An Adoption Fundraiser!

Hi friends!  I just wanted to share a quick update that my wonderful friend Becky, who threw us a Jamberry fundraiser about 6 months ago, is doing another one for us for the next two weeks from September 1 to September 14!   It seriously could not come at a better time in our adoption process because next week we will officially have a permanent home in Chicago and we are going to start working on updating our home study (which needs to be done anytime you move). Unfortunately, there are additional costs involved in doing this, especially since Illinois has different requirements than New York, which is why Dan and I are so thankful for Becky and her heart to want to support us in this process!

To join in on the fundraiser, pick out your favorite Jamberry nail wrap on her website (https://beckyjoy.jamberry.com/) which is also where you can find out more information about what Jamberry is, and when you check out, mark that you are purchasing the wrap to support the Cinadr adoption.  If you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to ask- I would love to explain more what Jamberry is and all the different products they offer!

We are SO thankful for Becky and to all of you who have been supporting us for almost a full year now as we have embarked on our adoption journey!

PS: as a side note, I am also still doing photography as a way to raise support for our adoption as well!  I have done a couple new sessions recently if you want to check them out on my photography blog :)  I would LOVE to do a session for anyone in Chicagoland area, or potentially out of state depending on where/ when!

Maternity session

Newborn session

One year session

First visit to Lincoln Park

A couple weeks ago we met up with some friends to go to Lincoln Park, a free zoo near the city!  We went once before to zoo lights- but that was in December and it was so so cold.  So this experience was much more enjoyable all things considered :)

Jake really wanted to see the snakes and crocodiles so we headed there first, then we made our way to see the polar bears, monkeys, and their little "farm" area.  Honestly, for a free zoo it was pretty nice!  If we lived closer this is something we would totally hit up a couple times a month and I'm sure something we will come back to again :)  And Lincoln park is super cute- if we had it in our budget last month we totally would have gone out to eat! lol  Here's some pictures we took :)

Fourth of July at the River

Continuing in our "summer" catch up before the summer is gone (insert crying emoji here), these pictures were from our fourth of July weekend when we visited my brother in West Lafayette and went to his in law's lake house for the day :)  I love spending time with other families seeing what traditions they do for holidays, and we were so thankful they invited us to join with them for the day!

Happy Tuesday, friends :)

Here's some encouragement for your day:

"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the days to come." Proverbs 31:25

They do a fourth of July parade on golf carts :)  The first time around is the parade, the second time around is a huge water fight!  Jake almost getting hit by a water balloon was not his favorite moment of the day lol

Jake was SO excited to get in the "boat" and then was a little cautious once in but he warmed up quickly :)

We found this water balloon on the river and continued to throw it back and forth our whole ride - it provided LOADS of entertainment lol

Then we hit up Barrington's fourth of July festivities when we got home!

And Jake got a light up sword and it pretty much made his whole weekend :)

Second trip to DC

I have been looking through my pictures and cannot believe how many pictures I have YET to post!  We visited my friend, Steph, in Baltimore months ago and I still haven't posted these!  Seriously where does time go?  We knew before we moved to Chicago we wanted to make one more trip out to see her but the last time we went it was freeeeezing, so Dan really wanted to wait until it was warmer, and I am SO glad we did.  We got to walk around Steph's cute neighbhorhood, eat outside, visit the aquarium, go on a boat ride (paddle boat that is :) ) and meet Batman.  It was such a great weekend and we definitely will miss living only 3 hours from this city and this wonderful friend! 

Obama's plan was landing at the white house and people were RUNNING like crazy people to get pictures lol

Chicago So Far :)

I have to apologize for my lack of blogging lately!  Between looking for a home, moving from New York, updating adoption items, being pregnant and taking unexpected naps, and closing on a fixer upper to which we are already researching every little detail that needs to be done, naps tend to be overtaken by lots of the above items as opposed to blogging.  But I am still taking pictures, don't worry.  And they will be posted, even if they all happened a month before I post them!   And in typical summer Cinadr fashion, we have been traveling quite a bit these past couple weekends so I'll share those pictures soon as well.  We have much to be thankful for- and I told Dan we need to soak in this summer living in a temporary townhome where we don't have any yard work to do!  (Even though this past weekend when we went back to New York to officially move all of our things Dan spent the whole morning "taming the jungle" that was our back and front yard lol)

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Jake's treat at starbucks is the "strawberry milkshake" lol

Dan had a week off before he started his new job and we soaked up as much time with him as we could :)

We are SUPER into swords and Pirates right now...

Don't worry, jake was actually playing tackle with Claire and Brian, even though it looks like he is staring at me wondering why I'm taking his picture and not helping him lol

The library here is awesome- we definitely hang out there a lot :)