Abigail's Room

For those of you who don't know we have picked a name for our little girl well...we are almost 100% sure...Abigail Kalin Rogers (Abby)...spelling of Abigail under negotiation...

Over the last few months we have started working on her room. Her room was once my office and junk room but, it is definitely NOT anymore. I saw a room on Pottery Barn Kids and we have been trying to copy it. Here is a picture from Pottery Barn:

We were actually able to get the exact paint color. Pottery Barn uses Benjamin Moore paint but it is $45 per gallon. We were able go to Home Depot and get the paint for 1/2 of that...they didn't even need to color match. Home Depot amazingly has a record of all their competitors' paint formulas in their computer.

Our neighbors gave us their old white crib and then we have been VERY slowly getting other things. Here are a few pictures. The color does not quite look the same as the picture above. I took these picture in the late afternoon and the sun was not shining into the window.

Look at this great lamp, Jim picked it out...

As you can see we have a lot more work to do but it is a start.

Abby even has her own terrible towel...

We went our friends Bernie and Tony's house last weekend to watch the Steelers game and they had the towel for her. We already knew that she was a Steelers fan but this makes it official.

Happy Birthday Dad! We wish we were with you today, see you soon!!

Mom's October's Visit

My mom has visitied us in October ever since we moved to Naperville and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, I do not have vacation days left so mom was on her own a lot, but we made the most of the time that we had.

Mom came in on Thursday afternoon. Thursday night we relaxed at home. Friday I had to work so mom relaxed around the house and took Chewy on a long walk. When mom and Chewy got back from the walk she told me that I might want to grab a towel because Chewy was a bit wet. When I turned the corner with the towel I saw that Chewy was covered with HUNDREDS of seed pods and burrs. When I say hundreds I really mean it, no exaggerations. As soon as I saw him I though that we were going to have to get him shaved bald to get rid of all the burrs, but mom was very patient and she got most of them out. I wish I would have taken a picture but they were EVERYWHERE. It made Jim and I question whether or not we could leave her alone with her granddaughter...just joking mom.

Friday night we went out to dinner with our friend's Chris and Stacy to Jimmy's. It was one of the worst meals that we had ever had but...the company was nice.

Saturday, Mom and I got up and went to the Wheaten Saturday market. Mom and I went to this market the last time she was in town and I have been looking for an excuse to go back. This is a GREAT Saturday market. I wish Naperville's market was as big but Wheaten is not too far away.

Of course we had to stop at Starbucks before going to the market...

Look at all the pretty mums...

The market is so compact that it is hard to get a full picture of it.

Saturday afternoon mom, Jim, and I went to Keller's Farmstand.

Mom and I had been to Keller's before but at a different location. I like Keller's because they have a HUGE corn maze. Look at this thing...every year they have a different design.

We traded off navigating our way through, it took us about 45 min.

Fun pictures from Keller's:

Jim as my knight in shining armor...

Mom as a jester...

At Keller's we also picked out pumpkins. They had a few to choose from...just a few =)

After the pumpkin hunt we headed to the the Bavarian Lodge, the only German restaurant we know. Jim had the BEST meal of his life, just ask him.

On Sunday, Jim had 2 soccer games. While Jim was playing soccer mom and I went for a long walk through the prairie with Chewy. Interesting enough, Chewy came home with zero seed pods on him.

Sunday evening Jim made delicious home made pizza and we carved our pumpkins.

Mom always has the simplest desig but for some reason they always turn out the best. From left to right...mom's pumpkin, mine, and then Jim's.

Mom left first thing Monday morning. Mom and dad will be back for Christmas. Next visitors are Pop and Gwen for Thanksgiving.

Here is a picture of the Autumn Blaze Maple that we planted last year in full fall color...

Oktoberfest Pictures

Thanks to Manuela we have a few pictures from Oktoberfest, here they are.

Some of the decorations...

Below is a GREAT picture of the t-shirts that Frank and Manuela got us they read:

Oktoberbest 2008, Muenchen - USA, Jim Rogers

Frank and friend playing bags.

Next big party...St. Patrick's Day.

Oktoberfest

On Saturday we had our 3rd annual Oktoberfest. I can't believe that we have been in Chicago long enough to have a 3rd annual anything! We had a good showing of people from the neighborhood, Jim's work, my work, and other friends. I think and one point we had about 50 people here. We have had such good luck with the weather every year and this year was no exception...it was a gorgeous day with the temperature in the 80s. It was a long day we were up before 6 am to begin preparing the food and by the time our guests started to show-up we were already tired. The day was great though and and didn't go to bed until after midnight. Needless to say...we were exhausted on Sunday. Unfortunately, we do not have any pictures. Jim and I were both running around so much that we forgot to pick up a camera. Jim actually blames this on me because I was the pregnant sober one. Thank you to all of our friends who helped to make the 3rd annual Oktoberfest a success!

