Roll Out

Hmm, does this onsie make my arms look fat?

Mr. and Mrs. Selimos

Congratulations to Tom and Stephanie! We headed to their wedding this weekend in Sullivan, Ind. They held an outdoor wedding on her parents' property under a big tent and it was a lot of fun.

It had rained pretty hard the night before, but luckily the rain let up Saturday. The ground, however, was pretty soggy and muddy, but they handed out flip flops for the ladies and everyone just kind of embraced the mud!

Stephanie was a gorgeous bride and she and Tom were all love and smiles.

For this wedding, we didn't have any grandparent babysitters with us and I wasn't ready to leave Z for the weekend. So she came with us. She did pretty well. The car ride down was going all right, but then she completely lost it when we were about 40 miles from Sullivan. Those 40 miles were seriously the longest of our lives!

At the wedding, Z hung in there for a little while. But the heat and humidity got to her eventually. I went into Steph's parents house to feed her and found out there were sitters there for the kids and babies at the wedding. The sitters took Zoe for a while and they were awesome. Jody and I were able to have some adult time, which was equally awesome. We got some quality time with Courtney and Jeremy, who are still on their newlywed Cloud 9. We got to catch up with Holly who came in from New York. And, of course, got plenty of time with the Chicago crew. We had to take off early to get Zoe to bed, and we missed the end of the dance contest, which apparently got pretty wild. Something about men in boxers and girls busting out some old-school Roger Rabbit and Running Man moves. Good times.

After this trip, I am re-thinking the whole leaving Zoe for a weekend. I think it would have been easier on her to stay in Chicago with a grandparent or two instead of making the trip with us. Maybe next time.

First Father's Day

Happy first Father's Day to Jody! I always knew Jody would be a good dad. He is so much fun and so loving that any baby would lucky to have him as a father. Now, seeing him with Zoe is just awesome. Not only is she the girl mini-me of Jody, but she also has all that energy that makes Jody who he is. The two of them together are quite a fidgety sight...I absolutely love it.

We had a nice Father's Day yesterday. We spent the first half of the day in the car on the way home from Sullivan, Indiana, for Stephanie and Tom's wedding. Zoe's biggest gift to Jody was a calm and shriek-free car ride (very different from her 40-mile hysterics on the ride there). The rest of the day was very relaxing with lunch and a family walk. Jody's dad then came down for tennis and dinner. All in all, it was a great day.

So, here's to you, Jody! Zoe and I are incredibly lucky to have you!

Obama: From Promise to Power

During the 2008 election, I wasn’t behind Obama from the start. I liked him just fine, but I really wanted Hillary to be our first female president. Of course, when Obama clinched the nomination, I happily backed him. It was hard not to fall for him. This guy was crazy smart, eloquent and convincing. Not to mention that his powerful message of change really resonated with me after such a bleak eight years under W.

So I followed the campaign closely…obsessively at times. After Obama won, however, my interest in politics waned. I was still aware and concerned, just much less emotionally invested.

But when my dad recommended “Obama: From Promise to Power” by David Mendell, I realized I was still interested in Obama’s story. Like many people, I had put Obama on a pedestal. However, now that I’ve just finished the book, I see our president much more realistically. He is human. He is flawed. And yes, he is a politician. But I still like him.

The book offers a detailed account of Obama’s rise to power, starting from his youth in Hawaii. What struck me most about his childhood is how deeply he struggled with his racial identity. Mendell reported on how Obama was never completely comfortable being white or black and how he longed to find his place. The contrast between the cultural struggle of his youth and his prominent role in African-American history today was the most interesting part of the book for me.

I also really enjoyed learning that Obama was never the straight-A student, star of the basketball team or Ivy League bound superstar in high school. Instead he was an average student, was benched most of the time and started his college career at Occidental College in California (which I only knew as the place where Beverly Hills 90210’s college years were filmed). Obama had to find himself before becoming a star.

The rest of the book offers a backstage pass to Obama’s rise to political power. This is where you see Obama as a true politician. He played the game. He made friends with the right people. Stepped on plenty of others. And often put his family second. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was.

Despite this realization, I am still proud that Obama is in the White House. Although the writing style was a bit clichéd and redundant, it was a good read. For anyone interested in getting to know the person calling the shots in America today, I’d highly recommend it.

Here to Stay?

Zoe's melon is expanding quickly. In just 2 weeks she's outgrown this hat!

So do we think summer is actually here to stay? Mother Nature has been pretty nasty (and soggy) so far, so I'm hoping she gives us a break and allows this weather to stick around.

We had a fun weekend. Went to Beth and Jeff's Saturday for their Ribfest party. We had a good time just hanging out and enjoying the late-in-the-day weather and never actually made it to Ribfest.

Today we spent the day out and about. Jody got to hit the beach for volleyball finally. He's been itching to get down there, and finally he did today. Sure he was mocked for being so pasty white, but he came home totally happy, which is always a good thing. We also tried a new restaurant in our neighborhood called Market. It is more of a bar setting, but still has that Randolph Street trendy factor. The food was really good. Mostly just American food with a twist. The restaurant has a large roof deck (that wasn't opened until 3 pm today), and two other outside eating areas. So we could bring Zoe there and not worry too much about her shrieking and scaring off other diners. Yup, she's starting letting out an extremely high-pitched shriek recently. Sometimes it's a happy shriek and sometimes it's the warning sound before a meltdown. You just never know what you're gonna get with her.

Good Girl

We just wanted to send out our deepest sympathies to Courtney and Jeremy who had to put down their 8-year-old boxer, Dayna Amber, yesterday after a grim cancer diagnosis. So sad.

Dayna was a fun, spirited dog with a personality all her own. She didn't immediately trust everyone right off the bat, but once you got past her rough and tough exterior, she was a little marshmallow inside. And she totally loved Courtney and Jeremy. Courtney was never really into dogs, but Dayna turned Courtney into a dog lover. She even started a dog blog for Dayna! Their sweet pooch will definitely be missed.

Little Slugger

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Thanks for the sweet Louisville Slugger onsie! I drooled all over it and blew through my diaper about 5 minutes after this picture was taken. But, that just means I'm really comfortable in it.

Love, Zoe