to do right now is sway his head back and forth like he's dancing. 

This kid goes to bed between 8-8:30 every night. He'll then wake up usually between 6:30-7, but will play in his bed or go back to sleep until sometime between 7-8. Mommy and Daddy love this! He's down to 2 naps now and will sleep anywhere from an hour to two.

He's still a great eater!! He'll pretty much eat anything. Only issue is one day he'll eat his fruit like a champ, but the next day he's not interested. Weird! He eats a TON too!! Seriously, I'm amazed this small of a person eats so much. He's not as interested in his milk now with eating, and its in a sippy cup, so food seems more interesting to him. Mommy and Daddy have to work to get him to drink more. Well except at night, he chugs his milk, but thats the only time we give him a bottle anymore. We will work on transitioning the night bottle to a sippy cups soon.

Still loves baths and his swim classes. I think we are going to continue the swim classes through the fall and then try some other kind of class in the spring.

Carter is still all over the place, crawling and cruising. We got him a walk a couple of weeks ago and he's loving it!! Hopefully it'll encourage him to starting walking on his own now. He walks around all the furniture and with us holding his hands, but hasn't stood on his own yet. Just need to work on that balance.

Carter is starting to love playing with trucks. He pushes them through the house. He also loves playing with balls. He'll pick them up and through them now.

He loves getting into things he shouldn't as well now. We definitely have to keep a close eye on this big guy. He's sneaky; he'll know he's not suppose to get into something, so he'll look back at me and then look at whatever he wants to get into and then look back at me. Its quite hilarious.

Carter you are growing up way too fast for mommy and daddy. We love you so much and love watching you blossom into such a sweet little boy!!

Chicago 2013

We had a wonderful time in Chicago last week!! We arrived Wednesday evening and got to Ashley and Patrick's place and then headed out to try some BBQ. After that we hit up Sweet Mandy B's for some sweet treats!

On Thursday, Ashley & Patrick went off to work and Kevin and I headed out for our day together since it was our anniversary. First stop was breakfast and Glazed and Infused. YUMMM, Kevin got a vanilla bean and then a maple and bacon donut. I got a creme brulee and a raspberry buttermilk donut. It was delicious!!

Then we went by our hotel for the night to see if we could check in early. Not only was our room ready, they upgraded us for free to a Riverview Suite!! It was by far the best hotel I've stayed in (minus honeymoon in Jamaica)! We had the top floor corner room overlooking downtown and the river. We even had 4 window seats with cushions and pillows! It was awesome!!

We then headed out and did a double decker tour around town and stopped off at the Shedd Aquarium and the Magnificent Mile. After that we headed back up to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We ended up going to Mastro's Steakhouse. The food was great! Only complaint was that it ended up being pretty loud there as it was a ton of after work business professionals.

On Friday, Ashley and Patrick picked us up and we headed to Wrigley field for a tour! I was excited to do this tour as I have heard many renovations are going to be starting soon, so it was neat to see it before that. We got to go to the locker rooms and the press box and learned so much.

After that we had brunch at Southport Grocery & Cafe and I had some amazing Bread Pudding Pancakes! We then headed to Lincoln Park Zoo for an afternoon with the animals! Before heading back to A&P's place, we picked up some delicious macaroons for a snack.

That night we went to Bill & Giuliana Rancic's restaurant, RPM. LOVED IT!!! We then went to the Signature Bar at the top of Hancock to have drinks and catch the view.

On Saturday we hit up the breakfast spot Waffles, for what else, WAFFLES! (well at least Ash and I did!) I got Red Velvet and Ashley got Mexican Chocolate! YUMM YUMM! Then we got on a Sea Dog Boat Cruise and took in the site on the lake and headed down the river for an architectural tour.

We then headed south to the Science & Industry Museum, which of course Kevin loved!!! Saturday night we had famous Chicago stuff pizza for Giordano's. Delicious.

We ended our trip by watching the fireworks off Navy Pier while eating some famous Hoosier Mama pies!!! Can you tell we enjoyed our food???

Great trip away for our anniversary, but we were definitely excited to get back and see Carter!!

4th Anniversary

Happy 4th Anniversary to the love of my life, my best friend, and the father of my child.

The last four years have been more than I could ask for! You are always there for me, always willing to do anything needed. You love me unconditionally; more than I probably deserve; more than I imagined possible.

Thank you for being you. Thank you for walking besides me in this life.

I love you more than you'll ever know!!!

Excited to spend this day with you in Chicago!!!

Hard Day..Fun Ahead

Today was hard...

I dropped off Carter to stay with my parents for 5 nights while Kevin and I go to Chicago! I bawled my eyes out! He's never spent a night away from me, let alone 5 nights!!!!

I know he'll be fine, but it was hard. I'm going to miss him. I know him better than anyone and always want to make sure I'm there to take care of him. But I know he's gonna be fine. Its just hard.

Miss this little face!

BUT, in the same token, I'm so excited to head to Chicago with Kevin to celebrate our anniversary and to visit my sister and Patrick since they are living there for another year! Kevin and I need this time away.  It's going to be a much needed vacation for the two of us!