Long overdue on a good rambling session don't ya think?

OMG I leave for a few months and Blogger goes and changes its interface and its all pretty and new and it makes me feel like I don't belong. HA!

I probably don't. 

I am sure I piss off the regular bloggers. 

But that's not what this is about now is it.

Apparently if you want to be all into FREE social networking you need to be okay with change.  Which is funny because people hate change.  And yet it seems all people are social networking.  Maybe Mark Zuckerberg is single handidly going to change that in the world.  Now that would be an interesting movie.

Can you believe my baby is 6 months old?  I am pretty sure I haven't REALLY blogged since she was an infant.  She is wayy too big.  And wayyy to sweet.  She is the kind of baby that if she was the first born you would for sure have a dozen.  You not me.  But she sure does make it tempting.

Oh but she doesn't really like to sleep.  So excuse me if I misspell words and sort of sound crazy at times through this post.  I am a bit dizzy and delirious most of the time now a days.

Worth it. 

And JD is FOUR!  How did that happen?  I am a mother of a child.  Not a baby.  Oh and speaking of that I have CHILDREN.  Not child.  Children. 

And yet I still act like teenager or 20 something most of the time.  Not with the drinking and the smoking.  But with my weirdness mostly.  And the laughing at my own jokes.  And the weirdness.

I can't wait until my kids can really appreciate their parents weirdness.  I seem to think they will totally dig it and will be laughing with US and not at us.  One can only dream.

And the reason I say "us" is because P-Daddy is just as weird and funny.  If not more so.  But don't tell him I said that because I like him to think I am the funniest and weirdest one around here.

I like to think that the two new hit shows New Girl and Up All Night are somewhat written about me and my life.  I am weird and funny like New girl (just ask me) and up all night is just my life! It just is, OKAY?! :)

So I mentioned this to some of my friends last week but think its definitely worth saying here.

I blogged a lot about how being a SAHM and how it was hard and all that jazz.

Who was I kidding?

Working mom status is the hardest.  And I will tell you why.  You work and have all of that responsibility and have to be on your A game and all professional and smart cause they don't care if you were Up All Night (see how I worked that in there...told ya) or still smell like spit up and snot...nope.  They need you at your best all the time. 

And then there is the guilt.  The mom guilt that you aren't there every waking second with your children ensuring that they know they are loved and adored and nurtured.

And then there is the pangs that you AREN'T there seeing every little amazing thing that your children do each day.

And then there is laundry, and cooking a HEALTHY dinner and trying to spend time with your husband and time for yourself and then there is your friends.  Basically you become a bad friend.  I will say it.  And then you have guilt about that.

And I don't have to get ready for work.  I am pj casual everyday.

And my mom watches our kids.

And every other week I have a cleaning service that changes my sheets and makes my home squeaky clean and beautiful.

And yet its still really hard.  Do I sound like I am complaining?

I am not.  I like my life (can't you tell?!-HA!).  I am happy with the decision to be working.

I am better when I work.

But the moms and dads out there that get up after no sleep and get themselves ready, their kids ready, drop their kids at a daycare somewhere and are at their desk by 8am.  Well, they are my new hero's.

Seriously.

Moving On...

I have officially diagnosed myself with a MILD (okay maybe moderate) case of OCD.  P-Daddy and I had the whole day to ourselves (basically) yesterday and we both decided to spend the day completely organizing our lives.  Relax cause we get no sleep..nahhh!  Lets maticulously organize the tool box in the garage (if you are wondering, no it wasn't P-Daddy-it was me), medicine cabinet, and our master bedroom closet.  Oh and don't forget loading up three large boxes of kids clothes (tear) for Goodwill. 

Or the fact that before P-Daddy and I had a little get-away I labeled all of Baby J's drawers and made the below (which is just one page of the entire binder I left for our precious babies caretakers that weekend). 

Not to mention that this month alone I have re-arranged our living room twice.  Last month-once.

Apparently OCD is currently how I am dealing with my issues.  HA!  Better that than Marlboro Ultra Lights right?!  Can I get an AMEN?

