I was a lot better at this...

...when I only had one child! And it's funny how every little milestone seemed so interesting with Will. I mean of course I am proud of all of Reed's milestones too, but I don't feel the urgent need to blog about them. But just to catch you up...Reed is 7-months-old now. He started sitting up sometime in September (or was it August?). He started eating real [baby] food in October. He loves the baby food I make him and Puffs. I am trying to switch him from Puffs to Cheerios, because we will go broke feeding him Puffs at this rate. He started crawling a few weeks ago. He never even went through the rocking stage...just decided to start army crawling one day. He started crawling on all fours a few days ago and now he is really going fast. And Chris found his first tooth a week ago and another one today (the bottom middle two)! He is such a joy! He is so happy, sleeps great at night, loves to cuddle, admires his big brother...pretty much his only flaw is that he doesn't take naps. Oh my. That is a pretty big one. But we will get through it. Really the only time he cries is when I put him in that darn crib during the day. At night, he goes right to sleep and doesn't make a peep for 10-12 hours. Somehow the crib is not a happy place during the day though. This pretty much makes me crazy everyday, but it is worth it because he is my baby and he is SWEET when I am not trying to get a nap out of him. I love him so much!




Will is approaching three-and-a-half-years-old and he is so much fun. This is the best age. He constantly makes me laugh. Sometimes he is trying to be funny, but most of the time he is funny without trying. He always has a pretend football game going on and it is pretty entertaining to hear all about his games everyday. Sometimes I am not allowed to call him by his name. He will correct me by saying, "I am not Will...I am football player." He still enjoys playing with cars, coloring, reading, painting, and watching tv. He recently learned how to play the Wii and he is pretty good at it. He likes all the sports games and Mario Cart. He has also been very interested in helping me in the kitchen lately. His favorite thing to do is pull a chair up to the sink and wash dishes. This will come in handy someday. He loves his baby brother and wants him to be in the same room with him most of the time. He is a great kid! He is hilarious, very smart, sometimes sensitive...always my little buddy! I love my Will!


Picture taken by Therese Barrett Photography.


I am so thankful for these two amazing little guys!

Reed is 3 Months!

My little Reed turned 3-months-old and he is just as sweet as can be. I will say he is a homebody to the extreme. He is so happy at home and rarely complains, but the second I start to put him in his carseat he starts arching his back and crying. You would think I am torturing the poor little guy. He will just scream and scream in the car until he falls asleep or until we get somewhere and I get him out of his carseat. But even when he gets out of his carseat and we are not at home, he is not 100% happy. I guess he is very aware of his environment and feels most comfortable at home. It is probably a good change of pace for me. Sometimes I like to just go go go and now that I have Reed that doesn't like to do that, it keeps me at home a lot more and I am learning to be okay with that.

He is a GREAT sleeper. He sleeps 10:30-8:30 most nights. He slept until 9:15 this morning...talk about spoiling mama on a Saturday!! His naps have gotten shorter, but he still takes several 30-45 minute naps throughout the day. I think he is going through the 3-4 month wakeful period and just doesn't want to miss out on anything right now. But I'm sure we will be able to work on stretching his naps eventually. I'm not too worried about it right now.

He is still a big boy...at least in comparison to Will. He was 14.5 pounds a few weeks ago. He is a good eater, but currently hates the bottle. He doesn't do any tricks yet...but to be honest, we have only done tummy time a few times, so I haven't really given the opportunity to learn how to roll yet. I just hate to mess with him, when he is so content to be just laying on his back all the time. The doctor said not to worry and we can start working on this at 4 months...so that's what we will do! He has really started to watch his big brother and thinks he is pretty funny.





We love you sweet Reed!!!

Will is 3!

