Love + 2

Christmas Traditions: Mom's Point of View

2011-12-16T13:49:00.004-06:00

As I read a friend's blog about Christmast Traditions, it got me thinking about my own. One tradition, for example, is every year, I threaten not to do Christmas cards. Hardly a tradition, but something I fret about annually anyway. Between the blog and Facebook, I'm not sure there is a point, so I really think I might be done. Really. Maybe.

But seriously, as I watched the calendar fill up, I wondered how we would get it all in, so I took a moment to step back and think about what makes Christmas feel like Christmas to me...as I did this, I realized *I* didn't the kids to see Santa and make their request, but if Mitchell had asked for it, I would've done it. He was satisfied with a plan to see Santa at school (which didn't work out as he is home with a fever). So now we will have to see if we need a plan B.

Every year, I do love getting my collection of German nutcrackers out and displaying them in the dining room and on our mantle. As soon as we started decorating this year, Mitchell asked to help put up the "little men." He knows they are very special, so he carefully held one and placed it on the table. He really enjoyed helping with that project and decorating the tree.

For 9 years, Jeremy and I have made Kirkendall Candy at Christmas. This was something my grandparents did and I remember watching eagerly as my parents made it when I was a child. When Jeremy and I got married, we were given a key piece of equipment to allow us to carry on the family tradition...a marble slab. This year, we did all of it without the kids watching, but Mitchell knows it's importance. My sister didn't pick up this tradition- so I hope at least one of my boys will. I also love doing this because during a busy time of year, it gives Jeremy and I time to sit and talk while we wait for the candy to cook. Maybe there is music in the background, but the TV is off and the computer sits idle.

Another fond memory I have is taking a walk with my dad on Christmas Eve to look at the lights and luminaries displayed by our neighbors. We'd bundle up and walk around. I don't know if this was to get me out of the house and out of my mom's hair or so the elves could do some more work. While we didn't do it every year, we did it enough and I'd love to bundle us up to go walking on Christma Eve to see the lights. I purposefully haven't driven the boys around the neighborhood thinking this something we could do next weekend.

Of course I enjoy the family gatherings, great food, going to church (on occasion) and gift giving too! Those are key things to celebrating Christmas...but leading up to the festivities can take quite a bit of work. So, as these 3 things rose to the top of my Christmas memories I realized they aren't events or things I need to spend a lot of money on (unless, of course, I decide I want a new nutcracker- those aren't cheap!). It helped me to step back and let my children guide our events of the season. Mitchell has asked to make cookies for Santa, so we will do that when he's feeling better. But even then, it's about time together, doing the little things that will have a lasting impact. And that realization alone has lessened some of the stress that comes with the hustle and bustle.

(I am sure Jeremy has a different point of view...which I'm curious about. I'll see if I can get him to share his thoughts.)

Leaves

2011-11-29T06:36:00.003-06:00

One thing is certain, all of the places Jeremy and I have lived had beautiful, big trees. With beautiful, big trees comes lots and lots of leaves. All Mitchell wants to do was jump in the leaves, but we can only do that in the front (backyard leaves might have dog poop in them).

So, we got the boys outside a few weeks ago for some leaf raking fun. Mitchell did some raking, but he also did some jumping. Allen, he liked walking through all of the piles. Daddy got frustrated as leaf-raking is not his favorite chore...but shoot, it's good outdoor fun to play in the leaves, even if you do have to rake up a pile more than once.. Me, well, I watched and kept the baby from running into the road...somehow, we only have one rake!

A little on the wee one

2011-11-29T06:36:00.001-06:00

Allen is in a crazy phase of growing and developing, and if I don't pause to record and remember all these wonderful moments, I know they will get lost. Again with that second child syndrome, right?

Allen has been talking up a storm the past couple months. It all started with "ball." That was definitely his first word....now he quite the repertoire.

Ball

Pup-pup (Puppy)

Duck (this is as clear as a bell an the thing he says most often).

Mo-mo (More-nearly exactly how Mitchell said this at first too)

Truck

Stuck

Snack

Cup

Bowl

Wa Wa (water)

Mil (milk)

kitty cat

Sit (as in I want to sit here, help me up!)

Binky- (but that word sounds nothing like binky, but he's consistent)

Blanket

Book

Night-Night

This

Get that or Look it (I think it's "get that," daycare thinks it's "look it"- as in look at it)

I'm sure the list goes on, and he's defnitely attempting to repeat everything we say. He will also give us a sentance of jibberish, but his intonation tells us he is saying something quite important.

His adoration for Mitchell continues to melt my heart. Today, Mitchell was sad at drop off (because Mommy wouldn't let him take his lovey to school). As Allen was leaving Mitchell's room, I asked him if he had a hug for Mitchell. Allen ran back and smiled at him, leaned into him and gave him a kiss. Mitchell grumpily accepted it, but I know deep down he loved it. He just had to keep his grumpy show going for my benefit. Allen will also trot into Mitchell's room in the morning or go over to where he's lounging on the couch. He'll stand right in front of him and give a cheery HI! Again, during Mitchell's quiet moments, he doesn't always appreciate it, but it's terrific to watch.

Allen will also lay in his bed and exchange night-nights with me. As I leave, I say "I love you" and hear a little "of you" from behind the binky as I close the door....generally that is followed by crying, but thankfully, that's short lived!

We Gobbled Up Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

We were in town this year for Thanksgiving and had a pretty low key weekend. Mitchell was most excited about the fact that there were more home days than school days (and Mom and Dad felt the same way)! We headed to Grammy and Grandaddy's for a quiet, relaxing dinner where were we were joined by Jeremy's Uncle Jim and Nanny.

Mitchell, first in line for the buffet!

The Wednesday before our "four home days," Mitchell picked out one of his dress shirts to wear to school. He carefully put it on and was so pleased with himself. He wanted to look nice for his teachers and Thanksgiving. On Thursday, he wanted to put on his "Thanksgiving clothes" as soon as he woke up...even the promise of staying in pajamas didn't keep him out of those clothes. He was super excited to say the least. Dinner was delicious and we all left stuffed. Allen didn't care for it much- which makes me wonder how he belongs to us. There's much to love about Thanksgiving dinner. As Jeremy and I spend our 9th Thanksgiving together as a married couple, I have to say that I really enjoy that our favorite Thanksgiving dishes come from both sides of our family, and one or two of our own! I didn't love sweet potatoes like I do now until I had Nanny's Sweet Potatoes! (Yet, Allen spit them out- really? Maybe he just had too many crackers).

Brothers playing legos. Before the throwing contest began.

Thanksgiving fueled me for my first Black Friday shopping experience. A friend came to pick me up at 10 and we hit Walmart (crazy people, quick lines), Toys R U (hot people, full carts, LONG lines) and Target (where were the people...oh they were all in line). I didn't have much on my list, because we were still holding out on getting MJ the LeapPad, which is now nearly sold out everywhere! I did pick up a few things that had good prices, so I think we can safely say the boys are about done. However, while eating my 4am snack (when I got home from shopping). I did find the precious LeapPad in stock at Amazon for regular price (not insanely marked up!). I snatched it quick and went to bed stoked about the overall shopping experience. That said, I'm not sure I need to do it again.

Tonight at dinner, I asked Mitchell what his favorite part of Thanksgiving weekend was. After a few ums and uhs, he answered "that I loved everyone." Well, that about sums it up, doesn't it?

The rest of the weekend was spent lazing around doing laundry and dishes (seriously, these never end!). I gave up on cleaning the house as Allen insisted on carrying toys room to room and then throwing them to see what kinds of sound they would make or reactions we would give him. At least we can get Mitchell to help clean up his messes!

Overall, a great holiday, with more to come this season!

Flashback: Halloween

2011-11-13T19:33:00.001-06:00

For months before Halloween arrived, Mitchell had annouced he was going to be Superman. Grandma bought a superman shirt and was going to work on a cape. Just before she started, he changed his mind to Captain America (Thank you to the show The Avengers). With the movie out last summer, there was no shortage of Captain America costumes...but they seemed uncomfortable and of poor quality for the money. So, that means, I was going to make it. I thought he would let me just use one of the shirts commerically made that looks like Captain America's shield. "No, Mommy. His shirt has just a start with stripes on the bottom." So I ironed start onto a shirt and did a last minute addition of stripes ("on the front and the back, Mommy"). Got some sweatpants. "Mommy, I need red boots." Fortunately, I was able to convince him his red shoes were OK. "I need a hat with an A on it." Upon seeing the hat, he decided he needed the "things on the side." I told him we were out of time, it was party day at school, so we had to go with what we had. Phew, good enough- but no small task.

Mitchell got to pick out Allen's costume again this year (within reason). When he was going to be Superman, Allen was going as Captain America. When that changed, Allen was going as the Hulk. I wondered if I was really going to be able to find a lime green shirt and purple sweats without hearts or stars on them. Thankfully, Kohls and Walmart came though.

The boys had a grand time with Halloween. With Halloween on Monday this year, there were so many Halloween festivities that it made it a very long holiday. The school party was on Friday, and I took the day off of work to hang with the boys for their parade, trick or treating event and lunch. As soon as Allen walked into the room where parade spectators gathered, he got very apprehensive and started crying. He spent the rest of the parade time on my lap or within reach. Mitchell's class did great and looked adorable. Quite the group of hams at that age.

Allen watching the parade (note I'm sitting on the floor!)

Mitchell's class

Then, the older kids went to Grandfriends to trick or treat. Twice a month, the kids visit a nursing home and independent senior living building that is accross the street. The staff and residents were more than happy to hand out candy to our little guys! They were very well behaved and polite.

A Grandfriend, in Halloween Spirit, passing out spider rings

On Sunday, Grammy and Grandaddy hosted a pre-Halloween dinner. We took the boys in their costumes so they could show them off. Little did we know, Grammy would be in the Halloween spirit as well!

We played a rousing game of "pin the nose on the Jack-o-Lantern." Mitchell had the best placement. I also loved that all the adults got in on this on as well! Mitchell also made a cute ghost hanging (that still adorns his room as we countdown to Thanksgiving).

Fast forward to Monday, when Mitchell wore his Halloween costume again (because he could!). We came home, had a nice (healthy) dinner and he and I headed out to the neighborhood while Allen and Daddy stayed home. We did just enough houses to almost fill the bucket and he was ready to come home and check out his loot! Now, if I could get get this leftover candy out of here without eating it (yeah, right)!

15 months-another check up

2011-10-25T20:57:00.002-05:00

Mr. Allen is 15 months old! He still seems like such a baby to me, but I guess that will always be the case since he's my youngest. And, with this milestone in age comes another doctor's appt!

Allen weighs in at 28 lbs, 7 oz and is 32.5 inches tall. For the record, he's the same height as Mitchell at this age and about a pound lighter. What can I say, we grow them big around here.

Allen is passionate. When he's upset, he shows it by throwing himself to the floor, but when he's happy, he's all smiles and laughter. He adores Mitchell and anything he is doing. When dropping of the boys at daycare, we stop in Mitchell's room first. Allen knows where his favorite toys are in there and will sometimes try to pull up a chair to have breakfast with his big brother. Mitchell is quite tolerant of Allen too. And while I know their friendship will evolve and change over time, I hope that it will end up as a relationship of closeness, admiration and loyalty.

Allen is definitely right on track with development. We still don't hear mama or dada, but he has words for dog, bird, car, cracker, snack, cup, binky, milk, book and a few others. He also signs more, please and eat. Now we are working on Thank You. I think he'll skip the sign for this one and go straight to saying it. He loves to play with balls, blocks and dance to music. Recently, he's decided that snuggling and reading book after book is great fun. That makes bed time a bit tricky as he could go on forever asking for another one! Oh and the spit. He thinks spitting is hilarious. His parents think otherwise, but good manners is a tough concept for a 15 month old!

The poor guy had 4 shots this time around- flu, dTap, MMR and Hib. He seems to have tolerated the all like a champ!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Last weekend (which seems like an eternity ago, for the record) we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out to one of the area pumpkin patches. Not only were there pumpkins to pick out, but a great play area for the kids. Mitchell had a grand old time. Allen did too, but it took him awhile to warm up, and then he was just frustrated when he couldn't do what Mitchell did.

Early on, Allen found this questionable half ear of corn. Amazingly, he never tried to put it in his mouth, but he didn't want to let it go for quite some time. Perhaps it provided some security during big bother's climbing adventures!

King of the Hay Mountain!

All four of us had quite a bit of fun in the corn maze. Allen was slow, so lots of people passed us, but we didn't care. At one point, we came upon an abandoned tractor. Mitchell thought he'd pedal it out, but then as we continually got stuck in ruts, we decided to abandon it as well! Which way to go? Mitchell made quite a game of finding the dead end where were were "locked" from going any further. By the end, he had it right, saying we were "BBBBBlocked."

Allen had fun times swinging and climbing and checking out the goats. One of my all time favorite pictures of Mitchell is from the same pumpkin patch at the same age. Mitchell was playing in the hay pen. Allen wanted nothing to do with it- only more proof I have two very different boys!

After our hay ride around the farm, Mitchell went for a spin in the giant tire swing. Pretty cool. Looking back, I should've taken a turn!