P-Daddy and I did get away recently to go and watch our great friends get hitched.  We made a long weekend out of it and spent some quality time with each other and friends.  It was awesome and much needed.

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. 

At other people's jokes that is. 

I laugh that hard all the time at my own of course.

We have great friends. 

And that's all I got for today.

Your Love, Your Love, Your Love is my Drug

Who doesn't love K$SHA?! I mean, hello?!



P-Daddy thinks I sounds just like her when I sing "Wake up in the morning feelin like P-Diddy" as I sing that often 'round here. And when he says that I am all "I know, right?! And I look sorta like her too, right...right?" And then I say "I could have soo done her gig and totally been makin her millions...DANG!" Then he does the whole song and dance where he pretends like he's mad about it and says "thanks a lot...I wouldn't have to sell insurance if you would have just been K$SHA." And then I say the obvious..."umm my stage name would have totally been something way cooler than K$SHA" and we move on...What? You and your hubby don't have conversations like that? Daily? You should try it out sometime,its a blast. We are a blast. Just ask us.



Anyway...back to K$SHA and her fabulous tune "Your Love is my Drug." Actually P-Daddy's love drug is what I am referring to as we celebrated our 6th year of marriage on Saturday. Awww...I know, we are so cute! After we were done patting ourselves on the back for staying together and still loving each other in the mean time for 6 years (actually we have been together 9 total...but who's counting?) we celebrated this anni by going to the place where it all started. Well, sort of. We packed our pretty bags and took our pretty selves to the hotel in Indy where we had our wedding reception...that also happens to host their famous Heavenly Beds. Just in case you were wondering, they are still oh so heavenly. :) And since I haven't blogged about our recent gap in sleep...I will tell you now...it was important to have a wonderful bed to sleep all the way through a wonderful night in. Just once...at least once...in a months time.


We were classic P and M and instead of going out to a fancy meal (which we do enjoy by the way but on momentous relationship occasions history has shown that we will do a bit more comfort food than fine dining. Like the night we got engaged...Arby's pot roast sandwiches was our celebratory dinner of choice. I know this just made you want to be friends with us even more!)we ordered one of our favorite pizza's that won't deliver to us in God's Country and ate in our hotel room while watching HGTV. Oh and for those of you who know me and care, yes I sure did go to the gift shop and purchase myself some Pringles...because we all know how I feel about pizza and chips. We did a lot of laughing (at our own jokes and each others) and a lot of relaxing. It was a wonderful way to spend a day with each other in celebration of our love!


And since we were too lazy to take any pictures to mark this occasion...I will share one of my favorites of us!

Love you forever P-Daddy!

Travel Club Members

I know, I know you miss me. I missed blogging too. But this girl has found herself to be quite the busy butterfly lately. I won't bore you with those details (for now)...I will get to the vacay as I know you all have been anxious to hear all about!

I wanted to title this "Travel Warriors" because I do feel like, with what P-Daddy and I encountered we are ready and able to handle any travel glitches that come our way from here on out (bring it on Disney World, BRING IT). Lets just say it was a bit rough getting to our location (thank you Iceland volcano) and even rougher getting home (thank you Miami Air).



But alas, we are now officially card carrying members of the FB Travel Club. I have to say, its where all the cool kids are. And we met some cool kids. No, we met some cool friends. Seriously, the group we were with throughout the entire week was great (and great doesn't describe it really). We laughed, we laughed more, we laughed until we cried. It was just a blessing to be with them. I miss all of them actually. And I find it weird to explain this vacation to anyone, even blogger world, because it is one of those experiences that is hard to relive with words. You just had to be there. It truly was a vacation of a lifetime.


Travel stats are

32 hours to get to our first destination (this stopping point was a slight detour to our final destination) which included sitting in Rome's airport for 5 hours waiting and a lovely 6 1/2 hour bus ride through Italy's countryside.
10 hours of rest (thankfully) in a lovely Sheraton hotel in Bari, Italy where I indulged (prior to slumber) in the best red wine I have ever tasted.
2 more hours of waiting
48 or so hours before we united with the FB Travel Club...and we weren't in the group that got the worst of it.
Sat in JFK airport for 11 hours waiting for airplane to come take us back home to Indiana.
Traveled for 32 hours before arriving home sweet home.
Total hours traveled via airports or buses: 80 (Don't.Be.Jealous)

Then there was vacation bliss...

