Julia's volleyball game

Monday Julia had her first volleyball game at her new school. She is the best player on her team (and I'm not saying that because she is my stepdaughter:)! She is such a solid player. They won one game and lost the other one. She will also be playing club volleyball starting in Nov. She made the team!!! They have 4 or 5 teams, but we won't find out which team until Nov. We are so proud of Julia and have so much fun watching her games.

Crazy weekend & Our 6th Anniversary

Friday was our 6th wedding anniversary and we spent it with 5 kids. The kids had a sleepover (Julia had two friends over and Ethan had one). We ordered pizza and watched movies on Friday night. Saturday we went to the park and played football and volleyball. Sat we went to Chinatown for dinner at our favorite place. I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures of this whole weekend...maybe because I had a terrible headache and 5 kids at our house. On our way home on Sat we stopped by Scotters, which is our new favorite ice cream place. Bella even got her own ice cream cone so the girls took a picture. Sunday we dropped the kids off at noon and Julia had club volleyball tryouts. Craig and I celebrated our anniversary at Tuscany in Little Italy on Sunday night. Craig gave me beautiful roses and an amazing bracelet! Overall it was a great weekend!

Brunch with the Ohlanders

On Sunday we had brunch with Allison, Scott & Cora at North Side. We also watched the Bears/Cowboys game. I was actually rooting for the Cowboys, but unfortunately they lost.

Cora is the cutest...she gives the "mean face" as seen below. Her aunt Nat taught her that...too funny! Cora loves Bella or "bow wow". She gets so excited. Bella is not too sure about her though.

It's always great hanging out with the Ohlanders! I love Allison's pucker face...not sure what she is doing. Love you guys!

Dinner at Chicago Cut

Our good friend Rick invited us last Saturday to the soft opening of a new restaurant called Chicago Cut. We sat down and had a glass of wine and all of a sudden Blocker walked in with a guy and a girl. It was great catching up with him (we went to college together). He was with his girlfriend of two years Monica and a friend of his. It turns out that Monica works at the same company as me, but on a different floor. She actually works for what used to be Smith Barney, but since our companies merged it's all the same now. She was so nice and they are such a cute couple! We also have the same birthday!!! BUT, She's 9 years younger. She's so mature you would never know she just graduated college. I'm so happy for Blocker!

After dinner Rick, Craig and I went to Epic for a few drinks. It's always great catching up with Rick. He's such a great guy!

I'm not sure why I didn't get any pictures of Craig and I, but I will make up for it later.

Cora's 1st Birthday Party

Happy Belated 1st Birthday Cora! (I'm such a terrible friend...only a month late for this blog post. These pictures were on my Nikon camera and I have been using my regular camera so I totally spaced.)

Scott and Allison brought Cora over to her party in her new tricycle stroller. It's the cutest thing and Cora loved it. Allison's mom got Cora the outfit from Etsy and that started the lady bug theme (there's one on the bottom of her onesie too). Her mother-in-law helped her make the ladybug cupcakes and they were so sweet. The party was at a cute restaurant down the street from Allison and Scott's house. Cora loved giving her friend Devan kisses - it was so cute! Her mom is Allison's friend Venesa. Allison did such a great job with the decorations and party. We had such a great time! Happy Birthday Cora Day Ohlander!

Dinner at John's club

My Mom, Sue, Tommy and I went shopping at the mall and my Dad and John went to John's club to see the new stuff they've been doing there. Afterwards we met for dinner at John's club and again had a great time at dinner. Tommy was cracking us up. He was laughing and putting on a show all night. We will be very sad to leave. Thanks John, Sue and Tommy for such a great weekend! We can't wait to see you for Christmas!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

Today we celebrated Tommy's 1st birthday! Happy Birthday Tommy! John and Sue had about 20 people over to celebrate his big day. The kids played with Tommy's new car and they all had a blast. The theme of the party was monkeys and Sue did such a great job with the decorations! We grilled out and then watched Tommy eat his cupcake, which was hilarious! He wasn't too sure at first, but after his cousin Alexis showed him what to do he started playing and making a mess. I love the picture of my Dad and Sue's Dad (Dave) drinking out of their favorite teams' cup (Illini for my Dad and Rutgers for her Dad) and then Tommy trying to drink the beer. Tommy was so pooped (he didn't have a nap) so he passed out as he was eating dinner. After his nap we opened presents and he got a lot of cool toys. After a long day both John and Sue passed out on the couch and of course I couldn't resist taking a picture! What a great party John and Sue!

Trip to New Jersey

My Mom, Dad and I went to New Jersey to visit John, Sue and Tommy. Craig stayed home with Julia and Bella, but they all (including Ethan) wanted to go to NJ. We left on Thursday and Sue picked us up at the airport. John and Tommy met us at home. It was amazing to see Tommy walking in person (we saw it on video)! He is so cute! He points at everything and it's like he wants you to tell him what it is. Friday my Mom, Sue and I went to get a manicure/pedicure and then had lunch and went shopping for Tommy's birthday presents. We had so much fun picking out toys for him. After lunch we went to Tommy's school for the grandparents tea. He was so excited to see us and we had fun meeting all of his teachers and classmates. My parents had to get their hands painted for a project so that's why their hands are red in the picture. Next we went to dinner at Squan Tavern, which is a favorite of ours. Tommy did such a great job at dinner. He is such a flirt and loves to watch what everyone around him is doing (other tables). He will definitely be a social little guy. Tomorrow is Tommy's birthday party...more pictures to come.

Julia's First Day at School

Good news..Julia moved in with us and we are so excited! She started school last Tuesday at the same school that Allison is teaching at and she has her for her advisory period and science. How fun is that! It's amazing how everything happens for a reason...this is Allison's first year teaching there and because of her we got Julia into this school. We are having so much fun! It is a little crazy to think that I have a 13 year old living here, but I'm so lucky she's such a great kid. She's so mature and independent and such a cool girl. Craig is thrilled too!

Train Concert at Ravinia

We took Julia, her friend Betsy and Ethan to Train at Ravinia last night. It was such a great concert!

Housewarming gifts from my parents

I should have posted this back in April, but completely forgot...

My parents got me a some really nice housewarming gifts. Thanks Mom & Dad! Love you guys!