We Bought A(nother) House!

  So, most of you probably know we have been trying to rent out our townhome and find a new "forever" home since October. If you didn't know this, that's what we've been up to for the last 5 months! We couldn't decide if we wanted to try and sell and take a loss or find renters and keep the townhome. After deciding it's best to rent it out so we could move into our "forever dream home" sooner, we packed up, moved to Lake Zurich to stay with my in laws, had the whole house cleaned and painted, and put up on the market. It only took about 5 weeks to find tenants, so after that, we started looking at the homes that I had marked that we were interested in in our "favorites" folder. We looked at 6 homes in December, one of which we loved, and had another 5 lined up to see in January. The first house we saw was amazing, better than the one we loved in Dec! We instantly fell in love with the 5 bedrooms (one downstairs for Matt to use as an office when he's working from home, and to use as a game room), finished partial basement, looooots of storage space, huge laundry room with counters and cabinets, 3 car garage, fenced in back yard with a nice deck and swing set, open floor plan with vaulted ceilings in the formal living room and foyer area, open kitchen/family room, and soaking tub in the master bath. We saw 2 more homes that day that we liked, one of those being our second choice, but nothing compared to the first house. Our realtor told us he got a call from their realtor saying they were going to lower the price in the next few days. Not wanting to seem over eager, even though we wanted to go back that day and see it, we decided to wait a few days, and went home. That night we got an email saying if we made an aggressive offer, they'd likely take it. We were a little apprehensive since we only saw it once, but it was over an hour away from where we are currently, and couldn't go back for a few days. So, we thought about it, and made an offer the next evening, after they reduced the price. They counter offered, and we accepted. It was that easy! Took about an hour and a half before we were almost owners of our dream home! We had the inspection 2 days later, and everything went really well, they sellers had to fix a few very small things, and that was it! I can't decide what I'm most excited about, but I think it's the yard. In our last house (the one car garage, 2 bedroom townhome), we didn't really have a yard. We had a small patio with enough room for a small table and chairs and our grill, and we had the shared yard space, but it gradually got smaller once Jack was mobile and was all over the place. It'll be nice to set up his pool in the yard and just let him play and have a great time with the dog and his friends this summer! It is a bit weird to think about another family living in our home, I won't ever forget how excited we were to move in, but with us wanting more kids soon, we just outgrew it. I know Matt is excited to have his own space since he was using the small space in the hallway at the top of the stairs as his office in the last house haha. And I'm excited for that, too. For now, our 2 extra bedrooms will serve as guest rooms. I know my mom will be coming up to stay (she had to sleep in the couch at the last house), and I'm sure my grandma will come up too, and maybe some friends will make the trip up to party and have a good time this summer. I really want to have a house warming party, but I'm not sure about the details of that yet.

   Another reason I'm so excited to finally have our forever home is hosting play dates. We plan to use the formal living room as a play area for the kids til they're old enough to send down to the basement to play by themselves.  For the time being, I'd prefer to have Jack on the main level, and this is the perfect place to host play dates.  Lake Zurich, where we are now, is an additional hour away from our friends (which were about an hour away from where we were before), so we haven't gotten to be too social the past few months, which is especially hard during the winter months! Needless to say, we're excited to get back and be able to hang with our friends again! Some of you readers are mommies and you know how hard it can be when you can't get outta the house to socialize and let the kids play together often. It definitely takes its toll on you and your kids.  We've been to a few play dates and met with Jacks friend Ava a few times since Ava's grandparents live close, but we're so happy to be moving back, and even closer to where our social network is! The house is in Oswego, which is about 20min away from where we used to live in Aurora/Naperville area. One cool part is we're just down the street (maybe an 8min walk) from Jack's cousin Rylie! I know Matt is pumped about playing his nerdy board games with Chris! It'll be great living close to them, the cousins will get to grow up together and go to the same schools, and it'll make date nights and hanging out much easier!