The above pictures highlight the place I would like to now retire to, Santorini, Greece. My pictures do not do my dear Santorini justice as it is literally one of the most beautiful place I have ever seen.



The below pictures highlight our way "out" of Santorini. It involved (as you will see), what was supposed to be a "15 minute walk" down the side of a beautiful mountain, but instead was a over hour walk down a donkey (shit) slippery stone stepped mountain. It was an adventure for sure!

And then there was Athens...

Mykonos, Greece was next and was supposed to be a nightlife location but we couldn't find any. Instead we ate and had a beer and then departed. Was also a beautiful stop though...

The final stop was Dubrovnikkkk (you have to accentuate the k, its just how we do), Croatia. It involved a stop to a local farm where we drank some wine and saw a few local dancers (think men in skirts). We also walked around this city via an ancient wall-PDaddy doesn't like heights so we peaced out on this one as most of this said wall was rather high in the sky.

I said it once and I will say it again, it was a trip of a lifetime. I cannot say I would do it again, but mostly because I know it wouldn't be the same.

And now a few updates:
I rocked the 9 1/2 hour flight, both ways...
...didn't get grouchy once during our two legs of over 24 hours of travel (so proud, right?!...becoming a mom has made me such a grown up-ha!)
...did lose weight (it was not 20 pounds)
...amazed myself at how adventurous I was
...was amazed at how well JD took us being gone in stride
...cannot believe the bond we formed with people we hardly knew going into the week, and I love that

...now I gotta get back to work!

Inspiring {10}

Approximately 40 days ago P-Daddy and I started a nightly routine of reading this...

We have been reading this after our evening prayer (before dinner) while enjoying our meal. Each day has two different versus from the book of Psalms and then a short story that talks about different things in marriage. Titles range from "Front Burner Marriage" to "Stronger Together," to "Always Marrying." Each day is only one page, so its an easy read (note, it isn't marked as a day by day thing...you and yours could read it all at once if you want...we are just using this as our daily devotional). So far, everything we have read has been very interesting and relevant. It really does have a lot of great perspective on marriage in a very light hearted way. I would highly recommend!

I have thought several times about blogging about this because I thought it could be enlightening to others...but I haven't gotten around to it until today! One of our favorites is below...I hope you enjoy!

"Invitation List"

He won't let you stumble, your Guardian God won't fall asleep

Psalm 121:3 The Message

All over the country black-and-white billboards popped up containing various messages from God. One message said "Loved the wedding. Invite me to the marriage."

When you invite God to your marriage, he comes. He comes to help you do more with your marriage than you can do with it by yourselves. By yourselves, you have only human abilities to call on. When you are partners with God in your marriage, there is a greater deposit from which you can withdraw assistance. Resources abound. Intermittent springs from which to drink are everywhere. God's presence keeps you company on a daily basis. God's purpose gives you meaningful work to do together. God's power sends you forth into a life as a courageous and confident couple. And God is in it all.

Invite God into your lives, and he will walk up and down the aisle of your marriage each and every day.

My help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Pslam 121:2 GNT

The above is from the book "Inspiring Words From The PSALMS For Couples, Gods Gift of Endless Love, Joy and Encouragement," by Phillip H. Barnhart.

If you want to have one of these for you and your hubby, click here.

February Fun Fotos!

February is normally the month in the winter that I dread. I know, I know its the shortest month of the year BUT it always feels like the longest. It typically brings lots of snow, short days (meaning it is dark when you wake up and dark by the time P-Daddy gets home), and bitter cold temperatures. February is the reason I wanted to join a gym last fall...one with "daycare" so that JD and I could get out of the house on those days where we would have normally been all cooped up! February is the reason that I started a play group last fall. So, as you can tell I don't like winter...and February is the "spokesmonth" of winter in my eyes.

