Our Trip to Chicago

Hannah cruising around town Hannah standing on her own

Tour of downtown The FMI Food Show
Brian at Gino's East
At the Grand Luxe Cafe
At the aquarium:
Dinner with Bryan and Lynn

More aquarium

Well, it definitely has been an adventurous trip. It was a little more work than we were expecting, but it was worth it. On the plane ride to Chicago Hannah decided she did not want to take a nap, but instead wanted to look at everything going on in the plane. She did pretty good, but eventually her missed nap caught up to her and she started fussing a little. She fussed on and off and then her eyes could not stay open any longer and she fell asleep on Brian's lap (see the picture below). We made it to Chicago and were on the Hertz shuttle going to pick up our rental car when we realized that we probably did not need a car. So we circled the whole airport a few times (the airport is VERY large), canceled our reservation and hopped on a shuttle. Three hours later after we landed we made it to the hotel. Hannah fell asleep on the shuttle. We went to the Weber Grill with one of Brian's co-workers and called it a night. Our hotel was in the heart of downtown, but unfortunately the first night we were the subjects of harassment by a bunch of students on a high school trip. I won't go into all the details, but we ended up with a voucher for a free hotel stay.

The next day Brian went to work and Hannah and I took a stroll down Michigan Avenue. We stopped at the Hershey Store and the Water Tower. We also went to Navy Pier. I think we walked 10 miles on this day. Brian spent the day with his co-workers setting up for the FMI show (Food Market Institute). We were all so exhausted by the end of the day that we ate a sandwich shop next to our hotel and went to bed. Thankfully the highschoolers left!

On Sunday I gave up on trying to get Hannah to take her daily naps. She was so distracted in the hotel and right when I got her to sleep the cleaning people called and woke her up. I thought it would be fun to have a relaxing day at the park. We decided to walk to Millennium Park b/c Bryan told me it was really cool. We get there and there are thousands and thousands of people there. Turns out the Dali Lama is speaking, so we can hardly even walk anywhere near the park. We found a different park and had a picnic. That night we went to a restaurant with Brian called the Grand Luxe Cafe. It was really fun. It turned out to take a long time and Hannah's eyes started closing as she was sitting up at the table. It was really funny. Brian had a great time at the show and met a ton of new people from IBM and all sorts of other companies. Oh yeah and Hannah and I also got to see the Marsha Field's picketers protesting Macy's:)

Monday, I decided it would be fun for Hannah to see the aquarium. We figured out the bus system, since I was very tired of walking. It was fun, but Hannah seemed to like her reflection in the glass more than the fish:) The view of the city from the aquarium was AWESOME! Then we met Bryan and Lynn for dinner that evening. Lynn's parents were in town and Bryan had finals, so we were glad they could squeeze us in. We went to this restaurant where they are rude to you on purpose. Kind of like having my brother's friends from high school as your waiters, but they are suppose to be sarcastic to you. Then they gave us a great tour of the down town area.

For the last day Brian really wanted me to go to the Food show. So we made it on the bus (barely). I got evil stares by a few people b/c we had a big stroller and there was a women with wheelchair, so it was a little tight. It was awesome. There were a million free samples of everything you can think of. I mean a million. It was awesome. One of the new things they had was diet coke with vitamins... Now Jenny, can get all of her daily vitamins from her 10 diet cokes a day:) I LOVED the organic show and I got to meet the owner of the cloth diapers I have been using. Plus there was not as much junk food at the Organic Show. We stopped by the Art museum on the way back to the hotel. I was tired but very glad I decided to do this. I had to sneak in all my food from the show, but luckily no one caught me. When Brian got home, he finally got to have Chicago style pizza at Gino's East- deep dish crust with cheese, sausage, and sauce in that order. He also got to bring home a bunch of free food from the show.

We just got home and had an EXHAUSTING but good trip. We are praying Hannah catches up on her sleep and gets back on her schedule.

Hannah in the Hershey store buying a kiss for Dad

We are in Chicago now:)

Some pics

The top pic is from Easter. The bottom one is from this morning. Who falls asleep in this position??

