Summer 2009

Joey and Addy Video - click link below to see a video of the kids
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/uih_cBDrWIosj5ni7q6K_w?authkey=Gv1sRgCOTt4qXy2v_kggE&feat=directlink

Happy Fall Everyone!
Sorry it's has taken me so long to update...it's been a hectic summer as I'm sure it's been for you. After throwing Addy an early birthday party the first week of August, we packed up our place in Chicago and moved down to our rental house in Chatham. We continued house hunting and finally found our first house in Springfield, put in a bid, and are closing this Friday, Oct. 9! Thank the Lord!!! We're so excited...it's a 3 bed/3 bath ranch with a finished basement, so we're thrilled to be moving into a "move-in ready" house. We're SO ready to stop commuting every week and to finally unpack our life of boxes and suitcases into a home of our own. A word to the wise: Don't move twice in 2 months with 2 kids under the age of 2, or 3 times in one year. Id' rather eat salmon ice cream and poke my eyes out.

Updates: Addy's birthday party was so fun - she wanted a Barney birthday party, so that's what she got, along with a zillion presents and a homemade b-day cake from her Aunt Lisa - thanks again :)

In late August, I got the chance to see my bro do the impossible - he finished his first Ironman competition (that's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run). He finished in 10 hours and 45 minutes...I ate a brat, fries, a Wendy's chili, Frosty, and took 2 naps in the meantime. Seriously. His wife, Sun and I, along with my parents followed him around Louisville for the whole day and then saw him cross the finish line...it was amazing. Go Bro!

Then, on September 14, Bree and Sean welcomed 6 lb 14 oz Jillian Katherine into the world. She's the sweetest little thing. I can't believe that Joey and Addy were that small at one time! I stayed in Huntley to watch Grant while they were in the hospital, and then got to stay to hang out with my first niece. Also, we went to see my parents and spend some time in MI with them - Addy had a great time at their county fair.

As for our little guy - he's getting so big! Joey tried his first rice cereal last week and he just sat up by himself for the first time today! He's a smiley, sweet guy who puts up with a lot of crap from his sister. Addy loves him so much, but she'll smack him around a bit and she's already yelled at him for pulling her hair and "playing" with her toys. He'll get his revenge soon enough.

I'll post pics of our new place - hopefully by late October. Springfield is on the way to nowhere, BUT, that said, we'd love to have visitors. Come see us! We've got the Abe Lincoln Museum (actually very interesting) and a hip store called Kohls. Hope to hear from all of you soon - love to all!

Stacey, Danny, Addy, Joey, and Dude

July 2009

Two Months Old and Smiling


Happy Summer Everyone,

So I'll post more pictures from earlier in the month later in the week, but I wanted to share a few that I took today. Addy and Joey are getting bigger every day. Addy is excited for birthday presents soon and wants a Barney birthday party, much to my dismay since he's annoyed me since I babysat in high school, but hey, she only turns two once. Joey is starting to hold his head up and really focus in on faces - he gave me his first "I see you!" smile a few days ago. It definitely melted me away. He was smiling a ton this morning, hence, all the consecutive pictures from today!

Also, we want to share the news with all of you that, after much deliberation, we have decided to move our lives down to Springfield. Since Danny started his job at the VA, we have been commuting back and forth between Chicago and Springfield nearly every week. But now that our family is complete with 2 beautiful kids and, of course, Dude, we feel ready to settle into stability; actually, it's a welcome change from the transiency of the last half year. We'll be out of our apartment by the end of August and possibly into a new house - we are considering buying our first house...we'll keep you posted! We're going to miss Chicago like crazy, especially since we'll be moving further from Bree, Sean, and Grant, and because our friends Kevin and Lisa just moved a mile away from us, but family and friends endure even as life rolls on. I posted a few pictures of our place in Chicago...I snapped them for Craigslist and figured I'd post a few for those of you who'll never see our place. Alright, hope you're enjoying your summer!

Early June 2009

Hi Everyone!

