HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO ALL OUR CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN

D.J. Michele Chris Sami
Julie Brandon Gavin Viv
Dave Melissa Evelyn Isaac

WE LOVE YOU ALL
Mom & Pop

Additional Thanksgiving Pictures

Thanksgiving - The day after! The Turkey and all the fix'ns were delicious. It sure is nice when the family can get together but somewhat sad when all can't be there. We missed you Julie, Brandon, Gavin & Vivian. Good conversation and fun with the "G" kids.

Pictures

As much fun as it is making a slide show with music, I haven't figured out how to get the photos to look anything but blurry. Here's a link to the Picasa Web Album for a better look.

Recap

Mom & Pop hit the road home this morning.  A week sure does go by fast these days.  We got out for a little sightseeing and bird viewing, and the old folks peeled the top layer off all the wallpaper in our entryway (thank you!).  Check the Chard Yard for pictures from the birthday party.

I WILL LIVE TO BE MUCH OLDER

CANCER FREE!
YES SIREEEEE!
"Maybe"

Got the test results back Wednesday morning. The shadow in the right lung has disappeared, There is absolutely no cancer in the lymph nodes and what was reported to be cancer in the left lung may not be that at all. It could be a scar or residual from a lung infection. Another CT scan in three months should tell one way or another.

YIPEEEEE!

My Golden Birthday!

Hello there,

Today is my 3rd birthday, which just so happens to be my golden birthday. What a BIG girl I am!

I wear big girl underwear and have been for the past 5 months now. I'm tall enough that I don't need blocks to reach the pedals on my tricycle. I started preschool last week and think it's the greatest! My teacher, Mrs Boyce, is very impressed with my skills because I have already learned my letters, numbers and colors. I go 2 days a week, 8am -1pm and even eat hot lunch in the cafeteria with the big kids. The crown I'm wearing I got to wear at school all day on Thursday. In honor of my birthday, I was the helper for the day. I also brought cupcakes for all my friends. Yummy!

I'm enjoying all my toys, books, bikes and swing set. I really, really like talking on the phone and watching Bubble Guppies...

Birthday Palooza

Here are a few moments from our spectacular celebration. What a fun time!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

It's official...today marks the 365th day I've been outside the womb. What a year it's been!

I'm walking all over the place but not without assistance and I'm the fastest crawler there ever was.

My vocabulary consists of lots of screaming and funny noises, and I really do say "daddy" and "ball".

I now have 6 teeth! I'm mostly eating big people food and am enjoying feeding myself cheerios. I've completely mastered the "sucking" concept of my sippy cup, but find it necessary to let the liquid run out of my mouth. What!?! Who says I have to swallow it all...all of the time...

My favorite activities include climbing on the fireplace hearth and standing to look at my reflection in the doors while banging on them and playing with the computer keyboard and mouse. (hee hee) When I'm not so naughty, I spend my time playing with my toys. I especially like things with wheels. I've also taken a fond interest in my kitty cat Chloe, but admit the feeling is not yet mutual.

Adventures in Water

Chris and Sami explored a pond, creek and went fishing at a three day camp this week. They learned that the nearby pond was relatively healthy on Monday, but when they retested on Friday it was less healthy. This was due to the rainstorms on Thursday, the runoff and pollution from the roads hurt the pond. They had a lot of fun, at least Sami did. She is quite enthusiastic and emotional. Chris is a rock. He could be promoted to eighth degree black belt tomorrow and not be phased. He did proudly announce that he half caught two fish. He got them out of the water, but then they jumped off the hook.

They fished on Friday. When I went to pick them up, I was greeted by Sami with, can I have a fishing pole and can we go get it right now. She had all these plans for fishing on the Fox River. I told her we need to talk to daddy, and she still wanted to look at fishing poles. That way if he said yes, she would know exactly where to go to get her fishing pole. The girl can't sit still for a 30 second commercial, and talks non stop, she's not the best canidate for fisherman of the year. Dad agreed that she could get a fishing pole in a few months if she was still interested.

This week they are going to be junior entymologists. I really hope they don't have the local beekeeper talk to the kids. All I need is to have a very insistent Samantha demand we start a backyard apiary. She'll have visions of selling honey and getting rich.

We are off now to the Paramount Theater to see cousin Kathleen hula dance.

These days I'm cruising the furniture and am walking with the help of my dump truck that is supposed to help me walk. (I think it's working.) I'm even pretty good at climbing the stairs.

I know my name but don't necessarily stop doing things when asked. I usually just turn and look at whomever is speaking to me and smile.

I'm still an awesome sleeper sleeping about 11 hours/night and take a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

I'm experiencing more and more big people food and think most of it is quite tasty. It's getting easier to chew too since now I have 4 teeth! I'm also doing very well feeding myself. My sippy and I are still working on our relationship, but Mommy sees our potential.

We've been doing a lot of playing outside and now I'm no longer afraid to crawl in the grass. My favorite pass times are swinging and going in the sprinkler pool.

11 is...

the number of months old I am today! I'm really busy now so I'll write more later...

Happy Father's Day!

I'm so proud to have a whole family full of great dads. Enjoy your day!

Super 10!

Today I'm 10 months old! Lately, I have been obsessed with my feet! I can't get enough of them and I absolutely love to eat my toes. I also thoroughly enjoy touching other people's faces. They are all relatively the same, and yet so different.

I'm crawling around like mad and continue to pull myself up on everything. I even like to walk some with the assistance of a grownup.

