Cousins at Millennium Park and Art Institute

My mom, Kim and I had the bright idea to take all the kids (between Kim and I there are 5 now!) to Millennium Park to play in the fountain and then to the Art Institute to play and check out the new Modern Wing. Let me just start by saying that it sounded like a good idea at the time...

The Crown Fountain was fun, and the big kids had a blast. AJ, Karly, and Kyra had a lot of fun running around together. But, even with 3 adults, it was tough to keep an eye on all of them at once. There were a lot of other people there that day, and sometimes AJ strays from the fountain and tries to "escape", so there were a few moments I started to get nervous when I couldn't see him right away. Then, Grayson got tired of sitting in the stroller and wanted to get in on the action. He thought being in the water was great! The only one who didn't get wet was baby Elizabeth.

Here is a picture of Kim and my mom trying to get all the kids to stand still

and look at the camera at once. Keep trying!!

And here is the best shot I could get. Poor AJ was too excited

about playing and running around to stand still for the picture, so here he is in profile.

Next, we all spotted a nice patch of grass in the park and set about to have our picnic. I will be honest and say that I was getting a bit overwhelmed trying to keep AJ to stay with us, as going out with Elizabeth crying and AJ on the loose was still very new to me. He is getting better at listening to directions now, but back on this outing, it was pretty rough there for a while! I fondly remember when we adults used to outnumber or at least match the kids... So we finally finished lunch and walked over the cool bridge to the Art Institute. (In hindsight, this is when I should have just said, "Sayonara" and bailed)

Elizabeth did not care for her first trip to the Art Institute. She cried much of the time we were there and I was working hard to keep her quiet and get her to sleep! AJ was teetering on the edge too, and my memory is already a little fuzzy, but I felt like Kim was having an issue with one of her kids as well? We did a quick tour through part of the Modern Wing and took this picture with the Picasso maquette. AJ is very into the big public sculptures we see in the city, and loves his Good Night Chicago book that shows the Calder from Federal Center.


We walked out of the museum together and AJ, Elizabeth and I said goodbye to the rest of the family at the Blue Line stop while they continued on to Union Station. I bent down to give AJ a snack to keep him awake as we waited for the elevator to the tunnel, and he was already asleep. For any mom out there with kids that nap, this is the kiss of death! I was EXHAUSTED and still had to take the train and then walk home from the stop, and this meant that AJ would not nap when we got home. I tried to wake him, but he was OUT. So I sadly waited for the train with 2 sleeping children and cursed myself for not having had the good sense to have just skipped the museum this time. But we all got home safely and though the afternoon was not the best, I just had to remind myself, "Tomorrow is another day". ;) Maybe next time we can just do the Museum. Or just the Park...

Blueberry Picking

Our family went berry picking this Summer for our first time ever. We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but I was inspired by my friend Anika who had gone to this farm a few weeks prior for strawberry picking. We went to Plow Creek Farm for their U-Pick blueberries. The Google Map said it was about 2.5 hrs away, basically smack in the middle of Nowhere. We packed up the kids, a lunch, lots of water and the sunscreen and braced ourselves for a possibly horrible car ride. To our astonishment, BOTH kids made it there AND back with NO crying!!! That's no small miracle.

When we started getting close, it seemed like we'd driven into another decade from long ago. We drove through "downtown" and passed a feed store and I swear I saw a tumbleweed. But after following a wooden sign that said "blueberry field" with an arrow, we found ourselves driving through trees, uphill, on a muddy, rutted path that was certainly not made for a car like our civic! Suddenly it opened up and we were there...in a field of orderly blueberry bush rows.

We were told by the young guy in charge as well as by some of the other more seasoned pickers, that this was not peak season and the bushes had already been picked over, but to me, it seemed like there was an endless supply of yummy berries! AJ thought so too, since he ate every blueberry he picked from a bush, as well as a few handfuls that others had picked. We had to watch him since he was not ashamed to stick his little paws right into a stranger's bucket and help himself to the literal fruits of their labor! I had imagined that only one of us would be able to pick while the other would mostly just be chasing after AJ. But he was actually pretty into the whole thing and we both got quite a bit of picking done.

