Kinnick--9 Months

Since I've gone back to work, I haven't had much time to blog... I started this update in August and am just now getting it finished! It's been hard going back to work, but I'm slowly getting into a routine.

Kinnick is getting SO big! He is still very easy going and very smiley! We have a lot of fun with him. One thing I really appreciate about him is his ability to entertain himself. We call him "Dora" sometimes b/c he loves to explore. He is so content crawling around the house. He loves to crawl back to the toy corner to find things to play with and he also loves to play in his sister's room.


Kinnick has got to enjoy lots of sweets before his 1st birthday that Sadie did not! He LOVES popsicles! He screams at his sister if she tries to take a bite of his!

He loves to get into Wrigley's crate most anytime he is in the kitchen. He also likes to play with Wrigley's food and water bowls. If Wrigley is in his crate, he loves to stand up next to him and "talk" to him.

Kinnick continues to love meal time. Some of his favorite foods include: bananas, yogurt, graham crackers, and fruit of any kind. We are still waiting on his 1st tooth to pop up, but it hasn't hindered his ability to scarf food!

Some of Kinnick's other accomplishments include:

• Crawling up on his hands & knees (I'm sad that I never got his "belly crawl" captured on video. I do really well w/ still pics, not so much w/ video!)
• Waving bye-bye
• Standing on his own--he can now do this for 10-20 seconds at a time!
• Saying "Dada" (I can tell "Mama" is coming any day now!)
• Take steps while holding our hands and walking behind push toys--he really gets going!

Navy Pier

I had to go back to work this past Wednesday. On Monday, Marc took the day off so we could have one more family day before I started school. We had originally wanted to take the kids to the beach, but due to the forecast, we opted for Navy Pier instead. We packed a picnic lunch, stopped by Marc's bank on the way, and had a great day... Sadie LOVED it and Kinnick enjoyed himself also.

Sadie loved walking along the pier, seeing ducks, looking at the water, and looking at the tall buildings. She kept asking "Are we going in one of those tall buildings?" We're excited to take her to the Sears Tower or Hancock Bldg. soon!

Sadie and I went up in the giant ferris wheel. (We were planning on all 4 of us going, but thought it was ridiculous to pay $6 for Kinnick to ride...) Sadie stood on her seat and looked out the window the entire time. When we were close to the top, I told her we should look for Daddy and she spotted him in a few seconds (before me)! She said "I see Daddy with the double stroller!" She was also very impressed with the "little cars" driving on the rode.

After we enjoyed being outside for awhile, we headed in to the Children's Museum. I was very excited to find out that teacher's get in free! We spent about an hour and half in here exploring different exhibits. They even had a whole section for children under 5 with little play areas for non-walkers.

Both of the kids loved this water room. It was a lot bigger than the one in Bloomington. Sadie spent forever in here and didn't want to leave. She was soaked (even with the cute little water coats they had). Kinnick loved putting his hands in the water also!

We walked by this craft table where a teacher was directing a little activity. Sadie really wanted to do this. She enjoyed it so much that we had to drag her away to see some more!

The kids spent a lot of timing digging in this dinosaur exhibit. Kinnick loved crawling in the rubber chips and Sadie was excited about the little brushes and the vests and tool belts they had. She was also very particular about putting everything back in its place before we left!

At the end of our trip we enjoyed some ice cream.

Both kids were asleep within minutes of leaving the parking garage! It was a tiring, but fun day! I'm glad we did on Monday so I still had a day to rest up.

And the BIG News...

Gorsch Baby #3 is on the way!

We suspected I might be pregnant in mid/late June. We finally bought a test on July 2nd. Even with our suspicions, we were pretty surprised! It didn't take long for the excitement to set in. I really had no idea of my due date so we anxiously awaited (for 6 whole weeks!) our first doctor's appointment. By the time the appointment finally got here (last Thursday), there was no question I was pregnant! I have made the switch to maternity bottoms and have been throwing up on a very regular basis--not to mention the complete exhaustion! At our appointment we got to hear the heartbeat and see our little sweetie kicking and moving around. We found out that he or she will be joining us in mid-February.

Although this little baby will be coming several months before we were really planning, we've been very reassured that this is God's timing. Even though summer has been a bit harder than I planned, I'm glad the first trimester is coming to an end in time for school to start (tomorrow). Before this pregnancy I really desired to have twins, but I rest assured that God has not given me more than I can handle. We shared the news with Sadie last week and she has been excitedly telling everyone "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!" I think it will be a long wait for her... Marc and I are continuing to find peace in the fact that God has planned our family exactly as he meant it to be.

Sadie's Room

Sadie switched to a toddler bed about 2 months before Kinnick was born, however she was still in the nursery. In February, we did the big room switch... moving Kinnick into the nursery (from a bassinet in our room) and Sadie downstairs to her "big girl" room. I was pretty nervous about having her on a different level than us, but it has worked out really well. She LOVED playing in her room--by herself, with Kinnick, with Wrigley, and with friends! We've been working on finishing touches for awhile now and I finally got around to taking pictures of both of their rooms!
We were able to keep her nursery bedding for her toddler bed. Same curtains and rug, but we added a few new things!

