Viva Las Vegas!

I'll keep the commentary short and sweet here. There are few words needed to describe our crazy Memorial Day weekend celebrating Jess and Aaron's last few nights out as singles still on the market. Thankfully Grandma Jenny was excited to watch Grace Mack for the weekend, so Zach and I were able to partake in the fun. The girls headed to the bedazzled Cosmopolitan while the boys made their mark at the playboy bunny favorite, The Palms. Since this blog is specifically for Grace and future babes to check out one day, I'll let the photos speak for themselves... with the exception of a few that NEED explanation :)

Early Father's Day present :)

Major excitement seeing the girl's suite for the first time!

Our view = AMAZING!

Too much happiness to contain :)

My other sisters!

The beginning of many, many, many dance parties.

Jodi reunited with her good friend from college! 

Soon-to-be sisters-in-law

This heel should read: "Do not purchase - I will literally murder your feet". Unfortunately we all found this out later in the night after keeping our fabulous colorful heels on for an hour tops.

Bride hat! Clutch purchase by Kels and I earlier in the day. 

No words needed. GO JESS!

Fabulous suite decorated for the big night! 

Beautiful Ullrich ladies.

Love my second family so much!

Bedazzled bride-to-be!

Bride and her awesome M.O.H.'s

Favorite book of mine I thought I'd pass along :)

Wall of lingerie! 

Bellagio fountains! So pretty. 

Excited about our $10 limo ride at 9:00 am to the Palms pool party...

Or... wait for it... $10 PER PERSON. Oops :) Still worth it!

Feeling pretty good at 9:00 AM! 

Bride and Groom reunited in fabulous Las Vega 

Kelsaroo's fab shoes hanging out at Thunder from Down Under. Rough night for these heels.

All the girl's at joint Palms pool par-tay

Groom-to-be doin' his thang :) 

Pretty cool parents hanging with this crazy crowd!

Brothery love. 

The lone survivors for night three out on the town! Yes, I was one of them :)  We missed you Jess and Aaron!

Ladies - will you accept this rose?

Thanks again to my incredible Mother and Father-in-law, Jodi and Tom, for hosting such madness all weekend! One of the best weekends of my life, and I wasn't even the bride.. haha. Loved getting to know each and every one who has played such an important role in Jess and Aaron's lives up until this point. Weekend definitely upped the anticipated for their big day!

Happy 8 months (and 6 days) Grace!

First and foremost - don't panic! Grace is actually happy, healthy and (almost) forehead-bump free today. Her sadness is merely a result of Mom removing the very fun and exciting whiffle ball from her little hands for an attempt at a photo tonight :) We took some semi-decent eight month shots on the 14th, but I unfortunately discovered that my camera cord is still in Wheaton and was therefore unable to upload any quality pictures for the time being. My i-phone camera will have to suffice!

I also felt this photo was only appropriate given the rough few days Mom and baby girl have had together. On Friday I had my worst moment in mommy life yet. After our first session with an Invisible Fence dog trainer for Kingston, I was strictly advised to ALWAYS lift our pup over the outside electric fence before taking him for a walk from this point forward to keep from confusing him of his limits. Meaning he should learn that the only way he's allowed beyond our driveway is either in a car or being picked up. The outdoor training had yet to begin (so the fence wasn't even on), but given the lack of love King had received lately with our move I wanted to take him on a quick walk and try the training out myself. After strapping Grace in the baby bjorn and getting my extremely eager and excited pup leashed up and ready to go, we walked out the side door. I scooped up King, took a step to the driveway, and BAM - tripped face first off our patio step into the cement with Grace attached to my chest. The next 10 minutes are a bit of a blur as I have never been so scared in my entire life. Kingston went flying, Grace screamed and I felt like my heart might explode. God must have been watching over me at that moment as Grace managed to only bump her forehead and I walked away with a beat-up knee. Head injuries, no matter how small, are something I will never take lightly for the rest of my life. Despite her smiling face only minutes after the mishap and acting happy as ever, we made an appointment with our new doctor immediately. Zach was in Chicago for the night and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully without reassurance that my baby's noggin was perfectly fine, and confirmation from a professional that I wasn't officially the worst (and clumsiest) Mother in the world. As I tearfully explained my story to the nurse, I was instantly calmed with her numerous stories of other Mothers experiencing similar scenarios. Phew - I might be clumsy but at least I'm normal. Doc sent us home with the okay to proceed with the evening as normal, and I was finally able to look at Grace's little forehead without bawling.