That whole paragraph was depressing, so I will cheer you up with this next one. This February we were freaking busy!! I don't know why but it just literally FLEW by...and I don't even think we had much snow to speak of! I didn't really even blog that much because we were so busy. We had the norms, like the gym and play group to attend, but we didn't stop there.

Here is some highlights of our FUN FEBRUARY! We hope every year is as great as this one! We also hope your February flew by as fast as ours did! March is here and we are crossing our fingers that means more nice weather and days we can at least walk outside!!


We traveled to Ohio to play with our friend Max...

Max: "JD this is the "baby Nelson hold"...I will teach you in a minute!"

Mommy and Daddy had a fun night out with friends (and our camera died so we only got one picture, which is the below but SAD that we didn't get one together, in a bar, without baby and having adult beverages...P-Daddy was there and having a blast, he took this picture!)

L to R: Aimee, Godmom, JBU, me

We went to the Children's Museum with Addy, Lilly and Mallory...

L to R: Mallory, JD, Addy, Lilly

Addy: "I think I am going to take a fist full of this stuff and eat it up"

JD: "Addy I tried it and I promise its not good, but it is kind of fun to put in your mouth so go for it"

Dad needs to learn a few tricks from me...TWO lawnmowers! This is awesome!

I couldn't resist...look at how he is holding them? HA! He is all boy for sure...just one holding baby dolls (or swinging them around) :)

We got JD's haircut (again...and it already needs cut AGAIN)...

This...AGAIN?? C'mon mom and dad, seriously??

Combs are fun to chew on...we should look into some for my toy box okay?? :)

And last but not least...we met our friend Leo for the first time!

L to R: Anne with Baby Leo, Me with JD

We are so excited for the what blessings March will bring us! We already know one...GranBeck is COMING!! She will be here for a WHOLE month beginning this Friday and we are sooo excited! Happy Spring!

A Small Glimpse Into Our Reality...

If you have an account with Facebook you know that there has been a ridiculous amount of "lists" going around. Everything from "Top 25 things about yourself" to "All About Your First Born" (I have to admit I did that one), to "My kids are napping and I am bored." Its insane and somewhat ridiculous (not ridiculous enough for me to stop reading everyones though). I decided to go ahead and boycot Facebook and do my own "list" on here! I did get this specific list from Facebook though...just not going to do it on there. :) If you are a frequenter of Dooce (my favorite blog of all time), she did this too...so I am sort of copying her (because in many ways I aspire to be my own version of her because I think she is so freaking fabulous). :)





I don't talk enough about P-Daddy (and how awesome he is in so many ways) so this is dedicated to him and us. :)





What are your middle names?
P-Daddy's is Hubbard (I love his middle name, it runs in his family and we will be using it on baby #2 and before you ask, no we are not trying or even thinking about going there yet!)
Me-Louise





How long have you been together?
Together since Fall of 2001, Married for 4 1/2 years. The Big 5 coming up in September!!





How long had you known each other before you started dating?
Since Fall of 1998 (freshmen year of college)...but we really became closer friends junior year of college because we took a lot of the same classes and we studied together a lot (real studying people, like the kind where you make flashcards for memorization and you are in the university's library) :)





Who asked whom out?
Technically P-Daddy asked me out (to his fraternity formal) because our fake anniversary (meaning the one we celebrated each year until we were actually married) was in November because that is when we said we officially started dating. Although we had already been hanging out a lot but in the form of friends to that point!





How old are each of you?
P-Daddy is 29 (turning the BIG 3-0 very soon!) and I am still the young, ripe age of 28.





Whose siblings do you see the most?
Well as many of you know we see Uncle Badgeman quite a bit. He is P-Daddy's older brother. We see Uncle VP the second most, who is my younger (and only) brother.





What situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
P-Daddy says "his gas" HA...it is pretty bad and there are days where I wish he would quit with it already... but since we are giving you that "glimpse" into our lives I only think its fair to be honest. I think its finding balance that is the hardest on us. Finding balance in our parenting duties, in our "dating" lives (because yes you still date once you are married), in our (ahem) sexual lives, with religion, P-Daddy with work, me with keeping everything clean around these parts and much more. It can be tough and there are weeks where we literally have no balance at all and we are completely out of sync with each other. Those are hard...and I wish I could share that the weeks where we have some balance that it feels perfect and all is right in the world. But I don't know that there will ever be 100% balance with all of that. It's a matter of enjoying the balance bliss when we do have it (even with the small things) and learning from our mistakes along the way.





Did you go to the same school?
College, yes...Butler University. P-Daddy went to what we shall call "Bomber" High School and I went to DHS is the best! :)





Are you from the same Hometown?
P-Daddy is from Northern Indiana and I am from Central Illinois.





Who is smarter?
P-Daddy is definitely booksmart and he is smarter than me in many ways. It also needs to be noted that he graduated BU with honors, so yes he is a smarty pants! The only thing I really have on him is a RIDICULOUS memory, which I guess makes me smart on some level. :) We are both very driven people though.





Who is the most sensitive?
Me, hands down. But I am not going to downplay P-Daddy's sensitivity! He is a sensitive guy for sure...but I think this question is somewhat dumb because aren't all women in relationships more sensitive than their hubby's?





Where do you eat out most as a couple?
This is normally a phase thing for us but right now it is a local place called Stonecreek. We love dining in or doing carry out! It is FABULOUS food!





Where is the furthest you have traveled as a couple?
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic...ahh memories. Although we have been to Puerto Vallarta twice and I think technically that may be farther. Again...with the smartness not so great with Geography!





Who has the craziest exes?
Its a toss up...but overall exes haven't been a huge problem for us.





Who has the worst temper?
I am one of those people that in many situations am level headed and can talk through a disagreement. I did say MANY situations right? Not all...cause I also can get really mad and yell and scream. I don't normally regret what I say during these moments, but how I said them because it definitely gets lost in translation as I am spitting fire out of my mouth as I am trying to get my point across. So to answer the question, me. P-Daddy is really not hot headed at all. Only when the fire coming out of my mouth (occasionally) grazes him does he have a temper and I don't hold that against him. By the way...I am working on it! :)

Who does the cooking?
Mostly me but it hasn't always been that way. We both enjoy cooking a lot (the Food Network is a staple in this household). While prego P-Daddy cooked literally every night for us. That was amazing! Now that I stay at home I cook almost every night and he does the dishes! I think thats a fabulous trade off! :) I also LOVE desserts (this was realized while prego) and enjoy cooking new and fun sweet treats for us and friends all the time!





Who is the neat freak?
P-Daddy and I both are neat freaks in our own way. His version of "clean" goes like this...the house is picked up and appears clean. His apartments were always "clean." Except the countertops were rarely wiped down (in the kitchen or the baths) and the floors were rarely swept. But for a guys apartment...it was clean. My version of "clean" takes about 4 hours and consists of some serious elbow grease and spotless everything. So all in all, you can normally lick the floors around here and be safe and sound...while also enjoying that everything has its own place and is organized. I think we are two peas in a pod when it comes to cleanliness! :)





Who is more stubborn?
Me. No need for explanation...you heard about my temper above, that should explain it. :)





Who hogs the bed?
Neither of us. We have a lovely king size bed and we each have our sides that we stick to on most nights. Sometimes when I am scared I will hog his side and make sure at least one limb is touching him just in case the boogeyman trys to get me. :)





Who wakes up earlier?
Me for the most part but that is mostly because my internal clock is set to when Mr. JD wakes up and I am up and atem before I even hear a peep from him. P-Daddy is right behind me though! I must mention though that having JD has made me a morning person. Prior to him I was a sloth in the morning and work was always lucky to have me show up with an ounce of makeup or my hair dry. It was also best not to talk to me until I had fully woken either as I was one grumpy mess. P-Daddy was pleasent in the mornings and excited to start a new day...now we are opposites! I am sure this will switch again at some point in the marriage as I can't imagine always loving the mornings like I do now...but I am enjoying it while it lasts! :)





Where was your first date?
O'Charleys on good old 38th street. Our fabulous (not really) dog Charlie was named after that lovely occasion. :)





Who is more jealous?
Neither of us are really jealous people. We are both jealous probably the normal amount.





