Happy Birthday Lukie!

Today we celebrated Luke's 3rd birthday with an awesome Toy Story themed party. It was a blast! Of course, Jack and Luke were inseparable the entire time and ended up hanging out in the kitchen together while the rest of the kids played in the party room!"CHEESE!"
Got to get as many hugs in as possible before the move. Man oh man, are we going to miss our buddy Luke!

Fun with Bubblebath!

Nana and Papa sent Jack an adorable gift basket for Valentine's Day. Mommy forgot to take a picture of it before Jack tore into it, but it was so cute! It was Cars themed and the "basket" was actually made out of a bath towel. It had all sorts of Cars goodies including a fork and spoon, crayons, a Doc car, toothpaste, chocolate (ironically!), and BUBBLE BATH! Jack is obviously a deprived 2 year old because he has never had bubble bath! He was so excited!What else to do it with it than put it on your head!!
Enjoying his bubbles!
Pure happiness :)

Happy Babentine's Day!

Happy Babentine's Day (as Jack says it)! Our day was filled with heart-shaped treats. We started off our celebration with heart shaped pancakes with red sprinkles and Jack thought they were awesome.Mommy also made an evening treat of Jello jigglers. So fun and so yummy!
Jack wants to wish all of you a Happy Babentine's Day!

We're Gonna Miss Our Buddy Luke!

We've been trying to spend as much time as possible with Jack's buddy Luke before we leave for Virginia. Last week we headed to the Museum of Science and Industry. Jack and Luke loved riding the gigantic John Deere combine. Of course, no trip to a museum would be complete without a snack break with granola bars!
This museum is so great, especially for boys! In addition to the John Deere farming section, there is a huge 747 airplane to walk through. The boys decided to take a break and watch some TV!

To Play Golf Indoors, One Must Dress Up!

Jack decided that he wanted to play golf the other day (a favorite past time) but since the weather until yesterday had been quite miserable he was forced to play inside. For some strange reason, he insisted on dressing up before playing. He went to coat closet, sorted through everything and came out with this--Daddy's hat and scarf and also his scarf. He also insisted on putting on his snow pants even though I repeatedly told him we were staying INSIDE to play golf.It will be a few years before he fits into Daddy's hat...
Now we're ready. Watch out Tiger Woods!

His Nightly Ritual

Jack really loves M&M's and he gets to have them as a treat every night after dinner if he has been a good boy!

Virginia, We're Coming Home!

Mommy took a much deserved trip to NYC this past weekend for some rest and relaxation with 2 of her best friends. She feels so much better and quite rejuvenated, especially since she has been so stressed lately. Why has she been so stressed, you ask? Well...

We're moving back to Virginia Beach at the end of February!!!

We are so excited to be moving back home and to be so close to our family again. That said, we are really sad to be leaving Chicago. Chicago has been so good to us and has really become our second home over the past 5 1/2 years. Since we had no actual family here, our friends became our family and have truly been amazing. Chicago will always have a special place it ours hearts--we moved here 2 months after we got married, started our careers, had our son here, and basically made our own life together. Don't worry, we will be back A LOT (just not in winter)!!!!!

We are so looking forward to being back at the beach, with warmer weather and only a few hours from Charlottesville! We can't wait to catch up with old friends and meet new ones as well. We also can't wait for Jack to get settled and our friends in VA Beach have already been so welcoming. Cole and Maya, we can't wait to play!!!

Virginia, watch out! Here come the Spillmans!

He's a Keeper!

Jack does wonders for Mommy's self esteem! Every time Mommy pulls into the garage with Jack in the car, he cheers and yells "Yay Mommy! You did it!!" Maybe he's just happy to have made it home safely ;)

There is nothing that makes a mommy feel better than receiving a compliment from her sweet baby. A few days ago I walked downstairs after getting dressed for the day and Jack turned to me and said, "Beautiful, mommy, beautiful." Seriously, melt me people. I wish I could keep him in my pocket until the end of time.

Didn't His Mother Every Tell Him Not to Play with Matches?

Apparently not! Jack was super quiet for 5 minutes the other day (which NEVER happens and ALWAYS means something bad) and when Mommy walked into the living room, Jack was sitting in the chair with his new "toys". Thank goodness he didn't know what to do with them!!!

It Really Gets to Me

Today we took Jack to his friend Ava's first birthday party (more to come on that later) and on the way there we saw something that was truly disturbing and I felt so helpless. As we were driving to the party we stopped at a stoplight and a car pulled up next to us on my side of the car. I looked over and saw the following:

4 small children and an adult crammed into the backseat of the car. 3 of them were not in car seats and the 4th was a small infant who was in a car seat, forward facing, that was not secured on a base or with a seat belt. In the front, on the passenger side, was an adult reclined in his/her seat with a small child (less than 2 years old) standing on the floor in front of the seat. The child was STANDING in front of the adult, facing the rear of the car playing with a Leap Frog!!!

As tears welled up in my eyes, I so badly wanted to jump out of the car and scream and yell at the adults in the other car. Don't they know that a simple rear-ending would severely injure, if not kill, all the kids in their car?? Didn't they care? I asked Chris if we should call the police or do something but he said that there was really nothing we could do. As we drove off I said a prayer that those kids would be protected.

I can't really stop thinking about that situation. Before I had Jack this would have bothered me but now things like this deeply affect me. I wish that everyone understood that each and every child is such a blessing.