Live a Life Worth Writing Down: Molly and Mike's Wedding, Family Feud Tryouts, End of Summer PLUS Lucia Lately (almost 20 months)

We've been busy finishing up our summer and heading into fall. Here are a few of the things we were up to...

Molly and Mike's Wedding

One of my dearest friends got married September 21st. Molly and I grew up together, we have so many great memories and such a great time whenever we have the chance to catch up. It was a pleasure to be a part of her special day in Minnesota and it makes my heart happy to see her so happy. The day was beautiful, the setting gorgeous and everything went perfect. Congratulations, guys!

The ceremony and reception were at their family's house in Wayzata, MN.

The bride and Lucia. They kind of match, right?

She had a fun time too! My camera died right after this so I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked, bummer.

A bonus was that we got to stay with good friends Ashley and Manu plus see Carolyn too. Here are Manu and Lucia on a little walk.

Strike a pose

The Wallgren fam tried out for Family Feud a few weeks ago. Pretty random, lots of fun, very interesting for people watching.

Here we are, getting hyped. Each family played a round to show off their enthusiasm and skills. We went way over the top which seemed to work cause we got a call back. It does not seem like we'll make it on the show since we haven't heard back. It was fun none the less.

This family was off-the-charts enthusiastic. They were in it to win it and everyone seemed to be laughing at them, not with them. The Schmitts!

Here we are...the dream team. Feeling good after the try-out. Then right when we were hanging out at Navy Pier and enjoying the skyline view, we received word that my cousin Anne had her baby. Sommar Krisitna has arrived!

Then the night ended like this (making up for entering into the parking lot at the wrong spot). Go Team Wallgren!

Lucia is almost 20 weeks now, spurring on in growth and development. The biggest change in the last few weeks is her explosion of language. She went from saying simple short words to naming and repeating everything. She can communicate most needs/wants, can replicate almost everything we say, says lots of two word sentences and slurred one-word sentences like 'no-I-want-that', 'don't-want-it' (complete with vigorous head shaking back and forth) and 'I-wanna-see-that'. She can remember names for animals, items, food, animal sounds plus count, if 1-3-4-9 counts (cute, none the less). One my favorite things right now is how she's says "please" with that toothy little smile when she wants something.

Here she is, running at top speed as usual. At 75th percentile for height and 95th for weight, Lucia is still on track to be a tall girl. She continues to be a good eater, a tad pickier seemingly due to toddler strong will. Lucky for us, she likes a variety of fruits and veggies and it's not too hard to get her to eat healthy. She still sleeps her solid 12-13 hours a night and takes a 3 hour nap mid-day. It's so funny to hear to playing with her animals, books and 'bug blanket' in the morning when she wakes up. Common phrases to come out of her mouth at that time: 'bye Cia', 'night-night kitty' and 'eyes, nose, hand'. She can go on happily for up to an hour.

Lucia loves bugs (pointing them out, screaming 'bug' at them), watching the Fox Song and doggy/kitty videos on youtube, getting crazy with her cousins (mainly chasing each other up and down the halls), giving hugs (on her terms), playing and singing at church, taking care of baby dolls, reading books, coloring, vacuuming and dragging her kitty around everywhere. She is able to engage in more imaginative play and sit for longer periods of time to focus on a task. She likes to help with small things like picking up and wiping the table.

Our days are spent like referees, designating turn taking, curbing dangerous activities and tantrums, attempting to teach rules and values while trying to create special loving moments amidst the chaos. Such is life with a toddler (especially when you also live with three other young children). It exhausting, fun, crazy and loud but rewarded with hugs and "mommy"s as loud as the "no"s. Lucia is very people friendly but acts shy around new people, physically dragging one of us with her by hand into new situations.

Here are some pics of Lucia and the end of our summer:

Lucia, Sonja and Gwen at a nearby nature park, looking at bugs.

Naomi

"BUG!"

Lucia and Naomi dueling with sticks.

The girls were using willow tree leaves as a curtain for their performances. Here was Lucia bursting out of the curtain.

Most of the cousins hanging out in the porch. So many little girls!

Hanging out with Nolan and Carson at GG and great-grandpa Ray's. The little ones can only last there for so long because after about 10 minutes they turn into a little pack of wolves, on the prowl to destroy all the breakable treasures in the place. But it's always fun to be at there , so cozy.

Sonja and Carson

Playing with her friends at church during singing time at Wednesday night activities.

And play group at church. Lucia is channeling the 90s here.

Making her silly face

Playing house with the bunnies

And marble run. This is one of my faves too. I guess that's one of the great thing about having kids, you get to play like a kid again and read some of those favorite books that launch you back into childhood.

Love that face

Many people ask if these two are twins when we're out and about. I guess that's not much of a surprise when you see them side by side like this.

Lucia and I had a little date one of the last warm days of the season. We grabbed some strawberry smoothies and headed to one of my favorite spots, the rose garden in Evanston, down the street from where we used to live.

She just loved sipping her smoothie and smelling all the roses (literally).

We had a wonderful fall day at a pumpkin/animal farm then our second annual Fall Feast with friends. It was a great time but somehow, I lost all the pictures from the day...ugh!