Rah, Rah, Rah! Three cheers for Team Vig!

Mark and I had the great pleasure of hosting Renee and Hugo this past week. I have never seen two people work so earnestly while on vacation. After arriving and getting a tour of the house, they jumped right into crossing to-do items off our house project list.

They cleared out dead trees from the back border of our yard, painted a fence, washed the siding on the back of the house, washed our car, caulked the doorways on the outside of the house, patched and painted nicks and gouges on our walls and cleaned the bathrooms. They were total work horses. What a huge help and major blessing. Thank you!

Don’t be too concerned, I did make sure they relaxed a bit. On Wednesday afternoon, Renee came with me to my baby check-up. She got to hear Little Lady’s heartbeat. I could tell that she loved being able to hear it because she kept repeating the sound all day long. On Wednesday night we walked over to the park and listened to a live band performing classic oldies. Friday we headed to the park again to watch Shrek 3. It was reminiscent of a drive-in theatre, but on a much smaller scale.
News on the baby front:
Mark’s parents and I watched a webinar Mark participated in while he was in North Carolina early this week. When it was Mark's turn to speak, his little girl recognized his voice through the computer and started kicking me like crazy. It is so amazing to me that she can respond like that. She sure loves her Daddy.

Saturday, Mark and I went to a Red Sox vs. White Sox game. It was Little Lady Vig’s first ball game. I wore my Red Sox future fan T-shirt and got so many smiles walking around the city. Mark said that would never happen in NY. People would see the shirt and say something like: “I don’t care if you’re pregnant or not, the Red Sox suck and so do you.” Thank goodness Chicago is a friendly city to all. In fact, once we got to the game there were so many Red Sox fans in the stadium we almost forgot we were in Chicago at all. The Red Sox won which made taking the El back to our car a blast. Boston fans cheered the whole way back.

Then on our last day with Mark’s parents we took a drive up to Evanston to check out Northwestern’s main campus. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was the perfect way to wrap up a fantastic visit.

Summer of Family Fun

We had the great pleasure of hosting Sharon’s parents at our home this past week. There was little sitting around as we put them straight to work once they got here. Rich got busy with various household projects including fixing a broken drawer in the kitchen, replacing lights on the front of the house as well as one on the ceiling of the great room about 18 feet up. He tried to cut back the bushes in the back yard, but got attacked by mosquitoes and called it quits after receiving several nasty bites. He also brought his projector with him and helped Sharon outline a few images on the nursery wall. Oh, and of course he prepared a few meals for us while he was here. What a treat!

Here’s one finished painting… Sharon worked diligently on the color portion and finished up the monkey the day her folks left.

Susan brought her sewing machine and reupholstered the glider that Sharon picked up at a garage sale. The rocker looks brand new and very unique with the lovely combination of fabrics that Sharon picked out. Susan put her creativity to work as she came up with several classic touches to add to the chair, buttons on the chair back, trim around the pillow, padded arm covers with pockets for bottles, books, burp cloths, or whatever might be needed at hand when baby comes. Somehow, in between house projects and trips to the fabric store we managed to put in some sightseeing and visiting. Our first stop on Friday was to check out Wheaton College and visit with friends from Mechanicsburg. We toured the Billy Graham museum while we were there as well—very interesting.

Saturday while Mark was in class, Sharon and her folks took the train into the city to check out Chicago. Top items on the list were to see some sights (which we did via boat as well as on foot), eat an authentic Chicago hot dog and have deep dish pizza (which Mark was able to partake in as well).

Since Sunday is really Mark's only day off, he likes to pretend he is on vacation.

Then on Monday night, Rich got to catch up with an old army pal who lives in the area. Sharon joined them for a dinner at a German restaurant as the guys caught up an reminisced about their escapades around Germany and Europe.

It was sad to see them go on Wednesday. Now I (Sharon) am all alone until Friday when Mark returns from his business trip to San Diego. And no, he did not feel the earthquake. He was actually flying in during the quake and had to be placed in a holding pattern until the runway was thoroughly checked for fractures.

We look forward to the arrival of Mark’s parents on Monday.

The Diary of a Mad Pregnant Woman

Yesterday Mark and I went to an all-day music fest called Ignite Chicago. We saw some of our favorite bands, including Todd Agnew, David Crowder and Mercy Me. We also got to see a few lesser known bands, like Red, Superchick and Hawk Nelson. All in all it was a fun-filled day.

I must say, the heat and the day’s activities plumb wore me out. I believe Mark made grilled cheese for dinner, then after that it’s all a blur. I vaguely remember pulling the covers over my worn out body. Next thing I know, our alarm is going off and it is time to take Mark to the train station. I can remember a time, not that long ago, when I could go to a concert and then stay out afterwards hanging with friends until early the next morning. Those days are long gone.

Here are a few picts of our day. As you can see, we got very close. Enjoy.