I seriously cannot believe I have a 3-year-old. That seems so old! We had a race car birthday party for him this year. I said last year that it was the last birthday party we would have for Will at our house, but of course we ended up having it at our house again. When I first mentioned the idea of having the birthday party at Chuck E Cheese or McDonalds to Will, he said, "Nooo...I want the kids to come to my house!" I started to try to convince him to do it somewhere else and he did warm up to the idea, but then I got nervous that he would clam up like he sometimes does when we are out in public and I wanted him to have fun at his party. So we did have it at home...hopefully next year will be the year we have it somewhere else. It's not that having it here is the worst thing ever, but it always seems to stress me out and I can't enjoy the party myself...but this year, I just decided not to do food (just snacks) and that helped a lot. Oh, and Chris let me hire someone to clean the house!






I really wanted a flag banner for the "Pit Stop" but I couldn't find one anywhere (it was too late to order online), so I made this one out of a table cloth and string.




Chris and I made these cars out of boxes and the kids decorated them and then raced them on a little race track we setup in the backyard.


This was the little kid heat.


Chris has been collecting Hot Wheels for Will since I was pregnant with him and we found out he was a boy. Since all the Hot Wheels stuff says it is for ages 3+, I told Chris we would have to wait until his 3rd birthday to give them to him...even though he already has a bunch that he has played with for awhile. But I think this might have at least triple his collection of cars and he only had a really simple race track before...now Chris and Will spend their evenings designing all kinds of cool race tracks. It really is pretty cool...I didn't realize what the race tracks would be like.


I went to Walmart right before the party to pick up a few last minute items and found all these car shirts for cheap (they all just happened to be red)! They didn't have one in Reed's size so I bought him a red onesie and put a car sticker on it.



I will have to write more about my 3-year-old later, Reed is calling! :)

Rainbow

Call us doting parents, but Will drew this rainbow from his heart this morning and Chris and I think it is pretty special. It is the first time that he has drawn something, told us what it is, and it actually looks like what he told us. :)

Reed Laughs

Smartie

I just have to write this here so that I won't forget how smart my boy is at a month shy of 3-years-old (and how much he doesn't like change of any kind). The past two Thursdays we went swimming in the afternoon followed by Firehouse Subs for dinner and Spoonfull for dessert. Yesterday we went swimming in the afternoon and I had started dinner before we went, so we came home to eat but Spoonfull sounded really good, so we decided to head that way after dinner.

As Chris and I were talking about it, Will asked if we were also going to Firehouse Subs. I told him that we weren't going to Firehouse Subs because we already ate dinner. He was disappointed, but eventually gave up asking why we couldn't go there. When we have gone to Firehouse Subs, he doesn't act like he likes it more than any other place that we go...we can barely get him to eat anything just like everywhere else, so I am pretty sure he just wanted to follow the routine we had set in the past. He doesn't like change!

About 30 minutes later, we are in the car headed to Spoonfull and Will announces that he is thirsty. I tell him we have water in the car and he says he wants Sprite (which he usually doesn't request unless we are eating out somewhere). I told him we didn't have any Sprite and they don't have any at Spoonfull either. To which he replies that we need to go to Firehouse Subs to get him a Sprite. I couldn't believe that he had thought of a way to try to get in Firehouse Subs. So funny!

So then we get into Spoonfull and Will gets his usual thing - sprinkles with a side of yogurt, which Will says is "kind of like donuts." Again, I think he has forgotten about Firehouse Subs....wrong. After he finished his treat, he tells me he is hungry again and he needs a sandwich from Firehouse Subs. It still didn't work, but kudos to Will for trying so hard! ha!

Quick update...

Reed will be 2 months old on Saturday! He has changed so much already. For one thing he is BIG...13 pounds last week and in the 90th percentile! Will never passed the 25th percentile. He also started sleeping through the night four nights ago...10:30 to 7:30 and it is awesome!! He is sooo happy when he wakes up in the morning. I love that sweet boy so much.

I am definitely adjusting to having two kids now! I am starting to feel normal again. I don't think I got the baby blues this time, but I just had a panicked feeling for awhile....like I couldn't handle two kids. But I can, and it's not so bad!

I took some pictures today for Father's Day and I couldn't help but ruin the surprise...they were just too cute not to share!







