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eden sophia
For those of you who are blog stalkers/followers, I’m sure you will remember Vince & Michael’s wedding last year. Well, they’ve had a great first year of marriage [marriage is so gay- my favorite tshirts ever] and a busy one, too. They just added a brand new baby girl into their little family. I was so happy when they called for photos!! Eden was born about 2 weeks early but is healthy and gorgeous and was a dream to photograph. Lots of sleeping and some great eye contact, too! And armed with my 9,000 new Ikea blankets, I was set to go!
One of their friends made the tutu as a gift. Loved. 
Can’t wait to watch Eden grow! You guys are going to be awesome dad’s- congrats to you both! -
brayden turns 1
Taking a short break from the baseball trip posts (I’m home now, by the way) to bring you a little guy I’ve had the pleasure of photographing since he was born. So excited I got to photograph him on his one year old birthday!!
And what would a first birthday be without a cake smash? And a crying baby. (it was the hat that made him cry)
Happy birthday, Brayden!!
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baseball trip 2011- day 4 Chicago III
We saved the biggest surprise for today. Well, not so much ‘saved’ as this is the day it worked out for. The Ziparo’s drove over from Michigan to surprise the boys. And they were very, very surprised!!!
Maureen and I made all of the plans a few weeks in advance of the trip and it was so hard not to tell them (Connor and Spencer knew). They came into the hotel restaurant during breakfast and the boys were beyond shocked. But it’s so nice with them texting all year that they just fall back into the same comfortable friendship within minutes. They still call Connor their best friend even though they hardly ever see eachother (about once a year) and have been living in separate states since they were 4 years old. How awesome is that? So happy to be back together!! And of course I was thrilled to see Maureen, Peter, Spencer and Katie! 
Poor Spencer is still Finster. At least to my boys. 
Maureen was the only reason why I went to yet another baseball game. Thursday was technically supposed to be our day off from baseball but a rainout earlier in the week had it rescheduled. Lucky me- bonus baseball. Ugh. But it was fun having Maureen there so I could not watch the game and catch up with her.
I know, it’s the first picture of Katie. She’s really shy and takes a while for her to get used to me again so I didn’t want to torture her with the camera. Just yet. 
After the game we went to dinner at Pizzeria Due (which is the brother of the owner of Pizzeria Uno). After waiting over an hour for a table, we finally got in and ate. It was good, but I guess we’re all more NY style pizza people. 
DS’s, iphones, droids, whatever it takes…
Oh yeah, they’re so gangsta. 
And this is how they stayed every minute of the next day we were together. Shoulder to shoulder, Jack & Patrick on the ends like bookends. Just like old times. 
And a little late night hotel pool swimming. They could’ve stayed up all night chatting if we had let them. But more adventures were to come the next day. Stay tuned…
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baseball trip 2011- day 3 Chicago II
So the start of our second day in Chicago found us driving a pretty good distance to Hot Doug’s restaurant for “the best” hotdogs ever. At 11:45am I wasn’t really in the mood for any ‘encased meat’, but thought the sign was pretty funny.
Then it was back to the hotel and then some MORE shopping for hats and tshirts on the way to the park. Let me tell you that my boys (including John) are never allowed to say that they hate shopping. They stopped in every. single. store that sold baseball crap. Sometimes twice. 
Since we weren’t running late, I finally got around to the front of the stadium for the ‘official’ wrigley photos. 
And then we went on the Wrigley tour. That was Wednesday’s surprise for the boys.
We learned all kinds of interesting things about the stadium, scoreboard, team history and surrounding neighborhood. It was a good tour (I like the baseball history, just not the actual game) and the boys all really liked it a lot. 
Even Bob enjoyed the tour. 
It’s all about the bricks and ivy. Then we stayed for the game. I didn’t take any more pictures cause this was our second of three Cubs games at Wrigley and I was done already. We also met up with John’s friend from Fordham, Maureen and her daughter who stayed at the game with us for a bit. Maureen told John that she couldn’t understand a few of the things he was saying because of his accent. Funny! And we saw Michael Jordan at the game (he was on the catwalk in front of the luxury boxes but it was too dark up there to get a picture). 
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baseball trip 2011- day 2 Chicago I
We left early Tuesday morning for the 7+ hour drive to Chicago. It was pretty and the first farm was exciting. After that it was naps, DS’s, snacks and tons of “how much longers”. We stopped for a bathroom/lunch break somewhere in Wisconsin which just so happened to be across the street from a US Military Base. There were a ton of soldiers in the restaurant and I decided I would buy whoever was on line at Subway their lunch for the day. You know how I have a real soft spot for all US soldiers. I mean, they put their lives on the line for us every day. I figured lunch was the least I could do. It was awesome!!
And they were nice enough to stop for a picture with the boys. And Bob.
The guys pictured above even gave each of the boys a “challenge coin” from their unit. They explained that you get them for doing something good for your unit and gave them to me with a handshake. It was pretty cool and quite an honor. Timmy can’t wait to bring it in for show and tell in first grade. 
And we finally made it to Chicago. 
With no time to spare, we took the subway over to Wrigley for the game. 
Even though they spent most of their 12th birthday in the car, they still had a good day. 
Grandpa Jack and Grandma Inez even flew in for the game (and left the next morning). 
Looked up just in time to catch this. Love it!
Messing around with some sun flare. I was so bored. 
Then it was time for Tuesday’s surprise. Birthday wishes on the scoreboard at Wrigley!
And Bob. Tried to find him a elf sized birthday hat but didn’t have much luck. He celebrated the boys birthday anyway. 
Well, at least he liked the game. 
And I can’t go another day without props to my Pilates trainer Karen who suggested Bob come along on the baseball trip. I think a lot of people thank you, Karen!!