Hallowe'en

I always love to see how much he's grown.

October 2010

October 2011

This year, Wesley was a dragon for Halloween. We tried it on him a few weeks before, and he freaked out with the claws on his hands and feet and refused to have the dragon hat on. So we left it out the whole time for him to get used to and on Saturday we Trick or Treated in our downtown area and he was fine in his costume and hat. And Monday, he insisted on wearing the hat the whole time, even when he was in the house.

First time all dressed up

Saturday

Ready to go!

Is this my house?

Painting the house has begun!

I've been so nervous about this color that when it actually started to go up, I drove past the house about 10 times looking at it to make sure I liked it. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm wacko.

As of today, they painted the garage door, garage front, 2nd story front, and most of the west side. And I have to say ... I love it. Brown/Cream, what's not to love. When the accent color starts going up, that'll be a few more drive pasts (I love the gold but it makes me nervous, as usual).

Ol' Blue Eyes

Move over Frank Sinatra

Falling in Love ...

...with Fall

And this weekend, we had my in-laws in town. Too bad it was so cold (the weekend before was ideal).

Surprise!

We've been trying, but it's always a surprise to see that + sign!

I tested at 3w5d -- pretty early, but I wanted to start my progesterone as soon as possible (since I don't know at what point my levels can't sustain a pregnancy).  Today I am 5w3d -- still very early but I am still posting since I did last time, and I believe in full disclosure.

I am no longer considered high-risk by my OB. So I was promptly put on progesterone, but no blood tests to check levels and no early ultra sounds like last time. I could have requested them, but I didn't.  My first doctor's appointment is at 8 weeks. The morning sickness is helping me stay positive that this will be a viable pregnancy, since I'm feeling like I did with Wesley, but there is always worry.

But we are very excited, too, at the prospect of a new baby and that Wesley will be a big brother. I know that it'll be tough having 2 children not even 2 years apart, but I'm not getting any younger. In fact I was thrilled when I calculated the due date ... JUNE 15, 2012 ... and I'll still be 36 even if the baby goes overdue.

Praying hard for our little June-bug!

22 years later, we became moms

We met 22 years ago, when we were spindly-legged freshmen. Since then our lives have taken many turns --somewhere in college we drew apart, then we grew back together after college, then I moved and our lives went their separate way again -- different jobs, different friends, different lives ...

 ... but as fate would have it, she moved back nearby and we rekindled a great friendship. And then ... we had our baby boys exactly 1 year, 1 week apart. Who would have guessed that one?

To many more years, and may our sons be best buds!

5K race en famille

Along with my 2 cousins and my cousins boyfriend, Matt, Wesley, & I did our first 5K as a family -- the Fall Color 5K a the Morton Arboretum  -- last weekend.

Matt's been running 5Ks since 1997 (he proudly showed me his first t-shirt from that race, stashed away in his "memories" pile), and most recently (April 2011) did a 1/2 Marathon. He was going to run this race too, but after a nasty spill down the stairs (where Wes was in his arms and he landed in the ER afterwards), he decided to "walk" it with me.

Our "official" photo - we look terrible

 After all the runners, a big sign was posted "Walkers with Strollers" - that was us! So the 3 of us did our first ever 5K, and even if Matt felt a little lame walking it (we did run some, and even did Mile 2 in 13 min), we hoofed it up and down those hills, through the beautiful Arboretum, passing people left and right and we finished pretty good.  45 minutes 10 seconds. Not bad walking with a stroller - and we beat our goal of a 15 min mile -- our pace was 14:33.

Getting to the starting line

Wesley, aside from not wanting to wear his cute hat, was great in the stroller and even slept a little.  At one point, though, when I said, "We can do this next year," I swear that he gave me a dirty look.  Next year, he can run the kids race -- they start at 2 years old.

Farm

Saturday, Wesley was invited to a "Down on the Farm"-themed birthday party. They had a petting zoo and Pony rides -- we didn't have stuff like this when we were kids!

Wesley had gotten close to goats before at the Zoo, but this was very up close and personal. And the zoo not only had goats, but lambs, ducks, rabbits, and 1 really cute small chicken.

And this picture cracks me up; if you can tell, he's got both lambs butts with his hands and was smacking them. He was so happy.

The Pony was adorable -- his name was Tobey -- and with Mama's help, Wesley got to take 2 trips around their front yard. The second time, he actually started yelping out loud, his version of "Giddee-up."

Not recommended - for me or Wesley!

Lurie Garden

Friday, my mom and I took Wesley downtown to visit Millennium Park and the Lurie Garden. It was an absolutely beautiful October day and we had a delicious lunch at Terzo Piano inside the Art Institute that overlooked Millennium Park. The only downside to the day was that Matt couldn't meet up with us -- his new job is keeping him very busy.

