Monday Run-Down

It almost feels like I shouldn't even get started on this...Kinley has been crying out for the last hour, and much of the night, really.  Must be her teeth?  I don't know.  I don't think it's night terrors this time cause it's not that panic cry out---more like a whine cry out.  And if Lucy has anything to do with it, she'll be up in no time.  That dog annoys me sometimes.  Okay, all the time.

Where to begin?  We did so much this weekend with my in-laws in town.  They got in on Friday early evening.  They arrived a little before Richie got home from work, so they spent that time trying to get Kinley to warm up to them.  And it didn't take long...once they unloaded the gifts that they had brought for her.  My favorite...the wooden train that spells out her name.  Way cute.

After Richie got home, of course we went to eat.  The first of our eating extravaganza weekend.  Giordano's Pizza was first.  It's good Chicago pizza, but we only go there when we have company.  It is a good tourist place to go but as "locals" we choose a local place in town.  No biggie though.  Kinley was a nightmare in the restaurant (see why we haven't weaned the paci yet?!) and refused all dinner and would only eat fruit snacks.  So, whatever.  And before we were done eating, Grandma had to walk laps with her around the restaurant to keep her from freaking out.  Grandparents don't seem to mind those fits nearly as much as the parents.  But it was our fault....we should know better than to go to a restaurant near bedtime and order pizza...where it takes 45 minutes to cook.

On Saturday, Richie decided --on his own-- that he would skip out on the duck blind drawing.  I tried convincing him otherwise while doing cartwheels on the inside.  I just didn't want him to regret it.  But he hasn't yet!  So we decided to go to the city and see the Body Works exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.  R and I had seen it before when we were just dating but his parents had never seen it.  We had to kind of look fast because Kage wasn't very interested but they seemed to really enjoy it.

This is that forced picture that they take before every exhibit.  Of course we didn't buy it but they give you a code to see it online....so I copy/pasted a little.  Can you believe that they want thirty bucks for this thing?!  Nothankyou.

And now I must address this picture.

I posted it last night in my blog post and (as we expected) got texts about "OMG, you have your kid on a leash!"....we totally expected those.  My sister begged me not to buy it....but this child is WILD!  She will only last in a stroller for a short time and carrying her is not an option when she twists and contorts and will do almost anything to get free.  We both swore that we would never be those parents and degrade our child by putting her on a leash.  And then we became those parents and hereby swear that the leash is an amazing invention.  Kinley *loved* the puppy backpack.  She cuddled it the whole way into the city.

So when it was time to leash her up, she was more than thrilled to wear the puppy on her back.  And....she felt free to explore.  All fussy behavior stopped.  It was a miracle.  And, she was safe and in arms reach.  So--judge if you will.  It was a life-saver.  And I highly recommend it to all toddler parents.  I think it helped to let her play with the backpack part of it first.  To see that it wasn't scary or strange or whatever.  I don't think I would use it anywhere but in a large place like a museum where she's required to be on good behavior for an extended amount of time.  But that's just me.

And a side note....I totally got my first period post-Kinley at the museum.  No lie.  Two days after the Mirena removal.  Obviously that was the problem.  Anyway...yippee that my body is trying to be "normal!"

Saturday night we got home and decided to get something ordered in since Kage was super sleepy.  We ordered in Gyros from our favorite local place.  Yummo.  And the parents liked them.  They were unsure if they would or not...and were super skeptical.  We were all exhausted from the day, so it was early bedtime for all of us.

On Sunday we decided to miss church since the parents didn't want to go with us and we felt guilty just leaving them here with nothing to do for two hours.  Which sucks because I really wanted to hear the message at yesterday's service.  Our pastor did a 4 week series on Daniel and Sunday was the final week.  So we missed the end of the series.  I'm going to look online today to see if it is posted, it usually is.  But instead of going to church we went out for breakfast (and Kinley did pretty good) and then went to our favorite park.  Kinley was able to feed the geese--she calls them quack quacks---whatever.  We walked to the Chinese gardens and played tourist again.  It was a gorgeous day!  Kinley just loves being outside.  And there are pictures posted of the gardens below in yesterday's post.  If you wanna see.

They left town late afternoon and we vegged on the couch through Kinley's nap. 

It was a nice weekend.  I loved having my husband home the whole time.  That makes it nice....but so much harder for Monday to come. 

Our renters called yesterday and told us that the tree in the front yard keeps dropping limbs in the storms that have been going through, so we have to make a trip down to remove the tree.  Thank goodness that we know a tree guy!  I'm so excited to get to visit my friends down there!  I have been wanting to go for weeks but couldn't find the time.  Now, we have to make the time.  So next weekend we will be spending a few days in southern IL.  Yea!

So that is my Monday run-down.  My summer semester ends on Thursday which means a presentation and final on Thursday.  Ick.  Aren't you happy that you aren't me this week?  And I noticed just how many times I mention Kinley in a post when I click on the spell check and I see a million (or maybe ten) Kinleys highlighted.  :)

And she's awake and clapping for herself, so my mommy work day begins now!  TTFN!