July's Happenings...

We have been BUSY around here!  We LOVE summer...and I think we squeeze in every ounce of fun that we can!!!  Here is a bit of what we have been up to...

Riding bikes!  Little Marshall LOVES wearing his helmet...like ALL THE TIME....which is good since life with a big brother can be dangerous!  Brayden is can successful ride a bike with training wheels, but they both still love the tricycle...

 We have had a great share of playdates....one of Brayden's great friends, Tyler, and his sister Hailey came over to play and we made homemade pizzas....

 And they brought cupcakes for dessert :)

 For the 4th of July we went to the Ripkes...these are a few of our friends (Aaron's college buddies) and the kids...wow have times changed!

 We also went to our Hometown Fest in Palatine a few times...Brayden loved the rides, and loved having his good friend Anna with him 

 We stopped by Kimmy's for the fireworks...the kids were more than thrilled to see her...and it was great to be together and see the fireworks.  Both boys loved them!

 Parade time to celebrate the 4th!

 We set up a big boy bed in Brayden's room...which will soon be Brayden and Marshall's room, but I am not quite ready to move Marshall in there---he seems so small still....and is a SUPER sleeper in his crib..so I want to enjoy it as LONG as I can!

 Brayden played Tball this summer...the verdict is still out on how much he liked it....but it was fun

 Last Monday Aaron took Monday off and we headed to Pirates Cove...such a fun place!

 By FAR Marshall's favorite ride was the choo-choo, he must have ridden it a least a dozen times!

 We hit up the Wilmette beach with our friends Charlotte and Vivian....it was beautiful...the lake water was pretty crystal clear...

 Brayden had his first 2 kids birthday parties, one at Chuckie Cheese and the other at the pool...he LOVED both!

 Birthday boy, Tyler, and Marshall

 Brayden and Lyla

 We headed to our old hood in the city, Roscoe Village, and had brunch with Erin and Mike.  The kids devoured their breakfast, and we ended up having to order a second meal for them.  I guess this park wore them out and increased their appetite!

We went to the Morton Arboretum with the Russells and Ripkes...here are the kiddos reading maps :)  They were scoping out where to head to next...

 My cousin, Louis, got married to Ashley!!!  We had a BLAST at the wedding and are so excited for them!

 While we were in southern Illinois, the four of us, Beans and great papa bit up the orchard to pick peaches and blackberries.  The day was beautiful and we had a great time.  We have since finished all the berries and are savoring our last 3 peaches...they are just so good!!!

Thing 3!

Ahhhh...thats right things are about to get even crazier around here....thing 3 is due January 12th!!!  I made these t-shirts for the boys....trying to be creative announcing another baby :)   I love Brayden's picture in this first picture....it sums it all up....

But we used this one, to share the news with family and friends....

 During our mini photo shoot, I snapped these too....these cute, silly boys!!!

 Brayden making Marshall's face into a sandwich....ughhhh...this happens all too often

 A little love....

As for telling the boys....at first Brayden was like "oh, ok, another baby"....and then the questions came..."where is the baby" (in my tummy) "how did it get in your tummy" (hmm...we are not ready for that talk, God put it there)  "can I see it" (not really)  "where will it sleep" (in the nursery)  and then....he said well it is a sister and I will name her Mia (where this came from, I have no idea!) ...and she will sleep with me so I can hug her  (oh so sweet) but then I had to tell him it may very well be a boy, a little brother, and he keeps saying NO...I want a sister....but if it is a boy...I will name him onion....oh the things kids say!!!

As for me....this has been one.ROUGH.pregnancy....so sick and tired and ughhhhhh....but I think that this is God's way of telling me, this time is it!  We are very excited and nervous and probably crazy!  I do not want to find out this time (we waited with Brayden and found out with Marshall) but Aaron is dying to know...so we will see what happens!