Turkey Day and More

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving week.

Turkey Day was spent just the four of us lying around relaxing and enjoying each other which is honestly something that I don't think we've done since Maddi was born. It was so nice. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our families, but we needed the down time.
Owen loves to "read" books to his sister!

They also enjoyed watching Baby Einstein together. It was Maddi's first time to watch one of the videos and Owen hadn't seen them in awhile. He still found them interesting. Although I think he'd probably watch anything on TV.

Friday I took the kids to the Children's Museum. Our annual pass was about to expire so I thought it would be fun to go one last time. Unfortunately Brett was home with a migraine but the kids and I did just fine:)

Owen pretty much only plays in two areas. The car ramp.

And the trains.

Maddi just enjoys watching all of the kids running around.

On Saturday we packed up and headed to Toledo to watch my niece get baptized on Sunday. Saturday night we went to see the zoo lights with Thomas, Stacy and Owen's cousins Bennett and Caden. The boys are so silly and have such a great time together.

Maddi all bundled up for the show. She really liked the lights.

Sunday was the baptism. It was absolutely beautiful. Brett is AnaKate's Godfather so it made the day extra special.

Stacy and AnaKate

Ben got to be the Deacon's special helper

Godparents Lisa (Stacy's sister) and BrettFamily Shots

Such a beautiful day. We are looking forward to Maddi's baptism this Friday and seeing everyone again!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend Brett and I both had weddings to attend. Brett went to his cousin Lindsay's wedding in the Poconos. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures but I heard it was lovely.

I attended a wedding here in Chicago. It was for my mom's best friend's son Mark (follow that?) I've known him my whole life so it was so nice to see him get married along with catching up with his family. Their father passed away in August after a 17 year battle with cancer so the whole event was bittersweet, but absolutely wonderful nonetheless.

Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner at the Kinzie Chophouse. So yummy!

On Saturday the ceremony was at a Greek Orthodox church (Bride's family, groom is Catholic.) I've never been to a Greek wedding before so it was such a great experience. Owen and Maddi came with my Mom and I to the ceremony and both did very well.

Mark and his momAsli (Mark's Sister-in-law)Katie (Mark's sister)Alex (Haroula's sister)Haroula and her Dad
Haroula and Mark at altarExchanging of Rings
Exchanging of wreaths

Candle ceremony

Parade around the altar

The new married couple

Asli and Adam (Mark's brother)

Katie and Troy (Katie's husband)

Saturday evening was the reception at Cafe Brauer in the Lincoln Park Zoo. A very unique venue and everything was gorgeous. And of course, Greek weddings are so much fun!

Beautiful head table

Cutting the cakeMe and my mom:)Mark and his mom dancingBridal party dance

Such a wonderful time. We are so happy for them!

Peas Please

Maddi tried peas for the first time and didn't think they were too bad! WAAAAY different then Owen's reaction which was gagging (and is still his reaction quite frankly.)

Fashion Show and Family Fun

Ok, I'm not going to lie. Dressing a girl is WAY more fun than dressing a boy. So many cute clothes!!!

Maddi modeling some clothes from Nonna Barbara and Papo

This past Saturday we spent the morning at Family Grounds Cafe with Owen's buddies Jay and Alex and their families. It was so much fun catching up and the place was great. You can sit at tables, drink coffee and chat while your kids run around in an enclosed environment. Genius.
Saturday night we had dinner with our friends Jeff and Jill who are expecting a baby in April. We are so excited for them!

I'll leave you with this picture of Chick Hicks per Owen's request. His latest obsession, Cars, the movie. Can't wait for the next one to come out in June.

Happy Birthday Owen!

I really can't believe that Owen turned 3 this week. Life has changed so much since then and it is wonderful.

After a fun-filled weekend with the extended family, we decided to have a nice, quiet little celebration at home.
Owen got to eat dinner and blow out his candle in front of the TV. Sounds pretty good to me too...

Trying to get some pictures of the birthday boy proved challenging. I have a feeling that if I had one word to sum up what the next year is going to be, that would be a good one. Such a silly billy.
Owen got the shake shake bridge for his birthday and has really enjoyed it.

Sissy got all dressed up for the occasion:)

She's sitting so well on her own!

Maddi also got a new toy, a cell phone! I'm sure this is only the beginning of her attachment to this device...

Captured this cute video of the kids together. Sometimes Owen drives us crazy but his sissy thinks he is just the best!

First Trip to the Dentist

Owen went to the dentist for the first time today. He was so excited to go and was having so much fun. That is until it came time to actually sit the chair for the exam. Dreadful. Just like I imagined.

They started out looking at Roo and using all of the tools on him. Owen thought this was just great.

He even got all dressed up for the part.
But when they reclined the chair and pulled out the floss, it was over. It ended with me reclined in the chair, him laying on me, while I held his head down and the tech held his arms down and his mouth open. The dentist was really calm the whole time which was nice and they went pretty fast. Afterwards he was fine. I'm sure it will get better. He screamed bloody murder the first 6 times he had his hair cut so I'm not surprised at all. He did get a cute certificate to commemorate his first visit.

Owen finished up his 4th installment of science camp last week. The last lesson was on smell.
Each family was tasked with bringing in a smell from home for the kids to guess. Being that I have a zillion other things to worry about, we didn't remember until the car ride there. But, Brett and I can be a pretty good team when we need to. I remembered we had a ziploc bag in the car, so we just had to figure out what to put in it. Brett had hot chocolate so he had a brilliant idea to just pour some of that on a tissue and put it into the bag. Perfect! Way to go honey!
Here is a picture his teacher sent along from the other session where he is wearing his cool science tshirt.

A rare opportunity for your viewing pleasure since Owen hates coloring. We have a leaf rubbing that he did.
So talented.