Here's a shot where you can actually see how many berries there were on the bushes. I can't imagine what "peak season" would look like!

Elizabeth slept for a while in her carseat, and then when she woke up I wore her in the sling while I picked and then she laid on our blanket while we ate our lunch before leaving. Then she slept the whole ride home again. What an easy baby!

Here she is in the sling. OK, well at least you can see her hat!

She was only about a month old when we made this little trip.

We ended up with about 12 lbs or blueberries and I they were delicious fresh, but I froze most o them right away. They are awesome in pancakes, and Anika promises to share her sour cream blueberry cake recipe with me. I also want to make some jam, and a blueberry pie...maybe for Thanksgiving this year. The blueberries worked out to be way cheaper than they ever are at the grocery store, and they are grown at Plow Creek Farm without any chemicals or pesticides. No wonder they taste so good! I can't wait to go picking again. It was such a great day! If we don't get to go again this year, we'll for sure make a point of it next year. Thanks, Plow Creek!

The Park & the Bus

Our friends the Long's were back for a visit during most of July, and we loved spending time with them. One pretty day we headed to the local park with Emily, Kaya and Ash, as well as our friend Sam and her boys Louis and Axel. AJ recently decided he likes the swings again (in the beginning of the summer all he wanted to do was run around and climb on everything!) which I think is pretty cool. He likes to swing "higher!" and "faster!" and has so much fun! So all of our kids -minus the babies- got on the swings together and they were so cute! Here is a shot of everyone on the swings, including Sam at the far end! We took turns pushing since there are now more kids than moms...oooh, that sounds scary!

Then, here are 2 pictures of AJ. He was being a real ham, so the first picture is a cute smile on my happy little guy, and then in the second shot he was doing his big fake laugh. You know, as in, "HA, HA, HA!!!". I'll have to try and get that on video soon too, since it cracks me up!

This is a video of all the kids swinging. It kind of gives me vertigo to watch it, but it gives you the perfect feel for how much fun they were having! AJ is talking about a big garbage truck that was stopped across the street as I was filming. And then when I ask him who he's swinging with, it's hard to hear but he says, "Ash, Louis and Kaya".

Afterward we all went to lunch at a new Cuban place that opened about a block from the park. It's called 90 Miles, and has all these great murals on the building. It's pretty kid-friendly, and I like that the food is good and the prices are low. We had a really nice time!

Recently, Andy and I took both kids to a park in Lincoln Park to meet some friends. This park is worth the trip because it has a really fun splash park area, as well as a lot of playground equipment and a huge sandbox with lots of communal toys.

We decided to take the bus since parking in that neighborhood can be pretty tough, and we took pictures to commemorate Elizabeth's first bus ride, and AJ's first time sitting on the bus seat like a big boy (I have always had him on the bus in his stroller, but look how he is sitting with his Daddy like such a big boy!)

AJ's First Time Holding Elizabeth

AJ is not all together that interested in Elizabeth. He never got into the dolls I tried to introduce while I was pregnant or wanted to spend much time checking out any of our friends' babies, so I'm not really surprised. In the beginning when we brought her home, I think he was very jealous. Then he graduated to indifferent, and tolerant, and now I think he's finally starting to kind of like her. Let's say she's starting to grow on him. I think it helps that she has started to smile at him (I'll post the pictures of her smiles very soon, I promise!).

Recently I asked AJ if he wanted to hold his little sister, and he surprised me by agreeing!! So we ran and grabbed the camera and put her in his arms before he could change his mind!

Here he is with her on his lap for the first and only time so far.

It didn't last long, and I'm sure it didn't help that Elizabeth was crying, but it still melted

my heart to see my two kids together like this. :)

I got her to stop crying by giving her my finger to suck on,

and AJ was kind of interested in that. I think that now as time goes by and Elizabeth

gets more and more responsive, AJ will want to interact with her more as well. We can hope!

Elizabeth's First Bath

Elizabeth had her first bath (at home) after about a week. Since her umbilical cord stump fell off at record speed, we could have given her a water bath...if we had known where the newborn hammock for the baby tub was!! I have since found it and she usually likes the bath in her tub...not so much for the first bath. Check out the pictures and see for yourself how much she did not enjoy the experience. It was almost comical.

