Chicago

 The second weekend of February Kyle and I took a trip to Chicago to visit 2 MBA schools that he was recently accepted to.  There has been talk of him going back to school for his MBA for years now, and we knew it was a possibility that he would need to eventually.   To move up in rank in his current job in Private Equity, it is almost required that you get an MBA after being an associate for a couple of years.  He signed a 2 year contract with his current company, which is nearing it's end this summer.  This means that in order to have the best chance of moving up in a Private Equity company, an MBA is his best bet.  Him going back to school will also heighten the chance of us being able to move back to DFW.  He was accepted to Northwestern's business school, Kellogg, and University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.  Both schools were hosting admitted students for Admit Weekend at the same time, so we planned the trip so we could take a look at both to see what we think.

My doctor said it was fine for me to fly (I was 30 weeks pregnant) and Mums and Gran/Pops agreed to keep Lane for us so we could spend a long weekend there.  On Wednesday the 5th, I planned to meet Mums in Waco to drop off Lane.  I was really nervous to leave Lane for that long overnight since he is such a mama's boy and doesn't like being away from me.  The last time I left him for more than one night was almost 2 years ago!  We went out that morning for breakfast before heading to Waco for the drop-off.

Practicing some writing at our favorite breakfast spot, Kerbey Lane.

Put his pen behind his ear when it was time to eat!

Lane is a huge pancake lover and inhaled a whole pancake that morning!  I know I will treasure these pancake memories, especially after Lane isn't my only little date anymore!

That afternoon we met up with Mums, Kori, and Evin in Waco.  I was all sad to leave Lane and surprisingly he acted just FINE about it all!  No tears from him whatsoever and he was thrilled to be headed to Mansfield for the weekend!

We flew out to Chicago early the next morning and arrived to this:

Oh my goodness, it was the coldest I've ever been in my entire life.  Our walk from the train station to our hotel was brutal.  Kyle and I had to duck inside a building to de-thaw before finishing the trek to the Westin.  

After we got some lunch and relaxed a bit in the hotel room, we ventured out to Booth to see the campus.  

Kyle in front of the Booth School of Business

That night, we attended a Booth dinner event for admitted students.  We called it a night early and got a good night's rest.  The next day we visited Kellogg in Evanston, IL.  The biggest difference between the 2 programs for us is that Kellogg is only a year long program and Booth would be 2 year.  We were already 99% sure we would choose the one year if it came down to it, so we decided to spend the rest of our time in Chicago with Kellogg, since Booth was pretty much out.  Friday and Saturday were spent at Kellogg in informational sessions and panels that helped describe and explain some of the aspects of the program.  I had my own agenda with all of the other "partners" of students.  I met some nice girls and even a few with kids of their own.  It certainly didn't ease my fear/worry of possibly moving, but it was nice to meet other people trying to make the same decisions we are.

Kyle in front of the Kellogg School of Management.

 

It snowed a pretty snow that day and wasn't really that bad compared to the day before because it wasn't quite as windy.

I purchased a new hat at the bookstore to better cover my ears.  We had to seriously bundle up before going anywhere outside!  I would wrap my scarf around my mouth and nose so that all that was showing was my eyes.

Friday night we had dinner at a current student's apartment who is also in the 1 year program and married.  Saturday night was the closing event for the weekend.  It was a fancy dinner at a museum in downtown Chicago, really close to our hotel.  We got all dressed up and had a nice time.  I felt a little large compared to everyone else, but got lots of compliments that I was "glowing," which always makes a pregnant mama feel good!

 

We headed back to the hotel pretty early because my feet and ankles started swelling like crazy.  I also started having contraction like feelings, which I assumed were Braxton Hicks.  I think I just overdid it and was on my feet more than I'm used to.  We headed to bed in hopes I'd be better in the morning.  The next morning my feet were still awfully swollen, so I went and had my blood pressure taken at the Walgreen's near the hotel.  I started swelling right at 30 weeks with Lane and ended up developing pre-eclampsia, so I wanted to be safe and proactive about the situation.  My BP was normal and the pharmacist said to just take it easy and drink plenty of water. 

You can see an indention on top of my foot from where my other foot had pressed it while I was sleeping.  YUCK!

On our last day there we went back to Evanston for a housing tour the school was offering and so Kyle could attend a couple of meetings.  We got back to the hotel that afternoon and took a nice nap before getting ready for dinner.  We extended our stay one extra night so we could have dinner just the two of us at a nice restaurant to celebrate our "Baby Moon."  A lot of couples take a trip or do something special right before their baby is born and the new term for this is "Baby Moon."  (Like a honeymoon!)

We bundled up and headed for an Italian restaurant called Centro.

 

We both thought it was really good and had a nice time chatting without having to tend to Lane.  (Although we both missed him like crazy and couldn't wait to see him the next day!)

 

While we were busy in Chicago, our little guy stayed busy with his grandparents!  My mom kept him the first 3 nights and then he went to Claire and Danny's for the last half of the trip.  We talked to him on the phone everyday and got frequent updates on what he was up to.  We were shocked at how well he did, even at night time.  He never cried for us or acted upset and really enjoyed spending time with Mums, Gran and Pops!  I was so proud of him for being such a big boy and making it easy on his grandparents.  (And his mom and dad!)

Pretty much every text picture we received had Lane wearing one of 3 things....

A costume of some sort...

 

Ninja Turtle Jammies

 

or Batman jammies...

He loves staying in his pajamas all day and that's pretty much what he got to do!  It was really cold back in DFW too, so they stayed in most of the time, just playing at home.  Lane loved it!  He did get to play outside at Gran's a bunch one day that was warm and go out to eat and to the library with Mums.  I have said it before, but I am so thankful to have family that is more than willing to watch a crazy 3 year old for 6 days and so thankful that he loves them and trusts them just as he does his own parents!  Knowing he was in such good hands made the trip so much easier.

We flew home on Monday the 10th and Gran was nice enough to drive Lane and Scout back to our house in Austin to meet us.  We were so excited to be reunited with our little man!  Gran got to stay 2 nights with us since the roads in Arlington got pretty icy on Tuesday.  We enjoyed having her there and Lane liked getting to spend some extra time with her!