Yogurt and a photo shoot

Justin and I had a date with Caleb in tow to Menchies yogurt earlier this week. Caleb loves going there and I am glad when he comes with us because I like to think he eats half of my yogurt.... Saving me the calories. (Although I am pretty sure he gets 1/4 if it, if that) Anywho, I love summer evenings, especially when we get to go out as a family and enjoy the warm but not stifling hot weather. Lately Caleb and I have been staying inside much more than earlier this summer, something about high 90's temps and becoming more and more pregnant has pushed me indoors. 

Back to Menchies...While Justin went back into the yogurt shop to get some water I pulled out my phone to take some pics of my cute little man. Caleb quickly picked up on how to take photos and took easily over 100 selfies, and I didn't have the heart to stop him because he was cracking up. I am a sucker for his laugh. 

Chocolate remnants

Learning he can do it on his own

Showing off, pressing the button without even looking

And my favorite, this guy has become so affectionate lately, love his spontaneous kisses and hugs!

Pictures to sum things up

Caleb has been growing more and more in love with trains

And books

And his big boy bed

And his teddy bear

And playing on playgrounds

And his teddy bear, take 2

And, of course, working out with mom in the mornings

And he still loves pushing his lawn mower/ copying everything dad (or everyone) does

And then there is this gem... We are expecting baby boy number two at the end of this year. Family if three boys?... Bring it on

Beach bums

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Virginia Beach...it is so hard coming back from vacation. Heather and I decided a little while ago to take the 'grands' (grandkids) back to see their Nana and Pawpaw and from that morphed a full on beach vacation. The husbands came and my parents rented a condo right on the beach. My oldest sister and her family came, as well as, my Aunt Betty. So it was a family reunion of sorts too! It was awesome seeing all of our family, it is happening less and less it seems...down to twice a year if that. Maybe some day we will live closer together but for now these trips are such treasures.

Our weather was touch and go, rainy and chilly on some days with other days being nice. We spent time between the pool, beach, pier, playground and inside the condo relaxing. Oh and I should probably mention that we ate...a lot... and really good food at that. Justin and I actually were able to go out on a date to celebrate our 5th anniversary. I tried Mahi Mahi for the first time, yum! I also tried scallops and really liked those as well. I am trying to expand my "seafood preferences" beyond just salmon, haha.

We also took a Harbor tour that traveled east on the Elizabeth River and rode by the Naval shipyard. That was interesting to see. Overall that area is just gorgeous, we passed by so many homes with yards that went on forever and huge, old trees that shaded the yards and provided the perfect swing area. Sigh...those are my "some day yards". And if I could live half of the year with a view like the one from our condo I wouldn't complain. 

Caleb loved the beach this visit. Previously he wasn't very fond of the sand but this year he loved digging in it and walking in and out of the tide. He also had at least 5 adults at all times willing to do his bidding so he [unfortunately for me] became very accustomed to that type of attention. Now we are on the post-vacation slump where Caleb feels he needs to be carried everywhere and held constantly. But oh well...twas worth it.

Can't wait til our next visit!

Caleb mastered the word "cheese" on this trip. And he gave us a lot of cheese in all of our pictures. I think you can see his molars from his big toothy grin.

And Emma being her typical, hilarious self. She will give one good smile for every ten silly faces.

Nana with her grands.

Eating seafood at Waterman's...yummy!

Just two dads walking their kids on the Virginia beach boardwalk. haha...

My beautiful sis and her dashing hubby. Sure miss them!

This shot has Justin but Matt and Caleb were not feeling this photo..

Matt and Caleb happy and looking...sans Justin.

Riding a surrey...those are hard work!

Love this picture...but so sad to say goodbye!

March and April

We celebrated Justin's birthday in March by taking a family vacation to Arizona! The Chicago Cubs have their Spring training games in Mesa and Justin thought it would be fun to see a game for his birthday. So we left a few days before the game and stopped through Vegas at our usual hotel stop (J.W. Marriott, if you ever go to Vegas and don't want to stay on the strip, this hotel is amazing!), then drove the rest of the trip the next day. While Mesa wasn't all that impressive of a city, we visited nearby cities and really loved Scottsdale. There was tons of shopping and most importantly it is home to a newly opened Portillo's. Justin LOVES this restaurant, it has many locations back in Chicago but outside of Illinois they really don't exist. We didn't even know about it until we attended the Cubs game and overheard some fellow Chicagoans talking about the Portillo's that just opened. So between the Cubs game and Portillo's it was almost like begin in Chicago for the day! The weather was beautiful and we got some pool time in. The ground of our hotel had orange trees everywhere... I would consider moving to Arizona only if I could have many citrus trees in my yard, yum and beautiful!

On our way home we stopped by the Grand Canyon, that was neat to see, however looked just like I imagined it would from all the photos I've seen. Caleb did pretty good on the road trip but Mom and Dad (we) were totally restless. I think we've agreed to fly to any destination from now on that would be longer than a 6 hour car drive.


After our roadtrip we came home and celebrated Easter! We had a great dinner with family and Caleb really loved picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket.

Time to thaw

Welcome Spring! Even though the official start of Spring is next Wednesday the temps are sure rising. Today is the first day of the year where I didn't need to wear a coat outside for errands! I even opened up the sunroof and enjoyed the warm sun. I LOVE this time of year! It's amazing how within a couple of weeks the weather can go from snowy cold to sunny warm. I am so ready to get out in our yard and start gardening!

Here's what we have been up to the last couple of months: fixing up our home.

Thought it would be a longer list than that? I am sure we have done more aside from our home but truthfully up until a couple weekends ago we were using our Saturdays as wood floor shopping days. Who knew picking out the right wood flooring could be so tedious and time consuming! But I am thrilled that we picked them out and had them installed this last week (Mohawk brand, Santa Barbara, Mocha Maple). And they are perfect! Not too dark and enough contrast and interest in the boards to cover up the inevitable dings and scratches that will happen in the years to come. In January I painted our master bathroom a light gray then the next day Justin and I painted our hall bathroom a mossy green color. In February I tried my hand at painting our outdated orange oak bathroom cabinets a darker shade of gray than the walls. That process took a week! Although I did my best to be patient and do things the best I could, two coats of primer and two coats of paint (with sanding in between each coat). We finally found some chairs for our front room (Overstock Outlet in Sandy has been quite kind to us and our small budget, love that place!) and a leather bench for our bedroom. Now we are trying to figure out what color to paint our front room and find a sofa and rug as well. But we are probably going to shift our focus to vamping up our curb appeal this Spring more so than the inside of the home. I love being able to invest our time and money into our home to make it our own. Here are some pics of the progress:

Caleb has been really taking off with his gross motor development lately. A few weekends ago I worked with him to go from sitting on the stairs to walking around the room and that seems to have been the confidence boost he needed. Now when we go into stores (if they aren't big stores) I will just have him walk while holding on to my hand. But even today he kept letting go of my hand to explore on his own. I sure hope we can get him consistently walking in time for our "outside-every-day" kind of days, I do not love the idea of worn out knees and dirt covered hands from crawling on our driveway/yard.  He now sits in a booster seat at our dining table and uses toddler-size utensils to feed himself. Hallelujah! He mimicks everyone and everything. Sounds, gestures, laughs-its pretty cute and funny. Justin took a post-it out of his pants pocket yesterday and gave it to Caleb, who in turn, folded it back up and put it in his own pants pocket. I know he isn't developmentally where he should be at this time but I love seeing him progress and learn each day, he is my sweet little man!

Justin's birthday is  next week and we have BIG plans to celebrate. I will post on that after the celebrations end :-)