In other news....now that Reed is 8 weeks old, it is time to start shedding the baby weight. I started the Couch to 5k program tonight with some friends and it felt pretty good! I have done it before and liked it, but I never actually ran a 5k. I am planning to do it this time though...I will let you know how it goes. So far the the C25K and Lose It apps on my iphone are really making me feel motivated.

Reed meets Reese!

Funny story...

The week Will was born we got new across the street neighbors, Mark and Elizabeth. We ended up becoming great friends but sadly, we sold our house and moved last year and then shortly after we moved, they sold their house and moved to Amarillo!

They stopped in Lubbock for a quick visit last September and told us they were expecting their first baby. We knew that I was pregnant too, but we didn't say anything at the time because we hadn't told anybody yet.

As it turns out, our due dates were exactly two weeks apart. Elizabeth's due date was April 14th and mine was April 28th. We decided to name our boy Reed and they decided on Reese for their baby girl's name. I joked that they should be born on the same day since they had twinsie names and all.

Well, Elizabeth's due date came and went without baby Reese making her appearance so they decided to induce on April 19th. A couple of days later, we scheduled an induction for April 20th because my doctor was going to be out of the office for a week. I thought it was so funny that our babies would only be a day apart!

On the night of April 18th (after 11pm), Elizabeth and I were texting each other. Elizabeth said they would be leaving for the hospital at 4:45am and I thought that seemed sooo close. I was so excited that they would be meeting their sweet baby so soon. Little did I know that I would be headed to the hospital to have Reed even earlier than that!

So that's the story of Reed and Reese ending up with the same birthday!! How funny is that?

And tonight...they got to meet for the first time on Skype! Reese is so adorable and we can't wait to meet her in person!

Reed is here!

Wow...sorry I have not updated the blog since Reed joined us in this world. My life has been a little crazy and I just can't seem to find the time to sit at the computer to get pictures uploaded and write. But I am doing it now!

Reed was born April 19th at 5:21am. He weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces (almost a pound bigger than Will!) and was 19 inches.

I was scheduled to be induced on April 20th, but I was really hoping that he would come on his own like Will did. On Sunday night, I thought I would make one last effort to see if I could encourage him to come on his own...so at about 8:30 that night, we went for a family walk. I wasn't having contractions or anything...but I thought maybe it would help. I'm not sure if that was what did the trick, but at about 11:30 that night I started having contractions, but I didn't think too much of it at first since I had been having contractions for several weeks.

I did catch Chris just before he fell asleep and told him that I was having contractions and we might be making a trip to the hospital that night. I don't think he thought much of it because he said okay and went to sleep. I stayed up and cleaned, got a few things together, and then took a shower. I finally laid down for a few minutes around 2am after I took a shower and the contractions were coming about every 3-4 minutes...so I woke up Chris, called my mom to come stay with Will, and we left for the hospital.

We got to the hospital about 3:15am and Reed was born at 5:21am! It went SUPER fast and I was kind of regretting wishing that he would come on his own. With Will, I labored all night (10pm until 7:23am) and it was easy. By the time it was time to push, I only had push a few times and Will was here. But since I progressed so fast with Reed, I was already dilated to a 9 by the time I got the epidural. Believe me, I was BEGGING for it long before I got it, but apparently it was a busy night and there were 4 people in line ahead of me to get an epidural. So I basically went through the worst part of labor naturally and the epidural did kick in a little by the time I was pushing, but I could still feel a lot. It never fully took effect...so that was kind of a bummer for me! So all that to say, that it was a totally different labor experience than what I had with Will and I was not expecting it to be that way at all! But we all survived!

Throughout my pregnancy I prayed and prayed that Reed would be a good eater because Will was not and that was really stressful for us for the first few weeks after he was born. Well, God answered my prayers and Reed has been a great eater and he is growing fast...again, unlike Will! Reed was already 8 pounds at 11 days old and seems to be getting bigger and bigger!

