Aruba Trip

Craig and I spent the week in Aruba and had a great time. We did not do much besides relaxing by the pool and eating nice dinners, which is exactly what we needed. The weather was very nice, 90 and sunny every day. It was a great vacation!

Christmas with the Kids

We celebrated Christmas with the kids a little early because they will be on a cruise with their Mom and Step-Dad over Christmas, but we will have them Dec 28-Jan 3. This year the kids got a lot of fun stuff...Ethan got several games for the Wii, a PSP, clothes, gift card for more clothes, etc. Julia got a scrapbooking kit, boots, clothes, gift card for more clothes, coat, money towards her computer, etc. We also participated in the Adopt A Kid program through my work and bought presents for two underprivledged kids from a nearby Chicago school. We always have fun picking out the presents. The kids realize how lucky they are which is great.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Today we decorated the Christmas tree and listened to Christmas music. I can't believe it's that time of year again. I love the holiday season. This year we will be celebrating Christmas in Charleston with my family. The kids will be with their Mom and Step-Dad on a cruise. We will have them for a week starting the Monday after Christmas and we will have them until New Year's Day. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Chicago with my parents, Bryan, and the kids. (We missed John, Sue, and Tommy!) My Mom and I started cooking on Wednesday. We prepared the sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing (my Dad helped as well), and frozen cranberry salad. We bought a semi-cooked turkey from Whole Foods so we only had to cook it for 2 hours. The morning of Thanksgiving we baked the apple pie. We also made crescent rolls and had cranberry sauce. Craig made the mashed potatoes and Ethan helped by cutting the potatoes. My Dad made the gravy. It was great having so much help and the food turned out great. It was a very nice Thanksgiving.

New Jersey Trip

My Mom, Dad, brother Bryan and I went to New Jersey to visit my brother John, sister-in-law Sue, and my nephew Tommy. (Craig went to Vegas to visit his family b/c we couldn't fit it all in). We had the best time in NJ! Tommy is such a cute, sweet baby. We had so much fun taking turns feeding him, changing him, rocking him, etc. We all went out there to meet our new nephew/grandson and for Tommy's baptism. He was baptized on Sunday and then they had a party at John's golf club, Eagle Oaks Golf Club (he is he assistant General Manager and Director of New Membership). Sue's sister, Karyn and I are the Godmothers and Karyn's husband Dave is the Godfather. It was so nice of them to include me and such an honor. The baptism was really nice. Tommy did such a good job during the baptism and slept pretty much the whole time. The dinner at Eagle Oaks Gold Club was delicious and the club is beautiful. John, Sue, and Tommy - we already miss you tons and can't wait to see you again soon. We love you!

Pictures of all of us holding him and Tommy getting a bath. He didn't cry at all.

Pictures from the baptism with my family and Sue's family.

The grandparents, cousin Mia & Alex, and the cake.

Craig's Birthday

We celebrated Craig's 44th Birthday with the kids and ate dinner at Red Lobster. I think Craig looks great for 44! Happy Birthday, Craig!

On a walk with Allison & Cora

Allison came over on Monday and we went on a walk to Starbucks and had lattes and breakfast. I did not go into the office on Monday because Comcast was scheduled to come between 1-4 so I decided to take the entire day off. We had such a fun day. We also went to Target and did a little shopping, but poor Cora had a dirty diaper so we decided to leave.

Cora is getting so big-she's over 12 lbs. She is smiling a lot and is at such a fun age. I'm glad that she is bigger b/c newborn babies are a little too tiny for me. I wish I could hang out with them everyday. Actually, on Wednesday I went over there again b/c I didn't really get to hold her on Monday. I hope I get pregnant sometime soon so Cora will either have a future boyfriend or a best friend. Thanks for a fun day Allison & Cora!