  Since I last wrote, Jack has grown up so much! He's obviously walking, he started that at 15months old in October. It didn't take him long, once he started to try. It was like one day he was taking 2 or 3 steps and a couple days later he was off and running! He's 23.5lbs and 31.5in tall, coming in at 25th percentile for both. Okay so maybe he hasn't grown *that* much haha. He's still my little munchkin, but his personality is coming out stronger by day.  Most of the time, he's a sweet and calm guy who will play with you, or play by himself for awhile. He does have a temper that's coming out though! He gets frustrated easily (like mommy....), and throws fits. I've had to do time outs with him twice, mostly for throwing his cup off the table b/c he's mad about whatever he's mad about. The first time was incredibly hard on him and me, but the second time was much better. He definitely understood he wasn't to get up, and once he calmed down, we hugged and talked it out (or, I did) and went about our day. His fits have definitely gotten shorter, he's understanding that they're not going to work.  He's not eating much, he mostly eats yogurt, crackers, and fruit. Sometimes I can get some mac and cheese in him, but that's pretty much it. Eating is the second most frustrating thing (aside from his crying for hours upon hours when he was an infant), and I know it's normal, but maaaaaaan it's hard! I'm hoping that once we're back in the area his eating habits will get a little better when he sees his friends eat, as well as his language. He's got between 15-20 words, some being 2 word phrases, so he's right where he needs to be, but I'm sure it'll pick up even more once he's around his peers more. He's so funny when he talks on the phone, he says hi or hello, mumbles a bunch like he's actually having a conversation, then usually nods and says bye. He loves it when you chase him around the house, hide from him, and pop out and scare him. He loves anything electronic....ipods, phones, cameras, computers, etc. As I type, he's behind me typing on a broken computer keyboard that we gave him. He loves stacking and dumping, legos, books, and especially closing doors, drawers, and cabinets. He loooves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Pocoyo, and choo choos. He will literally walk around for 5mins asking "what's this", and when you ask him if he wants to go night night or take a bath, he'll walk around and give everyone kisses, including the dogs. I really hope bed time is always this wonderful b/c it's perfect, and I know a lot of mommies are having trouble with it right now. Jack will occasionally wake up at night, but unless he's sick, I'll leave him alone and he goes right back to sleep. And, lately, I can keep him busy with play dough for 20-30mins! He loves tearing it into tiiiiny little pieces and putting it back into the container. I'm glad I got him all those little play doughs for Christmas!

  In other exciting news, one of my bestfriends Jen is having a baby boy in June, and my brother and sister in law are expecting a boy in June as well! It seems like a lot of babies are coming this summer! I can't wait to cuddle them! :-)  Matt and I were planning to try again soon, but with everything going on right now, I don't feel quite ready yet. I'd like to get into the new house, get settled, celebrate all our birthdays this summer, and then think about baby #2. But, who knows what'll happen, only time will tell ;-) Anyway, we're moving Feb 15th, I've got a P!NK concert in Chicago the second weekend in March with some fun ladies, and a book signing by my fave author Jodi Picoult the following weekend. In April we've got a wedding in Lafayette and I'm co-hosting a sprinkle shower for Jen. May has my birthday (the big 3-0!), memorial day, and Mothers Day. Both babies are due in June, Matt's birthday is in June as well as Fathers Day, and Matt's Vegas trip for his brothers bachelor party. July brings the holiday weekend and my baby boy turns 2! So, our summer is quickly filling up, which is always fun! I can't wait to have cook outs and have people over to our new home!

  I promise to do better with updating this in the upcoming months, as you can see I'll have some fun stuff to write about :0)

Busy much??

So, we've been super busy since the last post!: Mother's Day, My birthday, Memorial Day, Rylie's 1st birthday, mini vacay to the lakehouse in WI, and a birthday/wedding in Lafayette! Super busy, lots of fun!