Last but not least, we let Mitchell take a few shots with the corn gun. He did awesome and actaully almost hit a target! Amazingly, we still had energy to pick out our pumpkins. Mitchell found his favorite right off the bat. He wants to carve it, but knows we need to wait a few days so it won' t get all shrivelled up! We put a few decorations out for fun this weekend and will carve next weekend. Of course, both boys' costumes still need finishing touches!

Fall Zoo Fun

2011-10-02T22:25:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful day of family fun at the zoo today. After a few rough days with Mitchell (who still can't decide if he needs/wants to nap or not) a fun family outing was just what we needed. Both boys had such fun, and we were melt-down free! I'm not sure how many times we'll be able to claim that with a toddler in the mix. Oh, and the weather cooperated too.

Today's trip came with some extra perks in the form of customer appreciation from our financial advisor. We got lunch coupons and a Safari pass, which got us free entrance to the children's zoo, a train ride and some other perks we don't usually take advantage of.

After our ride on the train, we headed to the Penguin and Puffin Coast- a must see for Mitchell. I was trying to get him to go see the elephants (there's a new baby elephant!) but we saw elephants on the train, so it was off to see the penguins. While chilly and a little stinky, Mitchell loved hearing about the different species while we were in there. He has such a love for facts about animals and how things work. His favorite books are non-fiction ones.

After some lunch, Allen got his second wind, so we let him out of the stroller and headed to the Children's Zoo. This was not before he showed off his dance moves outside the cafe where a band was playing. Zoo-goers got quite a kick out of him! Even though the boys were very tired, they enjoyed the Children's Zoo. I had to laugh as both just stopped to stare at this rooster.

There were frogs to crawl on (Allen couldn't get enough of these).

And, just before we hiked back to the car, we went to visit the goats. Mitchell apprarently wanted to be a goat and climbed up the rock wall to go see this little baby goat. Allen, just pointed to the goats, but did play a nice game of peek a boo with the one pictured below. I'm not sure the goat knew he was playing, but that didn't stop Allen from having a great time!

And while I would normally be anti-binky while out and about, in this area, I didn't want him putting anything in his mouth! As I was telling Mitchell to watch out for the pooping goat, Allen stubbed his toes and fell into a pile of goat poop pellets. EW! I was sure glad he had his binky so he wounldn't put his hands in his mouth (and that there was a handwashing station just outside!)

The Land Between the Lakes

2011-09-10T22:43:00.003-05:00

A wonderful gem at Kentucky Lake was a conservation area called the Land Between the Lakes. It's situated between Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake. Camping is available, plenty of trails for hiking, canoeing, a nature station, planetarium, elk and bison prairie....the list goes on. I hope when the boys get older, we can camp in the area and take advantage of some of the other amenities.

This trip, we checked out the Nature Station. We arrived just in time for a naturalist to do a small snake talk, which included bringing out a pine snake. There was only one other family there and Mitchell loved the chance to hold, pet and get eye to eye with the snake.

Once we were done checking out all the snake stuff, animal skins and bugs galore, we headed out the the backyard area. This area drew hummingbirds, finches, woodpeckers and others. I've never seen hummingbirds swarm like they did here. They also had a wide range of rescue animals. Eagles, coyotes, wolves, turkeys, owls were among the few we could encounter along a nice, shaddy, wooded trail. We let Allen roam free for a bit here and the brothers had a fun time chasing each other, looking at animals and enjoying more of the awesome weather we had on this trip. Allen just loves to be out in the fresh air.

Jeremy was really wishing we would've messed with the shutter speed on this pic!

Around the turkey area, there were many signs warning that the turkeys would bite if little fingers made it through the fence. Upon hearing that warning, Mitchell thought it would be best if he didn't get to close to these creatures!

Kentucky Lake

2011-09-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

We spent a few days last week at Kentucky Lake. When we planned this trip, we knew we'd be past "peak season" going after labor day, however we weren't quite ready for temps in the 70's and the remnants of a hurricane. Needless to say, that kept us from swimming or boating but we found some other fun to have. Simple things like throwing rocks in the lake, fishing at the dock and playing with bubbles allowed us all to slow down for a few days and spend some time together.

While most of the mini-golf, bumper car and other arcades were closed during the week now that we were "post season" we were able to find a bit of fun at Patti's Settlement. Mitchell was really excited to drive the remote controlled boats. Even Allen got in on the action. We enjoyed lunch, a little window shopping and just wandering the grounds (to include a playground!) on a lovely, sunny mid-70's day.

We also made a trip to the Land Between the Lakes for more out door fun! We did quite a bit there, so I'll save that for another post. It was great to get away to somewhere new and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Grizzlies Game

2011-09-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

To kick off our vacation week, we decided to take the family to a Grizzlies game. They are a minor league team in the Metro East. It was the last game of season with lots of fun planned, such as raffles, rides and fireworks. This also drew quite a crowd- the game was sold out! We had a great time with our friend the Reids and Beffas. We left early, as the game was moving at a snails pace, and Mitchell hadn't had a nap and Allen wanted to go to bed. Even still, it was a gorgeous night to be out at the ball park. Next year, we hope to go another night during the season where there might be less of a crowd.

We bought tickets on the lawn to give the kids some wriggle room. Here are Mitchell and his friend Nora playing on the blanket.The kids took this space over by sliding and wresling with each other on it.

Allen and Mitchell at the ballpark- our first night of jackets needed after a very hot summer!

Mitchell and AJ played together a ton at the ball park- doing lots of wrestling with Jeremy and our friend Peter (who only has girls). They always have such fun playing together. Even though we had to leave early, we still had a great time with our dear friends.

Being a Big Kid

2011-08-21T21:25:00.002-05:00

Being a big kid has lots of perks. Mitchell would tell you it's fun because you can do things that babies can't do, like play with puzzles, play at the park, have toys with small parts and eat yummy foods.

What sucks, quite frankly, about being a big kid: Mom and Dad make you stick to your word that you won't suck your thumb anymore.

Now, this is no small task for us as parents. The only time MJ sucks his thumb is when he's sleeping- at nap and bedtime. It's hard to enforce a rule when you generally aren't there when the offense is occuring. My dear friend, who also works in early childhood, suggested cutting the fingers out of gloves, but keeping the thumbs covered. This was perfect. Can't get to the thumb, but he could still feel the comfort of "the bumpiest lovey." Night one: success. Night two, he took them off. Night three: we put them back on when we went bed. Night 4: He kept them on (with the promise of a new hot wheels car). Night 5: He kept them on! So I figure, we're on the right track.

Silly me. Then the weekend came. The poor boy cried for 1.5 hours at nap because he wanted to suck his thumb (clearly, we need gloves at daycare too). Finally, a drink of water broke the pattern of crying enough that he rolled over and went straight to sleep. Last night, the gloves stayed on! Today at nap...well, the gloves stayed on, but there was no nap. Which now has me wondering if ditching the thumb means ditching the nap...

For our pretty easy-going kid, this hurdle is a tough one for him. We didn't struggle with sleep or potty training, so I guess we were bound to have something that was more challenging. I just hope we all make it through without picking up another bad habit!

Celebrating 4!

2011-08-21T20:54:00.009-05:00

Mitchell had so many celebrations to mark his 4th birthday, he started thinking every day should be filled with gifts! It all started with his Shark Pool Party! We invited some friends to Grammy and Grandaddy's pool to swim. Never mind that the weather had finally cooled off and we had to turn the pool heater on to make it comfortable for everyone to swim! (As a side note, that makes 2 of the 4 August birthday parties in the 80's...Unheard of!). It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time.

The next day, we had a pool pizza party with family. While Allen slept through the prior day's party, he was able to enjoy this one with the rest of us. And we were glad to have him since he usually naps during our swimming time. Mitchell got MORE gifts, to include a huge inflateable "shark" for the pool, a new water gun and a transformer! The boy was in heaven.

Of course, we couldn't let the official day go by with out some fun as well. Mitchell took icecream sandwiches into school for his birthday snack. Gramps came over with a pile of goodies and we had another haul of gifts from family that had sent them. I swear, it looked like Christmas! I attempted to make him pause to appreciate how much everyone loved him, but I think my message was lost. The kid just wanted to open presents (we'll need to work on that as we approach the holidays, I think!) We ended our celebration with a gourmet dinner of peanut butter and jelly with a side of peas and corn.

12 Month Stats

2011-07-27T06:30:00.006-05:00

Allen had his 12 month appointment this week, and boy did he show off his squriminess for Dr. P. Squirmed while he listened to his heart. Wiggled to the point where I had to pin his head down to count teeth. While he liked touching and crinkling the paper on the exam table- don't ask him to sit or lay on it- he hated that!

He's a growing boy and right on track....

25 lbs, 2 oz and 31 inches long. About 80% for both. His head is huge (they measured it twice) but then again, so is Mitchell's. More room for smarts, methinks.

He had 3 shots and we are going to start him on some allergy medicine to see if that doesn't relieve the rattle in his throat. If that doesn't do it, our best guess is that it's all the drool from teething. Back again in 3 months!

I know I had this picture in his birthday post, but I just love the crinkled nose. This captures his personality! He's quite the clown.

NOTE: It took me over a week to actually post this! That's life with two kids for you!

Birthday Hoedown

2011-07-25T06:39:00.007-05:00

Saturday was the big first birthday hoedown! Allen loves playing with the Leapfrog Farm magnets so that's what we decided to frame his birthday around. We had a wonderful time with friends and family that gave us great memories for the celebration.

Just before guests arrived, we had to wake Allen from such a peaceful sleep.

He loved playing with the balloons while he ate lunch!

When it came to presents, he wasn't sure what to do. He was much more interested in the toys he could actually see!

So Mitchell and Daddy helped him out.

What's a birthday without cake? This look was priceless, like "what do you want me to do here?" Funny thing, he's had cake and cupcakes before when his daycare friends celebrated birthdays!

Maybe, I'll touch it.

YAY for my Birthday (still has barely touched the cupcake).

Happy Birthday Boy (Mom is starting to think she'll eat his cake)!

Finally he digs in!

Allen had a wonderful time at his party, and so did we! While we had hoped to have some outside water fun as well, the heat had been brutal all week, so we kept the activities indoors. By the spread of toys and the squeals from the older kids, I'd say they had fun too! I added some birthday pictures to the montage, so if you haven't checked it out in the previous post, be sure to do so!

Happy Birthday, Allen

2011-07-19T11:52:00.003-05:00

What fun it is to look back over the past year. More festivities to come!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Gramps' Farm

2011-06-27T08:45:00.004-05:00

Saturday, we made our first family trip out to Gramps' farm (not to be confused with Grant's Farm- which happens a lot when you hear Mitchell talk about it). Gramps bought the farm about a year ago, I think, and has been rehabbing the house and planting an orchard. On this day, his neighbors were having a little BBQ, so we made the trek out for some small town fun.

As soon as we go there, Mitchell fed the goats some bread. He thought that was pretty funny. The goats belong to Gramps' neighbor. They raise goats and bees. The bees will be very good for Gramps' orchard.

Then, Mr. Rosenthal let Mitchell get in with the goats. They were looking for some more bread! One was getting pretty close and Mitchell kept trying to wave her away. The goat seemed to think that was a game!

As I was snapping pictures, one goat decided he needed to check out what I had. Was it more bread? I must say, he startled me as I saw him through the lens, but I was quick to snap the picture!
Next, we took a ride in the golf cart to see the farm. First stop was the apple trees where Mitchell helped to pick some of the apples off. The trees are only in their second year, so we don't want them to bear fruit yet...maybe next year. Allen thought the golf cart was pretty cool. He couldn't be bothered with the flowers or trees- he wanted to climb all around the cart.

After a tour of the house, Mitchell could hardly wait to get down to the pond to go fishing. The pond is loaded with bluegill and catfish. Gramps promised a quick catch, which is good since preschoolers don't have much of an attention span!

And Gramps was right. Here's Mitchell with his second bluegill! He loved it. We didn't catch any catfish this time though.

Allen was a good sport waiting for fishing to be over. He wanted to walk all around, but near the pond it wasn't a good idea (and I didn't feel like going fishing for a baby).

Once we got back up to the BBQ site, Allen was trilled to have more free reign of the area. He was quick to discover the dirt and rocks and that he could bang them on the metal barn doors. Mitchell helped the Rosenthals feed the goats their real dinner and watched them for what seemed like an eternity.

After filling our bellies with good food, we drove back home. Mitchell was hyper from such a fun time and Allen passed out as soon as we hit the blacktop. We are looking forward to Gramps' house being done so we can spend some more time there!

Swimming

2011-06-19T20:22:00.006-05:00

This summer, we've decided to make it a point to visit the pool on a regular basis. Fortunately for us, Grandaddy and Grammy maintain our own personal pool for us. With travel and a new baby last year, the pool didn't even open, so we are all thrilled to have it open, with a new paint job and all.

For Father's day, we headed over for some pre-dinner swimming. What a great time! Allen wasn't too sure at first, as you can see. After Daddy worked his distracting-magic, he decided the pool was a fun place to be!

