Spring in our Step

 

For the last four or so months, we have had a darling babysitter come over on Thursday's to babysit Leo. In the beginning the time had been for someone else to run and play with Leo - especially in the winter months - and it's a great chance for me to run errands without both kids. With Drew getting older, I want the sitter to be able to handle both kids so we are easing her into that. This Thursday, she spent the afternoon with just Drew, so Leo, Joel and I went out for a special date.

 

We started the afternoon with a strawberry ice cream that no joke took Leo about 40 minutes to finish. He savored every last bite.

Then we walked down to watch all of the commuter trains come into the station, and then finally decided to order dinner at Duke's and grab a beer while we waited. 

It was such a treat - for all of us really. 

The whole weekend was pretty low key - because we had one major goal: stain the deck.

Friday night, I cooked my favorite CrockPot Cashew Chicken, and we ended up watching 27 Dresses.

Saturday, we all went for a long run (I'm up to about 3.5 miles), and then spent the rest of the day staining the deck. Thankfully we had Joel's dad to help us out, because it was such tedious work. Between the three of us, it took 6 hours on Saturday and 5 on Sunday, but we're done and it looks GREAT! 

 I've got a new couch and table ready, am on the prowl for a new rug, and we can't wait to start using it! 

After our work on Sunday, we met up with my parents at the country club, had a glass of wine outside, and then had a great dinner together. Now that Drew is getting a little older, it's actually pretty fun to have her up and about and joining us at dinner. 

 

 

 

Monday was my sister Hannah's birthday, so my mom and I took the kids downtown to take Hannah out to lunch.

We stopped at the hotel where she is the events director - The Robey - and spent an hour visiting with her co-workers and taking pictures.

 

We had a perfect lunch outside at Big Star - the perfect spot to celebrate a birthday and an 80 degree Monday! 

 

After lunch we burned some energy at the park, took a walk and then headed home. 

It's been lovely around these parts with the arrival of spring and we are just LOVING it.

Five on Friday

 

and yes, her hair is too dang much! It sticks straight up no matter what you do, feels like duck hair, and is truly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

::: 1 :::

I suppose I'm a glutton for punishment but we've started to transition Drew from the swaddle and the rock and play to the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit and her crib. It's.....going. I know she will get the hang of it but we're adjusting as of right now with lots of crying as we fall asleep (like upwards of 40 minutes) and one middle of the night wake up session where she just needed to be held by daddy for 30 minutes. Here's hoping by next Friday we're back to regular sleep patterns!

::: 2 ::: 

My favorite weeknight dinner this week - greek chicken pitas. SO good! I use this recipe to marinade the chicken and then just add whatever toppings we've got. So easy and a crowd pleaser for all.

::: 3 ::

:

I'm on the hunt for a new patio couch and table set but haven't found the perfect one yet. I might drag Joel to target this weekend, my mom recommended Lowes, or I may go the really lazy route and just blindly order something from Wayfair or Amazon.We are going to stain our patio this year and I really want the bench ready to go by the time that is done so we can start enjoying that space. We need to have a screen door installed and the weather to cooperate but I'm ready to start filling my planters and sprucing up our outdoor spaces. 

And I'm kind of loving the black and white thing....We have a few green chairs we need to work with, but I think black and white would do well and then as I get sick of it (as I inevitably will) can easily add in pops of color. 

::: 4 :::

 

Speaking of outdoor spaces, there may be a play house in our backyards future. I really think Leo and Drew would have tons of fun with this for years to come....my sisters and I used to play in our "fort" growing up constantly.....Think Joel can build it by Easter morning??

::: 5 :::

 I've clearly got summer on the mind - and since I've had Drew - have had a constant carving for Chardonnay. The same thing happened after I had Leo. I have no idea why, but it just has never tasted so good! My favorite bottle has been this. It's buttery enough, super easy to drink, the right price point ($12-14), and overall has been my favorite weeknight drink! 

Weekend Report

 I think this might be my first weekend report on a Monday in like 3 months!! I'm blaming SnapChat for my lack of picture taking lately, but I'm really trying to get better so we'll see if I can keep this up.

Leo and I spent Friday with family in Park Ridge, and by the time we got back we were both pretty zonked from the day. We ended up pulling out a freezer dinner that I had made a few months ago (Natalie's Meatballs which freeze really well), popped Leo in a bath, I read a magazine, we watched the cubs game and called it a night. 

We started Saturday morning with haircuts for Joel and Leo. Leo's hair is literally the cutest thing ever, but was starting to get a touch out of control, so he was due for a little trim. 

Giving his hair stylist "knuckles" after a job well done

Thankfully the hair cut seemed to increase the amount of curls, so I'm still a happy camper!  

While Joel  got busy on house stuff, Leo and I took a walk with my mom. Joel and his dad hung a flag pole in the front of the house and a really cool wooden star on the back of our house on the brick fire place.

