The Big 3!

Reilly turned 3 years old on Sunday. I can't believe I have a 3-year-old, but at the same time, I can't believe he's only been around for 3 years. It seems forever since this day:
















But not that long since this one:
And it seems like this was only yesterday!
He has been very excited about his birthday, his birthday cake, and his presents. As you can't tell from this picture...
It took us a good 30 minutes of sitting with the cake in front of us to get the webcam connected and working (it needed a software update on the other end) with Grandma and Grandpa Weech for the blowing out of the candles.
Jeremy's mom flew in for the occasion. Well, mostly just a happy coincidence that her visit happened to be on her birthday, but it's been fun so far! We weren't sure if the kids, especially Jaina, were going to survive the wait...
We sang lots of songs, eventually DID get the camera working, and then the birthday fun began!
We are very excited for Reilly's 3rd year. He's grown up so much lately, and can do (and say) so many things. Happy Birthday, Reilly!

My new friend

Actually, we were introduced almost 9 months ago, at Christmas time. And we got together once in January, but then things got busy and the relationship was just too complicated for me.
Actually, this is kind of how I felt when we tried to hang out together:

But I've been more dedicated lately, and we decided to give it another try. We spent about 5 hours together today, and things are looking up. I feel like we finally understand each other, and that there might be a future for this friendship. Wish us luck! :)



My first pattern ever. And one I had to follow directions (from the internet) for and actually create myself.
My first "pieces" that I sewed together.
















Yes, I forgot to put the apron strings inside before I sewed it shut and turned it inside out. Had to improvise the first one a little bit... That's the nice thing about having two children: I get to practice on the first one and make improvements for the second. ;-)
The finished product: (no, I don't know why it decided to turn sideways)














You won't see any live models until Christmas time... or Jaina's birthday, close to Christmas. I haven't decided when they're getting these.
In general, it was a great first "project" for me. I've done a few blankets, and one quilt, but always with close supervision. I had to be very patient with myself, and remind myself that all the mistakes and do-overs were a necessary part of the learning process. I think I've learned to put the foot down before I start sewing now, and I'm pretty sure I will be better about checking to see if the mat is under my rotary cutter from now on (R.I.P. nice dish towel)... It was fun, and rewarding, but took so long! (possibly because I'm not very experienced at ANY part of the process. Even my iron and I hadn't spent any time together in a few months before this...) It also made a mess, but at least unlike cooking, there weren't any dishes to deal with! :)

Yes, that is also my new cell phone in the right hand corner. I have been using Jeremy's really old one for like the last 8-9 months, so I was very excited to get this one! (and, it's purple... that never hurts)

The temple and one of Those days

The Gila Valley Temple (in Arizona, where we're from) got its Angel Moroni statue today! That's just crazy, because when we were there in July, they were just working on the foundation... Anyway, it's cool. And we don't know WHEN we'll get to see it, but here's a nice picture from some nice person who happened to be there:

Today has been less than thrilling. Maybe because it started at 2:30 am when Reilly couldn't sleep very well all of a sudden. He got up 3-4 times between then and 4:30, (to "go potty!" ha.) and then Jeremy took over from 4:30 to 6:30, when Reilly got up for the day. I'm not sure what he did in that time period, except I know he played some (while Jeremy laid on his floor) and they both slept some. Anyway, the kids and I have been cranky and whiny all day, and they both got naps and I didn't. He fell asleep in the car around noon and slept (in his bed) for 2 hours. And now it's 8:45 and he's not sleepy and keeps coming out. I seriously can't wait until he is a teenager and I have to try to get HIM out of bed. Payback, I swear.

In other news, he said some funny things in the last couple of days. He got hurt the other day and I was holding him and loving him and he turned his little tear-stained face around, held up his fist and said "fist pound?" (He likes to high five, fist pound, and touch fingers for some reason - but I didn't know such things could be comforting...) Yesterday when we were going to pick up Jeremy, Reilly had all sorts of opinions about which way I should be turning the cars and which roads I should be taking. (not uncommon) He said he didn't want to pick up daddy, so I asked him "where did you think we should go, then?" "Um, we need to go to the temple. Can we go to the temple?" And the gem from this evening was "I don't like pasta. It's too dangerous." (he most definitely does like pasta...)

Here are recent pics:

Jaina, looking so BIG!

The kids "playing croquet"

At the zoo Friday:

Leaving Chicago

I'm finding that title slightly ironic, since Jeremy has been to Chicago and back again since we "left" Chicago...
Friday morning we went to the mall for a few hours, (especially enjoying the Disney Store) and then grabbed some lunch and left for home. Pretty exciting, huh? Hopefully none of you were hanging in suspense over the last several days wondering what else we did in Chicago. :)

Chicago Trip Day 3

On Friday we took the kids to the John G. Shedd Aquarium in downtown Chicago.

