The Kelley Family

The first of many sleepless nights I'm sure

2009-06-28T03:18:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I closed on our first home on Friday. Everything went remarkably well and quite quickly actually. We were done within the hour. I think we waited around longer for the wire to come through than anything else. We signed our lives away and we are hoping we didn't sign over Paige's in the process. Now that the house is ours, we have begun painting. Paige spent the weekend with Uncle Adam and Aunt Milagro while Ryan and I got some work done. We painted three rooms yesterday and we are feeling pretty good about it. Paige's room is definitely pink. We are hoping that once there is furniture in there it won't look so pink. Regardless, Paige will love it. Ever since we spent the day there yesterday, our to-do list has grown immensly. The place was supposed to be move in ready. Frankly it probably is, we are just very excited to have our first place that we want everything to be perfect right away. Now here I sit at the computer and it is in the middle of the night because I can't sleep. I keep thinking of all the things I need/want to get done for the new house. Not to mention that my body is in tremendous pain from all the painting yesterday. I can't even make a fist with my right hand. Will I ever sleep soundly again?

It's been ages

2009-06-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it has been a very long time since we last posted. In that time we have since purchased our first home. We are very excited (and terrified) of what is to come. We close on the house on Friday. We will spend the weekend painting and then the movers come on Monday. Paige is excited to move and probably most excited about the fact that she can have a pink room. That was her only requirement. Let's just hope it isn't too pink. Ryan and I have been packing this past month in hopes that it wouldn't feel overwhelming but I feel like that is all we do now. Will it ever end?

Here are a few photos of our lives over the past month.

Bought a house

Celebrated Ryan's birthday

The whole family celebrated Mom's retirement

Visit from Grumpa

Paige (Woobie & Baby too) is still wearing her patch once a day

Visited the Shedd Aquarium and got this wonderful family photo outside

Visited the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati to see the Cubs v. Reds game after a wedding

Celebrated Tessa's 1st birthday

Took Paige mini-golfing

Let's Go Fly a Kite...

2009-04-23T06:49:00.001-07:00

The Easter bunny brought Paige a Winnie the Pooh kite this year and she couldn't wait to give it a try. We had a nice day this past weekend (even with those ugly clouds) so we decided to take advantage of the day and let her give it a try. It was a big hit, both with Paige and with Ryan. They started off flying the kite together and then she took the reigns for herself. It probably wasn't as breezy as we would have liked but it worked for her first time. We are now trying to decide if we are going to take her to the Kids and Kite Festival the first weekend in May. I think she would love it but not so sure if our kite would survive.

Paige flying the kite all by herself.

Ryan and Paige trying to keep the kite in the air; not enough wind that day

Doing a great job flyingPosing on one of the rocks in the park.

One of the few good things about CT

2009-04-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

As most of you knew, I wasn't a big fan of the time we spent in CT. Granted it was nice to live near our New England relatives, but other than that, there wasn't much. We did make some new friends while we were there are we were very exciting that Lara came to visit during her Spring Break. Lara and I used to teach together at the same high school and now neither of us is there anymore. I was so glad to catch up with her and hear about everything going on in Laraland. Paige LOVED her and immediately took to her. She wanted her to do everything with her from coloring to taking her to the bathroom. I'm sure she was thrilled when I took Paige to the potty instead. We would like for our guests to come back out ;) Lara had never been to Chicago before so we took an afternoon and went downtown and did a brief walking tour of Navy Pier and Millennium Park. We topped the evening off with a nice dinner at Weber Grill. Now we can't wait to (hopefully) head to CT this summer for her wedding!

Paige and Lara coloring.

We went to Legoland so Lara could get a few gifts to bring back home and Paige took a liking to this guy. She would stand in his arms and then flirt with him by looking over her shoulders. Finally she turned around and hugged him and gave him a kiss. Not long after on a trip to the potty she was telling me how she loved that boy in the blue shirt. You can't argue with a man that doesn't talk.

Easter

2009-04-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter. This year we went to an Easter party the weekend before where Paige got to play with Lilly and Nathan. Paige even got to meet the Easter bunny that day. She wasn't so sure about him until she saw the bag of goodies he had to offer. On Easter weekend we colored Easter eggs and then went to Poppa and Gaga's to spend the day with family. All in all, it was a great Easter.

Paige and the bunny

Enjoying her chocolate marshmallow bunny from the bunny

working very hard decorating Easter eggs

Bunny Paige and Bunny Mommy

Looking all pretty in her Easter dress

Cousins Lilly, Tessa and Paige

Hunting for eggs

Family photo - 2 out of 3 are looking at the camera so that is a success!

Oprah

2009-04-10T18:46:00.001-07:00

I have spent the majority of my life living in the Chicago area and this is the first time I got to go and see a taping of the Oprah Show. Much to my surprise, Ryan wanted to join me. He said that it was a Chicago experience and I don't blame him. I also think he was really hoping for some free stuff too. When we started to walk into the studio, they asked us to go in a different direction than everyone else. We ended up in the reserve seating. Jamie had mentioned that when we went years ago, they placed any men up front. Sure enough, that is where they took us. We went with Jamie and Milagro as well. They ended up splitting us up and putting Jamie and me in the second row and Milagro and Ryan a few rows behind us. Apparently Jamie and I were dressed brightly and they liked that. The show was on Oprah's favorite recipes and we got the chance to taste all kinds of yummy desserts. We even left with a free mix for one of the desserts. We didn't get any cars or money, but it was a cool expereince none the less.

Outside the studio next to the Oprah sign. No cameras allowed inside so this is the best we got.

Visit with the Farmer's

2009-04-08T16:09:00.001-07:00

We were excited to hear that our friends were coming up for a visit. Mandy and Mindy met many years ago while they were both working together in Seattle, WA. We both relocated since then and the Farmer's now live in Southern IL while we are up in Chicago. They were able to bring the whole family to hang out for a few days in the city. Unfortunately the weather was really cold so it limited our options for things to do. The big test was for the girls to have their first sleepover. Paige has had her cousin stay over before but never in the same room. The girls talked for a bit and then eventually fell asleep. Paige did her best to keep Ella awake but no luck. They did surprisingly well. The last day they were here we all went to the Children's Museum and had a great time. We hope to go down and visit them next. The really sweet part is that when Paige woke up the next morning, she wanted to know where Ella was. I love how easily little kids can make friends.

The girls first sleepover. Paige in her bed and Ella on the air mattress next to her.

Paige and Ella having a blast together. Ella loved all the new toys to play with and Paige loved showing them all to her.

Paige and Ella painting at the Children's Museum. Probably Paige's favorite part.

They took out a parachute to play with at the Children's Museum. They will bouncing balls on it and running underneath it. Here are Paige and Ella under the parachute. It caused a bit of static electricity and made their hair stands up. Ella wins the prize for the most hair in the air.

Paige grocery shopping at the museum.

Playing in the water in the museum. They had rain coats for the kids to wear to keep them dry. Worked a little bit but they were all pretty wet in the end.

Weekend and Easter fun

2009-04-06T08:38:00.001-07:00

We were disappointed to hear that it was going to be snowing again. We thought we had made it through the winter but it is infringing on our spring. We did our best to take advantage of the one nice day before it got ugly. Paige really loves playing withe Dora ball throwing and kicking it around. Ryan is quite excited to see that she is enjoying sports.
Daddy and Paige looking like twins again

Throwing the ball

GOAL!!!!

Poppa and GaGa came by later that night to join us for dinner. Poppa took the chance to read Paige her new library book "The Little Engine that Could". Notice how Paige has her Sleeping Beauty Princess shoes on. We don't take them off until we have to.

