June Doings and Playing Hookie in Chicago

Pretty much as soon as we found out we were pregnant, I was nauseous.  It was miserable.  So in June and July, the kids got away with some things that I probably would have put a stop to had I been fully functioning.  

On one particular day the kids had piled up some pillows and bean bag chairs and were jumping off the TV stand onto the pile of softness.  It was actually rather entertaining to watch.  :)

 No one got hurt jumping and I put a stop to it after a half hour or so... :)

 After I told him to stop jumping, Aiden started playing with his duplo legos.  He was on his hands and knees and reaching over some legos to get just the piece he needed.  One of his supporting hands slipped out from under him and he face planted it onto some of the legos.  We ended up in the ER and because it was such a perfect half circle slice, we were able to just do liquid stitches (think super glue) rather than traditional stitches.  This picture was taken after the ER where his chin was completely numbed up.  :)  I'm so blessed that he's such a happy kid.

Our dear friends and down the street neighbors moved in June.  Boo.  :(  Aiden is in love with little miss Sadie and always calls her "my Sadie baby".  I love this picture for so many reasons.  Aiden had grabbed her hand and insisted on sitting as close to her as humanly possible.  Sadie was cheesing it like she always does, and check out Esther's awesome photo-bomb.  :)  Ha ha ha!

It's not the best picture of me and Mel, but man, I sure love that woman.  :)

We didn't want Sadie to go, so we kidnapped her for a bath and some pre-bedtime playing.  Aiden was showing her the bum technique on the piano, one of his favorites.  

 Trying to get a picture of 3 kids is always such an adventure.

 They all snuggled up to Mike when it came time for stories.

And one last hug for little miss Sadie.

In June I decided to get a real haircut.  I shaved my head in September of 2011 and although I had had a few trims to keep it looking decent, hadn't really cut my hair.  Here's a picture of how long it had grown in the 20 months I was growing it out.

 This is an extremely sentimental picture for me because we have pictures of my siblings mowing the lawn with my Grandpa Cole.  And here's my Aiden Cole mowing the lawn with his bubble machine, showing daddy how it's done.  :)

You can't see the head of this stem, but it had a flower on it.  "Here's mommy!"

 Esther's turn mowing the lawn with daddy.  :)

 Every spring my Grandma Cole plants purple pansies in her flower beds.  I told Esther she could pick out some flowers for our planters and she picked these.  Great minds think alike.  :)

 We were babysitting some friends and the girls thought they were so big taking care of little miss T.

 Aiden needed a turn too.  :)

One Monday morning Mike went into work and then came back a couple hours later saying he needed to go down to Chicago because there had been a mix up about materials with a researcher he's collaborating with who is down in Chicago.  Mike's boss told him to make a day of it and take his family down with him. It was a wonderful mild day and so we quickly packed the kids up and were off!

As you can tell, Esther could hardly contain her excitement. :) 

 I like to drive when I'm pregnant because it cuts down on my pregnancy sickness. 

 Stopping at Giordanos for some delish Chicago style pizza. Check out my cute new haircut.  :)

 Having a ball!

 This pizza was so good.  :)  And if you order a personal pan it comes out super fast (as opposed to the normal 45 mins for the large size pizza).

Walking around Millenium Park.  :) 

 Aiden was fascinated by all the bees in the pretty flowers.  :)

 I LOVE this picture of me and my sweet boy.  :)

 Of course we had to stop at the spitting fountains.  Esther didn't find them as fun as I thought she would... :)

 So many tall buildings!  Makes us glad we don't live in a busy city, but close enough to visit.  :)

 I loved how so many of the buildings had such beautiful architecture.  Click on this pic to appreciate the details more.  :)

 At Navy Pier.  Aiden wanted to run in the water, but it was a little too cool for that.  At one point Aiden took off running away from Mike and there was a group of college kids that were cheering him on and laughing at how he almost succeeded in escaping.  I wasn't really worried about Mike's ability to catch Aiden, so it was kinda funny.  :)

 At the stained glass museum in Navy Pier.  Super cool.  Aiden was starting to get tired, though...

