Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner

Griffin is now two and even with the bumpy mood changes, I would still request this year be lengthened into two years. I really love the 18months-ish stage with my children. I love all the talking! It seems they go from two word labeling to just pure enlightenment and mostly Steve and I "ooh" and "ah" over them.

Griffin's birthday was perfect. Daddy got home a little early, we loaded up a HUGE store bought bag of lava rocks into the Radio Flyer. We put Griffin in along side of them and Jack rode his matching trike (when will this kid get excited for a bike?). We got to the neighborhood pond and discovered baby ducks and baby goslings and then we dumped out a tremendous mound of rock and we began plucking them off the pile and into the pond. The sky was full of purple, dark grays and blues and before too long and in a split second, huge raindrops exploded from the sky

and soaked us. Griffy hated it...Jack went illogical and Steve and I laughed and trucked kids, toys and noise home with us.

The thunderstorm was not only beautiful, it was helpful. It was easy to do business bathes, scriptures and a story and then quickly come down for cake, ice cream and a mountain of presents.

Griffy had a viking cake. The cake looked delicious, but looks, in this case, were deceiving and it tasted like dry box cake. :) After we all got a piece, Steve and I demolished the cake (hands and faces) and that was shortly entertaining. Griffy and Jack were thrilled with the birthday gifts. Legos were a highlight and Griffin's first (and perhaps last) Zhu Zhu pet. I sure had a hard time dropping ten bucks on that happy meal-ish toy, but he loves it. It was the perfect, simple birthday.

The Best Surprise Ever

Remember my real birthday and the sick kids and the whole sad story? Well, my mom came and changed everything! Amy and my mom are the sneakiest people in the whole world.

So the Starks came into town and Craig and Steve went to a late movie (yeah this does seem odd in retrospect). The kids went to bed and I went to bed. I woke up to Steve pushing around the covers and I was wondering why he would settle down! Just before I bopped him, I opened my eyes and it was none other than M-O-M! It really was one of those surreal feelings. Then I turned over my shoulder and there are two more dark outlines (Amy and Steve, but who was I to guess at this point?) Amy, mom and I went downstairs to laugh and talk and thus began a really awesome week with family.

Here are some pictures to make up for my storytelling deficiencies.

Mom visiting my preschool class and sharing a story with them for my birthday (hehehee that's what all the kids get to do too!). They LOVED her.

Griffin and Sophie slept at the best times during our Chicago day trips.

Field Museum visit-

Tank Park-

I promise, Steve is loving this high end cupcake hang out!

Golden Birthday

The mummy cake.

Unwrapping the mystery!

Jack had mummy strips inside the cake that said things like, "you have been cursed to be the best mummy.."

The best tasting and most interesting of Steve's many creations.

THANKS STEVE!

Guess who?

A birthday becomes memorable not because of it's perfection, but because of it's honesty. My day began lousy. I was up too early without direction and no drive to exercise. Jack hopped into my bed a little too early (6:30am...). I had to go to work. It was stressful. Griffy was sick, miserable, clingy and he had the runs so badly that we came home early, where he continued to poop through three outfits before 3pm. Steve got stuck at work and was two hours later than intended and then I cried.

Skip ahead to dinnertime: Steve made the most amazing burgers and he had the table decorated in the warmest yellows. There were yellow lanterns, a yellow tablecloth, yellow plates with our portraits drawn on them (thanks to Jack) and presents crowding a corner of the table. Such a warm, hopeful moment. Really. Then the prayer was said, "Amen" and Griffy threw up...and threw up...and suddenly yellow wasn't my favorite color.

I spent the next part of my birthday talking to a most eccentric and helpful pediatrician. This was followed by a jaunt to Walgreens. When I got home I had the most amazing mummy, brownie ice cream cake, amazing gifts and somehow it really was a great birthday and extremely memorable.

Peak Baggers

As true adventures we decided to summit the highest point in DuPage County. USGS records indicate that the highest point is an unnamed hill top near Lombard (ele. 820'), but a secret, closely guarded local climbers, is that Mount Hoy (836') dwarfs 'unnamed hilltop'. As we decided to summit with two children under five years old, Nova wanted to document our ascent. However to maintain rights to the images and story we declined their sponsorship for the benefit of our blog. Here's the climb:

Okay, 'Mount' Hoy isn't a mountain or a hilltop. It is just a garbage heap covered with sod.