On Sunday, we participated in an early Easter celebration. A friend of Auntie Mimi's put together and day of Easter fun. They got to play different games in the gym, parachutes, hot potato, food, face painting and, of course, the Easter bunny.
Paige playing with the balls in the gym. She really wanted to make a basket, unfortunately she doesn't have the arm just yet.

Paige and the Easter bunny. She wasn't so sure about him until she heard he had a present for her.

Enjoying eating and marshmallow Easter bunny that she got from the Easter bunny.

Paige showing off her face first face painting. She was very sad that we had to wipe it off before nap time.

Family fun

2009-04-06T08:28:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back we got a chance to visit with Paige's Great Uncle Eric. He was in town from Maryland to spend time with his sister, Aunt Lori, on her birthday. We were very excited to have the chance to see him. Paige hadn't met him until then. Little does she know, Uncle Eric used to be a clown and maybe next time we'll have to have him break out some of his old tricks. I know she would love it!

Ryan, Paige and Eric

At Lori and Jeff's house, they have a trampoline that Paige got to try out. She has never been on one before and I'm sure she won't forget this one. She thought it was fantastic, especially when Ryan was able to pop her up into the air.
She would lay flat and then Ryan would flop down and up she would go. We got some great giggles out of her.

Jump, jump, jump.

We also were able to help Poppa celebrate his 60th birthday. Poppa thought it would be fun to celebrate his birthday on a caribean cruise. Oddly enough his plans didn't include having us on the cruise with him. We would have made it much more fun but we settled for having dinner and birthday cake with him before he left.
Poppa's helpers, Paige and Lilly. Nothing more fun than blowing out the candles.

A busy few weeks

2009-04-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we have updated our blog. We have had a busy few weeks and the few weeks ahead are quite packed as well. I'll do my best to catch you all up.

One of Ryan's highlights for the year is heading down to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Men and Women's Basketball Tournament. Ryan has the pleasure of provided the on-air reporters with their up to the minute stats information. It tends to be very long days but he enjoys it. This year he only went to the Women's tournament.

This is the view from his seat. Center court surrounded by lots of computers

A shot of Ryan and the on-air people... I believe it is Mary and Mark

In downtown Indy, they change the street signs to match the Big Ten schools. Of course Boilermaker Way is the best.

St. Patrick's Day is a big day for the Kelley's and we like to find ways to celebrate. We were not able to make it downtown for either of the parades but we did go down a little later in the day and we were excited to find that the river was still quite green.
Family shot in front of the green river. Paige was worried she was going in.

Ryan enjoying some green beer while we waited for our pizza. I know, it isn't corned beef and cabbage but we are in Chicago.

After that Mandy traveled for a bit in southern IL and in IN. This is her busy season and it will hopefully slow down in the beginning of May. Ryan and Paige do enjoy their Daddy-daughter time and Mandy loves that Paige talks on the phone with her every night before bed to let her know about her day. It makes being away a little easier.

This past weekend was a busy one for Paige. Uncle Adam and Auntie Go Go (Milagro) took both Paige and Lilly to see Dora Live. It was their Christmas present and they have been anxiously awaiting this day. They all enjoyed themselves and Adam and Milagro made it out alive. I would call it a success. The girls even came home with Dora t-shirts and light up things.

Sunday we went down to the Adler Planetarium. They were showing "One World, One Sky" which featured Big Bird, Elmo and their friend from China Hu Hu Zhu. Paige thought it was great. She was a bit puzzled by the movie being mostly above her but she eventually got it. Now she askes about Elmo's friend a lot. I remember the Planetarium being much more fun as a kid. When we went this time, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a ton of interactive stuff. We found some things to entertain Paige but there is room for improvement. We felt OK about it since we got free passes from the library so it didn't cost us anything but parking.

Paige being chosen as the next astronaut. Not sure who that crazy guy is holding her ;)

Paige watching Ryan drive the moon rover.

Paige putting the galaxy back together. Her favorite part was pushing the button to release all the pieces.

Enjoying the planets on the ground.

Now we are looking forward to the next few weeks as we get visits from some old friends.

Don't go Daddy!

2009-03-05T18:02:00.000-08:00

Turn about is fair play I suppose. After months of me being gone for a few days here and there, it is Ryan's turn. Ryan is off to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. This is really the only time of year when Ry has to travel for work. The hard part is he is gone for a good chunk of time. Originally he was supposed to be gone for both the women's and the men's tournament but it turns out he doesn't have to go to the men's tourney this time around. He has mixed feelings about it. He loves going and sitting courtside and working the games but they are very, very long days and he misses his family. Here are a few photos of Paige and Ryan soaking up some time before he left.

Don't go Daddy! Maybe if I keep making this sad face, you won't go.

Little Ballerina

2009-03-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

Paige has always loved to dance. Lately we have been laughing because she has been instructing Ryan and I on how to dance. "Touch your toes, OK, how kick your feet..." It is actually quite cute. So we decided to give dance class a try again. We tried once before a little before her 2nd birthday. She wasn't very happy about it since there were a lot of kids and I had just returned from my work trip where I was gone for about a week and now I was trying to leave her again. This time she is in a class with only a few other kids and one parent gets to join them. Paige was very excited when she got to put her leotard on and the little skirt that goes with it. Once she saw how the skirt moved when she was twirling, off she went. She was very excited to have cousin Lilly join her in class this time around too. Paige wasn't so sure for about the first 20 minutes of class but all of the sudden she warmed up and realized it was safe to dance. She had a great time, especially checking herself out in the mirror. All the way home in the car she talked about how fun dance class was and how she wants to do it again and again. The cutest part is that she gets to perform in a recital in June. Such a big girl. Both Ryan and I even teared up a bit when she was all dressed up in her dance outfit. Way too precious.
Practicing her twirl

Standing on her tip toes (she didn't have her ballet shoes on yet since she had already out grown her pair from 6 months ago.

Yoga

2009-02-20T08:11:00.001-08:00

Paige has a new found love for yoga. Paige does some form of exercise everyday at school which she loves. It is usually the first thing she tells us about when we pick her up from school. They have a variety of different videos they do at school from Elmocize, kickboxing, Barbie workout, and kids yoga. Paige has really fallen for the yoga video and has been asking to do it at home. We were all for it because we can't find anything wrong with encouraging fitness. She has done the Kids ABC Yoga everyday when she comes home from school. We have enjoyed it because it is nice for to come home and unwind a bit doing yoga. We will usually do it with her as well which she just loves. There is nothing cuter than when she gets to the letter "O" and they practice saying "Om". I'll have to video tape it becuase it is so freaking cute. She also likes to sing the Namaste song that teaches them about what that means. Ryan and I really love the part at the end when they lay flat and focus on their breathing. We have never seen her sit so still and and quiet when she wasn't sleeping. It is fantastic!

Doing her yoga moves. We have a yoga mat for her but she prefers using the blanket. (Notice how she even has Woobie doing yoga with her)

Singing the Namaste song.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-16T18:09:00.001-08:00

Our little Valentine

A year ago today...

