{Cubs Game}

On August 9 we went to a Cubs game with another couple interning at Sears this summer. We took the L and bus down to Wrigley field and enjoyed us a baseball game! I was a little bummed that the game didn't start off with the national anthem or a big ol' "Play Ball!" or anything, but overall it was fun! We did sing "Take me out to the ball game" in the middle of the game which was fun! We were able to score some sweet seats for a very decent price and the field was amazing! Unfortunately, we did not win, but it was a fun thing to go to!

Old school score board:

{Evette likes to Dance}

So when I went to my last dr appointment here in Chicago they gave me a fetal kick count chart so I can measure Miss Evette's movements. I'm supposed to pick a time of the day when she is most active, lay on my left side [good circulation for the baby], be very still, and count how many times I feel her move. She should move at least 10 times within 30 minutes.

Ha

During Evette's LEAST active times, when I'm not laying down, and when I'm not very still I get at least twice that many movements. She is crazy active. Really. When I do lay down to go to bed that is when she is most active and she has kept me awake for a few hours because of her late-night partying. She starts moving around a lot, then gets the hiccups, and then once those subside she goes back to dancing. Sometimes the husband can't snuggle with me because the baby moves too much and he won't be able to fall asleep, either, which is bad because he doesn't get nap time at work like I do during the day.


This is NOT my belly, just a picture I found online. Although I have not seen a detailed foot with toes sticking out, I can honestly say I have frequently seen elbows, fists, and heels randomly jut out of my stomach for a brief moment or they sometimes glide from one side to the other. Crazy little girl.

Although this can wear me out, it is such a blessing because every time I feel her move [every couple seconds] I am reassured that she is doing fine and growing strong. Being pregnant is such a weird thing - and I love it, usually. It is a lot harder while at the same time a lot easier than I was expecting it to be. We're getting near the end, though, and I could not be more excited! I'm having frequent dreams of meeting Miss Evette, and let me tell you, she is the cutest darn thing in the whole world - so be prepared. :)

{Chicago + Pregnant = Great Combo}

I have come to the conclusion that being pregnant while living here in Chicago has been awesome for a number of reasons:

1. I don't feel bad about having a super easy summer taking naps, visiting the pool, etc...I'm growing a baby!

2. It has saved us a lot of money.... I love shopping and Chicago has some amazing shopping.... But because I am not quite my normal shape/size my shopping experiences have been extremely limited. It is very difficult and scary to buy clothes that you can't try on. But this predicament has saved our wallet

3. Nearly every weekend we spend in downtown Chicago where we walk miles and miles and miles which means great non-boring exercise for mom and baby

We've loved our summer here! I can't believe we leave in less than 2 weeks... We've made such great friends that I'm terribly upset about leaving..... It'll be interesting to see if we end up here once the husband graduates in April - I wouldn't mind that one little bit.

{Brookfield Zoo}

On Saturday the husband and I took a trip to the zoo. For those of you who don't know, I love love love love the zoo. I cannot wait to to take our little babies to the zoo so I'll have more of an excuse to go. Well, we heard good things about this zoo and therefore we HAD to go. It was a really really great day. Here are some pictures from the adventure:

With his favorite animal the Rhino:

Some days I feel like a Hippo.

My only complaint about the zoo: THEY DID NOT HAVE ELEPHANTS! WHAT ZOO DOES NOT HAVE ELEPHANTS! they said they are working to get more elephants to care for, but they did not have ANY! I was nearly heart broken, because I love elephants. I even wore my elephant necklace in honor of going to the zoo to see them. *tear*

They had a really really awesome primate exhibit. There were a couple massive rooms which represented different areas of the world and had the corresponding primates there. It was so cool!

Also, they had a dinosaur at this museum. Who knew?

This zoo was cool in that they had more remote sections that were more of nature walks which were fun to see. While on one of these walks we saw a section where zoologists were monitoring golden tamarin lion monkeys who were out of cages. They are trying to get them ready to be released into the wild and have set up a little camp for them in a more remote section of the zoo to run around and live in while they observe them. Cool beans.

A few more feet to go, sweetie.

One highlight of our trip was when we watched the wild african dogs. There was a little observation building with windows were you could watch the wild african dogs. Usually these are pretty crowded and loud but this one was completely empty! The husband and I sat there for about 10 minutes and had our own little private viewing of these fun-loving dogs run around and chase each other. It was so cute!

