Shannon's World

We hit the road this weekend and traveled to the far NW Chicago suburbs.  We stayed with Betsy, Chad, Hailey and Brianna.  Libby had an excellent time with Hailey (or Hay as Libby called her) and Baby Brianna.  There were so many dolls to play with, Libby was often seen walking around with one in each hand!

We were also able to visit Alison, Baby Ethan (or “E” as Libby called him) and Mrs. Konneker.  Libby absolutely adored Baby E.  She pat his head, rubbed his belly and gave him his pacifier.  We captured some great video and special pictures I’ll post.

On Sunday I attended/hosted a baby shower for Sarah – who is pregnant with twins and due sometime between November and December.  She looks great and it was fun to hear about her pregnancy (I had so many questions) and their plans for life with two infants.  The shower was a lot of fun (many thanks to Heather’s Mom for the use of her beautiful home) – it was great to catch up with a lot of people.  Mike and Libby stopped by for a brief appearance before we headed back to IN.

More pics and details to come

This is a great and fun quiz put together by ABC news around our two candidates. Mike and I both just took it and shared our answers but had to end the discussion there. For those of you that don’t know, Mike and I cannot discuss politics. We did this once this year and ended up screaming nasty words at one another – I told him never again would we discuss his backwards ways.

http://abcnews.go.com/politics/MatchoMatic/fullpage?id=5542139

Most of you know I have a soft spot in my heart for photographers.  I’m crazy about one in particular because he was there for my I-dos, before-and-after-baby photos, I’ve shot with him, glared at him and continue to have fun with him and his amazing family.

From time to time I’ve been know to cheat.  I enjoy other photographers and even stalk some from a far.  I’ve long admired Kelly Willette’s work after our friends had their 1 year old’s birthday pictures taken by her. My appreciation of Kelly’s work grew after I learned of her fondness of red heads and love of Maine.  If only my parents still lived in Chesapeake, VA!  I bring up my love of photographers (!) because I wanted to share the great ideas Kelly’s got on her blog for Halloween.

I spent part of last weeked decorating our house and am really into Halloween this year….maybe it’s because Libby’s getting older?!  Who knows…I really enjoyed changing the house from summer to fall this year.

I have a soft spot in my heart for books. I enjoy reading them, like the way they look (hardbacks, in particular), like having them around – you get the idea. I am very excited that Laura Numeroff is adding to her “If You Give A ______ A _____” series with If You Give a Cat a CUPCAKE – how fun is that!? I am looking forward to adding this to our Laura Numeroff collection. Libby currently has If You Take A Mouse to the Movies and If You Take A Mouse to School.

Also, Amazon has some fun, free things to go along with the book: Cat and Cupcake Activity Book and Cupcake Recipe/Design Booklet.

Check out Laura’s website for her book tour dates.

MOM: She’s going to be at the Border’s in Fairfax on Thursday, October 9th at 11 am….you can bring Peyton!! She’s also got quite a few Chicago-area dates including Anderson’s in our old stomping ground. Sadly, no stops in Indy!

UPDATE: Libby Claire officially has 4 teeth and a very bad case of constipation…really bad. I was a bad Mommy yesterday and I think the lack of fruit and veggies in her diet on Daddy’s b-day is making her suffer. So far we’ve stuffed her with grapes, 1.5 jars of baby food prunes, 2 containers of diced pears, prune-apple juice and nothing! The poor girl pushed so hard at times she was in tears – breaks my heart. I think I need to put Libby in rubber pants tomorrow, just in case!!