2009-02-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I were remembering how scary it was a year ago today that Paige was admitted to the hospital for a mystery illness. We knew when the doctor sent us to the hospital for her blood work and told us to wait until she called us before she left, that it couldn't be good; not that her 105.3 fever didn't freak us out enough. Those 3 days she was in the hospital have been the 3 most challenging days of motherhood so far. No one knew what was wrong and my poor baby was just lying there sick in the awful baby cage that they put kids in. We both felt extremely helpless. Luckily though time and lots of antibiotics, she got better. They eventually diagnosed her with having 5 different viruses at once that she just couldn't shake. She has pneumonia, RSV, sinusitis, brochiolitis, and a urinary tract infection. We are so thankful to that she is healthy and it was nothing more serious. I have never seen a child get poked so many times and not fight it. I can still hear her saying "All done Mommy, all done." in her sad little voice and they looking over at the doctor or nurse and saying "thank you" after they just poked and prodded her like crazy. She was our rock in that whole process and we both learned a lot from her. I can't say that I don't panic a little every time she gets sick, but I would rather be cautious than igore it. We love our little girl and we can't wait to enjoy our Valentines Day together as a family this year outside of the hospital.
Paige ready to be put in the CAT scan machine. We had a very little window in which we could do this since they had to sedate her. She coughed right as they were taking her out of the scan. Thank God they were done because I didn't want her to have to go through the sedation again. She fought the medicine for hours before it finally worked.

Paige with her new doctor toys that she got from Auntie Mimi when she returned home.

On the road again...

2009-02-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

In my job, I find that my travel schedule goes in cycles. I am either at home all the time or I am on the road all the time. I am currently on the road and there seems to be quite a bit in the near future as well. I was most recently in Little Rock, AR for our all-staff offsite. It was a great opportunity to spend time face-to-face with my colleagues. Working from a home office, I do miss the human interaction with each other. The downside to this is that I end up away from my family. I am finding that it is getting harder to leave my Paigey. Now that she is older, she is starting to understand what is happening. The hard part is that she still can't comprehend the why part. I am away because I need to work, not because I don't want to be with her. We talked on the phone every night and she told me about her day. That I just loved. I would tear up every night when she would squeal in excitement just to hear my voice and then tear up again when she would say ni-nights and tell me that she loved me. Ryan and Paige had a great time together. As much as Ryan complains about having to handle it alone, he does a fantastic job and they enjoy their time together. Of course the day after I left, Paige ended up with her first ear infection. So off to see Dr. Shah they went to get a check up. Luckily the medicine kicked in pretty quick and her ears are great. The last night I was gone, Ryan rolled over at about 6am to find Paige in my side of the bed tucked in and snoring away. Neither of them can tell you how long she was there but she was quite comfy. She has never slept in our bed before so Ryan was shocked. He was also so in love with his little girl that he didn't wake her. Was she missing Mommy or wanting to snuggle with Daddy? Regardless of the answer, it was too cute.

At the very end of that trip, I received news that one of my schools was chosen by ESPN for an interview on the state of physical education in schools. This is such an honor for this school and I am very excited about the recognition they will be receiving. I am not thrilled about the fact that I was asked to join her and be interviewed as well. The thought of being interviewed by a reporter for a national story makes me very, very nervous! I never have had a desire to be in TV and I am just hoping that my interview doesn't make the final cut. They are spending a whole day with 3 different schools and then condensing it down to a 30 special. My chances of being cut are great. Plus, they story should be about the school, not about what I am doing with the schools. We shall see. Needless to say, I am homesick and I can't wait to get back to my hubbie and baby. Luckily I am only gone for the day. The Mom Guilt is definitely setting in. I am happy that I did get the opportunity to enjoy the weekend with them.

Weekend of Birthday Fun

2009-01-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

So I'm 31 now and I'm not sure when that all happened. The good news is that I have made it this far and I hope to have many more birthdays. Most of you know, I LOVE my birthday and the countdown begins on Christmas day. I decided that this year I wanted to go and do something for my birthday. Ryan and I had a date night on Friday. We sent Paige off to my parents and we headed downtown to have dinner and then to see Monty Pythons Spamalot. We had a great time even though our walk from dinner to the show was a bit colder than either of us had anticipated. The next day we had a family bowling night and my parents and siblings were there with their families. We had a great time. After bowling we headed back to my parents to enjoy the birthday cake that Paige and Grandma made for me. It was very yummy! Today is my actual birthday and I have nothing planned. I may even stay in my PJ's all day because I can.

Mandy and Ryan waiting for Spamalot to start

Here we are at Pinstripes. We were excited to learn that their bowling shoes came in toddler sizes and that they had ramps for the little kids to use to help their game. Paige was insistent on carrying her own bowling ball. After many tries of trying to lift the pink ball (10 lbs), she finally gave in and used the 6 lb blue one because she could carry it. The really sad part is that I am so bad at bowling, my 2 year old almost beat me; I beat her by one point. I'm a sad sack bowler.

Throwing her whole body into it.

Paige and Milagro enjoying the hair blower...I mean hand blower. Paige and Lilly really thought it was quite fantastic.

Waiting to see how many pins she knocks down. When the pins fall down, Paige does a dramatic fall to the ground as well.

Uncle Adam showing Paige an alternate use for the ramp. She thought using it as a slide was a much better idea. That Uncle Adam, so creative.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day for our country and a wonderful step in the right direction. As I was at home working and watching all the festivities, little did I know, Paige would be watching them as well. After everyone was home tonight and we were watching the news, they were showing highlights of the inauguration and Paige says to us "Look Mommy, Barack Obama! He's our President. I saw him at Chita and Pepe's." She can identify President Obama in a line up. We are big into politics here and watched all of the debates so she was exposed to him. It was great to hear that she was watching it at her daycare today. She has learned so much from them, she can understand and speak Spanish, count to 20, sing more songs than I and she is even starting to write her name. I'm very pleased to hear that they found it important enough to have all the kids at daycare watch it as well. So cool.

Go Boilers!

2009-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

One of the perks of working for the Big Ten Network, occasionally Ryan will get free tickets to different events. This week he happened to get tickets for two different Purdue games, one here in Chicago versus Northwestern and the other at Purdue vs. Iowa. Ryan went to the Northwestern game without Paige and me because it would have interfered way too much with bedtime. When Ryan got home from the game, Paige heard him and started to call for him. He went into her room and she asked him "you all done with basaketball game Daddy?" he nodded his head. Then she replied, "Why you don't take me with you?" So sweet and so sad all at the same time. That was enough for Ryan to know that taking her to the game on Saturday would be a good idea. She was very excited when he told her even though she had no idea what she was getting into.

Ryan was very excited to take Paige to her first Purdue basketball game this past weekend. Since Paige was in the womb, Ryan has been determined that Paige will play basketball for Purdue when she gets to college. Little does Ryan realize that she would much rather dance or be a cheerleader than a basketball player. She was very excited when the girls were dancing and such. Paige did really great throughout the game. She was a bit antsy but so much better than expected. I think Ryan's favorite part was when Paige got to shake hands with Coach Keady. Paige didn't seem to care but it was a proud moment for Ryan.

Cheering on the Boilers. Paige really liked all the clapping and cheering. She was even chanting "Let's Go Boilers!" with the crowd. Daddy was so proud.

Update on Paige's Eye

2009-01-13T07:58:00.001-08:00

We went to Paige's follow up appointment a few days ago to see if the cataract in her left eye had grown. Paige was very excited to see Dr. Yoon and she has been talking about it all week. We do our best to get her excited about the visit so she isn't scared. We received mixed news today; mostly positive though. The best news is that her cataract has not grown at all so no need for immediate surgery. He thinks it was probably there at birth. They have asked for us to continue to patch her eye once a day for an hour for the next four months. They are having us do that to force her eye with the cataract in it to work. If it isn't forced to work, her brain can stop using it all together which would not be good. They checked her vision and it is fantastic so no need for glasses at this time. All of that was good. To the not so good part, they told us that she will most likely need to have the lens replaced at some point. Of course we would all love to avoid having to do the surgery and the doctor is with us on that, which is why we are still patching it. We asked how long before we might need to do the surgery, he said it was hard to say. We asked if it was likely in the next five years and he said it was possible but hard to tell. So, we will continue to visit Dr. Yoon every four months to monitor it closely. Paige received a high 5 from her doctor and a little teddy bear who she now calls Dr. Yoon. I am so happy we decided to spend a little more money on our insurance so she can be taken care of at the best possible spot. They are very good to her there.