My 1st Mother's Day was of course one I'll never forget. My mom came up to spend the day with us. I don't usually get to see my mom on Mother's day so it was nice. We had a nice brunch, played a game while the baby napped, and had kabobs for dinner before she headed back to Indiana. Matt (and Jack) got me a "mom" locket with Jack's picture in it, super cute and something I'll treasure forever. Jack had been pulling up to standing for a few days, but it was right about this time that he started pulling up on everything and wanting to climb on everything, especially mommy!

For my birthday, we went to White Chocolate Grill. They have delicious southwest egg rolls, martinis, and a white chocolate brownie! Matt got me a couple of books that I had asked for, and insisted I treat myself to a massage, which I did in early June, and it was very relaxing.

The day before Memorial Day, we went down to Minooka to spend the day with our friends Jen and Jay and their 2 1/2 year old Logan. They had another family over with 2 girls, and we all had a great time sitting outside, having a few drinks, and watching the kids play in the giant jump jump and in the kiddie pool. We don't get to see them nearly enough, as our schedules are all so busy, so it was a really nice, relaxing day. On Monday, we went up to Lake Zurich and spent the day with Matt's parents and Jack played in his pool. He was occasionally joined by the Miners' Golden, Maddie. Too cute!

Rylie's first birthday was super cute and lots of fun, with lots of kids and babies running and crawling around! Many of Rylie's friends were there, making all the dads' heads spin! It was a busy day for sure, and Rylie got lots of fun stuff. The grandmas took the babies for a long walk, so Jack got in a small afternoon nap after the party, making it possible for us to stay afterwards and enjoy some time with just the fam. I gave Matt his bday gift early (Star Trek board game, neeerd!) so he and the guys stayed and played for awhile while I took the baby home for bed and had some nice quiet reading time for myself.

The second weekend in June, we headed up to Crystal Lake in Wisconsin for a long weekend get away. We were up there with Matt's parents John and Suzy, his brothers Tim and Nick, and our sis in law Amy (Tim's wife) as well as Nick's gf Kelsey. We had a great time soaking up the sun, playing in the lake and in the kayaks, and relaxing in the hot tub. We had good food, good drinks, and good company. Amy's family owns the lake house, and it came fully equipped with pretty much everything, including a crib for the baby. Pretty sweet, I hope we can make this an annual thing! Jack enjoyed his first trip to the lake, loving the sand and water! The water was a little chilly, but he didn't seem to mind! Uncle Nick held his hands while he walked right in....I think he would've kept on going had we not picked him up and plopped him into his floaty! He really enjoyed himself, and was a super good baby! Naps and bedtime took some getting used to, as he doesn't enjoy taking naps or going to bed in an unfamiliar place. We got back from the lake on Sunday, and then on Monday my mom was up again for a few days to visit and hang out. On Monday we did some grocery shopping, on Tuesday we hung out outside in the morning then took Jack to the neighborhood pool that afternoon. He LOOOVED it. He seems to be fearless around water now. Kinda scary, but I suppose it's a good thing under tight supervision. On Wed, my mom and I took Jack out to lunch and shopping. I got a new dress for the wedding and Jack got a few new outfits, since he's veerrry quickly outgrowing his 12mo clothes!! My mom went back home that evening, and then we headed to Lafayette on Thursday evening.

