It's been awhile...

Gosh! I can't seem to get online and post pictures! Hopefully one of these weeks life will click in again. Well, here are some pictures from the past few weeks. They've been a bit crazy.

Ilana, being...her crazy 2-year old self:

I don't know why, but this is one of my all-time favorites of Ilana. You have to look at it sideways, though. Kind of artsy, in a subtle way. Maybe I'm just weird. That's possible too.

We celebrated Thanksgiving Day just the 4 of us. We watched the parade...

Paul made home-made cinnamon buns for breakfast (DELICIOUS!!!)...

we got to just sit and be a family...

we ate an amazing meal - again, Paul made everything...

even the pumpkin cheesecake!!

A few days later Paul had quite an intense photo session with Gray...

and got some great shots...

and some hilarious ones too... :)

(Yes, we set up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.) Look at that double chin!!

Ilana has really become "Mommy's little helper." As you can see, clearly Gray needed ALL of his toys, and Paul needed some help stretching his legs. Thanks, Ilana!!

He was either stunned into disbelief or actually enjoyed this for about 20 minutes.

We had one day of flurries, a break, then our first real snow storm hit. We don't expect the snow to be leaving anytime soon. The highs have been in the low to mid-20's. Yeah, it's COLD!

Of course we all went outside, and of course Ilana absolutely LOVED it!

Gray has a good cold. He's been congested off and on since Thanksgiving, but now his congestion is constant. Poor little guy. You wouldn't know it, though. He's still pretty happy most of the time.

Here we're checking our angle and lighting for our family Christmas picture. As you can see, sleep is not happening much these days, but we're still smiling through it all...or at least trying to.

-H

Someday we'll look back...

Well I sure am glad my new year's resolution this year wasn't to blog more often. I'd be very disappointed with myself. So, some of these pictures are from when Paul's family came out when Gray was first born, some are more recent. Enjoy!

When Gray was first born and the family was out, there was a lot of this that went on...

and some of this...

(gosh, she is beautiful!!)

and a WHOLE lot of this!

When Gray was 8 days old we went to Loyola's New Year's Carnival. It was our first outing as a family: super fun!

Mom Miller brought out the makings for apple pie when she came. The apples were bigger than Gray's head!

We visited the beach.

And there was some of this that went on too.

You've got to take a "first bath" shot! Don't worry, they're better now. He actually loves his bath now. My goodness, he was little!

OK! Skipping ahead about 2 months... :)
These are the kids (crazy that I have KIDS!!) playing on the baby playmat. Obviously it still entertains a 2 1/2 year old.

We're enjoying Chicago's fall as much as possible.

This picture is specifically for Jillian. Yes, one morning as we were getting ready the best place to put Gray was actually ON Moses' dog bed. :)

I finally finished Ilana's cardboard kitchen. She LOVES it and is constantly "making" us meals.

For Halloween Ilana and our neighbor (her best friend) went trick or treating. Her friend was Curious George and Ilana was a princess. We made her take the frog too. Thanks for the costume, Nonni!

An action shot:

We met up with another couple neighbors and all walked around together. One of our neighbors dressed up their 8-month old son as a lobster, it was hilariously adorable! Watch out! He's on the move!

This was the first year that Ilana really started to understand what Halloween is all about (at least the candy part). We went out when it was light and stayed in once it got dark to pass out candy. Our sweet princess even seemed to enjoy that part of the night, too. I think she had a pretty good time.

A lot of people say "someday you'll look back and smile." Well, I've made it my goal to smile as often as I can during these days. They are trying, exhausting, inefficient, mess-filled, long days, but every once in awhile there are big big smiles and we love those moments!!
Like when Ilana puts on Paul's glasses...

or when Gray is happy about being able to pick up his heavy head...

or just generally happy...

or when Ilana decides to put on her sunglasses to help her watch morning cartoons.

Here's to more smiles!
-H

6 weeks!!!!

I canNOT believe it's been 6 weeks since Grayson was born. He is a "rock star" (according to our family doctor). He's already 13 pounds ... yes, 13. He is quite a CHUNK!! Here are some pictures of these past 6 weeks.

This was emailed to me the morning that Gray was born. When our neighbor was there to take care of Ilana and asked her if she was excited to have a baby brother, this was Ilana's response: "YEAH!"

A couple days later she had her first sleepover. This was taken that night during dress up.

Nursing has gone really well. Gray's gone from this...

to this in just a couple weeks!

Gray...in a moment of inspiration. :)

Gray: "So...this is kind of ok, but if we stop for ice cream on the way home I'd really be ok with this." (This was Gray when he was 5 days old, on his way to the Dr's office.)

Gray was a bit upset until Ilana held his hand.

He's getting pretty used to being worn in the Connecta Carrier.

He's chunking up!

Gray: "So, you guys are...?" hahaha! He just makes me laugh sometimes. :)

Here he is at 6 weeks...in a 3-6 month sleeper!!!

Yes, Ilana is doing great!

We LOVE our double stroller...

...and all the baby smiles we get.

Gotta go feed my little man!
-H