We are also so fortunate that a good friend from college is teaching Mitchell and some of his friends to swim. We are halfway through our lesson session and my-goodness do we have a fish in the making. All he wanted to do today was go underwater to get the ball. Of course, Miss Christy won't let him use his swim goggles (or as Mitchell calls them, his field goggles). Even though they don't keep out much water, he kept going under with them.

My memories of summer all revolve around the pool, and Jeremy's too. I hope we can do the same for our boys over the years!

Home Days

2011-06-13T19:58:00.003-05:00

"Mommy, is today a home day?" Nearly every day, Mitchell asks me this question, and it just breaks my heart a bit each time. Of course, I assume he wants a home day so that he can spend it with Allen, Jeremy and me (he loves all of his people together). More likely he wants a home day so he can watch some TV.

As a working Mom, I'm constantly torn between enough time with my boys and work. I'm trying very hard to only be one place at a time, but it's hard, and frankly nearly impossible. Fortunately, I have a boss who gets this and gives me quite a bit of autonomy and flexibily...but when that comes into play, that line between work and home becomes very blurred. Awhile back, Mitchell closed my laptop while we were sitting together and he was watching TV. The message was clear- "Mommy, it's my time."

Today, Mitchell had an afternoon doctor's appointment. He was quick to announce to his teachers that he "wouldn't be sleeping here today." I tried really hard to be "unfun" during this home time, but it didn't matter. Already as bedtime neared, he asked if tomorrow was a home day. It's no joke, work has been nuts and my stress level has been high. But I am still curious as to why he wants the home days- he loves his friends at school too and just asked last week if Ms. Sue could come home with us. Maybe it means lazy mornings, time with family or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Perhaps it's a time to play with Allen and teach him things. Or maybe it means way too much Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Eitherway, it makes me happy to know that home is where he wants to be. And I'll keep that way. Until he's a college graduate, anyway.

Claybrook Reunion

2011-06-04T13:45:00.005-05:00

Memorial Day came and went, which goes hand in hand with the Claybrook Reunion. For those just tuning in, the Claybrooks come from the maternal side of Jeremy's family. Every year, we convene in Tennessee to eat, chat, and enjoy each other. For us, this is the only time we see most of this crowd. Last year, I went very pregnant, so we had to go this year to introduce Allen to the Clan.

This is pretty much where we are most of the day.

The next generation

And the next (minus Jeremy). And yes, the baby should be there!

The outlaws. We married in and choose to be with this crowd!

The babies: Allen (10 mos) and Caroline (5 mos)

The oldest and the youngest.

Grace had won the heart of both my boys.

Lots of laughing goes on!

Mitchell and I went down to the park and found a wonderful creek for exploring and splashing in.

Allen found his favorite kind of fun too...

The second night, Allen didn't sleep well, which means none of us slept well. He woke Mitchell up at one point and I thought we had everyone settled back down until I heard laughter. I open my eyes and sit up to find Mitchell sitting on the side of the bed entertaining Allen in his pack n play. While cute, not what needed to be happening at 1am in our room! Overall, we had a great time and the boys were pretty good travelers. As always, I'm glad we went!

On the Move

2011-05-15T20:14:00.003-05:00

Both of my boys are on the move. Allen is having a blast with the push toys that we have. Very quickly, he got control of how fast they went on our hard floors. Now the question is, will he be walking by Memorial Day? You be the judge...

Last weekend, our neighborhood had it's garage sale. We were on the search for a "big boy" bike for Mitchell since he has completely outgrown his tricycle. Wouldn't you know that the guy across the street had one to fit the bill perfectly, and for all of $7! He is still getting used to it but with a little practice he'll be zooming up the sidewalks in no time.

Flashback: Easter

2011-05-09T21:04:00.005-05:00

Easter sure was late this year! I guess one would think with a late April Easter, the weather would be guaranteed to be nice, but St. Louis has had a bit of a crazy spring with temps either far below or far above normal. Anywho- we were up at our usual time on Easter Sunday and we hopped on down the stairs to find the Easter Bunny had been for a visit and left some gifts behind! Allen wasn't quite sure what to think, but Mitchell showed him the routine and dove right in to his basket.

The boys had fun exploring their baskets. Then after a few cups of coffee, were were off to brunch with Jeremy's family. Part of that celebration included the Easter Egg hunt and, of course, more baskets!

By noon, life was back to normal and it pretty much seemed like another Sunday. Once we got back home, we discovered candy and treat wrappers all over the floor. Cadie had eaten all of the Easter goodies- Reeses eggs, Gerber Yogurt Melts, animal crackers and M&Ms. Mitchell was very sad, but all was well after Daddy hit the Easter candy sales and brought home "replacement treats."

You're a Hard Ass

2011-05-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

There's been a lot of changes at the daycare we go to since we joined in January. It's a family owned company and the daughter took over as director (from business manager). The current assistant director left and a new one was hired. They are upgrading their security and computer systems. New flooring, paint and carpet are being installed as I write (literally, all construction is being done overnight and on weekends). The lead teacher in Allen's room was out 6 weeks for surgery. She came back and was promoted to supervisor. Another teacher changed to part time as she got a part time job in her field of study. Two of Mitchell's teachers left due to family circumstances. Lots of change.

Thinking about it, I'm surpised that it doesn't make me more anxious. Perhaps I feel calm because I know my kids are loved. Or maybe it's because I feel like everyone is so accessible should I need to talk to them. Over the last few weeks, my timing has been such that I've caught the director at times where she could chat. During one of our chats, I mentioned that we thought she was a "hard ass." I meant it as a compliment, truly. I didn't get a chance to see her for a week, but I had to go back to her and apologize.

Fortunately, she also took it as a compliment and even told her mom about it. But seriously, because I know she runs a tight ship, even admist all this change, I have nothing to worry about when I leave my boys there every day. And that is a feeling that is priceless.

Finger Foods

2011-04-21T21:04:00.004-05:00

Tonight, Allen had nearly a full dinner of finger fooods! Thanks to a cat nap in the car, he was in good spirits and was willing to feed himself. I better start using up all the baby food we have because I'm not sure how much longer he'll tolerate being spoon fed. He enjoyed his green beans and kidney beans tonight- and is getting to be quite a good chewer!

Most of the food made it to his mouth, but Cadie is now remembering what a joy this phase is. She gets all kinds of goodies!

Looks like we have two good eaters on our hands (which I am thankful for). However, if food prices keep going up, and our raises don't, we could be in trouble!

Egg Dying Adventures

2011-04-21T20:55:00.005-05:00

Tonight, we decided to dye some Easter eggs. This was the first we have done that, and wouldn't you know- that's what they did at school today. Mitchell kept saying "Mommy, that's what Ms. Sue did." Well, nice to know we all use the same kit, I guess. Mitchell had a fun time, and Allen enjoyed crawling around until he demanded PJs, bottle and bedtime snuggles.

He watched carefully to make sure the egg was just the right shade of color he wanted.

He could do it "all by myself."

Ready to see the eggs (and put stickers on them when they dried)!

9 months

2011-04-18T20:11:00.009-05:00

Well, here we are, 9 months on the other side of pregnancy. It seems like the 9 months it takes to bake a baby takes eons. Come to the other side and it feels like I just came back to work and he's still 3 months old. This is such a fun age, though. I just love it. The talking, the laughing, and the movement are all such fun, but you still get the baby snuggles. We can really see Allen's personality shine!

Today, Allen has his check up with Dr. P. As expected, he's as healthy a can be. He healed from a recent ear infection with no issues and his goopy eyes aren't of major concern (however, I could do without snot-filled eyes when he wakes up). He babbled non-stop at the office today. Apparently, Allen needed to tell Dr. P what an awesome family he has.

Here's the stats: 22 lbs and 5 ounces, 29.5 inches tall. He's hovering around 80% for height and weight. We have 5 teeth with #6 well on it's way to arrival. We crawl, pull up, babble and have started finger foods! He likes his black beans and cheerios best, I think.

Allen loves to bang things. He bangs toys together, bangs his rattles onto the ground, bangs the metal bowl on our ceramic tile. The louder the banging, the happier he is. He also adores Mitchell. When all else fails, Mitchell can come to Allen with a silly face and we hear those happy giggles again. When Allen cries, Mitchell says sweetly, "it's OK Allen, I'm right here." It makes my heart melt. Seeing their bond as brothers grow gives us such great joy. This will only get better as they continue to grow.

Just call them Bruiser

2011-04-09T13:51:00.003-05:00

Allen and Mitchell have both gotten some nice bruises at daycare the last several weeks. Apparently, they are competing for who can have the best bruise. Allen's came first after he thought he could stand independently. While his mind might be ready, his body is not and he took a header to the floor. Mitchell was next. This past week, he fell while climbing on the monkey bars. His cheek bone collided with a bar and the black eye appeared almost instantly. Now it's in the dark purple and green stage... Fortunately, both boys were able to brush it off with some snuggles from their teachers and icepacks. Both were back moving at full force in a matter of minutes. At this rate, it could be a long summer. I better get some more Diego bandaids and another kid-friendly icepack.

Blues Game

2011-04-09T13:39:00.009-05:00

Thanks to a whole bunch of free tickets, we went to the Blues game with our Friday Friends (and some bonus friends too)! Mitchell had never been to a sporting event before, so we figured this was a good time to try it out. And the only money we had to pay out was for parking and snacks (which was no small investment).

We made it 2/3 of the way through the game. I think this was pretty good considering it was Friday evening and hockey games are loud! (Allen had clearly had enough as evidenced by his crying all the way home, literally.) Mitchell had fun being silly with his friend Wyatt and loved his special snack of Kettle Corn! We probably won't go for a Cardinals game this summer, but we will definitely hit one of the minor league teams on the outside of town.

Nature vs. Nuture

2011-04-07T21:38:00.003-05:00

Jeremy is a shoe man. He wakes up, he puts on shoes and wears them all day. He takes them off at the corner of the bed so I trip on them if I get up in the middle of the night. Me, I walk around in bare feet or flip flops most of the time. Even in winter slippers don't stay on my feet leaving me with icicles for toes. And no matter what time of year it is if I'm wearing socks, they come off my feet around 8pm. There's usually a pair of socks by the couch to prove it. As I was staighting up around the coffee table the other day, I picked up three pairs of Mitchell's socks. His routine is to come home, get a "drink and a snack and a show." He watches the show to take some down time from his very busy day. Almost every time, the shoes and socks come off and are left scattered near the couch and coffee table. He spends the rest of the night happily in bare feet. So how much of this is hard wired and what's learned? I know I take Allen's socks off at the end of the day to air out his sweaty feet. Is this nuturing a funny sock ritual that Mitchell and I have, or is he hard wired to be a shoe man like Daddy? I do know two other women in my life who have the same sock ritual that I do. Perhaps I learned it from them, or maybe it's a long forgotten family quirk.

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-13T14:14:00.004-05:00

In an effort to get motivated to start exercising again, I registered for the St. Patty's Day 5 miler. Last time I ran it, it was 2006 and I was in MUCH better condition. I also convinced two of my mom friends to join the fun. I can't say I did much training but I had a great time on the run! Perhaps it will be my kick off to getting back in a regular routine (once I can walk normally again).

The weather reports were positve, so we decided to hang with some friends and watch the parade. It was a little risky, because it started right at nap time, but sometimes, you just have to bunk the rules. There were a TON of people there, and we had to work very hard to keep our claimed area of pavement as others crept in from all sides. Even the strollers didn't keep people away.

All Allen wanted to do was crawl around and pull up on things (see previous post). We had brought picnic lunches of PB&J, goldfish crackers and bananas- a perfect post-run meal if you ask me! Mitchell loved chowing down as the parad started. Allen also enjoyed some bites of banana (shhhh, don't tell Mitchell!).

What's a parade without beads and candy? Mitchell was finally able to snag a couple tootsie rolls and you can see his excitement. He got quite good at getting beads. His friend Wyatt had given him some beads when we first got there. If you ask he'll be sure to tell you that Wyatt gave him one particular strand of green beads, but all the other ones came from the parade. Too cute!

The boys had a great time being outside and seeing all the sights of the day. We can file this one under 'successful family fun.'

Don't trust this face...

2011-03-13T14:08:00.003-05:00

He might be cute, but he's trouble (the loveable kind).

Over the last week, he's been very very busy working on sitting up all by himself, attempting to crawl and pulling up. So much so, it's interfering with his naps. You know, we gotta practice all these new tricks. He's got the bumps on his head to prove it too.

On my shopping list is more outlet covers. He's already tried to stick his finger in one set today. Thank goodness for playpens!

February

2011-02-26T19:55:00.005-06:00

This month was completely nuts. I'm happy to see it wind down and welcome March with open arms. I just hope March is kinder to us.

Amidst snow days, fevers, antibiotics (for me, no less) and what seemed like endless trips to the pediatrician there were some highlights.

1. Cousin fun! My brother in law had surgery on the day of the big blizzard. That weekend, the cousins came up to have fun with us while he recuperated. Fun was had by all. For the first time, Mitchell slept in the top bunk while Norah took the bottom. What's great, is that they both went to sleep when it was time for bed and we didn't have to do any refereeing. We attempted a Valentine craft (fun, but a failure), enjoyed cake and played in the snow. It's always great to get the cousins together. Ever since, Mitchell has been referring to them as his sisters.

