This may get a little long....

Yes we are still here. Sorry for my lack of effort to keep you updated lately.  I'm not even sure where to start with this post that's how busy things have been so I will just  tell you about the highlights. Back in April (I can't believe that it's May) Neal and I planed surprise getaways for each other for the same exact week. Neither one of us knew that the other was planing the surprise....yeah we think alike. This was the first time that we really left the kids with anyone overnight other than when we were in the hospital in labor with Ethan. I was really nervous but in the end I'm glad we were able to do it. I did not plan anything special thinking we could book something last minute in case Neal was not to excited about the idea. I'm glad I did not book anything because he had booked a 2 night stay at a hotel downtown Chicago for his surprise. Neal's mom and dad watched the kids for the first 2 nights ( my surprise) and Angie and Derek watched the kids a few days later for the 2nd 2 nights (Neal's surprise). Crazy huh!!!! Well it was all fun and we loved all the quality time we were able to have alone without the kids but I'm done leaving them for quite some time. I think they did well for the most part except the last night with Angie. I guess Ethan woke up in the middle of the night and knew something was up and mom and dad were gone and would not stop crying so Angie, poor woman, had to drive around in the car in the middle of the night to settle him down. Ohhh boy did we feel terrible.

THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN for watching our babies.....we really appreciate it!!

Sunrise in Chicago.....this was one of the views from our room. It was really great. Also had the view of the city. We had so much fun strolling the streets of Chicago. We take for granted being so close to such an amazing place. We went on a boat architectural tour which was really cool, it made us appreciate the city even more. Also went on the ferris wheel which I have wanted to do for quite some time. It was just a really nice time.

Ethan had his w1 year check up in April. Once again I had the big bold scary words on his growth chart .....FAILURE TO THRIVE. That just sounds so terrible. He dropped off the scale just like Conner did and I'm so worried about the next appointment. Now that he is running around I'm sure I will have an even harder time trying to fatten him up. It's just so surprising because he is such a good eater and so was Conner. I do have to say though that this time around I'm doing what feels right to me and not listening to the doctors so that we do not go through the same eating struggles as we go through with Conner. He is still putting on weight and growing and eating well, our kids are just little and that is that. He is also anemic :( I just hope it's not something that he gets from me as I struggle with anemia constantly. Baby Ethan has also been supper crabby lately. I'm assuming he's getting some more teeth. He's just up to no good no good at all. Every time I turn around he's into something or ON TOP of something. We got rid of our coffee table because he is just so clumsy. We never had this problem with Conner (other than his broken leg.....hehe) he has always had good control and hardly ever bumped into things or fell over. Ethan on the other hand looks like he's been beaten, with a black eye at the moment and bruises all over his forehead from falling into things. One thing that I am loving though is that he is still in his crib....HEAVEN. Conner learned how to crawl out of the crib at 10 or 11 months so we had to put him in a bed. I am MILKING this crib thing as long as I can. SO that is what Ethan has been up to!!!

 See up to no good at all :)

Conner is the same ol' rambunctious 3 year old. Talking, talking, talking and running around like the crazy little boy that he is. He is quite the pro at the bike now and loves going for rides when it's nice outside. Still rather protective of his little brother. He has also been doing fantastic with eating probably better than he has done in a long time. He loves to cook with me in the kitchen. We got this cool like children's cookbook with some wooden spoons and a little rolling pin. He just loves to help his mama mix things and breaking the eggs and putting things in bowls for me. It's been nice making cute little lunches for my lil' men knowing that they will actually eat them and enjoy them. Conner is really growing up now and is so much more independent now. I'm loving the fact that he can eat on his own, go to the bathroom on his own and wash his hands on his own. Well that's about all about Conner.

We have been enjoying lots of time at the beach. The kids love playing in the sand and we can't wait till it's actually nice enough to go swimming. It will be a few more weeks though.

 Ohh yeah we also had my nieces 1st Communion a few weeks ago. I made a cake for her which you can see HERE. I also did both the girls hair.....so fun. Here are a few pictures that I took!

food blog which you may have noticed. I'm really enjoying blogging about my food adventures and sharing the recipes with others. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned on here but I ended up selling the 50mm f1.8 lens that I got a while back. It was all manual and I just could not find the extra time to learn it all. I am looking into getting a new auto/manual f1.4 soon to help with the food photography. I'm getting better at the photography part of it though as long as I have lots of natural light.

I finally used up my Mothers Day day present from last year....haha. A day at the spa....wow it seems like that was so long ago now. It was great though. I had a manicure, pedicure, massage AND a facial. Wow it was great!!!! Do I have the best husband or what.

So somewhere in between all this we have made many trips to Rockford and the sandy beach and trips to the park and manage to squeeze in running and baking and trying lots of new recipes and keeping up with the house and kids.So as you can tell we have been staying busy in our nook of the woods. Good busy though!! Today is actually the first time in a long time that I'm a little bored. I'm not sure that I like this feeling!!I like to stay busy. I am a little ready for things to slow down just A LITTLE. I would LOVE to spend a little more time teaching my kids a few things and doing some creative things with both of them. So this is kinda my goal this month.

I think I will leave this post at that otherwise I may bore you all to death. Happy days everyone summer is near :)Ok well here are just a few more pictures :)