we're going to be friends

holy shit. my little j bird went to kindergarten today. and wore a uniform. and marched right up on that bus like he was made for it.

 (walking to the bus stop)

and it's crazy. not because i didn't think he'd make it to five or ever make it to kindergarten. but because i didn't think we'd ever be here. married. a family. with j having a little brother and another on the way. in a house. that we own. and we love.

when i was pregnant with j, i couldn't stop thinking about the door he would walk up to after school (that and how i was going to pay for braces). it's irrational and stupid and meaningless, i know, but i was pregnant and hormonal. i didn't think i'd ever be able to provide this - a home, a family, and a really cute front door.

 

(looking for the bus. these are not staged. promise.)

how blessed i feel that we moved into this house (with an adorable front door) just two months before our j man headed off to school for the very first time. is this about kindergarten or our home? i'm not really sure. but it doesn't matter because it was all important to me today.  

first thing he said after getting off the bus, "it was awesome."

family portrait

thanks to my sister in law, jess, we had some family pictures taken for the first time ever this summer. here are some of my favorites:

 
and my most favorite of all:

ass back home

my sister and her family moved to France in january. (follow their adventure HERE). they will be there for over two years. which is devastating for me, beyond exciting for them. my sister is one of my best friends. ava is one of jack's best friends. we miss them terribly everyday.

thankfully, the whole country of France pretty much shuts down in august. i have no idea why and i don't really care. all i know is that tracy and her precious children are in the US for six weeks and we were able to meet up with them last weekend in chicago.

family weekends at my mom's are chaos and we love it! too many kids, too many people, too much food. it's amazing. there is nothing that makes me happier than being all together.

 (a and j picked up right where they left off!!)

 (love that they are pulling the same face!)

 (donuts for breakfast)

 

we were able to meet up with the groots one night for live music, splash park, and food! hands down one of the best nights of the summer.

 

 (these two...)

 (got him to sit still for a second!)

(one of the happiest babies i know!)

it may have been one of the best weekends of the entire summer. and we get to do it all again in two weeks, except then the workmans will be able to join us, too!!!! i'll get to meet my niece, emma. everyone will be under one roof. something that won't happen for another year....but first fun, then sadness. and maybe i'll just run out of the house and not say goodbye to anyone like i did at Christmas. that was actually pretty effective.  

 

 

 (the weekend just would not have been the same without uncle matt & auntie heather)

summer in the city

my dad and his wife came to town this past weekend. and if their goal was to spoil us, my goodness, did they succeed. what made this visit extra awesome was being in our home and our city. my dad hasn't been to indianapolis before so were able to share with him all the things and places we love. plus, when we visit in chicago, it's usually a quick meal out, which isn't really the best setting to get to know the kids. if your thoughts about my children were based upon their restaurant behavior...well, you wouldn't have very nice thoughts. so it was good to have my dad spend some time with them in more kid-friendly, comfortable settings.

we did everything this weekend you could possibly want to do in an entire summer. it started with dinner at one of our favorite places, jockamo's. the next day was toy shopping on mass ave. then off to the zoo, despite a forecast with rain!

 (a baby elephant! so sweet.)

(j feeding the birds.)

that night my dad and juli wanted to take steven and i out for a nice dinner. so we picked up some happy meals for the boys, got all dolled up, and left the boys at home with josh for the night. we had dinner at a place called mo's, which was awesome. lobster bisque, lobster mac & cheese, filet with blue cheese. oh my. one of the best meals of my life. afterwards we went for a walk around the circle and out for another drink. it was a beautiful night and we had the best time.

 (me and my dad)

 

 (juli, dad, me, steven)

(the circle at night.)

the next day we laid low since the boys were still so tuckered out from the day before. we swam at the hotel, then while crosby napped at home with steven, the rest of us took jack mini golfing. (i won by the way. and also go two hole-in-ones!) jack also got to try bumper boats for the first!

 (he's becoming such a little swimmer.)

 (juli looks thrilled.)

we ended the weekend with a little cookout at our house and some ice cream cake for jack's birthday. he was a happy boy.

we had such a great weekend. it really was perfect.  and i think my dad really liked indianapolis, which made me happy. he kept saying how clean and convenient it was. i think he was impressed. so maybe they'll come back and do it all again???
 

coming home

this weekend marks one year since we moved our family to indianapolis for no real reason. and i'm not going to write a big long emotional thing about it, except for this: we love indianapolis. we feel at home here, we feel at peace here. it is an amazing thing to be so in love with the city you call home. i feel blessed to serve this city everyday and raise my children here.

three cheers for indy!

p.s. in the past month, we've had nuns and jehovah's witnesses at our door wanting to share their beliefs with us. what kind of heathen neighborhood do we live in?

stories

a couple weeks ago, josh and i were out on the front porch with the kids. steven and austin had run out somewhere, so it was just me, josh, and the kids. as we're playing, i see someone dragging a grill through the alley and across the street. i get the feeling it's our grill and josh goes to check. he gives me a head nod that yes, someone took our grill. i'm frozen. i have no clue what to do. i have a baby on my hip and no shoes on my feet and steven isn't home. as i stand there completely dumbfounded on what to do next, i casually mention to our neighbor, moose, "that guy just took our grill."

moose is...a character. he's a veteran and a mechanic. he's quiet and at any point in the day can be found on the porch with his dog in his lap. it's obvious moose has a story and it's obvious he's not eager to share it. though he's quick to share his dirty jokes. steven has slowly begun to build a relationship with moose through food, cigarettes, and nights on the porch.

so moose gets up, also shoeless, and begins marching after our grill. that's the best way i can describe it, as a march. he was in no hurry, just ready to take care of business. i still don't know what to do but i follow moose. i don't know why. i guess i felt some sort of responsibility since it was our grill. anyways, with croz on my hip, moose and i march across the street and down the alley. moose hollers at the man dragging our grill. the man assures us it was a mistake, he thought it was trash, he isn't a thief. he even offers to bring it back to the house.

as i thank moose and tell him i have no idea what i would have done without him, he says, "tell your husband you owe me a meal....i'm just kidding. i've got plenty of food." and i tell him it's the least i can do.

i grab a chicken sandwich from the fridge, heat it up, and bring it over and as moose objects saying "i was just joking...i don't need your food" he takes a huge bite.

and i guess that's what it means to live in our neighborhood. for every neighbor who would take advantage of a grill left out, there's another one willing to chase after it for you. and there's the neighbor who brings over a bowl of raspberries from her garden. and the other neighbor who lets us borrow a drill. another neighbor brings over freeze pops for J. and neighbors that are beginning to move from their porch to ours and share their stories.

not a day has gone by that we have not been grateful for our house, our neighborhood, and this experience.

swing life away

this is what summer nights look like around these parts...