Photo Albums

2009-01-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Since we are unable to add more than a few photos at a time, we added a link to shutterfly which is where we will have all our photo albums. I'm sure there are way more photos than anyone would want to see, but I am no good at picking just a few. Feel free to sign up to receive an email when we update the site. http://kelleyfamilyphotos1.shutterfly.com/

Christmas in Maine

2009-01-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

After we spent Christmas in NH, we headed off to see Ryan's mom and the rest of the family in Wells, ME. Paige was very excited to be going to the beach to visit Grammy. She was having trouble understanding that the beach isn't nearly as much fun in the winter as it is in the summer. She kept insisting that Grammy had her flower bathing suit for her. Paige was excited to find that Santa found her in Maine too and brought her more gifts. She received more wonderful things but I think her mermaid dress up outfit and the 6 pairs of princess dress up shoes would have to be her favorite as you can see from the photo below. We had yummy food, made gingerbread cookies, went sledding and even visited the beach. She still had fun at the beach, even without her bathing suit. We hope to come back out in the summer to be able to enjoy the beach this time.

Our little mermaid with her mermaid Grammy

All dressed up and ready to go to dinner

Paige and Grammy at the beach

Family photo at the beach. Don't let the sun deceive you, it was really cold!

Our little dancing queen. She got a dance camera from Auntie Ree Ree and we tried it out in Maine. She wouldn't dance unless she could wear her Christmas dress. As you can see, she loved it!

Hard at work making gingerbread cookies

Sledding with Daddy

Christmas in New Hampshire

2009-01-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Opening gifts with Grumpa and Grammy Dee

This was our year to spend Christmas out east in New Hampshire and Maine with Ryan's family. Paige was a dream on the plane. She thinks it is a lot of fun and we hope it stays that way. We started off our visit in Hollis on Christmas Eve. We were able to visit with some family and get Paige acquainted to the family again. We were pleased to see that she was very excited about sleeping in the big girl bed that Grammy had made up for her so she went to bed well. We woke up Christmas morning and opened our stockings. Paige was excited to open the gifts but we really enjoyed the fact that she would open a gift and then play with it before opening another. This way we were able to extend Christmas throughout the day. Little does she know that Christmas in Hollis usually lasts a few days! We were sad that Tia and Melanie were not able to make it out this year. Halfway through the day, Paige, Grumpa and Daddy made a snowman. The boys loved that Paige thought it was funny to be hit with snowballs. Such boys. We stayed a few more days and then we were off to Maine.

Carrying on the Eberts' family tradition of reading T'was the Night Before Christmas and with the exact same book Mandy's Dad used to use.

Paige and Daddy

Ryan, Paige and Grumpa with their manly snowman

Paige and Mommy
Helping out Great Grammy Melva

Opening gifts with Uncle Kyle, Auntie Danielle and Grammy Dee

An Eberts Family Christmas

2008-12-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we celebrated the first of our 4 Christmases this year. Since we were headed off to snowy New England to be with Ryan's family this year, my family was nice enough to get together early so we could open gifts with us before we left. Paige wasn't so sure about it at first since it was time to open gifts right after nap time. That typically isn't her best hour. Once we had her passing out the gifts, her attitude changed and she was quite pleased with the whole thing. We are grateful we got to spend a little time with everyone and for all the gifts that we exchanged. We complain every now and then about how we have so many Christmases, but we remind ourselves often that it is great to have so much family that wants to celebrate with us. Now, lets hope the upcoming storm doesn't keep us from traveling.

The ever expanding Eberts family. Jason, Lilly, Jamie, Tessa, Adam, Milagro, Mandy, Paige, Ryan, Gram, Dad, and Mom

Paige starting to perk up at the idea of opening gifts.

Opening more gifts in her pile. She must have been a good girl this year.

Paige with Abby Cadabby. Little did we know what a big hit she would be. Abby had to join us at the restaurant later. Paige loves brushing her hair and changing Abby's dresses. Paige keeps telling us how cute Abby is.

Great Grandma with her three great granddaughters at dinner. Gram treats us all to a nice dinner every Christmas. If our family keeps growing as it is, dinner will be pizza before we know it. Not a bad thing as we all love pizza!

Weekend of Birthday Fun

2008-12-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

Paige had two birthday parties to go to this weekend. One for her friend Nathan and one for cousin Lilly; both were turning three. Paige has had a crush on Nathan for quite some time now. We would pick her up for daycare and she would tell us, "I love Nathan!" Then, when we were off to his birthday party, she was very excited. When it came time to take her out of the car, she looks at me and says "Let's go see Nathan, he's cute." What a girl. As you can see from the photos, she had a great time. They had his party at Pump It Up, a place filled with all different kinds of bouncy houses and slides. Paige loved the slides.

Paige and the birthday boy, Nathan. You can tell she has a little crush on him by the way she is sitting. She put her head on his shoulder too. Of course we didn't get that on camera.

Lilly waiting at the top of the climbing wall for Paige. The big slide is next.

Ryan helping Paige through the bouncy obstacle course.

The next day we were off to cousin Lilly's birthday party. They had a nice family only party for Lilly, which was a nice break from all the action the day before. Lilly got lots of great new toys and dress up clothes. Lilly chose the Dora theme this year and her and Paige had special Dora plates that she is still telling us about. Both Lilly and Paige were very sad when it was time to go home. We stayed well past nap time and it was quite obvious towards the end. Needless to say, we had a great weekend full of celebrations and enjoyed the fact that Paige even slept in a little bit today due to all the fun. We are interested to see what Christmas brings.

Lilly waiting in anticipation to blow out her candles. She loves it when people sing Happy Birthday to her.

Paige enjoying more cake. I think she had more cake this past week than she even has. Not only did she go to the two birthday parties, they also celebrate their birthdays at daycare. Sugar overload!

Never too young for chores

2008-12-07T05:31:00.001-08:00

Ever since there was an inkling for snow, Paige has wanted to shovel. We walk passed our shovels every day when we go out to the car and she asks if she can shovel. When I was at Target last week, I saw that they sold little shovels and I couldn't pass it up. Paige was so excited to have her own shovel even though we hadn't had the need to use it just yet. Well, Paige woke up yesterday and was thrilled that she could put her new shovel to use. We got her all bundled up and off she went. You would have thought it was Christmas morning. Ryan was out there too and he was quite impressed with her work. We were lucky because the snow was really light so she was able to do it. There may be some frustration when we get a heavy snow. She enjoyed herself so much we couldn't get her in the car. We kept telling her it was time to go and she would reply "No Mommy, I not done yet!" The only way we could get her in the car was if she took the shovel with her to Poppa and Grandmas. When we arrived to Poppa and Grandmas, she was sad to see they had already shoveled but they were going to find a way to make her happy. There is always enough snow to go around. Ryan and I are thrilled that she loves to shovel. Not only does this kid shovel, she sets the table, cleans up her toys, loves throwing things in the garbage. Once she can clean the bathroom, I will be a happy camper, he he. The best part is she thinks it is all fun! I'm dreading the day when she realizes it isn't fun. But for now, Paige can be thrilled with the fact that she is like Cinderella, without the evil step mother.
Taking such pride in her work.