2. Jeremy's birthday! I'm not sure if we can call this a "highlight" but he did have a birthday this month. Unfortunately, the day of, I was plastered to the couch with a fever and Allen was feverish as well. We did enjoy brunch with the family the following weekend. Jeremy took it all in stride even though I felt pretty guilty.

3. Parent-Teacher Conferences! Mitchell's daycare held their first ever parent teacher conference this year. Since we're new, we didn't realize this was the first year, but I loved the timing of it- just about 2 months after we started so we could really get a sense of how Mitchell was doing. Mitchell is one of the older kids in his room. He knows all his shapes, colors, counts well and participates during circle time. He uses his manners (most of the time) and is flexible when they send him up to the 4 year old room to even classes out. It's great to know how well he behaves and that he participates, but I do wish we saw it some at home. He's really enjoying doing art projects now and his pictures have more purpose. He even recently drew a dinosaur and fish in a lake!

Allen is doing well too. This month he's really grown! He is looking more like a baby boy and less like an little infant. He wants to crawl and pull up so badly, but isn't quite there yet- so he's also getting pretty frustrated. He's gotten his two top teeth for a total of 4 now. He's also very aware of where I am in a room (or not). It makes me think we will deal with more separation anxiety with him, but I'm hoping not. Only time will tell!

Mid-Week Funnies

2011-01-26T19:42:00.004-06:00

For whatever reason, I find Wednesday to be the hardest day of the week. So here's some of the funny-business going on in our house, which I hope brings a smile to your face.

Mitchell is at it again, saying hilarious things. A few highlights below.

Miss Emily, I'm running low on energy. I'm hungry.

Mommy, I like to eat anchovies (pronounced anchobies) like grown ups. (HUH?)

MJ: That step stool is for grown ups, not teachers.

Me: Aren't teachers grown ups?

MJ: No, they are teacher-grown ups.

When talking about his upcoming hair cut: Only Miss Kim cuts hair. Not Mommy, Daddy, Allen or Mitchell, except for other people who are haircutters.

Allen is also filling us with smiles and giggles. Currently he loves his feet. As soon as the socks come off, his feet go up, in his hands and to his mouth. I finally caught it on camera. And since he can't say anything funny yet, we have to show it to you!

Flashback: Snow

2011-01-19T21:06:00.005-06:00

As the snow falls again outside my window, I'm reminded I never blogged about the last snowfall we had at Christmas! The weather reports were coming in, and we were going to have snow on Christmas Eve. Up until now, I had avoided buying snow boots for Mitchell. With his wide feet and fast growth, I didn't want to spend the money. He also seemed perfectly content to play inside on snow days. That changed this year.

Walmart and Target were out of boots, so I hit the internet and began looking. I found some at JC Penney's and they had them in Mitchell's size. Thank goodness for holiday shopping hours! I stopped by at 7:30am on my way to work to get the precious boots. Mitchell was thrilled. He was even more thrilled when he could wear them outside!

It was a good snow- wet enough to make a snow man! Fortunately, Jeremy was up to that challenge while Allen and I stayed warm inside. We did take Allen out in it briefly, afterall it was his first snow. He enjoyed the fresh air, and tolerated a few pictures. We'll see how long I can go without buying him boots! Mitchell had a blast playing in the snow. Just yesterday, he was pouting because the last bits of snow we did have were melting under the day's drizzle. Little does he know, new snow is coming for him to play in!

Half a year

2011-01-19T20:25:00.007-06:00

And we're off. I remember the c-section, coming home and those first couple weeks where it's all you can do to feed the baby and yourself. If I was lucky, I got a shower too. And in the blink of an eye, 6 months has passed. Only 3 since I've been back to work. Time is playing funny tricks on me though. Some days, I feel like it's on my side and I have time to stop and enjoy each infant stage all over again. Other days, I feel like I'm barely hanging on to the train whizzing by and I'm missing all the details. And suddenly, here we are 6 months later.

Allen is really developing his own personality. He's so social, smiley and extremely ticklish. I'm hoping it gives me a break from being the constant tickle-target! Allen loves his food, just like his brother. Today, he tried bananas for the first time. This was actually the first food he spit back out. Maybe he'll like them better tomorrow. Or maybe Mitchell won't have to worry about sharing his beloved banana. He loves to sleep, as long as it's dark out. He's not a great napper, but we'll take the night sleep anyday! Nine times out of 10, I have to wake him on weekday mornings.

Yesterday, we went in for the 6 month check up. He's almost exactly doubled his birthweight at 18 lbs 11 oz (70%). He's tall at 27.75 inches (90%). I knew those onsies seems a little short! He got the standard shots and we went ahead and got the flu shot too. As usual, he handled them like a champ. He didn't even start crying until the second one. Must be all that thigh chunkiness. Still only 2 teeth. I have to say, with how early those first ones arrived, I'm suprised we haven't had any more yet.

We need to think about baby-proofing. Allen can get up pretty high on his hands, and is pretty close to figuring out how to get those knees under him. In the past week, he's gotten really good at sitting up, and enjoys playing with toys. Mitchell gets worried when he slobbers all over everything, especially if he wants to play with it too. We love seeing Mitchell and Allen interact with each other. Tonight, Mitchell got Allen laughing while he was having dinner. While we don't encouage playtime when it's eating time, it was a perfect opportunity to stop and take in these moments.

Flashback: Solids!

2010-12-27T21:28:00.003-06:00

Depending on your school of thought, it's recommended to start solids sometime between 4-6 months of age. Dr. P doesn't mind if we wait, but he wants us to have started something by the 6 month appointment so we can tell him how it's going. For us, we split the difference and go with a 5 month start. Seemed to work the first time.

Allen was definitely showing signs of wanting more, so the weekend before Christmas we fixed up some rice cereal and spoon fed it. In short, he loved it. He even managed to get a decent amount in his mouth. Mitchell is a good eater, but wow. Allen LOVES his cereal. And he loves his squash too. Up next, probably peas. I imagine he'll love those too. It's hard to imagine having a "better" eater than Mitchell, but only time will tell. He's pretty enthusiastic so far!

These boys are going eat me out of house and home, aren't they?

Wrapping up Christmas

2010-12-27T20:58:00.007-06:00

Christmas morning I had been up since 5am waiting for Mitchell to come in all excited about what Santa left. Finally, he treks into our bedroom and says "Mommy, can I have breakfast?" Well, that's not different than any other day! Allen woke up at the same time so we convinced Daddy to go get Mitchell a banana to tie him over. During our morning converstations, Mitchell shared that he didn't hear Santa come, so he wasn't sure he came. But then he also reminded me that Santa only comes while he's sleeping (as we had a little trouble winding down the night before). After both boys were fed, we walked down the stairs. The big gift was in plain sight, and we heard a big WOW! He was speechless.

We had a great time opening presents. It wasn't a mad rush to get them all opened. Mitchell wanted to inspect and play with each one a bit before moving on, which I thought was quite fun. He climbed in and out of the truck a few times. He figured out how his cool Hess truck with the jet worked, he tested his new motorcycles...it went on and on. Allen enjoyed "opening" his gifts too- a teething ring (which was huge entertainment for him) new bowls and sippy cups (can you believe we're almost there?!?!).

Growing up, I remember Christmas morning at home being a lazy morning. You see, we did our big dinner the night before, went to church, sometimes opened one gift and went to bed. Christmas morning, we opened gifts and played with our new toys and gadgets only getting our of our pajamas (to try on our new clothes) sometime in the afternoon. I loved our lazy family morning.

Later that afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner at Jeremy's mom's house with a special visit from Jeremy's uncle from Atlanta. The following day, the Lovegreen clan joined us for brunch. Our floors have new toys scattered about- many more toys than we know what to do with. However, we are so thankful to be so fortunate...even if that means playing CandyLand 5 times in a row.

Nanny and A playing.

Grandaddy and MJ checking out the new plane.

Dinner Shenanigans

2010-12-20T21:33:00.005-06:00

We try really hard to get all of us around the table for dinner. It's a habit we want to start when the boys are young in the hopes of keeping that valuable time when the schedules become packed with extracurriculars. When work schedules are nuts, one of us will sit with Mitchell while he eats to get the nitty gritty on his day and to talk about what's on tap for tomorrow. Recently, Allen has been joining us at the table in his high chair with some toys. And, that is when I saw my future.

Big brother makes a goofy face and funny sounds.

Little brother laughs.

Big brother laughs.

Big brother makes more goofy faces and sounds.

Little brother laughs.

Big Brother laughs.

And it keeps going...and Daddy and Mommy say (between giggles) "it's eating time, not play time. Please take a bite of your peas."

"Today is not Christmas"

2010-12-16T21:06:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, it snowed. Mitchell was pretty impressed with it and announced that it was Christmas. Much to his disappointment, it wasn't, so there was no "Christmas Party." Every day since, he's been sure to tell us that "Today is not Christmas." Not yet, but soon.

In the meantime, we've been playing, shopping and getting ready for the celebrations to come. Allen has discovered the joy of the exersaucer. All he wants is to be upright and eye to eye with Mitchell, so we are glad he's gotten the strength to hang out in it. His favorite toy is the plush shapes and he attacks them as soon as he gets in the seat!

Without fail, his favorite toy is the "atom ball" sent by my aunt. He loves this thing! It's light, easy to grab, rattles and is so fun to chew on! He's also beginning to show preference to crocheted blankets and will snuggle up with one made by my sister as he falls asleep at night.

Mitchell has been enjoying all of the holiday cooking and wants to help whenever he can. We've made some "Christmas Tree" Sugar Cookies at his request and he's helped to measure the ingredients for the annual Kirkendall Candy. The tricky part is waiting for the treat to be done cooking!

A New Playmate

2010-12-16T20:52:00.004-06:00

Cadie is our fur-baby. She's my first dog and we definitely have our routines. For instance, in the evenings, as soon as a blanket comes out to cover my legs, she's right there waiting to snuggle with me. She waits to get out of bed until I get up. Oh and we can't forget our ritual to share popcorn. One for me, one for her....that goes back to when Jeremy worked nights at the restuarant. It's no secret that our fur-baby, Cadie, has taken a bit of a back seat since Mitchell's arrival over 3 years ago. Cadie is great with the boys. She is gentle. She puts up with Mitchell's tugging and pulling. And when she's had enough, she simply walks away.

Now that Mitchell is a little older, she has a new playmate. He'll throw her ball for her and recently when we got her a new rope, we had great fun watching them play tug of war. Finally, Mitchell was playing a game she understood!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T12:32:00.005-06:00

"It's just perfect." We've heard this phrase come from Mitchell's mouth recently, and it's how I feel about our family Thanksgiving this year.

The crowd rolled in on Wednesday: My grandparents from Arizona, my parents from Florida, my sister and her family from mid-Missouri and finally my aunt and her hubby from Washington State. We had a wonderful time chatting, eating, chatting, eating and cooking. The cousins had fun playing and watching movies. On Thursday, Jeremy prepped the bird and sent it out to the grill to cook. Little did we know, he'd be cooking in snow, but everything cooked up just as planned! I had a clingy, overtired and (what we learned later) sick baby so I delegated lots of dinner prep tasks while snuggling with Allen. As Jeremy said, nothing about "manager" says you actually have to do the work! So I became the Manager of Thanksgiving Dinner. Jeremy's grandma and mom joined us for festivities as well!

After the food was eaten and leftovers put away we had a lovely time chatting and laughing in the living room before everything went a little nutty with the kids...but with kids, what can you expect?

It was a wonderful kick off to a holiday season that I hope is filled with similar memories.

Flashback: Halloween

2010-12-01T12:10:00.006-06:00

Halloween was super fun this year. Festivities included a Halloween themed playgroup, party at daycare and of course, the long awaited trick or treating. I remember being on a walk with Mitchell (on a day it was too wet to go to the park) and talking about Hallween costumes. Now, I am not so creative when it comes to Halloween, so I like easy costumes. I was throwing out suggestions of a monster or dinosaur (two things we pretend to be often). Suprisingly, Mitchell didn't want to be either of those. First he suggested Dora the Explorer, I then suggested Diego (her male cousin, the Animal Rescuer). He grabbed that idea and I thought we had a super easy costume! All I needed was a teal shirt (with animal rescuer patch), khakis, sneakers, and an orange rescue pack.

A couple weeks later, I was thinking outloud about Allen's Halloween costume. Mitchell announced Allen would be Baby Jaguar, Diego's sidekick. Now that was going to be harder. Fortunately, I had Mitchell's old Dalmation costume. A bit of dying with tea and coffee along with a needle and thread to change puppy ears to kitty ears, we have a Baby Jaguar! Total cost for both costumes was probably about $20-which is about my limit!

When the first Trick or Treater came on Halloween night, Mitchell was ready to run out the door to fill his pumpkin with treats. Jeremy and Mitchell went out while Allen and I gave out candy. After having a ton of candy left over 2 years ago, this year we ran out. Mitchell came back with quite the haul (which I shamelessly raided on multiple occasions) and had a great time. He thought every night should be trick or treating for quite some time! Finally, we moved past Halloween to get him excited about Thanksgiving!

