Weekend Recap

Louis and I had an action packed Memorial Day weekend. It all started on Thursday night when we went to Naperville to go to John's Med School graduation party at LouMalnati's. It was great to see John and his girlfriend Jen since the last time we saw these Cali residents was at our wedding. On Friday after work, James, John and Jen came to our house to hang out and spend time together. On Saturday morning Clint came up to our house and Louis, Clint and James went golfing all afternoon. Sean and I went up to Wisconsin for my cousin, Amy's Grad School graduation party. It was great to finally see her house and spend time together-- even though the weather was kinda a bummer. On Sunday Louis and I went downtown Chicago to meet up with Bobby for his birthday. We went to dinner at this Mexican restaurant and I watched him and Louis play some Big Bumpin. We also got to see Vogl for a brief minute before we had to leave and catch the train back home.

Monday was a strictly Jenny and Louis day because 1. we needed to relax 2. we need as much newlywed time squeezed in before its over in a few weeks. Since the weather was awesome we had to take advantage. We woke up and took our standard walk around the neighborhood and then we drove to Three Oaks (where I went with Cheryl and Justin about a month ago) to rent a paddle boat. This was Louis' first time on a paddle boat, I on the other hand am a seasoned veteran thanks to my grandparents lake house in Eagle River. I made sure to bring towels for our butts and snacks and beverages-- man I am going to rock at being a mom! There was some wind to deal with but in the end it was well worth the $10 for the hour because Louis was beyond entertaining. He was immediately complaining about the steering and that we weren't getting anywhere with the wind. Then after approximately 5 mins his poor legs couldn't hack it. He tried to insist he was doing all of the work so I took my feet off of the paddles to which he immediately told me to put them back--- so there I was helping! I forgot my camera but had my phone, heck the phone probably took better pictures than my camera.

My arm isn't as long as Louis' so I am not good at the one handed pic of us

I
I got better at the pic of us :)

Louis taking a goldfish break

Louis attempting to paddle

This is how he looked for most of it....haha I was pregnant and didn't complain!

Pictures on the lake (it felt like we were in Wisconsin and it was really pretty-- except when we saw the cars on the other side of the lake driving by!)

After paddling we came home and grilled out for lunch. We had brats, watermelon slices and french onion dip and chips-- PERFECT meal! Then we hung out in our courtyard area for awhile and then took a nap (mostly it was the pregnant chick in me needing a nap). Then we took a bike ride on this path that Louis discovered near our house. It was a lot of fun but very hot and my bike seat is quite uncomfortable and my butt is still sore today!

Overall we had a great weekend and I am so glad that the weather cooperated yesterday!

Happy Memorial Day

For most people (including myself) today is another day off of work and to spend time outside having BBQ's with friends and family. However, the intent of today is to celebrate and honor those who have died for our country. I have spoken about my friend John before on Veterans Day but today I wanted to show you a glimpse of the person that I knew. John Collins died in August of 2004 when while on guard duty he was hit by a sniper rifle. He was 20 years old.

I met John my senior year of high school, he was sitting next to me in study hall and kept talking to me, getting me kicked out of my only class ever! He had this amazing, fun loving energy that could not be contained. When I had a bad day he stopped by my house with a dozen roses. When I needed a date for prom last minute (my boyfriend and I had just broken up) John stepped right in and offered to take me and took care of every detail. After our high school's Mr. CLS competition he told me that I looked beautiful on stage. He had the biggest smile always on his face and did whatever it took to get a laugh out of everyone. He always knew he wanted to be a Marine and in high school trained each day because he knew what his calling was. I still think about him often and miss him dearly.

Thank you to all of the men and women who have died to protect this country's freedom. We tend to take it for granted but today is a great day to show appreciation.

(Bangs were in during 2002, thank you very much)

John borrowed his uncle's car for prom, he was beyond excited!

Getting ready to go camping after prom

Happy 29th Anniversary Mom & Dad

Today my parents have been married for 29 years! It is crazy to think they have been married for almost 30 years, time flies. I thought I would share a few of their wedding pictures to see the awesome early 80's style.

Good lord what were they thinking getting those hats? (My mom insists that the bridesmaids wanted them and not her)

Really?

I hate the weather here! It goes from 50 to close to 90 in a 4 day span. Honestly do I need to go from heat to air with no break....grrr

Maternity Clothes

After the initial shock of realizing I was pregnant wore off, I quickly realized that I would need to get a whole new wardrobe for my ever changing body the next 9 months. For the first couple of weeks I fit into my regular clothes without issue. Then the pants started to feel snug. I didn't want to spend a lot of money so instead of buying a bella band I used a hairtie to keep my pants closed (since I couldn't button them). Then about two weeks ago I realized that the poor hairtie had reached its limit and sitting at a desk all day was getting really uncomfortable. Enter maternity clothes!

I am not a girl that loves shopping so the thought of buying all new clothes scared me, not to mention I still wasn't mentality prepared for getting big. :) Before shopping I laid out a set of ground rules to strictly follow

1. Do not spend more than $40 on any piece of maternity clothing (this means sticking to the following stores: Old Navy, Target, Kohls and Destination Maternity/Motherhood Maternity)
2. Only buy clothes that still might be in style in a few years for baby #2 (I know, I am getting ahead of myself but heck, I am only buying one maternity wardrobe)
3. Get all of the staple clothing first then worry about outfits for random occassions

Thanks to a gift card from my mother-in-law and one from work I was able to get a head start on the maternity clothes without spending a lot.

Here is what I have:
3 pairs of jeans
2 pairs of casual pants that can turn into capri's
1 pair of black pants
1 pair of jean capri's
2 pairs of jean shorts
1 pair of khaki shorts
3 tank tops
3 short sleeve tops
1 swimsuit

Right now I am lucky because I can still wear a lot of my normal tops and they aren't getting too stretched out but I have a feeling that will soon end :) I also caution to NEVER buy any maternity cardigans because you don't need maternity cardigans, just use your regular ones and don't button them.

Here are the pictures of some of my clothes that I got at Old Navy.

Happy Anniversary Melanie & Ryan

Holy cow does time fly! A year ago I was in Michigan getting ready for Melanie's wedding. The weather throughout the day was touch and go and required Ryan to buy all of us girls rain boots but in the end they had a great wedding which was a lot of fun. The best part of their wedding (besides them getting married) was the photo booth!

Congrats to Melanie and Ryan for making it through year #1 and I hope there are many more anniversaries in your future.

Love, Jenny and Louis

18.5 Weeks

I made Louis take this picture of me before work to give you all an idea of how big I currently am. I am officially in maternity clothes (I will have a future post all about maternity clothes) now and they feel AWESOME.