Baby Lauren

2008-12-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

I would like to announce the arrival of my niece, Lauren Kelley Stewart. She was born on Dec 2nd at 3:11am weighing in at 6lbs, 12oz. She was two weeks early but luckily not too early. She is very healthy and I hear she has a good set of pipes on her. Erin was in labor for 16 hours and ended up having a c-section. She is recovering from that and trying to catch some sleep between visitors and feedings. It is very hard for us to be so far away during times like these. We really wish that we could be there to hug her and her parents. Christmas can't come soon enough. I should hopefully have some photos to post tomorrow. Lauren is now my third niece, Erin's first baby. Maybe someday there will be a boy thrown into the mix.

Mom Guilt

2008-12-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

My job requires that I travel every now and again. Lately it feels like I am traveling more than I am home. I left this morning for a three day trip to Indianapolis. When Ryan picked Paige up from daycare today, she asked about me. Ryan told her that I was working and would be gone for a few days. She then asks him why. He tells her that I have to work so I can get nice things for her. She reponds with "I don't want those things, I want Mommy." I didn't realize that I could cry so quickly. I'm even tearing up just writing about it. She's 2 dang it! She isn't supposed to make those connections just yet. She sure knows how to tug on my heart strings. Luckily she loves to talk on the phone so when I call home, she will tell me about her day and other random things going on in the world of a two year old. That helps a bit but just makes me sad when she says "I love you Mommy. I be a good girl. See you soon." What a sweet little girl. I can't wait to get home and squeeze her.

Downtown Festivities

2008-11-30T06:08:00.001-08:00

We traditionally go downtown the weekend after Thanksgiving to dive into the holiday spirit. We lucked out this year and had great weather and very little crowds. Every year we have gone, it has been super cold and brisk. This year it was in the 40's and not very windy; tropical for Chicago this time of year. We headed straight for Marshall Fields, I mean Macy's, and put our name in to eat at the famous Walnut room. I have always wanted to eat there but never got a chance and I was determined to do so this year. We had about an hour and a half wait for lunch so we decided to go downstairs and wait for Santa. Marshall Fields, I mean Macy's, does a nice job of having something to entertain the kids while they wait. They wind you through their Cozy Cottage and there are a lot of interactive thins for the kids to play with which makes the long wait go faster. Paige was not interested in sitting with Santa alone as you can see from the photo below. I started out with her and then slipped away and she started to cry. We all joined her and then she decided to smile. The photographer gave her a stuffed polar bear to hold which was nice but she didn't want to give it back. Santa was watching so she did.

All of us with Santa. Same Santa as last year and he is a bit creepy looking. I wouldn't want to be alone with him either.

Paige and Daddy looking cute while waiting for Santa.

The tree in the Walnut Room. It is three stories high and beautiful. Right after we were done with Santa, our table was ready for lunch. We got to sit right next to the tree so it was a nice treat. The food was fantastic and not nearly as expensive as I had anticipated. We even topped off our meal with a Frango Mint Ice Cream Pie. Marshall Field's is known for their Frango Mints and ever since Macy's bought them out, they decided to keep the mints. A bit of a piece offering for us Chicagoians that aren't happy that Macy's now owns the historic landmark of a store.

The Walnut Room had two fairy princesses walking around and sprinkling fairy dust on the little girls. Paige was enthralled from the moment she spotted her from across the room. She thought she was Cinderella for a while there. She came over and spent quite some time with Paige and even let Paige sprinkle fairy dust on her since she could tell that Paige was a princess herself. Boy did she eat that up. The princess still sprinkled fairy dust on Paige and she was thrilled. If you ask her about it, she will tell you, "Princess said close your eyes and sprinkled it on me!" So cute.
After all that, we went outside to look at the windows. A big disappointment I must say. Marshall Fields used to choose a holiday story every year and tell it through the window decorations. Now, Macy's just puts up a few things and calls it a day. So sad. I'm sure they will recieve their share of complaints this year. People in Chicago really look forward to that. We were happy to let Paige take part in the giving that goes along with Christmas. She enjoyed donating to the Salvation Army while we were there. We think it is important that they know Chirstmas is about giving too.

After all that fun, we headed up the street to the Chriskindlemart to shop and get mulled wine and roasted nuts. It was fantastic and not that crowded. We couldn't have asked for a better day downtown. Now, off to decorate the tree tonight.

So much to be thankful for

2008-11-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

This year, we had a huge family Thanksgiving. Oddly enough none of my siblings were around since they were spending them with their in-laws, but there were so many others, you never would have guessed it. We had my parents, James (Ryan's brother), the Sullivan's (Mandy's cousins) and a few of their friends, the Sundberg's (Ryan's cousins) and their sister Chris, Josh and Pamela (my Dominican family) and then Ryan, Paige and I. That brought the grand total to 21. We enjoyed sharing the tradition with those who aren't from the US, Josh from the Dominican Republic and Mary Jane from Australia. We were impressed with our ability to all squeeze into the dining room to have a family dinner. As you can see, everyone enjoyed their meal. It was so nice to have extended family there. Paige enjoyed all the attention since she was the only child. She sure has a thing for her cousin Elaine and I know the feeling is mutual. We are so thankful for having such great family and friends. 21 this year, who knows how many next year! Happy Thanksgiving!

Paige and Granny (The birthday girl)

Ryan took over the turkey carving duties. My Dad had hernia surgery last week and was still recovering. Ryan did a great job tackeling both the 18lb turkey and the 7lb turkey breast.

Stephanie, Ryan and Elaine. We were very excited that Ryan's Aunt Lori, Uncle Jeff and his cousins Stephanie and Elaine along with their Aunt Chris, were able to join us for Thankgiving. It is hard being away from Ryan's family so much so the fact that they live near by really helps us feel like we are all together.

Another view of the whole group. Well, most of them. It was hard to get everyone in the same shot. I needed a wide angle lens. Ooo, Christmas present idea ;)

Lighting of Michigan Ave

2008-11-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

We attended the Lighting of the Magnificent Mile this past weekend. We did this last year and had a great time. When we told our family we were attending this year, they all thought we were nuts because their experience wasn't as pleasurable as ours. We were sure to go to the same spot as last year since we didn't have any problems. We went down early with hopes of getting some Chicago pizza first and then heading over to the parade. We were bummed to find out that even at 3:30pm, there was still a 2 hours wait for a table. We weren't willing to take the risk of missing the lighting so we headed to a near by shopping center and got California Pizza Kitchen. Not at all what I had hoped for but it worked. We weren't going to have much luck getting anything but pizza since we had been telling Paige for days that we were going to get pizza and then see Mickey in the Parade. The parade is put on by Disney so all of Paige's friends were there. Mickey leads off the parade and waves his wand at the trees and they all light up. That Mickey, he is just magical. It was a bit cold but totally worth it. Paige just loves Mickey Mouse and all his friends. She didn't seem to mind the cold one bit. Of course, no Christmas parade would be fit without Santa. He was at the end and Paige was very excited to see him. She keeps telling everyone that Santa was dancing as we went passed her. I don't recall him dancing but it might have been the Christmas music that made her think that. Now I can't wait for to head back downtown after Thanksgiving to see the windows all decorated. A fun yearly tradition for us.

Paige waving to Mickey as he goes by on his float.

Part of Michigan Ave all lit up. So pretty!