 I'm not really sure what Esther was doing here, but it's funny.  :)

 Aiden was done before we could do any of the rides at the pier.  Maybe another time.

 Literally within a minute of getting in the stroller he was out and he slept the whole way home.  :)

It was such a fun day in Chicago.  We didn't plan any of it and just walked wherever we felt like it.  We saw so many fun things and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  And my pregnancy sickness wasn't an issue that day, despite the random smells we often stumbled upon.  ha ha ha... And the researcher Mike was working with got us $10 parking downtown (our bill would have been $50...).  I hope we can have another fun day in Chicago.  :)

Farmer Day

Back in July, we woke up to a beautiful and mild Saturday morning. We decided to head over to the farmer's market near our house.  When Aiden heard the word "farmer" he ran and got the black hat you see below and said "I've got my farmer hat!"  

 Having leave races in the creek.

 My cute cowboy!

About 30 mins south of us is a farm called "The Elegant Farmer".  It's a nationally famous farm that serves absolutely delicious apple pies that are baked in a paper bag.  The farmers were even featured on Bobby Flay's Throw Down and beat him with their pie.  So we had to go find out for ourselves just how good these pies are.

 These giant rocking horses were a huge hit. We actually had to wait our turn to ride them.  :) 

 Look at my cute cowboy.  :)

 I told Esther to say yee-haw!  She certainly knows how it's done!

 There's a smiley face on the side of the old barn, which is now part of the public store.  It was a really bright day, so forgive the squints.  :)

 Ok, it's too bright.  :)

 "Oh look!  A bridge!  Take a picture of me on the bridge!"

 "Me too mommy!"

 The moment of truth tasting the pie.

 Aiden was ready to dive in with his fingers.  :)

 Absolutely delicious and worth the drive!!!  Don't live in Wisconsin, but want to try their pie?  Check out their website and they'll ship one to you.  :)  http://elegantfarmer.com/

It was even delicious to me, even though I was struggling with pregnancy nausea at the time.  :)

More August Pictures

A month or so ago I got a haircut and I LOVE it.  Seriously.  It's so short and easy to style.  In fact I often have better bedhead hairstyles than when I actually style it. :)

 Here's a picture of my prego belly at 20 weeks.  :)  Did you hear we're having a baby girl?

Esther was invited to one of her little friend's birthday party.  It was held at a pet store that had a great program where you could hold a bunch of the animals.  Esther didn't want to hold all of them, but was brave enough to hold the parakeet and bunny.  I managed to get this picture during the 2 seconds she held the bird, and the bunny only lasted .7 seconds so I didn't get a picture of that.  :)

 Everyone got some lettuce and then we got to go out and feed the turtles.  It was pretty cool.  :)

They had an alligator pit and the birthday girl got to feed them.  The kids were captivated.  Rightly so, I say.  :)

All the kids had the option of holding a snake.  Esther opted to just pet it.  This is her expression when I told her to smile for a picture.  Needless to say, she was rather nervous.  :)

This is what most of the other kids did.  :) (by the way, this is the boy who Esther has decided she will marry.  He's the older brother of one of Esther's good friends.  We're totally ok with that plan.)

Riding the pretend turtle.

There is a pond at the back of the store and the kids got to feed the fishes.  They got to put their hands in the water if they wanted to.

It was hard to get a picture, but these fish were huge and had no fear.  And their mouths were huge.  :)

We have been adopted by a wonderful man named Fred.  He invites our family to local events and fun times.  He has a pool that has been open to our family this summer.  It's great.  Esther is still super timid in the water, but Aiden has no fear.  He's jumped in the water a couple times when we're not fast enough to catch him.  I guess the floaties make him feel invincible.  :)  

This particular day I remembered to bring the camera and Aiden was being a goof.  :)

 Oh there he is!  He said he was comfortable like that.  :)  Notice the water-gun?  He kept spraying me and giggling.  Trouble that one.  :)