Thursday, March 31, 2011

Photo Shoot! (4)


Luca 10 mos013, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Here are the chompers that chomp on my furniture, his crib, Norah's puzzle pieces, etc.!

Photo Shoot! (3)


Luca 10 mos011, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Luca has beautiful eyes, like his sister and his daddy!

Photo Shoot! (1)


Luca 10 mos004, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Luca is 10 months old!

Things I love about Luca:

He is cheerful!
He is chubby and fun to squeeze!
He has a sense of humor!
He is independent!

The other side of Luca:
He doesn't like to sleep! I can count the number of 6 hour blocks of sleep I have had since he's been born on 2 fingers.
He eats everything he can get his hands on, including furniture pads and erasers (yuck!)!
He only likes to play with wires, computer equipment, outlets, plugs, the toilet, and our shoes (which he sucks on!)!

Photo Shoot! (2)


Luca 10 mos006, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Luca is super cute (I am not biased!).

Bling for Baby


Late March021, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Sunny loved the baby hats and bows that one of her friends got for baby.

We can't wait to meet little Baby J--we know her parents already adore her!

Sunny's Shower


Late March003, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Sunny and Nicholas are going to have a baby at the end of April (a girl!), so my sisters, cousin, and I threw her a baby shower (bird theme). It was fun to do, and I think she had a good time! Here's the dessert!

Spring, where ARE you?!?


Late March047, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Can you tell we are ready for spring? We went outside and played even though it was only 45 degrees out!

Cousins


Late March061, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Luca and Lucia had fun playing together at Aunt Sunny and Uncle Nick's house. We wanted to take this picture because they are both teething, and both had one bright red cheek (on their left). It was cute.

At the beginning of my week in MI, Alessia could just leave Lucia on a little play mat, and when she came back, Lucia would still be on the mat. That reminded me of Norah. I tried positioning Lucia in the "crawling" position, and at first she cried, but by the end of the week, she was putting herself in that position!

Bed Time


Late March138, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Just like at home, at Nonna's house we read a bedtime story. Norah and Bree picked Aladdin one night, and it was a blow-by-blow account of the movie--it took Jeri almost 30 minutes to get through it--and then the next day, she lost her voice! Sorry, Jeri!

Cousins


Late March132, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We went to Michigan after the wedding to spend my spring break with my family (while James was on a work assignment in Barcelona!). Nicholas and Sunny had us over for dinner and she set up this cute little table for Norah and Ethan. The almost look civilized, don't they?

Friends


Late March143, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We made a trip to Iowa City to see our friends Amanda and Sam get married--it was a great wedding. Norah had so much fun seeing Amanda in her wedding dress, dancing, eating cake, and seeing her friends Cade, Hannah and Cyrus, and her old babysitter, Amelia! Here are Norah and friends "posing" after a long night of dancing.

Just today, Norah said, "Mommy, I really had fun at Amanda's wedding. Maybe when she gets married again, we can go to another party!" I told her we all hope that this will be Amanda and Sam's only wedding!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Nonna's visit 3


MidMarch2011021, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

This lion has been ridden so many times by children over the last 70+ years that its back and its mane are as smooth as marble.

Why does the Yion yook sad?


MidMarch2011017, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Norah was very concerned about this statue of a lion a the zoo. Why do you think it looks sad?

Nonna's visit 2


MidMarch2011013, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Norah and Nonna had fun looking at each other through the different holes in this wall.

Amish girl...I mean boy!


MidMarch2011008, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Nonna thought Luca looked like a little Amish girl in his hat (which kept sliding off his head!) You might be wondering why he is in a heavy snowsuit if it was 55 degrees--by the end of the day he was just in his clothes. Yay for Spring!!!!

Nonna's visit 1


MidMarch2011006, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We went to the zoo on a BEAUTIFUL, 55 degree day! Norah had a blast showing Nonna all her favorite things at the zoo. We even saw the polar bears swimming; that was fun!

Nonna looks like she is contemplating something important in this photo!

Lesson Learned


MidMarch2011025, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Last summer when my Aunt Janet and cousin Vinny (yes, I have a cousin Vinny!) came to visit, we dropped them off at the AMTRAK station so they could continue on their adventure/vacation. While were were waiting with them for the train to arrive, another train came barreling through the station and decided it would be a good idea to blast its horn! Norah was so terrified, she fell on her bottom, curled into the fetal position, and screamed like I have never heard her scream. What was meant to be fun (seeing the train) turned out to be terrifying!

Well, all that to say, that now, whenever Norah is near a train or a train track, she covers her ears and looks around nervously for trains to come blasting by! Here she is waiting for Nonna, who came to visit us this past week.

On the swings


MidMarch2011054, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Turns out Luca likes to swing almost as much as Norah does!

A "warm" winter day


MidMarch2011044, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Oh, here's Luke, too! He was a little cold, I think!

A "warm" winter day


MidMarch2011043, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

It actually was above freezing early in March, so Norah and Luke and I went to the playground where I work. They also have a nice pond there with an overlook. It will be fun to go here in the Spring/Summer to see the birds that I know will hang out here!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Norah and her teacher


Late Feb008, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Here are Norah and Ms. Schultz in front of the lovely ocean mural the class made.

Open House at preschool


Late Feb005, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We had an open house at Norah's preschool today. Here's Norah making a "Steestar!"

Chicks!


Late Feb030, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

The museum has a chick incubator with chicks in it--very cute. On the other side was newly hatched or hatching chicks! We watched one hatch right before our eyes. Very neat indeed.

Norah at the museum


Late Feb020, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

In an old train.

Another adventure!


IMG_4123, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

The next day, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, and had a grand time exploring!

Here's Norah in front of "A shadow with seeds"--really, it's a screen that has falling objects, and when you stand in front of it and cast a shadow on the screen, the objects fall AROUND the shadow! It's pretty cool to watch!

On the way home


Late Feb037, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We were all pretty tired on the train ride back home after our long day at the museum!

The Art Institute


IMG_4116, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We walked from the train station to the Art Institute of Chicago. Norah was a trooper, and then she walked all over the museum with us, too!

The next adventure.....


Late Feb034, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

A train ride to downtown Chicago! Norah had a blast! Next time, Norah wants to ride on the upper seats!

Lion Roaring

Here's the video, shot by Grandpa, of the lion roaring.

Pretty darn close!


IMG_4099, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

As were were walking through the zoo, we heard a lion roaring. It was LOUD, and we thought it might be a recording, but as we got closer, we noticed a crowd around the lion exhibit. The male lion was standing right by the glass and roaring! Norah was pretty impressed--we all were. He kept pacing back and forth and looking at the five little kids in the glass--good thing he was on one side and they were on the other!

Norah BEAR!


IMG_4087, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Do you think...


IMG_4076, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Luca is warm enough in his snowsuit? :-)

At the zoo


Late Feb040, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

Here's Norah, Oma and Grandpa in the South America primate exhibit.

Grandpa and Oma visit


IMG_4049, originally uploaded by Chiara and James Hemsley.

We went to the Brookfield Zoo on the first day. We were one of about 20 people at the zoo--it was great!