Big day for my niece Tessa

2008-11-17T18:25:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, I had the honor of being an honorary Godmother for my niece Tessa. Since I am not Serbia Orthodox, I was unable to truly be her Godmother but I was happy to be asked to be an honorary one. I was happy to join her other Aunt, Rachael, who was able to fill the official role. Tessa did a great job. The poor girl was naked for quite some time in the cold church. The ceremony was beautiful and was a good length. Poor Auntie Rachael's arm probably still hurt from holding Tessa for well over 30 minutes. Tessa looks cute and little but for all of us who have held her, she is not the lightest of babies...and I mean that with the sweetest of affection. Lilly and Paige were under the impression that there was no need to be quite during the ceremony. They brought quite a bit of entertainment and laughter to a serious ceremony. Everyone did their best to keep them somewhat quite but it isn't an easy task with a 2 and 3 year old. The funniest moment probably was when he was dipping Tessa in the holy water, Lilly looked up and said "what are they doing to Tessa? That is silly." Of course Paige agreed and since they got a few chuckles from the crowd on their comment, they continued to giggle and say how silly it was. We all can't wait for Tessa to grow up a little bit and start to join in on the banter. I'm sure it will get even more amusing.

Sweet moment between Tessa and Jamie.

Tessa and her Godmothers.

The girls enjoying their books before dinner was served. This is also before they were running around like crazy. We were all amazed that no one got hurt, wait, I take that back. Poor Ava was just the right height it hit the top of the chairs as she was running around. So a few bumps and bruises among the girls. They all had a blast to say the least. That is bound to happen with four little girls all between 2 and 3 years old.

Honoring our Veteran's with paint

2008-11-15T11:14:00.000-08:00

There was no daycare on Veteran's Day so Auntie Mimi and cousin Lilly and cousin Tessa came over to play. They spent most of the morning playing with the new dress up clothes and making a huge mess. They eventually spotted Paige's art easel and decided they wanted to paint. After they cleaned up, Jamie and I prepped for the painting. Clearing the space and moving everything out of the way that we didn't want paint on was a bit of a process but ended up working quite well. They had a great time painting and checking out each others work. It was fun to see the differences in how they painted. Paige was all about painting lines and Lilly would paint in different sections of her paper. We even got to see Lilly demonstrate how to write her name. We were even more impressed when she was able to write Paige's name too. The g was the only hard part. Tessa opted to take a nap instead of paint. Probably a good idea since the paint fumes got pretty strong near the end. I have to say, they ended up being much neater than I had anticipated. No stray paint anywhere.

Lilly peaking around the art easel. Notice Lilly's paintings hanging up on the right and Paige's are hanging up on the left door.

Paige looking proud of one of her paintings.

Paigey really wanted to hold her cousin Tessa that day.

Cousins.

The Greatest Show on Earth...

2008-11-15T11:04:00.001-08:00

At least that is what they tell us; I'm not sure if I agree. We took Paige to the circus this past weekend because she loves clowns. We are happy that they don't scare her because clowns can have that effect on people. We were taking a big risk going to the circus during nap time. No matter what time we chose to go, it would somehow mess with her nap. We met up with Papa and Grandma and Paige did well for the most part. I remember the circus having a lot of stuff going on at once and never a dull moment. This circus, however, was quite slow; especially for a 2 year old. It had some exciting parts but a lot of slow spots too. Ryan said that it was because we were seeing a one ring circus rather than the traditional 3 ring circus. She spent some time running around at the top of the stadium. Paige loved to elephants and the clowns. If you ask her what her favorite part was, she will tell you it was the clown that had bubbles that sounded like farts. Whenever the clown popped a bubble it made a tooting noise and she thought it was hysterical. Apparently she isn't as girlie as we thought. Maybe Santa will have to bring her a whoopee cushion for Christmas.

The three of us arriving at the circus. They let you go onto the floor and meet some of the people. Paige wasn't warmed up enough yet to sit with the clown. Waving from a distance was good enough.

Paige not wanting to take her eyes off the clowns.

She really enjoyed the trapeze and was practicing her moves with Grandma. Poor GaGa got quite the workout hanging on to her.

Fun with Dress up

2008-11-08T11:12:00.001-08:00

Paige is a girl who LOVES to play dress up. We thought that there was no better time to stock up on our dress up attire than right after Halloween. Nothing like catching a great sale on some fun stuff. We were able to get Paige some princess dresses (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty), fire fighter outfit, cowboy hat, doctor scrubs and her favorite, the sombrero. The best part is that Paige keeps telling us it is her cowgirl hat. She puts it on and runs around saying "Yee Haw!". We tried to tell here that it wasn't a cowboy hat but she doesn't believe it.

So Mexican cowgirl it is.

Yee Haw!
It's a perfect fit...well, maybe.

Paige's 2 year old photos

2008-11-07T11:59:00.001-08:00

Here are Paige's 2 year photos. We had some great ones taken with our friend Pete, they just ended up being more expensive than we had anticipated to print. We will probably get a few for ourselves but these are the ones we had done for the family. We got a very serious, innocent looking Paige and a very posed smiling Paige.

What a great Dad

2008-11-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

I have to give my husband kudos for a moment. Take a look at the photo below. This is Paige's pop-up house that she just loves. She brings all her dolls and stuffed animals in there as well as her blanket and Elmo chair at times. Lately she has been wanting people to play in there with her. Notice the legs sticking out the door of the house. Those belong to Ryan.

She keeps inviting Daddy into her house and playing with him. She LOVES having her Daddy in the house with her. Even though her house is too small for him and has no air conditioning, he goes in without complaint. These are the images that I feel the need to capture for her so she can look back on them one day and see how great her Daddy is. It is so important for Daddy's to play with their little girls, whether it is dress up, dolls or having tea parties. I am proud to say that he has never turned her down.

Now, to help keep his masculinity in tact, I will say that her home was relocated that afternoon so we could watch the Purdue football game out the front door while playing with her. Nothing like a compromise. Ryan still has dreams of watching Paige play basketball someday. The hoop has been up in our house before she could even walk and the kids sure can dunk...even though she would rather sit on the sidelines and cheer on Daddy.

Peeking through the windown on Paige and Daddy playing

Paige the Giraffe

2008-10-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

When we asked Paige what she wanted to be for Halloween she told us Woobie. For those of you who don't know, Woobie is her little blanket that she sleeps with and he is a giraffe. We found a very cute giraffe outfit for her. We got a bit nervous since a few weeks ago she was telling us that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. Luckily she went back to the giraffe since we didn't have a Minnie Mouse costume. We went out trick or treating with cousin Lilly and the rest of the family. Paige loved it. You smile cute and say trick or treat and people give you candy. Could it get any better? The odd part is she had some much fun and didn't eat one piece of candy. More for us, right? ;) Here are a few photos of her in her costume.

Thrilled she got candy for saying trick or treat. How can you not give her candy? She's too cute.

Trick or Treat? Anyone home?

Paige the giraffe, Tessa the bumblebee and Lilly as Dora

Ryan, Paige and Mandy

Halloween fun

2008-10-31T06:11:00.000-07:00

We have had a week full of Halloween festivities around the Kelley household. We were very excited to carve pumpkins this year with Paige as was she. Last year so was not afraid to reach her arm all the way in the pumpkin and feel the gooiness that is a pumpkin. This year, not so much. She was grossed out by the whole thing and made Ryan do all the work. She would, however reach in with a spoon. She was making Ryan crazy because as he was separating the seeds from the goo and putting them into a bowl for me to cook later (yum!) Paige would use her spoon and put the seeds back into the pumpkin where they belonged. I was quite entertained. I can't say the same for Ryan.

Then we spent last night making Halloween cookies to bring to daycare for their Halloween party. Paige was having a great time making the cookies but enjoying trying them out best. She wasn't happy that she had to wait for them to cook before she could eat them. We convinced her to take a bath and get her PJ's on, then she could have a cookie. You see the before and after above. No complaints form Paige.

