Summer Time, Part 1

I love summer.  Everything is more relaxed and there are so many fun things to do.  Billy finished all of his coursework in May, so he has been doing independent study to prepare for exams in the fall.  This means he is working at home a lot, and has a much lighter schedule.  It has been fantastic.  I'm trying hard to take in all the joys of summer - it goes by too quickly! I'm also trying to learn that an experience does not require pictures and internet documentation in order for it to be real, valid, and memorable for our family.  I've given up seeing every activity as a potential blog post, and instead I'm just trying to live  life alongside those I love.  If a blog post happens, that's bonus. :)

"How short the days are long, how fast the days of slow go away!"

Maryn is growing up so quickly.  Swimming lessons have been a big summer activity - it's one of those parent-child classes where you get in the pool with them.  She is still pretty tense in the water, but I think she is enjoying it over all, and she's learning a lot.  We have this really awesome family fitness and activity center nearby called the Kroc Center with a pretty neat pool. We have also gone there outside of lessons just for fun on a day pass with friends.

Ready to swim!

Playing with Elliott

Pregnancy is going well.  I'm starting to experience various discomforts, but nothing serious.  I'm definitely much bigger than I was at this stage with Maryn, but otherwise the two pregnancies have been very similar so far. We have been talking a lot about baby Hudson, trying to get Maryn excited about his arrival.  She calls him "baby Buh-ben" and likes to kiss and pat my belly.

Me at 20 weeks

We recently participated in this year's Pregnancy Care Center Life Walk in Niles, as we did last year as well.  They raised over $30,000 to fund a new ultrasound program, which is so exciting!

Friends at the Life Walk

With Brette at the Life Walk

Hope, Maryn, and Elliott

We also went to Lake Michigan for the first time, and hung out at Silver Beach with our friends the Esteps and the Gaudets.  It's such a cool place - beautiful beach, splash pad, carousel, restaurants, etc.  Maryn was not a big fan of sand, and then it ended up raining so it wasn't the best experience for her.  But we hope to go again soon.  And we did get some super yummy pizza followed by delicious ice cream shakes.

Waiting for pizza

Olivia and Maryn 

Apple on the beach

We also got a zoo pass this year, and have been a couple of times. South Bend has a great little zoo, perfect for the toddler crowd, and Maryn loves it.  Also, it's only about a 5 minute drive for us, so it's an easy way to get out of the house.

Watching the lion! 

On the choo choo train!

Here are some other random summer pics for your enjoyment:

We spend a lot of time outside on the deck.

Water table fun

Playing ball with Graycie 

Mother's Day 2012

Father's Day 2012

In her 4th of July dress

Shopping at Target

Picnic at Notre Dame

Pool time with Elliott 

Mango Italian ice!

Yum!

We have a busy July planned.  Next weekend Billy and I are going to Chicago for a weekend get away.  Maryn will stay with the Esteps - it will be our first night away from her!  Then we have a 2 week trip to Oklahoma planned.  We can't wait!

Why I haven't blogged lately

I've mentioned in my last couple of posts that we've been pretty busy lately.  Here's why:

Exhibit A: New car
Due to car issues, we decided to buy a new car.  Which is wonderful and stressful all at the same time.  I do love it, though, and am so thankful.  It's a Subaru Outback, and the all wheel drive sure is great in our Michiana winter!  The toasty heated seats are a nice bonus, too.

Exhibit B: New house
We've been living in an apartment since moving to South Bend.  It was okay, but we were ready for some more space and independence.  We wanted a yard and room for Maryn to play.  We really considered buying a house.  The market here is great for buyers, but not so great for sellers.  And we knew if we purchased a home we would be selling it in 3 to 4 years, which means we could be stuck if the housing market doesn't drastically improve.  But we have some friends from church who have had their house on the market for a while, wanting to move to Colorado for her to go to dental school.  And by the providence of God, we were able to make an arrangement that was great for both of us - we would rent their house for the remainder of our time here in South Bend!  We are so thankful for the change, and we have already enjoyed the house immensely. But moving with a toddler is just exhausting! Here is a picture of our new home, in the glory of spring (can't wait until it actually looks like this - right now everything outside is dead and grey and slushy):

And everything on the inside is slowing looking less like this chaos - it's a long process:

Exhibit C: Notre Dame

Billy just started his last semester of course work, which is very exciting.  But it doesn't make it any less crazy and time consuming yet!  Of course, he is doing incredibly well, but we are both very much looking forward to his courses being done!  Then on to exams and dissertation!

Exhibit D: Winter

So I guess winter doesn't really make me more busy, but it does decrease my motivation for doing lots of things, including blogging.  I just get the winter blues here, I think.  It's always overcast, and you just never know when a bunch of lake effect snow will be dumped upon you, ruining all your plans.  Granted, it has been a much milder winter than our first winter last year.  But I still don't like it.  Side note: Maryn loves to talk about snow, but she HATES to touch it.