How long did it take to get serious?
Not long, but keep in mind we were friends first and we already knew every basic thing about each other. P-Daddy said the "L" word at Thanksgiving and knocked me off my feet! I wasn't expecting that from him at all! :) I of course had already fallen head over heels but was NOT (there is the stubborness) going to say it first! :)





Who eats more?
P-Daddy...but I can be guilty of trying to eat just like him at times. Again, we both love food so what we are having for our next meal is a staple conversation in our relationship.



Who does the laundry?
Me. Again though...this changed once I chose to stay at home. P-Daddy used to do his laundry and I used to do mine prior to JD.

Who's better with the computer?

Me. Only because in my former life I somehow became in charge of setting up the sales staff's computers so I spent COUNTLESS hours on the phone with IT and picked up a few tricks here and there!

Who drives when you are together?
Its split really. P-Daddy tends to drive on dates and to church and I tend to drive everywhere else we go!

***Noticed the CH-CH-CH-CHANGES on our blog? Missing the "Blogs We Frequent" area? I thought I should mention the additions and deletions we have made. Nothing big but we did think that the left side of Rhyme and Reason was getting a wee bit too busy so we moved our "blog list" to our profile area. If you are missing it because you too stalk some of the same blogs we do, just click on "view my complete profile" and all the blogs we stalk are listed there! Also we added an email address just in case you would rather email us than post a comment! Its also found in the "view my complete profile" area.

10 Years Ago in Dvegas...

...I graduated from high school! Actually 10 years ago right now I was a couple weeks into being a freshmen in college. That is CRAZY to me!

This weekend was my 1o year reunion. Myself, and good friends Talia and Nikki were the planners so we have been working on this for about a year. As far as class reunions go, I think we did a pretty darn good job (not to pat us on the back or anything!). The only hard thing about planning is getting people to RSVP which was extremely challenging. We definitely had a lot of people show up that didn't say they were coming but of course we were very glad to welcome them!

Talia, Nikki and I

We started off the weekend at a local watering hole that we frequent when we go home. Papa President and VP came out for this which was a great time! I seriously don't think that I stopped talking that night and the next day when I thought about it I was hoping that everyone around me had a few to many too (which turns out they did so my chatter box self wasn't even a blip on the radar-whew) The next evening was the actual class reunion at our local country club. We just made CD's with both casual and dance music not knowing what mood the crowd would be in. Turns out...they all wanted to watch our ridiculously long senior video (its for real 30 minutes) followed up by our senior show. It was fun to watch it with everyone!

VP,Papa President and me

My oldest friends Sara, Annie, Mandy and me

I was excited to go back to good old Dvegas and do some serious reminiscing. There were good friends (I mean girls I went K-12 with) that I hadn't seen in probably close to 10 of those years. That is sad to me that we lost touch (and I am hoping to stay in touch so we don't go another 10 years) BUT we did pick up right where we left off as if no time had passed. I think we all kind of fell back into our ways for a split second too. P-Daddy kept making fun of me as I would go and chat saying "just leave me and go be popular." Which is funny to me because even though I ran in what most would consider a "popular" crowd in high school I never really felt popular. As I write that I even feel dumb because at this point IT DOESN'T MATTER and I love that(but I am not going to lie that 10 years ago it did-which is why I think women get excited about their late twenties and early thirties because all of that jazz is ancient history)! Everyone mingled with everyone and it was wonderful! P-Daddy was an amazing husband and date as usual! We had a wonderful time!

Nikki, me, Amy and Talia

Us!

My good girlfriends

As we took the group photo of the class of 1998 we definetely starting cheering like high schoolers all of our old high school cheers! Ha! So here is to the class of 1998! I am so proud of all of my friends. They are all amazing people that are doing wonderful things with their lives!

DHS is the best (or at least the class of 98 is!)

Our Weekend Away-So Fun, So Refreshed!

