Photoshoot

It has been an entire year since I last posted...almost to the day. Allie has certainly grown quite a bit since then. She is now walking, talking, running, rolling, sliding, and has added a few new dance moves (such as spinning) to her repertoire.

We spent the day today taking her almost 18 months pics. It was a lot easier to do them now before school starts then to actually wait until she is really 18 months. :)

Lincoln Park Zoo

We went with Grandma (mama) & Aunt Kimmy (Mimi) to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was so much fun!!! I thought she would eventually get bored and fussy, but she LOVED seeing all the animals.


We saw tigers and zebras and llamas and so much more!! Her favorites were definitely the bears and monkeys. :) The variety of animals is truly amazing. The stripes on zebras and the markings on a tiger just amaze me. It was so fun to watch how excited Allie got seeing each of the animals!!

She even wore her hat for a short bit. She's not a big fan...

Cosley's Zoo

Allie and I met up with Grandma Tucker at a small petting zoo in Wheaton. It was perfect for Allie. She got to see and pet some of her favorite animals.
There were ducks:
She got to pet goats. I never really thought about how they like to climb. You can see them in the background hanging out on some platforms. :)

It was a hot, hot day, but she enjoyed every minute!! I would highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the Wheaton area. Bonus - it's free!

Farm Weekend

Our small group decided to get away together. We spent a weekend at a farm house (a very nice farm house) about at hour outside of Galena. It was beautiful there! Lots of green!!! It was fun to hang out and play with all the kids. We quickly learned that the 2 horses on the property were friendly. It was Allie first real-life encounter with "neighs."


There was a cute little pond that was stocked for fishing. The older kids were quite successful catching fish. As you can see, Allie wasn't much up for riding in the row boat!!


There was lots of room to fun and play. We brought some yard games to play during the daytime.


The Petersens wisely brought a travel DVD player. The little ones definitely needed a little down time...Andy did too. :)

Dedication

Sunday, July 22nd we had a dedication ceremony for Allie. A dedication is an opportunity to celebrate Allie's life and for us as parents to publicly commit to raising our child to become the beautiful girl God intends her to be. It also is an opportunity for us to ask our friends and family to help us in that pursuit. It really meant a lot to us to have everyone there with us.

It was a wonderful ceremony and day for us!! Even in spite of the little tooth that decide to start pushing through Allie's gums. It would figure, though, that the tooth would come on a day where she is the center of attention. :)


The ceremony was officiated by Wally Marshall, who is the Palatine area pastor at Willow Creek. He pointed out that Alyssa's name means "bold," which is definitely coming out in her personality. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know if she isn't getting it!!


We had a party afterwards that was a lot of fun. I think the key (besides all the great guests) was getting it catered!! All of the fun of entertaining...none of the stress of cooking! :)

Four Generations

This past weekend Allie made the trip up to Winona, Minnesota to visit her great-grandma!! She invited Auntie Kim, Grandma Whamond and I to go along with her. :) Unfortunately, Uncle Mike had a busy schedule so he wasn't able to join us. So far she has been a pretty good traveler. I was definitely a little nervous about upsetting the people in the assisted living home, but she kept her fussing to a minimum. The weekend was actually quite wonderful as great-aunt Pam, and the rest of the fam gave my sore wrists a rest and held Allie for much of the time.
Allie got a taste of a true girl's weekend. We spent most of our time talking, shopping and eating the infamous long johns from Bloedow's Bakery. :) I should mention that shopping in Minnesota where there is no tax is a dangerous thing for someone who is such a sucker for a good deal!!! Auntie Kim and I may have blown the bank while great-grandma and grandma watched Allie.

The best quote of the weekend came from great-grandma. She was telling me about her "conversation" with Allie. Her interpretation of some of Allies louder noises: "Allie had a few swears to say." :)
We were thinking about visiting my cousin Jill on our way home, but Allie was ready to get home. She sleeps great in the car, but it throws off her sleep schedule. :(

This is the Sugar Loaf, which is on top of the bluff that great-grandma used to live on.

Two Long, Crazy Weeks

The timing of Allie's birth was nearly perfect. I was able to take a full 12 weeks off, but I had to go back to work for the last week of school. I guess it really was the best timing we could possibly come up with as I would probably have had to go back in to clean up and finalize grades and stuff, so I might as well get paid for it.

Everyone and their mother, literally, offered to watch Allie. It was such a blessing!!! I was mostly nervous about the logistics of getting her to and from the current day's sitter and making sure she had everything she needed. Thankfully, Auntie Kim (and daddy) started off the race. They made the transition to work so much easier as Auntie Kim came to the house and watched Allie while Andy worked from home.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent with the Wolfes, Thursday with Grandma Tucker, and Friday Auntie Kim came back. I'd have to say that she was in very good, loving hands. :)

During this week I got a taste of being a working mom, which included the oh-so-fun pumping!! I believe I may have mentioned this before, but just in case I didn't...pumping is not fun. I had to sit in a tiny room attached to a machine... I did get better at it as the days went on, so I feel a little better about the fall.

The next week I had one of the classes in the program that I had been a part of (working towards 30 more hours of classes to get the next raise.) That week Allie went back to PR and spend the day with Beth Nagel, as well as spend another day with Grandma Tucker. The majority of the week, though, was spent with her best friend Ella. Ella is 3 weeks older...so quite a bit more mature. :) Ella's mom, Kelle, and I have had a lot of fun watching the two of them grow. I love hearing what Ella is doing as I know that Allie will soon follow suit. Kelle was so great...she took tons of pics of the little girls as they played together. They even spent some time "talking," but she wasn't able to get it on video. :(

Look! Ella has a hand!! And a wrist!! And an elbow!!

Time for a photoshoot!! A is for Allie the Alligator. E is for Ella the Elephant.