Hylie's One Year Portraits

Hylie Month by Month

Hylie's 1st Birthday

Even though it doesn't seem like it's been a year, Hylie turned one on August 17th.  We were super lucky to have family with us to celebrate and our neighbors were able to join us as well.

Hylie's birthday was on Saturday when we spent the day at the Air Show, so we decided to have a little celebration on Sunday.

That morning, Hylie woke up to balloons and sunshine decor and seemed to be pretty excited about everything.

This is my first picture wall...I think I went a little overboard on how many pictures I printed...we'll be scaling down next year for sure!

Thanks to everyone's help, we enjoyed a pasta bar with yummy salad and bread.

The cupcakes were little sunshines and clouds.

Hylie was hilarious with her smash cake.  She literally smashed it to smithereens!  She kept playing with it instead of eating it, even after I gave her a taste she continued to smash away.

Finally she got a good mouthful of food--too bad most of it was on the floor by then, ha ha!

Hylie loved all her new toys and played with everything late into the evening.  She pitched a fit when Dad took her to bed.

Hylie's growing so much!  We love her so and look forward to what this next year will bring.

Other Highlights from the Visit

Hylie enjoyed having Aunt Janna around.  Almost every night, Janna fed Hylie her bottle.  Hylie would get super comfortable in Janna's chair and flop her legs over the handle so she could swing her feet.  We also got to go on a trip to a near-by park.  Janna held Hylie on her lap to and from the house and Hylie fell asleep in Janna's arms on the way back.  It was so sweet.

Mom was a little busy bee during the visit as well.  Not only did she tend to Hylie all day and every day, she also kept the house in order, washed dishes, prepared meals, and took the time to scrape the annoying paint on the stair wall!  It's just about ready to be painted now, thanks Mom!

And that's not all...Mom joined Hylie and me to her one-year check up.  The doctor mentioned that Hylie should start to identify and point to different body parts.  Well, Mom did not waste any time in coaching her in these tasks.  We were thrilled when Hylie ever-so-cutely would successfully point to her nose when prompted...but shortly after Hylie found the tip of her nose, she also found the convenient finger-sized openings, too.  So from then on when Hylie was asked to find her nose, she responded (and still responds) with this...

Gee, thanks, Grandma...

Chicago Air Show

While Mom, Dad and Janna were here, we also got to spend some time with Grant, Rachel and Eli before they left for California.  We met up one day to enjoy Chicago's Air and Water Show.  I don't think any of us figured out the "Water" part of the show, because pretty much everything we saw was in the sky, but what an amazing and fun event!

Eli showing off his mad throwing and catching skills. 

Hylie 'signing' to Janna.  During my family's stay, if Janna was sitting next to Hylie, there would be times Hylie would get upset until we put Janna's hand up so Hylie could mimic how we all communicate with Janna.

We wish Grant, Rachel and Eli the best of luck at Stanford.  We sure enjoyed seeing you on a more regular basis while we were both in Illinois and can't wait for the next time to get together.

Fixing up the House

My parents and Janna came to 'visit' this past week and a half.  We sure enjoyed having them here, but I don't know that they can say the same.  There wasn't a lot of rest and relaxation going on--especially for Dad.  That's right, they came out to work.  Dad was gracious enough to give of his time, expertise and sweat to help improve MANY things in our home that Geoff nor I could have done.  Thanks to Dad we now have drawers that actually open and close, brand new weather stripping, doors that latch, closet doors that hang and function properly, shower ceilings that don't leak or have holes, a vent in the bathroom, new outlets and switches, a toilet paper dispenser attached to the wall, recessed lights that actually stay recessed, a functional tub drain, and the ability to hang ceiling fans in all the bedrooms.  Sounds like a great visit, right?  Well, that's not all.  When we closed on the home some water problems manifested themselves and Dad came up with a solution to whisk water away from our home, so a trench was dug and pipes were installed in a massive drainage project.  Through this project we also found out the fastest way to meet your neighbors is to dig a pit in your yard, everyone comes out of the wood work to find out what you're up to.  Dad even had some job offers for him to do the same on other properties.  However, Dad quickly declined before they even negotiated a price!

This was definitely some back-breaking work.  I am so grateful Dad was willing to do this for us.  We learned a lot, worked a lot, and felt good at the end of the day as we looked at what all was accomplished.

Geoff and I tried to do some prep work before Dad got here by busting up two concrete slabs that caused standing water along the foundation.

Geoff and I trying our best to keep up with Dad.

Getting ready to dig UNDER the sidewalk

Digging proved to be quite challenging due to all the roots found in the yard and under the sidewalk.  Here is one of many roots Dad conquered.

Thank you, Dad!  We don't anticipate any more major projects on the home, so we hope you'll come out again and be sure to do nothing but relax!

First Trip to the Lake

Yesterday evening we decided to take advantage of an actually warm day (we're not complaining, but this summer has been unusually cool!) and head to Lake Michigan.  It was Hylie's first time in the sand and she LOVED it!

Once Hylie got used to the sand, there was no stopping her!  She crawled right up to the water all by herself!

It was funny watching Hylie explore all over the place and never looking up to see where Mom or Dad were.

We are so grateful to just be 20 minutes away from this beautiful beach and know that many memories will be made here.  Chicago keeps getting better and better!

Cub's Game

On Tuesday, Geoff and I were given a surprise opportunity to see a Cub's game at Wrigley Stadium.  Geoff's boss had some extra tickets and was so gracious to offer them to us.  Geoff and I enjoyed taking the train right to the baseball field and even though it sprinkled throughout the innings, it was a thrill to be right on the first base line.  We could see expressions on the players' faces we were so close!

While we were gone, our neighbor's daughter, Sidney, was able to baby-sit Hylie.  To make a long story short, Sidney accidentally locked Hylie in the house while she was napping.  Jen (Sidney's mom) panicked and tried multiple ways to get inside (picking the lock, prying windows open) but with no luck.  Our bathroom window (which is our highest and smallest window) was open, so Jen got a ladder, removed the screen and was able to climb into our house!  Hylie was perfectly content and safe in her crib and absolutely clueless about the extreme 'rescue' efforts that had just taken place to get her from her nap!  We love our neighbors and were glad they were able to resolve the situation so quickly.