Chi Town

Ah, Chicago, always a good time!

Day at the museum

Observing our primitive ancestry

So We Think We Can Jump


The famous reflective jelly bean in Millennium Park


White Sox game

Bruce's home run


sigh, what a beautiful skyline!


They were just too cute not to photograph


Same goes for these little guys.

And a HUGE 'Thank You' to Scott and Amy for being the best hosts ever!!

Do you see Oprah on stage in the yellow? I was star struck- I took so many pics and they all turned out like this 'where's waldo' shot. But she made it easier by wearing really bright colors.

We conveniently were in town for Oprah's 24th season kick-off party and this:




These people were lined-up at 10 am and the bash didn't even start until 5 pm! Die hards! Another testament that Oprah really does own Chicago- Michigan Ave was closed off just for her kick-off party and thousands of people waited around all day for her.
I only wish they could've captured some of the really awkward people trying to learn the dance- that was the most entertaining part!

It's that time of year again...

some things never get old:





*And speaking of things that never get old, I know I shouldn't love candy corn and creme pumpkins as much as I do, but I really really love them- only in October.

*I don't know if I ever thanked Stef and Natty enough for sending me some when I went without while overseas in Croatia. It was a pkg that wasn't shared! So, Stef and Natty, I thank you again!

This is also worth mentioning while talking about candy: I don't know if these are "dark-batman" Halloween edition Reese's peanut butter cups but they are sooooo good! I ate almost a whole bag way faster than I should ever confess.

Reese is one of our top 10 names we're considering and I think these tasty treats chalk up another point for that name.
(And if Reese it is, please don't tell my daughter she was named after her mother's dark chocolate + pb obsession!)

oh, hello

what, I have a blog?!

You might say that we've been 'nesting' these past couple of months. We have more projects going on than we've had time to finish. That being said, blogging has definitely taken the back burner.

Here's a small glimpse of what the past 2 months have been like for us:

Canning! I kinda love it. What you see is our storage filled with canned fresh garden produce: pickles, green beans, tomatoes, apricots, peaches and strawberry, apricot and peach jam. We'll be eating well this winter!

Here's just one of the many diy projects: our cradle. After sewing these bumpers I swore I'd never attempt sewing bedding again, then I found the perfect fabric, and borrowed Christie's much nicer sewing machine, and have since sewn the crib bedding. So I've become somewhat of a make-up-your-own-patterns seamstress. Now we have pillows, blankets and two sets of baby bedding. whew! Another new hobby? I think yes!

Here's Bruce's guest appearance at one of our fav nephew's birthday parties.
Introducing Sg. Locked and Loaded.
He loved it, the young little soliders loved it and I loved it! I only hope we'll have our own little battilion of darling boys one day.
And yes, you can rent him out for your children's theme parties too.

I don't know how it happened, but I think Bruce and I were nominated without our knowledge to represent the hard-working class of Americans. We've both worked like dogs this summer (Bruce especially!) Check out some of his awesome jobs!

And we became homeowners! yay!
our bathroom:

the living room:

and kitchen:

isn't is lovely?!

And of course, last but not least, I've been growing a human:

By far my favorite

Wide open spaces

free time = rediscovering my suppressed creative side.

It's A . . .more'

:: inspired by Bissy ::

Costa RRRRRica!

It's no wonder that nearly everyone you know has either been to Costa Rica, or has plans to go. That's at least how it seemed once our plans were underway! It's a place to fill all pleasures. And it really is that awesome!
Beautiful landscapes everywhere, abundant mountains/volcanoes + amazing beaches, really delicious food, plus the tropical fruit that makes you ask yourself why we even try to import it when it's never nearly as good, awesome wildlife, the ocean, etc., etc., etc.

We'll tell our Costa Rica story in pics...lots and lots of pics:

beautiful flowers beautiful beaches

beautiful women




we ate at little treasures off the road,

and at amazing restaurants overlooking the ocean

yum

we hiked, rain or shine...and we got mostly rain
we swam/sat in beautiful volcanic hot pots- but there will be no violations of the rule against posting swimsuit pics while pregnant. sorry.


we loved

he drove, i slept


he went from tom hanks in castaway

to hulk hogan, minus the wife beater and beer can.

yet it seemed to bring out the best

always does


we surfed

or should i say got beat-up by the surf?
we're lucky to come away with just raccoon eyes and a red belly- the waves were wicked big. there were more locals out surfing than you'd imagine- they were wicked good.


we enjoyed the wildlife


from a distance

and planned our escape if this were to happen


we went deep sea fishing

and made a sweet catch!

x2

fine, there was no we, it was all bruce and lupe
(our one eyed, two toothed, three english words vocab. guide)

but it sure was fun, minus the time i had to puke overboard...x2

i just hope he's this excited when he holds up our first born- look at that face!

sigh...it was beautiful and of course went too fast.