Mommy & Daddy's weekend in Chicago.........

Actually, my weekend started on Friday. I took Friday as a vacation day and Mom and I spent the day together. We went shopping in Indianapolis and went to the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show. I did end up getting baby boy some fun things, as always.

Saturday morning Tim and I left for Chicago. We have been researching strollers and most of the ones we liked were not available in Indiana. Since we love to go to Chicago, which is where we were engaged over 9 years ago, we decided to head there for the weekend and stroller shop. We knew of a store in the Bloomingdale's mall called Galt Baby. They have the higher end strollers and baby gear and we knew they would have what we were looking for. We decided on the Uppababy stroller. It is similar to the ever popular Bugaboo, but much easier to collapse and much more functional. Once we had decided on it, the salesperson told us that it is the newest celebrity pick for strollers. Tori Spelling, Brooke Shields, Mariska Hargitay, and Jennifer Garner all have the Uppababy. Here is a picture of what we decided on....

We shopped all day on Michigan Avenue, taking lots of breaks for my tired feet. In fact, that night Tim could not believe how horribly swollen my feet were. I couldn't believe it myself. They looked hilarious! It didn't stop me though! I am a true shopper and I can go until I drop. We did have several eating breaks. We had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and stopped many times for snacks. Here is a picture of us at Garrett's Popcorn. It is an extremely popular popcorn shop, made popular by Oprah. Typically there is a line like you would not believe. Tim and I have never waited in the line before because we have always thought it was ridiculous to stand in an over an hour long line for popcorn. Well, this time the line was shorter and we decided to wait it out. We were in there for about 45 minutes or so, but it was a lot of fun to watch them make the popcorn. We ended up getting several bags of caramel corn and we brought some back for our parents. We were SO glad we waited in line because honestly, it is the best popcorn any of us has ever tasted!!!!

We stayed all night in Oakbrook, which is about 25 minutes or so from downtown. We also wanted to shop at The Land of Nod, which is a place on our registry. It is located in Oakbrook and since the rooms downtown were either sold out or ridiculously expensive, we decided to stay at the Marriott in Oakbrook.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Corner Bakery and shopped at the Oakbrook Mall, which I love. We enjoyed spending a lot of time in The Land of Nod. They have the best kid/baby toys and we had a ball looking at everything. I am sure Baby Stover will be going there often. Here is a picture of me in front of the store.

We had a great weekend with great weather. You never know about the weather in Chicago! We feel like we accomplished a lot. I even got a new winter coat and a pair of boots! I was in need of both, due to pregnancy! We are always sad to leave Chicago, but it is always good to get back home to Phoebe - who is ALWAYS glad to see us!

Baby is 23 weeks!