Elijah's Birthday Party

Last weekend we went up to Elijah's 4th birthday party. Bethany was a little overwhelmed with the older kids, but we still had fun. I realize that the title of this entry should probably more appropriately be titled, "Bethany attends a birthday party". But what can I say, I take pictures of my own kid.

Elijah blowing out the candles on his Brown Bear cake.

Bethany enjoyed the cake and ice cream.
Bethany and Papa were taking a swing at the pinata.
We got some time to go see the animals too.

Bethany loved the baby chicks, but didn't quite get how to pet them. I love the crazed look in her eyes. She really wasn't trying to hurt it. It looks like there's a Stretch in this bunch too.

I finally convinced her to pet the chick with just one finger.

Then she wanted to hold it.

We went out to see the big chickens too. Every time Bethany petted one of these she said, "Awwww."

And we couldn't end the trip without seeing the pigs. They weren't too friendly despite Bethany's pleas of, "Come here, come here," and her recitation of "To Market, To Market".

Trying to Catch Up

I've had lots of stuff to post, but I've been short on time. So I'm going to be doing my best to catch back up over the next week. So, hopefully, I'll be updating frequently.

First, I have to tell a couple of Bethany stories. One night we were watching the Cubs game and Bethany was playing before bedtime. We hadn't said anything to her about the game or really anything about the game at all. Out of nowhere she says, "GO CUBBIES!" So I guess we've turned her into a Cubs fan. The poor girl is destined for heartbreak.

One night while I was cutting up some chicken for supper, she told me, "Mommy, you're a beautiful cutter." Too funny.

And one last thing, we tried potty training last week. It was a no-go. She didn't go on that potty once despite taking her about every hour for four days straight. So we'll try again next month. It would be really nice to have her potty trained before the baby comes.

We are finished with Bible Study for the summer. On one of the last Thursday, the kids had a program. Bethany actually sang this time. And she got into the motions.

I couldn't resist posting a little video.

And while it looks like she hit the little boy in front of her, she didn't. She was just really getting into those motions. We recorded the whole program, and I don't know how many times we've watched it. Bethany usually sings along and does the motions. It's pretty adorable. And I don't mind watching it, because it keeps the songs fresh in her mind for next year.


Daddy and Bethany made a huge tower one day.
While we're waiting for our swing set to be built, one of the things we found to do outside was pick flowers. Bethany loves to find, "Candylions."

One day a couple of weeks ago we went over to Bloomington to go to the Children's museum with my friend, Angie, and her two kids, Trevor and Clara.

This is Bethany and Clara playing at the water station.Trevor and Bethany crawling through a compost pile. Bethany kept wanting to go back to the tunnel.
Bethany also got to drive a tractor like Papa.
Here she is making soybean oil.She's taking her time at the grocery store. She just cleaned out the cheese section and is trying to figure out where to go next.
Clara found something to keep her occupied. Bethany had a really good time with Trevor and Clara. She keeps talking about them and how they're all going to swing on her swing set, and Miss Angie will push them all. She also loved their sandbox. That night she told Daddy she got to, "Dig, dig, dig." So you know what's on our list to get now.

Pink or Blue?

I had a sonogram this morning. The score in our family is now:

Girls - 2

Boys - 2

That's right! It's a boy! We're all excited, but not too surprised. That was my feeling. So now I'm off to figure out how I want to decorate the nursery.

Our Girls Weekend in Chicago

A couple of weekends ago, we had a girls weekend in Chicago. It was a lot of fun, but also thoroughly exhausting.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites. It was a pretty cool hotel.

The group consisted of my cousins, Kelly and Kristin, Amanda, Me and my mom.
Friday night we went out to eat at The Melting Pot. It's a fondue restaurant, and it was delicious. One of the best meals I've had in a long time. Here's Amanda and I with the first course, the cheese.
Mom and Kelly enjoying the cheese course.
Kristin with her salad. I had the same salad, and it was soo yummy. I think it was my second favorite course.
The third course was the meat. You cooked it yourself in hot oil.You can see our forks in the pots. We're waiting for the meat to cook.
By far the best course was the chocolate. This was our cookies and cream pot. The marshmallow creme on top was being flambeed.This is what we had to dip in the chocolate. I think my favorite was the marshmallows.

Amanda and I getting ready for a bite of heaven. The chocolate course was the only one we finished. Imagine that.
The next day we went shopping on Michigan Avenue. It really wore me out, but I managed to have enough energy to stop at the Hershey's store.
Now this is what I need for my chocolate cravings.
What you don't know about this picture is one of the employees just broke out into song about Hershey's and cupcakes. It was so . . . weird. My cousin felt like she was trapped in some bizarre episode of Willy Wonka. I kind of wondered if this is what it was like to live in a musical.


We all enjoyed a treat from the Hershey's store. Mom and Amanda were attempting to eat their smore.
I finally saw some tulips. Not too many were in bloom.

On Sunday we rounded out the weekend with a trip to Navy Pier, after a walk in the pouring rain to Old Navy. Anyway, I had never been to Navy Pier, so that was fun. Even though it was drizzling and rainy, we still took a ride on the giant Ferris Wheel. This is our view from the top.

Here's Amanda as the we were starting to come back down.

We had a great weekend, but it was enough to wear out this pregnant woman. After that I decided no more overnight trips until the baby's born.