By the Face Fountains

Lurie Garden: An Urban Oasis

I loved the granite walkways

Amazing view

My lunch - Farro Salad

On the rooftop of the restaurant/Art Institute

End to a lovely afternoon

Where does your money go?

We've been tracking our expenses since the day we got married; this is what happens when you're married to a finance-man ... only except I'm the one who does all the tracking ... waitaminute!

Anyway, once I left full-time employment where someone pays me, to full-time employment (i.e. Mommy) where no one pays me, I became somewhat of a vigilante when it came to spending.  So to see that we're on track with our expenses, I built a graph to see what our Top expenses are/were in 2010-2011).

 2011 (so far):  1. Mortgage (of course)   2. Home (more renovations this year)   3. Taxes (Property, of course)  4. Groceries (we're now cooking more, no more dining out)   5. Baby   6. Utilities

2010:  1. Mortgage (of course)   2. Auto (we paid off our car)   3. Taxes (property, of course they keep going up)   4. Dining (I was pregnant, who wants to cook?)   5. Home   6. Utilities

So ... where does all your money go? Do you know? You might be shocked.

Revolutionary War, reenactment

A few weekends ago we took Wesley to a Revolutionary War reenactment. I had never been to one ... Civil War, yes, but not Revolutionary.

This reminds me of a story ....

An old colleague of mine was (and still is) a Civil War re-enacter and lent me a gown so I could join her and their Artillery group at a local reenactment. I was 24 and so excited about wearing a hoop skirt, until I had to get it on - alone, in my appartment.  All my petticoats were falling to my knees as I made my way through the camps looking for her group. Being a woman, I stopped and asked directions and they asked me, "Confederate or Union?" I just blankly stared back, I did take U.S History in High School ... anything? anything?  Nope. 

"There from the North," I answered.
"You want the Union [idiot], this is the Confederacy Camp."  

I walked away confused, why would there even be people from the Confederacy here, aren't we in Illinois?  You would never have guessed I graduated with honors. I was a 24-year old idiot in a hoop skirt with my petticoats now at my ankles.

Back to the Revolutionary ...

It was a lot of fun (and I missed being all dressed up) and educational.  Wesley got up close and personal with ...

Canons

And the men who use them

Children's Toys

And the kids who play with them

Scotsmen who fought for the Americans

And Scotsmen who fought for the King - loyalists

The British

and Gunsmoke

Drummer Boy

My brother has a full set of drums in my parents basement; and since Wesley was a baby, we'd sit him on the chair and help him bang on them. He's definitely gotten the hang of it because here he is, showing off his mad drum skills -- "or channeling his inner-Ringo Starr" -- right before he turned 14 months.

Exterior Remodeling

We have one more inside project to do on our house and then we can move on to the exterior.

Our last project is our Master Bedroom -- new hardwood floors & trim, and we're breaking the wall between our 2 - 4' closets and making one very large closet. That will get started on Monday and I am very excited to get this all finished at last. This means Matt, Wesley, and I will be shacking up in the spare bedroom for a while. It'll feel like we're on vacation (at a really cheap motel).

Our exterior projects have gone through many evolutions -- from getting new siding to not getting new siding, from replacing windows to not replacing windows, to getting a new garage door to ... you get the picture. We've discussed, bantered, argued, crunched numbers, chatted up people, got opinions... I'm now mentally exhausted and we haven't even started.

House colors:

Linen White: Trim/ garage door

Whitall Brown: House

Princeton Gold: Front door, side door (any other accent)

  So in the end, we are going to:

1. Paint the aluminum: We couldn't afford the siding we really wanted (fiber cement or cedar) and we did not want vinyl. So after some research, painting the aluminum will give our house a more economical face-lift. We're also going to paint our brick front.

2. Replace the windows: I didn't want to replace windows since ROI is so low on them. But our gliders all have added on storm windows which make them stick out from our house and now the trim around is rotting. We could just re-clad them from the outside, but they are 35+ years old. We said the money we're saving on siding can go into the windows. Right now we're looking at Marvin Ultimate/Integrity mix or Anderson 400s vinyl/ /aluminum clad. The prices we're getting are astronomical so we haven't sealed any deals yet.

3. Re-finish the garage door: Another place to save money. Our door is actually good quality, so we're going to have it scraped/sanded and re-painted.

4. Other: New window trims, tear down the back porch (to be built another time), new front door, power wash soffits...

In the end it might look something like this. (They don't have 70' split-level as a housing choice)

This is with Whitall brown

This is with Clinton Brown (a darker variation) - better?

We just decided to get this project finished this year before we add on to our family, and after 6 years here we think it's time.