4 months

2010-11-22T15:38:00.005-06:00

I can't decide if I feel like "wow, he's already 4 months old" or "gee, he's only 4 months old." I hardly remember what it was like to only have one child, as Allen fits in just perfectly. So, I guess we split the difference and say "Woo-hoo! Allen is 4 months old!"

To celebrate, he got his first tooth. Almost to the day. Little stinker. The second one wants to come through too, but it's putting up a bit of a fight. That makes him a little grumpy. He's also successfully rolling from his back to his tummy (in both directions) but only randomly gets from his tummy to his back. He tolerates tummy time well, but he sure gets mad when he can't get turned back over when he's done. And the boy likes his sleep. If you mess with it, you will pay in the form of ear piercing screams. I think Jeremy said something about season 31 of American Idol...He's a happy boy who's willing to share smiles with anyone who wants to share one with him. And I'm the lucky one who gets to hear his giggles more often than daddy does!

Today, we headed to the pediatrician. He weighs in at 16 lbs, 8 oz and 26 inches long. Somewhere in the 80th-85th percentile. Aside from a little cold (lets count that as number 3 so far) he's as healthy as can be.

Let's not ignore the fact that it has been 6-7 weeks since my last post. Work is now sucking up my blogging time (as I blog while taking a break at work!). I'll be doing a series of "flashbacks" to get us back caught up and I hope to get back on track during the holidays. Afterall, I have to share all the super cute pictures I'll be taking!

(this picture cracks me up: Allen is saying "Big brother, you're crazy.")

Indianapolis

2010-10-05T15:39:00.010-05:00

This year we were a little preoccupied with having a new baby to take a vacation, but we decided to take a 3 day weekend before I headed back to work. As we looked at a map, we decided to head to Indianapolis! It's an easy drive and had lots of fun stuff to do. So, Saturday morning we loaded up the car and headed east. Timing would have to be perfect to only have to stop once on our 5 hour journey. Once we got 30 miles across the river, that plan went south as we hit a complete stop on the highway. Allen woke up hungry and Mitchell was antsy. Thankfully, we could pull off to a close exit where we could stretch our legs, feed the kids and head back out. In that 30 minute time frame, you would've never known we were stopped previously. With all of this (and another stop for lunch), we were a little late getting into town, so that day Jeremy and Mitchell hit the hotel pool and we headed to a local brewery for dinner.

Sunday, we went exploring at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and we had a fun time. Mitchell couldn't decide what he liked best. They had a very cool dinosaur exhibit where you can touch a real dinosaur bone and help excavate (fake) dinosaur bones. The paleontologist was working on a T-Rex bone, which is always exciting to a 3 year old boy. We also saw fun exhibits on Trains and Egypt before hitting the area designed specifically for preschoolers. Mitchell had a grand time playing with blocks, sand and water as well as climbing on all the exhibits. After we left each exhibit, he wanted to go back to the dinosaurs. He did a great job making it past nap time, but we had to work very hard to keep him awake until we got back to the hotel. And of course, there was more swimming (with me this time) and more dinner at Weber Grill. Jeremy and I hadn't been to a Weber Grill before and we really liked our selections!
Monday morning we headed out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to see the Hall of Fame Museum and take a loop around the 2.5 mile track. Jeremy has great memories of watching the Indy 500 as part of the Claybrook family reunions and with his love of cars, we just couldn't pass up this outing. We explored the museum and hopped on the bus to hear some track history while taking a lap. When we got off the bus, Mitchell said in his little pouty voice "But I want to go on the race track in a very fast race car." Jeremy and I couldn't help but laugh. We all got a souvenier from the gift shop. Mitchell's were two race cars, so for a long time we heard many zooms and vrooms coming from the backseat.

The trip home was perfectly timed with only one stop and everyone slept soundly in their own beds. I do have to say both boys slept well at the hotel too, but it was nice for us all to have our own space back so we didn't hear Mitchell's heavy breathing or Allen trying to find his thumb. It was a great escape and a wonderful chance to spend some quality family time together. As we came back to St. Louis, Mitchell asked to return to "his city, India-apolis." I think Jeremy, Mitchell and I had more fun than Allen on Allen's first trip.

8 weeks

2010-09-16T14:11:00.004-05:00

This week, Allen is 8 weeks old - and officially two months old this weekend. And like compliant parents that we are, it was time for a well baby check at the pediatrician. Allen weighed in at 14 lbs, 9 oz and was 23.75 inches long! I could've sworn he'd be taller, but I guess he's just holding all of his height in his torso. We were the first appointment of the day and Allen flashed his gummy grin at Dr. P, reportedly making his day. He also got his first round of vaccinations. I had told Mitchell that Allen would be getting 5 shots (which, he reminds me he only got 2 at his 3 year appointment). I was suprised to learn that a few of the shots had been combined, only requiring 3 pokes! Allen took it like a champ and had very little reaction to them- Phew!

Allen has been showing us some darn cute smiles on a pretty regular basis now. Sometimes, he even enjoys his tummy time, and he's getting better at holding his head up. He's sleeping longer stretches at night, too. Unfortunately, he dropped his 10pm feeding instead of his 3 or 4am feeding, but such is life. If I can get to bed early, I get a good 6-7 hour stretch of sleep...but I'm not too good at getting to bed early.

Allen is a healthy boy, and doing all the things 8 week olds should be doing!

Manchester Homecoming

2010-09-12T16:59:00.005-05:00

Every year, Manchester has a "homecoming" celebration in September. While we haven't braved the carnival and events, this year, we scouted out a spot to catch the parade which kicked off Saturday's festivities. What was left of Tropical Storm Hermine came through the night before and we felt a little threatened by dark clouds. Fortunately, it stayed dry and we enjoyed the parade.

We got candy, candy and more candy. And really, when I say candy, I mean tootsie rolls. Quite honestly, I don't remember parades being quite the candy hoarding event that they are now...kids line the road with grocery bags waiting for parade participants to plop a handful inside. And when you are at the end of the parade route, you get big handfuls. I was the bad mom with no bag for Mitchell, so he put all of his treats in the diaper bag. And our course, we enjoyed a few of the tootsie rolls while we watched, and they got stuck in his teeth (hence the funny faces). Mitchell also got a fireman's hat and a "Bob the Builder" hat, from the Manchester CERT team.

All in all, it was a fun morning out. In true infant form, Allen slept through the excitement (even the loud police motorcycles and Moolah cars).

The Second Child

2010-08-25T14:39:00.007-05:00

Here we are 5 weeks in and I think we can finally say our household has found some kind of groove that seems to be working. I'll admit it, a couple weeks ago I was running through the list of things I did with Mitchell that I haven't done as much with Allen. For example, Mitchell and I napped together once every day while I was on leave with him. I read him more books, even at this early age. I made sure he had tummy time every day. I can't say all of this is happening with Allen.

I was feeling a little down about it all, and wondering if Allen is doomed to less because Mitchell will ultimately demand more. And while that's true on some level, Allen has one thing that Mitchell doesn't have: a big brother. Mitchell loves Allen more than anyone can begin to measure. Mitchell lays with Allen during tummy time. Allen joins in Mitchell's reading time when he can. And more often than not, Mitchell wants some snuggles with his little brother every day.

Allen looks at Mitchell with the same recognition that he looks at me or Jeremy. So when I'm feeling a little guilty about him not getting all of me or having the same infant experiences that Mitchell had, I can feel better knowing he is getting the joy of having an big brother.

(and a big thanks to my dear friend, who helped me realize it)

Scrub a Dub Dub

2010-08-18T10:21:00.003-05:00

...there's a baby in the tub!

Allen is already a water baby. He loves his bath. Now, the sponge baths he wasn't crazy about, but put him in his baby tub with some warm water and he is a happy boy.

It took awhile for his umbilical cord to fall off and then for the skin under it to dry out, so his first true bath (while sitting in water) wasn't until earlier this week. But a "very wet" spongebath in the baby tub was right up his alley- and good for the family routine while big brother bathed in the new bathroom. Unfortunately, it didn't help Mr. Jack in the Box to stay in bed thinking that Allen was snoozing away too.

I'm really looking foward to both of them in the tub together, but I know those days are still far off.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2010-08-16T18:32:00.007-05:00

Yesterday as we enjoyed a family dinner to celebrate my mother in law's 60th birthday, I was reminded that 3 years ago, I spent nearly all of Aug 15 in labor, waiting to meet Mitchell. Fortunately, I have few, if any, negative memories from labor and delivery then.

Fast forward three years (emphasis on fast) and that brings us to today! With Allen's arrival, we wanted to be sure to properly talk up this birthday so Mitchell knew how important his place is in our family! Afterall, was it not a great experience with him that encouraged us to go for another?

In total, Mitchell had 3 birthday celebrations. The largest, was the family party we hosted a little over a week ago while G'ma and G'pa were still here from Florida. Mitchell picked out his jungle themed party and G'ma became inspired to make the cake. Mitchell really enjoyed opening his presents and "ooh'd and ah'd" over all of them. The first present he picked to open was, what I thought, the least exciting. This was his soccer shin guards that he would need for his upcoming soccer program. Well, he loved them, and wore them the rest of the night (as you can see in some of the other pictures. Other big hits were cars, games and a big wheel.

Last week, Mitchell took party bags to school for all the friends he's played and learned with over the last year. We did this last week because most of these kids were being promoted to the 3 year old room today. With the age deadline as Aug 1 for school in Missouri, Mitchell will stay in his current room for a little longer before he moves. This also fell on the same day as an icecream social so we use that as our birthday treat. His friends sang to him and all in all, he had a good day.

Today, we did a small celebration at home. Mitchell requested fish sticks and peas and corn for dinner (Mom and Dad went for pizza) and then we treked out the "icecream store" for a special dessert. He was a happy boy. Don't be fooled, he went for the chocolate icecream.

Even with the early celebrations, he would tell you before today that "no, no, I'm still 2." But today he says "Mommy, I'm 3 so now you can be 2."

Teaching

2010-08-09T12:22:00.005-05:00

I think I've lamented on here in the past that Mitchell is a former binky-a-holic turned thumb sucker at 21 months. Already, I've caught Allen with his thumb in his mouth, sucking away. My guess is that once he can control that movement, my investment in new binkies will have been a waste.

Yesterday, Mitchell pointed out to me one such occasion where Allen was sucking his thumb. Joking, I replied "did you teach him that?" We both giggled and moved on.

Later that afternoon, Mitchell and Allen were having a sweet brother moment. He got out two pillows, one for each of them and wanted to share his special car blanket (that G'ma made to celebrate his arrival 3 years ago). I told Mitchell he is the most awesome big brother and asked him if he was going to teach Allen how to do stuff.

His reply:

[while holding out his thumb] "Baby Allen, this is how we suck our thumb."

2 Weeks Later

2010-08-07T21:53:00.004-05:00

Allen has no shortage of growth happening since birth! So, what we know is that he was born at 9 lbs 5 oz on a Monday. By Friday, he was 9 lbs 4 oz (after having dropped to about 9 lbs) and at his two week check up, when they want babies to be back to birthweight, Allen was a whopping 10 lbs 3 oz. So, we're good there. He had also grown an inch in length!

Allen is a sleepy one, and fortunately that sleep also comes at night! We are getting more awake stretches as the days pass by....now if I can just maintain both boys napping at the same time, I'll get a little downtime too!

Mitchell is adjusting well to his new brother. He's very caring and worried when he cries. He was also very worried about his "owie on his bee-bo" which has since "gotten better" when the umbilical cord stump fell off (and not a day too soon-yuck). My parents have been in town with us for our first two weeks home. They got all the fun jobs, like cooking and laundry...but were always rewarded with a little Allen snuggle time. A huge thanks to them for helping us find our groove as a family of four.

Introducing...

2010-07-27T07:48:00.004-05:00

Allen Dale! See details of the days events posted in the previous post by Jeremy.

Here we go again...

2010-07-26T21:05:00.003-05:00

Well, loyal listeners, I am sorry to say that it is time again for another summary of recent events from the "guy who drops Mom's nice camera in the operating room."

So this time, we decided to forgo the 23 hours of labor and get right down to the nitty-gritty. You know, "fool me once.....", and so on and so forth. Sarah's C-section went VERY smoothly, and aside from a drop of the digital SLR camera (paid for by hers and Mitchell's economic stimulus checks) from a table that I swore was perfectly level, the entire event was generally very positive. Allen Dale was born July 19 at 11:52am, weighed 9 lbs, 5 oz., and was 21 inches long. That, by the way, is a full pound less than any of us expected, considering the 3rd grader that came out of my wife the first time. Allen barely had his head out of the womb, and he was screaming. I mean screaming. I'll say, this one's got some pipes. Maybe he'll be ready for season 31 of American Idol.

Going straight into the operating room was a good decision in hindsight; Sarah is recovering so well that they kicked her out of the hospital a day early, and we have a great little non-torpedohead child to show for it. Not that there's anything wrong with torpedohead. You know, if you like that sort of thing.

