Second City

Nate and I just got back from Chicago and we had a wonderful time! Our purpose for going was to celebrate our friend Jill's wedding to Dan, but as an added bonus, we got to explore a city we've never been to and catch up with college friends we haven't seen in too long. We flew in late Friday night, checked into the Hyatt Regency and hit the sack. We got up early Saturday morning and headed down to the Gold Coast to meet up with our tour group. About a month ago, we signed up for a food walking tour through some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. It was great because we not only got out of the touristy downtown area, but really good to see the Chicago that people live in. We spent the next 4 hours covering 4 miles and lots of tasty shops. We started at a Kosher Deli and tasted the most delicious reuben sandwich either of us had ever had (in all fairness, it was the first reuben sandwich I'd ever had). 

Then we moved on to a Tea shop, where we tasted and got a lesson on how to chose and prepare loose tea. 

After that, we walked to Old Town and visited a Spice Shop that your could smell down the block. Nate picked up some spices to make his Indian food with and I enjoyed tasting the 20 different kinds of salt they had. 

Then we moved to a Olive Oil and Balsamic shop. We spent a lot of time mixing and matching the oils to make the best combos. Our personal favorite is Basil Olive Oil and Strawberry Balsamic. We bought some and think it will make the best salad dressing!

We moved on to The Chocolate Pot, which has been family owned for more than 40 years, where we tried the most incredible toffee. 

Our final stop was down in Lincoln Park at a neighborhood pizza place. I tried my first stuffed pizza and was pleasantly surprised! 

After our tour we caught a cab back downtown to get ready for the big wedding. Jill looks beautiful, which was no surprise to anyone, and she and Dan looks so happy for the day to finally be here. The evening was spent celebrating and catching up with old friends. 

Sunday we slept in and decided to  go see and take some pictures of The Bean. 

It was starting to get really busy, so we got out of crazy, packed downtown. We headed back out to Old Town, but not before stopping at Portillo's for some yummy hot dogs. Definitely some of the best we've had.

Later that day we met up with Kate and Scott, friends from college to walk around. 

We tried Navy Pier, but the sheer amount of people scared us off that tourist trap. 

We decided to grab our other friends, Matt and Liza and get some pizza at Bacino's. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs and we ended up with lots of leftovers. After dinner, we walked the two miles back downtown and got a sweet treat at the Hershey store. Unfortunately, Nate had a little too much ice cream and got a tummy ache. We decided to call it a night and went back to the hotel.

It was a great trip and both Nate and I really liked Chicago. The weather was perfect and I really feel like we saw a lot of the city. We're looking forward to going back someday, and will definitely bring Avery. 

Pump It Up

Today Nate didn't have to be into work until noon, so we decided to take Avery to Pump It Up. For those that aren't familiar, it's just a bunch of bouncy things. Bouncy slides, bouncy basketball, bouncy house...you get the point. Here are some snapshots of the morning:

Daddy helping Aves dunk

I'm not sure who's having more fun

They must've gone down the slide 50 times

Aves first time by herself...big girl!

This is a little more her speed

Me & the Kiddo

We have a whole lot of friends that are preparing or have recently had children of their own and I have been asked - "What's fatherhood like?" Well, for those of you that know it's like like nothing else - it's worrisome, it's stressful but by far it's the most amazing, rewarding, awe-inspiring, joyful and love-filled experience I have ever had, and it's something new every day.

So I thought that I would take this opportunity to discuss my approach to fatherhood and why I think it works for us. I think that taking every opportunity to be as involved in my daughter's life is important, and I guess that's sort of my philosophy - be as involved as possible. Do whatever I can to spend as much time as possible with my child: take her along with me for runs in the evening, change dirty diapers, put her to bed at night, watch soccer games on weekend mornings.

So what do you get out of doing all these things some might ask. Well, I think that the advantages/benefits of being involved include a lot of the following: I build trust just by being there - which becomes a foundation for other aspects of the parent/child relationship, i.e. discipline, respect; I create an 'individual' relationship with my child, and it gives us the opportunity to discover one another's personality; we can find shared interests; it gives me an opportunity to provide him/her with an example of how they should act; and lastly (but definitely not least - just ask Brittany) it gIves mom some "me" time.

So what does this involvement include? It, really doesn't have to be anything over the top ... just spend time with your kids. What is it that I do that I find rewarding - we go for a run in the afternoon/evenings, watch soccer on weekend mornings, go play on the golf course, I put her to bed, etc ... just spend time together!

I think it is also very important to talk about your role/expectations with your significant other. When you can clearly define what you expect your role to be and what your significant other expects your role to be it makes it a whole lot easier to meet everybody's expectations. It also opens up the dialogue for later.

Every person has their own style of parenting and I'm not here to tell people that they should do this, or do that when it comes to raising your child. I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell people about how we do it and why I think that some of the things we do works. Take it as you will. Hopefully you read this and find something to think about. I'm no expert. I've only been at this for a year and a half - and in the grand scheme of things that's not real long. I understand that. That being said, I've had friends ask me what it's like being a father so I thought I'd pass along what I've learned from my experience.

Big Wheels!

Today is a momentous day because Avery got her first big wheels. It's a pink and Disney princess, which Nate wasn't thrilled about, but she LOVES. Here are some pictures of us outside taking it for a test drive.

Daddy's showing her how it's done

A little help getting started

Big girl

Flying with daddy

I didn't do anything to her eyes, promise!

I would kill for those eyelashes

My handsome husband

New Photography Blog

Hi all! I'm really excited to tell you about my new photography blog. I've been working really hard to get it ready and now it's time for you all to check it out!  www.brittanyrulisphoto.com will be the place to go to see all my recent sessions. 

Fear not, we'll still be using this blog for our family happenings :)

Bo's Sneak Peek

I had the pleasure of spending the day shooting a college friend's family. Bo is 13 months old and definitely gave me a run for my money! He charmed not only me, but Avery too. He is quite the lady's man! Steph, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek:

Walden Twins sneak peek

Today I have the wonderful opportunity to photography C & J, beautiful 4 month old twins. They may be small in stature, but they are BIG in personality!