Every year I try to have some professional pictures taken of my growing family, so when I found out that my sister’s childhood friend Ruthie Hauge was a professional photographer, I knew it would be fun to work with her.  Fortunately, she was available on an unseasonably mild late October afternoon. Ruthie suggested we shoot […]

One of my absolute favorite places in the city is the Chicago Children’s Museum. We buy an annual membership, so we freely come and go as we please.  Its a great place to visit on a chilly afternoon when we feel like we have the whole place to ourselves. We’ve been to the Museum dozens […]

Until very recently, I dreaded the weekends.  For two years, Chris had to work full days every Saturday after long five-day work weeks.  That meant we had one day together as a family, and it was so rushed and jam-packed that we had no real opportunity to enjoy it.  The weekends were more work than […]

Last Sunday Chris and the guys went out for a steak dinner and then to the Bears game at Soldier Field. Rather than spend the night alone with the kids, I invited my sisters, mom and grandma over for dinner and crafts. I am certainly not a crafty girl, but its fun to gather ladies […]

Lately, I’ve been extraordinarily stressed.  With three kids and only one me, I’m always worried that there just isn’t enough time in the day to make all of them feel loved and special and attended to. At the end of every day I realize that I literally have nothing left to give.  I am spent. […]

Every November 11 is an important day for our family.  Because Chris served in the Army for 4 years and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq with the 82nd Airborne from 2003-2004, Veteran’s Day holds  extra special meaning. On this day I take a few moments to feel grateful for Chris’ safe return and to send […]

Once a week Evie attends an hour-long Spanish class at Multilingual Chicago, a wonderful language facility here in the city.  Its technically a drop-off class, but its so far from home that I have to stick around. The school has a lovely waiting area for parents and younger siblings.  While most of the other little […]

When Evie first started with solid foods four years ago, I took lots of care and time to slice, steam and blend the perfect mini meals for her (read about my case for homemade baby food here). Not only is homemade healthier, but I imagine it must be tastier for tiny palates. Homemade baby food […]

I’ll never forget what my mom said to me three years ago as I was boarding a train from my hometown back to the city.  It was right before Christmas and Evie was my only baby. I was dashing about, trying to make the holiday special for my little family, and my mom could see […]

Now that fall weather has settled upon us presumably for good, I have to come up with fun ways for the kids to pass the time indoors.  We still take a daily trip to the park, and we enjoy plenty of fresh air walking to the grocery store/library/bagel shop, but for at least a few […]