Chicagorillas: Utah Vacay

Here are some pictures of our trip to Utah. We had a lot of fun visiting with family and spending time doing some of the things we miss in Chicago (hiking, mountain biking, having babysitters, etc.). It was also a welcome break from the heat and humidity we had been experiencing in Chicago. Brady was able to stay for 10 days and Reese and I stayed for 3 weeks. We flew home just a couple days before she turned 2. It was officially the end of her days as a lap-flying child.

Reese LOVED being around family! She was really happy for the most part (and really UNhappy for about 5 days!). She had started talking a lot since our family had seen her last, so it was fun for them to see her goofy personality. It was nice to have a yard where she could go outside and run around. She constantly wanted to go outside. While we were there she started a new SUPER independent phase. She's always been independent, but her new favorite phrase is "my turn" and she won't let you help her do much of anything. She insists on climbing in and out of her highchair on her own, getting in and out of the car and car seat on her own. Basically, anything she needs help with, she refuses it. It's definitely been a test of our patience and things take a lot longer.

Brady was able to do some mountain biking and we took Reese on a hike. My extended family does a big camp out every year, so we went up one afternoon for the Dutch oven dinner. Yum! There was even some snow still around, so we made a snow man! It was so refreshing and relaxing to enjoy the fresh air and the mountains. We definitely miss them.

One of the more exciting things was sharing some big news with our families...Reese is going to be a big sister! Baby #2 is due February 15, 2012. We've known since mid-June but wanted to wait until we were with our families to tell them. I made Reese a "Big Sis" shirt to wear to announce it. It took both of our families about 5 minutes before they actually read what the shirt said. So far, this pregnancy has been very similar to Reese's. For about 4 weeks, I had felt crappy in the evenings, but never was actually sick. Now I'm feeling fine and trying to keep up with Reese. I'm 16 weeks along, so we will find out what we're having at the end of September!

Here are some pictures of Utah (and the 4th of July):