Baby Owen

I usually just reserve this blog for writing about the happy and fun things in our lives but with so many pregnant friends, I just have to share a sad story. Last week my good friend Nicky lost her baby boy, Owen, just weeks from his due date. I can't even begin to imagine what she and Bobby are going through and I would never wish this terrible time in their life on anyone. I am so sad that I wasn't there and that I won't be there when they lay him to rest tomorrow but I feel better after talking to Nicky and knowing that she is doing the best she can. Please keep the Balda and Sitter families in your thoughts and prayers as they try to get through this difficult time. Although we didn't get a chance to meet him, we know baby Owen is watching over us. We know that we are very lucky to have a healthy and happy baby and we wish the same to all of our many friends due in the coming months.

Here is a link to more information about Owen: http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20100725/OSH010301/7250486/-1/obits

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend but it was a lot of fun. On Saturday we went to the park next door to check out the Chatham Sweet Corn Festival. Apparently they have the worlds best corn so we sampled some corn and took in some interesting scenery like cow chip tossing and the Sweet Corn Queen. We would have stayed longer but it was super hot and Ally wasn't so interested in riding around in the stroller any longer. Later we met the Connors at the Beef House in Covington, IN for dinner. It was a great spot to meet for us both and everyone got their beef fix (not me of course). After dinner we let the girls run around on the grass outside for a bit until a giant rain storm came and we had to hit the road. Its so fun to watch the little girls together. Lexi is 5 weeks older than Ally and she once used to look so big next to her but Ally is catching up quickly now. Crazy how they have changed: then Ally 6 weeks and Lexi 11 weeks and now Ally almost 10 months and Lexi 11 months.

Sunday we took a trip to St. Louis for a Cardinals game. I had gotten Karl tickets for our anniversary so we decided to take Ally to her first game. Again, it was super hot but our seats were in the shade and there was a nice breeze. She really did well and liked playing in the chairs and checking out the people around us. She also liked eating in the stands, especially ice cream! While we were taking a few quick trips this weekend we decided to check out one of the local kennels and vets for Ella. It made the weekend easier on us and we think it was a nice break for Ella too. She has been getting a little stir crazy lately and has been a little rough with Ally so this served as a break for everyone. She checked out great at the vet and her reports came back very positive. Its nice to know that there is high quality pet care here and very much like we had in Lafayette when we needed it. Here are some pictures from the hot but fun weekend.

Sad...

Our Purdue plates expired so we had to get Illinois plates.... yuck! We may now have Illinois plates on both cars but we will never be FIBs or FISH.

New Tricks

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th with my family in Oshkosh and had a great week and weekend. Ally got to hang out with the whole family and play at the water park and in the lake for the first time. The weather was perfect all week and we took lots of walks. She was so busy every day, she barely had time for naps and she liked to stay awake as long as possible before settling into her pack and play for bed. We didn't make it to any of the parades on the 4th but we had a lot of fun at the lake. Ally loved hanging out in her starfish float and playing in the grass with her toys. The water was a little chilly but it didn't seem to bother her at all. After some playtime in the water she took a nice long nap in her stroller and spent time crawling around from one relative to the next. We figured she was a little too young for fireworks this year but next year we will be sure to introduce them to her. I didn't take a ton of pictures but here are a few from the week.