I Completely Forgot

Amongst all the hustle and bustle of getting our house ready for visitors, I completely forgot to mention how Kasia’s last doctor’s appointment went. She grew three inches and gained a pound. It seems as though she is actually getting skinnier. I wish I had her problem. The problem for us is that it becomes next to impossible for us to put pants on her that won’t fall down to her knees. But on the plus side, she is still growing, and I guess that’s a good thing.
We also recently went to the zoo, and I’ve posted some of the pictures from that up in the photo section. Kasia had a great time, though she wasn’t really into having her picture taken. Every time I was about to snap one, she’d run away. Maybe it’s my camera. Maybe there’s too much of a delay from the time I push the button to the time the picture is taken. I know that they make them now where it’s almost instantaneous, but I need something better. I need a camera that will take the picture before I push the button. I want a camera that is so smart it knows when a great photo opportunity is about to happen. Kodak? Can you hear me? Hint, hint. I’d buy one.
So while my daughter wouldn’t have her picture taken, the flowers were always willing. So I ended up with a number of really nice flower pictures, and one decent one of my daughter pouting on the bench. Or maybe she’s trying to swallow her lip? Who knows.

The Painting is Never Done

Kara and I have discovered that we have a talent. We have the ability to paint together and actually have a good time. Apparently this is a lot rarer than I thought. It seems like everyone I talk to just can’t paint with their spouse. In fact, my dad called me to ask if Kara and I were still talking to each other. Are we still talking? Of course we are. We couldn’t be happier.
But we did get two bedrooms painted and now we just have every other room in the house left. The previous owners of the house had a deep affinity to the color yellow, and we just don’t share their passion. So Kasia now has a room that is Tinker Bell Green and our room sounds like a thunder storm with the colors Downpour and Distant Thunder.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop by and take a look. I’ll show you the “accent wall.”

Our Trip To Hoffman Estates

Whenever I told people that I had decided to drive to Chicago with Kasia, they all looked at me like I was crazy. “16 hours in the car? Straight? With Kasia?” Then they would usually chuckle under their breath and tell me I’m an idiot. Sure we could have flown, but dealing with a toddler sitting on my lap for two hours is not my idea of a good time. I’d rather just drive it.
And truth be told, it wasn’t that bad. For the first hour or so she’s a little cranky, but then she just settled into the drive and was great for most of the trip. She slept a lot and danced to the music on the radio quite a bit. It all went great.
The only problem was that after sleeping all night, by the time I got to my parents house at 4:00am, I was ready to sleep and Kasia was well rested and ready to play. So I had to stay up for another hour playing with her and hoping that eventually she would go to sleep.
Kasia was able to spend some quality time with her grandparents and once again proved that she is better well behaved around them than she is with us. I swear, she will be a perfect angel when Grandma and Grandpa are around, but the minute they leave she turns into something else entirely. She’ll start grabbing things off of shelves and making a huge mess. Then when the grandparents get home, she just sits in the middle of the floor and plays with her toys.
We were planning on going to the park quite a bit while we were up there, but it ended up raining pretty much the entire week. One day there were even tornados in the area and we sat in the house listening to the warning sirens go off. But we kept ourselves busy and Kasia was able to charm a whole new group of people.
So if you thought that we were crazy for making the drive, then we’re still crazy, and we’re doing it again. Come Christmas time we’re going to try it one more time. May the Force be with us

A Beautiful Bride and Groow

Pat and Stacy’s wedding can be summed up with the word: Miracle. It was a miracle that Pat was able to find someone as good as Stacy and convince her to marry him. It was a miracle that I was able to think of a toast at the reception. It was a miracle that my mother didn’t squint in the pictures of her at the church. And it’s a miracle that Kasia did not fuss at all during the ceremony. What a miracle in deed.
Everything went as perfect as could be. The weather was wonderful and the rain that had been plaguing Chicago all week had gone away. The bride looked stunning, and Pat was able to stop being a groomzilla long enough to enjoy his wedding.
After a night of dancing and drinking, we called it quits. We had a blast the entire weekend and it was worth driving 32 hours (there and back) with a toddler.