I. Met. Oprah.

Well, along with an audience of 150 or so other people!

My ever-vigilant online mom snagged us tickets to attend a taping of an Oprah show last week - woo hoo! Mom was spending a chunk of a week with us for babysitting help, and while she was in town, she and I got to spend an early morning/afternoon driving down to Harpo Studios off Randolph Street (did you Chicagoans know that her studio is two minutes from the highway where we all drive all the time? I didn't.) While waiting for the taping to start, we were told that we were part of the first audience to tape for the new 24th season - so we of course thought we'd get to hear Whitney Houston or someone amazing to kick off the season. But, I think we were the first show they taped, not the first show that will be shown (they didn't tell us when our show will be aired, as mom kept pointing out - over and over - and again.) Sadly, we did not get to hear Whitney sing (or win a free car), but it was still a really cool morning!

The whole experience was really fun and seems only fitting for someone who a) has lived in Chicago for over a decade now, and b) loves all things Oprah. The show we attended was about international stars - famous people from around the world that Oprah wanted the US viewers to be introduced to. We met "the Chinese Oprah" - Chen Lu Yu - and her live audience via Skype; the "most famous couple in the world" - Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were in studio from Bollywood (the 'Indian Hollywood'), and an Argentinian polo player turned Ralph Lauren model named Ignacio 'Nacho' Figuera also joined Oprah on stage for an interview. The guests were all very interesting - and funny! - people.

A few favorite memories from the day include:
- when we drove up to a nearby parking lot on our way into the studio, and mom rolls down her window to tell the parking attendant, "We're with Oprah - where can we park?"
- when we found *free* street parking (after said parking attendant told us his rate was $30.00)
- when we met two other people from Rochester, MN, sitting one row over from us in the waiting room for the taping
- when we met a couple who spent $1,000 just on their last minute airpane tickets from California to come use their Oprah tickets and visit Chicago for the first time (yes, we spent $0.00 to use our Oprah tickets)
- when we first walked into the actual studio, on the same plastic, white and silver hallway on the set that you see Oprah walk on every time, and found our seats under the hot overhead lights while Mary Blige was pumping on the stereo - it felt electric!
- realizing just how many famous people are doing cool stuff around the world that we don't hear much about
- seeing Oprah and her whole team in the studio in action; I was really impressed with her voice-overs, interviews, how she read people intuitively while interviewing them, responded to tricky questions, etc. She is GOOD at her job; from the eensy-weensy amount of work I've done speaking on camera and writing communications material, you can tell she has done this for years and is a PRO-fessional at it - very cool to watch.
- hanging out with my mom and having a crazy-lucky morning 'with Oprah' together!

Good News, Bad News - it's all mostly good

The past week or so has been a whirlwind at our household. We've had visits with two grandmas - one bringing homeade dollie clothes (see picture), one bringing a suitcase that Eva likes to sit in! (see second picture) We've also taken some steps toward becoming first time home buyers (yikes!) and I (Liz) found out that a job I was really hoping would pan out for this fall did NOT work out (boo). Peter's work has ramped up as school starts again on campus, and I am newly job hunting, working on my dissertation writing, and learning a little more about historic Chicago bungalows and lawyer fees! We have a trip to Thailand to see my bro and sis in October to look forward to (yeah!) and of course Eva is changing every day. She is now into climbing onto everything, saying her 'alphabet' constantly (sounds something like "a, eee, ahh, yo, bee"), and being outside as much as possible. Whew - when I write it all out no wonder it seems like a lot. Some good, some hard - all of it seemingly "normal" these days.

I am grateful for all the good that is mixed in with the hard, and am trying to intentionally look at all of it lately. Peter and I have both been aware of how much we really do have, and how much there is to be grateful for, even in the middle of the unknown and the crazy parts! I wonder if this is more what this phase of adult life is going to feel like? Sort of catching up with what we can, adjusting expectations around each turn, mixing ordinary and extraordinary in the same breath, and reaching for balance each day? Like having fun at the dog beach Sunday afternoon and then coming home to do dishes and job hunt, or watching the sun brighten up Eva's little curls as she snuggles in my arms on the deck and realizing I am truly happy in that instant - and then the next instant having to wrangle her into her jammies while she's crabby and getting frustrated at all the loud street noise outside her bedroom window that is keeping her up at night. Huh - maybe this is real life now, maybe this is normal; kind of a wild, strange, unexpected and beautiful sense of normal - but I will take it.

