New Dining Room Table

When we moved into our new house (3 1/2 years ago) we really just tried to use the furniture we had and thought we will slowly but surely get new stuff or stuff period to fill up the house. So one of those rooms was our formal dining room. We had used Dans super old table in there that really wasn't all that big so not great when the whole family comes over. In the kitchen we had my old teeny tiny apartment table. Which is not very well equipped for a family of 3 (almost 4) eating on it on a daily basis. So one our way home from dropping off Sam at her grandparents for the night about 2 weeks ago we stopped into a consignment store to see if they had an nice patio furniture..No dice there...However we fell in love with this beautiful travertine (I think that is what it is called) table..It was huge and gorgeous and would look perfect in our dining room. Again this is not what we had been envisioning for that room we had already picked out a dark wood table about a year ago but had been gun shy about purchasing it. The stone table also had 8 gorgeous parsons chairs...We fell in love with it and it was a steal of a price so we rushed home and measured our space to see if it would fit as clearly we can't bring it back if it doesn't. So we purchased the table and they finally delivered it last week...LOVE IT....Now all we need to do it get some art work and put a runner down the center and a center piece (aka add some color) and we are all set....

And Sam seems to love it too. WE also think this table will hold up much better with having all the kids in the family now and really not being able to destroy it is a huge plus. Also it is gorgeous... As you can tell Sam was very fascinated with it and wouldn't let me take a picture of it without her in it...

The Grocery Store is her new playground...

Well Sam and I got the grocery store every weekend together. Well this week one night I needed to pick up 4 things one night after work so Sam and I stopped in the grocery store on our way home from school. Sam loves to sit in the cart and help me with the list and sometimes if we go early on a Saturday she likes to run around (which I don't' mind as there is no one else really there that early)...But this trip was a little different..First I am about 8 months pregnant and not as willing to walk all over the place. Second she found the smaller carts that they have for kids. They have always been there she just never noticed them. Well she finally did and insisted she push one..Which I was fine with we only needed 4 things like I said. But of course they were all on opposite corners of the store..Sam kept up pretty well and enjoyed pushing the cart and seeing things at her own level..She didn't even seem to want to try and sneak anything extra in the cart. I just have visions of our fun/easy trips on Saturday's turning into much longer now that she needs her own cart...Should be interesting...Also I managed to take a picture of her pushing the cart as I am running ahead and she is running trying to keep up with me so sorry about it not being the best....

Samantha's BIG girl room

Well Samantha's BIG girl room upstairs has been a work in progress for several months but I think we are almost done. We have one thing for the wall still on back order until the end of August but everything else is pretty much done so thought I would share a few pictures...

First and foremost almost all of the heavy lifting (painting the walls, moving furniture around, hanging pictures and moving her stuff upstairs) has all been done by my amazing husband..So thanks babe for creating Sam's big girl room with me and then basically executing all the big stuff...hehehe

Here is her bed right when you walk in with her name above it...That is also a trundle that can be pulled out in order for her cousin Alyson to come over and spend the night. Currently we leave the trundle pulled out in case she falls out of her bed but she has been really good about that for a few weeks...

Here is the view from her bed of her gorgeous dresser. I have ordered a really pretty butterfly mirror to go above that so that is really the only thing we have left...

We saw this sign at a store while up in Michigan this summer with Dans family and just had to have it for Sam's room so we were lucky enough that Dan's parents could put it in their car and drive it back for us..We love it and think it looks just perfect...

And finally I was up in Sam's room last night taking these pictures right before bath time and Sam came running in and wanted to show off her room (she has been in here since July 4th weekend) as we still make a big deal about it being her big girl room... So she hammed it up for me on her bed so I had to include one of her in her room. She is so beautiful and special!!!

Trip to Michigan post 2 of 2

Okay so to finally finish up this post we have two more parts of our trip. After we left Dans Grandmothers town we went to Lake Michigan to spend a few days at his sister Amy's lake house. We absolutely love it there as it is so peaceful and a great way to spend some family time together and swim and enjoy the beach. Sam had never seen a lake or a beach so it was a lot of fun showing those to her. Of course the sand freaked her out at first but after she got over it and we got her a few sand toys she was good to go.

Sam and Mommy on the beach the first morning we were there. It was still chilly from a storm the night before but still so pretty.

We spent the whole afternoon down at the beach and once Sam got over the feeling of sand on her feet and we gave her some new toys (buckets and shovels and plastic boats we found at the dollar store) and she thoroughly enjoyed her time that afternoon on the beach.

The last morning at the lake I had remembered how pretty the beach was and wanted to get a few family pics so I packed some hopefully photogenic clothes for us to wear and we went down to the beach to take some pics. Sam was not super cooperative so here is the best family pic we got that morning.

Here is another attempt of getting a picture on the beach of us walking away. Again not super cooperative but turned out to be a pretty cute picture.

