Chicago 2012

I'm going to attempt to do a little bit of catching up. This month has been abnormally hectic and I've been in a blogging slump.  But...I'm back, for now.

Earlier this month, Jep, Lilah and I boarded a plane and headed to Chicago. Yes, that's right. Lilah had her first plane ride at the age of 1.  After this trip, I don't think we'll be flying again anytime soon! :)  Okay, I will admit Lilah did pretty well. But, oh my, is it exhausting to travel with a mobile, little girl who can't sit still for the life of her! We had a few meltdowns, especially during take-offs and landings. Thankfully, everyone (for the most part) on board was very sympathetic and understanding. Things got especially difficult on our flight from Chicago to Atlanta when we ran into some bad weather. We circled the airport for about a half hour trying to land with no luck. We were re-routed to the Chattanooga airport where we had to stay ON the plane on the runway for a little over an hour. Talk about stressful!! Thankfully, we had a computer and Lilah's favorite Singing Babies DVD. Despite the circumstances, she did so well and even kept our neighbors entertained with games of peek-a-boo. 

Now, onto our trip. We started our get-a-way in the suburbs. On Friday evening, we made a visit to meet Baby Stella. 

Me & Kristen with Stella and Lilah

Kristen and I first met on the playground in kindergarten and became instant best friends! Although we now live in different parts of the country, we've maintained our friendship. Kristen is one of my greatest friends and I'm so incredibly happy for her and Steve on the latest addition to their family!!  Side note: Lilah was having a come about while I was holding Baby Stella. Hope this isn't a sign of things to come if she ever gets a sibling.

On Saturday, we headed to my cousin's wedding. Believe it or not, this was the first time this side of the family met Jep!!!! So, they now believe that he does exist! :)  Lilah also got to meet everyone for the first time. 

Lilah with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

After the wedding, Jep and I headed to Chicago for a night downtown by ourselves. We had a very relaxing night free of interruptions, diaper changes, running after a little one, and most importantly... we savored a full night's sleep! Yay! It was heavenly.

Our sweet girl joined us downtown on Saturday afternoon and she was ready to go!

YAY for the Windy City!

We put in more than a few miles strolling along the Magnificent Mile, Lake Michigan, the Chicago River and Navy Pier.

Along the Chicago River

By the time we made it to Navy Pier...this girl was out cold!

Navy Pier

 Later that afternoon we came back to the hotel for a quick dip in the rooftop pool.

Lilah with her Papa

Lilah is fearless! All she wanted to do was jump in the pool off of the side.  She had a very hard time with Jep holding her in the pool. She wanted to take off on her own. She was even putting her face in the water. I think we have a future swimmer on our hands.

Of course, we did a lot of eating on this trip. 

Lilah and I share a love for pizza and we made sure we got our fair share of it--Chicago-style! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Gino's East

Stuffing her face with a slice

Another day of pizza...this time at Giordano's.

Another one of my great friends, Megan, also happened to be in Chicago. We got to catch up over breakfast. It was so great to see her!

Here Lilah is vising the American Girl store for the first time. We just browsed during this visit. Definitely when she gets a tad bit older, we'll be walking out with a new doll! :)

On Monday we did the ultimate touristy thing by taking the double decker bus tour. It was so hot and we really couldn't enjoy the ride too much because we had to worry about containing our "squirmy-worm." 

She did fall asleep during the ride so we were able to sit back and relax for a little bit.

Our next stop...the Shedd Aquarium!! I couldn't wait to take Lilah to the aquarium. This is the aquarium I grew up going to when I was little. She was so amazed by the beluga whales. We spent the majority of our time at this exhibit. 

Touching Starfish

I just love, love, love this city!!!!!! Cannot wait for our next visit!