This past weekend, we were in Lafayette for a wedding on Friday and my dad's 50th celebration on Saturday. We had time on Friday morning to stop and see my gma at her rehab place (she had a lung removed a few weeks ago, and Friday was her last day there, so we wanted to see the place that we heard so much about). She showed us around, it was super nice, and she was doing a lot of walking around for someone who just had such a big surgery! One of my oldest friends got married on Friday night, and we had a blast! They had a photobooth set up, so we could take silly pictures with ridiculous props and costumes. Needless to say, we had too much fun. I think the guy running it got a kick out of us though! It was a really neat idea, I wish they were popular when we got married. It printed out 2 copies of an "old school" photo sheet with 4 pics on it, one for the couple, and one for you to keep. They'll be laughing for hours over all those pictures! After the wedding, a few of us went out to the bars, and then to the local drunk restaurant triple xxx. It was a laaaate night. I think I got maybe 4 hours of sleep. We never to stuff like that anymore though, so it was worth it. I hafta say, it caught up with me! I've been completely exhausted this week. Anyway, Saturday we got up and had a nice brunch with my parents and my gma. Then, we went to 2 of my cousins HS grad parties and got to see family that we don't get to see too often. We couldn't stay long because Jack was already overdue for a nap, but it was nice to see everyone for awhile. My brother and sis in law came to town from Indy and we all went out to dinner with my parents and my gma for my dad's 50th bday.  Afterwards, we went back to the house, had a few drinks, and played games until everyone went to bed.  Sunday was Father's Day, so we packed up the car and headed to Matt's grandparents house to have a quick brunch with them and his aunt and uncle before heading back home to give daddy his gifts. Jack got his daddy a lego Sears Tower, a Daddy and Me book, and a picture frame that says "A father is his sons first hero" with a picture of Jack on one side, and a footprint that says "I want to walk in your footsteps" on the other side.

This week has been spent chilling out. It's amazing how much traveling can take out of you, especially with an almost toddler in tow! Jack is doing more and more each day, and getting better at playing with purpose. He loves to chase his balls around the house or yard, he likes to stack things and will sit and stack/put things into holes or other things for a half hour at a time now. He loves to help turn the pages in a book. He's got 9 teeth now, and I'm pretty sure he's working on at least 1 more. He can climb stairs and loves to climb on anything and anyone! He waves byebye and gives the best hugs and knows what kisses are, and gives mommy kisses all the time. He's a great helper with the dishwasher, (un)folding laundry, and grocery shopping. He's jibber jabbering all the time like he has some very important things to tell you, and he's staaaarting to eat more table foods, but prefers me to give them to him on a spoon vs pick them up and feed himself.  We took 1yr photos yesterday, and I think we need to work on sensory skills, since he was definitely not happy about having his hands dirty when we did his "smash cake" photos! This coming week we're spending the week at my inlaws, housesitting while they're camping in Colorado. After that, it's back to playdates and birthday parties! My baby will be ONE in just 3 short weeks, and we have 2 birthday parties planned for him! Here are some pictures of our summer so far.

"Summer Summer Summertime...

   ...Time to sit back and unwind..."?! Maybe not so much this year! From now until August, we have one, maybe two, weekends where we don't have plans (yet!). The second to last weekend in April we had a nice family weekend. On Saturday we actually spent the whole day together, just the 3 of us. It was so nice, as we don't really have many opportunities to enjoy time like that. I love spending time with extended family and friends, but it's nice to have that time to ourselves every once and awhile, and I think it's important for our relationship to take that time. We had a nice breakfast that morning, and then we went out shopping and picked up a new boardgame. We both love games, but Matt's into...how shall I put this...the "nerdy" games haha. Me? Not so much. But, he found this game called Ticket to Ride, and it's actually pretty fun, and I can actually beat him! hehe.

   The last weekend in April we went to West Lafayette for a family wedding. On Friday night we had dinner and drinks with a friend. Saturday was the wedding. We had a lot of fun, Jack included. We ate, drank, and danced the night away....til about 1030pm (which is late for the little guy). We had a nice family lunch at Arni's on Sunday with my family and Matt's, who were in town for a different family function. Trips home are never really relaxing, always busy seeing friends and family, but we always have a good time!

