The Splash Park

I couldn’t resist a quick blog to show you what we’ve been up to these past two weekends. It’s late, so I won’t go into much detail… because let’s face it—my brain doesn’t function that well when I am tired. Instead of words we'll let the photos tell the story:

Seven Months Old

Yesterday was Ella's 7 month birthday. It's been a fun and exciting weekend already for our little kinnykins. She went shopping with mommy yesterday to hit all the amazing outlet deals for Memorial Day weekend. Then we had a play date at the park with four of her little friends.

Crawling and exploring go hand in hand these days. She discovered how exciting it is to crawl under furniture...and it is hilarious when mommy tries to do it too.

She has been totally loving her new toys that grandma and grandpa S. got her a few weeks ago. Discovering new ways to play is fun for baby and mommy.

We are off to enjoy this B-E-A-utiful day. The park by our house has all kinds of events today. A chili cook off, a small amusement park with rides, vendors and I believe the splash park is open for the first time this weekend. We will wait for daddy to get home from his Saturday classes to explore the water spouts...should be exciting.

Indiana Visit

Mark’s job took him to San Diego this week, so Ella and I decided to take our own little trip. We packed up the car on Monday and drove three short hours down to Cousin Andy’s house for a few days. We had a blast playing with all the girls. Ella was so happy and content to watch and play with the girls. Here are a few fun shots of our visit…

Crawling at 6 1/2 Months!

Carmella and I drove out to Indianapolis for a few days to visit with Andy, Amy, Anna and Cora. Ella loved all the new toys she got to play with...but wanted a princess brush of Cora's soooo much that she actually crawled to get it. She has attempted to do this in the past, but she only managed to push herself backwards. This time she military crawled forward to capture the object of her desire. Which, unfortunately, we had to take away almost immediately after acquisition because it was not safe for little babies. But what a milestone!! Thanks Cora.

My 1st Mother's Day

What a treat! I not only got a day...but a whole weekend of special moments to remember.

"What did I do?" you ask.

Oh, thanks so much for asking. It all started Saturday morning when Carmella and I walked the 2 miles from our home to the train station in Westmont, boarded the train (with help from very kind strangers) and rode in to Chicago Union Station.

Our friend, Nicki picked us up and took us out for lunch in her neighborhood, Lincoln Park. We then drove over to the Lincoln Park Zoo and walked around. It must have been close to feeding time because all of the animals--especially the big cats—were up pacing and making all sorts of interesting noises. Honestly, I have never seen such an active bunch. Very cool.

Nicki kindly dropped us off in front of Kellogg at Northwestern University in time to catch Mark walking out of his Saturday classes. Mark took his two most favorite girls (that’s me and Carmella) out to dinner at Portillo’s. What beats a Chicago dog after a long hard day of sightseeing and, in Mark’s case, school? Nothing, I say. Add a massive vanilla shake into the equation and you have a perfect date night.

Once Ella hit the hay, we watched a movie and then fell fast asleep ourselves.

Today was a wonderful extension of Saturday’s activities. I got a beautiful rose at church for being a “new” mom then Mark took us out for brunch. The afternoon included a photo session in our back yard, a family nap, then we went on a nice stroll in the woods, and finally did some all American grilling to cap off the day.

Here are some shots of our family photo session.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms reading this blog.

Miss Personality

Our sweet Carmella changes every day. It is impossible to capture every new expression, action or sound...but I shall try my best to summarize for you.

One of my favorite things she started doing is making “monkey lips”. It seems as if her little tongue is always sticking out these days. I have yet to catch her in the act on camera…but I will keep trying because it is soooo worth a photo.

She absolutely LOVES going to story time at the public library. She gets to sing and dance (well, shake and wiggle really) and smile at all the other children. It’s fun for mom too because there is another little girl about a month older than Ella who shows up every week. Liza’s mom is around my age and very nice.

This is a photo of her newest position. She sticks one leg up in the air and brings her hands together. It is very intense…I am convinced it is a strengthening hold. I’m sure it works her core muscles, legs, arms and neck. I always laugh and tickle her saying: “Are you assuming the position?” Then she giggles and loosens up a bit.

Grandma S. has been sending Carmella all kinds of beautiful clothes lately. Carmella has so much fun opening her presents. Mommy likes the clothes, but baby ATTACKS the box and paper. Enjoy this little video. The following photo is how sweet she looks in the new outfit.