The Windy City...

On a whim, Joel and I decided to take a trip to Chicago. It's something we've wanted to do since we moved here and we thought, why not? So, Friday morning we loaded up the car and made the four hour drive up to the big city. The drive went surprisingly well with a fifteen-month-old in tow (movies on the laptop saved us!).  We arrived to a beautiful 60 degree day, checked into our hotel and headed down to Navy Pier for some fun...

  

Lots to see on the Pier... shops, boats, a giant ferris wheel, and a breathtaking view at the end of it all. Okay so it was a little disappointing... there wasn't a whole lot open or running but the view at the end was great! (yes, that is ice behind us in the lake!)

Norah got to play in the park at the end of it all and was SO happy to be out of the stroller!

 

The next day was pure comedy... we got up and decided to walk to Millennium Park and then on to the art museum. It's not called the windy city for nothing!  We walked out into the freezing wind and started through the park (which was amazing... the sculptures from Frank Geary were crazy!), halfway through it started pouring rain.  We ran to the parking structure for cover and after about 15 minutes we decided to make a run for it to the museum.  We arrived soaking wet (did I mention we forgot our umbrella?!), ready to see all that museum had to offer... unfortunately, Norah had other plans. She was tired of being in the stroller and just wanted to run around.  That doesn't work so well in museum... we saw about 1/3 of what we wanted to and then gave up, got some food at the cafe and went back to our hotel so Norah could take a much needed nap.

 

The rain didn't let up that night so we ended up letting Norah run around in the hotel lobby (she loved the fountains and the escalators) and grabbed some food nearby.

The next day we woke up and grabbed brunch at a favorite local restaurant- yummy- and that afternoon we walked down the Magnificent Mile, gawked at the amazing architecture, strolled through the shops and grabbed dinner. We bought Norah some gloves that she was so proud of...

Don't worry... that white thing on her chin is just a bandage holding the cut she got earlier in the day when she slipped in the bathroom and split her chin open on the edge of the bathtub... it was so sad...what a day!

The next morning was much better... the sun was shining (of course on the day we leave!) and before we left town we stopped at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  It was heaven on Earth! They had several different rooms with different types of vegetation. Our favorites were the Fern Room and the Flower Room- they even had an area just for kids. We wanted to spend all day there...

 

 

All-in-all it was fun family trip but we decided, for any future vacations, we won't be taking any trips to big cities unless we are alone or have another couple with us so we can switch off babysitting... otherwise, it's the beach for us!

Cute.

Front Page News!

Okay, so skip the article about the Obama inauguration right on down to the other large article on the front page of our local newspaper.  It’s Norah!

Our city, Webster Groves, has that good old small town feel in the midst of a relatively large city.  We have a community center just for town residents where, in the summer, all the children and their parents can be seen swimming, playing tennis, roller hockey and skating boarding.  We have our own little library that looks like it was constructed in the early twentieth century with all the charm of buildings from that era.  Norah and I visit the library a couple times a month. They have puzzles, books and toys galore and she loves being there.  The library is trying to expand and one day while we were there a photographer from the newspaper asked if she could take a picture of Norah for the paper.  Weren’t we surprised when a few weeks later she ended up on the front page!

 

Happy Birthday to you!

A mere twenty-nine years and look at all that he is...

Survivor. Managed to make it through his childhood and adolescence with two older brothers.  Although he has had a few near-death experiences (tumbling off his bike down and mountain for one) he walked away with only a few scars!

Student. Okay so he wishes this one weren't the case any more (only four more months!) but he has made it through almost twenty years of school and had excellent grades, made great friends and drank lots of diet coke!

Husband. Somehow finds the time to make his wife feel that he values her and their marriage above all.

Father. Created a little girl that even he didn't know how much he would love. Her eyes light up when she sees him and the way she says "Daddy" would melt anyone's heart.

 

Son. Values his parents and their opinion above almost any other.

Brother. Talks to each of his four siblings at least once a week. They are some of his best friends in the world and he would do anything for any one of them.

Creator.  Joel is amazing when it comes to creating new ideas and implementing them. He find inventive ways to solve problems. I have watched him in amazement as he has improved things on numerous occasions in all aspects of our life- in our home, with our businesses and with his schooling.  He wants to be a part of big things, he has the mind to create and lead.

Leader. Which brings us to this next point.  Joel has the personality and drive to inspire people.  I have seen him do this in our family, with the young men and with the business that we started with a group of friends (nothing would have gotten done without him!)

Lover. Okay so that sounds funny, but Joel has an immense ability to love lots of people.  People are drawn to him because of this ability.

Loveable.  For all of the above reasons and more- Joel is incredibly easy to love!

 

Happy Birthday Joely!

Dress-up

I am in trouble when Norah reaches her teenage years.  She already loves clothes and shoes!  One of her favorite things to do is play dress-up.  Anytime she sees an article of clothing that she particularly likes, she attempts to "wear" it.  By wearing it I mean attempting to put it over her head but only managing to get it around her neck.  She will not do this with just any piece of clothing, she knows her style.  She likes anything soft and colorful. The other day I found her in my room digging through a bag of clothes that I had put away because she had outgrown them...

 

 

She also LOVES shoes and insists on wearing them with everything (even with nothing!).  The minute she sees a pair she won't stop saying "shoes-shoes" until they are safely on her feet. Her favorite ones are a pair of too big, black patent-leather shoes with a thick rubber sole that she can barely walk in.  I try to hide these from her as we have had one too many accidents!

But her favorite thing of all to "wear" is... my bra!  She managed to get this on all be herself and wouldn't let me take it off for a good hour. (notice the shoes)

 

The Park in December

We took advantage of an unusually nice day over the break to take Norah and Higgins to the park.  We all enjoyed the chance to get outside and play!

It is the first time we have been able to get out to the park since Norah has been walking.  She LOVED it!

 

Slides are her favorite!

 

Leaves!

Even Higgs got to play!

Play Time

By Norah Crockett

I love to play in the leaves....

...and walk along the fence.

Doing the dishes is my favorite!

Playing in the sink is so fun!

But most of all I love to play with my friends!