Reed is a really good baby. He sleeps a lot and really only cries when he is getting his diaper changed or getting a bath. He hates both of these things! He is also not a huge fan of being in the carseat. Once again, all of these things are different than Will. It is so funny how different they are already! Will loved the swing and the bouncer and while Reed will tolerate the bouncer, he isn't a fan of the swing at all. However, he will sleep in his cradle all day long...which is probably better anyway. We haven't moved him to the crib in his room yet because his room is right next to Will's room and I am terrified that Reed would wake Will up in the middle of the night. In my mind, there would be nothing worse than having both of them awake in the middle of the night and so far, it hasn't happened! :)

Most nights, Reed eats at 10 or 11 and goes right to sleep...then wakes up at 3am and goes right back to sleep and then he's up again at 6 or 7. Not too bad! I think Will only woke up once during the night when he was this age, but a lot of times it was hard to get him to go back to sleep. Reed pretty much goes right back to sleep very easily which is nice!

Will is really sweet to Reed and seems to really like being a big brother! However, it has definitely been an adjustment for him. Actually, we are all still adjusting to Will's new behavior. He seems to do a lot of things for attention now that he never did before. I'm sure it is normal...but it has been hard dealing with these new issues. I am just praying that we will all settle in soon and get adjusted to our new normal.

Well I guess I will stop rambling and post some pictures! We haven't decided if he looks like Will or not. At first, I didn't think he looked like Will much at all but then after we looked at Will's baby pictures, I started to think they do look alike. It will be interesting to see how Reed changes as he gets older.


First picture with mom and dad - only a few hours old!


Will meets Reed for the first time! Will was a little intimidated for a few minutes, but nothing a few donuts and pieces of chocolate couldn't fix! :)


So proud to be a big brother!


Hi Reed!


Sweet boy!


Daddy taking a picture of his boy.


Ready to go home.


First car ride.


Napping with dad.


First bath...notice Will plugging his ears.


Daddy with his boys!

Eviction Notice

I posted this when I was pregnant with Will and he was born two days later. So I thought it was worth finding out if Reed could be just as cooperative...

Your mother is issuing a notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 2 more weeks in which you can either gather all belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, you will be physically removed from the property.

You are being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!

Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

Failure to comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at mommy's discretion.

Reed's Room

I still need to hang a few things (that I don't have yet) on the walls...but for the most part, this is it!






Donna Hill painted this for Reed! She makes the cutest signs and does custom orders...so let me know if you want her info!


I just love his bedding! It his a little hard to see all the different fabrics...so here is a picture I took of the swatches before I got the actual bedding in:

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday! Will loved everything about Easter this year and it was definitely fun for all of us. We read about the resurrection story in his Bible all week and talked a lot about the meaning of Easter...which meant a lot of talking about Jesus! Yesterday, my good friend Meredith came over and Will read the resurrection story to her. She asked him where Jesus was carrying the cross, which I believe was a new question for him, and he quickly responded, "To the post office!" So we probably need to brush up on the story a little bit.

The three of us had fun dying Easter eggs last night and talking some more about Easter. Then this morning before church, Will told us, "Happy Easter Bunny!" After church today, our families came over to our house for lunch and Easter egg hunting. Will kept asking when the Easter Bunny was coming and when it was finally time to hunt the eggs, he excitedly told everyone that the Easter Bunny came. I'm not really sure where he came to this conclusion because I never told him the Easter Bunny was coming to our house...I'm sure someone did though. Will and Brayden were the only kids old enough to hunt Easter eggs this year, but they made the most of it. Will got his share of eggs and helped Brayden put some in his basket too.

We did manage to take a few pictures after church. I was NOT up to it since I've been having some pretty serious contractions since yesterday afternoon...but I'm so glad we did. I think this could be the last family picture of just the three of us before Reed gets here. The contractions haven't gotten close enough together to go to the hospital, but we must be getting closer. They have been about 5-20 minutes apart and they sometimes they go away for a couple of hours at a time. I am still hoping to make it about another week since I am only 36.5 weeks, but God knows the right time!







