To You, From Us

Number Six

Yesterday was our 6th anniversary. It started out a bit rough due to the fact that I've been letting myself get over stressed and overwhelmed lately, which usually means that Bry's going to have a bad day too.

Thankfully things got much better when I left to run errands and came back to a clean kitchen and a burned CD, old-school style, from Bry on the counter. He had collected pretty much all of the songs that have been part of our life together over the past six years. Our own little soundtrack...from Damien Rice to Carbon Leaf, Ben Harper to Cat Stevens. It's amazing how music can instantly take you back to different times and places. All of the sudden I was remembering our engagement, our first apartment on Purdue campus, our little old house in Broad Ripple...

The road hasn't looked exactly like we imagined and life has been harder than we thought it would be in a lot of ways, but we know that God is leading us somewhere beautiful. And the journey is part of it. I'm learning that no matter where we go from here, as long as we have Jesus and each other, we are home.

Thanks for six perfectly imperfect years with you, Babe. Here's to many more!

Conversations with Poppy

I love it when toddlers start to talk. It's just so much fun to hear what's on their mind and learn more about their completely unique personalities. I need to start writing down our conversations because I know if I don't then I'll forget these days and they'll be gone forever.

This week, Poppy informed me that she had "stinks in diaper." When I asked her why she didn't use the potty, she gave me one of her dramatic faces that she's so good at and said with a sigh, "Too tired a go potty." To which I replied (while trying not to laugh), "Well, then I guess it's time for a nap." Her answer to that was of course a quick and emphatic, "No, don't like it nap!"

And then later that day...

In passing I made the comment, "You're my buddy, Poppy. We have fun together, don't we?" I didn't expect her to answer, but without skipping a beat she looked at me with a big smile and said, "Yeah, two girls!"

I love that we get to spend our days as the two girls. And in three and a half months there will be three of us. That makes me very happy.

The Two Year Old

This Thanksgiving, Bry and I are thankful for our two-year old (among other things). 

She is our wild, charming, and completely precious little ginger who is growing up fast.

Andria did a beautiful job on pictures back in September, once again cooperating with me, as well as the helium balloons and heavy tricycle that I was determined to bring along. I finally picked one of the photos to make into a big print for Poppy's new bedroom. It was a tough choice.

Dear Poppy Louisa,

You have brought so much joy and sparkle to our lives.

We pray that you will know God intimately, 

and that He will take the glowing light inside of you

and shine it out into the dark places of the world. 

With all the love in our hearts,

Your Mom & Dad

Photo Shoot with the Littlest One

This is week 22 and our baby girl is apparently the size of a papaya already. Though I'm not sure how big a papaya is, I'd say it's about time that I posted some pictures of her. The OB office gave me a handy CD of the 20-week ultrasound, so I have no excuse.

Waving "hello" to the world

Looking very tiny and undernourished...but of course still cute

The Thinking Baby pose

And little, itty bitty feet!

It's a...

and we are so happy!

But even more important is the fact that she looks healthy and everything seems to be right on schedule. Praise God and bring on the ribbons and lace! 

Poor Bry...I don't know what he's going to do with all of this girly-ness.

How to Do Chicago on a Dime

DO:

1. First of all, find a lesser-known part of the city to explore rather than racking up expenses in The Loop, at museums, or shopping the Magnificent Mile. We chose Wicker Park and Bucktown.

2. Then stay somewhere nearby but not actually in Chicago for the first night of the weekend to save on hotel costs (preferably somewhere free, like your family's lake condo, for example). Enjoy the early morning sunrise before heading into the city. 

3. Find somewhere local and low-fuss for brunch (brunch means you can cut out a meal). Milk and Honey was an adorable, inexpensive little place where you order at the counter before filling your own cups and finding a table. Very efficient and very good.

4. Wander around the neighborhood. Admiring the architecture, the farmer's market, and the fall colors is entirely free and wonderful (plus good exercise).

