My mom and dad came into town last weekend. This was their very first trip to Peoria and I think we all had a great time! Eli and Hailey were very excited to have company coming to our house. They helped me make the bed downstairs the day before they came and went with me to the airport to pick them up. :)
We ate lots of good food, enjoyed quality time outside, and shopped for some cute Fall clothes for the kids. Marc and I even managed to get away to the movie theater one night which is always a treat. I think my favorite part of the weekend was the picnic we took to Peoria Heights on Grandview Drive overlooking the Illinois river. The weather was perfect for most of the weekend.
Thanks mom and dad for making the trip! We look forward to having you back.
Ok, so I haven't quite figured out how to work blogging into the new schedule, hence the slower pace these days on the blog. In Africa, I really made a point to update regularly because I knew our family really needed to see what we were up to. Before Africa, it was really easy for me to blog over my lunch break at work or when I was pumping when I was still nursing Hailey. I haven't quite figured out how to make it happen as smoothly these days. I haven't abandoned it... just slowing down a bit. I think part of the problem is I feel way less inspired to write now that our life has become very "normal" again. It is still wonderful, but seems much less interesting without the camel rides, dust storms, and weevils. :) The other part of the problem is that I am so much busier than I thought I would be trying to keep up with the house work and watch two kids! I remember joking with Marc in Africa that I wasn't going to know what to do with myself when I didn't have to bake my own bread, clean our produce in bleach water, and trim and grind our own meat. I thought I would have just TONS of time every day but somehow I don't. Maybe I will just blame it on the pregnancy fatigue. :)
A few updates:
Marc has been going strong at work for over a month now. He really loves teaching the residents and I am sure he is doing a great job. He is doing OB this week and really loves that part of the job. He is on weekend call 1:5 and on weekday call every Tuesday. He has really enjoyed cutting back the call some from what it was in Africa. Yet, he really misses working at the hospital in Galmi. There is such need. It is a hard place to forget and we have enjoyed looking through our pictures over the past few weeks and remembering the stories.... There have been very heavy rains recently in Niger and many parts of the capital city are flooded. Please pray for the many who have lost their homes and for the missionary school as they figure out what to do about their classes until things improve.
I have spent the past few months learning more about this stay-at-home mom job. I have always functioned really well with a schedule so it has been different trying to adapt to a pace that is less structured. I have also learned whole new lessons in the area of patience. Eli is certainly a "spirited" child and I am trying to learn more each day about ways to effectively parent him without being too hard on him. One thing I have learned is that he needs time every day outside to burn off some of his energy! We have ventured out most days of the week trying out all of the playgrounds nearby and learning our way around town. Target is very close to our house and we have probably visited it a little too much. :)... I have been working on a Kelly Minter bible study this summer on the book of Nehemiah. It was the perfect book of the bible to study after coming back from Africa. I never want to forget what it means to have a heart that is broken for those around me in need. I want compassion and mercy to run through my veins but I am learning more and more that they are qualities that I have to nurture.... I think I am 17 weeks along at this point but beginning to lose track of the weeks. The baby has been kicking for a few weeks now which has been fun. Eli is so eager to feel a kick but will have to keep waiting for a few more weeks. We should find out the middle of September what we are having.
