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we decided we were up for one more trip before the little one came. so, we packed our bags and flew out to chicago to visit sarah and zach. they have a really nice apartment right in wrigleyville, with convenient access to not one, but two little shops that sell expensive things for babies. one of them was in the bottom floor of their building, allowing us to ensure that our flights were not the most expensive part of our trip.

here’s lillis thinking about some things she might buy.

here she and i are at lincoln park. in all my trips to chicago (including working there for 6 months) and all the times i’d been in lincoln park (the area), i’d never actually seen lincoln park zoon. we went there, though, to do a photo shoot with s and z’s kid amelia and her buddy eleanor. i actually didn’t go inside the zoo, but lillis did. she said their restrooms were very nice.

saturday day, we walked all over wrigleyville. past the stadium, down to the lake. we watched the sail boats and the water crashing against the retaining wall. the little pregnant girl was a trooper. we probably covered 4 or 5 miles but she still turned down the offer of a cab for the ride home. on saturday night we “just” went out to uncommon ground for dinner. they grow a lot of their own produce on the roof and do things organic. it was very good. just as fun for lillis, was our trip to dairy queen after.

on sunday we did a bit of baby shopping after we had eaten breakfast. then, we decided to go take the frank lloyd wright tour (something else that had been on my “list” for quite some time). the area in between downtown and Oak Park is probably not as nice as it was in frank’s day. you know you’re not in the best area when places are advertising that they have “human” hair.

here’s amelia out in front of frank’s place.

and dancing!

one more of the flw houses

and here are a couple of the pics from our photo shoot.

we had a great time visiting with good friends……and had just enough time at the tail end to get some deep dish pizza at Giordano’s near the airport. good times!

took these right before we left for scandanavia, so this is lil at 6 months. our little one is finally starting to really do some growing and some kicking. she’s actually pretty active, just like her mommy. here, lillis jr is whispering something in bear’s ear that seems to be pretty interesting to him.

this is what lillis would look like if it were the 50’s.

now back to full color…..

this is obviously not lillis, but just some dude that lillis saw in the park. she’s always insistent that she be allowed to take one or two pics of me in exchange for all the pics i take of her. bear stuck his tongue out at the camera, b/c he thought that would make for a silly picture.

my beautiful princess

here lillis is looking down at her belly and thinking how excited we are to meet our little blessing.

neither one of us can wait, but we probably both think that we’ll be lucky if we’re “ready” three months from now. at some point i have to get the translation guide for what all the “cries” mean, and also i need to learn how to change a diaper, and never sleep, and worry. : )

just thought i’d catch up on a pre-trip post or two while lil’s in the shower. i decided to get a few pics of lil on her bday. we took her to a lovely dinner at tierra (one of our favs) with drew and blake that evening. but, before we left she got her gifts…..this included TWO donuts from the fancy donut shop on 10th street whose name i am forgetting right now. lillis got her own saddleback bag as well.

plus, a super big surprise was a package from sarah and zach. they sent us a little outfit for lillis jr. as you can see lillis was, first, excited,

then touched by the gift for the little one.

they also included a VERy fancy little baby sling that they had used with amelia.

throw in the good meal at tierra on the tail end, and she was a very very happy birthday girl!