Exhibit E: Toddler mood swings

Maryn has been wonderful, adorable, lovable, and entertaining as usual, but she has also shown that she does have a dark side, haha.  She can be downright exhausting sometimes.  We have entered the world of fits, complete emotional breakdowns, defiance, moodiness, and the word "NO!"  Oh dear.  Sometimes I feel like my time with her at home is completely consumed by her demands.  How do people do it with more than one kid?!  Thankfully, her amazing-ness outweighs any of her difficult moments.  And we love her more and more every day.

Okay, so have I successfully presented my case?  I really will try to be a better blogger from here on out.  :)

Thanksgiving 2011

Last thanksgiving was hard for us.  It was our first time to not be with our families for the holiday.  We tried to make the best of it, but between a grumpy baby, yucky weather, not so great restaurant food, and homesickness, it just wasn't all that we had hoped for, although at the time we put on our happy faces and called it good.  We realized that no matter how we felt, we had so much to be thankful for, and we were just glad the three of us could be together.  

This year, however, was way better.  The best remedy for being unable to travel home for Thanksgiving is to have dear friends close by who also can't travel home.  Their pain = our gain.  Ha!  Seriously, we had a wonderful day with the Esteps, along with a few other graduate students who were unable to be with their families.  We celebrated at the Estep's home, and we cooked a full Thanksgiving meal with "all the fixins".  It was such a blessing to spend the day with friends with whom we are growing closer each day.  It was almost as good as being home.

Kevin cooked and carved the turkey - we were very impressed

Graduate student talk

Maryn with Daddy

Me and my little turkey

Maryn and BFF Elliott

For some reason they really like sitting on the step together

Me, Erica, and the girls (and baby boy Estep)

We are thankful to have such good friends!  How did you spend your Thanksgiving?  Anyone else have to be away from family?

Fall Festivities

The leaves and the temperatures are dropping, the air is crisp and smells like burning wood, and we have been enjoying lots of hot lattes and mochas!  Welcome Autumn, my favorite season!

So heavy!

We recently went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze with some friends from church.  We had lots of fun wandering through the maze - we did eventually find our way out!  It was huge.  There were fun little checkpoints with trivia questions which the older kiddos and the grown-ups enjoyed.  Maryn just liked opening the ears of corn along the way.  Afterward, we enjoyed warm soup and fellowship.  We had a great time.

Family pic!  Please ignore Billy's hat hair :)

Yay Fall!

Maryn with Olivia and Emma - she loves watching the big girls!

The next Monday was Halloween.  I'm not too crazy about Halloween, but I just can't resist dressing Maryn up in an adorable costume.  Last year she was a surgeon.  This year she was a very friendly, buzzing bumble bee.  She said "hi" to everyone she saw and I also taught her how to say "bzzz".  So cute!  The funny thing about her costume was that it pretty much took away her peripheral vision, so every time she turned her head she would lose her balance and fall over.  Made me laugh!  Her BFF Elliott was going to dress up as a ladybug, so they would be bugs together, but sadly, poor Elliott was sick with croup.  Maybe we can still dress them up together for fun sometime.  :)

Trick or treat!

Since Maryn can't eat candy yet, we actually gave candy away from her little trick or treat bucket.  Of course we had to stop by Brette and Adam's house and Maryn loved giving them lots of candy!  She thought it was a very fun game.  We did however, let her have chocolate Cheerios, which she thought were the best thing she had ever tasted!

Giving Miss Brette some love!

Me and my Honey Bee

Happy Fall, everyone!

A Birthday

I turned 27 just over a week ago, and I realized that birthdays are different once you become a parent.  The highlights of my birthday were 1) getting to go back to bed to sleep longer (until 9:00!) after I fed Maryn; 2) taking Maryn to see Curious George at the library; and 3) going on a date not even caring where we were going because I was just so happy to be alone with Billy.  I. Am. Old.  But loving it.  :)

Seriously, I had a great day.  Here are the highlights:

Beautiful flowers from my husby

Curious George: she was scared at first...

But ended up loving it.  She kept wanting to go back to say hi.

Vera Bradley bag!

Billy thought I was crazy when I requested lemon bars.
But being the sweetheart that he is he made them anyway.

And then a few days later came....the SURPRISE date!!!  Billy arranged for a babysitter (love you, Brette!) and had me come home from work early.  We ate at a cute little Italian restaurant downtown and then he took me to see Brian Regan live at the Morris Performing Arts Theater (where we saw James Taylor)!  It was such an awesome surprise.  We love Brian Regan (seriously, you should watch anything you can find of his - hilarious).  And I've never seen a live comedian before.  It was so fun to do something different on a date.  

So thankful to the Lord for my family, and the gift of another year!