So now a week has gone by, I'm back at work, and things are starting to calm down a little. As I look at the pictures taken in the hospital (albeit with a broken lens), it seems like an eternity ago. Mitchell is adjusting relatively well, aside from a panic attack when Allen's car seat wasn't in the car next to him one afternoon. What a trooper. A family man at 3 years old.

I signed my last post "The Transporter," which in the last week has proven to be even more appropriate, although I find myself going to fetch ice cream for everyone more often than anything else. That's ok, though, as long as I get some. Some with chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

I'm a little more confident this time, for this ain't my first rodeo, and so far I have averted EVERY sprinkler attack while changing diapers. The same cannot be said for Sarah. I know it's just a matter of time, but for now I will revel in my success, limited as it may be. These random nanoseconds I remember.

---The Cameraman

Term

2010-06-30T21:59:00.008-05:00

Today marks the magical day where Baby2 is considered "full term" by the medical field. At the same time, I realized it was time for a blog title change...I'm sure more changes will be coming in the near future. Some days, I'm sure this guy won't be quite as big as his brother was at birth, and some days, I fear he'll actually be bigger. In just 19 days, we'll know either way! Here I am at 37 weeks....probably the last picture of this belly!

Apparently, we are motivated by pregancy and due dates for massive home renovations. Jeremy's been hard at work on the boys' "new bathroom." Mitchell has been quite excited about his new bathtub and new potty on which Daddy has been working so hard. I think the tub and toilet were the easy parts! Once the caulk dries, we'll have a functioning bathroom again, but it will still need it's finishing touches. Jeremy did an amazing job on this, and I can't tell him enough. Here are some pre- and in process pictures. Notice the navy blue carpet (that used to be in the whole house) and lovely wallpaper that was behind the mirror. There were two additional layers under it. Yuck.

We are also hoping that before Baby2's arrival we will have a new patio and driveway (this project will be contracted out!). As part of that, we've had a Bobcat onsite, which Mitchell thinks is pretty cool. We also discovered more extensive termite damage (past, not active termites) than we knew about, so some extra work will have to be done. While crummy, we are glad we found it now before part of our house collapsed.

And as all the Facebook friends know out there already, we had "a situation" when we recently had the air ducts cleaned. I like to do that when we move and it just didn't happen two years ago, so I wanted to do it now. That resulted in losing our air conditioning for 2 days (and day 2 was the same day we learned about all the termite stuff). Thankfully, it wasn't 100 degrees, but still no AC at night and pregnant is less than enjoyable. As I sit, it's humming away happily cooling down my sleeping quarters!

No post is complete without Mitchell-so here is one of his very elaborate block creations. These were done with a little adult help, but not much. He's really learned quite a bit about balancing these so he can make his own garages, train stations, and sand castles.

Conversations

2010-06-01T08:40:00.004-05:00

Mitchell has been saying some of the funniest things lately....here's a few.

At about 6am...

MJ: Mommy, I so very hungry.
Me: What do you want?
MJ: A cheesey burger and french fries and milk.
Me: How about a banana?
MJ: Um....OK!

While in Walmart:

MJ: Mommy do you have a white baby or a brown baby in your belly?
Me: A white baby.

The next day at daycare:

Teacher: Mitchell, what's in Mommy's belly?
MJ: A white baby.
Teacher [who happens to be African American, and is laughing]: You better hope so, or your daddy will be mad.

At the annual family reunion:

MJ: Mommy, can we go see "my people?" I want to go see "my friends."
Me: We have to get dressed first.
MJ: I LOVE to get dressed!

In the car:

Me: What do you want with your fish sticks?
MJ: Peas and corn and worms and sticks! [pause] Nah! I so silly.

While arguing about going to the park:

Me: I'm the mommy and I say NO.
MJ: I'm Mitchell and I say YES.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T19:11:00.007-05:00

This weekend marked the 30th year of the Claybrook Family Reunion (Jeremy's Mom's side of the family). Fortunately, it fell at just the right time that I was still allowed to go provided I promised to stop frequently and walk around on the 6 hour trip. What pregnant woman do you know that doesn't have to pee frequently? Between me and a 2 year old, finding a reason to stop wasn't an issue.

Mitchell was very excited about our "trip" and when we did stop, he kept asking if our trip was over, or would whine because he thought it was and didn't approve of the destination! Finally, we arrived at Montgomery Bell State Park in Tennessee (it only took 5 stops in 7 hours...). Mitchell was very excited to see this "family" we kept telling him about and was very excited about the promise of a pool. He seemed to form particular bonds with Huey, the family patriarch and "the girls" especially Grace who is the youngest of the bunch at age 11.

The weekend was fun, and exactly what we expected. Eat. Chat. Eat. Play. Repeat. Mitchell was a great traveller and despite being all off schedule (which we rarely do) he was in good spirits! We even received a few compliments on our parenting, which we take to heart knowing what great kids have been reared by this crowd.

Next year, the Claybrook Clan will have grown by 2 (Baby2 and another Claybrook Baby) and we look forward to attending again!

Mother's Day

2010-05-17T20:56:00.007-05:00

Mother's Day weekend was filled with family fun. Jeremy didn't work on Saturday (for the second Saturday in a row), so we headed out for a family adventure at Powder Valley Conservation area. Mitchell enjoyed the exhibits and we walked the short trail through the park. It was a bit of a blustery day, but fun nonetheless.

Mitchell enjoyed pretending he was a bird in a big bird house, showing Mommy the bee hive (ew) and watching the fish. We also saw several deer feasting on some of the bird food. Unfortuantely our "bug hunt" on the trail didn't bring about much because of the chilly weather.

Sunday, we celebrated Mother's Day with Jeremy's mom and grandma at their house. As a bonus, we were able to spend some time with Rachel and Damian who snuck into town for a quick family visit. After a wonderful brunch, we piled into our cars and headed out to see "Grandaddy's Big Airplane" at the airport. For those that don't know, Grandaddy is a corporate pilot and they recently purchased a new, very fancy GulfStream. If I could fly like that- flying would be much more enjoyable! Maybe I can get Jeremy to do a post about the plane (he took quite a few pictures), because I certainly can't do it justice.

And of course, while there, we got a belly pic- standing next to an airplane makes me look itty bitty, no?

T-minus 11 weeks

2010-05-03T20:40:00.004-05:00

For those of you keeping track, that means I'm just about 29 weeks through this 40 week process of baby growing. And, as the picture shows, the baby needs icecream to grow. We've scheduled the c-section and will meet Baby2 in a mere 75 days (thank you, BabyCenter for that reminder).

We've been enjoying the spring weather, which has been mostly sunny. We've seen a few days of storms here and there, and consequently, are trying to figure out exactly what it means when the warning sirens go off these days. Other than that, we've just been busy working and playing...and not doing much baby prep.

The good news is, we have tile picked out and countertops ordered for the bathroom remodel. We have a theme for the nursery and just need to pick a paint color from a small handful. The baby's closet isn't full of extra storage (tho he still gets some-it's a huge closet!). And finally, we have Mitchell's new furniture picked out- it's BUNK BEDS! We went with bunk beds because they are cool and we never had them as kids it gives us at least one mark in the "cool parent" category. And since this may be the only one, we decided to take it.

In the past few weeks, we've had lots of transportation themed fun. Our local early childhood center hosted a "Things That Go" event that allowed kids to see a water patrol boat, fire truck, ambulance, tree trimmer, a tow truck for semi's....the list goes on! Mitchell had a great time. His favorite was the mobile groomer, complete with dog! The Museum of Transportation, which has a heavy train focus, also had a free weekend during a car show. I got a good picture of my boys there that I just have to share...

Easter Fun

2010-04-04T15:18:00.008-05:00

As we were walking down stairs this morning, Mitchell exclaimed "It's a sunny day!" Yes indeed. It's a beautiful Easter Day in St. Louis. And we don't tire much of them around here.

Our Easter plans kept us in St. Louis this year. While we were snuggling this morning I reminded Mitchell that it was Easter. "The Easter Rabbit left me presents!" The Easter Bunny left Mitchell a nice little haul this morning. I made him wait until Daddy came downstairs to dive into this basket. As soon as Jeremy appeared, he said "there's Daddy! I can play with that ball" which was main attraction in his basket. Mitchell loves his new "fishing game" and we keep reminding him that his new soccer ball is an outside only ball.

After a few rounds of fishin', we got dressed and headed to Grammy and Grandaddy's house for Easter brunch and Nanny's birthday celebration. As always it was a great spread! Mitchell was also excited about the egg hunt to be had there as well! Once we all finished we went outside and found all 16 eggs that were left. Once Mitchell figured out there were actually hidden (and not just laying on the ground like at last week's event) he did pretty good job!

The weather was so great, we just stayed outside and played on the neighbors swingset. Finally, Mitchell plopped down on the couch for a smidge of TV and he fell right asleep! That gave Jeremy a chance to help with some projects and I got some quiet time... Happy Easter to all!

23 weeks

2010-03-28T15:04:00.005-05:00

Here we are at about 23 weeks (which was actually last week). While I feel huge, the pictures don't look as big as I expected them to! I'm pretty much right on pace gaining weight like I did with Mitchell. It was more than recommended, but my doctor wasn't concerned. And, when 10 lbs of that is a baby, it makes it a little better (Did I just inadvertently wish for another 10 lb baby?).

Mitchell enjoys giving my belly zerberts/raspberries. As we were putting paint chips on the wall in the soon-to-be nursery, we started talking about who would be sleeping in there. He still doesn't really get what's going on, but that's ok...he'll figure it out soon enough. We do need to investigate our book options to help with the transition though.

Baby2 is a mover and shaker, that is for sure! Pretty much anytime of day, he's making his presence known. I think his favorite times are after my morning coffee (or any meal for that matter), around 3-4pm and after Mitchell goes to bed. I am also consistently waking up at 3 or 3:30am...anyone care to guess what time I'll be getting up for the middle of the night feeding? Lucky for me, about 2 weeks ago the heartburn kicked in again. What's significant about this is that I hadn't experience heartburn since I was in labor with Mitchell...2.5 years! Well, that's changed and tums are never far away...

I think it's about 16 weeks until Baby2's arrival...we have quite the list to take care of (including a bathroom remodel and getting a new patio, we hope!). Best get moving!

Hare in the Air

2010-03-27T13:40:00.008-05:00

This week, we were invited to Hare in the Air, an Egg Hunt/Event featuring the man of the season- the Easter Bunny! When it comes to Easter, or even Spring in St. Louis, you just don' t know what you are going to get. Today, we got wind and cloudy skies with temps hovering at 50 (but with that wind, if felt cooler).

Jeremy had to work today, so Mitchell and I headed out to see our friends and participate in the festivities. While we waited for the Bunny to arrive by helicopter (or helica-topter, as Mitchell says) we visited the petting zoo area. Mitchell was able to brush a baby dear and help feed a calf. He also loved how soft the bunnies were.

We saw the fire truck and even spent a few minutes inside just to get out of the wind. Then, it was time for EB's arrival! The helicopter did a few loops around the property, then landed. It was a little hard to see, but Easter Bunny walked right by us (accompanied by secret service looking body guards). I assured Mitchell he could see the Bunny when he came to school this week for their spring party.

Finally, it was time for the hunt. Mitchell had carried his basket all around all morning and he was ready to put something IN it. After multiple reminders to not snatch, swipe or push, the lady made an announcement- no parents were allowed in the egg hunt area. No big deal, they had volunteers in there, and quite frankly, since everyone was 3 ft and under in height, it was easy to keep an eye on your own kid. They also had divided the egg hunt by ages, so there weren't big kids to contend with either. She then made us wait another 3 minutes (to be official) while 2 year olds all around us started to collapse.

The egg hunt started successfully, and the kids were doing great. Then, all of the sudden, parents started flooding the area. With a bunch of 5 feet tall people, I now can't see Mitchell and am irked that people couldn't follow the rules. So, in I go to find Mitchell, who has quite the haul. I give a few of his eggs to a little boy who only has a few (which Mitchell was not pleased about) and we are off to investigate the contents. He enjoyed his candy and even won a Scooby Doo plate set! Can you guess what lunch was served on today?

Brothers already

2010-03-15T07:07:00.006-05:00

Last week, we found out that Baby2 is another boy! A very active and proud boy to boot! He was kicking and punching all during the ultrasound, and it was I who said "oh, it's another boy!" The tech laughed a little and said, "you noticed that, did you?" She usually saves the gender for the end, but it was just too obvivous!

Everything at the ultrasound checked out perfectly, and we couldn't be happier. What was interesting is that we were the only boy on day of 20 week ultrasounds that our tech had. She kept commenting on his "cute mouth" and wondering who's it was. So we came home and dug out Mitchell's ultrasound pictures from last time and found them strikingly similar-around the mouth as well. Maybe it's just a parent who can tell how similar they look, but we'll let you compare for youself.

Mitchell

Baby2

Generally, Lovegreen Boys all look the same, so it will be interesting to see how these two compare. We know those West genes are strong as well!

Mitchell isn't too sure what to think of all this baby stuff. He will give my belly kisses, pats and raspberries, but when we look at the pictures, Baby2 is still a dinosaur! Perhaps we need to consider the name Rex.

