Meet the Fullers

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:36:31Z

Our pumpkins were added to Yes We Carve today! Good thing we got a picture of them before the squirrels destroyed them (sigh). Happy Halloween, everyone!

Our little yard helper

2008-10-27T05:40:19Z

We have a lot of trees in our yard. Every year we bag more leaves than the last, it seems, so this year we recruited a "little" help. Jackie even got his own little rake, and it was cute to watch him try to put his leaves in the bag. He took his helping very seriously, and didn't really want to even stop to jump in leaf piles.

Return to Blogging

2008-10-27T02:43:45Z

Hi all-we've been away from the blog for quite a while, so we're going to do a little catch up. Sorry about that--life got in the way. Scroll down to see new videos, photos, and more! Read on for the summary of what we've been up to... Endeca and has been there since August. July was a whirlwind. We had a lovely Door County vacation with John's family the first week of July, and celebrated the Fourth of July there as well. Jack came down with Roseola the third week of July, keeping us mostly at home trying to work and take care of him. Meanwhile, John was interviewing for his new position; there was, for a brief time, a proposed methadone clinic in our neighborhood that had us a bit worried; we attended an engagement party in Rockford for our friend Amy and her (now) husband Rob that Jack and John sadly had to stay away from, as Jack was contagious. The end of July was crazy busy at work for me with a new client and a couple of dinners out with girlfriends I hadn't seen in a while. August started with a trip to Racine for a surprise birthday party for my Step-Dad, Rich. We got him! John, Jack and I crashed at the hotel and got some much needed rest after a long week. We had a nice weekend at the boat, and Aunt Beth got to meet Jack finally! Then we hosted John's parents for a week while John was off between jobs-they helped us do all kinds of projects around the house, even hooking their SUV up to the crappy yews we had by the side of the house and ripping them out. They helped John replant the bed, and generally organize the garden. Plus they had a nice visit with Jack. We really appreciated all their help! The following weekend, my Dad came to visit, and we took him to the zoo so he could see Jack ooh and ahh over all the "doggies" (he at that time called all the animals doggies; his favorite "doggies" were the dolphins...he loves the underwater viewing!) John started his job mid-month--he's finally in the Loop for the first time, and loving it. He can take the Metra with me now, and so we developed a new routine of walking Jack to daycare, then riding the train together. Saved us a lot on gas, and it's a much shorter commute for John now. We attended a huge end-of-summer BBQ at the Tomlinson's and actually managed to close out the party with the Goodnights, while Jack slept in his awesome baby tent. The last week of August I had a big end-of-summer party for work, where I won an awesome painted set of cornhole boards with Obama and McCain in KISS makeup on them (handy, as John's new company loves them some cornhole--so he can practice now). And then we had a three/four day weekend (I had Friday off as well) for Labor day. We took it easy around B-town, and had a BBQ with the Goodnights and Tomlinsons to cap off the weekend. The beginning of September was our fifth wedding anniversary; my parents came into town and took Jack to Salerno's for dinner while John and I got dressed up and had a lovely date at Emilio's. We took them to the zoo the next day (we have a membership, courtesy of my parents, and like to pop in pretty regularly). Jack has been in swim lessons continuously since he was 7 months old; September saw us continuing the swimming every Saturday. He doesn't seem to love it lately, but we hope that eventually he'll enjoy them more. We bought a new bike trailer and had a couple of nice bike rides in September in our new Burley Bee. Jack seemed to really enjoy it! Mid-month, we got flooded in the terrible storms we had here in Chicago--our basement was flooding up through the cracks in the floor. John spent two days shop-vac-ing the basement and pumping out water. Luckily, by the following weekend we had a beautiful day for John's birthday BBQ; we had a bunch of friends out for a sunny afternoon of cornhole and grilling. John got a new iPhone for his birthday-he loves it! We also had a nice dinner in Brookfield at Trattoria Gemmeli's on John's birthday. We started October with a trip to see John's parents for a belated birthday celebration. We had a nice drive to Peoria as the colors were just beginning to change. We got a little shopping in and then had a lovely dinner with his parents. Jack enjoyed running around Grammy and Grandpa's yard, and looking out their kitchen window at the birds. We had couple of weekends working on the house: the latest project is the back hallway, which is almost done. Hopefully by Christmas! Sadly, the weekend of the 11th/12th we had to return our cat, Sampson, to the shelter we adopted him from. He had serious litter box problems for the last three years that we couldn't handle anymore. Bye, sweet Sammy--we loved you very much. We turned the trip to Kenosha into a slightly more positive experience by doing some of the things we've always wanted to do nearby--touring the Jelly Belly distribution center, visiting Apple Holler (although we didn't stay long, and won't be back--it's no Edward's Apple Orchard) and having lunch at Little Europe. The sausages and kraut were fabulous! The weekend of the 18th/19th we went to Rockford to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We had relaxing weekend of sitting on the deck and watching Jack play with my parents' fountain, pizza in, wine, and Saturday Night Live, a trip to our favorite Edward's Apple Orchard for some cider donuts and fall pics, and football and Sunday dinner. Jack had fun visiting Nana and Grandpa! This weekend we ran errands and went to the Goodnights for our annual pumpkin carving and dinner-the boys had fun playing and then they slept while we carved. Today John and I raked leaves (with Jack's help!), I cooked several dinners for the week, and generally tried to catch up in the house. This brings us to the present, finally. Phew! I shouldn't let this go for so long next time, but life with a toddler and two full time jobs leaves us constantly feeling behind. Hopefully we'll be able to keep up a little better after this big catch-up. We've missed our little blog! ]]>

