Peanut Butter

Lately I've been craving peanut butter....so I've resorted to toasted bagels with peanut butter, Edy's Slow-Churned Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream and Quaker Chewy Butterfinger Granola Bars. Yum! The granola bars are great and are even better for you than the standard chewy chocolate chip bars. Go figure. My sister Errin is stopping through Chicago this weekend on her way to Jamaica. She loves PB too, so I'm looking forward to having a partner in crime.

Princess Piggytails

Ikea

While living in Michigan, we bought a desk and filing cabinet from Ikea (in Canton) for Paul's 'office.' During the move, one of the casters on the cabinet broke off and was not reparable. I went to the Schaumburg Ikea yesterday to see if I could order a replacement part. They have this great system where you identify which piece of furniture you need a part for, locate the instruction manual from a filing cabinet and tell them which piece you need. Within minutes, they had located a new caster and handed it over. And the best part about it was that I didn't even have to pay for it! How great is that! It was by far the most seamless process I have ever experienced. Other companies could stand to learn a little something about customer service from them!

Two Men and a Truck

Hi....it's been a while, I know. We've not had internet access since we moved (again), so I'm having to rely on Paul's Verizon wireless access when he comes home from work. And it's not always been reliable. Who knows if this will even manage to be posted!

This weekend marked yet another move for Paul and me (I think I've moved 6 times in 7 1/2 years of marriage). My mom has learned not to put our address in ink in her address book and who could blame her! We are now in a more permanent lease in Palatine, IL (minimum of 6 months, but probably closer to 12). It's a newly built 2 bedroom, 3.5 bath townhouse with a 2 car garage. We have about 2,000 square feet of living space and have taken up just about every inch of it.

We took possession of the townhouse on Thursday. I was a bit annoyed that the space had not been cleaned....the kitchen and bathrooms were gross and there was drywall dust everywhere. My preference would have been to get this cleaned up prior to moving in, but there wasn't time. The moving company delivered our belongings on Friday morning. The guys did a great job bringing our stuff in and were thrilled that there was very little damage to our furniture (something we've heard horror stories about). We're missing a bracket to put the mirror on our dresser and we haven't found our wet/dry vacuum or kitchen broom yet, but other than that, things are coming along quite nicely. It's been interesting trying to find room for everything (an organizational challenge), but it gives me a good excuse to get rid of stuff that we don't use.

We've taken pictures but don't have access to them at the moment....stay tuned for that. And a special thanks to Elise's grandparents who were gracious enough to watch the girls in our small Schaumburg apartment while we moved in. While there was still much to be done, we accomplished enough to allow Elise to feel 'at home' when she arrived for the first time on Saturday.

That's all for now. We have space for guests and are now taking reservations. Who wants to come to Chicago for a visit?

Sweet Tooth

I've always had a sweet tooth. Every holiday is a test of my will power to not overindulge in some of my very favorites (and each holiday has its own set of favorites). Just in case you were interested, here's my top 3+:

1) Necco Conversation Hearts: The Necco brand are my favorite and they must be fresh. That way you don't break your teeth while chewing. I don't even bother reading the message. I find it's best to eat two at a time (with the orange and yellow ones being my favorite flavors).

2) Cinnamon Gummi Hearts (coated with sugar): Yum! My mom used to buy us the individually wrapped cinnamon chewy bears when we were kids. Those are equally as good. Either way, once you eat one, it's really hard to stop.

3) Dark Chocolate: I have always been a chocoholic, but dark is by far my favorite. I prefer solid chocolates (truffles or those with filling aren't as good...why spoil a good thing?). The Dove Dark Chocolate pieces are especially delicious.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Little Creative Thinking

Okay, so it wasn't too creative, but here's the thing. We have about 8 or 10 inches of fluffy snow on the ground right now and it's still falling. When Briscoe has to go out to do her 'thing', she's having a harding time getting the job done because she's up to her eyebrows in snow. I don't have access to a snow shovel right now, so she's had to suffer. Actually, she loves the snow, so it's not so much a big deal for her, but trying to find her piles has been challenging. I decided I would try to use a lid to one of our plastic containers as a scoop. Presto! She now has a POO-PAD! We can now all give a sigh of relief.

Inspired by Libby

Last weekend Libby's Aunt Susan gave her piggy tails and she looked super cute!


I'm not sure why I've never tried that with Elise, so we gave it a shot today. Here's the result....

The Next American Idol

Actually, this picture doesn't do her justice. She was walking around the house with a onesie (she removed her jeans after the picture was taken), winter hat, blue-tinted sunglasses and pink high-heel shoes, all the while singing her favorite tunes:

* ABCs
* Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star
* Rock-a-bye Baby
* Ring Around the Rosie
* Do You Know the Muffin Man

Housing Update

Since the sale of our house fell through in Michigan, we've decided to stick things out here in Chicago. We've found a new townhouse for lease in Palatine and were able to negotiate a 6 month lease, plus a small dog. The townhouse is brand new and has 2 big bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths (more bathroom than I know what to do with or want to clean). It also has a finished basement and should accommodate most of our belongings. The moving company will be delivering our crates on February 23rd.

We've had one house showing (Realtor preview) recently and were encouraged to receive lots of positive feedback. Unfortunately, we have not yet heard when the Realtor will be taking his client through. We're still praying....

Chubby Bunny

I had my 2nd appointment with my new OB yesterday. After having my ultrasound a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the due date may be adjusted because the technician thought the baby was measuring a "little big" for her age. I inquired about this during my appointment, to which my doctor responded that "some women just make bigger babies." This perhaps was a polite way of saying she'll likely be a chubby bunny. While I am so thankful that the baby is healthy, I am a bit nervous about her size....how big of a baby can my body handle?

On a side note, we'll be having another ultrasound in 2 weeks. Looks like placenta previa right now, but that's not uncommon during the second trimester. She wants to double-check again in a few weeks to make sure a C-section isn't required. We're excited to get to see Baby Too again. :>)