Oh - one other thing - this Wednesday, my mom got tickets for us to go to a taping of Oprah! Good news! :) Summer is wrapping up a little crazy at our house - but yeah, there really is lots of good.

Summer Lovin' ... Part 2

(a few more fun things to remember from our summer...)

Favorite sweet moments:

- Watching Eva dress, feed, kiss and push around her dolls, stuffed animals and toys
- When I ask for a kiss and Eva gives me a big "mmmm-ah" and kiss; and then keeps kissing me!
- When Peter askes for a kiss and Eva gives him with a big "mmmm-ah," and then he melts and doesn't leave for work on time, just in case he might get more kisses! :)
- Reading, cuddling, singing and rocking in her chair at night together; Eva often wants me to kiss her lambie for her, kiss her forehead, and hold her hand/cheeks while falling asleep at night, which I truly love doing.
- Having her lean back on me while in my lap, or lay on/lean on me/Peter while we snuggle in bed together in the mornings.

Favorite funny moments:

- Dancing - while standing, sitting, at the table, in the car, in her crib, in her diaper, naked, in the tub.... you get the idea
- Twirling and twirling, around and around, to any music that is on - for so long that she gets dizzy, or tips over, or falls down laughing!
- Watching her try on things (hats, long bead necklaces, my shoes, Peter's shoes, sunglasses, our glasses, ...)
- Hearing her wake up in the morning (through the baby monitor), which usually sounds something like this: scuffling sounds, a few yelps, a dull thud from her lambie being thrown on the floor, a sharp snap from her paci being thrown on the floor, her music from her crib player thingy getting turned on, and then her cute little voice starts chatting/singing along with the music.
- Eva learning to whisper. She does it most often in the mornings when one of us gets up with her and the other one is sleeping (and by 'other one' I mean me.) When she wants to come into our bedroom to get the other parent up, she holds her finger up to her mouth and says, "shhhh," and then slowly pushes open the door and tiptoes over to our bed. Truly funny to watch.

Summer Lovin,' Had Me a Blast

It seems like summer is flying by lately - August always seems to do that. We've had a lot of fun these warm months with our newly walking, chatting, happy toddler. And I've learned that as a parent, I definitely enjoy this age more than the newborn stage! It feels like we have this real little girl now - a changing, evolving, learning, responsive, facinating little person that shares every part of life with us. I am slow to adapt to change sometimes (this is funny in its understatement, if you know me well!), but I am grateful that I now feel like I am in a place where I can fully embrace that I am a mom, that I even like being a mom, and most importantly, I LOVE being a mom to Eva and I LOVE seeing Peter be her dad. :) Ah, growth.

I want to remember some of fun things that have shaped our summer and the ways that Eva is changing, so I am compiling some "summer favorites" lists/pics. Here are the first few....

Favorite "firsts" this summer:

- Dance Class ("Everybody Move" infant and toddler sibling class in Evanston), where Eva learned to twirl, sing the rain/thunder/lightening song, and chase her older friend Lily

- morning visits to the library (Budlong Woods) where she was more interested in the other kids than she was in the books

- swimming in a kiddie pool with friends (Izey) and at the cabin

- visiting the playground and learning how to slide down the short slide on her own; watching her love the swings and swinging alongside mommy or daddy

Favorite "everyday moments" from our urban summer life:

- Eva playing out on the deck and entertaining herself (inside her tent, playing hide and seek with mom, watching the puppy and two girls in the yard next door)

- Eva yelling back (loudly) at the ambulance sirens as they drive by outside

- Pointing at the many airplanes that fly overhead (our apartment is located under three routes for planes landing at O'Hare)

- Watching Sesame Street.org video clips when we're inside (Elmo, Destiny's Child, Fiest, and the LaLaLa Song are favorites)