4 month Check up

Siah is now 4 months old and growing bigger every day.  He had his 4 month check up last Friday and he is now weighing in at 14lb 9oz and 26in long... one healthy baby boy!  He had to get his second round of shots and thankfully he did much better than last time.  Maybe he was being brave because Daddy was there this time ; )  
Josiah has many talents, some of them are:  He now rolls over from back to tummy and tummy to back, he grabs for things and plays with toys, he even is trying to put his pacifier back in his mouth but has yet to figure out the right way!  He locks his legs and wants to stand (with our help of course!) all the time and hes working on those ab muscles so he can sit up soon!  We are slowly trying to get him to sleep without his swaddle because he now rolls over onto his tummy when he sleeps.  I guess he is gonna be like his daddy... sound sleeper when he's on his tummy!  
We are loving every minute of this precious baby boy that God has blessed us with.  He is just the cutest and sweetest thing!  We've been told on numerous occasions that Josiah could be the next Gerber baby.  Maybe we should do something about that?!  Here are some updated pics from his 3 month photo shoot:

A Fairytale Wedding

On June 24th one of my childhood best friends tied the knot!  I had the privilege to stand up in her wedding and share in the joy of her special day.  The couple chose the Galleria Marchetti in Chicago for the location, and it was spectacular!
  The wedding fun began on Thursday, June 23, for the rehearsal.  I left Josiah with my mom for the night (first time ever without my son for more than 6 hours, eeek!) and drove down to the city with one of the other bridesmaids.  Chrissy then took the girls to get pedicure's at the Nail Bar in DT Chicago, great nail spa ladies!  Afterwards we went back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, at South Water Kitchen, yum yum!  Dan met me down there to spend the evening with us in anticipation of the wedding the following day.  I spent the night at the hotel with Chrissy and the bridesmaids, that way we could get up in the morning at our leisure and not be rushed to get back into the city.  It was a fun night!  Although I missed my lil prince, I knew he was in good hands.

 We had a relaxing morning of going to Starbucks and shopping at Nordstrom, yes I said SHOPPING!!  It calms the nerves!  Haha  We got back to the hotel to start getting ready around 11:30 and enjoyed the afternoon with lots of laughs and good conversation!  As Chrissy got her gorgeous white dress on, I couldn't help but get teary eyed.  She looked absolutely stunning!
  We drove to the Galleria by taxi's and as the guests were arriving we tried our best to keep Chrissy out of sight.  I felt like we were a part of the royal wedding and no one could see the princess before she walked down the isle towards her prince!  It was fun!  The ceremony was beautiful, and included a reading from "The Notebook" and the children's story "Winnie the Pooh", a favorite from when we were kids!  Immediately after the ceremony the cocktail hour began.  We enjoyed live music, food and drinks while we took pictures and celebrated with the new husband and wife.  Everyone was then ushered into the big white tent where the reception would begin.  And boy, was it absolutely breathtaking in the big white tent!  It reminded me of Father of the Bride, an absolute fairy tale!  I love how much thought and detail Chrissy put into the wedding too.  As the bridal party was announced we walked in to a specific song and had to do a little dance/skit with the item we were given as the d.j. said a little something about our relationship to the bride/groom.  I was given keys, and I believe the meaning behind them and what the d.j. said is that I am the key that unlocks the door to Chrissy's past! Haha  It was such a fun wedding and am so glad I could be a part of it!  
  My parents, Dan and Josiah met me at the wedding and we all stayed the night at the Hampton and had a great day in the city on Saturday.  We went to Millenium Park and saw the Bean and then walked through the Taste of Chicago and to Buckingham Fountain.  We walked down Michigan Ave and went to Chick Filet for lunch.  It was another beautiful day in Chicago and we enjoyed every minute of it!  Wow, what a whirlwind of a few days, but it was a blast.  Enjoy a few pics from the weekend in the Windy City!

 The Princess walking to her Prince!

 First kiss as husband and wife!!

 The girls!

 My beautiful parents!

Us with the happy couple!

 At the BEAN!

 Buckingham Fountain

Happy 1st Fathers Day

I wanted to make Dan's 1st Fathers Day really special.  I thought about what I could do and saw this grrrrrreat idea from a friend of mine and just had to do it!  Here is the finished product, aren't they so cute?!!

Homemade shirts (felt iron-on letters)

Early that morning Dan and my dad went and played 9 holes of golf and then met us back in Hampshire before we went up to Rockford.  It was a beautiful afternoon of playing bags, good conversation and good food.  My Mimi and Papa were able to join us too so that was extra special.  Here are a few photos from the fun day:

 We found a coffee mug for my dad that says "Papa Bear"!!  Perfect!

All dads (except Josiah of course!), 2 Grandpa's and 1 Great Grandpa! 

Lovin this pic of my precious boy!

HAPPY 1st FATHERS DAY DANIEL!!!!

You are loved!

4 Years of Wedded Bliss

On June 16, 2007 I made a promise to my best friend.  I made a covenant before God and my family and friends.  I married the love of my life.  It was the best decision I ever made.  Now fast forward 4 years and we are still happily married and fall more in love with each other every day.  The past 4 years have been the best of my life.  I'm sure he can say the same ; )  I am so blessed to be married to such a godly man who takes care of me and our son, who never hangs up the phone without telling me he loves me, who helps me out around the house, who always thinks of ways to make me feel special, who goes to work every day to provide for our family and who loves me for me.  The list goes on and on.  Wow, I'm one lucky girl!  


