Brex's Baptism

What a special treat, almost all of our immediate family came to Chicago this weekend!  It meant the world to us to have the most important people in our lives here to celebrate such an important event - Brex's Baptism!  He got the full dunking and was such a good boy during mass and the sacrament.

Godparents Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim:

 

Father Manny dunking Brex in the baptismal font at St. Clement:

Brex is a new member of the Catholic Church!!!

Mike's 1st Father's Day and Brex's 1st Cubs game

Brex had a special shirt made to wish daddy a very Happy Father's Day!:

Another beautiful day in Chicago, so we took Brex to his 1st Cubs game:

Happy Grandfather's day Pa, thanks for the Cubs shirt!

Kids are so spoiled these days. I sat in the nose bleed section until I was 33 years old and Brex gets 3rd row seats right above the bull penn at his 1st game (Thanks Uncle Reichart!!!):

Family fun with the McGraths.  Happy Father's Day Mike & Sean!:

A day at the beach

These are the days that make suffering through the Chicago winters all worth it. We have a huge beach less than a mile from home so we packed up the stroller and walked over for the afternoon.  Fully loaded with towels, toys, sunscreen and a TENT. Over the past 8 years, we have made 4 moves together, even crossed state lines and I have never seen this tent put to use.  It was a lifesaver to keep Brex protected from the blazing sun and 85 degree heat. 

Picking our perfect spot at Montrose Beach - Lake Michigan:

Brex (and mommy's) 1st time in a tent:

Brex hanging out at the beach:

Family photo:

Brex is 4 months old!

Brex is sitting up with total head control.  Sometimes he gets so excited in his bumbo chair he nearly jumps out of it.  He always kicking his legs and still trying to get everything in his mouth - even this ball that's bigger than his head... 

Brex's 1st ride on the 'L'

This past weekend we flew to Cleveland for Aunt Maryanne & Uncle Dick's 50th wedding anniversary party. The Blackhawk Stanley Cup celebration parade AND the cross town rivalry (Cubs vs Sox) game were going on when it was time for us to go to the airport, so traffic was at a standstill. We decided to attempt public transportation for the 1st time with Brex. It was hot outside and we waited for the L for a long time, but once we got on the train, we were fine.

Brex got a little bit impatient and showed his aggravation with a simple hand gesture…

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting on the L platform with Lilliana, our big helper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
Stacey family on the train:

Brex is holding everything

Brex has started to grab and keep a very tight hold on everything he can get his hands on. It started with our fingers, mommy's hair and small toys.  He has made a lot of progress in 1 week and moved on to his bottle and the biggest cup we own.

Small toys and bottle:

HUGE cup:

And of course...EVERYTHING goes in the mouth:

1st trip to the playground

We found a great park that was completely empty on a beautiful day so we decided to introduce Brex to some of the playground equipment. 

1st time down the slide:

1st time on the swings:

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Today we celebrate 3 years of pure wedded bliss! We made a pact to always continue our travels after marriage (and kid) and we're doing alright so far. This anniversary celebration was much tamer than last year in Vegas, but it was fun in a different way. We took a 2 hour road trip to an Illinois state park called Starved Rock. Got there right after a huge storm so the waterfalls were gushing and Brex loved hiking through the great outdoors.

The actual Starved Rock...

The waterfall sounds similar to Brex's white noise machine and it put him right to sleep.

Attack of the Asian Carp!

We took Brex on his first boat ride and thought it was going to a be leisure cruise – NOT! About 5 minutes into the slow 45 minute paddle boat ride, a HUGE Asian Carp jumped out of the water onto the boat. I leaped out of my seat and swore louder than ever before. Thankfully, Brex was strapped to me and protected in the Bjorn. I told the guy on shore that a warning that could happen would have been nice, and he said “Oh, you only had 1? A boat the other day got 3 jumpers on board in 1 ride”. Stupid guy and stupid fish!

This ride looks safe enough, no?????

The stupid BLEEPING fish that almost killed us...

Luckily Brex was safe in mommy's arms. Mommy however, suffered a gash to the ankle ball bone that will leave a nice scar to remember the death defying incident.

Hats

Brex has 22 hats, I counted.  Many of them were hand-me-downs, some gifts and even one that I bought. Still none of them fit just right.  In the winter we could never get the hat positioned over his ears the right way to block out the wind.  Now that we are trying to protect him from the sun, we are having just as much trouble trying to get a hat with full coverage that will stay on his head.  Regardless, he looks pretty cute in this one...

If I could read his mind, I bet he was thinking what dummies we are for putting his hat on crooked...again!

Our Cowboy starts to grab

Brex has started holding things with both hands.  His favorite toy this week is his cow, or as he is learning to say in Spanish "la vaca". He zones in and studies the colors of the cow hanging from his car seat until he grasps it and then trys to eat it (like everything else he can get in his mouth lately!).

Probably not going to be a vegetarian...

Happy Memorial Day!

We had great weather in Chicago over the weekend and Brex spent plenty of time in the stroller until the massive thunderstorms rolled in on Monday.

Happy Memorial Day!

Went to the Spiller wedding on Sunday and sat at the end of the pew near the back, just in case we needed to make a quick exit.  Of course, Brex was on best behavior at the church!

Brex was home having fun with another new babysitter while Mike and I went to the wedding reception at Gibsons -YUM!!