There are Two Kinds of Meat

-noun
1. Meat. I'm not ready to say good-bye to meat completely, but it is becoming rather rare. This is born of reading too many nutrition books. Organic was once laughed at, but now it's difficult to pass. We probably eat meat 1-2 times a week and this week I requested an amazing sandwich compliments of Steve via The Pioneer Woman. Steve would win an award for his replication.

-verb
1. Meet. Meet Daddy. Meet, meet, meet.

Being the Best Mom

Jack is singing my praises as of late and it's not half bad considering my mood and list of grievances. It is no secret that Griffin lives for his father and I'm surprised at my lack of concern over this because I'm really okay with the baby loving daddy the best. I guess we each have one child that is completely happy with us. I receive the most good night kisses, Jack's handiwork like the noodle necklace he made me yesterday, and a little bit of praise ("You are the most beautiful and the loveliest.." and "You are too beautiful").

Being the beautiful mother that I am, I decided last week that Jack needed to go somewhere special. The Naperville Children's Museum is ridiculously expensive. They charge children in utero. Friday is my day off and I usually like to start it with one of my favorite gym classes, but last Friday I generously set it aside and loaded the kids up. I asked Jack where he wanted to go (as I drove to the museum). He didn't surprise me with a request for the pirate ship at the children's museum. I explained that it was very expensive and then asked him where else he would like to go. He sighed and then miraculously we pulled into the Children's Museum and had a wonderful adventure!

p.s. After my selfless gift, I took the kids to Target and locked my keys in the car. The day just got better when Jack got to meet a police officer and watch him break into our car! This is one of the keys to being the best mom, I'm pretty sure.

p.s.s. Okay so penguin's don't fly,but wasn't it a good story????

P is for Penguin

Today something truly amazing happened. Most faithful readers of our blog realize that we are fairly new to Chicagoland and with that we have many new discoveries. I was surprised to find rabbits bouncing through our neighborhood during the summer, then Canadian Geese meandering the roads in the Fall and now a PENGUIN. TRULY. I caught one picture before he (I think he...it's kind of blurry) slipped to his blubber and slid down the roof. Too bad "P is for penguin" was two weeks ago. Jack and I were thrilled. Griffin asked for another cookie. And that was that.

Diggin' out

Sunday Cabin Fever

He really can't decide if he wants to be outside.
This child still wants to be in the toddler swing. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll get himself stuck one of these days.
Griffy is showing off his pirate hat (thanks Amy!) and the blanket that he is pretty sure Grandma Nonna intended for him.

I'm not saying I don't love 9am church, but around 4pm I feel like I am going to lose my mind if we don't get out of the house. The biggest challenge of winter is just deciding that the time spent bundling up is worth the adventure. So today we put in a good twenty minutes and set off into the wintery, white tundra. By some miracle Steve actually came home from a visit as we were setting off.

After a short walk Steve headed home with a sick Griffy and Jack and I continued to the park. I'm pretty sure it was in keeping with the Sabbath day considering the way I felt on the way home. I love my pirating at the park with Jack. I even impressed myself with my increased pirate vocabulary. I hope that someday when I'm nagging him and driving him absolutely crazy he'll be able to listen and love me because of the fun times we share.

We came home a little more prepared for another evening indoors.

Peanut Butter Cheese Toast

Hailey and I recently celebrated an anniversary. I don't know why she chose me. I'm glad she did. A lot like peanut butter on cheese toast, Sonic Youth and Madonna, and leather and lace - we are an unexpectedly good combination.

Through Jack's eye

Here is a selection of some of Jack's recent photographs.

He is pretty darn clever.

Hot Shots

We broke down and bought a real tree this year and I'm pretty sure it's the best $15 we've ever spent. There really is something cozy and comforting about the glow of the Christmas tree. We've spent many evenings around the tree with all the other lights off. I've enjoyed a couple moments reading by the tree and I'm going to miss it when Steve gives it the boot a couple hours after Santa leaves.
We have the perfect amount of hill out our back door. We'll bundle up and run around the field and then walk across the street to the frozen pond. We always let Steve test the ice first. He did point out that he weighs more than the kids and I combined so it seems pretty fail-proof.
What can I say about this sad Santa? I asked him how his night was going and he said, "very, very warm."
This Griffy is gorgeous and I hope he never grows up.

Why Can't the Child Just Eat?

I wonder so often, "Why? Why can't Jack just ______________ (fill in the blank). Typically I just wonder why he can't eat when it's time to eat. Or why he can't put his shoes on when we need to go to preschool. At least tonight I could really smile and enjoy his sweet voice. He has been at the table for thirty minutes and nary a bite, but quite a show! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!