Chicago Reunion

I have been meaning to post pictures from our recent trip to Chicago but it has been hard to find the time! Mark, Jacob and I left for Chicago on Thursday, Aug. 6th and Jacob and I returned on Monday, Aug. 10th (Mark had to fly straight to SF for an all week meeting so Jacob and I flew back solo). After the flight there, I was seriously contemplating renting a car and driving back to Dallas. It was THAT bad. I'd say half of the reason was Jacob's irritability and restlessness on the flight. The other half of the reason was the turbulence that had me panic stricken for 2 straight hours. When you're 7 months pregnant and prone to Braxton Hicks contractions under major stress, this is NOT the flight you want to be on. I thought if we survived, I was definitely going to have this baby in Chicago. Alas, we made it there safely and baby stayed cooking in my belly, but I was dreading the flight home alone the entire weekend. Sure enough, Jacob ended up being an angel on flight #2 and he and I made it home without any major incident. Cheers to that!

Chicago was a great time mostly because we all got to see and catch up with family and so many old friends. On Friday morning, my old mom's group hosted a playdate where we got to reunite with each other. I was almost in tears when I walked through Carrie's door -- it brought back so many great memories. It had been a year and a half since I'd seen everyone so of course the kids had changed so much. As we always used to do, we lined the kiddos up on the couch and took a million snapshots hoping that at least one was print-worthy!

From left: Jacob, Blythe, Kate, Lindsay, Mia and Luke (taken on 8/7/09):



And check this out nearly 2 years earlier. From left: Mia, Kate, Blythe, Kevin, Lindsay, Jacob and Lauren (taken on 8/31/07):



Nanny and Papa were also in town for a different wedding in Chicago so we got to spend lots of quality time with them and Uncle Eric. On Saturday morning, we drove to Wisconsin where my old friend Kevin was getting married. Jacob was napping during the ceremony, so I walked to the church by myself and got to enjoy the wedding without a single distraction. It was beautiful. I was so happy that we decided to make this trip because Kevin is a dear friend of mine and I really wanted to be there for his big day. We brought Jacob to the reception later in the evening and he really did great early on just sitting outside with us playing with his cars. He was super excited about the prospect of dancing and couldn't wait until it all started. Unfortunately, he didn't realize he'd have to sit through toasts, and cake cutting, and dinner, etc. before the action began so that was somewhat of a challenge. But all in all, he did well. There were other kids there that he chased around the dance floor while we all had cake, but then when the real dancing began, he didn't understand that running at warp speeds through the big circle of guests huddled together for the "We are Family" song was inappropriate (if not dangerous). We realized that shortly after that we might have to call it an early night. In the future, we might rethink taking a toddler to a wedding, but we are still young parents and have a lot to learn! I got to snap some adorable shots of our little man all dressed up though. In these pictures, I can foresee a grown man many, many years down the road and it really makes me want to stop time.

Daddy and Jacob walking into the reception. I don't know why I love taking pictures of them walking together -- maybe I just love to see the back of Mark and his mini-me.





Jacob, show me your "happy" face!



Jacob, show me your "half-smile"



Jacob, show me your "grumpy face"



Jacob, show me your "excited face"



Jacob's best part of the night was running full speed on the dance floor!



Especially with the other kids...



"Why can't I dance with the bride too?"



On Sunday, we got to catch up with Mark's old friends the Lapadulas, the Clarks and Jim McCaffrey. The Lappys just had their 2nd baby, Hadley, who didn't make a peep the entire time through a 2 hour lunch. Man, I might sell my soul to have baby #2 be like that!! It was so fun catching up with everyone and I just hope it's not another year and a half before I make it back to Chicago!!