Eli is really beginning to fill his big brother shoes. While he fights with his sister daily over toys, he is also very protective of her and looks out for her often which is so sweet to see.... We decided to enroll him in preschool this year. After looking at several programs, we found what we hope to be a great school for Eli. He will attend two full days a week and is VERY excited about starting school the beginning of September.... Eli's latest accomplishment is that he has let go of his favorite comfort, his beloved thumb! I am still amazed that he is done with it. Marc told me he sucked his thumb well into grade school so I just knew we were done for when Eli became a thumb sucker at 4 months of age. But alas, he hasn't put that little friend in his mouth in nearly a week. We took the kids to McDonald's last weekend for breakfast to celebrate Eli's big accomplishment. We are super proud of him and I think he knows it. :)
Hailey has become even more independent. I hear at least a hundred times a day, "I do it! I do it!" whenever I try to help her with something. First, she wanted to put her seat belt on by herself, but now she has decided that she needs to crawl into the car and into her car seat all by herself as well. Everything takes so much longer this way, but I really don't mind encouraging this little independent streak she has going on. :).... She still loves to sleep like no kid I have ever met. Marc's parents kept her for us when we went to Chicago and Marc's mom commented how funny it was to hear a toddler ask to go down for a nap or to go night-night! She knows the routine and loves it.... Potty-training has been so easy with Hailey. Eli was pretty easy to train once we got him interested (with lots of bribing), but Hailey was interested way before we even left Africa. I just didn't have the right stuff to make it happen there. Maybe it is all part of that independent thing she has going on. It didn't quite seem fair to continually reward Hailey in front of Eli with a treat so he gets a M&M each time too as long as he tells her "Good job!" It has been a win-win for everyone.
A few more pics from life lately...
Celebration breakfast at McDonald's play-place
Followed by a trip to the Peoria zoo
Bidding Uncle Ryan farewell before he heads off to college
And here is a little clip of Hailey performing her favorite song, "The Bumblebee song"...
Last week there was an open day for kids under five at one at the gymnastic centers in town (for a small fee at least). I have the kids each signed up for a class at this place this fall so I figured we would go and get familiar with our surroundings. I really thought that Eli and Hailey would love something as active as gymnastics but seeing them run around this place so happy and giddy just confirmed it. :)
Hailey's class requires an adult "buddy" so I will be joining her while Eli's class goes on at the same time in a different area of the gym. The Fall classes end just before Thanksgiving so I am hoping I won't be waddling too bad at that point! It should be fun and good activity for us out of the house each week. I really loved gymnastics as a kid so I am excited for our kids to get a chance to learn some of the basic skills. Eli nearly walked the length of low beam all by himself the other day so I think he is going to be really great at this (though I am his biased mama)!
Marc and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on July 30th. We were able to spend last weekend in Chicago in honor of the occasion, and we had a great time. Marc likes to GO, GO, GO on vacations so I am still recovering from all the walking we did, but we saw lots of great sights in Chicago. I can certainly say I like Chicago much more in the summer than in the winter. :)
Saturday was our big sight-seeing day. Our first stop was to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower... I still can't believe they changed the name of this historic place!). Marc was really excited to see the glass ledges that they have added onto one side of the building. These glass boxes were not here the last time I visited and it was quite crazy to step out onto this glass on the 103rd floor!
If you look really closely, you can see the little glass boxes jutting out of the side of the building near the top.
We took a water taxi from the Willis Tower to Michigan Avenue. This was lots of fun and cheaper than a taxi.
We ate dinner on Saturday at Wildfire steakhouse which was a recommendation from some of Marc's family. We both had steaks that were delicious and you can't beat a celebration dessert on the house!
We ended the evening up at Navy Pier. It was PACKED. The last time I came to Navy Pier was December 2004 and it felt like it was -20 degrees. Marc and I were the only crazy souls in sight then. I remember losing the feeling in my fingers and toes really fast and couldn't wait to get back to the car. Not this time. I was loving all the people, the food, lights, and music. It was so fun! We decided to ride the Ferris wheel to get a better view of Chicago at night.
On Sunday, we enjoyed walking Lake Shore Dr. and finding a few "must sees" along the way.
Marc had planned our entire trip and he ended the weekend up with a surprise dinner on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building (though I suspected this was where we were going since Marc has been talking for years about wanting to eat here!).
The view from our table of Lake Michigan and the city
You could see the entire city from the the window just opposite to us (there is also a lounge on the 96th floor if you want to just have a coke and see the sights)
We had a great time! It is always special to have some time to reflect back on the previous years and all that we have seen and done together. A big thanks to the grandparents for taking such good care of our little ones while we were away. :)
