Recent Julia Pictures

It's been a long winter for Julia. She's had one bug after another and it won't seem to let up. It appears now that we are back to teething (fussiness, runny nose and drooling included). The poor girl seems to have permanent puffy eyes from being constantly congested. When she has a good day and is feeling well though, she is very happy and loves exploring new things (particularly the things that you don't want her getting into).

Happy 40th Anniversary!

Paul's Mom and Dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on April 6th. We are so fortunate to have great examples (two sets of parents!) of what it takes to have a successful marriage....a lot of hard work, determination, sacrifice and love.

Happy (belated) Anniversary!

P.S. It took a bit of coercing to get this picture taken. Julia is eating a cracker and making a big mess and Elise is about ready to jump out of Grandma's lap. She wouldn't give up the baby stroller for the picture.

Picture Perfect

Elise is determined not to have her picture taken. Any time the camera comes out, she refuses to give a nice smile. So, here is the result....funny faces and squinty eyes. She'll wonder why there are so few pictures of her at this age when she gets older. Oh, the will of a 3 1/2 year old! :>)

Growing like a weed

I realize that it's a little late, but here are a couple of pictures taken of Julia at 9 months.


Julia had her 10 month doctor's appointment on Monday. She's 29 5/8" tall (90th percentile) and is 20 lbs, 8 oz. (60th percentile). Apparently she's been doing a lot of thinking because her head circumference is now in the 75th percentile. Aside from her bi-weekly cold, she's a healthy little girl.

She's always on the go, getting into everything that doesn't belong to her. She's beginning to experiment with standing without holding onto anything, but she needs to work on balance. She'll take a couple of steps along the couch or coffee table, but really isn't interested in walking.

Julia is a pro at waving hello and good-bye. We're teaching her some sign-language now. She knows the sign for milk, though the best way of communicating her need for that is to cry when she hears her bottle being made. She's starting to sign 'all done', but it's a bit inconsistent. Next on the list is 'more please.'

Since being gone for a long weekend, Julia has become such a Daddy's girl. Her whole face lights up when he comes home from work and she loves to wake him up in the morning. She also loves to ride on his shoulders and be tossed in the air. It's a sure-fire way of getting a smile or giggle.

In like a lion...

Happy Spring! We celebrated here in the windy city with yet another 4-6" of snow. I wasn't really dreaming of a white Easter, but that's what we got. But as I sit here writing, it's a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. We're looking forward to the 50 degree temps today!

The last few weeks have been busy, busy, busy. We've been on the hunt for a house. It's a stressful process and with the housing market like it is, things our in our favor and yet we are a little hesitant to pull the trigger and make an offer. We'll keep you posted as things come together.

As Jon mentioned, I spent a long weekend with my sisters in Minneapolis/St. Paul shopping for a new wardrobe for Bethie. Rudi was kind enough to put up with us for four days. Errin, being a fantastic personal shopper, did a fabulous job picking out some really cute stuff for Beth. I was the chief camel (bag carrier), but was so glad to spend some time with them sans children. I should note that Paul stayed home with the girls, taking two days off of work and survived beautifully. Hugs and kisses to him!


My parents drove to Chicago to spend the Easter weekend with us. It seems like every time they visit we have the worst weather. And as I mentioned, it was cold and snowy but thankfully the worst of it didn't come down until they had arrived. We had a really nice visit. Julia took a shining to Grandpa especially....they amused themselves by sticking their tongues out at each other.



Elise is on spring break this week, so we have a very low-key week. We're off to enjoy the nice day before it turns cold again.

What's New with Elise

Elise has been busy, as usual. She's becoming more and more imaginative and will spend time reading or playing on her own. Lately, she's been 'going to the office' just like daddy and building forts (houses) with the couch cushions. She also loves to read her Little Einstein book and drive in her cardboard car. She continues to love school and is doing really well with writing her letters. Here's a snippet of a conversation with Paul today:

Elise: Daddy, will you come play with me in the basement?
Paul: Maybe in a little bit. Let me warm up. It's cold downstairs.
Elise: But you have a sweater on to keep you warm. And my babies are crying for you!

Creative....very creative!

Breaking and Entering

She's finally figured out how to get into the cabinets. It's now Julia's favorite activity. It's not unusual for me to pick up the contents of this particular cabinet 4 or 5 times a day. I suppose it would be smarter just to leave everything out, but then again, half the fun is dumping everything onto the floor.

Julia's Snaggle Tooth

Here's a shot of Julia's first tooth. There's a second one there too, but you just can't see it yet. She's learning how to smile now, often crinkling her nose up (as you can see from the picture).

Plus 1% Makes 10.25%

I admit that I'm pretty naive to what's going on locally. We've moved our TV to the (very cold) basement and we don't get the newspaper. About the only news I hear is what's on the radio briefly as I take Elise to school.

It's been talked about in the past, but I was hoping it would never come to fruition. The Cook County Board passed legislation that will make the sales tax in the Windy City (and suburbs) a whopping 10.25%. It was said that Chicago now has the highest sales tax of any major city in the United States. That's certainly something to be proud of.

February is Finally Over

I think that was the longest February ever....well, the longest in the last 4 years anyway. After a warm up this last weekend (a balmy 41 degrees, the warmest day we've had in 2 months), the snow has finally begun to melt and we are beginning to reclaim 2 feet of our driveway that was taken over by the huge mountain of snow. There's gravel everywhere and the street looks a bit like a kitty litter box. I've got a pretty bad case of spring fever. I'm not sure why we didn't choose to move south....