   This past weekend was a nice one too. Matt's had a lot going on at work, so Friday night we ate dinner and vegged, Matt falling asleep preeeettty early hehe, but that's fine because that gave me a chance to finish my book. Yes, I'm reading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. It's just as terribly smutty as one would think. And, I'm enjoying it! I'm not really one for romance novels, erotic or otherwise, but this one's story is actually interesting haha. It does get a little old at times, and I find myself rolling my eyes at certain points, but I'm glad I've read it, as it's a topic of discussion among the mommies in my mommy group. It seems that I can't go anywhere (mom's night out, play dates at Kids Town, or the internet, including Facebook) without hearing about this. Matt's narrating is great, too! :0) Saturday we had a pretty lazy day just hanging around the house. Matt played games, and again, I read while Jack napped. Saturday night we went to a friends house and had a fun Cinco de Mayo fiesta with the mom's from my group and their kids. It was a lot of fun, I'm glad to have met such a fun and hilarious group of women! With us not knowing many people in Illinois that aren't family members, it's nice to meet new people. Sunday Matt's brother Tim and his wife Amy came over for the day, which was nice since we don't get to see them often. It was a stormy day (awesome!), so we stayed inside and had a good time hanging with Jack and playing Ticket to Ride.

   As for Jack, he's pulling up on things now, always on his knees trying to get up to wherever you are. He pulls up to standing on anything he can, and he's getting rather good at it! He stands and plays at his push toy all the time now. He's teething again, we're only up to 6 teeth that have popped out, but there's 2 looming still, which is making Jack snotty and a picky eater, and chewing and sucking on anything he can. He actually bit me the other day, while up on my shoulder giving me hugs. So, I couldn't be too mad at the blood he drew! Oh man, I really hope we don't have a biter on our hands! He's starting to really figure out his surroundings and pushing the limits. He understands "no" and listens quite well when we tell him "no" around Oscar's water, the cable or speaker wires he can get to, or anything else he happens to find that he's not supposed to get into. He's been pulling his curtains in his room through his crib and playing with them, so we have to move his crib out of the way. He's into everything! He loves to play underneath his exersaucer, with easter eggs, water bottles, boxes, balls, books and tags. He loves walks, dancing, and just being silly. He's still not eating much table food, but we are trying a little bit every day, so he'll get there. We went on a playdate last week to a place called "Kids Town" where there's a gross motor area, baby area, and then a bunch of themed rooms (princess room, a "kids club" with dance music, a grocery store, etc). Jack had fun playing with his friends, but he's kinda too big for the baby area and not big enough for the other areas. Plus, almost all of the toys there didn't have working batteries, not cool. We'll take him back a few times, I'm sure he'll love the themed rooms once he can walk around.

   This weekend my mom is coming up on Saturday to spend the day with us for Mother's Day. I think we're going out for brunch and this delicious place down the street from us, and then hopefully it'll be nice and Matt can grill kabobs for dinner b/c he does such a good job with those! Who knows what the weather will allow us to do, probably just hang around the house the rest of the time, I know she loves just being with Jack. As for Sunday, I plan on enjoying my first Mother's Day being a mommy! I hope all of my mommy readers have a very happy Mother's Day! Til next time, here's a few pictures...


      Jack and mommy at the wedding 4.28.12           
Jack in a box 5.2.12  
Daddy and Jack. 5.3.12  

Jack standing at a toy, playing at Kids Town. 5.4.12

9 months (+ 4 days) old...already?!?!

Last Saturday, our little man turned 9 months old. I know it's very cliche', but where has the time gone?! He's growing up so fast, but like I've said, I'm having so much fun with him and he's such a goofball! I love watching him change every day. He loves to throw and chase his balls and toys around the house. He loves to bang things together, or on other things, or on the floor, or sometimes on himself, to hear the noises. He LOOOVES to splash in the tub now. He's a pro at letting me brush his teeth (which he has 4 of now, and more are coming right along behind the 2 top ones). We're still working on table food, but last night he did have a few tiiiny bites of sloppy joes, so we were proud! He's moving and crawling all over the place, keeping me on my toes making sure the dog bowls are up off the floor and the floors are clean. His 9mo check up was yesterday (Tues) his stats were: 20lbs 5oz (50th percentile) head circumference was 50th percentile (I don't remember the exact measurement), but the kicker is his height....27inches long (10th percentile). We've got a little shorty on our hands. But, the dr assured me with feet as large as his, he's gotta be a tall dude later on! lol.

