Team Alp: 2013

Monday, December 16, 2013

Bath Time!

Here's a shot of Ky and I post bath time when Chris was in San Fran.

Last weekend was my good friend Stephanie's 30th birthday. Even though we had technically celebrated downtown the weekend before, I decided to stop by her annual birthday karaoke party. It was fun to spend two weekends in a row with my fun, forever friends. Last weekend was also the annual Loyola Christmas party at Kara and Mark's. Thanks for hosting! It was a wonderful party, as usual. Chris was stuck at the airport trying to take off for a week in San Fran for work. I was close to being stuck - in the snow - as Sunday brought more than a few unexpected flurries throughout the Chicagoland area. Driving conditions were rough, but it was worth it to get this terrific shot of all the Loyola kids. It's so nice that Kyle will get to grow up with such a fun group. This past Saturday was my cousin Ryan's 21st birthday. His decade older brother Sean planned a little BBQ dinner for him and Barn and Company in Lincoln Park. Kevin, Krystle, Sarah, and John made special guest appearances throughout the night. We also played this fun Heads Up trivia game on our iphones. Happy Birthday, Ry!

Kolacky Day!

After taking Kyle to the doctor (he is in the 95 percentile for height ... tall kid!) and getting his hair trimmed for our Santa breakfast, we went over by Grammy Mimi's for some cookie baking (and sampling). Boo and Aunt Karen also joined in on the festivities. Fun Friday off!

Christmas Cut!

Last Friday Kyle had his third, and best, haircut of all time! Maybe it was that we just came from the doctor where he took 3 shots like a champ, or maybe it was that Thomas the Train was on, but whatever it was, Kyle was so so good throughout his entire haircut.

Before and After

Loyola Breakfast with Santa

Saturday morning we joined all our Loyola friends down by the lake for a special visit from Santa, Mrs. Claus, and LU Wolf. Loyola provided a complimentary breakfast, coloring and cookie decorating activities, and photo op options for all registered alumni. Kyle wasn't so sure about sitting on Santa's lap at first, but his friend Olivia helped to get a smile out of him the second time around!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Happy 18 Months, Kyle Steven!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Advent

To celebrate the season of advent, we decided to help Kyle count down the days to Christmas by wrapping up some of his old winter/holiday books and letting him open one each night before bed. The book magically appears each night in Santa's sleigh. I think Ky's favorite part (and we've obviously only done it one night so far) was holding the sleigh and ripping off the wrapping paper.

30 on the 30th!

Saturday was a lot of fun. I had the opportunity to celebrate two of my oldest (literally) friends' 30th birthdays. Lauren, Steph, Allison, and I have known each other since we were 5 years old, making our friendship 25 years in the making. We started off the day with a soak in the hot tub and massages in Lake View. After some much needed relaxation, we checked into a nice downtown hotel, went out to a lovely dinner, and sang some oldies but some goodies at Howl at the Moon. We ended the night at a jazz bar near our hotel.