This is our little cutie heading off to school today. We were asked to bring their costumes separately and they would dress them up later in the day. I can only imagine what it would be like to have the kids in their costumes all day; I don't blame them for waiting. Paige did get to wear her cute Halloween outfit that she got from Grammy Dee. She loves it. I will post photos of her in her giraffe costume tomorrow after our evening of trick or treating.

A Holiday Classic

2008-10-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I were both very excited about watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" last night with Paige. Now that she is a bit older, she can make it through the whole thing and get it. Little did we realize how much she would LOVE it. She laughed through the whole thing. We actually got a really cute video of it but I'm not patient enough to upload it. I tried and 2 hours later, still not finished. Anyway, she was a huge fan. She really loved that Daddy was lying on the bed with her watching and laughing with her. She asked about it this morning when she first got up "Watch Charlie Brown pumpkin Mommy? Snoopy so silly." Since she actually slept in this morning (until 7am!) we didn't have time before she went to school. Ryan said that she was talking about it to her teacher at school when she got there. I have a feeling we will be watching it again tonight.

Having a child just reminds us how much fun the holidays are supposed to be. It helps us forget the stressful part and just spend time together. Now we are really excited for all the fun Christmas specials to arrive. I know it will be here before we know it. We'll be carving our pumpkins tonight and having a great time I'm sure.

Update on Paige's Eye

2008-10-28T10:46:00.000-07:00

Paige went in today for her follow-up visit on the cataract they found in her eye back in February. The recommendation from the doctor back in May was to patch her right eye for 2 - 1 hour spurts each day to force the left eye containing the cataract to work. The good news at that time was that the cataract only on 5% of the eye, which means that it probably isn't effecting her vision. The bad news is that they can't tell if the cataract was there from birth or if it is new. So, were to come back and have it looked at again a few months later to make sure that it hasn't grown.

That brings us to today. Since we now are on Mandy's insurance, we were able to take Paige to Children's Memorial Hospital for her eye exam. You can't get much better for pediatric ophthalmologists in the Chicago area. Overall Paige was a good patient. She was able to identify all the pictures that they show kids to test their vision. She was not a fan of having one eye covered and needing to identify with just one eye. I got nervous at that point because if she can't identify objects with just one eye, that is a sign that her cataract might have grown. They put some dialting drops on her eye and back to the waiting area for 30 minutes so the drops can do their work. She was happy being out there because she could color and watch PBS. The doctor finally got to us (after 1 1/5 hours of being patient) and took a look at her eye. Paige loved Dr. Yoon. He was playing with her and able to get her to cooperate really well. I would recommend him to anyone. Dr. Yoon was able to see the cataract and still wants to closely monitor her eye. Apparently the size and location of the cataract is what is causing some confusion for all three eye doctors that we have seen. If the cataract was slightly, and I mean slightly larger, they would have to do surgery. She is borderline in need of the surgery but luckily all of us agree that we will do everything we can to avoid having the surgery done. He even said that he is primarly a surgeon and loves to do surgery, but doesn't want to do surgery on her if he doesn't have to.

Here is the scoop on the surgery. The downside to having the surgery, besides the obvious, is that they would have to remove the lens of her eye and put in a prostetic lens. With that lens, she would only be able to see far, in turn, needing glasses for upclose. These would be glasses that she would need for a lifetime. And, since her eyes will most likely change as she gets older, so would the need to change the lens that they put in. That would mean surgery after surgery on her eye over her lifetime. Not fun. Especially since her vision is great right now. Absolutely no need for glasses right now.

Bottom line is we have to wait and see. We still need to patch her one eye for only one hour a day. We need to get better about remembering to do that. We were great in the beginning but this last month we have gotten lazy about doing it. It is our own fault. Bad parents, I know. Putting the patch on forces the eye with the cataract to work. If the eye with the cataract isn't forced to work, her brain could just stop using the eye all together. Not good. So we will keep patching and go back in to see Dr. Yoon right before Christmas and hopefully hear good news that nothing has changed and no need to patch. We'll keep you updates as time passes.

Where's the diaper?

2008-10-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

This seems to be Paige's new favorite game. Since she has been potty trained, she is not a fan of having a diaper on at anytime. Lately when we go to check in on her at night, we find her with her diaper off. Obviously it can't stay that way so we put it back on her and she doesn't even flinch. You can have a band walk through her room after she has fallen asleep and she won't wake up. Regardless, this one was quite amusing. We did not do this, Paige put the diaper up on the rail of her bed. Usually we will find her with her diaper off and no pants (we have some great photos of her butt in the air but something weird about posting those on the internet). This time she got creative and decided to put the diaper up high and the pants back on. Nice try kid, we are still going to put the diaper back on. She isn't that potty trained. We look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

Erin's baby shower

2008-10-21T14:01:00.001-07:00

So I was the lucky one who got to go out to Erin's baby shower this past weekend. Poor Ryan didn't even get to go and see his own family. It was a quick trip but well worth it. I got to spend time with Erin and Ed as well as feel my new niece move! I'm her favorite auntie already :) Erin had a gorgeous baby shower and let me just say, that baby has everything she will ever need up until college. They whole event was quite impressive. Ed's mother leaves no stone unturned. After the shower I got to spend some time with Ryan's family in Hollis. Again, only for a night but great to catch up. It did, however, make me sad that I couldn't be around for everything. The thing that stinks for Ryan and I is that one of our families will always be far away, even after much pleading for them to move closer. That just makes us treasure the time that we do have together, because it isn't as frequent as we would like. The best part to come out of all of this is that I was able to volunteer my seat on the airplane and take a later flight (only 30 min later) in return for some vouchers for another flight. Without those vouchers, we might not have been able to return for Christmas this year. We rotate every year and it is our year to travel out East and we probably wouldn't have been able to go with how expensive everything is right now. So, keep your fingers crossed that we can find something reasonable. Thanks again to Erin and Dee for having me.

Sisters - don't we look alike

Playhouse Disney Live on Tour

2008-10-21T13:43:00.001-07:00

Since we are unable to afford a trip to Disney World in the near future, we did the next best thing, we took Paige to see Playhouse Disney Live on tour. For those of you who don't have little ones at home, this is the portion of the Disney channel that focuses on the preschool age. Paige is a huge fan, especially of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She was excited all day about it and was telling everyone that she was going to go and see Mickey. The show featured the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins and Handy Manny. When we got there, she was dancing in the parking lot out of excitement. Once she entered the doors, she went running straight towards the gift counter. Disney is no dummy, there was a lot of choose from. Paige picked out a Minnie doll and a coloring book, luckily not too expensive. The show was an hour long and had an intermission in the middle. She was a bit upset when the intermission arrived as she was waiting "patiently" for Mickey to come back. They were obviously saving the best for last. throughout the whole first part, she would turn around and ask "Where did Mickey go?". When intermission came and still no Mickey, we got the frustrated, "Where did Mickey go?" question. We told her Mickey had to use the potty and he would be back. She bought it and decided to use the potty herself! After intermission Mickey and the whole gang arrived for the party and she was one happy camper. She either sat and starred in amazement or was quivering in her seat. Worth every penny I tell you. Of course on the way out we got information about the circus and we hear that Sesame Street is coming. Oh brother.

Daddy and Paige enjoying the show, and helping Minnie dance too

Paige waving to her friends

A little hard to see, but you get the gist. The whole gang on stage.