Last week, we had our first real tastes of spring- which gave Mitchell lots of outside time (and gave us lots of temptation to play hookey)! Well, wouldn't you know that yesterday, Mitchell was just dying to get outside. We braved the drizzle for a little bit, before I convinced him to bring the outside in. He enjoyed washing his rocks (and playing in the water). When it was time to put dry clothes on, I tried on some of his warm weather gear from last year...he spent the rest of the night running around the house like this...

Around the House

2010-02-22T18:45:00.005-06:00

We are definitely feeling cabin fever in these parts and with each sunny day, Mitchell asks if we can stop by the park on the way home. Fortunately, they are getting out a little bit at daycare, as long as the playground isn't too wet and snowy. So, as such, we've just been hanging around the house.

A new fun game for Mitchell is to bury us (or Cadie) with pillows, he gets quite the kick out of it. He especially loves to play this game in our bedroom where our pillows can completely cover him up! Bless our old pup who is oh-so-tolerant of a toddler who has so many games to play with her. We do draw the line at him covering her head with a pillow, punching the ballons at her or using a rope as a leash. I mean really, we can only expect so much, right?

Valentine's day was a lovely lazy day in our house. I think we all stayed in our jammies until 2:00! Here's Mitchell sporting his new Cars sunglasses while feeding his horse "apples."

This weekend, we all took an extra day off. It was great to spend 3 days together as a family, which has been a little harder to do with Jeremy's weekend work schedule. With no major plans and 3 days, we also decided to dive into potty training. In summary, day 1, we did a lot of laundry. Day 2, he was able to keep his pull up dry and potty twice and Nanny's house and day 3, he pee'd on the potty when we "coerced" him to take the time to sit for a minute. I feel like we've made some progress, but we have a long way to go. Good news is, day care is on board with helping us, so tomorrow he goes in undies!

Today we also had our 1 year check up with the ENT. We are thrilled that tubes worked so well for Mitchell as he didn't have one ear infection since he's had them. Both tubes are still "in postition" and working. He also had a full hearing test which he passed (and tolerated!).

Baby2 is growing and kicking, but Jeremy can't feel it yet. We have 2 more weeks until the big ultrasound, and if I remember right we'll schedule the c-section then as well. I'd love for the weather to get a little warmer so I can do a little walking to counter act the peanut butter and icecream I am enjoying! When we first asked Mitchell what was in Mommy's belly, he told me spiders. Then it was a baby dinosaur. Then a baby cow. Then, I explained to him it's a baby, like our friend Baby Luca. Well, now Baby Luca lives in my belly. At least she's human! I do still think he'd perfer the dinosaur. We won't take him to the ultrasound, but we will share the pictures. Then I think I'll take him to one of my quick checks so he can hear the heart beat.

A Birthday

2010-02-09T17:47:00.004-06:00

We celebrated Superbowl Sunday by heading to Jeremy's old roost for dinner with his mom, step dad and grandma. We were in charge of bringing the cake, which was Jeremy's usual of chocolate with chocolate frosting and M&Ms.

Mitchell was really excited about "Daddy's Happy Birthday" and had a really hard time waiting to have cake. I told him we would eat cake after dinner at Grammy's. He must've missed the "after dinner" part because he wanted cake as soon as we walked in the door! While sitting at the table, Jeremy informed him he would need to eat his dinner before cake. Mitchell promptly responded by turning his back on Jeremy, folding his arms and giving a big HMPH. He did finally eat (very well, I might add).

For those of you that know Jeremy, you know he can eat his weight in chocolate when the mood is right. It's amazing to watch really. I believe the saying goes "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Mitchell was really excited about his chocolate cake- and proceeded to eat every bit of his piece, leaving his scoop of icecream to melt. Me on the other hand, I'd like to have some icecream with a side of cake. I guess I better get used to baking chocolate cakes for my boys' birthdays!

Mitchell really liked the idea of Daddy having a Happy Birthday. He was even willing to get out of the day's comfies and wear his train shirt (as well as the hat and scarf!). When helping me to wrap gifts, he snatched one from the pile and took it to daddy saying "Daddy, I have a present for you! TA DA!" It was very sweet, even if it was unwrapped and a day early.

Unfortunately, Jeremy's actually birthday left him feeling under the weather with a nasty head cold. The snow led to a slow day at work, and he was able to come home early to relax. Hopefully, he'll be on the mend quickly so we can have his birthday dinner and enjoy it!

17 weeks

2010-02-09T17:37:00.003-06:00

See that? That's a second pregnancy for you. This 17 week belly looks pretty similar to my 21 week belly from Mitchell.

We had a check up this week and all is well. Heartbeat was strong and as evidenced by said belly, the baby is growing. By this point with Mitchell, I was feeling him move pretty regularly, but not with this one. No worries though, just means stuff is arranged differently.

My current complaint is pretty minor really...I just feel like my tummy muscles ache all the time. My doctor laughed and said, "well, you did have a 10 lb baby. Those muscles just won't be the same." She did go on to say that my poor muscles are trying (unsuccessfully) to hold in something small and as Baby2 continues to grow, I should feel better. Hmmm, I'm not sure that makes my head feel better!

We've only barely started to talk to Mitchell about what's going on. When asked what's in Mommy's belly he frequently responds "spiders" and once said "baby dinosaurs." Who can live up to those expectations?!?!

Notice Anything?

2010-01-11T20:04:00.001-06:00

We made a few changes to our blog today...can you find them?

Snow Day

2010-01-08T19:36:00.008-06:00

It's no secret, the midwest got hammered by winter storms, which meant roughly 4 inches for St. Louis. Schools were called off, and my office building didn't even open until noon, so I got a snow day too! All across Facebook, I saw status updates and pictures of kids going out to play. Seriously, I thought my friend had gone mad. We spent our snow day INSIDE. And what did we do?

We looked at the cold snow, from the toasty warm family room.

We danced, played in forts and ran circles around the main floor.

We laughed a lot, and made funny faces.

We watched TV, and fell asleep before lunch.

We made art with markers for Daddy. Which was to include stickers.

But stickers are more fun on our bellies.

We spent time hugging and kissing Cadie (but the picture is from another day).

And we spent time cuddling, loving and kissing Mommy!

End of 2009

2010-01-01T10:42:00.015-06:00

As I sit here, sleep deprived from a late night out and an early morning, I can take a few quiet moments (which have been rare this year with a toddler) to think about the Christmas festivities that have taken place over the last two weeks. In short, it was time well spent with family relaxing, eating, and laughing. Not a bad way to spend Christmas if you ask me.

Mitchell was really into Christmas this year (as long as we didn't have to actually get too close to Santa). As the days grew closer, he kept "hearing" Santa or wanted to search the house for him as if he was playing hide and seek with Daddy. Suprisingly, he left the gifts alone until Christmas Eve morning- which was when we opened presents at home before traveling to mid-MO. Mitchell opened his first present (a car transporter for his hot wheels) and proclaimed "Thanks, it's so cool!" While adorable, I began to wonder where my little baby had gone! Our family enjoyed our brief Christmas moments together and we all must've been on the nice list since we got almost everything on our list!

We loaded up the car and headed west. First stop was Nanny's house, just 15 minutes away where Nanny, Grammy, Grandaddy and Great Uncle Jimmy were waiting. We enjoyed an amazing brunch and Mitchell was spoiled with wonderful gifts including his Tonka truck, remote controlled car and more train tracks! It became clear at this point that the unintentional theme of Mitchell's Christmas was "things that go." Now, here is where I admit that we tend not to take as many pictures as we should of the family that we see often in St. Louis...I have not one good picture from this celebration. Something I will have to remedy in 2010.

The next stop was a little further, 2 hours away in driving rain. This was to spend Christmas day and weekend with my immediate family at my sister's house. The cousins had a great time entertaining each other and sharing their new toys. Mitchell wanted a few of the presents when he ran out of things to open (afterall, there must be more, right?) but did a great job. Santa brought him some very cool stocking stuffers- including new big boy underwear- and classic wooden blocks. Needless to say, Mitchell's 2010 Resolution is potty training...I hope.

Upon our return to St. Louis, we enjoyed yet another brunch with Jeremy's Dad (aka Gramps) and that side of the crew. (Can you ever have too much egg casserole in a week? I think not.)Noticeably missing was Jeremy's grandmother this year. Oddly enough, Mitchell wanted to play with what she bought him last year, just letting us know she truly was with us that morning. Again, we lack pictures of this family get together, but the memories are with us nonetheless. Mitchell has enjoyed all of his gifts, which have prompted Mom and Dad to do a massive toy shift and pack some things away for a bit.

We are so thankful to have time with my parents from Florida, and extended stay with the Moore's and lots of cousin playtime (which we never can get enough of). At the same time, we still are able to enjoy the company of our St. Louis family. And with all we did to celebrate Christmas and family, it was 100% enjoyable and stress free. Merry Christmas!

I hear...

2009-12-22T06:47:00.002-06:00

G'ma and Papa began their Christmas visit last weekend. No pictures were taken (yet) but we did get one pretty funny story.

On Sunday morning, I woke Mitchell up and promptly got him dressed since he slept in the same pajamas he wore all day on Saturday (see what happens when Mommy is sick?). As we were walking down the stairs, Mitchell stops halfway and says:

"Mommy, I hear Santa."

"Mitchell, I think you hear G'ma. Santa comes in a few more days."

Good thing that was an acceptable answer!

Christmas Anticipation

2009-12-18T06:21:00.006-06:00

Here we are, just one week away from the big day! This year, Mitchell is learning more about Christmas and this silly man named Santa. When the season first started, all presents were for "Happy Birthdays." Now, he'll tell you that Santa brings presents. Hmmm....we may have some more work to do on the Season of Giving part.

To keep things as fun and low stress as possible, we selected two special activities. First, we took Mitchell to the early childhood center for a night of Gingerbread House making! How perfect! We get a gingerbread house and someone else gets the mess! How's this for a budding artist? Now, I say this was supposed to be low stress, because when I registered for it in September, we had nothing on the calendar. Well, as usual, life happened. Jeremy was scheduled to close and I was required to attend a tribute reception at work that evening. But, a Chritmas miracle occured and Daddy and Mitchell had a great time.

Next on the list was a "Santa Walk" at a local park. What is cool about this park is that is has a bunch of farm animals too (you know for us city dwellers!). The park was to be lit up with lights, there were cookies and hot chocolate and there was rain. Yup, that was a bummer. We enjoyed the event with friends, as we rushed from one shelter to another avoiding the rain. All day we talked about Santa and getting ready to talk with him. Well, when the moment came, Mitchell wouldn't get within 4 feet of the man. Mrs. Claus, she was OK. She had candy canes. Fortunately, we didn't expect much, and just enjoyed the evening out doing something different.

We did also spend a morning baking cookies last weekend. I thought maybe we'd have a few for Santa or G'ma and Papa's visit, but no such luck. We ate them all. Mitchell loved helping to cook and even managed to steal a pre-cooked peanut butter blossom to enjoy! More cookie making is to come! It's so much fun to have a little elf to help with all the Christmas traditions this year.

Today, G'ma and Papa leave toasty Florida to come to chilly Missouri. They will share time between our home and my sisters...but we will all be together for a noisey, fun holiday! Can't wait!

Stuffed Turkeys

2009-12-06T21:38:00.008-06:00

I think we have finally digested all the turkey we ate over Thanksgiving last weekend (wow, was that just a little over a week ago?). We weren't sure if Mitchell really understood the entire holiday, but we kept telling him it was a day to eat a special meal with family. Well, who is he to turn down turkey, stuffing, potatoes and other fixin's?!?!?

We spent Thanksgiving at Gramps' house, where Gramps put out a special train for Mitchell to play with. Well, the first mistake was showing Mitchell the train before dinner...I'm not sure who was more excited, Gramps or Mitchell! We were able to coax Mitchell upstairs for dinner, but as soon as he was done all we heard was "Go play with Gramps' train?" This kid does love his trains.

We weren't the only guests. Much of Miss Jean's family was there and we always enjoy their company. They were all thoroughly entertained by Mitchell's request for just "ommore" (one more) peanut M&M. His preference for peanut M&Ms over plain show the strength of the West Family genes (or perhaps it goes back to the Kirkendalls, I'm not sure).

We also had another Thanksgiving meal at our house with Hubby's mom, step-dad and grandma (aka Nanny) on Black Friday. It was another great meal, with leftovers- and that was our goal! After a weekend of turkey, I was happy to make a lasagna on Sunday!

Just an Update

2009-11-23T19:51:00.004-06:00

Hello beloved Blog Fans...we are still here! And really, there's no good reason for not really blogging, other than there hasn't been all that much to blog about. Daily life has been treating us well.

When I'm not wanting to pull my hair out over a two year old tantrum, Mitchell is making us laugh with the most hysterical sayings. Fortunately for me, the latter happens more frequently than the former. We find ourselves laughing at him on a daily basis. I guess this reminds me of something my dad said to me years ago: "Hey, your mom and I needed some more entertainment, that's why we had kids!"

Mitchell has been engaging in much more pretend play these days. He pretends to feed his dinosaurs his play kitchen food and one day was going to work and needed his coffee (like Mommy and Daddy have every morning). So we prepared him a cup of "coffee-water" out of one of our travel coffee mugs. It was all pretty entertaining.