Next up...mom comes to visit this Thursday.

Surprise Visit

Last Saturday morning I woke-up to an email from my Aunt Ellen saying that she was coming to town for a visit along with my Aunt Ann and Grandma...they came to town on Tuesday. It was very fun to see them! During the day my family spent time re-discovering Aurora, IL. Aurora is where my family truly began. Aurora is where my grandparents went to high school, met, and fell in love...the rest is history. On Wednesday night my aunts, grandma, and cousin Joanne came to my house for dinner. Jim made a fabulous meal and we spent the evening catching up. This was also only the 3rd time that my grandma has been around Jim so that was nice for them to have tome to get to know each other more. Here is a picture from dinner:

Here is a picture of our fuzzy children...lazy lumps!

Is Junior a Boy or a Girl?

Jim and I went in for my ultrasound today and after 5 months of assuming that junior is boy...

Of course we are thrilled but we were completely shocked! Now we just need to figure out our little girls name and then wait 20 more weeks and she will be here.

Remy and Joe's Wedding

On August 20th Jim and I got on a plane to Honolulu for the long awaited wedding of Remy and Joe. It was a VERY quick trip and we came back exhausted but, it was worth every minute.

We arrived in Honolulu round 5:30 pm (10:30 pm Chicago time) Wednesday evening and we headed right to our hotel, the Hale Koa. The Hale Koa is a military hotel that is right off of Waikiki Beach. We were able to stay in the military hotel because Jim's pop is retired Army Corps of Engineers. This is the 2nd time that we have been able to stay at a military hotel and both times they have been great! The other time was when we went to Orlando Florida in February. Here is a picture of the beach that was right off the hotel property...

On Thursday Jim and Joe along with their parent's and Remy's Dad, brother, and cousin headed for a sight seeing trip to Oahu's North shore. They had a great time eating fresh shrimp and playing in the surf. It was on this day trip that Jim received his new nick-name...the great white beacon. Remy's dad Adrian gave Jim this name because he is just SO WHITE!

While they were out discovering the North shore I was with Remy. One of the highlights of our day was going for massages...well needed massages. The funny thing about this massage is that we went in 2 at a time, kind of like a couple's massage. Well...Remy went with her friend Cindy and I went with Marci. Marci is one of the other bridesmaids and by the time we went into the room for our massages I had known her a whole 15 min. What a way to get to know someone...hi my name is Amy now let's go in a small room together and get naked.

That night the girls went out for a small bachlorette party. We went out to dinner and then hit a few bars.

When I got back to the hotel Jim, Joe, Russell (Remy's brother), and Michael were hanging out at our hotel's tiki bar. The tiki bar was giving their last call so they decided that they needed to check out the local night life...Jim didn't get back to the room until 3:15 am and Joe....well Joe does not remember leaving the tiki bar.

Friday was my only day to do nothing. We woke-up went down to the beach, rented a few chairs and and umbrella and we sat there all day long. Well...at least until we had to get ready for the rehearsal.

The rehearsal went great and then we had a very nice dinner at a family style Chinese restaurant

The next day was wedding day! Soonie (Remy's mom) picked me up from the hotel at 7:30 am so the girls could start getting ready for the big day. It was very nice we all got our hair and make-up professionally done. This is the 1st time I have ever had that happen...not even for my wedding.

After some normal pre-wedding mishaps the wedding ceremony went off seamlessly! Here are some of the great family pictures that we got...


After the pictures at the church the wedding party all climbed into the limo and headed to a local beach for some more pictures. On the way to the beach though we couldn't help ourselves we stopped for the following items: a bottle of tequila, case of Coors Light, a 4 pack of Guinness, some McDonald's iced coffees, and McDonald's sandwiches. Taking pictures on the beach was a great way for us all to relax before the reception and they turned out GREAT!

Next, it was off to the reception. The reception was at a local country club. The reception was a lot of fun and Jim did an EXCELLENT job with his best man's speech.

We got back to the hotel around 12:30 and when I called the front desk for a wake-up call they chuckled at me a little bit...we had to wake-up at 4 am.

Like I said at the beginning it was a very quick trip but it was worth every moment.

CONGRATULATIONS JOE AND REMY!!!