Family fun time

It's been over a week since Aunt Suzie came to visit (Suzanne for anyone who isn't a niece), but life with a new puppy offers few breaks for blogging! We picked just about the hottest weekend of the summer, but still managed to enjoy a bit of Chicago with an architectural boat tour on the river and a Saturday stroll through Lincoln Park. Mostly, it was just good to spend time with my aunt!

Posing on one of the lakefront fields at Northwestern. Ignore the fact that my eyes are closed

We were lucky enough the following weekend to have a return visit from Joe, who just finished up a few weeks of work in Wisconsin. We met cousin Erin at the Cubs game and saw a come from behind W vs the Nationals. I hadn't been to Wrigley in forever and it was so much fun to see the changes in the neighborhood and be in the stadium again.

Looks like we need to get Erin some Cubs gear

Last, but not least, I have to give George a birthday shout out for turning 4. Betsy and Archie had a big family party and Molly had a blast, as usual, hanging out with all of the cousins on Archie's side of the family. Here are the boys, waiting patiently for the cake.

Look how grown up they are - George is 4 and James is about to start Kindergarten. Where does the time go?

The family fun doesn't stop there ... my parents are still in town for about another month, and then we also get to see Jake, Jon, and Adina at the end of August for the Bucktown Arts Fest!

Puppy love

Meet Riley, the newest O'Grady. She's an 8-week old goldendoodle puppy and we are officially obsessed!

Hi there, Riley!

So far, it's kind of like having a new baby. We're spending all of our time staring at her and worrying about how much she's eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom. She had 2 minor accidents her first day at home (good thing we planned ahead and rolled up the rug), but none yet today. Fingers crossed she figures this whole house training thing out sooner rather than later.

Jason was on duty by himself last night while I went to the Kenny Chesney concert with my sisters (that's a topic for a separate post!) and he was definitely a little frazzled this morning. Day 1 of crate training didn't go so well and both Jason and the dog ended up sleeping on the couch for a grand total of about 5 hours of shut eye. She's taken a few good naps today though, and even managed about 5 mins in the crate, so I am counting that as progress. Baby steps!

All tuckered out

Having a puppy is definitely a LOT of work, but it's also so much fun. Riley is a total sweetie and we're all getting a kick out of watching her play. Molly has been really good with her, though there are definitely times that the dog makes her nervous. Ha, there are times the dog makes ME nervous. But we are starting up sessions with a trainer in a couple of weeks and I think that will help all of us have a better handle on what to do. 

Looks like Riley is up from her nap, so that's probably enough for now. Expect many more Riley pics and posts to come! 

Eight is great

It seems like Molly is growing taller by the day. She's now 50 inches and 55 lbs -- 50th percentile all around. She has her ears pierced. She no longer needs a car seat. She's sometimes so sassy I can't stand it. But usually, she's a sweetheart, a total goofball, and my absolute favorite girl.

Molly has been waiting and waiting for this birthday. It feels kind of big time. She seems older now. At times, I can see the pre-teen coming out, and it makes me want to stop the clock. But I also love how she's changing and growing and I kind of can't wait to see what's going to happen next. 

Here are a few pics of the big girl at age 8.

8th birthday party with friends ... a gloriously messy slime party in the driveway :) 

Hanging out with Uncle Joe

With Riley ... soon to be our new family dog!

Mollypalooza

Today, Molly turned 8 on the 8th, making it her "Golden Birthday." We were lucky enough to celebrate over the weekend in Nebraska with approximately 30 to 40 O'Gradys and Molly's BFF, Ryan.

It was the most Midwestern of road trips. We drove through corn to get to more corn. The kids went free range for a few days while the adults talked and drank beer. Occasionally, you'd hear exchanges like this:

"Have you seen the girls?"

"Pretty sure they were heading North with the hula hoops."

Or this:

"Where'd Evan get to?" (My 3-year-old nephew)

"I told him to go pee by the side of the house."

It was glorious.

We stayed at Jason's Aunt Donna and Uncle Chuck's house and they pretty much rolled out the red carpet for us. It really couldn't have been more fun. We had an epic water war with the kids vs adults, caught fireflies and toads every night, rode in the tractor, ate junk food and didn't care. Molly loved it all.

