animal

we got a dog. which, if you know us at all, is a much bigger shock than us being pregnant with #3. (which really isn't a shock at all knowing our history...). steven and i aren't really dog people. we aren't animal people. we're people people. but...

we live in the kind of neighborhood where your rocking chair gets stolen off your porch and you find it at the thrift store the next week. the kind of neighborhood where the police do roll call on the corner once a week. the kind of neighborhood where you might want a big ol' dog by your side when you're walking to bus stop.

enter george. a 13 week old english mastiff. like most of the decisions steven and i make, we discuss, decide, then do. all in about a weeks time. it didn't take long for steven to convince me that a dog was a good idea and that a mastiff was the right breed for us. they are protective but not aggressive. and notoriously low maintenance. (really, george just lays around all day. but don't tell the neighbors.)

 
george is big. and will be over 200 lb. by the time he is full grown. and truthfully, that's all we need. something that looks scary. i've seen it work too. people cross to the other side of the street before passing us. and he's only 46 lbs. right now! steve is doing his part to keep the fear in the neighborhood alive, too. on a walk one night, a little girl asked, "will he bite me?" and steve responded with, "i wouldn't put my hand near his mouth."

there have been more than a few times that i've been glad to have him. i was walking to the bus stop the other day to pick up j and this man kept muggin' me. (we live in the hood now so i'm going to start saying things like "muggin" and...well i'm not sure what else people say in the hood, but i'll tell you in a few months). without george, i'm not sure i would have felt quite as safe. 

no, he is not a "fur baby". he is a dog. he is not a member of the family. he is a pet. i promise we won't become crazy animal people and expect everyone to like to our dog. promise.

so sick

steve woke up a couple weeks ago at 1 am in crazy pain. pain like i have never seen him in before. austin took him to the er and he was told he had a kidney stone.  after four hours, he was able to come home. luckily he passed it quickly, but was wiped out for a couple days afterwards.

these past 7 months have been rough for us...physically, medically, and then because of all of that...financially. since january, crosby has had four ear infections, pink eye, and strep throat. jack had a fluke allergic reaction (we think it was from pine). i've had strep throat. steve had bronchitis and an upper respitory infection and now a kidney stone. and for reasons too long for me to explain here, we have really shitty health insurance. the kind of health insurance that leaves us paying $400 towards a well child visit. the bills are piling up. between rearranging work schedules, caring for sick kids, and figuring out how we're going to pay the bills, i'm feeling defeated. i think to myself (or outloud to my mom), "does it ever end?" and i guess it doesn't. it's life. and i get that. but i'm feeling weighed down. feeling like we could use a break. some time to catch up.

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?