Garage Sale!

This weekend we held our 2nd annual garage sale. I spend most of last week getting ready for the sale--sorting through closets & clothes put away in the basement and pricing things for our sale. Sadie loved to help! I showed her how to use stickers--very popular! We played a game where I would hand her a dot sticker and tell her a body part to stick it on. She loved doing this! Every time she sees a sheet with those dot stickers she wants to play. I love watching her...

Finger Painting

There are many "first moments" that I imagine witnessing with my children. In my head they always go a certain way, but real life rarely matches my imagination! Finger painting with Sadie was one such instance...

I have been wanting to let Sadie try finger painting all summer. I brought some paints home from my classroom, but after thinking it through I decided this might be a fun project to do at school instead. Friday morning I needed to run to school and pick up something from my room so I decided to make a morning of it and let Sadie finger paint and play on the playground. I got a paint shirt on her, laid out newspapers, got the paints ready, etc. What's the first thing Sadie does? She put a HUGE handful of paint in her mouth. I wiped it off, explained again that we do not eat the paint, and showed her how to smear it on the paper. She enjoyed about two minutes of painting (and sneaking some more paint into her mouth) when she suddenly burst into tears--who knows, maybe the paint didn't taste good! Needless to say I cleaned her up and decided we would wait a few months before we try again... I did learn an important lesson--I should wear a paint shirt also! I was covered in finger paint. Well at least this year I can assure my parents the paint is truly non-toxic AND washable--we field tested it!

Galena Trip

This weekend Marc and I took a trip to Galena with Andy & Lindsey. Marc's parents came to our house for the weekend to stay with Sadie. We planned this trip as a get-away to celebrate our anniversary. Marc and I stayed at Farmer's Guest House 2 years ago for our 1st anniversary and we loved it! It was even better this time staying with friends... They have a fantastic breakfast each morning & a wine and cheese time each evening.

We left Friday morning and stopped for lunch on our way to Galena. This guest house has a small cottage located directly behind it, that's where the 4 of us stayed--it was GREAT! Friday night we went on a "Ghost Tour" and learned some interesting history about Galena. Afterwards we went out for a late dinner. Saturday we toured the home of President Ulysses S. Grant, shopped, had lunch, and relaxed at the B & B. It was great to hang out, read, and play games. We were enjoying it so much that we cancelled our dinner reservations and ordered pizza--we also enjoyed the outdoor hot tub (well--I just put my feet in :) Sunday after we had breakfast & checked out we did a little more shopping and had lunch at a great Italian place. It was hard to leave after such a great a weekend (but great to get home and kiss Sadie!)

This is the U.S. Grant home.

This is "Annie Lloyd Cottage" where we stayed.

Pretty Princess

I bought this yellow dress for Sadie last year on "end of summer" clearance (pretty much like I'm buying a lot of her clothes for next summer right now!) I hadn't put it on her yet because it wasn't one of my favorite in her 30+ dresses. I put it on for church last Sunday and I couldn't get over how cute she looked! I think she looks very pretty in yellow with her blond hair...

Sadie enjoys going to church. She likes to play with her little friends in the nursery and she usually brings home a bible picture that she's colored (with about 3 or 4 marks!) She always has her shoes off & her hair pulled out when we go to pick her up. Last week she got a sucker from the 2's & 3's teacher and she LOVED that! She also enjoys running around the hallway and foyer before we leave, saying "Hi!" to everyone--whether she knows them or not!

Hiking at Starved Rock

Saturday morning we decided to go for a hike... This was the first time Sadie rode in the back-pack hiker. She wasn't sure at first, but she enjoyed it. It didn't take her long to figure out how to climb her feet up daddy's back to try and get out! She also discovered toward the end of our hike that she could pull daddy's ears and take his sunglasses--this was great fun for her! With Marc carrying our 23 pound baby and me carrying our 1lb. 2 oz. baby, we were tired after about an 1 1/2 hours of hiking. On our way home we stopped at a small local ice cream/hot dog place for lunch. It was a great morning! Sadie & Daddy
Looking out at the river...
On "Eagle's Lookout" overlooking the river.

5 month belly!
Sadie & Mommy
At the end of our hike, we let Sadie out to walk--she loved exploring the trail!
Daddy found her a "walking stick"--she proudly carried it until she broke it.
Enjoying a grape slushy after our hike!

Meeting Baby Micah

Sadie and I traveled to Indianapolis last week to spend a few days with Neil, Amy, & Micah. This was our first time meeting baby Micah, so we were very excited! It was also fun to see Sadie interacting with someone younger (and a boy!) For the most part they did really well together. There were a few times that Sadie became a bit overwhelming for Micah, but who can blame him--she's overwhelming for us too! Besides just hanging out and relaxing, we enjoyed swimming, shopping, a trip to the park, and even some adult time while Sadie & Micah napped! It was a great trip...

Sadie & Micah at the pool.
Just hanging out (after a LONG day of shopping!)
Enjoying a fudge pop!
Kisses for Micah.

Sadie LOVED this park. She found lots of little tunnels to crawl through (I did NOT join her!)
Down the slide...
Swinging...

It's a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Yesterday was our ultrasound. I was very excited and nervous to find out. I didn't really have an expectation and I knew I would be overjoyed either way, but I can't explain the excitement I felt when I know it was a boy. About 5 minutes into our ultrasound (after seeing all those oh-so-important parts) our tech finally asked us if we wanted to know. OF COURSE! She said "Well, I think it's a boy, but we're going to get a closer look." Sure enough the little guy gave us a clear shot of his manhood! (I've heard that boys enjoy to do that at even this young age...)

After our appointment, we had a long day of car shopping (I'll share more of that later...) and I couldn't resists making a final stop at Children's Place. I can't even describe how much fun it was to walk in and go to the "Boy's Side". It was so great to shop for baby boy clothes (and believe it or not, I didn't buy a single thing for Sadie today!) Of course I wanted to get a little 0-3 outfit, but the bargain shopper in me couldn't resist all the great deal on clothes for next summer--I got all of this stuff for $22! What a great day...