I don't mean to brag, but...

Sometimes it just happens! I brought my pride and joy to the office today and could not get enough of showing her off to my coworkers. Molly was being her typical adorable self in my boss's office and I found myself saying, without even thinking, "Her teachers say she's really creative." Groan. I knew as soon as I said it that I was being that parent. And it's early. Molly hasn't even started elementary school yet. She hasn't joined any clubs or played any sports (though the odds of her doing anything athletically brag-worthy are slim). What's going to happen in a few years? Will people start rolling their eyes behind my back or automatically tuning me out whenever I start gushing about my perfect child? I've had coworkers like that. I've been the eye roller. I need to remember that no matter how cute and wonderful I think she is, other people have limits. I need to save my bragging for the grandparents. And the blog.

On the train -- Molly was so excited to go to work with me

Lunch at Millennium Park

Couldn't resist those fountains

Letting Barbie have some fun too

Molly x 2

Why not? It's the bean!

Wide open spaces

Troubleshooting

On our way home after a hard day's work

Get 'em while they're hot

I don't have the final tally because Jason and Jon are still on their way home after packing up, but I think they sold around 50 pieces this weekend. What?! So if you were eyeing something on Etsy, better get that order in while supplies last :)

We could not have picked a better weekend for the fest. It was sunny and gorgeous all weekend, a little hot on Sunday, but Jason and Jon were lucky and had their booth in a shady location, right in the middle of everything.

Molly and I didn't actually spend too much time at the booth because there was so much else to see and do. Molly fell in love with a group of Indonesian dancers, probably because they had shiny costumes and head pieces, so she kept wanting to hang out over by where she saw them, hoping they'd come back. The only way I could get her away from that area was to promise some kind of unhealthy snack (lemonade, sno cone) or a trip to the playground. It was a little exhausting (for me), but still fun overall. Here's the evidence:

Taking care of business

Jason put one of Molly's prints up for sale too - guess which one

Mom and daughter

Balloon art - bet she was the only kid to ask for a duck in a heart

She's finally got the hang of the trike

And she's off

Run, Molly, run!

Come one, come all

Jason and his brother Jon will be displaying their wares tomorrow and Sunday at the Bucktown Arts Fest -- booth #44. Come check it out!

Molly and I will probably be there from about 11-2, unless we decide to bag the nap and push through until 7. Who knows!

If you can't make it, but still want to check out Jason's awesome work, visit his Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RepeaterPrinting. Jake and Jon have their posters on Etsy as well: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BCPrintMedia?ref=ss_profile.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful weekend and there will be lots to see and do at the fest. Come join us!

Happy baptism

My nephew James handled his Greek baptism like a champ today and hardly fussed at all during the head-to-toe oiling and triple dunking. Changing into this outfit, however, was a different story...

Congratulations to Archie and B! Time to celebrate!

James - living large

The Wall

No, this is not a Game of Thrones post, though at some point I may have to tackle that topic. It's a home improvement post. After a few months of not really doing anything to our house, we have recently had a little flurry of activity. I hit a sale at Macy's and ordered some new furniture to start filling in the front room. I thought we needed something other than Molly's Barbie veterinarian office to decorate the space. Copper coffee table? Yes, please. Pictures to come after it gets dropped off and we sell the extra couch. I also hope to hit up Home Goods one of these weekends to snag some cheap lamps.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jason has been as busy as a bee screen printing in preparation for the Bucktown Arts Fest at the end of August. He's got quite the operation going on in the basement, so we decided to put up a wall and officially separate the TV area from the screen printing area (aka, the mess. Did I just say that?).

Archie's friend George came over and in approximately two hours of hard labor (thanks, George), one big room became two smaller rooms. The best part is, we now have two extra surfaces on which to display the wonderful prints that Jason is creating!

Before the wall -- since this photo was taken, we've added 2 screen printing tables and a drying rack to the area behind the couch

Our new wall

What will become a nice, cozy TV room

The great divide

The new home of Repeater Printing (Etsy link to come whenever Jason finishes uploading his images)

Resolution revival

Well, it took about 5 months, but I'm finally back on track with the exercise component of my 2013 resolutions. I lost my motivation for a little while there, but now it's back! It all started with the Northwestern Run for Walk at the end of July -- a 4.1 mile run from the NU stadium to the lakefront in honor of Randy Walker, the head football coach back when I went to Northwestern. Susie and I were both out of shape, but we managed to run most of the way and post near-respectable times. Betsy and Archie left us in the dust, but that's to be expected. 

Anyway, since then, I've been back to running / exercising 3 times a week as promised and am feeling great. I've been running on Saturday and Sunday afternoons while Molly naps and lifting weights one day a week at the gym during lunch. I can do this. Tiger thinks so too. At the end of my run today, thanks to the Nike Fit app on my iPod, I got a little message from Tiger Woods telling me I posted my fastest mile yet. Ha! Fun little motivational perk. It wasn't super fast -- somewhere around 9 min 40 seconds, but it still felt good to get congratulated by a celebrity. I'm guessing the message was recorded pre-scandal (my iPod is a few years old) but whatever! I'll only get faster, right? 

Breaking up is hard to do

Molly's best pal, Izzy (or, as Molly likes to call her, Izzy-Belle), had her last day of school on Friday. She's switching to another preschool in town and we're going to stick where we are. Those two have been best buddies since last September, so it's a total bummer that they won't be in class together anymore. We see pictures of them holding hands in almost every update we get from school and Molly has stories to tell about Izzy almost every night. They're pretty adorable together.

The good news is, we've become friendly with Izzy's parents and have started meeting up at the park on weekends. We're also trying to get the girls in the same ballet class this fall. I hope they stay friends. I mean, look how cute they are together:

Singing "Happy birthday to Izzy"

So long, Izzy! Have fun at the new school!

Growing like weeds

I don't think I ever posted Molly's 3-year-old stats. I wasn't able to make the appointment -- Jason and Marsha took her a couple of weeks ago -- but I made sure to ask Marsha to text me the details. Molly is now officially 3 ft tall and tipping the scales at 28.5 lbs. Here's a blurry, but happy, pic of the little string bean:

Happy girl in her new Little Mermaid nightgown

My nephew James is also growing like a weed. I'm counting the days until we are neighbors and I'm able to see his cute face on a more regular basis. Here's James at almost 5 months old:

So handsome in his cargo pants!

I also have to wish my adorable nephew Will a very happy and slightly belated second birthday. Though I was tempted to post a funny pic of Will in the buff, I'll spare him future humiliation and just include this sweet photo of two cousins playing in the sand:

Can't wait to reunite these two in September!

I'm feeling pretty lucky right now to have these happy healthy kids in my life. I had a long week traveling for work (LA --> Houston --> Chicago), but all it took was a hug and a smile from my little girl and all felt right in the world.