The Parrillo Family

Welcome to those of you who are visiting our family site for the first time via the url listed on our Christmas Card!  While you are here, feel free to poke around the tabs at the top to see what each girl accomplished in 2012.  To recap the year, we thought it would be good to highlight some of the posts from the past 12 months.  The most notable, was when we added our dear daughter Sadie to the family . It's been an incredible year and we're very blessed and fortunate to have been able to share it with great family and friends.  Here's some of the highlights: Milestones Eloise's first day of Pre-School Sadie's first few days at home Sadie's first boat ride in Michigan Sadie's first time at the ocean Eloise riding on a horse for the first time First and Fifth Time Voters Holidays Easter Egg Hunting Mother's Day with Nat 4th of July in Michigan Halloween around town and at Noonies Thanksgiving with the Parrillos and Morans Visiting wi...

Thanksgiving for us is always a split-day.  We spend half the day with the Parrillos and half the day with the Morans.  We'll...to be perfectly honest, the day is more accurately broken down like this: 10% Turkey Trotting 6% Parade Viewing 14% baking/kitchen prep 2% The Last Waltz viewing 3% transportation 5% football watching 30% Parrillos 30% Morans This year, the Parrillo Family Thanksgiving was held at my sister's house down the block.  The circumstances that caused that were (obviously) not ideal, but the location (selfishly!) couldn't have been better for us!  We were able to spend a lot more time with my family than we normally do. From there, we went to the Morans for a second HUGE meal.  The most notable part?  Sadie was strapped into a high chair for the first time!  (That's here up there in the top photo.) One of the highlights was running the annual Elmhurst Turkey Trot with Aunt Sharon and Cousin Izzy.  We put bo...

Like we've done every year for the past seven, we trucked down to the Tammen Treeberry Farm in Wilmington to select and cut down the Parrillo Family Christmas Tree. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . Some years, it is wet.  Some years it is unseasonably warm.  This year?  It was brutally cold.  As such, the selection process went really quick.  Dianne and Charlie Moran pick out two trees, and Nat, the girls and I take our (relatively) tiny tree. This year, Aunt Sasha was able to join the us and experience this midwestern tradition as well as Sisi and Bill who came in from Denver for Thanksgiving. While I'm not sure SD thought that much of the experience, this was the first year that Ellie actually got into the whole 'selection' process.  Nat and I ran our choice by her and she quickly ratified it before telling us that her hands were freezin'... (If y...

We took both Eloise and Sadie to see Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop - as a warm-up of sorts.  There isn't ever much of a line and the experience is pretty enjoyable all around.   The thinking here went that since we were heading to the Walnut Room at Marshall Field's (Macy's) over the weekend, this would serve as a chance to get all of the girl's nerves out.   How'd it go?  I'll let the results speak for themselves.   Little Sadie was just fine, but Ellie?  Could there ever be more of a "Get me outta here!" face? So, was the warm-up effective?  After sitting on Santa's lap, we figured she'd be just fine at Marshall Field's.  Right? Eloise is giving Santa the same "Slip-er-oo" that she gave him last year.  

We posted a set of comparison photos between the two girls at five months.  There's a lot to notice between the two of them, but there's one thing that is certain:  Sadie is her own girl!  She's so different in many ways from her big sister. We couldn't have gotten luckier with her.  Sadie's temperament, her demeanor  and her massive open-mouthed smile are all gifts.  Love you SD! If you are reading this in your email and can't see the slideshow below, click here to view the photos on the web .

I just can't get over the difference in their hair. Eloise's flows in abundance now, but she was a little cue ball here! I can't wait to see what Sadie's little brunette curls become.  Eloise Sadie

Over the weekend, we headed out West to the Rocky Mountains to visit Ellie and Sadie's Aunt Sisi (Elise) and Unkie (Uncle) Bill in Denver, Colorado.  Along with Grammy, Granddad, and Uncle Peter, we took a flight out on Friday night and returned late Sunday. We packed in quite a bit in the short weekend and saw a lot of sights and ate at a few *interesting* places. First up was a trip up the mountains that included a stop in Georgetown Colorado (That's Nat and Eloise in Downtown Georgetown) and a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad.  The GLRR is a narrow-gauge heritage line that runs between Georgetown and Silver Plume.  Wikipedia boasts that the Loop was one of Colorado's very first tourist attractions . After a quick stop in Idaho Springs (and a nap for Ellie and Sadie), we found ourselves at a restaurant that Bill and Peter picked out:  Casa Bonita.  Their restaurant recommendation was based completely on a South Park episode .    The fo...