This also has become one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip as it is just so perfect. It is Sam and Uncle Doug sitting at the top of the steep stairs leading down to the beach on our last morning there. I think Uncle Doug was relaxing outside enjoying his cup of coffee and Sam wanted to join him. So I had to run inside and grab a camera and get a quick pic of it as Sam does not tend to sit still for very long.

So we left the lake and headed back into Chicago to spend the last few days with my BFF Seetal and her beautiful family. We had so much fun but definitely not enough time. We went to the Taste of Chicago on Saturday which was so hot but the food was super yummy... The only pictures I took were of Sam's first train ride as we took the train in..

We also had our traditional dinner at our favorite pizza place Lou Malnatis yummy and a fun brunch with another family we know through Seetal. It was a wonderful trip overall and so glad we did it this summer.

On the way home we got delayed out of Chicago about 2 hours and Sam was ready to go home too after being gone so long that she completely melted down right before we finally got on the airplane I think because she didn't want us to put her stroller away. Needless to say 5 minutes into take off this is what we saw...

I think everyone around us was so surprised but she passed out on me for the whole flight about 5 minutes into take off..She slept until it was time to get off the plane and we then had to wake her up. It was not my most comfortable flight as she was laying on my bladder (which 6 1/2 months prego is not ideal) so I went with the flow and fell asleep for the flight as well.

Sam the Ballerina

So Sam started ballet classes through her school 2-3 weeks ago... She was all excited the weekend before we tried all her clothes on. And even took a little video with her in her dance clothes for the first time twirling around...

In the classes the first week it appeared she sat on the floor playing with her shoes and watching everyone else. She has ballet shoes and tap shoes and seems fascinated with both...

Last week she did better and this week a little bit better..She likes to observe and then participate so hopefully she is getting comfortable and will start participating more...She was moving and hoping around some last week..yeah!!!

Belly pic at 27 weeks.

Here we are with Baby C at 27 weeks. I have been pretty bad about taking belly pictures this time around. I didn't feel all that big until this past weekend..Sleeping has become harder (needing lots of pillows) and being hot all the time. I have gained a total of 20 pounds so far so pretty excited about that. I gained 45 pounds with Samantha so trying to keep it right around 30 this time.

Trip to Michigan/Chicago 1 of 2 posts

So mid June we went on an adventure of 9 days as a family. Dan, Sam and I flew into Chicago and then drove to various locations in Michigan to spend time with Dan's family. We then headed back to Chicago to spend a few days with BFF Seetal and her family. It was a lot of fun but totally exhausting for a few reasons 1) I am just starting my 3rd trimester of this pregnancy and 2) traveling with a 2 year old (enough said).

Here is Dan and Sam on the plan ride to Chicago. It was an early flight (8Am) but Sam did well minus a minor upset moment getting on the plane and thank goodness for them letting us get on the plane with first class so had time to get settled. We brought her car seat with us but she refused to sit in it...oh well we tried... She also plastered her daddy with princess stickers during the flight...Hilarious...

We stopped in to have lunch with Seetal and the kids before driving up to Michigan that day and she thought to plan ahead and bring some bubbles (Sam's favorite thing at the moment) so the kids could run around at the park for a bit before we had to hit the road..

Our first stop was to stay at Dans Aunt Ellen and Uncle Doug's for 3 nights. We had a lot of fun playing cards, letting Sam run free on their gorgeous property and just spending some good quality time with family. WE also had a fabulous dinner over at Aunt Marilyn's and Uncle Jim's and got to meet all of Dans cousins... It was a great way to start the trip. We also had a full day at the zoo which I think Sam really enjoyed...

At Jim and Marilyn's house with their two daughters Vicki and Jodi. It was so fun to finally meet them especially since I had communicated with Vicki via email quite a bit and hear stories from everyone else.

Dan and I before we went into the zoo. Yes me in all my 27 weeks prego glory...I knew where every bathroom was at that zoo by the end of the day..heheh

Here Sam and I are trying to pet the sting rays. I think Sam enjoyed washing her hands before we could even go in and then putting her hands in water as opposed to petting sting rays..

Here Sam is on a "big girl swing" at the park across the street from zoo after we feasted on a fabulous picnic lunch (Thanks Marilyn)....

After all that we moved on and went to stay in Spring Lake Michigan where Dans grandmother June lives and his Aunt Vic and Uncle Randy. We spent some lovely time with Grandma.

Here is a 4 generation picture of Grandma "June", Larry (Dans dad), Dan and Samantha.. Love this picture...

We also had a fabulous dinner at Vic and Randy's (thanks guys for having us) and stayed at a nice hotel right on the water.

The morning we left Spring Lake we had a fabulous breakfast at Grandmas house and then Dan, Sam, Larry, Amy and myself went out to a fun pier in the area and had a lot of fun wearing Sam out..heheheSam riding in Daddys arms when she got tired and playing peekaboo with me.

Sam chasing Grandpa down the pier..So cute...