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30 March 2011

Grandma's coming on the greyhound!

Micah's Grandma Sonia just couldn't wait to meet Tirzah. No, really, she couldn't wait for us to travel to MN to meet Tirzah. So, she bravely took the Greyhound bus to Chicago. We had a lot of fun eating out at yummy restaurants, visiting, and holding the baby. Tirzah liked great grandma singing hymns to put her to sleep. We even had a little date to go out for ice cream while grandma babysat.

19 March 2011

Kuehls Visit

Micah's Aunt Ranelle, Uncle Bruce, and cousins Moriah and Crosby were in the Chicago area checking out colleges. Micah spent the day with them touring the Moody and North Park campuses. We all went out for Deep Dish pizza for dinner. It was fun to introduce Tirzah and spend some quality time together.

16 March 2011

McLellan Family Visits

Micah's Mom, Jake and Kristen were on Spring Break, so they, Lydia, Charles and Micah's dad were able to come visit with us. The siblings couldn't stay long, but we had fun exploring downtown on Saturday - eating at Portillo's (it was crazy there because of St. Patrick's Day approaching) the Hershey store, American Girl store, and the old water tower. That night we all went swing dancing at our church. After the siblings left Sunday morning, we all went to church. We enjoyed eating out, watching movies, talking, adoring the baby, and just enjoying each other's company. On Monday, it was free to go to the Field Museum, so we went! Tirzah was great and slept most of the time. We got there just before it got really busy and enjoyed checking out the geological exhibit and discussing the evolution exhibit. And, of course, it was fun to see all the dinosaurs! Lauren and Dee really liked the gem/jewelry exhibit :) There was also a McDonald's on the bottom floor of the museum which was themed after an archeological dig. Cool!



11 March 2011

Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago we had a professional photographer come to our home to take some pictures of Tirzah and our family. Enjoy!!!

CSA

A few times over the winter season, our church hosts the community farmer's market. Last time our church hosted, Micah and I spent some time at a booth offering a CSA share. We hemmed and hawed about whether to join - we decided to wait. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. A CSA works like this - "a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season." This is a great way to get local, organic, fresh produce every week. There are some down sides to partaking in a CSA share. The produce tends to be a little expensive and when invested in a CSA you're taking a risk that the produce your farm makes doesn't turn out.

After researching all the CSA's available in the Chicago area, we decided on Farmer Tom's CSA (http://www.farmertomscsa.com/). Unlike most CSA's, Tom's requires only a small membership fee and then weekly payments when you pick up your produce. It's offered year round (organic goodies are brought in during the winter months). And the pick-up location is only a 5 minute drive from our home.

Last week was our first week getting produce from Tom's. We got quite a variety of produce:
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Gator Skin Russet Potatoes
Lemons
Yellow Onions
Carrots
Sage
Green Leaf Lettuce
Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
Watercress*
Purple Top Turnips
Collards
Tomatoes
English Peas
Bosc Pears
Pink Lady Apples
Bananas



It was all perfectly ripe and fresh. Lauren wasn't sure what to do with a few of the ingredients (collard greens?!?). This week, however, we ate a lot more vegetables in our diet than normal.

Out of curiosity, Lauren took a pen and pad to the local Jewel-Osco (equivalent to a CUB Foods for your Minnesotans) and wrote down all the non-organic prices of the same produce we got from Farmer Tom. Jewel actually turned out to be a few dollars more expensive than what we got from the CSA!!! So, since the food we're getting is organic we are getting quite a (yummy) deal!

09 March 2011

Johnson Grandparents Visit

On Saturday, Lauren's parents took the megabus to come visit us. On Sunday we went to church and then headed to Tammy and Mark's house in Wisconsin for lunch. We stayed until late in the evening and had fun chatting, playing with the dogs, and watching Youtube videos. On Monday we went to the Icosium Cafe for Algerian crepes. They were delicious! We went on a few errands and then hung out at home watching a movie and visiting. It was also bath night for Tirzah. On Tuesday we went to Ann Sather's for breakfast (can you tell we go there a lot? :) ) and checked out the Swedish History Museum right by our apartment. We walked in and it happened to be the one free day per month that the museum offers. We looked at an art exhibit and then an exhibit all about the immigration of Swedes to Chicago and the history of Swedes within Chicago. It was pretty interesting. That night we all made dinner together and watched a mini-series about Shackelton's adventures in Antarctica. This morning we Skyped with Lauren's grandma and then it was time to say farewell. We really enjoyed our time with our visitors and love watching them adore our daughter.

Here is a slideshow of our weekend (mostly shots of Tirzah) :)

06 March 2011

Moody's Service In The City

Videos and stories to come!

03 March 2011

Tirzah's First Smile

Tirzah smiled for the first time today!
Caught her 2nd smile on video! :)

01 March 2011

1 Month Appointment

Tirzah went to see the doctor for her 1 month appointment today. She has gained another pound and has grown an inch longer since birth. She had her biliruben levels tested since she's still looking a little yellow and her Hep B booster shot. Her biliruben levels are safe and it's just something she'll have to grow out of in the next few weeks. She barely even cried during the heel prick and shot - she was such a good little patient!