 This is an aardvark - they are some of the weirdest looking creatures I have ever seen. Also, they look nothing like Arthur from the television show. 

Ha! This guy is a wombat - there were signs everywhere that said - "Don't worry, they're not dead, that's just how they sleep" haahaaa....cracked me up.

The husband and I decided we want to have a pet fox.

Another highlight of the trip: You know when you normally go to the zoo the lions are just lying down, under a tree and not moving? Well, not this guy! He seriously walked right up to the glass! It was pretty amazing - they are magnificent creatures! We thought at some point he would turn around but he walked all the way up and pressed himself up against the glass - we got a really good look at this guy!

The Zoo was amazing - I loved it. We had such a great time. It was a fun relaxing day and the weather was AWESOME. It was overcast and not too humid - perfect!

{Frozen Deliciousness}

Ok friends. Here is a recipe for you to gain a couple pounds and a ton of happiness :)
This is where I got the recipe and here is how I did it:

Ingredients:

• 20 Oreos
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened 
• 1 package (8 ounces) Cream Cheese  softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (Smooth)
• 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cartons (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 15 miniature Reeces peanut butter cups
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate fudge pudding mix

Directions

1. Crush 16 of the Oreos [I did this by placing them in a plastic baggie and rolling over the bag with a glass], and add it to the softened butter. I used 4 tbs of  butter instead of 2 because with just 2 tbs, the oreo crumbs were not sticking well together. 

2. Press the oreo crumble mixture into a 9x9 baking pan with wax paper for your crust.

3. Beat the cream cheese, peanut butter and only 1 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in 1 tub [8 oz] of the whipped topping. Spread over crust. [this picture does not have the whipped cream added to it yet]

4. Chop up your reeces peanut butter cups and sprinkle on top

5. Beat milk, pudding mix, and the remaining powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over peanut butter cups
6. Use the other container of whip cream [I didn't use the full 8 oz] to spread over the top
7. Crumble remaining 4 oreos and sprinkle on top
8. Freeze for at least a couple hours before serving
9. ENJOY!

Doesn't that just look delicious! It seriously was. Oh, and to make myself feel better I used low fat or fat free of everything and it still tasted amazing :) Beware, it's very very rich!

{Museum of Science and Industry - Take 2}

The first time I went to the museum of science and industry I took the husband's sisters during the day while he was working so we of course had to go back - just the 2 of us.

Learning from last time, we got there right as the museum opened and stayed the whole day! It was amazingly fun.

Magnifier - check out that bling:

Man hand hair......hahaha

Check out these shirts in the gift shop after the body worlds exhibit -

 click on them so you can see what they say:

We also went to the U-505 Germany submarine ship - that was amazing!!! Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures inside of it, but it was amazing. This picture is of a contract that US troops had to sign about the capture of the U-505, it's crazy, read it!

Check out those missiles, baby!

Ship exhibit:

Crazy fun mirrors

Read this - it made me laugh so hard. It is "The Creed of the Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive":

Virtual butterflies landing on me:

And of course, we spent some good time in front of the chicken hatchery:

We saw the "Bang, Flashes, & Fire" show - amazing!

This was interesting. They had a game set up where you wear this head piece that measures your brain activity. Basically it was a tug of war game with a ball that moved based off of the brain waves, but the opposite. You were supposed to think as little as possible in order to win. The husband and I played it and we were pretty well matched - the husband broke his concentration of not thinking in order to hurry our game up so others could play. So, basically I won because I have the ability to be completely empty-headed :)

And of course, cow eye dissection. The husband made me do it this time so there are no pictures of the actual process... I did not want cow eye juices all over our camera:

Being a hamster:

We of course spent a good amount of time at the Body Worlds Exhibit, but, unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside of that exhibit. Luckily, there were some similar things outside of the exhibit that we could take pictures of. These next 2 pictures are pretty sweet - This is a real human body that had a plastic liquid pumped through all the veins and arteries in the body which then hardened. Then, they were able to dissolve the rest of the body to leave the hardened veins. Crazy!!

Check out the veins!:

Great visit - such a fun museum!! If we lived here we would for sure get the museum membership so that we could go back multiple times! :)