Chicago for my Birthday...and we found out I'm prego again?

We finished the month of June off with a real bang!....in multiple ways. It all started with a trip to Chicago with some of Sam's siblings. Luckily we didn't have to do the whole drive at once. Our first stop was in Des Moines, Iowa, to pick up Andy, Amy, and Ava (Sam's brother and family). After a night off the road, we all drove to Chicago the next morning in time to pick up Bonnie and Brittan (Sam's sisters) from the airport. Sam also has a cousin who lives just outside Chicago right now, who happened to be out of town while we were visiting, and they were generous enough to let us all stay in their apartment. We couldn't have asked for a better situation. Needless to say these 2 little cousins were more than happy to be out of the cars when we arrived.

Look at that little binky-thief!

Don't these 2 make the cutest little cousins? They're only just over a month apart.This little wiggle-worm was the happiest to be out of the car though.

After a long day of driving and a couple hours of recovery, we all made the trek, via train into the big city. And this day was my birthday. How cool for me to get to go to Chicago for my birthday. We spent the evening on an architectural boat tour of the city, eating Chicago dogs, and wandering around the city. Sadly, I was NOT the happiest of campers on what should have been such a pleasant day.....and I'll tell you why....that was the first day that I finally realized and admitted to myself that I am indeed pregnant again. Up until that day I had just kept hoping and hoping that my period would start and it would be ok....but this day was past the limit.

So, I was frustrated and angry about that - not because I don't want more children, but because I had a 6 1/2 month old baby who I was still nursing (and keeping my milk is a struggle anyways...add pregnancy into the mix, and it was a war!), I was really set on not getting pregnant again until another year from now, I had just recovered from a miserable c-section, and I was now on vacation for 3 weeks...which just increased the intensity of my war with keeping my milk. The due date is end of Feb./beginning of March, which means we have NO IDEA where we will be living at that point, so finding the doctor I want to deliver this baby is an impossible task right now. yadayadayada....

Happy Birthday to me...here's another child! Not the birthday present I was hoping for. But, I have since reconciled myself and am excited for this new little addition to the family. All will be well....eventually! I will have 3 kids, 2 and under, for 3-4 months before LucyMae turns 3....not quite sure how I will handle that one. Oh well.

So, with a nursing baby who was frustrated with her mama for not giving her enough to eat apparently, we were out on the town of Chicago. Despite my horrible attitude it was still a fun and memorable (perhaps because of my bad attitude) evening. We missed the 10:00 train back to where we were staying, so we had to hang out in the train station for an hour, with 3 tired and cranky children. But, we did survive and nobody was the worse for wear.

How cool are these skyscrapers? I really like this shot.

On the boat-tour. LucyMae LOVED being on a boat with her aunts Bonnie and Brittan.What a cool city! It would be definitely be a fun place to live....temporarily. I need my mountains.

Luckily I wasn't such a grouch the rest of the time in Chicago. We enjoyed everything from the Sears Tower (from below only) to Chicago-style pizza, to the FREE Lincoln Park Zoo, to the beach, to the Field Museum, to the Art Institute, to the taste of Chicago event that was going on downtown, to a Cubs game, to you name it. We packed it in, as much as we could with 2 infants on different nursing schedules, and a 2-year-old. Naps were impossible, making for grouchy kids a lot of the time, but it was still great fun. Amy and I sat out a few of the activities to allow for a little sanity with our children, but that was exactly what we needed.I had to take pictures of some of my favorite art. Sadly, we didn't have much time in the Art Institute, due to bad planning, but nevertheless, I saw some of my very favorite paintings. Sam even recognized some of them and had an enjoyable time. The Field Museum was definitely more to his taste though. I am glad Sam and I are different.....he can actually earn a good income (hopefully soon) to support our family in the field he is studying.

So....that was our fun little trip to Chicago. I wish I had taken many more pictures and that I was a better photographer. But this all I really captured. Since we've been back LucyMae has to reminisce on a daily basis about "riding the train with Andy, Amy, Ava-boo, Bonnie, Brittan, Samantha, Daddy, Mommy....but not Hannah." She LOVED that train. If there was a commuter train here, we'd have to ride it every day.

Below is also a funny video of an interesting event we witnessed one night. Bikers trying to make the city more aware and biker-friendly, will get together once a week I think and do this.....

They just block a big intersection and yell and cheer and lift their bikes up. The cops eventually come just to say "that's good" and they disperse and move on. So, the cops are on their side and just tell them when it's time to move on. Go Chicago. Lots of cool stuff in Chicago. Very cool city. Thanks for the fun birthday trip honey! And thanks Andy, Amy, Bonnie, and Britt for putting up with my horrible attitude so much of the time. Love you guys!