Breakfast Bests

Bummer that I had to head to work this morning for a few hours, but what's the major bonus when Mommy has to go take care of other children.....you got it, precious Daddy/Daughter time! I hate leaving our girly, but knowing that my darling honey is getting alone time with his monkey, it makes it so much easier, I smile at the thought.

This morning, Craig and Georgia headed to Wishbone, that's right, again, Georgia was just there last week with me and my mom, I know we're obsessed! But anyways, today not only did Craig get in time with just GG, but he met up with his buddy Vann and Georgia's gal pal, Charlie. I'm so thankful for the amazing guy friends Craig has in his life here in the city, they really are incredible, and Georgia is really getting in to seeing those girlfriends of hers who she recognizes, and time with Charlie is always full of many giggles. Craig even mentioned to me today that Georgia was growling and grunting at Charlie, which is Georgia language for, as I've mentioned before, "you are just the best!" And Charlie was "talking" back to GG in the same language even though she's such a big girl and her developing vocabulary makes me laugh and be in awe all at the same time whenever we get to spend time with that sweetie. Too cute ladies!!!!!

An added plus to the weekend once I got off work, the weather is GORGEOUS, it's like 65*!!!! How can winter be just around the corner? Oh don't worry, I'm not getting too carried away, I realize Mister Frost is not too far away, but we're living it up for today and have the windows open and are heading to the park as a family once Georgia gets up from her nap.

Oh What a Night!

Oh what a night is right!!!!! We kicked off an early weekend last night in order to celebrate our precious Kelly's birthday. As the moment of the Johnsons moving is creeping up on us faster and faster, we are storing away all kinds of sweet treasures of our time spent with them, and let's just put last night way up on the top of the list, it was incredible!

We started off the night by dropping off the girly at the Richard's house. Thanks again to our much loved Andy and Julie for taking over for the evening. Georgia loves spending time with them and her huge obsession with Lucy, the family kitty, is just too cute to watch!!!! I texted Julie last night saying maybe GG would do her Daddy proud and grow up to be a vet!

Our ride, Josh and Kel, picked us up to head out for an early dinner, and we went to this gem of a place called Mart Anthony's, it is for sure the best Italian in Chicago, and let me just tell you, we are picky considering the huge Italian family I am from. It's not much to look at, but the food is seriously to die for, and the owner, your standard Italian older man, you can get the picture, knows us personally and wanted to know where the baby was, so this restaurant for sure is in our top 5.

So we had our romantic meal, ok, well maybe not truly romantic, but they boys seemed to be sweet on each other, and then we piled back in the car to head downtown to see Jersey Boys! Ah, my love for musicals was rekindled for sure last night. This show is only in town until January, after being in the city for a few years. My mom and I saw it 2 winters ago, but for everyone else, it was their first, and to be honest, I could see it another 50 times!!!!! The music literally makes you want to climb out of your seat and dance in the aisle, and you definitely can't help but sing along. They played all the greats like "I'm In The Mood For Love," "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)", and this is only a small sampling of the whole show, but my favs none the less! It was seriously AMAZING! For anyone in the city who has not seen it, you must try before it leaves, you won't be disappointed.

At intermission we were all buzzing about how wonderful the show was while sipping on cocktails, for the men, and champagne, for the ladies. How fun, and what a way to "do it up" in the city!

A surprise unexpected visit from none other than Eric Shannon, Craig's old roommate, and his girlfriend Cara, added another fun moment to our evening.

There really are no better words than to just say.....Oh What A Night!!!!!!!!!!

A Perfect "Sunday," With a Cherry On Top!

To even type about our last day with Mom, so hard. We've had such a lovely visit and it was so long over due, to even say good bye after our long 5 days, it seems like too short. But, happy to say, only 4 weeks will stretch by in between our next visit that will happen over Thanksgiving. Mom is just such a blessing in our lives and her presence and love is so needed and so appreciated, we truly don't know what life would be like with out her, she is our treasure, for all 3 of us! And over the weekend, Georgia added another word to her very slim vocabulary....you guessed it Nana!!!!! That's right, this little smart cookie of ours could call her Grandma by name. It was mostly during diaper changes when she was unhappy with what her Nana was doing to her, and it was said more in protest, but hey it counts. And really the only name she ever says super happily is her Dada's who she just adores and thinks is hilarious and the cats meow, he basically hung the moon for her! Even I only get my name said when she hurts herself or really needs some loving and it's a sad little "mama" that's let out in between cries. But we love it all just the same!!!!!

We headed to Valparaiso today, yes another visit, we are becoming quite found of this quaint little special town, to check out a church there, the one we attempted to make an appearance at a few weeks ago. This time victory, it was a wonderful place. The worship was great, the community seemed wonderful, and the message was bible based and challenging, just what we need and are looking for. So we'll see what the Lord has in store for us over the next months and who knows where this family of ours is going to end up, but at least we're putting in all the leg work!

A quick lunch at this great restaurant in the darling downtown Valpo area and then we were back on the road heading home to our city. Our city that we have become so accustomed to and love. A city we know like the back of our hands. A city where we became husband and wife, and had our first daughter together. A city where our friends are like family, we have an AMAZING church home that we so often take for granted, and a city where the best dinning, shopping, and entertainment exists. A city we need to treasure and appreciate no matter how long our good God wants us to stay here. We are blessed, and this weekend only helps us see that and be grateful for that.

Who's That Lady?

Well here she is....how precious is this sweet little buggy of ours!!!!!!! Georgia was a ladybug for her first trick or treating, the costume was a gift from her Nana, and she looked just about cute enough to eat up! She was such a trooper and didn't mind the whole get up and was perfectly pleasant all night. The day was gorgeous and was super sunny even though there was definitely a pretty large chill in the air.

Everyone got all dressed up for the evening and then we headed over to Uncle Josh and Aunt Kelly's house to check out them all snassy in their costumes before they headed to a party for the evening.

She is literally too precious for words, and this smile, oh my gosh, don't you just love her!!!!! And yes, our festive pictures have the lovely back drop of our condo's "for sale" sign in the back. Not sure if I had mentioned this earlier, but we did put our home on the market with only the intention of seeing what kind of traffic it would get before the holidays. Originally we thought we would wait until after the first of the year, but we just wanted to give it 4ish weeks and see what happened. Thus far, nada, we've not really had anyone visit, so looks like we'll be taking it off for the rest of the year and then we'll re-list it mid-January, just a little update on the home front!

No Tricks, Just Treats

Arriving at the Johnson home got us in full spirit for the evening. Georgia completed the trio perfectly with her Josh and Kel, and who would have known that a ladybug, one hot looking police woman, and her arrested con, would all go so well together!

We got in some tasty treats and drinks and then passed out a bit of candy before heading out to do some trick or treating of our own.

Georgia LOVED, LOVED, LOVED seeing all the kids dressed up. She has such a darling demeanor and she is just so personable, she growled and giggled at everyone. Yes, I said growled, that's basically her way of saying "I like you bunches!"

Going door to door and begging for candy, of course was only right doing it for the first time with the Johnsons by our side, and the Nana. They made the night so fun for Georgia and for us too. And soaking in every single moment and memory with them is an absolute necessity since we are doing our best to try and spend as much time as possible with them before they head off to the East Coast and move to Boston.

We were all completely surprised at how well GG knew how to trick or treat with out any instruction. Kind neighbors held out their bowls of goodies, in went her tiny hands, and they magically re-appeared with candy in tow, she was a natural!