You just have to laugh or you'll cry

So, just about every day something happens that is completely out of my control or something that happens because I have "mommy brain" (the inability to remember things, spell things correctly, or show up on time to things). For example, last Wed. I woke up to Hannah crying. I went ahead and got up- I took a shower and spent an hour getting ready to go to Bible Study. I was exhausted, but excited to go to Bible Study. Right before we left, Hannah spit up all over me, so I had to change. Then I drove all the way to church only to see no cars in the parking lot. I called my friend who told me there was no Bible Study due to spring break. I just started crying. I had just put so much effort in getting there only to find out it was all in vain. So, I made a resolution not to let things like that get to me. If they are going to happen just about everyday, I am going to have to learn how to effectively deal with it. So, here is my success story. On Saturday I was going to my friend Shanna's baby shower. I was bringing meatballs. I started preparing them in the crockpot four hours early, so that they would be perfect. I called my mom to get the exact instructions. I gave Brian all the instructions for watching Hannah, and then hauled the gift and crock pot to Brian's car. I get down the block when the crock pot completely falls over and all the meatballs fall out into Brian's car. So what did I do??- I just told myself well that is just what happened. I turned around, got the meatballs out, and went to the shower empty handed. So, of course I got there late, but in a good mood. Hopefully, I'll save myself from becoming a grumpy old women if I keep it up.

Also, we are in the process of converting to cloth diapers. I got a great deal on Hannah's new big girl car seat. Her two bottom teeth are coming in, and she is very very ACTIVE. I'll post pictures soon.

Just a thought

Top Ten Environmental Reasons For Choosing Cloth Diapers
1. Disposable diapers use 2x as much water as cotton diapers.
2. Disposable diapers use 3x as much energy as cotton diapers.
3. Disposable diapers generate 60x more solid waste than cotton diapers.
4. Disposable diapers use 20x as much raw materials as cotton diapers
5. 1 billion trees per year are destroyed to make disposable diapers---approximately 4.5 for each baby who uses them
6. It takes between 200-500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose.
7. Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent 30% of non-biodegradable waste
8. 1 ton of garbage is created for each baby who uses disposable diapers
9. 1 cup of crude oil is used for the plastic in 1 disposable diaper
10. 18 billion disposalbe diapers are used in the U.S. each year ­ enough to stretch to the moon and back 9 times
The sources for the facts listed above are the following: Sierra Club, Californians Against Waste, Rhode Island Solid Waste Management Agency, Lehrberguer Report on the Impact of Diapers on the Environment, Greenpeace, Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Policy Alternatives

Duke Gardens

Pictures of Hannah's Baptism

The flowers are blooming

There is nothing in Florida like Spring in NC. It is so beautiful here. On Fridays Hannah and I usually go to the Library for storytime. I know she is a little young, but it is great to see other moms and get out of the house, and as you know I love educational opportunities:) But today, we changed plans and went to Duke gardens. The tulips aren't up yet, but it was wonderful. We strolled around and ate lunch. It would be an even better stroll with a grandmother:)

Hannah has had a breakthrough in eating. Yesterday she ate banana and oatmeal and was actually opening her mouth to take spoonfuls. This has been going on for a few days now, so I think we are moving forward:) Brian helped some good friends of ours pack their house yesterday. I am sad b/c they are moving back to Florida. Their daughter is one day younger than Hannah, so we have been through a lot together.

We have some exciting events planned 1) Amelia Island for Easter 2) Chicago in May (for Brian's work) 3) The cabin in Waynesville for Memorial Day Weekend with two of our good friends.

I have been having fun b/c a ton of my friends are pregnant. I am organizing meals for one now and helping with a few baby showers. I am happy that a lot of other people will be on the kid schedule now:)

In my spare time I am reading a little of the ancient church Fathers. This is the period right after the apostles. It is very interesting b/c they all thought Christ was about to return. I have a book that I bought when I was taking New Testament Greek with the early church father writings, so I just picked it up. We also are reading a few parenting books.

Recent Pictures

Here is us the morning of Hannah's baptism. This is the only one I have of the morning-- so please send us some if you have them.

Papa and Hannah

Look what Hannah can do now.