I'm still drinking 4 times daily and eating 2 meals. I'm starting to try all sorts of big people food and am doing quite well chewing it up. Some of my faves include strawberries, egg yolk, potato, green pepper, pancake and crackers. I am on to a new sippy cup and now understand that if I suck on it...liquid comes out!

I'm maintaining my chill disposition, although I really didn't want to sit still for today's photo shoot. Overall, I'm a sweet, handsome, and cuddly little man.

Crocodile Stewart

If Martha Stewart had had the Crocodile Hunter's love child, the result would have been Samantha. She refuses to get her hair cut because she doesn't want to look like a boy, yet last week when we were thinning out closets, she happily claimed Chris' old clothes for herself. She more than holds her own in Nerf gun battles with her brother and neighborhood boys, but will happily play Polly Pockets with her cousin Kathleen.

She is dreaming of the day when she can take part in the TV show the Alaska experiment. Yet on Wednesday afternoon she held the cutest tea party for her cousin. The Easter bunny brought her a teapot and four teacups with little luncheon plates. The plates have a spot for the teacup and a couple of cookies. Sami decided that our kitchen table was too dirty for the tea party, so she set up the card table. Last weekend we attended a Green Festival in Chicago and one of the displays was selling organic tea, and she bought a teaball. She picked the one she thought would best match her teaset. She decorated the table with a blue vase she made in pottery class. The vase matched the blue plates and cups. She found some artificial flowers to put in it. She put out placemats and even found dresses for them to wear. You can't go to a teaparty in play clothes after all. She served cornbread that she had made the day before, lunchmeat and some veggies. She even had a little note to invite Kathleen over. She was very enthusiastic and wanted everything perfect. They had a very good time.

She wants to have a teaparty for her grandmas. We will probably have to serve cheesecake as Chris is determined to bake a plain cheesecake, a strawberry cheesecake and a chocolate cheesecake. Sami likes to make bread. She would have better luck if she would use a recipe. Chris likes to make pies and lately cheesecake. We are going to have to open a bakery soon.

9 is fine

Today I've been out as long as I was in. ;)

Things truly are fine except that I have my first real cold. I'm taking motrin for my fever and my nose is running like a faucet. We even had to miss Sibling Gym today. Thankfully, Evelyn has already forgiven me.

I'm a crawling maniac and can even pull myself up on almost anything so I can stand.

I have 2 teeth now and am drooling like crazy so more are on their way.

I still drink 4 times a day and eat cereal twice with a fruit or veggie. I have tried yogurt and have fallen absolutely in love with it. I can feed myself puffs too! My sippy cup and I are getting acquainted with milk and water in it, but, at this point, I'm not a huge fan. (keep trying Mommy)

My vocabulary consists of gaga, baba, & dada and do not relate to anything. One day...

I love playing on our new swing set and going for rides in the bike trailer and I never get bored looking at the fish tank.

Dear Pop,

Some Pictures

Sorry I don't have time to write anything fun and witty. CLICK HERE to see some pictures from our visit with Mom and Pop.

Happy belated Easter, everyone!

Enjoying our visit

Hard to believe that Mom and Pop have been here almost a week already. The weather hasn't been too cooperative and between work and my surgery, we haven't kept them very well entertained. We made up for lost time yesterday by going to Willow Park playground and to Willow Park Zoo. Afterward we stopped at the Fairgrounds to drop off our aluminum cans because our local metal recycler was doing a special Earth Day promotion. Got $.70/lb for 73 pounds of cans! I was all set to buy lunch with our earnings, but it turned out they were handing out free hot dogs and hamburgers at the event. Bonus! After that we went out for ice cream and then got Gavin's mop cut. Quite a lot for one day! Brandon came home just in time for dinner. Today we went out for breakfast in Paradise and now we're just lazing around the house, watching the Bulls game. Hope you're all enjoying your respective weekends!

after 7 comes...

You guessed it...8! I'm very proud to be 8 months old today because I have accomplished SO much this past month and can tell the month ahead will be great too.

I still drink 4 times a day, but now I eat cereal and a fruit or veggie twice daily. I even tried Puffs the other day and can definitely get used to them.

Within the past few days, I have taken a few "steps" crawling. I now see what the big deal is since it took me half as long to get to the ball I wanted than it takes me when I do the "worm". And I can go from lying down, to sitting, to crawling and back in seconds flat. Watch out Evelyn...here I come!

I still sleep about 11 hours at night and take a 2 hour afternoon nap, but I've been waking up randomly because my mouth hurts. I have a tooth! And number 2 isn't far behind. I like to move my tongue over it because it feels funny.

I have been to the park a few times and enjoy swinging! It's quite relaxing. I'm also really liking watching all the birds eat from the feeders in our backyard.

7 months...

Hiya!

So, I'm 7 months old today. I'm a super happy little man.

I love eating cereal twice a day as well as a vegetable. My favorite so far is sweet potatoes and peas are close behind. My least favorite is carrots, but Mommy keeps feeding them to me.

I'm sitting up on my own now and am quite mobile. I'm not crawling yet, but I get up on my hands and knees and scoot backwards and turn myself around which allows me to explore some serious surface area. My favorite activities include playing in my jumpy jump, chillin in the exersaucer and playing with my awesome big sister Evelyn. I'm also really liking Baby Signing Time movies.

Happy Birthdays Two You!

A little late for Missy and a little early for Dave so it all evens out, right? Wishing you both a great birthday week! Aw, what the heck. Have a great entire birthday month. You only live once.

Home Sweet Home!

Here is a preview of our new home. We are settling in nicely and are looking forward to having you over!