A visit to Edward's Apple Orchard

2008-10-20T04:15:20Z

We took a trip out to see Nana for her birthday and make our annual pilgrimage to Edward's Apple Orchard. After we bought our cider donuts (and ate two each, natch) we took Jack out to the pumpkin patch to run around a bit.

Experimental Toy Camera Fall Photos

2008-10-15T15:32:54Z

Several years ago, we bought a Lomographic Action Sampler camera to play with. John took some great pics of me at the apple orchard, so we thought we'd get it out again and try it with our new favorite model. Check out the fun results!

Jelly Belly Factory Tour

2008-10-13T04:23:46Z

We stopped into the Pleasant Prairie Jelly Belly distribution center for a tour and some samples-Jack seemed to really enjoy it!

A beautiful fall day in Hessler Park

2008-10-12T05:19:20Z

I went to our friend Erin's baby shower on October 11th-it was a beautiful day! When I got home, John was just about to take Jack to the little corner park on our block, Hessler Park. I joined them, and Jack had a lot of fun sliding and running and learning how to drink out of the water fountain. We met another little family who had a 21 month old son as well; they live in the neighborhood, and had just moved here from the city. Hopefully we'll run into them again!

Jack's new coat/Jack helps plant Hostas

2008-10-06T05:06:24Z

When we visited John's parents at the beginning of October, Rosie bought Jack an adorable little coat that reminded us of the coats of our youth. It has a really cute 70s vibe, and so we took a few pics of Jack helping John plant the hostas that Grammy sent home with us. Here's our little garden gnome!

Jack's Current Vocabulary (or most of it)

2008-10-06T04:18:44Z

Jack and Mommy Talking from The Fullers on Vimeo.

Watching Birds at Grammy Rose and Grandpa Jack's

2008-10-06T04:10:49Z

We had a late birthday visit for John's birthday With Grammy Rose and Grandpa Jack. They have a bird feeder in the back yard that attracts a lot of different kinds of birds and Jack was very excited to see them all from the kitchen window.

Anniversary Weekend

2008-09-08T04:34:35Z

John and I celebrated our fifth anniversary on September 6th. It was a lovely day, and we started off with breakfast at Blueberry Hill in La Grange with Jack. We went spur-of-the moment iPhone shopping for John's upcoming birthday, and my parents came to babysit while John and I had a nice dinner out. We all had a nice day at Brookfield zoo the next day. Jack loves the dolphins! Continue for video of Jack "brushing" the goats... ]]>
Jack brushes a goat from The Fullers on Vimeo.

Jack versus the bubbles!

2008-08-31T22:53:49Z

The little man loves his bubbles.
Jack versus the bubbles! from The Fullers on Vimeo.

Jack's first run through the sprinkler

2008-08-30T04:42:44Z

I was off on the friday before Labor day, so I ran some errands and then picked up Jack early from daycare. It was a beautiful warm afternoon, so I thought the plants could use a water. Jack kept sidling into the spray from the hose, so I decided to set up the sprinkler for him. He loved it, and and kept backing into it, which cracked me up. Too bad I didn't put his little Crocs on him first-it took a couple of days for his shoes to dry out! Oops, new mom mistakes.
Jack and the sprinkler from The Fullers on Vimeo.

A Trip to the Zoo with Grandpa

2008-08-11T02:51:58Z

Grandpa Rick came in August and we went to the Brookfield Zoo for a visit. We took advantage of our member tickets and went to see the Dolphin Show. Jack liked it fine, but loves to watch them swim underwater best.

Fish Boil at the White Gull Inn

2008-07-03T04:24:44Z

We planned two vacations at once in February—one for Florida and another for Door County in July with the Fuller grandparents and Aunt Marge and Uncle Don. We finally got to July and it was time to go! Here's some photos and a video from a fish boil at the White Gull Inn—a Fuller family tradition.
Jack at the White Gull Fish Boil from The Fullers on Vimeo.