Mary's first attempt at gardening actually worked!!! SPRING IS HERE AT LAST

Food Success

So I am sure this is not pediatrition approved, but Hannah's new favorite food is a bagel. I have given her one to suck on for the past two days-- and she loves it. She sucks and sucks and sucks on it. By the time she actually gets a little piece in her mouth it is so mushy it does not really seem to be a choking hazard, but rather a glorified Gerber puff. She likes playing with her cup but the second any juice actually goes in her mouth she gives a "I don't like this face". The face she gives when she is given anything to eat besides a bagel or a gerber puff.

Today we went to story time at the library. I met the woman who does it at the Library on Monday. She convinced me that Hannah would enjoy the story time on Fridays which has lots of singing and movement. It was great. We sang songs about numbers, colors, animals, and she read 3 fun books. I think we will make this a weekly event.

Do we look alike??

Pictures of San Antonio Trip

Hannah's first airplane trip.

A boat trip on the San Antonio River.

Hannah at the Alamo.

Uncle Frank comes for a visit.

Brian eats a waffle shaped like Texas in bed.

The team Brian worked with installed 12 self check-out lanes on the military base. He slept during the day and worked at night. He did not get a lot of sleep.

Brian saw an old friend at the military base!!! We went to Hard Rock Cafe with them. This is Hannah having fun with Emma Grace.

We took a whirlwind trip to Dallas to see the Johns. It was a ton of fun. We loved seeing their house and church. We wish we lived closer.

Hannah has fun with cousin Luke.

Destination San Antonio

Well, we have made it to San Antonio without any major problems. Hannah did great on both flights. We left an hour late from Raleigh and almost missed our connecting flight. We got to see Papa in the airport for 2 minutes in Memphis before the gatekeeper made us get on the plane. We arrived in San Antonio and had not eaten a thing for 8 hours, so we stopped at Denny's on the way to the hotel. The waitress was extremely helpful in coming up with something I could eat at Denny's that did not contain cheese or butter. Just for you info- they fry their fries in vegetable oil. We had a very eventful first day here. We took a boat ride on the Riverwalk- it was awesome, and ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Hannah enjoyed looking at the colorful fish. Then we drove out to the Military Base to see where Brian is working. Finally, we made a trip to Whole Foods to pick up food I can eat- thankfully our hotel has a fridge and a microwave. I love Whole Foods- it is one of the only cafes that has soy creamer next to their half and half. We rushed home, so Brian could go to work at 7pm. Hannah and I lounged in the hotel and Brian did not get home from work until 11:30 am. We went out and bought him lunch and hung out with him for a few minutes before he finally got some sleep. Then Hannah and I went and checked out the Alamo and Rivercity Mall- figured out how to do it with a stroller all alone:) Brian heads back to work around 8 tonight. Tomorrow I think we'll check out the Mexican market and Frank is coming to visit us in the afternoon. San Antonio is a great place to visit!

The overdue Taylor update

Well, I have not given an update in quite some time, so I have set aside some time to do so. Hannah's bedtime is getting earlier and earlier, so I have some time in the evenings.

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Florida. (apart from my hair being frizzy from the hot humid weather) We spent Christmas in Tallahassee with the Gross family. We finally got to taste Franklin's (sorry Frank's) famous Matza blob soup... although this time the blobs really did look like balls. Thanks to Gramzy and Popsy we got to go to the movies, and we had a wonderful Christmas with the whole family (all 5 of us:). Thanks to the empty back apartment, we got some much needed rest and relaxation.

We journeyed over to Amelia Island to the Taylors' for about five days. Since Allison and Shane win in the kid category, we got the room with the bunk beds. Brian and I waved good night to each other. Amelia Island was very eventful, and we enjoyed seeing everyone. I got sick one day and Mrs. Taylor, Hannah, and I laid on the couch and watched Pride and Prejudice while the guys went golfing. We also got to see the whole entire Taylor family and Peggy! When we went to see Peggy, she offered to babysit for us and we went to my absolute favorite restaurant in the whole world Biscotti's with Brian's parents. Brian and I both ordered the Salmon sandwich which is superb. We also got to go to Eastside Community Church (the church that we went to in Jax and got married at). We saw all our friends there!!! It was very encouraging to get to see so many people that mean so much to us. Finally, we went to see another movie and got to the beach once or twice. We had a great time.