I know they're planning to do something to me, and I don't like it!

I knew I wouldn't like it!

Maybe I can try to knock over one of these water bowls and derail the project.

You're not done yet? My feet are not dirty!

I said my feet are clean, already, Mom!

Oh, look at how much fun my brother's bath is!

Why did I have to be on that towel anyway?

I'm glad it's over.

For comparison's sake, here is the picture we took of AJ after his first bath.

I guess neither of our kids are sponge bath fans!

Birthday Marathon

Our family has lots of birthdays that fall over June and July...my niece, Karly's, is June 10th and Elizabeth was born on the 26th, then my nephew Grayson was born July 1st and my Dad's b-day (and parents anniversary) is on July 3rd. My niece, Kyra, caps off the birthday marathon on July 26th. I think at some point we will just have 1 or 2 big parties for all of these b-days, but this year everyone had their OWN! That's a lot of cake...not that I'm complaining!

Here are some of the highlights:

Karly's family birthday party followed on the heels of her friend party, which was a "puppy" theme. Brandon did face painting for the kids and so Karly and Kyra both had their puppy paint on during the party. He painted a soul patch on AJ to imitate Andy. :)

Here's Karly the dog blowing out her 6(!!!) candles! What a big girl!

Uncle B corrupting his middle child.

Kidding! We just thought it looked hysterical because of the

puppy tongue painted on her face. :)

Karly posing with her pretty presents.

Our gift to her was the colorful one in front. You can tell I had not had the baby yet since I have no idea where I would find the time to wrap a present like that now! Lucky you, Karly!

Most of the soul patch was worn off by the time this shot was taken, but here is AJ on Andy's lap clapping after Karly blew out her candles. Can you just see him thinking about cake?

Ooooh. (pause) Ahhhhh. (pause) Ohhhhh. Roselle Fireworks at their finest!

Next party was my dad's on the 4th at Kim's.

AJ stayed up for them this year and love them. I was nervous that the booms would scare him, but he was fine. Between bursts, he asked me if they were over, and I said, "No, there're gonna be more." So then each long pause (of which there were many), he turn to me and say in a very excited little voice, "There's gonna be MO-RE!" Precious! Elizabeth slept though it all in her carseat in my sisters garage.

My son, the future mechanic, "fixing" Kyra's bike. He loves real tools and is very aware of which ones are "daddy's real tools" and his own "fake plastic" tools. Of course, to my chagrin, he prefers the ones which are capable of poking an eye out.

Here's Kyra on the "fixed" bike. Ready to ride!

Yes, AJ, you will get to eat it. Soon...soon...let's sing first!

(Nice job on the flag cake, Kim! Or did B decorate this one too??)

AJ eating Pa's birthday cake on his lap. I think my dad was not too keen to have the 2 year old eating cake on his lap, but luckily since AJ was getting so much practice eating cake, he was getting more of it into his mouth than usual.

Cousin Karly LOVED Elizabeth right away. She sat and looked at Elizabeth sleeping in her carseat with an unmatched attention span. It was very cute. :)

Then she got to hold her with Mom's supervision. What a big girl she is, and look at the arm-positioning! Hmmm...a future babysitter?

Say Cheese!

What cutie pies!

And here's Aunty Kim and Elizabeth. She really looks like AJ to me in this picture. Elizabeth, not Kim. ;) And she still had hair at this party! Now all the hair on the top of her head has fallen out. We're waiting to see what color it will be when it grows back in.

For Grayson's 1st birthday, Kim and Brandon did a Monkey theme, and Brandon decorated the cake and did such a great job! He used the decorator tips for the frosting and it looked so pro! AJ obviously thought it tasted great, as you can tell by the wide-open, I-don't-want-to-miss-a-crumb mouth in this shot.

Baby G, as I like to call him, was starting to walk around the time of his party and it was so cute to see him tottering around. He also liked the cake and didn't want to leave anything on his plate. Since the cake wasn't chocolate, the messy-kid effect is not so major, but believe me, he was put into a change of clothes not long after this picture was taken!