Joey is officially 3 weeks old today! Here are pictures from the last few weeks. We spent most of the time in Springfield (actually, we live in a small town outside of the capitol called Chatham). We had a great visit with Danny's parents and grandpa, and then Bree, Sean, and Grant came out for a nice, relaxing weekend. We got back to Chicago last week and Bree came down this past weekend (Sean was on a golf trip with Pops...Danny in the meantime had Daddy duties to attend to). Actually, Danny won MAJOR brownie points by surprising us and watching all three kids (and two dogs) on Saturday and sent Bree and I out for the day. We went to the Second City show, Rod Blagojevich Superstar, and out to a fun tapas restaurant downtown - it was a much needed (and appreciated) break. Then on Sunday, Bree and I took the kids to the Lincoln Park Zoo - it felt great to get out on such a beautiful day, and Joey slept most of the time! I am not taking for granted this short phase when he just sleeps like an angel - I'm sure it won't last long!

Joey is definitely filling out more but he's still a little guy. I imagine he's around 7 1/2 lbs now - we'll see when he has his check-up next week. We'll keep posting when we can. Happy early Father's Day to all you daddy's and daddy's-to-be!

Joey's First Days at Home

Addy's I Love You Video link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/staceygrant1/AddyILoveYouVideo?feat=directlink

It's been 3 days since we've been home as a family and it's been awesome. I was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon and when we got home, Addy was waking up from her nap. My mom told her before she went to sleep "If you take a nap, then Mommy and Joey will be here when you wake up." It was a sweet sight to see her rubbing her eyes with sleepy excitement as we walked through the door. She kept saying "Baby Joey" over and over. She's been so patient and the best big sister - she wants to hold Joey all the time and give him hugs, rub his head, watch Daddy change his diaper, and "make him laugh" with her silly antics. Addy seems so big to us now that we've got such a tiny comparison. She's putting her sandals on as I write this...how she's grown.

Danny surprised me and took Friday off of work, so we've been able to just hang in as a family. Today, Joey had his 2-day check up and everything went well. While he's down to 5 lbs 8 oz, he's within the normal weight loss range (most babies lose weight in the first week and then start gaining weight after that). He nurses all the time so we know he's doing just fine. In some pictures it looks like he's got light brown hair - he does! His hair is definitely light, probably similar in color to Danny's hair when he was little. We haven't determined what color his eyes are exactly, but they aren't quite brown - they are like a dark blue/slate grey, so they could still turn any color. We'll see!

My friend Leana sent me such a sweet gift today - it's a custom made necklace with Addy's and Joey's names etched on small medallions - you can see a picture of it in the slideshow. I love it. There's something very moving about seeing your kids' names etched together. It has hit me that I'm now a mom of two and I couldn't be happier.

I hope that you can view the video of Addy. She's singing "I love you" to Joey. It not only showcases her chops (singing is one of her favorite things) but also her funny, silly personality - a side of her that some of you don't get to see because of her shyness.

We'll try to post more pictures by mid-week!

He's Here!!!

It's a BOY! On Monday, May 25, 2009 at 5:21pm, we welcomed into the world our son, Joseph Casimir Grant. He is 6 lbs and 20 1/2 inches of perfection!

The whole day of delivery was a surprise to us, for many reasons: (1) I was 38 weeks and thinking that I still had at least a week if not two until I would deliver, (2) Danny predicted that it was a girl, weighing 7 lbs 2 oz, (3) I predicted that it was a girl, 6 lbs 15 oz, and (4) I had just seen my doctor 5 days prior who confirmed that the baby was head down and ready for natural delivery, but when I went into the hospital (dilated at 7cm for those of you who know about that stuff) I was told that the baby was breech and that I was being rushed into a c-section surgery! Thank God that everything went well and that I didn't have those few slices of pizza I was contemplating before I went to the hospital. I told Danny that I had schemed the whole thing as a good PR headline for him: "Director of IL VA has son on Memorial Day." As a sidebar, Danny's sister Bree came to stay with me on Monday morning because Danny was the keynote speaker at the Lincoln National Cemetery Memorial Day Service where (I have to brag) Obama made the keynote in 2005. Danny wanted to bow out but I said no way, so after he rushed there and back, we headed to the hospital. Here's a newsclip about the event: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6831002