5. When you're perusing the cute shops, keep your mind off of yourself. I'm proud to say that the only thing I bought the first day was this furry little rabbit for Poppy and her new room.

6. Find a bench and enjoy the view. People watching is also free, and this is a good time for chatting. Bry and I wrote out our own separate lists of 10 random questions to ask the other person over the weekend, so that gave us something fun to do whenever we had a spare minute or two.

7. Find local sites (that don't require admission) to visit. This is the Holy Trinity Polish church in Wicker Park's Polish neighborhood. We stopped by just in time for Sunday afternoon mass. The inside is even more beautiful than the outside, and though we couldn't understand anything due to the fact that it was all in Polish, it was a pretty cool experience. 

8. Go to the the Polish restaurant (Podhalanka) right around the corner from the church to complete the cultural experience. This place was ridiculously authentic. Like, the people who have been running the restaurant for the past 35 years still spoke Polish, and so did pretty much everyone else in there besides us. It was the kind of place that has dusty fake flowers, pictures of the Pope, and really good, homemade food.

The bill would have been quite reasonable if we hadn't let the hilarious waiter pick out our meal for us (things that "other restaurants will not give you") after he found out that we'd never been there and were very hungry. Though we tried valiantly, we couldn't finish it all. But we very much enjoyed our waiter, as well as our placki Ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), golabki (stuffed cabbage), pierogi (assorted stuffed dumplings), and nalesniki (cheese blintzes...umm, these things were out-of-control good). Not pictured: two big bowls of jarzynowa (vegetable) and zurek (sour borstch) soup. Oh, and he also brought us their special "tea." When I asked the waiter what was in it he said that he couldn't tell me, which is why they call it the KGB tea.

9. Go to a bookstore, pick out a book and a quiet corner on the top floor, and read for a while. This is Myopic Books, the biggest used bookstore in Chicago. I found a selection of C.S. Lewis essays and learned about "The Efficacy of Prayer." I had to pull Bry away from an apparently riveting book on the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

10. Stay in a hostel. But splurge on your own private room and bathroom. 

OK, so I have mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand it was new, clean, Ikea-esque, and in a beautiful old building. It was also fun to once again be the only ones speaking English at breakfast. However, it kind of weirded me out to have two sets of bunkbeds in our room, and the walls were not insulated enough, which meant that pregnant people (such as myself) may find it very difficult to get any sleep at all while the late-night party goes on in the lounge upstairs. But I've always wanted to stay in a hostel, so I'm glad we did...though I'm not sure it counts if you get a private room.

11. Go to the expensive french restaurant (Le Bouchon) with the cute French-looking waitress for lunch instead of dinner, and then get something small. Loved this place...definitely worth it. 

DO NOT:

1. Try out every local coffee shop that you see. This is especially difficult on cold, rainy days when you have very little else on the itinerary.

After a brutal two days of taste-testing, first place goes to Caffe Streets and their amazing chai. I really wish I knew how they made it. I actually took off the lid and licked the foam from this cup, it was that good.

2. Decide on ducking into just one or two more shops before heading home, while your sweet and obliging husband waits patiently outside. This may or may not result in finding a Free People dress on the sale rack that is just "such a good price" that you can't resist.

3. Also, do not wear shoes that become so unbearably uncomfortable that you simply MUST buy a new pair of black boots (with a much more comfortable wedge heel) to make it through the next day.

So there you have it. An affordable, completely relaxing way to enjoy Chicago. And now we have a new little corner of the world that we love.

A Walk in the Park

 Turns out, there are still places around town that we haven't been. 

This is Eagle Creek Park...following one of the walking paths along the lake.

Poppy called this one the "Daddy leaf"

 Lovely October Saturday. 

Chilly enough for hats, a thermos of tea, and falling leaves,
but sunny enough to keep us happy.

Autumn suits the little ginger.

The reason this side of the lake is so serene is because it's the bird sanctuary.