I posted some pictures on the previous post-- I guess we didn't take any pictures in Tallahassee.

We came home and had a wonderful visit with Bryan and Lynn Kane. It was very encouraging spending time with them, and even though they only stayed one night, I feel like we were really able to connect and catch up. Hopefully we will get to do that again soon.

In the mean time both Brian and I are trying to fill our time with a few things that we enjoy. I have been going through all the Harry Potter books again. I started on Halloween and I just finished the fourth book. I want to finish five and six and watch all the movies before the seventh book comes out. I am going to try and not speed read the seventh book, so I can really take everything in. Those books are fantastic and I have more appreciation for them reading them a second time. Of course I always love a book more on the second reading... think it takes me extra long to process themes and characters. Brian has been drywalling our garage and making it look PERFECT. There is not another garage in our whole neighborhood that can compare to ours. Last night we got both cars in the garage for the first time in almost 11 months! He still has a little organizing to do- but it looks fantastic- especially considering he had never drywalled anything before.

And of course we are doing our daily duties in life. Brian has been working hard on a project at work. He has had to be at work early everyday for the past few months, but he has been enjoying it- once he gets out of bed that is. He came home last week to announce he was going to San Antonio for a week and then said, "Do you want to come?" So now we are all going to San Antonio on Monday. This will be Hannah's first flying experience. We are all excited and just kind of leaving things open to see how they work themselves out. We will be staying downtown so hopefully Hannah and I will find plenty to keep ourselves busy. I have heard it is a great city. We are also tentatively planning to see Franklin, Allison, Shane, and the kids if it works out. I'll be bringing Harry Potter number six to keep me busy.

With all that said, we have had a rough time trying to figure out how to eat milk-free. It is amazing how much food plays a part in your life and your moods. I went to the library and got three allergy-free cooking books. Of course I have to learn what half the ingredients in the cookbook are, but they are a source of encouragement for me during this time. I have to admit, I do feel a lot healthier since I started. Some of my new staples are rice milk, oats and honey cereal, LUNA bars, hearty salads, salmon, and earth balance buttery spread- it is really good! The down side is that I really can't ever eat out. Even when you order something you think is fine- you never know what they have cooked with- almost everything has some kind of milk product in it. I ate out at Chick-Fil-A and Outback on Monday and Hannah's problem came back. This will make San Antonio a little more challenging- but the phrase "Give us this day our daily bread" will have more meaning now:)

I have also been going to a Bible Study at our church every Wednesday morning. Our group just finished studying 2 Corinthians and now we are going to start James. This is my favorite thing to do each week. I love all the women in my group and I have enjoyed really studying a book of the Bible. They have child care, so it is a wonderful much needed break in the week. Hannah loves the nursery too.

Brian continues to co-lead a Small Group Bible Study for couples. We just started studying Philippians. The guys just took a camping trip in the middle of winter. None of us girls can understand why anyone would WANT to go camping in 2o degree weather- guess it's a guy thing.

Last but definitely not least, the joy of our life continues to be Hannah. We are so thankful for her life and soul. She is getting up on all fours, laughing, playing, almost sitting up and generally being happy. All the nursery workers say she is such a good baby- by that they probably mean low maintenance. I would have to agree with that but she certainly has her high maintenance moments. I feel like I am getting crazier everyday she is alive though. I worry more and more each day. She has had a pretty bad cough, and it just hurts me to hear it. I wake up every time she coughs and I am constantly checking on her. Last night I prayed that God would give me His peace that passes all understanding. I must learn now to submit her to His perfect Love and Will. God has a plan for Hannah and I am blessed to be a huge part of it, but I can relax in knowing He (the God of the whole universe) cares for her and is looking out for her. (Amen!- that was for my own benefit) I am trying to focus on loving her and giving her a secure environment to learn and grow- especially in the stressful lack of sleep moments.

Please keep us updated! That is those of you who actually read this blog.

Christmas Pictures

How many family portraits can you take in 5 days?