Sweet Home Chicago

(Please ignore my spelling errors! Spell check isn't working and I'm a terrible speller! Don't judge...i have other skills!)

We just got back from almost 2 weeks in Chicagoland. It was an almost perfect visit. The highlight was definitely my sister Stacy's wedding. It was so fun to celebrate her and Brett. I'm so excited to have Brett as my new brother-in-law. He's a perfect addition to our family! Kirk officiated the ceremony which made it extra special. The ceremony was sweet and beautiful and the reception was a great party.

We got to see so many of our friends and family over the 12 days and it was fun to introduce Riley to everyone. She was such a trooper! She was totally off her schedule and didn't get good naps. It was really sweet to see her meet her Aunts, Great Aunts and Uncles and her Grumme (we call my grandma Umme and since she's Riley's Great Umme - her name is Grumme!) for the first time.

While we were there, Riley celebrated her 3 month birthday and also began chewing on everything! We think she's starting to teeth because she's always putting her hands, clothes, blankets, etc in her mouth an drooling all over the place! She slept 7-8 hours every night we were there (unfortunately- that hasn't continued since coming back. The first night home, she slept 5 hours and last night she woke up every 2 and a half hours...punk!).

I think our stomachs are still recovering from all the food! Between my mom's cooking, my grandma's cooking and hitting all of our favorite restaurants - it was basically one big food crawl! I think we are both still full!

All in all, it was wonderful. It was a little hard to come back here. It was so nice to have so much help with Riley and be able to go out with friends and be close to family. We also have come back to 95-99 degree heat here! Kirk's busy summer of youth events is about to start and I'm trying to be ok with being alone with Riley while he's gone a lot! Especially because he's taking the youth to Logan, WV - one of my favorite places! I want to go so bad, but a 3 month old and a week of YouthWorks don't really mix.

Below are 2 pictures of our trip. More to come - assuming people email me the ones they took! We didn't take any pictures ourselves! oops!

Brett, Stacy, Me, Kirk
Carrie and Christy

@ Stacy and Brett's Rehearsal Dinner

4 generations! My mom, me, Umme and Riley!

just a few of my favorites...

2 Month Update

We went to the doctor this week for Riley's 2 month check up. She is 11 pounds 11 ounces and 24 inches long. That puts her in the 68 percentile for weight and the 92% for height. Her head is 38 cm around which puts her in the 34% for that. So she is still a stringbean. She had to get 3 shots and she took them like a champ. I, on the other hand, had to sit down and let Kirk hold her down during them. I never get nervous or dizzy when I get shots, but I couldn't handle her getting them! The doctor said she's doing great!

We are less than 2 weeks away from our trip to Chicago. I can't wait! I'm so excited for Riley to meet her aunts and the rest of our family and friends! I also can't wait for my sister's wedding! Yea Stacy and Brett! :o)

Riley is getting bigger and cuter every day. She's discovered her hands and loves to put them in her mouth. She tries to shove her whole fist in there. She also will stick her hand so far back that she gags herself and then panics a little bit. We're hoping she catches on to the fact that she doesn't have to keep gagging herself. She's had a cold for the past week and a half. Her poor little nose is so stuffed up! Otherwise she loves her bouncy seat and her Sophie Giraffee. She loves walking outside in the sun and taking baths.

Kirk is busy with all the end of the year stuff with the youth. The trip to Chicago will be a nice break for him before the craziness of summer programming kicks off. I'm just trying to keep up with Riley and am still despertely trying to get her to sleep just a little more at night, so I don't feel like I'm in a constant fog. I'm also still on the quest to try and get her to take a bottle so I can be away for longer than 2 hours at a time!

That's all for now. Chicago friends and family - see you soon!