Puppy Love

Dear Grace,

I'm not sure who misses each other more. You or Grandma and Papa's dogs. You used to literally wake up in the morning and from your naps calling out for 'Annie' and 'Ia, Ia, Ia' aka Sandy and Mia, Mia, Mia. You love to play catch with the dogs as well as feed them one handful at a time. Enjoy!

Love, Mommy 

Warning! There is a ridiculous amount of pictures/videos of my kid and puppies. At least you were warned...

You had dog food in your hand that Sandy definitely wanted you to give up.

Showing Mia where you hid her ball.

We ran errands close to Grandma and Papa's yesterday so we popped in for a quick visit...

Park time

Dear Grace,

When it's not too hot for a toddler and her pregnant Mommy to play outside, we have been frequenting the parks in Northwest IN. 

My favorite toddler friendly park around is Redar Park in Schererville. It's a well-shaded area, which is surprisingly rare for parks. They have a great play area for toddlers and another right next to it for kids a bit older. My girlfriend, Kristen, really appreciates that since she has 2 boys. The toddler playground has a decently sized area that keeps you 'trapped in', other than the slides. Less running under the playground for me so you don't step off an edge. This is huge for Mommy, especially now that I'm dragging 20 additional pounds along. Enjoy!

Love, Mommy 

It was convenient to take a stroller ride from Grandma and Papa's down to the White Hawk Park. It was an added bonus when they were able to meet us on their way home from work.  

Now that we live a block away from a park, we have a new place to explore...

 Daddy joined us one day this week after work!

I cannot believe you fearlessly go down this slide on your own!

Uncle Matt went with us to the park tonight while Daddy and Grandpa Den put up the chair rail in your room.

I'm so glad I was able to capture these precious moments between you and your Uncle Matt tonight. I can't begin to tell you how fun it was to watch you two chase after one another and giggle the entire time. 

Cups

Dear Grace,
Aunt Libbie would be so proud! One of your favorite activities at Grandma and Papa's is playing with their mini paper cups. Stack them, count them, knock them down, put them away and take them out again. "There are so many activities" a toddler can do with cups! I'm talking, hours! You spent hours playing with these cups the last week we were living with Grandma and Papa! Enjoy!
Love, Mommy

I of course stacked them the way they are in the picture. Your hand eye coordination isn't that good yet. 

girl time

Dear Grace,

You LOVE your girl time with your fellow red-head, Aunt Susan. Daddy and I were out furniture shopping for our new home the other day when Aunt Susan and Uncle Matt set up their tent in Grandma and Papa's backyard. You had a blast. Look how you're in aw of your Aunt Susan. Enjoy!

Love, Mommy

Mess-free painting

Dear Grace,

After seeing this Mess-Free Finger Painting art project on Pinterest, I have wanted to try it out with you. I recently saw that my Mommy blogging friend, Emily, did this craft with her toddler which motivated me to collect the few supplies I needed.

My advice- I used way too much paint. The paper ended up getting so drenched that it ripped as I was trying to get it out of the bag. Before guessing how someone did something via the picture on Pinterest, click the link and actually read it. I just now read this original post from The Hippie Housewife and I love what she did. She used tempera paint and put two primary colors in each bag. Her boys were not only playing with the mess free paint, but they also figured out what color they made when mixed together. 

You had a blast, which was good enough for me! Enjoy!

Love, Mommy 

This is what happens if you just place it on the ground and let a toddler go. The original blog I found had her toddler nicely sitting in a chair and used painters tape to securely keep the bag still on the table. I'll probably try that next time as well.  

You loved looking at your finished art project once it was all dry the next day. 

PS I love how you did this mess free project in your diaper as if we were avoiding your clothes being ruined. Ha!

Baby #2

One of the most important updates I haven't written about due to lack of Internet access as well as time is baby #2.

We're beyond excited to announce that we're having a BOY! Connor Matthew has always been our boy name from day one. O'Connor is Michael's Mom's maiden name and Matthew is the name of all 3 of our kids' uncles. 

I have decided to deliver at Prentice Hospital downtown and stay with the same Women's group I used since I was pregnant with Grace. Due to the travel distance increase, my doctors are being a little more conservative in preparation for me going into labor. 

There are two major difference so far with my pregnancies. I was much more sick with Connor than Grace. The first trimester was VERY long due to morning (okay....afternoon and sometimes evening) sickness. The frequency significantly decreased in the second trimester, but would occasionally still happen. The other difference is I think Connor moves more often and much more intense than Grace did. I actually have parts of my stomach that are sore and hurt from him moving. I remember feeling what I thought was one of Grace's limbs moving, but I feel like Connor is running his body into me and constantly doing flips. 

The only scare for this pregnancy was when I got really sick with a virus right after we moved home from London. Very few people knew I was pregnant, but I ended up in the hospital due to dehydration. Northwestern hospital's ER in downtown Chicago at night is interesting to say the least. We literally watched a patient try to run from the 2 policeman who were standing next to his hospital bed. Silly man. 

Michael and I had a very nice vacation in San Diego, CA when I was 31 weeks. My college girlfriend, Kat, got married, which was the perfect excuse to get away. Michael's parents and brother watched Grace for 5 days; our longest time away from her. We were able to get out there early to spend time with our good friends Lacey and Dave Elpers. 

I know- I'm that girl who posts a pregnant bathing suit picture of herself on the Internet. I figure if you choose to check out my mommy blog, then it's fair game. You should know the kinds of things you're getting into. 

Other than that little scare, it has been an uneventful and great pregnancy. Of course I'm much more tired this time around since I'm running around with a toddler. It's been a record hot summer for the Chicago-land area, which is a bit uncomfortable. But, Grace and I have had the luxury of living in a place with air-conditioning so we've been just fine. 

Connor, I can't wait to meet my little kicker. Scratch that. My little boxer, you're definitely fighting in there. 

Basically 33 weeks down; 7 to go! 

Catch up and Cottage

Dear Grace,

Ever since we moved in with Grandma and Papa 3 weeks ago, the wireless internet connection has been acting up. Comcast came out this morning and fixed our little problem. We've turned Grandma and Papa's computer room into your nursery for the time being. It didn't cross anyone's mind that the wireless internet connection and your wireless monitor could mess each other up. Oops! Your monitor has worked perfectly fine and as long as it's off we have wireless internet again. Let the blogging catch up begin...

We've spent two great weekends out at the cottage during our temporary living. One of which we celebrated your Uncle Matt's 30th birthday. Enjoy!

Love, Mommy 

Brotherly love

Happy birthday, Uncle 'At' aka Matt

Naturally it was a Cubs themed birthday party. 

This picture was taken right after you let Uncle Chuck put you down. He picked you up to say hello and you found his shoulder and your thumb to be the upmost comfort for a good 15 mins. 

Your first time swimming in Pine Lake.