Aaaaahhhhrboretum

Today was a refreshingly cool, sunny day, so Stephie and Bozena spent three hours exploring the Morton Arboretum. Better pack your sunscreen...Stephie is partial to the sprays.The Children's Garden has all kinds of neat water features...
...and apparently xylophones too!
Plenty of tunnels to explore...
...and even better, flowers to smell.
What a beautiful, busy day! Stephie will sleep well tonight!

Water, water, everywhere...

"Mommy, I want to drink out of a cup like a big girl!"Gotta get every last drop!Aaaahhhhh...refreshing!

Relax!

Part of Stephie's bedtime routine involves unwinding in the family room. Recently we taught her to "relax!" which consists of going over to her chair, flopping down, and chilling out. It is very cute!

Smiles times three

Thanks once again to Grallen for these three wonderful photos of Stephie's smile.

Emily & Chaz's Rehearsal Dinner

Emily and Chaz are getting married tomorrow!!! We attended their rehearsal dinner tonight which was filled with family, friends, and a rockin' Qdoba nacho buffet.
Relaxing on the patio with Daddy and Grallen:
Don't drop Stephie, Daddy!
Hanging out with Mommy and Uncle Alex:
With Grandma Julie and the beautiful bride:
Family photo:

Mommy, who shrunk Brie?

It's not Brie, it's Brie's cousin Lexie!Tonight we went out to dinner with Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Alex. Stephie got to wear an extra cute extra outfit from AJ and UA, and she also sampled some of Aunt Jeannie's strawberry banana wonton birthday dessert (a day early). Pretty awesome for a Thursday night!

The old tried and true

Stephie was not in the mood for pictures tonight, so we turned to some fail-safe methods of eliciting some smiles from her. Yay, horsey ride!Yay, bucket swing!And finally, not a smile but still awfully cute: walking outside in the backyard with Aunt Jeannie.

Oh no, even more picture opportunities, Mommy?

Stephie gave Daddy a new camera for Father's Day which, unfortunately for Stephie, means even more photos taken of her on a daily basis. Here are a few of our favorites from this week.
Hamming it up for the camera:Hanging out with Mommy and Brie:It's so much fun giving (and tasting!) cards:Mmmm...Stephie's favorite...corn on the cob!

Baby blue eyes blitzkrieg

Grallen had an extremely busy night babysitting for Stephie while Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner at Green Zebra on Friday night. Grallen did manage to snap a few pics between chasing around the mad-woman and cleaning up her aftermath. This guest blog post is again brought to you by Grallen!

Madonna and child?
What's the big deal with this Sinatra guy they call old blue eyes?Hey Grallen, want to go mess up the kitchen?

Happy Father's Day!

Stephie wishes Daddy, Grandpa Allen, Grandpa Don, Grandpa John, and Grandpa Roger a wonderful Father's Day! She is such a lucky baby to have so many wonderful role models who love her.

Glen Ellyn Garden Walk

Today Stephie visited some of Glen Ellyn's most beautiful backyard gardens. The most impressive by far was situated on over 2 acres of land! Stephie's "knee-warmers" are a direct result of her two scraped knees from earlier this week. Ouch!

Sand and sprinklers!

Stephie went to many parks this week and spent a lot of time playing in the sand box. Question of the day: how does sand get underneath tight pants and a onesie to wind up in a diaper? One of life's mysteries.The coolest park she visited was a sprinkler park with lots of water features to play in. Stephie got to wear her super-cool-SPF-50-wetsuit (if you're Mommy) vs. "dork suit" (if you're Daddy). You decide...

It's not easy being green

Stephie really enjoyed her chilled asparagus soup for dinner. So did the high chair, floor, walls, and Brie.

15 months old!

Happy 15 month old birthday to Stephie! This month has brought RUNNING instead of walking, as well as Stephie's first official three words: "mom," "more," and "no!"