Paige the Painter

2008-10-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

Paige received an art easel for her birthday from Crazy Grammy. We were sad that we didn't have a chance to use it while she was here since Grammy loves to paint too. Since Paige and I had the day off yesterday, we decided to take advantage of the amazingly warm weather (high 70's in Oct) and bring the easel out to paint. Little did we realize that it was in many pieces in the box. So, we spent the next hour or so putting it together. She really wanted to help and loved the fact that I had a hammer and screw driver out. We may have to invest in plastic tools for her because she was quite upset with me that I wouldn't let her play with a real hammer. Anyway, once that was completed, off we went. We dragged all the tools out into our front lawn. Paige was in heaven. She just loved painting. She made many different paintings and really loved to tell me the colors she was using. Amazingly she didn't get as messy as I had anticipated. The only sad part was packing everything up so we could go inside and start cooking dinner. She loved it so much that when Ryan got home, she was up in the window yelling out to him and he was coming into the house that she painted with red, blue and lellow (or yellow) paints. She was very proud of herself, as was I.

Working very hard to hold the paper down while painting. It was a bit windy, but not enough to keep her from painting.

Why not use my hands to paint? This is much more fun!

Not nearly as messy as I had thought. Only a few drops in her hair and on her face. Her hands and shirt, that is another story

Mommy's little helper

2008-10-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

Paige had decided that helping Mommy cook is big fun. Every time she sees me in the kitchen, she comes running in to pull a chair over to the counter to help me. She got a princess chef outfit from Grandma for her birthday and she won't cook without it. This particular day, she even made me wear my apron...sorry, I don't own a hat. Like any true cook, she spent half the time eating the food while trying to cook. Like any true cook, she loves to eat the food as she prepares it. I had all kinds of trouble trying to convince her to add the cheese to the bowl and not eat all of it. I'm looking forward to the day when she can actually cook us a meal. Until then, we are having fun finding creative ways in which she can help.

Go Red Sox!

2008-10-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

Our lives have been a roller coaster of baseball emotions lately. I am still mourning the Cubs loss but as you can see, Ryan and Paige are still quite pleased with the playoffs. I did my very best to make Paige a Cubs fan and every once and a while you can get a "Go Cubs" out of her. However, Ryan has gotten to her and she is a Red Sox fan through and through. She can sign all of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and instead of root, root, rooting for the Cubbies, it is those darn Red Sox. Ryan keeps telling me that she is destined to be a Red Sox fan since she was born in CT. Oh well, I'll keep trying. She will cheer for the Bears though. When Ryan trys to get her to say go Patriots, she looks at him and says "Argh". She thinks he is saying go Pirates. Anyway, at least the Red Sox are moving on. So, for the happiness of my husband and daughter, Go Red Sox!

Running Machine

2008-10-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Ryan participated in his second 5K this past weekend at annual Bucktown 5K in Chicago. Lets just say that we were all a bit nervous since he just recently had his surgery and hadn't exercised since. Paige and I bundled up and went out to support him. Jamie also ran in the race; her first race since baby Tessa was born (she won't let me post her photo, no fun). Ryan did very well and even commented on how he can tell that he is getting more air in. Yahoo! The surgery was a success! Today he is a bit sore but pleased with his time. He finished the 5K in 30.44 minutes which is fantastic. That put him at number 1483 out of 2350. Yeah Ryan! After the race, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast with Adam and Milagro since we were in the neighborhood. Paige was very excited all morning about going to see them and Roxy. Of course she clammed up when we got there. Only to warm up as we were leaving from breakfast.

I know, I know, not the best shot but you can see him in the upper right corner with his sunglasses on. Almost there!!!

Pumpkin Farm

2008-10-04T18:33:00.001-07:00

We took our annual trip to Goebberts Pumpkin Farm today. Paige loved it. We had a hard time keeping up. She really loved that they had all her friends there, you know, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella...
Now we just need her to decide what she wants to be for Halloween. For a long time, she would tell us that she wants to be Woobie for Halloween so we got a really cute giraffe costume. Now she is telling us that she wants to be Minnie Mouse. We'll see when it gets closer who she (or we) decide on. There are more photos on Paige's website.

Lilly, Paige and now Tessa (Auntie MiMi too)
The tradition of having their picture taken next to the pumpkin height chart.

So happy to be sitting in the pumpkins

Paige and Lilly, our version of Ernie and Bert

Just looking as cute as can be.

The Wonders of Disney

2008-10-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Paige recently discovered the question that everyone asks about Donald Duck...where are his pants? She has a cute Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bath toy set that she loves to play with in the tub. Everything was going normally and all of the sudden so looks at me and says "Oh no Mommy! Where Donald's pants? Oh No!" I regained my composure and said, "I don't know Paige. Where did they go?" She responds with an "I don't know either. Poor Donald." Ah, the innocence of a child. I decided not to point out to her that Donald never wears pants, unless that is he is swimming or he may wrap a towel around him when getting out of the tub himself. Odd duck that he is. I then proceeded to ask her where Mickey's shirt was and she was all concerned. She spent the rest of the time in the tub checking to make sure everyone else has the proper close on. I love this age.

Big day for a big girl

2008-09-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

OK, if you don't have kids, you probably won't be interested in this. Today is a big day for Miss Paige. It will be her first full day in big girl underpants. She has been potty training for quite some time and she is now ready to give the big girl underpants a try. She has been doing that at school for quite some time, just not at home. Think dry thoughts for us. We'll know how successful it was if we pick her up and she is still in the same outfit. We can't believe she is already at this point in her life. We better prepare now for her drivers license. Life moves too fast!
UPDATE: So far, so dry! Yeah Paige!!

Ryan's surgery

2008-09-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ryan was diagnosed with sleep apnea a few months back and was sent home with a c-pap machine. He was referred to an ENT doctor to follow up and see if there were any steps Ryan could take to reduce the effects of sleep apnea. The doctor noticed that Ryan had a severly deviated septum and a swollen uvula. He decided that the best route would be to have surgery to fix the septum and completely remove the uvula. He was very nervous about the surgery since he has been lucky enough to not have needed any surgery prior to this. He went in for the surgery a few days ago and everything went well. The doctor said the inside of his nose looks great and the back of his throat looks like the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel that way to Ryan. His nose feels all stuffed but the throat is the worst part. He is on a liquid diet for a while until that heals. He is OK to talk for short spurts but it becomes quite painful. He is still experiencing bleeding every now and again but it is starting to heal. He is now doing his best to enjoy some time off from work and watch plenty of sports and movies.

Paige's 2nd Birthday

2008-09-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Paige turned 2 on September 16th. We first celebrated with a cake at her schools with the other kids. Paige was very happy when we first arrived and then all of the sudden she snapped and started bawling. We aren't sure why but she was very upset. Needless to say, we stayed for only a few minutes, long enough to get a few photos and sing Happy Birthday.

Later that week we had a nice family birthday party for her. Paige had been telling us for weeks that she wanted a Little Mermaid party. We decked the place out in Mermaid stuff and she was very excited. I even pulled out my sewing machine and made her a dress with the Little Mermaid on it. Paige got all kinds of wonderful things for her birthday and she is still talking about it. If you ask her about her birthday, she will tell you that it was a mermaid party and she had a princess cake. Thanks to everyone who sent their well wishes for a happy birthday her way. Let me just say, she was thrilled with the whole thing.

Welcome to our blog

2008-09-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

We have had a website for Paige for quite some time and we have decided that having a website for the family allows us an opportunity to keep everyone up to date on what all of us are up to. Have no fear, there will be plenty of information and updates on Paige as our lives revolve around her. We will still keep her website for the time being until we are able to figure out how to load photo albums here. Feel free to add comments to our posts. Check back often, we hope to update more regularly.