Long Weekend

We stayed in town for Memorial Weekend and were able to find a nice balance of work and play. On the work front, we got all of our flowers planted and installed outdoor speakers in the backyard. Art has been talking about installing them since we moved into our house 4 years ago, so you can imagine his excitement once they were finally in. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time on the deck this summer listening to tunes.

On the play front, we managed to get in several walks and trips to the park with Claire. Art took Claire on a couple of bike rides as well. Due to the beautiful weather, we also managed to grill every day of the weekend...summer must be around the corner! Art's sister Katie and her family were in town from Chicago, so we spent time with his family both Saturday and Monday. Sunday afternoon Pete, Emily and Whitney came over for a BBQ. Claire loved having all the little ones around to play with!

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take our camera out until Monday. Here are a few pictures from our gathering with Art's family.

29 Weeks

29 weeks and counting...with my c-section already scheduled, I only have about 10 more weeks to go. It is amazing how fast this pregnancy is going by. I have been feeling great for the most part. I still have quite a bit of energy and have been managing to walk about 5 times a week. I am hoping it will make my recovery from surgery at least as easy as it was with Claire. We are getting excited to meet our little girl and can't wait to discover her little personality! Claire still doesn't have a clue that she will be a big sister soon. Aside from pointing to my belly when we ask her where the baby is, she is pretty much in the dark. It should be interesting. I am certain it will be an adjustment. Lets just hope it isn't too painful!! :)

I scream, you scream...

ICE CREAM!! To celebrate the beautiful weather and to treat ourselves after a rough week, we headed out for ice cream on Sunday afternoon. As evidenced below, Claire was loving it. She couldn't get enough. Now that the entire family is on antibiotics (Art & I for sinus infections and Claire for an ear infection), we are on our way to recovery.

Chalk it Up!

Over the past month Claire has become increasingly interested in drawing with crayons, markers and now sidewalk chalk! I admit that it took me awhile to actually cave and buy the stuff because it is SO MESSY, but she LOVES the stuff. And honestly, anything that keeps her entertained for more than 5 or 10 minutes, is definitely worth it. We spent a large portion of Friday afternoon outside drawing on basically everything...the sidewalk, the deck, even the fence. It's a good thing the stuff is washable. As you can see we have quite the selection of colors, 64 in total!

Big Girl Room

Over the last month we have been busy getting Claire's new 'big girl' room ready. The walls are painted and most of the furniture is put together. We just need to put some artwork on the walls, purchase the bookshelves and give her closet a major makeover. Over the last week or two Claire has enjoyed playing in her future room. We are a little concerned that the only interest she has in her toddler bed is climbing up on it and jumping. The plan is to tranisition her out of her crib and into her new bed in about a month, so we will see how that goes. I'm sure the first week will be painful, but hopefully she will get used to it. I'll post more pictures of the final product once it is complete.

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day celebration on Sunday. We started the day off with a great breakfast out at The Zumbro. The rest of the day included a few errands, a walk, a trip to the park and some relaxing. I even got in a little nap, which was wonderful. Art surprised Claire and I with some new pajamas...yes a little dorky, but still pretty cute. :)

Good Friends

Emily, Pete and Whitney came over Saturday afternoon. The girls played together (well, at least next to eachother) and the adults enjoyed a little BBQ after they were in bed. We hadn't seen Whitney for a few months and it is amazing how much she has changed. She is turning into more of a toddler than a baby. In another 6 months the age difference between the two girls will seem even smaller. I'm sure that they will become even better friends as time goes on. Thanks for the fun night!

Biker Babe

Art & I have been talking about buying new bikes for a good 5 years. We finally bit the bullet a few weekends ago and bought Art a new bike and a bike trailer for Claire to ride in. While there is definitely no spandex involved (even if there was, I probably wouldn't be allowed to post the pictures online), Claire and Daddy have been enjoying their new rides.

Nursery Wall Decor

We have struggled to fill the walls of the nursery over the past 17 months since Claire was born. Our struggle was two-fold: 1) the stripes made finding artwork that would match a challenge, and 2) we didn't want to spend a small fortune on artwork that would probably only be around for a few short years. Plus, we were never too excited about the expensive artwork. So, here's our solution to the artwork dilemma: we took a Curious George children's book and cut out four pictures. We then matted and framed them. Overall, we are happy with the end result and it saved us some money in the process.