Notice the nice flock of white something-or-others behind Poppy and Bry.

The walking path actually cuts through the middle of the lake to section off the protected area, which makes for a very nice view on either side.

This place is less than 10 minutes from our house.
So why in the world haven't we been here before?

We found a quiet little table by the water and have plans for a picnic next.

So Much "To Do"

It seems that my "To Do Before Baby" list has been growing instead of shrinking. But since the nursery is painted, the crib is set up, and there is no registering or baby shower this time around, most of the items on the list have more to do with the big sister than they do the new little one.

Which is actually more daunting.

For example...

To Do Before Baby

• Rid Poppy of her beloved bedtime pacifiers
• Potty-training...sigh
• Somehow figure out how to keep Poppy from scribbling on the walls, foraging in the pantry, or experimenting with our bathroom supplies whenever I'm not in the room (which will be a lot more often once baby #2 is here)
• Start taking Poppy to the dentist...and I suppose that means I should be brushing her teeth regularly too
• Get a photo book or two of Poppy printed before a new wave of baby pictures comes in
• Find a magical solution for Poppy's ever-increasing attitude problems...Overall she is delightful, but the terrible two's have brought along some not-so-lovely tantrums, physical aggressiveness, and overall obedience/boundary issues. (consistent, godly discipline is not for the faint of heart)
• Move Poppy from her crib to her new "big girl room"
• Spend some focused time away with Bry (without spending any money)
• Find out what we're having! (which means waiting rather impatiently for the 26th)

Notice that only one of these is crossed off. Any helpful suggestions would be most welcome.

On a Dark and Rainy Night...

Bry's birthday was last weekend. I had this great idea to surprise him by taking him to the Bluffton Street Fair since he always used to go for his birthday as a kid and hasn't gone in years. So after leaving very late and getting caught in traffic we finally arrive in Bluffton with high hopes, only to discover that it's...raining. And that was just the beginning of our disappointments.

Bry decided that first he wanted to take me to Bummies, a drive in burger place he always used to go to in high school after basketball games, or tennis practice, or something like that. We get there and find it dark and sad and completely closed for the night. 

Never mind. Onward to the fair. Only at this point it's rather dismal and cold and all the booths are shutting down early because there are hardly any people there besides us. No pineapple whip for the birthday boy. Not that we would have enjoyed ice cream in that weather anyway. 

We decided on hot apple cider instead to cheer our spirits. Nope. That was closed too.

Well, at least I could try the mouse game that I've heard so much about. it was open, but I didn't win, and the thrill lasted a total of two and a half seconds because I put all my quarters down at once. Another letdown.

But the evening wasn't all depressing. We had fun walking around and getting rained on with Bry's brother, Nick. And we also had the best homemade soft pretzel that I've ever had in my entire life. That alone may have been worth the drive. 

Here's to hoping that you have a better birthday next year, Babe.

"You are Loved"

This is a post about a few things I love.

I love my sister Kaitlin.

I love art.

And I love my daughter Poppy.

A couple of months ago, some very nice friends of ours gave Bry and I a Groupon to attend a local art class. (thank you Morgan and Kyra!) And as much as I would have enjoyed using this for a date night with Bry (whom I also love), he didn't seem overly enthusiastic about exploring his inner artistic self. 

So I came up with a new plan...with this girl here.

Our cute little work table at the art studio.

Kaitlin named this one "Death by Paintbrush."

 And I love how the background behind us here shows the chaos from which art emerges.

 Our finished masterpieces.

I decided to make something for Poppy and our future little ones to remind them of how much they are loved, by the people placed in their life and by God. And it has been a good reminder for me too. You can't read it very well in photos, but the letters are cut from pages in an old book and spell out the phrase "you are loved."

It was so much fun putting together paint, yarn, tissue paper, fabric and metal hardware. And of course it's always fun to spend an evening with one of my very best friends.

The painting in its new home on the nursery wall.