A Month in Review

Long time no post! It barely seems possible, but a whole month has passed since my last post and Julia Renee is already 5 months old! We have had an extraordinarily busy few weeks, which is why I haven’t posted in awhile. Let me re-cap for you. Check out 5 month pictures here.

In late May, we made our first post-baby trip to Cleveland. It was wonderful to see so many family members and friends! While we were there, we had two big family parties and a great gathering of friends. It was a whirlwind, but we had such a fun time at Aunt Kathy’s and Aunt Diana’s houses. It was also great to stay for parts of the trip with both of Joe’s parents so everybody could experience Julia in all of her glory – morning, noon, and night! Thanks to everyone who came out to see us and who went out of their way to host us during out trip :) Check out our Cleveland pictures here.

Shortly after our visit to the land of Cleves, Joe’s sister, Ashley came to visit us. Aunt Ashley REALLY enjoyed some time with Julia – they got to bond after a long time apart. We didn’t do much while she was in town, except play with JR!

The same weekend that Ashley visited, we also celebrated the graduation of our oldest nephew, Luke, from 8th grade. Having been there on the day he was born, I am still in shock that my little nephew is going to be in high school! I think my sister was struggling a bit with the idea that her baby isn’t such a baby anymore. He even went on a class trip to Washington, DC shortly after graduation. It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies! Check out graduation party pictures here.

As we wrapped up May and started into June, our family had a very significant moment – I went away for an entire week! In my work at Elmhurst College, I coordinate a 6-day leadership institute for students. So on June 1st, I traveled to Elkhorn, Wisconsin to complete my 7-day stint, preparing our site and then working with the students (along with other faculty and staff from the College). It was SO hard to be away from Julia and Joe for such a long time. Somehow, we all managed – I survived the time away and Joe survived single parenthood for the week. We still haven’t completely recovered our schedule, but it’s improving again, despite the onset of teething.

Finally, we wrapped up the last few weeks with Julia’s very first Wilmarth picnic. It was so fun to introduce her to one of the last (and biggest) chunks of family who hadn’t met her yet! We basically arrived at my Grandma’s house and Joe and I barely touched her again until we left the party. My cousins, aunts, and uncles certainly enjoyed visiting with our chunky monkey! Check out Wilmarth picnic pictures here.

Sorry for the long post and the long break between posts. Hopefully I'll be able to update you again much more quickly next time around!