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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Picture Perfect


My brother, Josh, takes awesome pictures. He just shoots photos for fun, but he really has a natural eye for it. Living out west certainly gives him plenty of gorgeous scenery to shoot, as well. So when he was here in September I loaded a bunch of his photos onto my computer, and I've decided to start posting them up here as our opening blog photo.

The photo above had been our opening photo for a little while and it is one of my favorites that he took in Millenium Park over Labor Day. He actually took a ton of great Chicago pictures, so I'll be posting those soon. For now, though, I just loved this new photo, which was taken on a ravine trail near him in Montana.

Cousin Time

This weekend we headed out to the 'burbs to see Jason, Heather and Ean. Ean is doing well and getting cuter by the day. He's gaining weight and still a really mellow little dude. I have yet to see him with his eyes fully open! I know Jason and Heather are not getting a normal amount of sleep these days, but they looked great and really seemed way more with it than I was at just 2 weeks.

Zoe didn't even clobber Ean. She grabbed at him a little, but was actually way more gentle than I was expecting. She definitely enjoyed exploring Heather's parents' house, and we realized how nice it was to have carpet for her now that she's moving and grooving all over the place. That plush carpet was way easier to motor around on than our wood floors.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Boo..er, I mean Moo




This weekend kicked off Zoe's first Halloween adventure. Our neighborhood held a Halloween bash with a petting zoo, pumpkin patch and games, followed by Trick-or-Treating at the shops and restaurants down Madison.

I love Halloween and I was so excited to get Zoe all dressed up. She rocked the house in her cow outfit. Not a big fan of actually putting on the costume, but once I got her in it she seemed pretty happy...and toasty.

Zoe was mostly unimpressed by the petting zoo. Jody took her up to all the animals and she just sort of sat there--no big screams or anything. Just lots of intense stare downs. Obviously, none of them were as fun as Charlie--her all-time favorite four-legged friend. The animals were pretty skeevy, particularly the llama, who was soaking wet and covered in dirt. Poor llama.

We then headed down Madison and got some candy. We felt a little shady taking the candy, since everyone knew Zoe wouldn't be eating it, but whatever. She was cute enough that no one seemed to care. Our last stop was a little Italian wine bar in our neighborhood that we've actually never tried. The owner was serving up make-your-own carmel apples. Mmm. So we made some carmel apples, had cider and pumpkin pie latte samples and chatted with the owner for a while. The owner was super nice and we promised to come back for dinner soon. Then as we were bundling up to leave, she killed my Halloween buzz instantly by asking, "When is your due date?" It took me a second to realize she thought I was preggers. Not cool. I had to let her know that I was, in fact, not pregnant...as I held my little 8-month-old cow. I was so sad (and I'm sure the lady was kicking herself when we left). I have finally gotten down to my pre-pregnancy weight and this lady just killed me. I'm pretty sure Jody was equally upset since he had to deal with me wallowing in this all day long. Although he did get the eat the rest of my carmel apple and candy as a result!

Aside from that slight buzzkill, it was a fun day. Prepare to see more Zoe the cow pictures in the next couple of weeks as we continue celebrating Halloween all over the city.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Proud Parents

Here's a photo of the new family of three. Ean and Heather got discharged yesterday and I'm sure are enjoying the comfort of being home. Now the fun can really begin! Jody and I both got a chance to visit while they were in the hospital, and Ean was such an angel. I hung out for about an hour and he slept in my arms the entire time with hardly a peep. So sweet! Here's hoping he continues being a peaceful, sleepy baby. Hopefully, we'll get out to the 'burbs soon for a cousin meet-and-greet. Zoe's turned into a little terror lately, grabbing, banging and climbing on everything, so we'll have to give her some lessons in "gentle" before she tries to clobber little Ean.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Welcome Ean Andrew Michael Schwartz



Congratulations to my brother Jason and his wife Heather who welcomed the most gorgeous baby boy into the world today. Ean, spelled with an 'E' in honor or my grandmother Edyth, was born 10/13/09 at 9:55am, weighs 8lb 6oz, and is 20in long. The "A" is for Ardelle Oestmann (Heather's Grandmother), and Michael is for Jason Michael Mueller, their friend who was tragically killed last year.

Jason, Heather, and Ean are doing well. It's exciting to see my little brother all grown up as a Dad. Zoe can't wait to meet her future cousin/partner in crime. I am sure the two will become fast friends at only 8 months apart.

I couldn't help but impart some of my fatherly wisdom when I visited tonight, so I showed them my "super secret" swaddling technique. I had to perfect it because Zoe was the world's most super moving baby and couldn't sleep for the first months of her life without it.

I wish them all the best. I remember how exciting and challenging the first couple of weeks were. I forgot to eat for those first few days!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Six Years Strong


Happy Anniversary to us! Today, Jody and I are celebrating six awesome years together. This past year has been the craziest and most wonderful yet. There have been so many changes and so much excitement, thanks to a certain little lady who has rocked our world! I couldn't have asked for a better partner to share it all with.

To celebrate, Jody and I went out last night for a delicious dinner at Takashi in Bucktown. We'd been searching all week for a place to go and Jody decided to make the call and surprise me with this one. It was a really cozy, romantic spot that served up French food with a Japanese influence. The food was out of this world! And believe me, we ate plenty of it. We couldn't decide on the appetizers so we got two--the scallops and the pork belly. Both outstanding. Then we enjoyed steak and salmon for our main entrees, and we cleaned both of our plates. So good. I guess the chef, Takashi Yagihashi, is somewhat of a celebrity chef too, and we learned from the diners next to us that he was recently featured on Top Chef. We ended the evening at Hot Chocolate. All and all, it was a great night. Thanks so much to Jody's mom and Mike for watching Zoe and letting us enjoy a rare date night out.

I love celebrating our anniversary. Our wedding is one of my top two days of all time. Jody, thank you for being such an amazing husband and father. I feel so lucky to be sharing a life with you and growing our family together. I love you loads!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Gummy Girl

All gums
With tooth (well, you have to look really closely!)


She's been a drooling fool since she was about 2 months. She chews everything from toys to fingers to Mommy's hair. We've been hearing from friends, family and strangers "Oh, she's teething" for months now. And finally it's here: Zoe's first tooth.

Over the past almost 8 months, there's nothing I have loved more than Z's gummy grin. It is pretty much the best thing in the world. I'm sure her toothy smile will be even better. For now, though, it's so-long to that gorgeous gummy grin.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Congrats!

Congratulations to Katie and Michael on their engagement! (I'm a little late in posting this since they got engaged over a month ago, but I've been way behind in blog postings lately.) Anyway, we finally got to to see Katie in all her engaged glory at brunch this past Sunday. The ring was gorgeous (way to go, Michael!) and Katie was so excited and happy. We're already looking forward to July 2010. Congrats you two!