Sadie is pretty picking about how her toys are put away--they have to be in the correct bin. I wonder why she is like that?

We got this dresser from my parents. I added "pink princess" knobs to make it a bit more girlie!

Sadie got some "big girl" toys for Christmas, so it was great to be able to put them in her room.

Sadie's door... I LOVE it!

These are the same letters we had in her nursery. Our friends Megan & Jeremy made them when she was born--I absolutely love them!

I saw this idea in a magazine and always meant to do it in her nursery. This is hanging inside her closet door. We have all of her socks, underwear, swimsuits, tights, jewelry, and HAIRBOWS in here. We also have some shoes, sheets, blankets, etc. in the bigger pockets toward the bottom.

This toy box was Marc's when he was little. Marc repainted and added the chalkboard paint to the lid. I added the flowers! Sadie has a rubbermaid container of chalk that she keeps in her toy box. She loves coloring from time to time and is very responsible with it!

Kinnick's Room

Here are picks from Kinnick's room...

"Every child is a story yet to be told."

What a long name!

Right inside his door... A framed picture of Wrigley Field (this was a puzzel Marc and I did our first year of marriage!) The baseball holder was Marc's when he was little.

Chuck E. Cheese

Last week we took the kids to Chuckie Cheese (their first time!) We went w/ our friends Ryan & Liz and their kids, Carson & Megan. We had a great time (especially the grown-up boys!) Sadie LOVED playing games with her dad and Kinnick enjoyed taking it all in as usual. Of course we ate pizza and the kids got to see Chuckie...

Sadie loved feeding the tickets into the machine and when it was time to pick prizes she wanted all candy! She finally settled on a cute bracelet, tattoos for her and her friends, and of course some candy!

Road Trip

During one of our recent car rides, Sadie made a bit of a mess... We were riding along and Marc said "What's that smell?" I looked at him and said, "It smells like baby powder." I immediately turned to Sadie to see that she had gotten the travel powder out of the diaper bag and had a little fun! Luckily this has been her only powder mess so far (knock on wood!)

During the same trip, Kinnick had some oreo cracker crisps for a snack... this was his chocolate face:

My Little Dirt Eater!

Matthiessen State Park

The first weekend in August we took a hiking trip. We typically go to Starved Rock, so we decided to try something different. This park is right next too Starved Rock... it's not as "touristy" but we thought it was beautiful and a ton of fun! The day we went ended up to be a bit rainy. It actually felt cold as we started off in the morning. It was sprinkling lightly, but we were under enough tree cover that we stayed pretty dry. This park is famous for it's waterfalls. We only hiked one portion of it and got to see one big waterfall and lots of little ones where the stream trickled down. I had taken mine and Sadie's water shoes, but since it was our first time we decided not to try that out--next time we will defiantly wear them to walk in the stream!

This was when we first made it down to the water.

Sadie loved putting her hands in!

Marc and Kinnick hiking across the stream. (At this particular juncture, Marc and I went different ways each w/ a kid. We both thought our way was the best. I guess he won b/c I ended up w/ one soaked shoe!)

One of the little falls.

We hiked by the bottom of this fall, then went up a stairway to get another view.

Sadie enjoying the fall!

This was the biggest fall we saw on this day. I think there are one or two more big ones--we will check it out another day, anyone want to come?

Picking Blueberries

Last summer some friends of ours told us about this blueberry/Christmas tree farm that isn't too far from Streator. The lady said they go every summer and pick blueberries and she freezes alot. I thought this sounded like fun and we LOVE blueberries, so I made it a goal to go this summer.

Last week we made the trip to Tammen Treeberry Farm. We invited our friends Megan & Emma to go along. Emma is just a few months older than Sadie. We took Kinnick to the babysitter's and made it a girl's day. When we got there, we were a bit overwhelmed b/c it was really a parking lot, just a lot cars parking wherever they could find a space. I was surprised at how many people were there... We got our buckets first. There were lots of workers making sure everyone knew where to go. They told us to start in a new row and that we had to walk all the way to the end--that was an adventure! It was a bit like trekking through the jungle. The girls were able to walk under most of the branches... after at least 5 minutes, we could see the light on the other side! We determined that there had to be an easier way back when we were done!

The girls got into picking right away--they did better than I anticipated! I hoped to fill up our whole bucket (12-15 lbs.) at first, but soon realized that wouldn't happen. We made it almost half way and Sadie ate at least a couple lbs. herself! She LOVED picking them and eating them. She also liked carrying the bucket around and talking to the people around us. It was a very fun experience and I'm sure we will go back again!

Sadie started out picking them and putting them right into her mouth. Every once in awhile she would throw some in the bucket. By the end, she sat down beside the bucket and started eating the blueberries I was picking!

Sadie & Emma

When we finished picking, we got to go for a wagon ride. The girls really enjoyed this. They didn't take us anywhere, just drove around for something fun for the kids to do.