Goodbye Chicago

This is such a bittersweet post! Wow, I seriously cannot believe that 2 years have gone by in a flash!!!! I so vividly remember driving here and crying 1/3 of the way from Texas to Chicago. I was so sad to leave Dallas! BUT, while I was sad I knew that it was going to be a great opportunity for us to do something different. We always said that we never wanted to be that couple that went through life, looking back and saying, "Man, I wish we would have done something different, like live in a different place..." Well, now that won't ever happen;)

Being here taught us so much about ourselves, our marriage, who we are and who we want to be, and lastly how to be parents (we still have a long way to go, but we can say we got our start in Chicago).  When we moved here, it was just us....over time we met so many great friends through school, work and church. We were pushed out of our comfort zones in so many areas, but it was so worth it; and I believe made us better for it in the long run. Chicago has given us SO many great memories, but one will forever stick out in our heads. We will ALWAYS ALWAYS remember that this is where we were when I got pregnant and where we had Grayson. We always say how cool it is going to be for Grayson to say he was born in Chicago. We know he will be a Texas boy...but how cool that he can say he has lived outside of Texas before.

While I am definitely ready to get back to family and friends and our new house, I will definitely miss aspects of Chicago. I LOVE that I can walk to the local market around the corner or any restaurant. I really do like public transportation, it is so easy and makes me feel like I live in a "city." I am going to miss the thousands of parks, our 28th floor view, great museums, awesome restaurants (I could name literally like 15 that I am going to miss...), Navy Pier fireworks, Lake Shore, the beach at our back door, free concerts, the "local" feel of all the neighborhoods and lots of fun shopping!

xxoo,

Tiff

Booth Graduate

Matt is now D-O-N-E with business school! I can't believe our two years is up. Our time here has flown by! I am so proud of Matt for his HUGE accomplishment. It is not everyday you can see you went to a top 5 business school!!! We celebrated with friends on Friday night and then went to his graduation on Saturday with a nice dinner that evening. We have met so many incredible people though business school and I know that each one of us has touched our lives in a unique way. I am so blessed to have gone on this journey with Matt. CONGRATS!!

xxoo,

Tiff

Grayson OFFICIALLY Turned 1

Grayson is now officially 1....well, actually 13 months old...but who is counting in the blog world?! I think I say this every post, but it just crazy to me to see how much they develop every month (actually every week)! He is SO much fun! I always knew I would love being a mom, but I never knew it would be this much FUN! I must say, it makes it pretty easy when we have such a sweet kiddo:)

The 12 month stats:
22.5 lbs (50%)
30.25 inches (65%)
His head is big...always has been (87%). (He just has a big ole' brain in there;))

We are down to one bottle at night. Truth be told, he would be just fine without it, but I think it relaxes him and gets him "ready" for bed. Still likes the paci...again, doesn't need it but I think it soothes him. He LOVES to eat! And he really loves zucchini and peaches. Of course he loves the usual kid stuff too; who doesn't! He has been lactose intolerant, but we went ahead a tried the regular milk and he seemed okay for a few weeks but then began developing a rash on his face. We stopped the milk and it went away. So, now he is on lactaid. I prefer the organic lactose free milk...but they do not have whole milk. And I know I can try Soy...BUT that will just get me started on my soy bean seed kick...so I won't even go there:)

For his first birthday, we went the Shedd Aquarium. He LOVED it! He could have walked around the huge aquarium for hours. Other than that, we played outside and let him open a gift and have some cake. We loved celebrating our 1 year-old!!

xxoo,
Tiff