We made it!

What a day! We left our house around 6:15 to get to the airport and left Burlington around 8:30. Miche and Jimmy met us at the airport and we were able to have breakfast with them before we left, which was awesome. There is no cuter couple than them, and it was so much fun to see them one last time before we left. Miche and I have never, ever been away from each other for more than a week or so, so I will definitely miss her!

Problem number one came up when we were checking in at Burlington Airport, and the security guy told me that he was going to have to check my carry on, because it was filled with "liquids". When the lady opened up the bag, she told me that basically all of my bath stuff was going to have to be thrown out because only certain sizes of liquids were allowed on the plane. Of COURSE I knew that - duh, but with everything that had been going on for the past month - packing, planning, renovating, I totally spaced this morning, when I quickly threw my shower bag into my carry on. So. $40 in the garbage, which PISSED me off beyond belief! I hate wasting time and money, and this annoyed me more than anything to have to throw out all the stuff that I had carefully planned, bought and packed up.

No matter, we were on our way to the Windy City and nothing was going to stop our fun. A quick tearful call to my sister (ummm...yes, the one I just said goodbye to...) about the event, and we were on our way!

Acadia did great on the plane! She was pretty squirmy for the first hour, then fell asleep for most of the second hour of the flight. We picked up our luggage, our car and came to our apartment a bit early. The maid was here, so we decided to go out to lunch down the street at Erie Cafe. It was so yummy and the service was awesome - mom - we are definitely taking you there when you come to visit us!

After lunch, we came back to our apartment and were just amazed at the view!! I will post pics later - I didn't get the chance to take pictures today from our view up here. We are staying on the 17th floor of this apartment (19 stories high) and the views are absolutely breathtaking. Honestly, it will be hard to go back to our view in Vermont of....trees.

After I took a nap (I only got 2 hours of sleep last night! But that is a whole 'nother post), we went to dinner at Wishbone, which was ranked at the "Best Kid's Menu Restaurant" in Chicago. Not only was the food delicious there, but it had the best, most friendly "kid atmosphere" of any restaurant I have been to. They have Family Night on Tuesday evenings, and kids eat free then, so we have already decided that Wishbone will be our Tuesday night ritual.

After dinner, it was on to grocery shopping for the essentials, and home to give Acadia a bath and put her down for the night. Now, Matt and I are sipping on Cherry Vodka and Cokes (you MUST try this!) and thanking our lucky stars for this amazing experience!

Acadia playing with Aunt Michelle before we left Burlington

Daddy keeping Acadia entertained on the plane by blowing bubbles with his gum

Getting off the plane - doesn't she look tired?! She's just staring off into space! lol!

Miche, Jimmy and Mom - this picture is for you!

Arriving in Chicago - they don't call it the "Windy City" for nothing!

Our rental car

All our luggage

Lunch with Daddy is always fun. She kept her mouth open the entire time she fed him!

Our apartment building is the tall one on the left

View from the bottom of the apartment

More pics of the apartment

Trouble

Any parent knows that a toddler + 1 minute of quietness = trouble! Yesterday, I realized that it had been quiet for too long and ran into the kitchen to find that Acadia had discovered a new hiding spot:

MIL's big celebration!

Last night, the family threw my mother in law a surprise birthday party! She was SO surprised - her birthday is one day before mine, so she was shocked when she saw everyone there for her party. I didn't post a lot of pics of the actual party, because I like to ask people if they would mind having their pic on my blog, and I obviously didn't have a chance to do that yesterday! Here are a few pics, though:

Janine getting to the party


Janine and her daughters blowing out the candles


Acadia helping daddy mow the lawn


Acadia showing us where her nose is


Acadia after playing in the dirt!

Some updates

Over the weekend, my sister and Jimmy had a bbq. It was so much fun and Acadia had a blast with the little puppy and her cousins!



Acadia has been spending too much time with the puppy!


Taking a stroll with Kevin


This picture is hysterical! Tanner and Acadia were playing, and Tanner pretended to pass out - the look on Acadia's face is priceless!


Acadia's cousin - how CUTE is she?!

We have a walker!!!

I am unable to download pics temporarily, so I can't post a pic of our new walker! She's been walking since Sunday and getting better and better with each passing day! I can't wait to try to download a video so you can all see our big girl!!

Mexican Fun

So Julie and I actually got to see our husbands last night! We haven't seen them all week, because they get home around 1am and leave early in the morning. Yesterday, they put the tiles in the kitchen/living room and they are not able to walk on them for 24 hours, so they came home at 7 last night and the 4 of us were able to have a yummy Mexican dinner together!

My mother and father in law came over to babysit and we went to a local Mexican restaurant on the waterfront. So yummy! And the drinks? SO yummy! The guys were in need of the rest and downtime, and Jules and I were just so excited to see them! I can't wait to be able to post pictures of their progress. Today, it's back to their normal schedule, and they are hoping to wrap up on Tuesday night. Just in time to start packing for Chicago!

Thank goodness for friends and family!

Well, I am in a better place than I was yesterday...both physically and mentally. Not only is our friend Sammy taking this whole week to help Matti renovate our kitchen, but he and his fiance, Jules, offered us their home for the whole week!

I got a call from Jules yesterday saying that she was taking a half day, had gone to the store to pick up wine and girly magazines and I was to go over and hang out with her for the day. I couldn't possible think of a better invitation, if I tried. I love her so.

So I came over last night, and we caught up on the latest gossip, watched the Bachelorette (I'm officially addicted), Jon and Kate Plus Eight (our favorite!) and had some yummy wine.

I can't even explain how it feels to have such loyal and giving friends. It felt so good to wake up this morning in a home that was organized, clean and not being renovated! Yay!

Welcome to my home!

Day one of Construction 2008 has begun! Our friend Sammy spent the entire day here yesterday helping Matti and he was here bright and early this morning! They plan on working from 7am until around 2am every day this week! Yikes. I really underestimated this impact this was going to have on our family, but I am doing the best I can to stay sane and happy. I keep repeating to myself, "We will make it through this week, we will make it through this week..."

Our living room:



Our kitchen yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon:



Our bedroom is filled with suitcases for Chicago:



Acadia's playroom upstairs:


Hallway leading to the kitchen:


The downstairs is filled with our kitchen supplies:




Our back deck:

Oh, what a night!!!

WARNING: This will be a very long post with entirely too many pictures!

Last night, my husband, sister and mom threw me a surprise 30th birthday party!! It was SO much fun! It was a Mexican theme, and was told that the guys have been growing their beards out for the past couple of months, so they could shave and have mustaches for the party! My birthday is June 18th, but since we will be in Chicago for the month of June, they did an early birthday party :-) It was awesome to see everyone before we leave in a couple of weeks and it a blast drinking and laughing with all our friends and family! Thank you ALL for coming to the party and helping Matt, Miche and mom with planning, food, etc. I love you!!

Please Note: it is pretty obvious from the pictures which ones were taken in the beginning of the night and which ones were taken at the end of the night. I have put the pics in no particular order and will let you decide when they were taken...

Please also Note: I have the BEST friends and family ever!