Almost Halloween

Tonight we carved our pumpkins finally. It was Mady's first time. She liked pulling out the goo. Devon did a really fancy job on his pumpkin that has the Cheesecake Factory logo on it. It looks pretty cool. Nice job honey!

Some People...

I cannot even believe they posted this crap on the homepage of MSN, even temporarily:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27197571/?gt1=43001

How stupid is that? What a freakin' whiner. I have no sympathy for that woman. If you get a healthy baby, you're lucky. This woman got two healthy babies! Don't complain cause you didn't get a girl. You don't choose what you get!

And the advice from the doctor/writer about having a mock funeral for the daughter you never had is ridiculous. Just a slap in the face for those who have had a real one.

Then she writes that she wanted the baby to die when they found out their second baby was a boy as well. That woman needs to go in a mental hospital.

Some people are totally clueless - and should be glad that they are.

Names in the Sand

There's this family in Australia that has a memorial website (thanks Trish for the tip.) - they write the names in the sand and take a picture of it for you. They wrote Carter's name in the sand today. It's gorgeous and I will cherish it always.

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #5: I Love You, JOEY!

The title of this post is for you, Tish.

What can I say? New Kids on the Block still have my heart.

After our new friend, Bobby, the weird guy at the hotel (there for his brother's wedding), took our picture and got a cab for us, we arrived at the Allstate Arena, psyched for our first ever NKOTB concert. (Well it was my first real concert ever and I don't need to go to another after it - it surely won't be as good.)

Natasha Beddingfield was the opener and she can sounded good live. (You know how some people just don't sound the same?) I love her New Zealand/British accent.

The boys (now grown men) put on an awesome show. I couldn't have imagined better. Jordan and Joey can still hit all the high notes. But there is still just something about that bad boy Donnie! (Hence my new "Property of Donnie Wahlberg" t-shirt.)

We had so much fun singing and screaming. I hardly have a voice. The atmosphere was so incredible. So many fans (97% female), around our age, mature enough to not be annoying like little teenage girls would be, all eager to hear their boy band from their early youth. So fun! Here is a picture of us glowing after the concert (this was before our mile walk to the hotel obviously. Haha.)

It was a dream come true!

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #4: Wear Good Walking Shoes for Shopping on Michigan Ave

We took the El train into downtown just to say that we rode it (It is on ER after all.) Some odd ducks on the train...

We started our full day of shopping at the bottom of Michigan Avenue. The first good store we got to was Forever 21/XXI Forever. Some thoughts about the stores on the Magnificent Mile: HUGE, GINORMOUS, OVERWHELMING. I recommend going on a Monday/Tuesday and not on a weekend. It takes 10-15 minutes during the mid-day weekend rush just to stand in line to try on clothes and then you have to wait another 10 minutes or so to check out. Speed shopping is NOT possible. Do NOT attempt!

If you have a daughter, I highly recommend the American Girl Place. So freakin' cute. The girls can bring their American Girl dolls to get their hair done, go to the doctor, eat lunch at the cafe with them, etc. The entire place is red and pink, even the bathrooms have toilets and sinks that are kid sized. So adorable!

By the end of the afternoon, we were shopped out. H&M was our last shopping stop and none of us bought a thing!

We did get to do one touristy activity by going to the top of the John Hancock Observatory to get a view of the city (see pic). We got our picture taken with Sears Tower in the background. It was a nice clear day. Now... on to the CONCERT!!!

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #3: Don't Lock Your Keys in the Car!

So by this point, you're probably wondering where Tish is during all this. She originally was supposed to take a later flight around 7pm from Omaha to Chicago because she had to work during the day. Around 6pm, I received a call from her saying she was lost and couldn't find her way to the airport. Obviously she was running a bit late as well and was worried about missing her flight.

Poor Tish. She has bad luck! She made it to the airport and parked and then somehow locked her keys in her car! Devon to the rescue - he drove to the airport, got her keys out and car unlocked and helped her work with the ticket counter to get her on standby for an early morning flight Saturday.

I hope it is something that she can now laugh about. But it sure wasn't funny at the time!

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #2: Don't Miss Gino's East Pizza

After our late arrival in Chicago, the three of us caught a cab to downtown Chicago specifically to get Tiff some jeans so she had something to wear on Saturday. Our cab driver was fun - everyone honks at each other and he was trying to do something so he said "Don't beep me." at one point.

On the way into town, we asked him to tell us about the tall buildings. I pointed to the Sears Tower and asked which one that was. He said, "That one is my house." Me "Can I have a tour?" haha He said "I'll have to make sure my wife isn't home first." EW - not that kind of tour, buddy.

We then went to Gino's East for the best pizza in the world. The sauce is on top. The crust is all flaky, thick and crispy on the bottom (all at the same time). What more could you ask for? We felt bad throwing half of it away - we ordered way too much!

During dinner we were chatting about where we would eat on Saturday prior to the concert. I said we can't eat something too greasy or heavy (like the pizza we just had) before going to the concert. I didn't want to be all bloated for NKOTB! Tiff said, "Donnie, rub my belly!" So that is our continued joke from the weekend.

Adventures in Chicago: Lesson #1: Don't Laugh at Airport Security

The title of this post is kind of misleading because it's mostly in Omaha but our adventure begins there... we were off to the Windy City of Chicago for the weekend, ultimately for the New Kids on the Block concert on Saturday. Tiffany and Chelsey drove down Thursday night so they could fly out of Omaha with me (cheap tickets). We arrived at the Omaha airport around 10:30 a.m. Going through security, Tiffany got randomly selected to be patted down. I turned around from getting my stuff off the conveyor belt thing and started laughing at her. It was just funny to see her in the enclosed glass area.

The security guard said to me, "Are you laughing at her? We don't make fun of people! Get in here!"

Haha. So I got patted down too.

Then, the other security guard saw Chelsey gathering her things and said, "Don't laugh. Don't laugh." Chelsey giggled. "We've got a laugher!"

Needless to say, all three of us were in the glass security area at that point. We have the best picture of us with our arms out with the security guard. I will post it here as soon as my sisters send it to me. Started the trip off right.

Then... it went downhill temporarily. Our flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem. So they sent us back downstairs to the counters and rerouted us through Southwest airlines on a later flight. People were so grumpy! (except us - we somehow kept our giddyness the whole day.)
Arrival time in Chicago: 5:00 pm