Zumba

Last night Jes and I took our first Zumba class. A dance studio in Manteno (where Jes lives) was starting a 5-week class. I was all for signing up. I was looking to add some physical activity into my life and it put me back into a dance studio, which I loved.

The class was fun and a great workout, but I learned that I have no Latin-flavor in my body whatsoever!!! I danced for 18 years and did many different styles, but the hip-shaking and shimmying has never been my forte. The class is only once a week so I am looking forward to next Tuesday. Now, if I can motivate myself to do a little something between now and then, that would be great :)

Fun-Filled Weekend

We had a fun weekend! We arrived in La Salle early afternoon on Friday. Not long after we were home, Wally was off to the golf course. 27 holes and a few drinks later, he returned :) Luke and I did a little bit of running around until my parents and Carly got home from work. Then it was time for some pizza, playing outside, a walk to Twisty for ice cream, a stop at the park on the way home, and a bath before bedtime.

I used to play in this bug when I was little...

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for our family pictures. We met our photographer Emilie (http://www.emiliekarunphotography.com/) in downtown La Salle for some urban shots and then headed to a park for some more pics. Let's just say, family pictures with an 18-month old are quite challenging. I am sure Emilie got some great shots, but it was a bit exhausting. The goal was to not do a lot of posing and have more candid shots, but there has to be some direction and a very active 18-month old doesn't taken direction too well. Emilie is great though and I know we will be very happy!

After the pics, we stopped at the Bagel Shop for some breakfast and stopped at the Zuk's for a visit. Then we were off to the La Salle Pool. I knew Luke would love it there - they have a splash pad area and a fantastic kiddie pool. He was having the best time running around the splash pad and then he pooped...in his swim diaper...and I didn't bring an extra one (mommy fail!)...it was starting to soak through...it was break time at the pool...we had to leave...Luke was very sad...we changed him in the trunk of my car...it was seriously disgusting...I was gagging...swim diapers are hard enough to get off a wet baby...let alone when they are full of A LOT of poop...that was the end of our La Salle pool trip :( At least we know he loves it and can go back again and head to a splash pad by us!

Luke FINALLY went down for a nap after we got back from swimming. I did too :) My mom made dinner and there was more outdoor fun!

Sunday was Mr. Clark Happ's baptism at St. Joseph's Church in Peru. After the mass and baptism we headed to Chris' parents for some food and pool fun. As I have mentioned before, Luke has not been a big fan of our pool this year so I wasn't sure that we would actually swim over there, but it was HOT!!! So we gave it a try and he did awesome! He was a little fishy - maybe it was because there were other kids in the pool - who knows, but he was having fun!

The adorable Mr. Connor Paulsrud!

We finally made the trip back home at about 4:30 and tried to enjoy the little bit of weekend that was left.

Daycare Zoo Trip 2010

Last Wednesday was the daycare zoo trip for the summer. Wally ended up teaching a 2 week summer class so unfortunately he couldn't join us. We had a good time though. It is a bit difficult to really SEE everything when you are with a bigger group of people. I think we were watching the giraffes for about 20 minutes as we waited for everyone to catch up or to gather all the kids and convince them to keep moving! It was a fun time though, and it's always nice to chat with the other moms!

I think he's saying, "Quit the picture taking and let's see some animals!"

Luke and his friend Aiden!

Partial group shot - take 1
Partial group shot - take 2

Partial group shot - take 3

Partial group shot - take 4

Dada's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy Luke could ask for!!! I knew the second I met Wally in high school that he would be a great father. He would do anything for Luke and me. He always knows how to get the best giggles out of Lukey. He is the only Dad in our neighborhood that I see pulling a wagon with an 18-month old and walking a tiny dog at 6:45 in the morning. We are both very lucky to have him!!! Happy Dada's Day - we love you!

To my "dada" - thank you for being such a wonderful dad. You are the dad of 3 girls, which I'm sure was a lot handle at times, but you were the best dad 3 girls could ask for! You have always been the calm one, the peacemaker, the voice of reason, the coach, the cheerleader, the builder, the mover, the mechanic, and on and on and on....you've always been there for us! And you are a GREAT Papa!!!

To my "dada-in-law" - thank you for being such a wonderful dad to Wally and welcoming me into the family with open arms! We know you are always a phone call away when we need you. And you are a GREAT Grandpa!

So what did we do on Father's Day??? We had everyone over here for a cookout/pool party! The weather seemed like it was going to be "iffy" at first, but it turned out to be a great day and perfect pool weather!!!

Pics of the party from Luke's room

Early Risers

I think we are the early risers in our neighborhood, at least it feels like it sometimes! This is what last Saturday morning looked like at our house - all before 7:30 AM!

Luke's pool is already filled and warming up for him!


