Train date with daddy

I realize that the photos of our family are going to be a little out of sequence, especially as I'm posting THIS now with pictures of Rylan Thomas taken previously to follow (as well as video), but the truth be told, it's been a full time job splitting duty.

Kelly has been Rylan's full time partner and job. This means that daddy and Makenna are having a LOT of quality time together over these two weeks that I am home, Kelly is recovering and we're adjusting. It also means that most of the action has to happen late at night (as everybody is snuggled in their beds).

Today, I took Makenna for her first train ride. She's been fascinated with them, even though she has less than zero use for Thomas the Train on television. They capture her attention when we're at the French Market in Wheaton and when she and we have dinner with Gaga and Pop-Pop along the tracks in Westmont and LaGrange, she wants to watch them all go by.

So we woke up and headed to the Metra station in Naperville, took a half-hour ride to LaGrange which she adored tremendously and walked around a while. We had lunch at Knead Market and then caught the train back and were home in time for a four hour nap. She's been on the go pretty hard the last four days or so, it was an overdue extended nap (she woke up around 6:30).

We're all doing well and you'll continue to see pictures of the family and Rylan in the days and weeks to come. It's all about finding the time.

Welcome Rylan Thomas!!

Our little baby boy made his entrance into the world yesterday, August 20 at 10:34 am.

Rylan weighed 9 pounds and 4 ounces and is 21 inches long. He is doing great and we are enjoying every precious moment with him. Makenna Claire already loves him so much and has eagerly adapted to the big sister role to "baby Rylan". Many, many more pictures to come but here is a glimpse of our sweet little boy.

And here is the video of the announcement made to our family. It's great.

Video from the car with Makenna

Mommy and the peanut had a few conversations about the new baby. As toddlers can be, she's just stupid cute.

Baby Eve!!!

Baby Case will be making his or her debut tomorrow morning!!! Stay tuned for the exciting news..we can't wait to meet our new child and for Makenna Claire to become a BIG SISTER! Scott will be dispatching pictures from the hospital! xoxo

WE ARE SOOO PROUD!!!!!!!

SCOTT FINISHED HIS FIRST OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHOLON YESTERDAY AND DID WONDERFULLY DESPITE THE HOT, HOT HUMID DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Way to go!!! And the thing is, he looked awesome doing it! After months of hard work, lots of time and dedication, Scott's training paid off and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Here is a few pictures to highlight his success.

MC waiting on Nana's shoulders to catch a glimpse of Daddy transitioning from the water to the bike. Having been to a few events before, she knew exactly what to do. Chanting, "go, Daddy, go"..she even had the crowd smiling at her adorableness!
Scott coming in from the water...
And quickly transitioning to the bike...
Here we are waiting for Scott to circle around in his bike with MC holding her sign she helped create.
And now Scott is coming in from the bike, to transition to his running shoes....
And with ease, and very very hot, coming to the finish line after running the very hilly terrain.

Here's his official results.. Congratulations Honey!! YOU are one amazing person and thank you for being a great example on being healthy and continually challenging yourself! You ROCK!!!!!

YEA for Jammie Friday and boy is that piggy HUNGRY!!

Makenna and I have had a busy, busy summer between all of our activities, playgroup and classes. It has been a lot of fun but I can't even think of the last day we just stayed home all day and lounged. Well, kinda anyways, since I have been cleaning and doing laundry throughout the day. It still has been nice and quite a treat! We have called it Jammie Friday and celebrated the day! And yes we are still in our jams, and it's 4pm...:)!!

Makenna spotted my wallet and guess who was hungry? Yep, without hesitation Piggy made immediate appearance and all my change quickly went into his belly.

And that made for one happy little girl!

When my wallet was empty, she said to me..

"Mommy, need to go shopping for more coins please. Kenna needs more"

Out of the mouth of babes, and if it was only that easy, right?

Little Fish, little fish...

Makenna Claire finished up her second set of swimming lessons today and she has become quite the little fish! With our first class, she loved being in the pool but was very hesitant to put her face in the water and cried with great fright when she was dunked. When she knew she had to go under water, she would cry, "no, mommy no under wager (water)!! " and look at me with such great anticipation with those baby blue eyes of hers. I have to tell you, it broke my heart. However, the teacher recognized what a strong willed child MC is (who, MC.....Yep, she had her number!!) and told me to just stick with it and she will get better. And boy has she!
Now she is jumping into the water, splashing Mommy with great gusto.
She is paddling and kicking short distances to the wall..
She is putting her face under water to blow bubbles..
And showing her bravery by putting her head back in the water by herself.
Even successfully torpedoing under water (!!!!!) to the side of the pool. All done with smiles, a sense of accomplishment and proudness. MC, all you need in life is your confidence and you will go soo far!

Thanks Nana for the great pictures! MC was lucky to have Gaga, Auntie Kellie and Nana at her last swim class today to see her perform all her skills. She was so excited to show off at the end of class and demonstrate all her new talents. We are all proud of you Makenna Claire! Way to go!!! xoxo