First we drove around for 30 minutes looking for an ATM or cash back, then spent like 45 minutes in traffic before we got there... The kids seemed to really enjoy it for the most part, though Reilly was most just eagar to see the dolphins until we finally did... They liked the penguins, and the turtles, and the Beluga whales, and all the fish. :) Here are some pictures of them in the penguin play area:

We ate lunch out on the terrace with an AMAZING view - here it is, put together from 4 pictures that Jeremy took (click for a larger pic):

After about 3-4 hours we had pretty much seen everything we wanted to. The walk to the downtown area was about a mile, but there was a lot to see, and we mostly enjoyed it. Halfway there we got to enjoy the awesome, newly refurbished Buckingham Fountain.

Jaina was fast asleep, and didn't get to see it.

The kids' favorite part of the day was probably the Crown Fountain. Once we convinced Reilly to walk in the water, he had a blast.

We think he woke up Jaina, and she loved it too. It was a pretty warm day for Chicago, and a little humid, so after our mile hike it felt wonderful.

To see a picture of the Crown Fountain, go here...

We also enjoyed the Kapoor Sculpture (I just found out it's called that - I think we called it the bean sculpture)...

After that we had an early dinner at Giordano's (Chicago style pizza) and the kids did relatively well. At that point we were pretty tired out and started the walk back to our car. We walked closer to the lake shore this time, and it was nice, other than Reilly really needing to go potty, and there not being anywhere for him to go...

The trip back to Oak Brook was a little long, but we went immediately to check out our hotel's indoor pool, and swam with the kids for about 45 minutes before bedtime. They really loved it, and Jeremy was a good sport. (The water still wasn't really warm) Another night of laying there trying to get Reilly to sleep (finally, at like 9:45) without waking up Jaina in the process... But we all slept well after that, so it was nice.

Chicago Trip Day 2

The kids did sleep well, though Jaina woke up rather grumpy from less sleep than usual (a recurring theme on this trip). Here she is with very exciting morning hair.
And here we have the face we saw a lot of, especially in the mornings...
A little happier finally:
It was kind of fun to be in a hotel together just to be on vacation. We didn't have anywhere we HAD to be, and we had chosen to all sleep in the same room; it wasn't being forced on us by circumstances... Reilly was excited about the cable, and Playhouse Disney. :)

We decided to try the "heated" swimming pool before we checked out. (we got that hotel separately from our other reservation when we decided to extend our trip by a day to account for the temple) Heated? Not ice-cold, yes. But it was outside, and at 9 am in Chicagoland, it wasn't exactly toasty. We got in for a bit until Reilly had to go potty, then Jeremy took him while I got Jaina out. But then Reilly wanted to get BACK in, so we swam (he and I) together for a bit. Here are Reilly and Jaina being very excited to go swimming. Jaina was also excited about her Winnie the Pooh swimsuit. They were shouting "hooray!" in that second one, along with the "If You're Happy and You Know It" song. :)

Here is the best way to get a whole TON of luggage and two heavy toddler from the 5th story room to the car:

After we checked out we decided to see the McDonald's "museum" that was there in town. It's built from the blueprints for the original McDonald's, and the sign that's up is the original one. Kind of cool.

After that we headed for downtown Chicago, but on side streets along the lake shore. There were absolutely beautiful homes everywhere we looked, it seemed. I felt like I was going to get whiplash trying to switch from one side of the street to the other so constantly. Seriously cool. We were also passing by the Baha'i' "House of Worship" (they also call them temples - there is only one on each continent), so we stopped to take a look. It was pretty neat, too!

I'm not sure what happened after that, but we basically ended up in stop and go side street traffic for the next hour and a half. Both kids fell asleep, but only together, like this, for about 20 minutes, I think...

It was a rather stressful hour and a half, and we were happy to get back to our hotel in Oak Brook finally... We went over to the outdoor mall there (it's huge!) and walked around for a bit, then had dinner at Olive Garden (we had a gift certificate to use) and settled down for the night.

Chicago Trip Day 1

Yay for days off of school for Boards! I guess technically I should call it "Chicago Trip Half-day 1..." Our trip started Tuesday at about 3, when Jeremy was done with classes, and finished up Friday at about 3, when we got home. :)
The drive over went well - we stopped once for a quick dinner at Taco Bell, then went straight to the Chicago temple. It was cool, because I had never been to that one before. It was a little strange because it was so NOT busy inside (at 7 pm, a weekday after the holiday weekend). I usually go to either the Nauvoo temple or the Mesa one, and they tend to be pretty busy! Jeremy walked around with the kids for a while, then went and checked into our hotel for a little bit before coming back to get me. It was nearly 9 when I came out, but Reilly was insistent that he go IN the temple. I finally carried him into the lobby and let him look around. He was very good, and quiet, and really liked the pictures of Jesus. :)
Jaina was so trashed by the time we got settled in our hotel that she went to her pack 'n play and said "nigh-nigh!" Reilly, however, was still adjusting to being pacifier-less, and it took a little more effort and patience to get him to sleep, even though he was exhausted... (I don't know why that picture is sideways... it didn't even start out that way!)