Life in Chicago, Thus Far

We have been Chicagoans for 2 weeks and have filled those 2 weeks with lots of unpacking and getting reacquainted with the City.  For those of you that don't know, our amazing nanny Casey and her husband Stephen packed up their lives, left their families, and VOLUNTARILY moved to Chicago with us!  Could we be any luckier?!?!

We have 5 parks within walking distance of our house and the kids spend HOURS there every day.

Chicago is known for its neighborhood festivals during the summer.  The Old Town Art Festival was a hit for all!

The BEST part of living in the city is the ability to walk everywhere.  We went out to dinner last week and Jack was ecstatic that he could ride his big wheel all the way there!

Mommy's FAVORITE thing in Chicago is the Green City Farmer's Market.  It is seriously my happy place.  Can you tell?

We are so fortunate to have so many friends still living in the city.  It is like coming home to family and we couldn't be happier.

Perhaps the cutest and most fulfilling thing that happened in the past 2 weeks is Jack reconnecting with his best friend Luke.  It is as if we never left.  They couldn't be cuter together and Jack got to attend his first sleep over last weekend.  He did great and has been talking about it EVERYDAY since then :) 

Our Life is a Sitcom

Sometimes I think I should write a book or screenplay because I am convinced my life is sitcom and I just don't really know it (think Truman Show).  I have discovered that raising 3 boys (2 of whom are 2 year old twins!) makes for some funny and interesting situations.  Being a parent in general is the most challenging and rewarding thing in the world but sometimes I look at other families who have quiet little girls who sit nicely at a dinner table or play quietly in the corner with their princesses and I think "man, my life is CRAZY!  In the week before we moved we donated an entire moving truck's worth of goods from our house (itemized of course).  That in itself was enough to drive me N.U.T.S.

Let's add to the mix that the twins were fascinated by the packing process.  So much so that they attempted to unpack every box we packed.  Henry thought it was fun to take the spoons from the silverware drawer and slide them under the tape of fully packed boxes, thus necessitating me unpacking the boxes to get my spoons back.  They also thought all the packed boxes were a jungle gym erected specifically for their enjoyment.  Fun times.

As if that were not enough craziness, all 3 boys contracted Hand Foot and Mouth disease 5 days before moving.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My poor babies had sores in their mouths and on their feet and high fevers.  Oh yeah, and Jack got tonsillitis on top of that!  UGH!  

Oh wait, we're not done.  A rat or cockamouse or something crawled inside the pack n play in the garage and died.  Yep, the same pack n play I was planning on one of the twins sleeping in for a few days during the move.  DISGUSTING!

And the move itself.  The movers did not finish packing our house until 3:15 A.M., as in the morning!  Casey (our nanny extraordinaire) and I had a 6am flight with the kids that we made with a whopping 1 minute to spare.  The twins had never flown before and because we were so late we were not able to bring the car seats on the plane.  I managed to keep them seated for all of 20 minutes before it became a circus of wrangling wild cats.  We landed in Chicago at 7:30am, which I decided was NOT too early for a drink, all things considered :)

Despite the insanity of the cross-country move the kids were seriously fantastic.  They adjusted quickly, were super adaptive and well behaved and are absolutely loving being city kids.  That said, I am going to die in this house because I am NEVER moving again!

Stay tuned for the next installment of "Your Life is a Sitcom"!

Lucky Girl

I am the luckiest girl in the whole world and Mother's Day was a great reminder of this.

I have a mom who is loving, supportive, funny, smart and the best mom.  I felt so lucky to spend Mother's Day with her.  I also have 4 boys/men constantly vying for my love and attention and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Lucky. Lucky. Lucky.

Alive..Barely

We are in Chicago and slowly getting settled.  It has been quite an adventure and we have LOTS to get caught up on (for example, I still haven't posted EASTER pictures 3 months later!).  We will get back on track, eventually.

We spent the last few weeks in Virginia packing and doing our favorite Virginia things:

Picking strawberries!

Pungo Strawberry Festival and Parade!

Mowing the backyard in the buff!

Swimming in our pool!

Eating cupcakes from Shockley's!