Throwback Thursday: September and a Surprise Visit Home

September was a busy time. We went to a labor day cookout at one of Mitch's co-workers homes...but it was nothing to write home about. No one was overly friendly and if anything it made me more homesick. Good thing I had a reason to pack up and head home. My grandparents, Merle and Loraine Myerscough, were about to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.Mitch had plans to renovate our bathroom and me being gone gave him the perfect time to get the job done. My mom had worked with my grandpa to plan a celebration dinner. Mom made the reservations but Grandpa handled the rest on his own. He invited almost 100 friends and family to attend a dinner at the Country Club. The surprise part comes in because while he had planned the party, he didn't know that my sister and I were coming home. Out of all their Grandchildren...only my sister and I had moved away. We were happy to come home for the celebration.

This time I flew with Leah on my own. And she did surprisingly well...so far this flying with infants stuff was a piece of cake! I flew in on Thursday night, and the dinner was on Sunday. Grandpa gave a touching speech about how he and Grandma met...a story I had never heard before. She was a teenage girl living on her parents farm, and my grandfather and his brother Gerald both worked for the local dairy and they had to go out to the farm a few times a week to either collect or drop off milk (that part isn't so clear in my head). My grandpa took a liking to my grandma right away, but kept procrastinating on asking her out until Gerald finally told him if he didn't ask her on a date, he was going too. That got Grandpa moving, there first date was in March 1948...and within a few months time they were married...Sept. 1948. So 5 boys, countless moves, 12 grandkids and many rounds of golf later they were still going strong. Sadly, in April 2010 my grandmother had a stroke. She can't really communicate anymore, and has been in a nursing home since. My grandfather has taken it all very hard, but keeps trying to live his life. I like looking at this picture of them and can't help think "60 years...we should all be so lucky." I'm glad I got to be there. 

Cousin Overload...In a Good Way

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving I was able to have a playdate/lunch with my girl cousins Tara, Tiffany and Melissa...the playing was really more for the kids. Melissa, the baby girl of the bunch got married this past year and just had her first baby, Charlotte. So this was her first time meeting the gang. Tiffany brought her bunch, Preston, Brooklyn and Parker and Tara brought her two guys, Liam and Jameson. I don't think my moms house has ever been so loud. The kids sure had a good time!!!

Us grown up cousins were enjoying ourselves too. We had lunch, dessert and of course a little wine. We shared some good laughs and by the time the afternoon was coming to a close we were sharing memories of our grandmother. Tiffany just put it out there "let's go see her together" so that's what we did. The five of us made a quick trip to the nursing home and I am so glad I did. We started off with a bang. Poor Melissa set off the alarm going in, and of course we ragged on her about it. We got to Grandma's room and she was all bundled up in bed. But you could tell right away that she knew who we were and she was happy to see us. She kept saying "my lands" and "I just can't believe it" and it made my heart happy to see her smile. It was definitely easier for us to go as a group. We showed her pictures of all our kids and at one point she said to us "same story"...LOL, Laura said "yes, they all have little ones." We weren't there for long but it was a nice visit and something we will do again.

Love seeing my cousins, something about our time together just makes me feel at home. Wish we could do it more often and can't wait until the next time.

A Very Gigi Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my mom's holiday...seriously! She likes to do it up right. And she always pulls it off. This year was no exception. We had a small intimate Thanksgiving on Thursday with mom, dad, Laura and Jeff, and Matt and Cynthia but it had all the trimmings. This year we even had special pumpkin pie custard cake from Freddy's and of course I brought my homemade MOPS apple pie.

The kids loved all the dessert...don't they always. They played dress-up upstairs and watched movies in Gigi's room while the adults visited. It was the perfect day. On Sunday she did it all again...well, almost all of it.Mitch made the Turkey at our house, I made the noodles and Cynthia brought the green bean casserole.  We hosted Uncle Carl's family for the day. Heather treated us all with platese full of cookies. My cousins all came and we had a house FULL. My cousin Kevin has a four year old daughter, Aubrey. She was born April 9th and Leah was May 9th so they are very close in age, but have probably only seen one another 3 times. Well Aubrey didn't waste anytime, Kevin says she is shy but you would have never known it. She was upstairs and playing with the girls in no time. I think they all had a good time...I know I did! Thanks, Gigi for all the good cooking.

Aunt Laura and Uncle Jeff

Laura and Jeff came to Illinois for Thanksgiving this year. They already had plans to be in New York for Christmas this year and they didn't want to miss seeing the kids, so Thanksgiving it was! And we were so happy to see them. Happy might actually be an understatement. The girls were ecstatic! They jumped all over Uncle Jeff and squealed with delight. He brought all the kids Phoenix Suns totes with cool gifts...bright orange shades and magnetic basketballs. They thought it was pretty awesome. On Friday Uncle Jeff came to our house and hung out with the kids while mom, Laura and I did a little shopping. Uncle Jeff decided to teach the kids how to "gangam style". Someday they will have to google this to imagine how funny they looked. And on Saturday they took the kids to see Wreck-it Ralph at the movie theatre. Of course that meant gigantic juices, loads of popcors, M&M's and snow-caps too! After the movie they gave the kids their Christmas gifts. A Barbie Beach House for Leah and a Dream Light and Ariel Little People Coach for Bug...they were so excited. Christmas really did come early. Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Laura for a fun time. We love you and will miss you tons!

Throwback Thursday: 3 Month Portraits!

When we lived in New Jersey we ALWAYS got Leah's pictures done at Target...yes, Target. The manager there, Madalena was unbelievably good at photographing children. Aunt Laura bought the Hawaiian Hibiscus dress and the hula skirt at a tournament in Hawaii and I just had to use them...so glad I did. These are still some of my favorite pictures of my sweet Lee Lee!

