It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Springtime? Well, maybe where some of you live. Certainly not here. These pics are from last week, the first day of spring as a matter of fact. So sad...


Eliza thought it was fun at first.
We even made an Eliza-size snowman (well, I made it and she watched), but by that time she was already cold and tired of it all.
Yesterday we went to Millennium Park. Where it was not as snowy, but still cold. Eliza was more captivated by pushing her stroller than by the Bean.
Yup, still pushing that stroller!

Quick break for some crackers and to wipe a runny nose.What happened to that warm sunny Florida weather???

Oh yeah, and in the midst of all this cold misery came Easter. Easter, for cryin' out loud! She had a very cute dress that she had to wear with a long sleeve shirt, winter tights, and a sweater. We didn't get any pictures, but maybe if spring ever shows up, I'll dress her up again and take some pics, as she really did look cute.

Meanwhile, here she is on Easter morning with Duckie, her new best friend.

Another Holiday Road

As I sit here watching up to 7 inches of snow get dumped on Chicago yet again, it seemed like a good time to finally post some pictures and write a little bit about our Florida vacation. It was great. Very warm, very relaxing, and very fun. We swam, we ate, we drank, we read, we played tennis, we even took some exercise classes!

I will admit that I almost had to post when we first got there to say that pride goeth before a fall. With all my FLORIDA-ing in our last post, I doomed myself. We got to Midway Airport, checked in, and found they canceled our flight just as we got to the gate (for no good reason, other than they needed our plane in Milwaukee). We got rebooked onto a flight to Orlando, not West Palm as originally scheduled, which was farther away, but had the one advantage of being a direct flight. However, said flight was FIVE HOURS later, so we had to just hang out at the airport which is oh so much fun with a toddler. She napped in her stroller for about 40 minutes and that's the best I can say about it.

Once on the plane, she was okay, if a bit squirmy (we didn't buy her a seat - never making that mistake again!). Nearing the end, though, things were a bit bumpy and she'd been eating mostly crap all day, so of course, she threw up. On me. Good times. I had a change of clothes for her, so freshened her up when we landed. Then we realized our bags hadn't made it to Orlando with us. Big surprise there (AirTran sucks). Mac spent quite a while arguing with the baggage people while Eliza and I wandered around the baggage area. Then we all went off to collect our rental car...and Eliza and I wandered around the car rental area while Mac stood in line forever. It was really late by the time we got our car and at least Eliza fell asleep on the drive to Port St. Lucie. We were all happy to get to bed, I'd say.

Sadly, though, our bags weren't destined to show up until noon or so, so this is what I had to wear:

So like I said, pride goeth before a fall. Suitably chastened, we went to Target to pick up some clothes to carry us through and then had a glorious time.

Eliza loved playing with Sam and Jack, sons of our friends Andy & Jeanne, who are the ones who persuaded us to go Club Medding with them in the first place.

Eliza couldn't have been happier with being outside in warm weather!! BTW, Andy and Jeanne took most of these pictures with their amazing zoom lens. Good stuff and we are very grateful.
On Thursday, Eliza went to Baby Club Med for the first time, which is their daycare. She did okay, but was pretty overwhelmed. So imagine her dismay when these strangers not only kept her for the day, but then dressed her up in a costume and put her onstage! We, of course, were thrilled, but as of right now, she doesn't seem destined to follow in my footsteps.

Comfort from the thumb and the sippy cup:

Full on meltdown, at which point they took her offstage. Awww....Fortunately, they had slushies on hand for all the talent and Eliza discovered a new favorite beverage:
We were pretty bad with having the camera handy, so didn't get any other fun pictures until our last night there. Here is Miss Eliza on the beach, contemplating life:
Big shadows:
See you next year, Club Med Sandpiper!!

You oughta be in pictures

I realize I did not post again last week as intended, but honestly we were too busy enjoying our new kitchen, getting life back to normal, and preparing to go to FLORIDA! That's right, we are leaving tomorrow, escaping from this never ending parade of gray and snow to be in sunny FLORIDA. Five glorious days of warm weather in FLORIDA. For those that might have missed it, FLORIDA.

Anyway, for those of you not fortunate enough to be going to FLORIDA and living in the Chicagoland area, you might want to head up to Old Orchard Mall. We had Eliza's portraits done at Picture People there in November. It came to our attention last week that among the many beautiful babies and children adorning their walls, there was one in particular we might be interested in. This past Saturday, Mac and I drove up there (with Eliza, of course) and sure enough, one of the new wall models is none other than Miss Eliza Harper. There are about eight or so pictures of her in the section where you pick out what frames you want. It's right at the front of the store so you can even sneak in and sneak out if you so choose. Not that we did, of course. We were the dorks loudly pointing out our child's picture to her and making sure everyone around us knew that was her. Sigh...I never thought I would turn into that person.

Did I mention we're going to FLORIDA?

If you can't make it to Old Orchard, here are a couple of pictures from New Jersey that Eliza's gramps took of her with her new found passions of rocking chairs and pianos. Enjoy! We'll talk to you all after we get back from FLORIDA! (Okay, I'll stop now)

IT'S DONE!!!

Yes, I realize it's been nearly a month since we posted anything, but once you see some of the pictures, you'll know why. Our February was about as hellish a one as I care to go through ever. I won't bore you with details, but many thanks to everyone who gave us a place to lay our heads or just spend some time.

But let's not dwell on the negative because...THE KITCHEN IS DONE!!! We've put a full album of before and after shots on Snapfish (you'll probably have to sign in to view them - sorry about that) for your viewing enjoyment. But for those of you who prefer the quick and dirty...

Here is our kitchen before:

Here is the h*ll it became:

And here is the beautiful finished product:
Seriously, go to the Snapfish album. Much more fun.

I hope to be better about posting this week. After that we're off to Florida for some much needed sunshine, warmth, and relaxation!