He is so darn cute!!

2.5

I took some pictures of Will just before Christmas...he was about a month shy of being two-and-a-half-years-old, but I think they can count as his 2.5 pictures. You would think that I would take pictures of him all the time, but the fact of the matter is that I don't. Sad, I know. I really want to do better, but I will admit that most of the pictures of Will these days are taken with either mine or Chris's iPhone....great quality, let me tell you! :) But at least we have something.


Chris was having a lot of fun making him do little poses like this. It was kind of driving me crazy...but I think this one is my favorite.


Love his perfect little smile!


Still so small.


My boys!


He was so cold...but I still love this face.

I have said it before, but I just love this age! Will is so much fun right now. He has a great sense of humor and can make us laugh all the time. He talks really well now and he also knows almost all of his letters. Another thing that stands out about him right now is that he is VERY particular. He likes everything to be a certain way. Everything from wanting his toys organized a certain way (yes, he loves to clean...even dust!), to not wanting his Cheerios to touch his grapes, to wanting to wear the same shoes everyday...it is funny, but sometimes a struggle! He almost threw a fit when the guys from Best Buy delivered our new washer and dryer. He started crying when they took the old ones out, but calmed down when I explained that they were bringing new ones in.

I have always thought that kids say the funniest things and I remember thinking that I couldn't wait to have my own so they could entertain me constantly. Will does a good job of that. I find myself posting the funny things he says on Facebook a lot, but not on here...so I am going to attempt to go back through Facebook and think of some others to list here so that I have them recorded in a permanent place.

Stuff he says a lot:

- In response to "Good job!", "Don't do that.", "Please stop.", etc... "What did I do?" in the most innocent voice you can imagine.

- He mixes up words in questions. Two common questions he asks are, "Where we are?" and "Where it is?"

- Chris has taught him that his "other" name is Ferg. So now anytime I call him silly, goofy, sweetie, or anything along those lines he responds by saying, "No, I'm not sweetie, I'm Ferg." Lovely. :) He even told our clerk at Target that asked him his name that it was, "Will and Ferg."

- Chris likes to tell Will he is amazing and he always responds with, "I'm not amazing, I'm crazy!" He has said this for awhile and we aren't sure where he got it.

- He often makes suggestions for what we should do at the moment or sometime during the day and then follows it with, "Does that sound like a good plan?" I'm pretty sure I must say that often.

Now here are some funny conversations we have had or funny things he has said:

- He hasn't done very well with potty training to say the least, but he decided a little over a week ago that he doesn't want to poop in his diaper OR the potty, which has meant some minor constipation for him a few times this last week (he eventually ends up going in his diaper...or the bath tub...or on his potty STOOL). He has been telling me when his "bottom hurts" so I will attempt to put him on the potty and he usually just cries the whole time. A few days ago, he was sitting on the potty crying and he said, "I want Jesus to help me!!!" I couldn't help but laugh, but I then I told him that Jesus could help him and then he replied, "I don't want Jesus to help me, I want God to help me!" I have NO clue where he came up with this.

- Ever since then, he has been telling me that God will help him go poo-poo on the potty. I always agree and then ask if wants God to help him now. Just a few minutes ago, I was changing his diaper before his nap and we had this conversation. When I asked if he wanted God to help him now, he said, "No, God will help me go poo-poo on the potty after my nap." So I said that sounded good and then he asked, "Where's God?" I said, "God lives in Heaven, but He is also here with us we just can't see Him." He then asked three more times and I replied with the same answer each time. Then he said, "Oh..." thought for a few seconds and then said, "Where's God's car??"

- When my belly button first started popping out several weeks ago, Will noticed and said, "Oh! Reed David came out!" I have tried to explain that my belly button is not Reed, but Reed is just pushing my belly button out...but he still says it sometimes. I think he is just being silly now, but it does make me laugh. He has also pointed to his own belly button and said, "There's MY Reed David."

