Two-rific!

Sharing frosting with preggo mama
Chocolate birthday monster

So happy to have a crowd singing "Happy Birthday to Zoe"

Mmm Elmo cake (from Alliance Bakery on Division)

Well, I'm one month late on this one...but happy birthday to our sweet 2-year-old! Zoe pretty much celebrated her birthday for the two weeks surrounding her birthday in February. And just when I thought she had birthday out of her system, a couple days ago she made me put a candle in her blueberry muffin, turn off the lights and sing to her. What can I say? Our girl loves her some birthday.

The three of us celebrated her actual birthday with dinner out at Stanley's down the street. For some reason, she loves it there and is always on awesome restaurant behavior. We had cupcakes back at home and Z thoroughly enjoyed both the chocolate and vanilla. We had to sing to her and let her blow out the candles three times (the Happy Birthday song has long been a favorite for her). We had a little birthday party (decorated with a whole lot of Elmo) the following weekend and enjoyed some quality time with good friends and family. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate and made the day extra special.

I know everyone says it, but I can't believe how fast time goes. So far, I love Zoe at 2. Yes, she has her tantrums and no is definitely one of the most-used words these days. But, it is also so awesome to see her personality shining through and watching her learn so much every day. She is talking up a storm and has even started to tell us about her day, which is just the cutest thing. She's making little buddies at the park, in classes and even at the gym kid's club. She's actually pretty great with other kids--a little shy at first, but really sweet and is pretty good with the whole sharing thing and waiting her turn. It sounds kind of weird to say, but I can't think of another way to put it...she's just a real kid these days. And we just love every moment of it.

At her 2 year doctor's appointment all looked good. She's 24 lbs, 5 oz and 33.5 inches--25% percentile all around. Next on the horizon, potty training and transitioning to a big-girl bed. Who knows when we'll tackle either of these things. But, it's coming up soon. Any insight/advice from you experienced parents on how to handle a ton of change--potty, bed, big-sister, moving--is more than welcome!

Snow Days

I've always been okay with Chicago winters. I definitely don't love them, but I also know it's just part of the package of living in Chicago. The spring and summer in this awesome city make braving the winters worth it. I mean, that's what we all tell ourselves, right? Well, this year is a different story. I am so over winter. And yet again this change of heart comes courtesy of motherhood.

Oh my goodness, how much does it suck not to be able to just go to the park every day? Luckily, I've found quite a few decent indoor activities to keep us busy, but it still isn't the same as spending the day outside. Lately, however, with all the snow and crazy cold weather, I've had to get creative inside the house too. Zoe got a great activity table for Chanukah, so we've done plenty of painting, coloring and Play Doh-ing. But, that can only last so long--and art projects simply don't wear out our little energy ball quite enough. So, we've now moved on to forts and tunnels and quite a lot of jumping on the bed/couch. Good times, for sure!

Bubble Trouble

A couple weeks ago, Jody was in New York all week for work, so Zoe and I had plenty of quality girls time. She was really missing her dadd, so I tried making everything a little more fun for her. At bathtime, I decided to give Z her very first bubble bath. I mean, what girl doesn't like a good bubble bath, right? Well, the first night she totally loved it. Playing with the bubbles, squealing and trying to pop them all. Night two, the bubbles were not quite as exciting, but she still liked blowing on them. By night three, she was over it. She kept saying, "No more bubbles," and she even tried jumping out the bath a couple times. So that was that. No more bubbles for Z. Maybe we'll try again in a couple months. At least I was able to snap a few shots of she of her initial reactions to the bubbles on the first night.

More Than Halfway There

Okay, time needs to slow down just a little bit. We had the 20-week ultrasound/appointment a couple weeks ago, and it really hit me that we're having another. I mean, I was so sick with this pregnancy until about 17-18 weeks, so it's not like I haven't noticed having a baby in the belly. But the reality of adding another little girl or guy to our family just hit me. I'm so eager to meet the newest Schirel and so happy to be having another, but I am also freaking out a little just thinking about all the change coming our way.

Anyway, all looked good on the ultrasound. We stuck with our original plan not to find out the gender. I had been thinking boy, but in the past week or two I started getting a girl feeling. We'll find out soon enough! I am finally feeling better, which has been a huge relief. It's so tough to be down for the count when you're trying to be a good mom, work and somehow manage to rest enough to function.

I will post the 20-week ultrasound pic when I get a chance to scan it in. And maybe I'll get a belly picture up here before I get even bigger.

New Year, Big News

Our soon-to-be-expanding family of 4

Happy New Year friends and family! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Here's to a happy, healthy 2011.

2011 is going to be a wild year for us, that's for sure. The big news is that Baby Schirel #2 is due July 1st! We're thrilled to be adding another little one to our family, and we know Zoe is going to be a great big sister. This pregnancy has already been completely different than it was with Zoe. With her, I was just totally tired during the 1st trimester. But this time around, I have been so sick, with morning sickness lasting all day long. Add to that, chasing around a fully charged toddler, and it's been a rough few months. Needless to say, we've been doing a lot more kiddie TV shows and videos than we've ever done before. I wish I could say that I'm feeling better now that I'm in the 2nd trimester, but, honestly, I'm still feeling pretty crappy. Hopefully, things will start to turn around in the next couple weeks. I'm guessing that this one is a boy, only because it's so different. We shall see.

On that note, I'm pretty sure we aren't going to find out the sex of the baby again. We really liked the whole surprise factor with Zoe.

Next big thing is that we're starting to shop around for a suburb to call home. We have run out of space in our condo and we actually need to start thinking about schools and all that good stuff. We're sad to be leaving the city and it's a pretty daunting task trying to figure out a good fit for us. At the same time, we're looking forward to the next chapter. We had an extremely depressing meeting with our realtor, who told us that home prices were down to 2001 prices. So now we're thinking about renting out our condo for several years. We knew the market was in bad shape, but we had no idea how big of a hit we would take. Like I said, totally depressing.

If anyone has any tips or advice on suburbs and home searching, please let us know. The goal is to make a move by spring, so there is a little time to adjust before #2 turns our lives upside down yet again!

Better Late Than Never

So tonight is the first night of Hanukah, and I still haven't even posted Halloween pictures. Yes, I have totally been neglecting this blog. Here's my attempt to catch up...

Zoe was a little ladybug for Halloween. Cute as can be. She had plenty of opportunities to rock the costume with a neighborhood pumpkin patch and petting zoo, a party hosted by a playgroup pal and trick-or-treating on Alta Vista. Zoe got pretty into trick-or-treating this year. She caught on to the concept of going up to people's doors and holding out her little bucket. But, she still has some things to learn. She tried going into a few people's homes and took handfuls of candy instead of just one piece per house. Oh, and those pesky wrappers got her every time. She definitely attempted to eat several pieces of candy wrappers and all. Regardless, she had a blast and Jody and I enjoyed raiding her candy bucket. Kit Kats, Smarties and Snickers, oh my!

Love Bug

Last week Zoe started saying "I love you" and it is truly the sweetest thing ever. At first she was just repeating us when we said it, but now she's started saying it on her own. Every night when we're finished with story time Zoe turns around in my lap, gives me a big hug and says I love you. When Jody leaves for work every morning, he gets a sweet little I love you from Z. It is so freakin' adorable and it just totally melts your heart. The best part of her I love yous is the happy little grin she has when she says it, like she actually knows what it means.