We had another busy weekend last weekend. Friday night we headed up to Lake Zurich and had dinner with Matt's parents, Tim & Amy, and Nick & Kelsey. Saturday the boys went golfing while the girls got everything ready for John's big 50th bday party, the theme was Blues Brothers. We had a lot fun, the boys (including Jack) were dressed in BB attire, you will find the pictures below.  It was lots of fun seeing family and friends, and the food was deeelish! Sunday we got up early to head back to Aurora to get ready for Rylie's baptism. Jack and I joined the party once he woke up from his nap and had lunch. I had planned to be at the ceremony, but Jack had other plans and decided to play in his crib for an hour before finally falling asleep! Little stinker. I suppose it probably worked out for the best, though. The party at the Chalkos was fun, we got to see family again and enjoy some more delish food!

I'm getting kinda burned out on traveling all the time. It's definitely not as relaxing with a baby as it used to be, but we're thankful to be able to see family and friends. However, this weekend we're going to have a nice family weekend and stay home. Who knows what we'll end up doing, maybe some errands and a nice lunch on Saturday. Hopefully the weather will be nice, I know it's supposed to rain the next few days so maybe we'll get lucky and it'll be nice on Saturday. Then, next weekend we'll be in Lafayette for my cousins wedding. And then, the crazy busy summer months are upon us! I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Good times to come, though.


Check out some of the pictures from last weekend!

We've got a sick, & mobile baby!

This is Jack's second time being sick in a month, and it's taking its toll on him, and on mommy. We went to the Dr yesterday, there's nothing going on in his ears or lungs, just another respiratory infection. And, of course there's really nothing you can do for a baby with a cough except humidifier and propping their mattress, so that's what I've done, along with some occasional Tylenol to help with his forever running nose! Today I've spent my time lysoling and cleaning everything. Boy, the house kinda deteriorates rather quickly when I'm out of commission! The end of last week was spent coughing throughout the night, by both myself and Jack. We are on the mend though, his cough is slowly, but surely, getting better. And, other than feeling groggy from the nyquil, I'm feeling much better too. Jack's appetite is still not what it usually is, and he's been throwing up his food a lot, but we're able to get some food in him. Thankfully, he's been a good sport about it all, and really only fussing when he's tired, which has been a little more than usual this past week. He's jumping like a maniac and playing away in his jumperoo at the moment, so he's hanging in there.

Over the weekend, we were up in Lake Zurich with Matt's family for Easter. Sadly, both Jack and myself were not feeling the greatest all weekend, but we had a good time and Jack showed off his new crawling skills! That's right, as of Friday, March 6th, we have a mobile monkey on our hands! He's mastered crawling and going from belly to sitting position, all in one day. Matt had been working crazy hours last week, so we pretty much didn't see him until Friday. So, I'm convinced Jack was waiting for daddy to crawl :0)

We've got a big, busy weekend coming up. Saturday night is Matt's dads big 50th bday party, and I think the boys are all going golfing before hand, which means we'll likely head up there Friday night and spend the night, so we're available to help set up. Then, Sunday is Jack's cousin Rylie's baptism and celebration afterwards. So, we're gonna be working really hard to get us all healthy by Friday! We'll be staying home for the most part, and airing out the house. Though, I only left the windows open for a second today....it got cold again!

As I mentioned, last weekend we hung out with Rylie and Christine snapped a few pictures of the 2 babies. The outside ones were done at their house, the ones of just Jack I took one afternoon here. Enjoy!

"It's a boy!"....

No, not an April fools joke!...those were the words we heard on this day one year ago! On April 1st, 2011 we had our 22 week ultrasound that confirmed what we were expecting: we were having a baby boy :0) The room was full of happy family members as we all looked to the screen where the ultrasound tech ("tech Tom" as we refered to him in the upcomming weeks since that's how he was listed on my appt sheet) showed us all the boy bits that confirmed the gender! We knew we'd call him Jack, it wasn't until weeks later that we decided on Martin as the middle name (for my maiden name, obviously). We went out and bought a few blue things, and the real fun of completing the registry started! This baby boy would turn out to be the best thing we've ever had happen to us, and I really cannot imagine loving anything or anyone as much, though I'm sure I will learn a few years down the road when #2 comes along!