- Kristin brought her kids over not too long ago for me to watch for awhile and Will was taking a nap when they got here. Emma Kate laid down on the couch and fell asleep, so Easton (who is 8-months-old) and I went in the office while they were sleeping. Will woke up before Emma Kate, so I sat Easton down for a minute and went to get Will out of his room. I told him we had to go in the office and be quiet because Emma Kate was sleeping, but there was someone waiting to play with him in the office. Will has never been very interested Easton, probably because he is more concerned with playing with Emma Kate when they are around. But on this day, he smiled really big when he saw him and played with him...he was even trying to make him laugh. After a few minutes, Will just smiled at me, smiled at Easton, and then asked, "Reed David came out?" This makes me think that he really does understand that there is a baby in my belly, but I had to explain that Reed would be much smaller and I would have to go to the hospital for Reed to come out.

- A couple of weeks ago I asked Will if I could have a massage (sometimes he will play along and scratch my back for a few seconds) and he said, "You can have a Krispy Kreme donut!"

- I always ask Will questions about what happened at school when we are driving home. He usually tells me what happened or who he played with until I stop asking questions, but one day he had enough and said, "No talking!"

- When he says or does something that I haven't heard or seen before, I usually ask him who taught him that and his answer is almost always, "Pop taught me this!" I am not sure if Pop really is teaching him all those things or if Pop is just getting the credit or blamed, whichever the case may be.

- I asked him one day what book he was reading and he said, "I don't know...google it!"

- Will: I want chips, please! Me: Eat all your turkey and carrots first. Will: (sings Itsy Bitsy Spider while dancing) Me: Do you think being cute is going to get you chips? Will: Yeah!!!

Okay, that is all for now!

Chicago

Chris had a work conference in Chicago back in October and since neither of us had been there before, we left Will here with my parents and I got to go with him. Unfortunately, it was during the peak of my morning sickness so I wasn't feeling great most of the trip...but we did have a fun time anyway.

We got there on a Saturday afternoon and the conference didn't start until Monday, so we had some time to do a little sightseeing. The first thing we did was check into our hotel that we only stayed at for the first night. There was another big conference there that weekend which meant we couldn't find a hotel to stay at in the downtown area for that first night...so we stayed at a hotel close to the airport.

We dropped our bags off in our hotel room as quickly as we could and then hopped on a train to go downtown and see the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). We had read that the line to get up to the top of the tower was really long, especially on the weekends, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to see it that night. Chris bought our tickets online which ended up saving us from waiting in a big portion of the line, so that was nice. It does seem like the line is never ending because you just have to go through room after room standing in line...but we actually felt like it moved pretty fast. I think it ended up only taking us about an hour to go through the line and look around once we got to the top of the tower.

The view from the 103rd floor of the tower:


They recently built what they call The Ledge which is basically all glass boxes built off the side of the building on the 103rd floor! Chris said there was no way he would stand in it, but I wanted to and he ended up doing it with me.

This is the picture I took while standing in the glass box looking straight down to the street:


And another view:


I took these next two pictures from their website so you could get a better idea of what I'm talking about:




After we left the Willis Tower, we were starving and thought we would find something close by to eat. So we started walking around and quickly discovered that everything was closed! It was around 7pm on a Saturday night and everything in downtown Chicago was closed. Chris and I thought that was really strange but we just kept thinking that if we kept walking, we would find something that was open. Well we ended up walking a lot longer than we expected, but we did finally find the area of downtown that was open...it still wasn't very busy for a Saturday night though. I have heard Chicago compared to New York...and although it's been over a decade since I've been to New York, I remember it being a lot more happening than Chicago was. We ended up eating in a pub and it was good, but I think we were hoping to find something a little better in downtown Chicago. After we ate, we were worn out so we caught a train and headed back to our hotel.

