July 4th (& Many Firsts!)

Oh, how great the last few days have been!

Sunday, my brother, Ryan, his wife, Chesli, and their 'kids', Dora and Rocky, stopped by on their way to Peoria to have lunch with us.  We enjoyed Italian Kabobs, a delicious pasta salad, and ice cream with fresh raspberries and blackberries.  (I really wanted to share the Italian Kabobs recipe with you, but I could not find it online.  You can find it in the Better Homes and Gardens New Grilling Book, 2nd Edition.)  Soon after they left to head to Peoria, we Hannas ventured to Bloomington for Elaina's first birthday party.  Elaina's mom, Sam, and I have been friends since working together at First Midwest Bank in '98.



Baby E., The Birthday Girl

When we returned home that evening, Mom and Mark were sitting on our front porch!  (Yes, we were expecting them, but we'd welcome a surprise visit any day!)  Monticello's fireworks are always on the 3rd.  Since we were out of town last year, we still weren't sure if we'd be able to see them from our house.  Unfortunately, we couldn't, but Garrett wasn't too disappointed.  Next year ought to be fun!

Monday, the 4th, we had a fried chicken picnic at Nick's Park in greater downtown Monticello.  Man, it was a beautiful day!  Nathan thought for sure the park would be packed, but we were the only ones there!  Some highlights of Garrett's day were swinging and going down the slide on Grandpa Mark's lap.  (Thanks again, Mom, for the wonderful pictures!)



Oh, those eyes...



Wee!  (Not sure who had more fun!)

Later that day, Nathan blew up Garrett's pool, and we all sat out in the back yard while Garrett splashed, cooed, laughed, and otherwise melted our hearts.



The pool and trunks were baby shower gifts from my friend, Courtney.

(Note to self: Time in the pool makes Garrett sleepy.  Use this to your advantage.)

We topped off the visit from Mom and Mark with a trip to Christie for Garrett's 9-month check-up with Dr. Palazzolo and lunch at Sun Singer.  Garrett now weighs 18 pounds and 11 ounces (25th percentile) and is 29" tall (90th percentile)...long and lean like Mommy Daddy.  (By the way, Dr. P. expressed no concern whatsoever about Garrett's weight.)  His heart and lungs sounded perfect, his ears and eyes looked perfect, and his development is right on track!  Music to his parents' ears!  Garrett's latest firsts are pointing and sticking his index finger into any hole it'll fit into, including his nostrils, and he's so incredibly close to crawling.  (I'm in no hurry for that!)

This morning, as Nathan left for work, Mom, Mark, Garrett, Solo, and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying the cool, sunny morning.  I told Mom and Mark that I finally know what 'My cup runneth over.' really means.  My hope is that you do, too.

Thanks for stopping by!