Last week, Jack and I enjoyed a few outtings with the mommies from our mommy group and their babies. We had lunch at Red Robin where Jack was of course flirting with the waitress and "talking" (ok, more like screaming, but happy screams) to the other babies at the table. We also had a fun play group date with his friends. My parents were up for the day yesterday. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Lou Malnatis in downtown Naperville, and mostly just chilled around here the rest of the time since the weather was gloomy and Jack was a sleepy boy and took a 2hr nap in the morning and another 2hr nap in the afternoon! Unfortunately, I'm not feeling so hot today, sore throat and a headache. That, plus the questionable weather made me decide to keep Jack home with me while Matt plays his football game this afternoon. But, we're headed over to Chris, Christine, and Rylies after lunch to snap a few Easter pictures of the 2 babies and enjoy a nice dinner.

In other news: the clubhouse in our neighborhood is already booked the weekend of Jack's birthday. Soooo, I'm wondering what to do? Have 2 parties? Which would make it muuuuch easier for all of our family in Indiana to come. When to have those parties? Have one here for our Illinois family either the weekend before his bday (which is the weekend after the 4th), or the weekend after his bday, depending on availability of the clubhouse? And have his Indiana party the weekend of his birthday? But, where? My parents house? (news to my mom and dad that I'm thinking about this haha). So, lots of things to consider here. Everyone just loves him so much and can't wait to share his special day, so I've gotta figure this out, and soon!

We took a few cute pictures this weekend, I'll post those, along with some cute ones of Rylie and Jack from today (hopefully) early this week!

March Madness...

....No, NOT the basketball kind (though the last few minutes of that Purdue game last night were crazy, and disappointing), I'm talking about this weather madness! 80 degrees and sunny all last week?! And the first part of this week?! Well, aside from this morning's overcast/looking like it's going to rain any second (putting a damper on my plans to take a walk this morning) weather. This past week has been amazing. I'm loving this so much. Everyday I'm excited to wake up and get the little man outta bed so we can get our day started. We've played outside a lot, gone on many long walks (I even got brave and can handle Oscar aaaaand the stroller!), played in the pool a few times (he even liked it when the water was bath water temp!), and had lots of family fun.

We're finally over the mild respiratory infection Jack had last week, which was the cause of that pesky fever that stuck around for a week! Though now, with the onset of this nice weather, comes allergy season. I was so excited to get the house opened up and enjoy the fresh air, but my allergies could only take a few days of that. Our a.c. is on now :-(  It seems as though Jack might have been lucky enough to inherit some of his mom's terrible seasonal allergies, he's been sooo snotty! It's clear though, making me think that it's allergies. We turned the fans on and let the house air out for a few days, and right when we did that, his snot factory went into working overtime! He's in good spirits and doesn't seem to be too bothered by it, which is always nice. Me, on the other hand, I'm very high mantenance when it comes to allergies, can't have fans blowing on me at all. I had to sleep with the pillow pretty much over my face the other night since it was hot enough to have the fan on. But, I'm still loving this weather.

My grandma and mom were up one day last week, so we were able to take Jack and Oscar to the park to play for a bit. Jack loves the swings, and Oscar loves anything outside :-)  Our plans for St.Paddy's day fell through, so we ended up inviting Matt's brother Nick over, and the big boys threw around a football while Jack and I played in the water in his new pool. On Sunday everyone woke up feeling pretty crummy, but luckily as the day wore on, we got to feeling better. That was the boys' first flag football game of the season. Jack and I didn't go, but we all got together at Nick's place afterwards for a nice lunch with the whole family. I can't wait for the summer months that are sure to bring more fun weekends like this! We've got 2 weddings, a trip to a lakehouse for a long weekend, and some very important birthdays coming up in the next few months! I'll leave you with some pictures from the week and weekend: