summer summary

Just checking in after months away from the blog. Needless to say, this summer has been full, busy, and oh so fun.

Some highlights...

camp wells (wells is one!)

It's been just over a week since Wells turned one, and a week since we celebrated his first year. We invited friends and family to join us at Camp Wells - his camping themed birthday party. We hosted at my in-laws' lake house, the perfect spot to let a gaggle of kids, ages 6 and under, run wild.

girls weekend: chicago

Two of my favorite people in the world have birthdays just six days apart from each other. To my delight, they are also two of each other's favorite people so when I found out my sister was going to be in Chicago, a mere two and a half hours away on her birthday, we quickly decided that the best way to celebrate both her birthday and Elia's would be to spend a long weekend together in Chicago. Our mom was available to join too making it a perfect girls weekend.

We left early Friday morning and Elia was such a great road tripper. As soon as we could see Chicago, she was so excited and kept pointing to buildings and saying, "Is that Chicago?" So sweet.

And now...in lieu of all of the words that I could offer you, I give you all of the pictures. (And just a few words peppered in to explain.)

wells: month eleven

Our Wellsy turned eleven months a week ago - that means he only has one more month to go before he's a year. Wow!

He is so active. I swear, I keep saying that but his level of activity is just so intense and constant. It's to the point that we have to literally pin him down just to change his diaper. And that usually doesn't work out well for us.

egn: third birthday

We officially have a three year old.

I keep hearing myself say that I can't believe that Elia is three but, honestly, I can. Two was hard to believe but three, I saw coming. Honestly speaking, this year has seemed long. Not too long, exactly, but so much has happened in the last year. We've felt really tested and challenged as we navigate the growing pains of life as a family of four, all while Elia navigated becoming a sister, sharing her parents' previously undivided attention, plus all of the normal wonderfulness that comes along with toddlerhood. I've been looking forward to the promise of three, like our very own little happy new year.