Surprise Baby Shower

Mommy is quite gullible. It's become tradition that I get together with my sister (Aunt Melissa) one last time to hang out and have some girl time before a baby comes along.  At 9 months pregnant, we decided to do lunch on a Saturday before the big due date approached.  So when I walked in to the restaurant to meet her, I did not expect to see all close family, including Mothers, Aunts, Sisters, and Cousins/Friends.  My Mom drove in all the way from Michigan AGAIN to surprise me!  And Jay drove all the way to Gurnee to meet our most talented friend Debbie to pick up the gorgeous gift below (a gift from my Mom and Melissa...the trunk to match the girls' room!)  Never have I felt more special. Adorable strawberry cupcakes and lots of gifts, plus good food and company.  A very awesome surprise!

Happy Birthday Izzy!

Lucy had a birthday party to attend:) Cousin Izzy turned 5 this year! Her birthday is on the same day as Aunt Melissa's, but we spent Izzy's party at Monkey Joes, a place to bounce. And bounce Daddy did.  He had to follow Lucy into all of the nooks and crannies inside these bounce houses and slides...pregnant ladies were not allowed :) I sat on the side lines and watched, but had fun taking some pics. Izzy's birthday cake was gorgeous! Made with love by Uncle Ken and Aunt Charly.

Mommy Wednesdays: Last Gym Class

It's bittersweet, but we had Lucy's last gym class for awhile before baby sister arrives.  Mommy is just getting too big and too close to the due date to keep up after Lucy.  I really hope we get to continue this down the road though, but I also think it's a good time to get Lucy involved with more music, or possibly swimming.  And I think it would be really good for Lucy to have something that she can do with Daddy next time.

But to remember it by, Lucy's favorites were always the ball pit and trampoline.  She loved to hang from the bars too, all by herself!  She's SO strong!  Next on the list are probably slides and swings.  Here's a few videos I took on our last day...she has grown so much since we started!

We spent the rest of the night having our own dance party in our TV room.  I love it when she dances and sings.  I hope she always dances.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  

The Easter Bunny visited Lucy...look closely and you can see "chipmunk cheek".  That would be a chocolate egg stored in there somewhere.  Lucy had her first hunt for eggs around our family room, ate at least 6 chocolate foiled eggs for breakfast today, found her Easter basket easily behind the curtain, and even let Mommy put piggy tails in her hair for church!  She sat as best as could be expected throughout the Mass, and got to go up front to receive a decorated Easter egg at the end of the service.  We had Easter lunch/dinner at Wild Fire with Jay's family, and at the end of the day we colored our own Easter eggs at home.

Do you bite the ears or the tail first?

A sweet moment between Daddy and Daughter.  I could listen to that laughter all day.

I had to put this picture up just so I could remember what she looked like.  She looks like such a big girl in her car seat now...almost like she's going to school.

Play Date with Brendan

Mommy's day off was spent with our friends Brendan and his Mommy Kim...still waiting for these two to officially play together (they still sort of play in tandem).  Had a great time though!  Wonderful Mommy conversation, decadent banana bread, and two healthy kids that had fun with stickers.  It was a great day.  Lucy crashed in the car on the way home :)

Almost gave each other a hug here!