Celebrating our anniversary this year was a little different, in that we have our 3 month old baby to care for.  Don't get me wrong, I love our son and count it a blessing to be a mom, but I also love my husband and know its important to pour into our marriage.  So my mom and dad came over to watch Josiah while Dan and I went out for the FIRST time alone since March 17th.  It was AMAZING!  We went to PF Changs for dinner and enjoyed great conversations and reminisced on the past 4 years.  I am so in love with my husband!  I'm looking forward to what the LORD has for us as we continue on this journey together.  

HAPPY 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BABE!

~And the Two shall Become One~

This is the year of weddings for us, 6 to be exact.  I had the joy to be a bridesmaid in 2 of them and we are attending 4 more by years end.  I LOVE weddings!  I LOVE L.O.V.E!  I LOVE looking at the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time as she walks down the isle towards him. (yes this is a rendition of a line in a movie, which one?  But its true ; )  It is such a precious moment for the 2 of them.  And when I saw Stephen look at his bride, Jenn, as she walked in her all white wedding gown with her veil over her face symbolizing her purity, I couldn't help but tear up.  Everything about this wedding of my dear friend, Jenn and her groom Stephen, was absolutely beautiful.  First of all, it was completely Christ centered and God was glorified.  Praise the LORD!  Secondly, the creativity and thoughtfulness put into both the ceremony and reception was incredible!  Thirdly, the couple themselves are beautiful inside and out.  The day was perfect.  The dress was perfect.  The celebration was perfect.  And the song Stephen wrote and sang to Jenn as a surprise at the reception was perfect.  I hope he records it because it just might be my favorite LOVE song!  I am so happy for Jenn and Stephen and wish them many years of wedded bliss!  Congrats you two love birds!  XoXo

  

My Surprise 25th Birthday Party!

So the months leading up to my 25th birthday I was giving Dan clues as to what he could get me/do for me.  If you had a conversation with me in those few months before June 2nd, you would know that turning 25 was a big deal to me.  A few of my ideas were: Rent a camaro for a day and take me to a few of my favorite places, buy me this Maxi dress from Express that I was just dying to have, Starbucks gift card, throw me a surprise party cuz I've always wanted one, ect.  Well you guessed it, he did all that for me!  (Well except rent a camaro for a day, maybe that will be next year ; )  


My day started off real good.  I met up with my family, minus Sean but plus Cameren, for breakfast at McDonalds.  That was delightful.  Then I met up with Angie and Tehya and Alison and Parker downtown Geneva to walk along 3rd street.  It turned out to be a beautiful day to do this.  We also went to Starbucks, which is a must!  Angie bought be my favorite drink, a cinnamon dolce latte, iced.  Al bought us some cake balls to share, although hers are MUCH better!  Thanks girls!  Then we strolled around until about 4:30 when I said I should get going to be home when Dan got home.  Lo and behold... he was already waiting for Josiah and I when we got there with one of the most beautiful bouquet of flowers ever!  He said he had made dinner reservations at a surprise restaurant for 7pm so we would have to leave soon.  I fed Josiah, freshened up my makeup, and got in the car.  We drove over to the forest preserve across Armytrail because we apparently had some time to kill.  I thought it was somewhat odd, but Dan quickly played it off in saying that it was a beautiful day and he wanted to take a walk.  It was very nice.  We stopped at one of the pier decks overlooking the pretty pond and Dan gave me my birthday card that had a Starbucks gift card in it (of course!) and my two fave candies- skittles and starbursts (which he said were from Josiah! : )  It was around 6:40 when I said can't we be a little early to dinner, I'm starving!  So we got back to the car and he blindfolded me.  He really took me for a loop d loop, I had no idea where we were going until... he turned onto our street, don't ask me how I knew, I just recognized the turn!  We pulled into our driveway and he told me to take off the blind fold.  As I  did the garage door was going up and all I could see were peoples legs and then as it went up all the way, there were all my family and closest friends standing there smiling and saying "Surprise!  Happy Birthday!"  It was Grrrrreat!!  That picture will forever be etched in my mind!  So Dan pulled it off and threw me a wonderful surprise birthday party.  I have such a studly husband!  Here are a few of my favorite pics from the night...

  I love my girlfriends!  (missing Alison here)

Heres a pic of my beautiful flowers!

Parent Palooza/Memorial Day

Time to catch up the bloggie!  Here we go:


Back in October 2010, my girlfriends and I were talking and we came up with a great idea.  We wanted to get all our parents together to meet.  We realized we tell our parents about each other and our small group ALL the time and thought it would be really fun if we all hung out.  We planned it for Memorial Day weekend 2011 and decided to call it "Parent Palooza".  It may sound cheesy, but we liked it! ; )  So we waited 7 months and May 29th finally arrived!  But you all know how FAST 7 months can fly by.  The Knapp's were kind enough to host it and even though it was storming ALL morning... it cleared up by the time we arrived.  Praise the LORD!  Everyone's parents were able to make it, it was a HUGE success!  We enjoyed getting to know each other's parents, eating delicious food and had a bags tournament that was a blast!  We are blessed beyond measure to have such great family's and wonderful friends.  Here are a few pics from the day, even though we took MANY more than this!

Then on Monday, Memorial Day, we had our good and dear friend Nathan Freeman over.  He was visiting for the weekend and it was so great to catch up with him.  Him and Dan played some frisbee golf and then we also played some bags.  Thanks for serving our country Nathan.  May God bless you and keep you.  Here are a few pics from Monday: