Fun Times in July!

Claire really loves the water!

Fun with daddy in the water!

Swimming at the pool party! No hands thanks to the water wings!
Grammie is sharing the cake with Madeline. Madeline took the fork from her on her first bite, which cracked us up!
Happy Anniversary Papo and Grammie!!! We went out to lunch to celebrate and got the big chocolate cake slice from Claim Jumper!

Daddy had a headache and Maddie rubbed his head for 5 min. It was really sweet!

Sneaking into the cabinet again...and NOT eating healthy! We need to get a lock on the snack cabinet!

Playing with long time friend, Miles!

Love her face here - she was a bit hesitant with the big horses!

The principal at my school has quite a few farm animals on her property. We went for a visit and Madeline had a great time! She seemed to have the most fun watching the chickens and kittens.

Madeline seemed to be a bit confused by the water table and kept saying "pool!"

Third Trimester is Here!

This pregnancy has flown by! I feel pretty good and fortunately have not been exhausted by the heat (yet at least)! I had a doctor's visit yesterday and passed my glucose test. The baby's heartbeat was a strong 142. I feel this baby a lot and sometimes even have to stop and grab my belly! When I was pregnant with Madeline, the placenta was in the front, so it blocked some of the movement. That is definitely not the case with this one!!! I have not had any weird cravings or anything too out of the ordinary! I am carrying very low and will add a picture one day soon. We are so not as good at taking them this time around. (Although part of it is my fault and I am not liking the camera too much these days!)

4th and 5th of July!

We had a jam packed holiday weekend and it was so much fun! On the 4th, we got some things done around the house. In the evening, we headed down to the city, had dinner and watched fireworks from Tim and James' boat. It was hot, but great! :) The highlight of the 5th was taking our bikes to Glencoe, having dinner there and riding to the beach. It was beautiful and another great night. Madeline has been staying up quite late this summer with all of these fun things to do! On the beach with daddy and loving it!
Clapping for the fireworks....Madeline wasn't so sure about them at first, but then decided they were pretty cool!!!

On the boat with daddy! Madeline spent more time off the boat then on it - she doesn't like to sit still for too long!

Our Holiday Weekend...

Having a good time with daddy. He was playing bags and after he threw it, she would say, "yeah daddy!" It was really sweet!

Madeline and the boys!
We left the party for a bit to hit up Southport. Mads LOVED this store window - we were there for 15 min. We then got some Anthony's and it was delicious! :)

Maddie loves parties and all the goodies she gets to eat there! I tried to sell her on the cookie with the white frosting, but she insisted on the blue frosting!

Their hide and seek spot!

Playing with Matthew and visiting the nature center. We got to play with the bunny and feed him.

And it's not even over yet! :)

Looking at Pictures of Baby Ava!

We Have A New Beautiful Niece!!!

We are so excited in the arrival of Ava Grace! I personally think she looks a lot like Addison did when she was a baby! We just can't wait to meet her and see the Cesta Family of 4!!!

Baby Cesta Arriving Soon!

We can't wait for Baby Cesta news! Baby should be here tonight!!!! Maddie and Matt think it's a boy and I am going girl! We will know soon! YEAH!!!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Come for a Fun Visit!

We had a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Welke. On Monday, the two of them, Matt and Madeline went to the zoo! Matt went to work and the 3 of them took the train home, which she loved. Walking home from the train was fun too - Maddie and grandpa looked for sticks the entire way home! Madeline had such a fun day and loves her grandpa and grandma so much!

Eating lunch on the way home.

Madeline said her favorite animals at the zoo were the zebras!

Playing Dress Up

Madeline is getting into the princesses and playing dress up. She has been climbing up on her kitchen set for a while. Does she think Tinkerbell can just fly up there?!!

A Cute New Hiding Spot!

Madeline just loves playing hide and seek. She found a new spot!

Happy Father's Day!

Walking around the lake - Madeline loved it!

Enjoying the view at the lake.

Maddie and Daddy water the flowers together - it's something that they do!

After church - Madeline often will tell us bye. When we ask her where she is going, she will say, "church!" When you ask her what you say at church she says, "Peace!"

Good morning!

A special day for such special people!!! WE LOVE YOU MATT (DADDY), GRANDPA WELKE, PAPO, GREAT GRANDPA MUELLER, UNCLE JOE, UNCLE MATT AND ALL OF THOSE OTHER EXTRA SPECIAL DADS! We are so blessed!

We had such a great day! Madeline loved saying "Happy Daddy Day!" We took a bike ride to the lake and had a picnic - something Matt has been wanting to do for a long time. It was such a beautiful day and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Saturday at the Track with Miles

It was a beautiful Saturday at Arlington Park! Madeline was very excited to see the horses and Miles. These 2 have known each other since pre - birth :), but this is the first time they really played and had fun together. They mimicked each other all day and evening long. We were all cracking up at dinner, as they kept us entertained with their echo routine!

They also managed to finish off the ENTIRE bowl of guac - just the 2 of them!!!

Singing In The Car

We often sing in the car these days. Madeline just loves to sing! At the end, she is saying "Mommy's turn" as we take turns singing the verses of the song. She is growing up more every day - it's hard to believe how much she changes each week!

Grandma Welke comes for the Week!

Madeline and grandma had so much fun together! I only wish that I had more pictures. They went to the park for a long time every morning, went for walks, cooked dinner together (which Matt and I really appreciated!), read a lot of books, planted flowers for some added curb appeal and more!

Celebrating Father's Day Early

We went to the Newton's last Sunday to celebrate with my dad. We had a great meal and a great time! We all took a walk to check on the lot and talked with some new neighbors. Our house will be hitting the market on Tuesday - crazy!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KRISTIN AND JOE!

We wish you a wonderful day!

A "LOT" can change in a week!

We will be building in the future on this piece of land!!! It all happened very fast! We have been looking for a while, but there is always something that we would do different. I came to the conclusion that Matt would be most happy if we built. After more open houses last Sunday, we increased the offer on the lot and the counter came back promising. On Wednesday we had a deal! :) Our house will be put on the market sometime soon and after it sells, we will start the building process. We don't feel rushed and are excited at what is to come! We will still be in Park Ridge in a very central location. We are just under a mile from the Newton Crew!
Taking a bike ride - we have been taking a lot of these!

Friday Crew

Braeden, Amy and Madeline. These 3 have spent their Fridays together since late August!

Zoo Day!

We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo last Saturday with the Shooks! It rained off and on, but was still a lot of fun! Madeline liked the petting zoo, but was a bit afraid of the larger animals. Hopefully she will overcome this fear soon. We hope to make lots of zoo visits this year! Her favorite part was chasing the pigeons and looking at the rabbits. Who would have thought?!! Hatching out of the egg!
On the farm portion of the zoo

Checking out the bunnies and hanging on chains with Aubriana!

The FISH!

Clinging onto daddy!

Talking to Addison

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very nice, family filled weekend of fun! We headed to Freeport for a graduation party for Matt's cousin with G-pa and G-ma Welke. Madeline had fun calling out to the animals on the drive there ("Animals....are you?"). She had fun going out on the canoe at their house and fun playing peek a boo and dancing with grandpa at the party. We went to the pool and for a long bike ride with everyone on Saturday. Matt and I went to see a movie while the g-p's babysat. We topped the weekend off with a BBQ at the Newtons. It was cute to see Maddie and Nappie play with each other in the backyard. Claire and Mads both enjoyed the corn on the cob! One more week until school is out - yeah! I can't wait!!!

Mads has always loved Claire's car seat!

Co - pilot with Daddy!

At the party...a good shot of her teeth!

So serene!