The Girls

Poor Adele, she doesn't have many photos posted on here yet. We've taken a ton, but haven't put them up yet (we're trying hard not to let that whole the-third-baby-has-no-photos syndrome take over). I was able to catch a moment of the girls hanging out together and snap a few shots. Lillie loves holding Adele...she's been a little sick since this shot and does not like that we won't let her get near to her little sister.

Lillie also loves being silly for the camera. Here are a couple of shots that pretty much sum up her personality these days: sweet with a super silly twist. I can't believe she'll be four in a couple of weeks!

Quinn's School Bus Party

Quinn's second birthday party was a school bus theme, one of his most favorite things in the world these days. We invited a few friends to the park near our house and had a picnic with all the kids and parents. The cake was a yellow school bus, complete with mini-chocolate doughnut wheels, JuJu Be lights, and Tic Tac headlights! I used what is becoming my go-to yellow cake recipe, and simple buttercream icing.

1. He was so excited to eat his cake!   

It was very windy that day, so the candle never actually stayed lit. But that didn't hold Quinn back.

Quinn loooooved his cake so much, he sat patiently at the table and ate no less than three pieces! Everyone else had gone back to playing, but nothing could tear Quinn away from his cake and ice cream.

Happy birthday to our sweet, sweet boy.

An Apple a Day

Apple picking is becoming a tradition, and we love it! With four people filling bags this year, we came home with A LOT of apples. We made apple pie, apple oatmeal, sautéed apples, apple pancakes, and apple sauce. Whew, I think it took over a month to get through all of them! This year Lillie really got into finding perfect apples to fill her bag.

And Quinn just wanted to eat the apples!

There were some breaks for running around and hugging, of course.

See you next year, apple trees!

Fashionably Late

Adele Grace Sullivan is here! And no, she was not late in joining us, I am just very late in posting about it! She was born on August 19 (a week early), and shares a name with two of her great-grandmothers. And of those great-grandmothers, she shares a birthday with one. Our sweet little girl has been welcomed into the family by all and big brother and big sister love hugging and kissing on her! Now that she's two months and some change, we're getting our groove back, so start checking the blog more often!

Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

Yes, there is always a lot going on here in Chicago, but tonight the theme is magic. Here's a glimpse into our evening and the fabulous show Lillie performed in the middle of our kitchen.

Quinn the Comedian

Quinn learned how to tell a knock knock joke after watching Lillie practice on us (over and over), and in the process he learned to laugh at his own joke. It takes a while for him to get there, but it's so worth it!

Who Knows How Long I've Loved You...

Lillie has memorized the song "I Will" from The Beatles and decided to sing it to her baby sister. Talk about a tear-jerker moment! Don't mind me, I'm certainly not looking my best, but hey, I'm nearly 8 months pregnant!

The Evolution of a Haircut

A few weeks back, Conor tried his hand at giving Quinn his summer cut. He looks so grown up now, and it's definitely grown on me!

Happy Birthday Conor

Since Conor's birthday fell while we were on vacation, we decided to have his celebration before we left. He requested a healthy-ish cake (huh?) and this was the best I could do! It's the Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake from Cook's Illustrated. Not so much a traditional birthday cake, but Conor was happy so I was happy too. I think we were all proud of ourselves when we were satisfied with one piece of the cake and then shared the rest with our neighbors. Not a bad idea to have a party the day before you leave so that you have to give the rest away and not waste a perfectly good cake...I think we're on to something here. One piece is really all you need with this super rich cake anyway.

Lillie was the most excited about all the festivities and could not wait to get a piece of that cake. Only three and already a strong appreciation for chocolate!

 Quinn was a big fan of the cake too.

We had a nice little party that got us excited to have even more fun on vacation in Florida. Happy birthday, Conor...here's to another fabulous year of life!

A Rootin' Tootin' Good Time

Let's take a trip back to November, when Lillie wanted to have a cowgirl party for her birthday. I was happy to oblige! We found stick horses for each of the kids, made a stable out of a cardboard box, played pin the tail on the donkey, and had a special pinata shaped like a cowgirl boot! Whew! I think it was a successful party, with lot's of playing and running around. Lillie has already started making requests for next years party, with the top two being Cinderella and a pajama party. It will be fun to see what she decides!

Before everyone arrived, Lillie got a little tired of waiting...I mean, it started at 11...it was like waiting an entire week!

All the horsies in a row...

 Of course we had pom poms.

Inside the stables...the place to be during the party.

Conor handing out the stick horses for horse races.

Getting the pinata ready, they were all so excited!

Lillie requested a Jessie ice cream cake (of course she did!) It was one of the easiest cakes I've ever made.

Quinn's 1st Birthday

We're going way back today to September when Quinn turned one. We had a small get together, just the four of us with Mamaw and Poppy Doc. Quinn was just like Lillie when it came to the cake, a little too dainty with not much mess at all. Boo! We still had fun and he loved his first taste of cake. (Oh, and if you couldn't tell, each cake has a Q on the top, although Quinn's looks like the duck might be swimming in it's own hot tub or something.)

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you all had a great day and felt very loved. I know we did. Lillie and Quinn both got into the spirit of the day - so fun!

Love Letters

We're baaacck! We pulled out my old childhood typewriter from a box in storage and Lillie latched on to it immediately. She's been busy writing all sorts of letters, just in time for Valentine's Day!