It was getting late, so AJ and Grayson were both in their pj's for the present opening portion of the party. Here is a shot of AJ showing Grayson the book we gave him (which AJ was coveting for the few weeks that it sat on the kitchen island in our house waiting to get wrapped up). Grayson only looks semi-interested, but I hear the book was a hit later...

Next, Kyra turned 3! I can hardly believe she is already a 3 year old. She was so cute at her party...all dressed up in a pretty party dress and ready to have some fun! She had a fairy cake, which was very cool and Kim said if anyone touched it she was going to freak out. (There are usually some finger swipes out of the frosting on the cakes at our family's parties...go figure!) well, my mom went to take a picture of the cake and moved a nearby picture frame right into the frosting on the corner! Ha! Luckily the cake still looked great and no one had to "freak out".

Here is Kyra patiently waiting for us to finish singing so she could blow out her candles. You can't see it in this picture, but Kim (or was it B again?) made a super-cute sherbet dessert that we sliced to serve with the cake, and it looked just like watermelon! I'm so going to steal that idea for a future party at my own house...

Make a wish, Kyra!

This is a picture of the present-opening. This shot hardly does the situation justice, since it looks kind of calm. It was not calm. AJ and Karly were more than ready to "help" open the presents and Kyra was so funny saying, "Oh my goodness!!" while opening every gift. It was so funny! Guess you had to be there...

(that pink lump on Kim's shoulder is Elizabeth)

And here is a picture from Kyra's party of Elizabeth and I.

Check out her cheeks! Can she even open her eyes with the pressure from them against her dress? So chubby! She is such a cute "love chunk", as quoted from Kim's friend Lisa.

AJ and Louis at the Conservatory

I am very behind, so this was several weeks ago, but Elizabeth was born, so less than 2 mo ago. We went to the Garfield Park Conservatory on a Monday with my mom and my friend Sam + her son Louis, and her baby boy Axel. On Mondays they always have a project and storytime in the kids area, so that's always a popular day for us to head over there.

This particular day the project was to make a "Wish Stick". It was basically a stick that the kids got to decorate with yarn, pipe cleaners, sequins, beads, etc. AJ really liked making his (but since he's still young to grasp the concept of magic and wishes, he was not so into the stick afterward when I told him hitting things with it was out of the question. Hahaha.) Here he is wrapping a beaded pipe cleaner around his stick.

There are also toys, water bottles the kids can use to mist the plants, a tube slide, etc., so it's a pretty fun stop for the kids, but there is usually also a dirt table where they can dig for plastic bugs and stuff. This day, however, there were sand tables instead! I thought this was great, since it's a lot easier to get sand to fall off of AJ than to get him to do a good job washing his hands after playing in the dirt. I think he thought the change was cool too!

Here is another video of AJ and Louis running around in the huge yard/garden out back behind the Conservatory after we finished our lunches. It's a great place to let them burn off some steam, as you can see! They also liked when they would see the Green Line El trains go by, and enjoyed looking for fish and turtles in the pond.

More AJ-isms

I hope you are not bored by these posts, but I love that I can archive the funny things AJ is saying here for us to look back at later. Here are some of the latest:

He cam walking out of our room the other day carrying one of my bras. Andy - "What's that?" AJ - "Mom's boob protector"

Me - what's your full name?

AJ - AJ Holub

Me - What's Daddy's full name?

AJ - Daddy Holub

AJ was standing against the refrigerator when Andy opened the freezer. Andy asked him if he could feel the cold air and he answered, "It's popsicle air!"

Andy - AJ, what time is it?

AJ - 87

July AJ-isms

Here are some more of the things AJ's been saying lately...in no particular order:

We were on our way to AJ's friend Izzy's house when we passed a lame-looking rummage/sidewalk sale. I asked Andy sarcastically if he felt like shopping. AJ chimed in from the backseat, "No shopping, only Izzy's house!" hmmm...a little bossy?!

along the same lines, today I heard, "No, no lunch, only brownies." Obviously that didn't happen!

I asked AJ if he was feeling OK since he felt a little clammy. He responded, "I just have some goosebumps and clams."

Instead of Follow the Leader, he thinks it's very funny to say, "Follow the Beaver!"