Dear Marin,

I wanted to document somewhere that yesterday, September 2, 2010, you fully discovered the use of your arms and legs. ALL day long and into the night, you kicked and punched all over the place. It was really quite entertaining. And honestly, a nice change from feeling sick. Your dad even got to feel you kick around a few times. I'm glad you had a fun day moving around because according to the pictures in my pregnancy books, space is about to get a little tight in there. I'll be honest, it looks pretty uncomfortable, so move around while you can. I do promise that no matter how crunched up you get in there, when you do pop out we'll let you move around all you want. In fact, if you come out with a frisbee, your dad will be so pleased to play with you right away. But we are so happy you like your arms and legs....we like them too....

And today, September 3, marks the night of your parents' first date!! A year ago your dad came and picked me up at my apartment in Austin, TX and took me to a delicious Italian dinner downtown. We talked and laughed and talked and laughed. And that fun night led to a 2nd date and a 3rd and a Marin and a marriage....
Many, many people think we are completely crazy and insane for having you and getting married so quicky. And although we are completely crazy and insane (and lucky for you, you share our DNA), having you and becoming husband and wife are not the reasons for our insanity. This has been the most exciting and wonderful year of our lives. We promise to always love each other and to always love you. Can't wait to share the next years with you!

We love you-
Mom and Dad

A Pottery Date

A few weeks ago we got a Groupon deal for a paint your own pottery place. So today we had a little pottery date. This was Burke's first time to paint pottery. (I am really thankful that Burke will do things like this with me because I know he would have rather been throwing the football at the park.....love him....) Burke picked a hippo bank to paint for Marin and I chose a pumpkin for Halloween (have I mentioned I'm excited about fall???). Here are some "action" shots...

The artist at work...on his 18th coat...

Gloppy the Hippo Bank

Love the goggles and love Marin's name....


And the pumpkin almost complete...

Trick or Treat!

We go back in a week to get the glazed, shiny pieces!

Then we ate lunch at a cute little cafe in a fun part of town. The weather was PERFECT so we sat outside! Again, I am so excited about fall in Chicago. It was delicious, but I ate too much and Marin didn't like it.

Shutterfly Site

I have added wedding and pregnancy pictures to a Shutterfly site so those that want copies of some of the pictures can order them there. You can pick the pictures and sizes you want and they will mail the prints to your house. (This is mainly for a grandmother that has been bugging me non-stop for copies of pictures...cough, cough.....)

Here is our site: http://thebrednichfamily.shutterfly.com/

Things that made me smile today...

1. Burke.
We've been married for 2 months now. Love him, love him.

Bad picture...we were on our way to the gym. Trust me, we look worse after the gym.


2. This beautiful thing came in the mail today!! I am so very happy to be finished with graduate classes. I just have Capstone left to do and I get a diploma in December!


3. Our Chicago magazine came in the mail and I loved the cover. I am so excited about Fall!

Marin's Room...In Progress....

So all the pregnancy emails and updates say that I need to start the nursery in the 2nd trimester when I have energy and feel better. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I wish. But since I am not setting up a classroom or library right now (boohoo), I have started decorated Marin's room. Here is a preview...

First, the rocking horse her daddy got for her....


The polka dot fabric is going to be a "Wall Book Sling". I found the how to instructions in the August Family Fun magazine. It will be a sling that mounts on the wall with curtain rods to hold books.

The striped and floral fabric has become the crib skirt. Pictures below...

The rug we found on SALE!!! It matches all the colors perfectly,

Here is the crib we put together in the living room to give us more space...only it didn't fit through the door of her bedroom so we had to take it apart and put it back together. But it's cute (and was on SALE). I made the crib skirt with the floral and striped fabric alternating. The Marin picture will be framed with a white frame and hung above her crib.

Closeup of the floral crib skirt. Loved that fabric!!

Close up of the striped fabric on the sides....

With her monogrammed blanket (thank you Maye Maye) and matching Boppy pillow.

A close up of the name picture with Amanda Jones inspiration:

I had an old window frame that I wanted to do something with so I used our pregnancy pictures to frame inside it. I will eventually change the pictures to 5x7 size so that it covers most of the window with only a small strip of the pink showing in each pane. Burke picked out the M....

And the teacher in me couldn't resist the ABC picture I found at Target. I loved all the colors too! It will hang above the fabric book sling once it's made....

I have a few more sewing projects left to do but it is coming together!!