As we've done in the past, Nat and I brought Ellie to the polls this morning to cast our votes.  For the first time, we brought her sister Sadie, too! I'll have you all know that I took both girls into the booth with me so I could show them the correct folks to vote for on the ballot!?!?!  If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see both girls are proudly displaying their "I Voted!" stickers. To see how much Ellie has grown in just two years, here she is at the mid-term elections in November of 2010 .

We were lucky enough to spread the Halloween spirit across multiple days.  Over the weekend, in addition to trick-or-treating in the Elmhurst City Center , we went to Noonie's (always spectacular!) Halloween party in Frankfort. Ellie and Sadie mixed it up with their cousins on a scavenger hunt and piñata swatting. Nat and Grammy put together Ellie's costume.  And...if I can say so, I think they did a pretty great job ! On Monday night, we carved pumpkins and ate the seeds.  Ellie went the traditional route, I attempted a pumpkin with brains, and Nat won the day with her Mickey the Mouse. Tuesday morning, Ellie bundled up and rode the train into the city with me to attend "Googleween" at the office where she ate tons of candy, played in the game room, jumped on the bean bag chairs, got a face-painting on her arm and even watch a little Cinderella at my desk. When the actual Halloween Day (as we call it) arrived, Ellie was ready to hit the streets for ...

On Saturday, the girls and I went down to the Elmhurst City Center to do a little bit of 'early' trick-or-treating.  All of the businesses in the Downtown area welcome kids into their stores and dole out candy.  It's great for the kids and there's certainly some benefit for the businesses (although...because of the crowds, I have to guess that the day's sales are actually terrible.). Ellie wanted to be a princess, but this being the midwest, late October isn't conducive to a lace and silky outfit.  So, we went with the "winter dress" along with a few layers underneath including a hoodie.  She also was a good trooper in keeping her winter hat on the whole time.   Little Sadie got in on the fun, too.  We bundled her up and pushed her around as her big sister ran from store to store. This really served as a warm-up for the big day that is coming this week.  It was neat to see Eloise come out of her shell and shed any bit of shyness she has as we w...

Eloise, 2011 Eloise, 2012

We visited  Sonny Acres  today, making it Eloise's 3rd (4th, if you include our visit when I was pregnant!) and Sadie's 1st visit. Look at how much she has grown!

This little game is making me wish I had our "nice" camera for Eloise's first year!

Our girls, both at three months.

Back in August, we made a second trip down to DisneyWorld as a family.  This time, we were lucky enough to go there with Ellie's Grammy, Granddad and Uncle Peter.  This was one of those "surprise" Disney visits where we didn't let on where we were going until we went through the gates. We had a great time but we may have encountered a problem that might plague us for a while:  since this was our 3rd visit to a Disney park in the past 12 months, it appears that we've created a bit of a monster.  Everytime we now are getting ready to go somewhere/anywhere, Eloise asks "Are we going to DisneyWorld?" Ummm... unfortunately no, Ellie!    We can't go there *every day*! Special thanks to Grammy, Granddad and Uncle Peter for making this visit to Orlando VERY special for Eloise and her sister!

Our little girl turned three months old today!  And...guess who's happy? It isn't just her that's giddy with excitement, it is also her parents who are getting a happier, more well-adjusted, sleeping baby. We love you more everyday, SadieBird.  Can't wait to see you sitting up and showing off that strong neck of yours.  Won't be long now!

Look who spent Labor Day in the pool?  That's right, our (almost) 3 month old baby girl Sadie! She clearly didn't want her big sister Eloise to steal the spotlight in this photo, huh?  "Get outta here, Ellie!"

Our little Eloise went off to her pre-school this week for her first day.  She started going to school earlier this year, so this wasn't the first time we sent her off on her way, but it was just as tough.  For everyone.  There was some kicking and screaming.  And...it wasn't just done by Eloise. Another big day in her maturation.  She's a big girl now, but still my little baby!

Eloise wound down the last remaining days of summer in style!   Sweet corn and s'mores!  Can't beat that - at any age!