Unfortunately, this kid can't wait, and he took a seat in the pool before we could stop him! Check out that wet bottom...so before we even had breakfast, we were off to change his diaper and out of his pj's!

Movin' On Up

Can you tell what's missing????

The high chair is gone (which I am loving!) and Luke has been promoted to a booster seat! I am not really sure if it is a promotion or just something new that might help him stick around at the table a little longer to eat some more. Lately he had been wanting out of his high chair, but then would sit in one of the chairs and continue to eat some more. So I thought a booster seat might be just what he needs. So here it is:

And it has been successful for two meals so far!!!

I am on the hunt for a children's placemat for him now...I haven't seem them in a store anywhere (well, except at Brookfield Zoo and it was $15, no thanks!) so online is my next step. If you've seen them anywhere, let me know!

Little Linus

Luke has really been into this yellow super soft, silk blanket lately. It is very similar to the one I had when I was little (that was forgotten at a hotel in, I believe, Iowa at one point and I was one unhappy little girl - ha!). It all started on a warm evening a few weeks ago when he just needed a light blanket to sleep with, and I grabbed this one. We have had it since he was born but had never really used it. Ever since then you can usually find this blanket following behind him - hence my Little Linus! Luke has been known to sneak up the stairs by himself to grab this blanket from his crib. If it isn't within his reach in his crib, we will hear about it! If it is, he will sneak back down the stairs with blanket in hand. Here is some video of him getting his blanket and then of course asking for his paci as well.

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Lukey Language

Luke is full of words these days - I tried to list all of the ones I could think of right now. They are in no particular order and I am sure I am missing quite a few. He also has his own little language going on...it's adorable, but frustrating at times when we don't know what he is talking about!

Mama
Dada
Papa
puppy (pu-pa)
Paci (bobi - no clue why he calls it that)
milk
car
water (wa wa)
bubble (buba)
please (sometimes says it, mostly just signs it - or his version of the sign)
more (mo)
shoe
broom
shirt
bath
diaper
bye bye
boat
fish (fishy)
no
book
baby
tractor (ak-tor)
yogurt (o-gur)
outside (ow-si)
inside (in-si)
bowl
helicopter (copa coper)
walk (sort of sounds like a word that rhymes with truck - yikes!)
truck (similar to above - yikes again!)
garbage truck (gaba gaba)
bus
train (shrain)
choo choo
bird (bir)
Mickey
yes (iiiisss with a big head nod!)
all done
all gone
up
ball
baseball (bball)
Go Cubs!
golf
go
let's go (i-go)
bread
cheese
zoo
juice (shuice)
duck
flower

This video is just plain cute to Wally and I...for those of you that don't know, Yo Gabba Gabba is a ridiculous children's show. Kids seem to be mesmerized by it and adults seem to think that these people must have been high when they created it LOL

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The Whistleblower

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A Healthy Boy

Today we had Luke's 18-month check up. He is still a perfectly healthy boy :) He weighed in at 26.6 lbs. and 33 inches tall. So he gained 2 lbs. and grew 2 inches in the past 3 months! We didn't really have any questions for Dr. Panzica, and he gave us the usual run down of some do's and don'ts at this age.

He was really surprised how little he sees Luke considering he is a daycare kid. I think we have had maybe 2 appointments in between his regularly scheduled well visits since he was born. We have been blessed with a very healthy boy. There has been really only one time, around 9 months, when he was really sick and not himself. Remember this post. I still feel guilty that we took him to the fair that Sunday - he just was not feeling well :( He is a teething champ to the point that half the time we don't even know a tooth is making it's way down (we are done with that by the way until the 2-year molars make their way down!).

Lucky - that's what we are :)

See you no sooner than 6 months *hopefully* Dr. P.!

And now a video to make you smile :)

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The Dolphin Dance

I forgot to post this video with the zoo pictures. This is before the dolphin show started - Lukey was gettin' down!

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First Zoo Trip of the Summer

Finally!!! Here is the post about our first trip to Brookfield Zoo for the summer. If you remember, we became members last year and went quite a bit. This summer though is a whole new experience at the zoo. Luke is older, knows his animals, makes animal sounds, and can walk! We had fun last year, but this year is even better!!!

Love these pics!

Checking out the lions

The sea lions were awesome. Luke could stand on the ledge and they kept swimming against the glass right in front of him. I wish I could have gotten a picture of how big Luke's eyes got when they were doing this!

The Dolphin Show - one of my favorite parts of the zoo!

Luke was LOVING petting the goats in the Children's Zoo. We probably could have spent all day just there :)

This one wouldn't leave Wally's shorts alone - ha!

Always cleaning!

Gotta love the gorillas!

The grumpy dad - he is always in the same position!

Getting ready to take a dip!