Addy has been handling the whole thing so well - Aunt Bree, Uncle Sean, and her cousin Grant stayed with her the first few days, and then our friend Sunhee and her mom watched Addy Wed. morning, and now she's with my parents - a big thanks to everyone! She has come to see us in the hospital a few times, and each time she says goodbye without tears, so it has gone well. She is pretty mesmerized by Joey and we can see her growing up and becoming a big sister before our very eyes. Sometimes life changes without you realizing it, but then there are other times when you realize how life-changing certain moments can be...watching Addy with Joey for the first time was one of those moments.

Joey is just so sweet, and, (knock on wood) a crazy sleeper! While Addy was up and alert for hours on end, even in the first few days, Joey just snoozes away and is awake for 5-10 minutes at a time. Danny was up with Addy for a few hours her first night, trying to get her to stop crying - Joey, on the other hand, slept for 8 hours last night! I tried to wake him up to feed, but he was zonked out. Not that I think it'll stay that way for long, but for now, we're enjoying the peace of just watching him sleep (and sleeping ourselves).

The recovery has been going well...the usual pain that accompanies a C-section, but other than that, no complaints. Mom and Dad Teller are here to stay with Addy and to meet their new grandson, and Danny's parents and Grandpa Studz (who Joey gets his Polish middle name Casimir from) are coming out as soon as Grandpa recovers from a mild illness.

I included just a few pics of Addy from this last week at home and at the park - it's her last week of "just her" pictures.

Thank you for all the well wishes and support - we feel so blessed!

37 Weeks and counting...

May 2009 (1)


May 2009 (2)


Jan-Feb 2009


So, I've committed the biggest tech faux pas a modern-day parent can make - we've gone months without posting blog pictures AND we've done without a camera for several months after two of our cameras broke. But now, our newest little one is going to be here any day, so we bought a new digital camera and have been snapping away, trying to catch up a bit and getting ready for the flurry of pictures we're about to take.

Addy update: She's awesome! We've been busy this spring hanging out at the park, watching local baseball games (she spent over an hour glued to a baseball game at the local park on Tuesday), playing with her neighborhood friends, going to the zoo, kids' museum, dog beach, and hanging out with all our recent visitors. Addy is already 21 months old and talking a ton - she knows her alphabet, she can count past 20, and she can name her shapes and colors, so we're sending her off to kindergarten once the baby arrives (just kidding!) Best of all, she's just a happy, healthy toddler who has a terrific sense of humor and a contagious smile. As for her personality, Addy still has her shy tendencies with strangers, but she's a ham once she's comfortable with company and she can be pretty bossy (e.g., she was telling an older girl at the playground today "Be careful, go down slide NOW!") Speaking of being bossy, she says "Baby inside mommy's belly" and "Addy is the big sister" - so she knows that she's going to be a big sister soon. We're going to try and give her extra attention to help her adjust to her new sibling...we'll see! And no, we still don't know if it's going to be Joey or Chloe - we're excited for the surprise.

During the last 4 months, Danny has been traveling every week between Springfield and Chicago for his new job, and until recently Addy and I (and Dude) have been traveling back and forth as well, so we've been adjusting to the new transient and sometimes hectic lifestyle. Our rented ranch-style house near Springfield is in a quaint residential area near Lake Springfield and is a nice change of pace from the city life of Chicago.

And last, Dude is good, but he looks at me sometimes like, "What ever happened to the days when it was just me?" As an indication of Dude's life, when you ask Addy what her name is, she says "Adelyn Grace Grant" but when you ask her what Dude's name is, she says "Dude No." Poor Dude.

Ok, that's all folks, we'll send out an update once the baby is here!