Throwback Thursday: 3 Months and Counting

It seemed like we blinked and Leah was 3 months old, and our August was super busy! On August 9th we had visitors from Champaign. My roomate Ellen, and Mitch's friend Josh were vacationing on the East coast and came for a visit. Early in the month we took a day trip to Wilmington, Delaware. We met my Aunt Sandy and Uncle Barry at a very nice place for a Sunday Brunch. At the time they were living in Maryland and Wilmington was our in between. They couldn't wait to meet Leah and it was a great day.

August was fun because Leah started to pay attention to the dogs. Her eyes were tracking their every move. She also started playing in her exersaucer. She couldn't get enough of jumping and playing in that thing. What fun!

I am Thankful

1 Thessolonians 5:18

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

5 Months!!!



Five Months old today, and what a delightful happy girl you are! You smile ALL the time. You are still pretty quiet but you have your moments. Things have improved some since last month's post. We had to start supplementing with some formula. So in addition to breastfeeding and solids twice a day, you are getting two bottles of formula and that has made a huge difference. Your fussiness has decreased to almost nothing. Your belly is full and you are at peace, sweet girl. You are also sleeping better at night...going down by 9 and getting up once between 3 or 4 and then back down until I wake you around 7:30. And on a few occassions you have slept until 6 or so on your own. It's wonderful! Your big sisters are more doting than ever. I think since you are making noises they want to see what you have to say.

You have been spending a lot more of your time in the exersaucer and love to jump and giggle. It's almost time to raise it up to the next level, since you are getting so tall. When I put you on the scale I think I had you at an even 15 lbs. A big jump from the 12 lbs 14 oz. you weighed at your 4 month check-up. I think the formula can take credit for that. In the past few weeks the baby swing got put away...you never were really that into it. And the co-sleeper by my bed got packed away. You hadn't slept in it for weeks but it made me sad. You aren't a little baby anymore and I can feel independence slipping in out of nowhere.  As for the solid foods there isn't a one that you don't enjoy. I'm trying some different ones from when your sisters were little. You are getting carrots, apples, parsnips puree, and spinach, pears and rutabaga's. Oh, and sweet potatoes and corn...all sorts of interesting combos. We just started the fruits this week and after 5 weeks of vegetables you enjoy the fruits too! Your little personality is starting to emerge and I can't wait to see who you are going to be. Love you so much, my sweet Hattie!

 

Trimming the Tree

This past weekend Mitch and I decided that it was time to "deck the halls" so to speak. We went out to dinner on Friday night and as we sat at a table sans children, we realized that we have very little free time before Christmas is here. Between our anniversary, Mitch's hunting, cocoa and cookies with Claus, Preschool Christmas programs these seemed to be our best shot at getting the job done. So on Saturday after lunch, all the decor slowly made it's way up from the basement. Mitch turned the Christmas music station on as we got in the Christmas spirit. 

The girls were definitely in to it. Of course, they needed some direction...or ALL the ornaments would have wound up in the same general vicinity...but it was fun watching them pick and choose where to put them and "oohing" and "aahing" along the way. After we were done with the family tree Mitch helped them get their Teddy Bear tree up in the Playroom. My mom bought the Teddy Bear at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospice Festival of Trees when Leah was about 6 months old. Last year she passed it along to us, and the girls get so excited seeing it lit up. And of course we have the automated Santa from Gigi's house too. I laughed and laughed as I watched Kiersten get up close to his face...and as she eyed him over she said "Santa, I like your puppy." It was precious.

Hattie was a trooper for her first tree trimming. She didn't react much to all the lights, but I think she enjoyed the music. Looking forward to a time when she can get in the mix with her big sisters!

Throwback Thursday: Baptism Weekend

On Thursday, July 17th, 2008 we loaded up and headed to the Philadelphia airport. We were flying home so Leah could meet the family. My mom had planned a big party on Friday July 18th so everyone could celebrate Leah and also an egagement party for Aunt Laura and Uncle Jeff. We were incredibly nervous about flying with a 9 week old, but Leah did GREAT! Especially since there were mechanical issues that required us to sit on the runway for 2 hours...with no AIR!!! It was so hot. We had her stripped down to her diaper and the flight attendant kept bringing us wet paper towels to pat her down with. There was nice older gentleman next to us who fanned her with his magazine. Somehow we managed to make it to Illinois with no major meltdowns!!!  The party at Gigi's on Friday night was super fun! Leah was introduced to all our family and friends...highlights of the weekend were meeting Macy, Grandma Schaumburg, Grandma Myerscough and finally...Uncle Matt! I love that I captured their first meeting with her little pouty face cry.

On Saturday, Mitch's family all arrived. They were staying at a hotel with a pool, so Leah got to try out her itty bitty bikini that Aunt Laura had gotten for her in Hawaii. What fun! It was wonderful for her to finally meet Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, Rylee, Bradyn, Uncle Todd and Justin. We ordered pizza and had lunch at the pool. After everyone cleaned up we went back to my mom and dad's where mom graciously let us use her house for a family cook-out.

On Sunday morning we headed to the church. Leah was baptized at my home church...Immanuel Lutheran on Sunday July 20th. The service was performed by pastor Ken Hoover. Aunt Lori, Uncle Todd, Uncle Matt and Aunt Laura were her sponsors (Uncle Jeff wasn't your uncle yet...and Aunt Cynthia and Matt weren't even engaged yet). After the service we had a house full of family waiting to celebrate with you. It was a very special day and I hope you always remember how truly blessed you are!