All moved!

Moved, yes; unpacked, no. We've actually made a lot of progress in many rooms, but there are still a lot of bags and boxes everywhere. Fyi, here's our new info: 508 S. Elmwood Ave; Oak Park IL, 60304. Home phone: 708-358-0038. It was really sad giving up our 312 area code!

This is how Jack has spent the majority of his time at the new house. To his utter delight, there are ceiling fans in almost every room. He keeps bringing stools and chairs from room to room so he can reach the light and fan switches.

This is one room that looks pretty decent and unpacked. The room is next to the kitchen and living/dining area. We didn't really know what to do with it, and so it has become a nice toy room for Jack. When the house is looking better and I have more energy to take pictures, we'll post some of the rest of the place.



The really cool playground that's a couple blocks away from our house. It has lots of equipment targeted toward toddlers and little kids.



Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Nold, who watched Jack and Louie over the weekend so we could move and unpack more easily! As you can see, they had a great time. Jack was a big help to Grandpa on the golf course.



He also did all sorts of fun activities with Grandma. Thanks again!

Congratulations to our friends the Wagners, who finally got to travel to South Korea and meet their baby girl for the first time! Best wishes on your return home.

Jack's recently discovered that he loves walking around in my and Andy's shoes.

Here's a video of Jack saying some of his words. He's had several speech therapy lessons now, and he's definitely gaining confidence and saying more things.


This will probably be my last post for a while, since we're going to be busy all week packing for our big move on Friday!

Fireworks and smores

Congratulations to our friends Mary, Eric, and Hannah Pedersen on the new addition to their family!! Daughter Katherine Rose was born early Tuesday morning.

These are the last pictures from this past weekend. We woke up on the morning of July 4th to discover our neighbors had put the most exciting decorations on the beach--pinwheels. As you can imagine, since Jack is fascinated by fans, he loves pinwheels just about as much. Our neighbors had no idea what they were starting. When we finally had enough of Jack watching and playing with the pinwheels, we literally had to drag him away.

(Which one of us is pregnant?)


He soaked in some more pinwheel time in the evening when we went outside to make s'mores before the fireworks started.




Andy getting the fire ready while our friends Billy and Blair supervised.

We were able to lure Jack away from the pinwheels with the promise of dessert. This was the first time Jack had eaten s'mores, and I wasn't sure if he would actually try them. He's often weirded out by foods that are really messy or sticky. Here's his first bite.

Then he proved me wrong. He not only ate it; he snatched it out of my hands and started chowing down on it by himself. Mess and all, he finished almost the whole thing!



Watching fireworks on the beach (note pinwheel in hand). Jack handled the fireworks suprisingly well. He got nervous a couple times when neighbors close by set off some really loud ones, but for the most part he loved the show!

The dogs were not so thrilled about the fireworks. I went into the house and discovered them cowering under the table. At least they had each other for company!



Macie borrowed Lou's life jacket the next morning, and Aunt Lisa let her take a swim!

Fun on the boat

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day at Fisher Lake. Before the Words left in the evening, we all went out on the boat. Jack and Aubrey had a great time manning the boat--this is such a cute picture.

Jack and me while we were still at the dock.

Ever so cool

The kids watching Andy jump off the boat.


I was trying to get a video of them dancing, but they always stopped when I would try. Anyway, this is Jack and Aubrey steering the boat.


The temperature was pleasant enough that the pups could relax outside with the rest of us (Aunt Lisa came on Saturday and brought Macie with her).

Happy (almost) 4th!

Finally!! We got Jack to start putting his bare feet in the sand. I knew it would just take a few lake trips for him to get used to it. We've been in Michigan since Thursday. Here are some other pictures of our beach time yesterday.


Jack watering himself.

Dave and Aubrey (4 yrs)--Megan and Lea (14 mos) Word also joined us yesterday. Our friends Don and Emma also came to visit from Colorado.


Jack and Aubrey spent lots of quality time coloring together.



Battle of the noodles


Here's Dave, Don, Andy, and Emma breaking in the Shot-ski that Andy had custom made for the lake house.



We've been enjoying beautiful weather for the holiday weekend. Several people around the lake were testing out fireworks last night, so we expect to see a lot more the next couple nights. So far the noise doesn't seem to bother Jack--he was signing for "more" furiously after each set of fireworks went off.

Poor Lou can't catch a break. Jack completely took over Lou's bed the other day with his toys and turned it into his personal office while he caught up with some work on his laptop.


Jack's speech therapy has been going well. I think he's had 5 sessions now. Our therapist really gets along with Jack, and she does the sessions at our house. She's been very impressed with how smart Jack is and says a lot of the things he can do are more reflective of an older 3-year old. She brought all these toys to teach him letters, colors, shapes, etc, but he already knows everything!

She's taught him a little sign language, which he picked up on instantly. He's getting better at trying to make sounds and repeat noises that we make. The therapist said she'll help teach him and us the basic tools for practicing speech, but it ultimately comes down to the fact that he'll start talking when he's ready. I took this video a while ago, maybe even before the therapy started, and forgot to post it. These are the 3 words he says the most. It's so cute how he says "papa" and "dada."


We also have some other exciting news--we're moving! We've been looking for a house (to rent) for months and finally found a great place that will give us the extra space we need. It's in Oak Park, which is just outside of Chicago. The last stops of 2 El trains are in Oak Park, so we'll still be connected to the city and the commute downtown will be easy. The house is significantly bigger than our current townhouse, and it has a huge backyard. We're really excited about it!

We'll be moving on July 16, and our new address will be: 508 S. Elmwood Ave; Oak Park 60304.