On Sunday, we slept in a little and then got a cab to take us downtown to the hotel we were staying at for the rest of the trip. Our cab driver told us about a hot dog place that wasn't too far from our hotel called Portillo's. Getting a Chicago hot dog was definitely on our list of things to do, so we headed there right after we checked into the hotel. I have to say that it was delicious, but not what I was expecting at all! I was thinking it would be some kind of hot dog stand that we would just walk up to a window and order, but this was more like a casual dining restaurant. It was very good though and I would recommend it!

After the hot dogs, we walked to Michigan Avenue to do a little shopping and then we walked down to the Navy Pier and got on a boat for a tour on the river that goes through downtown Chicago. All I remember about that is there are a lot buildings in downtown Chicago that have a lot of history! It was mostly interesting, but I have to admit that I fell asleep for a good ten minutes or so. The guy sitting on the other side of Chris slept the entire boat ride, so I didn't feel too bad. :)

View from the boat:


The tour guide told us to get the picture below. I never really figured out why...I think it had something to do with the old and the new (old bridge, new Willis Tower maybe?). I figured it must be important though, so it had to go on the blog:


After the boat ride, we walked around the Navy Pier for awhile and then rode a bus back to our hotel. I was exhausted at this point and not feeling well at all. Chris has always wanted to go see the Blue Man Group, so he had gotten us tickets to go see them that night. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it if I didn't get some rest, so Chris let me lay down for a little bit even though it was throwing us off schedule. After about 30 minutes or so, I felt a lot better so we went to a nice place called Petterinos to eat dinner, but we were going to have to eat fast.

Thankfully there was not a wait, but when we were seated, our waiter asked if we were going to see a show (there were several theatres close by) and we told him that we were going to see the Blue Man Group. He freaked out a little because we were going to have to ride a train to get to the theatre where Blue Man Group was showing. So he kicked it into high gear and we had plenty of time to get to the show. We thought it was pretty funny that our waiter was so concerned with us making it though.

Once we arrived at Blue Man Group, a man that worked with the show came over and asked Chris if he would be willing to participate in the show and Chris agreed. I have to admit that I was surprised because it is so not the type of thing that Chris would typically do. He really didn't end up having to do much, but it was probably good for him to do something out of the ordinary anyway. :) We were really disappointed with the show itself. I honestly had no idea what to expect because I haven't ever heard much about the Blue Man Group, but Chris was expecting something a lot different than what it was. It was basically a theatre performance with a little music, but no talking...it was supposed to be funny, but it just wasn't our type of humor I guess. Chris was expecting something more like a concert. Neither of us were impressed.

On Monday, Chris got up early to go to his conference and I think I stayed in the hotel and rested the entire day. Chris did have a lunch break, so we walked to a nearby Chipotle and then I went back to the hotel and rested some more. It was nice since I hadn't been feeling so great. That night we went to eat at Pizzeria Uno. Or was it Pizzeria Due? I can't remember. They were right across the street from each other and the waitress told us they were owned by the same people and were basically the same restaurant. It was deep dish pizza that was pretty good, but it took a really long time for them to bring it out. We weren't sure if it was worth the wait when all was said and done. After the pizza, we walked around Michigan Avenue and went in a few stores. I think this was the night that we went to a Ghiradelli ice cream shop and Chris claimed that it was his favorite part of the trip. In fact, Chris asked the employee that took our order if it was the most awesome job ever to work there, to which she replied, "No." haha.

The next day, Chris had his conference again and I did get out of the hotel to do some shopping...but I got a lot of rest that day as well. That night, we had delicious steaks at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I think we walked around some and then headed back to the hotel.

This a picture of the river at night:


We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, which I think is the shorter building near the center of the picture with a row of white lights at the top. I think our hotel was 23 stories...which is taller than any building in Lubbock and it looks so small next to all the other giant buildings in Chicago!

On Wednesday, Chris got out of his conference around noon and it was time for us to take a cab back to the airport to come home. Overall, it was a good trip and I think we spent the perfect amount of time in Chicago. It is not a place that I will be dying to go back to...but definitely a good place to say we have been.