My tough babe and her first boo boo.

Lesson learned - breathe, slow down and never get too confident. Over confidence is usually followed by a humbling event in my experience, and this was no different. Just when I was starting to feel at ease with this whole "parenting thing", I attempted something I wouldn't have normally done. You better believe thats the last time I multitask while carrying one of my kids! 

In other more positive news, Grace is learning new things left and right and finally sitting on her own occasionally. Her creeping and rolling are making me a nervous wreck, but exciting nonetheless watching her explore our new place. I finally buckled down on baby proofing after our little tumble. Next accident I will at least have peace of mind that I've done everything in my power to prevent it (as I am no longer in denial that I can keep her safe 100% of the time - there will be more stumbles). Grace's favorite saying is still "da da da da" and an attempt at "uh oh" after it being repeated multiple times by Mom or Dad. I have to give Grandma Jenny credit on that one as it was started in Wheaton with her help! She also officially understands clapping and will do so whenever we play Patty Cake or sing "If you're happy and you know it". High fives are her newest thing, and oh so cute to watch! 

Making progress slowly but surely!

Paint me a Birmingham

So I have to admit... I've been putting off blogging since our big move. For some reason the thought of forcing myself to write about a life changing event causing me some serious anxiety and unwanted extra emotion didn't sound the least bit appealing. However, now that it's all said and done, I couldn't be happier. WE couldn't be happier. Before I go further, here's a quick look at all that's happened in the last month since we packed up our things and said goodbye to Wheaton.

We put our wonderful little home up for rent, and found the perfect renters..

The moving company dropped off our boxes shortly after. And we played in them..

Then we actually put things in them (other than cute babies)..

Finally the moving truck arrived..

And we sadly had to say good-bye to our first home. 

As if we weren't already under enough stress moving, we thought running a half marathon in Toledo, OH (which is near Lauren's school and on the way to Birmingham) would be fun to add to the mix! Thank goodness for our lucky ladybug.

And we ran! My ridiculous athletic husband finished ahead of Lauren and I by about 30 seconds with barely any training. All three of us beat the two hour mark, and had a blast. Talk about a stress reliever! Following the race the three of us jumped in our car, said goodbye to my parents and Lauren, and headed to our new home in Birmingham. The movers arrived a few days later and we spent our first full week together as a family in nearly four months. We were back and forth between Illinois and Michigan for a week to tie up loose ends at our Winfield home, say goodbye to family and friends, and finish up Grace's last doctor, PT and OT appointments. We even snuck in a quick play date with Josh and Grace's BFF, Lyla Rose!

We've been back in Birmingham for over a week now and have been loving every second of it. Our home is the perfect next step for our little family and our neighborhood and location are a dream come true. We are about a half mile from an incredible downtown, steps from multiple parks, a quick drive from Somerset and the Detroit Zoo, and surrounded by families with young kids (and cute pups)! Not to mention a few towns away from our good friends, the Stowell's, who I anticipate spending many a sunny days with at Lifetime pool in the weeks to come.

Our first swing session at Barnum Park.

Home Sweet Home.

Today we celebrated my first Mother's day, and there are no words to describe my feelings waking up this morning other than blessed. Blessed to have such incredible, beautiful, selfless mother's and grandmother's in our lives who have paved the way for me and the example I want to set for Grace going forward. Blessed to have an amazing husband with a heart of gold...who appreciates, loves and supports me more than anyone else in this world and continually makes me feel like a superwoman day in and day out. Blessed to have a healthy, adorable little angel with more personality and smiles than any other baby on this planet, and who has provided me more joy and happiness than I ever could have imagined. Blessed to have been given the opportunity to be a mother, the most important and life-changing job in the world.

All dressed up for Mom!

The two loves of my life.. and Kingston of course :)

Best first Mother's Day a woman could ask for! Slept in while Dad got Grace fed and changed for the day, woke up to a new Keurig coffee maker all ready to give Mom her much needed caffeine boost, went to mass at Holy Name in Birmingham, ate brunch at a cute lil' hole in the wall place called Whistle Stop, took a long nap with my loves, went for a family run with a pit stop at Booth Park for Grace, grabbed a pizza, and got Grace all ready for bed only to find an adorable giraffe pandora charm in her hands... 

Zach's explanation for the charm being - Grace loves Sophie, "G" for Grace and giraffe, and giraffes have long goofy necks much like our torticollis cutie pie (which is doing much better I might add). Amazingly thoughtful husband and father? I'll say :) Not to mention I think we found our 1st birthday theme.....