This weekend we went to Chicago to visit P-Daddy's brother Uncle Chitown and my greatest friend Amy (and Paul) P-Daddy and I had not been away together without JD since JD's birth so this was very exciting and much needed! :) And it was WONDERFUL! Grandma Principal and Grandpa Menard cared for JD and since they had taken care of him before I was at ease with leaving him. They have a pool for him to play in and HE LOVES THE POOL (stay tuned for a ridiculous amount of "JD in June" pictures that mostly consist of him in the pool).

P-Daddy and I in front of Uncle Chitowns place

Back to us (its hard for me to focus on talking about us, sorry!)...we went to Uncle Chitowns very "hip and with it" apartment on Friday and walked to this very neat Italian resteraunt nearby. R2, Uncle Chitowns wonderful g/f met us for dinner and we had a wonderful time. Rewind to the fact that I had two beers before dinner, granted they were Sam Adams, but I was tipsy, then 1 glass of wine with dinner, getting tipsier (trying to hide it because I am clearly the only one in our "party" even remotely tipsy), followed up by me drinking water the rest of dinner to sober up so I could drive us out to the suburbs for the second part of our night. What? You said second part of your night? I know! I haven't had a two-part night in what feels like years! Crap....I need to get out more often.

Uncle Chitown, R2 and P-Daddy in front of Uncle Chitown'splace.

Skip to a 40 minute drive to downtown Naperville where we met Amy, Paul and a crew of people to celebrate Amy's younger sisters 21st birthday! I was sober so it was time to purchase the birthday girl a shot (and of course take one with her). It was soo much fun! We went to a couple of different bars, we took a shot with Mallory and looked at each other and said it had been a while since we were out for a 21st birthday and then smiled at lots of good memories from our own 21st's (you can only smile about the too many shots/vomiting now... right?). I felt like a champion because I wasn't the one at the bar asking people to leave, I was actually told we were leaving (go me!) AND I had an additional beer with the birthday girl when we got back to Amy's. I was on fire that night! Anyway Mallory (birthday girl) was on fire too, she took 21 shots and really didn't get sick and felt pretty okay the next day! She is my hero.

The Birthday Girl/My Hero

Saturday was filled with shopping for the girls and golf for the guys. Amy and I are really good shoppers together if I do say so myself. We would go shopping in college when we didn't have money to do so and would walk out of the mall with way too many bags singing "Oops I did it again, walked into the mall and spent money I didn't have... (don't remember the rest but we had a whole song, I know-we were cool). Anyway we are two of the most financially responsible people I know our age so don't get worried about our spending habits! I love shopping with her though because we always end up being goofy about something that makes me belly laugh. Andthe belly laughs were out on Saturday several times!

P-Daddy and I being goofy at Amy and Paul's (remember in college when you couldn't find ONE picture that didn't include you with some sort of alcoholic beverage...now we can't fine any WITH alcohol, so we did our best to include us with drinks all weekend!) :)

Saturday night we grilled out some amazing steaks and beautiful shrimp and had a few cocktails again (two nights in a row, crazy I know). We were kind of exhausted from the night before and the day of shopping/golf so we called it a night early.

Us Again!

After all of that detail I really could have wrapped it up by saying that our weekend in Chicago was awesome! P-Daddy and I love to vacation together whether it be a long weekend or a week or two away, its always been fun to experience new and different things together. And with each new place we brought home a new piece of a memory of our life together and I secretly think we both fell in love again. For us it has been an outlet to get away (prior to JD) so it was wonderful to fall in love all over again in Chicago this weekend! We probably appreciate it more because we don't do it very often. That is not to say that this was long overdue and we should be better, but I think once a quarter is probaby enough for our taste! I promise that it is sooo much harder to leave JD than I EVER thought it would be. And not just for the reasons that you may think, but also because he has become our fun. We love to hang out with our little man! JD had a wonderful time with Grandma Principal and Grandpa Menard. They are wonderful with him and we are sooo appreciative of their help!

Amy and I taking a picture of ourselves! " NERDS!"

Thank you Amy and Paul for hosting us all weekend! We love you to pieces and can't wait to come back!