It was a pretty special way to celebrate a special girl. Happy birthday to the Molls!

Checking out the view from the tractor

Taking as many Gator rides as they could get

Bowling with Ryan, who was such a good guest and earned her spot as an honorary O'Grady

Our fabulous hosts -- Donna, Becky, and Chuck

The birthday girl with her mom and dad

Cousin Will - the MVP of the water war, with Jon, Joe, and Jeremy

Corinne and I getting our turn in the tractor with "Farmer Steve"

Mini tractor rides in the shed

Hanging with my sisters in law and hopefully my soon-to-be sister in law ... no pressure, Jon! :)

Kids in the bean field at dusk

Home sweet half-finished home

The kitchen isn't quite ready yet, but we are! After 3 months in the condo and with summer (and my parents) almost here, it is time to be home. The house is still a little dusty, and the kitchen is still a construction zone, but the fridge is in, so I think we can make it work!

The big delay now is the countertops -- our top pick was out of stock and they didn't let us know until the day it was scheduled to be cut. We're on to plan B and I think I've convinced myself I like the new countertops even better. As of now, they are scheduled to go in on June 15. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until then for our sink, too. 

Here are a few pics of the kitchen, in its current state:

Our new, glorious, enormous refrigerator, in a new location away from the back door

The other cabinet color -- marine blue. There is an L-shaped peninsula under the tarp, also in marine blue, where we will be able to have barstools. Yes! Barstools!

The range is in the same spot, but you can see we now have a double oven -- hurrah! It's a little hard to see, but the pantry is to the left of the back door where that wood wall is. The right side (not shown) has a bench, shelves, and hooks for our coats

This is the money shot. The unobstructed view from the kitchen into the dining room. I LOVE how open it is. The photo is a little dark, but you get the idea

Friends 4-eva

There's just something so easy about being around old friends. It doesn't matter how much time goes by, it seems like we can still just pick up right where we left off as soon as we get back together.

On that note, it's been a pretty good couple of months for seeing my friends from high school. Lindsay lives here of course, and now that my schedule is more flexible, we've been able to pick it up a bit with Friday lunches every month or so. Then at the end of April, Jason and I went back to Cincinnati for a music fest (National Homecoming on Smale Park along the Ohio River ... it was amazing). We got to see Dana and Lauren while we were in town and also see how much cooler Cincinnati is than when I lived there (Covington, KY and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods especially).

Natalie is the farthest away, but she is so good about visiting Chicago. It was my turn to get out to Arizona though, so Jason, Molly, and I went to visit Nat and her family over Memorial Day weekend and had such a good time. It felt like the kick-off to summer. They have a huge group of friends in AZ and had a big BBQ one of the nights. We got some swim time in at the pool, checked out Top Golf for the first time, and then we also got to see another friend from high school, Eric, and his brand new baby Declan. Declan is a magic baby -- so cute and so good. He never even cried once when we were at dinner. He just looked around at everyone and let us pass him around until he fell asleep. Aww.

It's hard to believe I've been friends with this crew for more than 20 years! We've got our reunion coming up in Sept. I was on the fence, but think I'm definitely going to make the effort to get back for it now.

Out in Cincinnati with Dana and LT

Molly at the pool with Natalie's two darlings, Eva and Cole

Finishing up dinner with baby Declan. Jordan, Natalie, and Meredith are in the photo. Jason, Eric, and I were on the other side of the table. I always say this ... we should have taken more pictures!

Love to all the moms

Molly has one babysitter, Courtney, who is just heads and shoulders above the rest. She watched Molly overnight a couple of weekends ago when Jason and I went to Cincinnati, and of course, she was thoughtful enough to have Molly do a Mother's Day art project. How sweet is this? Definitely going on the wall somewhere.

A Mother's Day surprise for me :)

Overall, we had a pretty low-key Mother's Day, but that's what made it wonderful :) I had some phone time with my mom, some alone time thanks to my thoughtful husband, some family time with my sister, Archie, and nephews, and some one-on-one time with my girl. I felt pretty loved. Hope others out there are feeling the love, too!