I found that wooden star years before we even lived in Crystal Lake. A house on the lake had two of them and had them sitting out by their garbage cans when I was out for a run, and called my mom to bring her car to come help me snag them. I had been saving them in my mom's garage since then, and finally have it hanging up in the perfect spot.

Joel also managed to switch out our dining room light fixture.

I bought this chandelier on Prime Day, and really like the simplictity of it. For whatever reason, one of the drum shades is not sitting straight, so I need to fix that (and put in light bulbs) but overall I'm really happy with the switch. 

We walked to our neighbors house around happy hour to meet their precious new baby girl, and then I left Joel and Leo to have sushi with my parents at Kyoto (which was SO good). 

Sunday morning I drove into the city to have brunch with my girlfriend Sara to celebrate her birthday.

We had breakfast at Trench in Bucktown and while our breakfast was good....I don't think I would go back anytime soon. My dish was so rich, over sauced, and the menu didn't really excited me at all. Plus, they don't make latte's which immediately annoyed me (if I'm being honest). 

When I got home, Joel and I snuck away for an hour to take the paddle boards out on the water.

It was a little windy, so we got in a half decent workout, but I'm really enjoying paddling. I love being on the water and feel so relaxed when we are out there. It's been a really fun activity for Joel and I to go do on Sunday afternoons. 

Afterwards, we went back to my parents for a really good Sunday night dinner, and then got home and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

It was a really perfect at home, summer weekend (even though I've started to get excited about fall!) 

Week...End Report

I have to give a report on this past week....because it was the absolute pits. 

On Wednesday morning, I took Leo on a little walk before heading to breakfast with my mom, Uncle, and Grandma. While we were at breakfast, I started to feel super, super sick. I ordered dry toast and hot tea and couldn't get either of them down. 

I didn't know what was wrong but Leo had been up the night before (with what I thought was teething issues), so I thought maybe I was just extremely tired. My mom took Leo back to her house and told me to just go home and nap. She brought Leo back to my house to sleep because she had a couple of meetings, and when Leo woke up from his nap at 3pm, I had to call my mom crying asking her to come back.

I had a super high fever, chills, body aches, and swollen glands... and honestly, I felt like I was dying.  I couldn't even get up from my bed to go to the bathroom. It was a long night, but Thursday morning, I rallied as much energy as I could to get to the minute clinic and sure enough it was strep. 

Thank God we live near family, because Thursday I was still just as sick. My mom kept Leo in the morning, and then Joel's dad came by in the afternoon until Joel got home from work. I was literally worthless, but thankfully by Friday morning the meds started to kick in and by my 4th dose I was back to normal.

Just in time for Leo to spike a super high fever. He had been cranky all week, and I was chalking it up to teething. He had a low grade fever, his hands in his mouth constantly, and just seemed cranky. By Friday morning, I took his temp and was getting reads in the 104's. 

We took him to the doctor Saturday morning and sure enough, he had strep too. His first swab wasn't as bad I was expecting it too, and it followed by his first Icee-Pop, so that helped a little too.

Luckily for him, literally one dose of amoxicillin and a four and half hour nap and his fever broke and he was just about back to normal. 

Seriously, the only good thing about Strep is that as soon as you get the meds, life changes!

 

During Leo's super long nap, Joel powered washed our deck and swing set and it made SUCH a difference.  

 

Sunday we rode our bikes to my parents and then went for a long walk around the lake. It felt so good to just move outside! 

We spent the afternoon updating our deck since Joel had power washed on Saturday. I have a feeling we're going to get a ton of use out of the new table and umbrella. 

Sunday night, we took both sets of our parents out to dinner for helping us so immensely this past week. We would have literally drowned without their help.

We went to Duke's on the Water which is at 3 Oaks here in Crystal Lake. It was my first time to this lake and it is so, so cool. By the restaurant there is a huge wake boarding lake with zip lines, sand volleyball, tons of bags.....It's absolutely beautiful and so much fun so I know we'll be back. 

Overall, it was a shit week, but we wrapped it up really nicely and I'm extra motivated and ready to have a great week ahead. Hope you do too! 

May Flowers

......we better get some after all these dang showers!!

With this being our first house, we're just cutting our teeth on how to take care of it. Thankfully my mom and Joel's dad are both really, really handy gardeners - so we're learning from the experts.

The first order of business was to chop down this eyesore of a bush.

Well, actually, the first, first order of business was to get the exterior door painted black. When we first moved in, and all through the winter (Since it was too cold to paint), I was working with a tough orangy-red cracked door.



Finally, April arrived and I was able to get the door painted. 

The tree was overgrown and dying, so Joel's dad finally chopped it down and it made such a difference.

My mom and I are going to add some smaller bushes and flowers in the coming week, but in the interim, my mom helped me get my planters filled.

And now that the tree is gone, you can actually see them! 

I've got a long way to go, but my mom assures me that I'll soon become addicted.

 

Now, here's hoping I can keep these plants alive!