I'm ready to plow into the holiday season with Thanksgiving festivities this week. We actually started a few weeks ago with "Thanksgiving" when Aunt Rachel was in town two weeks ago. We had a great time with them and hope a January trip to St. Louis is truly in the works! But this week, bring on Thanksgiving, and some Christmas carols!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T19:23:00.010-06:00

"Trick or Treat!"

We didn't have any plans for Halloween so we took the Cousins up on their offer to come visit them for Trick or Treating fun. This was especially wonderful since the Moore Girls couldn't join us for our wedding weekend in North Carolina.

Daddy had to work (BOO!) but we made the trip to Mid-MO with no problems. Mitchell is a great traveller! Once we got there, there was some playtime and lunch (well, sorta) and more playtime. Really, who could eat with all of these fun toys to play with?!?!

Everyone took a great nap (except for the adults, who spent 2.5 hours trying to copy ONE CD...). Then it was time to get ready for the big event...TRICK OR TREATING!

All three cousins dressed up in their costumes: the fairy princess (who was as beautiful as can be), an Energizer Bunny (who lives up to the name) and our Train Conductor. We were even able to get all three of them looking at the camera for a picture. Amazing, isn't it?

The kids had a great time trick or treating. Mitchell quickly learned to say "Trick or Treat" followed by a very polite "Thank you!" at each house. We visited the neighbors "scary" house before it got dark, and visitied about another 6-10 houses before the little ones called it a night. Josie led the crew followed by Mitchell who was constantly trying to catch up-- saying JOSIE all the way. Norah brought up the rear. Bless her heart, she had her pumpkin of candy and the drum for her costume, so she didn't move very fast. She was determined, however to do it herself, which she did!

Once back at the Moore Manse, Norah and Mitchell then enjoyed some Halloween ghost cookies thanks to Uncle Eric and a sucker while they played. Josie got to head back out to make more of a haul. Gee, none of those pumpkins had any chocolate in them this morning. I wonder why that is?

Beautiful Weekend

2009-10-25T20:08:00.003-05:00

I wasn't sure we were actually going to make it to this weekend because October has been one busy month-and we still have a fun filled week left!! Lots of weekend work and long hours made the days go slow but the weeks tick by fast as we anxiously awaited the arrival of our trip to North Carolina.

Now, this wasn't just any trip. This was a trip to see one of my only two cousins (yes 2!) get married. Wrapped up in that was the joy of seeing family, and introducing Mitchell to his other Great Grandma, who we lovingly call G'ma Weezy." Now, this is not because she is weezy, but rather because her name is Louise. Mitchell caught on fast, and was giving "Gramma Weezy" high fives and kisses in a matter of minutes after meeting her. Afterall, what's not to love?

While Mitchell was able to join in the fun with my sister and I for the trip, Jeremy and Molly's family held down our respective forts in Missouri. I have to say, while I missed having our complete family together, it was great to have a sister weekend. She had time to get to know Mitchell a little better and we could be with our parents without as many distractions. She's been married for 12 years and me for 7, so it's been awhile since our immedite family has really had a chance to spend time together like that.

The wedding was wonderful, the bride-beautiful. While I don't see my cousins nearly as often as I'd like, I really got the sense that the ceremony spoke to her and her new husband. We had a suprise lunch with my other cousin, who just happened to be at the same restaurant we were, escaping wedding day insanity. That was an added bonus. The red, yellow and orange of Fall colors grew more beautiful each day we were there, which gave us a lovely backdrop to a family fun weekend.

And to top it off, Mitchell was a great traveler and quite the charmer. It doesn't get much more beautiful than that! As Mitchell said each day "Mommy, Had a good day!"

CANDY!

2009-09-20T20:56:00.008-05:00

Well, it was a good run while it lasted, but Mitchell has now come to understand how wonderful sugar really is.

Earlier in the week, a pouch of fruit snacks came home from daycare. I say "oh, OK, he doesn't really like them, which is fine with me." Well apparently I was wrong. Right outside of daycare, we had our little fruit snack picnic (afterall, I wasn't about to let those sticky things get all smooshed in his car seat). He ate them all and looked for more. That should've been my first clue.

A bit spur of the moment, we called up a coworker (and friend!) whose son is in the same room as Mitchell. Both of us were playing "single mom" on Saturday so we took advantage of the amazing weather and headed to Kirkwood for the Greentree Festival Parade. Now, I thought the main attraction would be the police cars, fire trucks, horses and Moolah cars. And don't get me wrong, he loved those too. But he was very curious as to what all these wonderful people were handing out! At any given time, he had about 4-6 Starbursts in his hands. And then the Dum Dum lollipops started to appear. Next thing I know, Mitchell has one unwrapped and he is sitting happily on the blanket next to us (a friend we made while there) enjoying this special treat (after having a half a granola bar and a bag of fruit snacks- not to mention breakfast!). The problem was, he then wanted to raid the pile we were hoarding to eat all the lollipops.

We all enjoyed the parade and some time in the fresh air. Mitchell finally came down from his sugar high and was able to take a late nap. Funny thing was, that was the best nap he's had in a while. When I asked him if he wanted to go see the hot air balloons at the Forest Park Balloon Race, he mumbled at me and went back to sleep for another 45 minutes!

Weekend with Friends

2009-09-07T12:57:00.009-05:00

What else signifies Labor Day weekend other than a road trip? With a car full of gas we headed up to the Chicago 'burbs to visit with my friends from college and their families. Not only did we get to see our dear friends from Madison, Wisconsin and the new house of our friends in Oak Lawn, Mitchell was pretty excited about waking up every morning to his favorite playmate- Brooke! (We always enjoy time with Brooke's mommy and daddy too).

The weekend was spent chatting and playing outside in the beautiful weather. Not one drop of rain fell, and we all enjoyed the backyard swingset. Mitchell and Brooke mastered "big kid" swings on the swingset in the yard too. Nearby was a city park that had a great playground. The kids of all ages enjoyed playing "Diego" on the zipline, swinging and climbing. I'm not sure who was more tired when we left, the kids or the adults! We also took a short hike at a local Forest Preserve to tire out little legs before a long car ride back to Missouri. It was a neat area. A one-room school house displayed area wildlife and facts about the school. A short nature trail passed fields of yellow wildflowers, ponds filled with lilly pads and fish. Beavers and squirrels weren't far away either, as evidenced by the trees around us.

We drove back last night to St. Louis- which proved to be a smart move in many ways. Mitchell was a great traveller, got some good sleep in the car and we didn't have to fight holiday traffic. As a bonus, we get to catch up on weekend chores thanks to the extra day this weekend! It was a great weekend and a wonderful way to close out summer. Now, the fast pace of fall kicks into high gear with a full calendar. It's filled, which keeps it busy, but it's filled with fun!

Table Rock and More Talk

2009-08-26T20:58:00.011-05:00

Numbers by Mitchell (with increasing excitement):

"one, two...seven, eight, NINE, TEN! Good Counting!"

Last weekend was spent at a cute little condo at Table Rock Lake. Grammy and Grandaddy hauled the boat down so we could all spend a little time on the lake, and Mitchell could get his first boat ride in! Fortunately for us, Mitchell loves wearing a coat in general. There have been days when we opened the closet and he screamed for a coat even when it was 90 degrees outside. Getting him to wear a life vest was easy. Grandaddy also set the rules from the get go too!

Mitchell was really excited about "Dad-daddy's" boat. He even stayed excited once we got moving. The morning was cool, so we just rode around for a while, then found a quiet cove where Grammy and Mitchell could do some fishing. Grammy kept saying "he'll be more excited about it when we catch our first fish." I think Mitchell may just be like his mommy and not quite patient enough for hobbies like fishing. But, he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

After fishing, Daddy got in the water to try out the wake board. Now, Jeremy can water ski easily and even slalom skis. The wake board, however, did not prove to be his friend. After a particularly unkind fall, he called it a day and Grammy took to the water. Water skiing is like riding a bike (unless you are me...) and she was out of the water and skiing on the first pull!

It was time to head back for lunch and a nap, but Mitchell couldn't wait. All that excitement, fresh air and sunshine made him fall asleep on the ride back to the dock. Overall, a good time was had by all!

Much like his aforementioned counting, Mitchell is cracking me up with the things he says (at least when it's not a sharp NO, BE NICE or Mitchell TAKE that I sometimes get). Today as he's playing trains while I'm getting ready for an evening walk, he says "Hello, Mommy...Hi, Sweetheart, Hi Baby." I guess it obvious how I respond to him, isn't it?

2 Years...

2009-08-18T21:44:00.005-05:00

Sunday was the big day- Mitchell turned 2! To celebrate we had friends and family over for some fun in the sun. The kids had a great time playing in the kiddie pool, running in sprinkers and riding bikes. I think the adults enjoyed each others company too! Here's a few pics from the day.

Mitchell swimming with his friends AJ and Wyatt. What was fun about these guys is that they are all 6 months apart. AJ is 2.5, Mitchell 2 and Wyatt 1.5...

Mitchell was very excited about his "new" bike that his friend Evann gave him! He wouldn't let anyone else ride it!

Of course, there was cake- well cupcakes. We let the kids decorate their own cupcakes for a fun activity. They all seemed to enjoy it and didn't even make too much of a mess. Mitchell did a great job of blowing out his candle, and really enjoyed eating his cupcake. Here's Mitchell with Grammy- one of his many birthday buddies.

Mitchell made quite the haul in presents. New dinosaurs and bath toys, fall clothes and books- just to name a few. After a friend's birthday party at the Museum of Transporation, we decided to get Mitchell a train table. It's also great for playing with cars or Little People too, but right now it's all about the train. Thankfully, he got a train set too (of course, we planned that). Here are my boys having a grand old time with the train.

It's been a busy few days being 2. Mitchell has moved up to the 2's room in daycare where the day is a little more structured and includes circle time. This morning he had a "mostly" well-baby visit. Apparently, we have a case of hand, foot and mouth disease again (rash only, no sore throat or fever thank goodness). He got his flu shot already for this season and will only need to go back should an H1N1 vaccine become available or if he gets sick. Other than that, we don't see the doctor again for another year!

More Mitchell Funnies

2009-08-14T12:31:00.003-05:00

While leaving daycare the other day:

MJ: "Big kids potty."
Me: "That's right. Big kids use the potty."
MJ: "Conner go potty."
Me: Oh, really? Does Mitchell want to go potty?"
MJ: "No, Mommy go on the potty."

When given a bite of broccoli to try:

"No. Mommy bite. Me no like."

And the king of all sentences (of course, said in toddler talk)....

"Cadie, walk outside and go to park in stroller."

WOW, he sure knew what he wanted!

And my favorite from today:

MJ: "Mommy, more water."
Me: [while thinking when will he say please!] "Here ya go Buddy."
MJ: [unprompted] "Thank you Mommy."

Blackberries and Peaches

2009-08-08T12:06:00.005-05:00

After being in Lake of the Ozarks for 3 days for work, Mitchell and I woke up early to head to Ekert's Farm in Belleville for some blackberry and peach picking with Brooke and her parents! (It's important to note that Mitchell has been asking to see his dear friend for awhile now, so we have plans for a lot of Brooke-time this weekend!)

I think I've mentioned before that Mitchell doesn't really eat fresh fruit, unless its hiding in yogurt. Our first stop was blackberries. We took a short ride on a bus to where the blackberries were growing and the kids went to town! Brooke and Mitchell were told to get the "black ones, not the red ones." Mitchell loved holding the bucket, and Brooke loved eating the berries! Mitchell did try one, and promptly spit it out. We like to think he left it for the birds. This mommy, on the other hand, really enjoyed eating them right off the vine!

Next up was peach picking, but not before a fun tractor ride! Mitchell has been very interested in "things that go" lately, so this was quite a treat. Once we got to the orchard, Mitchell did a great job helping me pick more peaches than we could eat! He even tried a few bites- but of course spit it out each time. At least he's trying! Brooke, however, is her mother's daughter and she gobbled hers up in no time!

The heat came in fast this morning, so we were glad to go early and hit the road as it was getting busy at the farm. Mitchell had a great nap on the way home, so here's hoping he'll go down again this afternoon!

Chatterbox

2009-08-05T16:42:00.003-05:00

I know, I know...it's been awhile. Quite honestly, I've come to the blog a few times in the last couple weeks and then thought "what on earth do I have to say to the folks who read this?" And there was no picture to post, so I just skipped it.

Now, isn't it ironic...I had nothing to say, yet the title is Chatterbox?

Well, I don't have much to say, but Mitchell sure does! Really, he is much more of a parrot these days, but he's repeating full sentences instead of just single words. And it's just hilarious to listen to him when he's playing. Here's a few examples.

Cadie whines.
MJ's response: "Cadie, go ow-side?" (which is what we say before we let her out). What's funnier is that any non-barking noise from the dog triggers this response.

Cadie jumps on us as we come home.
MJ's response: "Cadie OFF!" (with extreme emphasis on the Fs).

Parent: "Mitchell, it's time to go to school."
Mj: "Mommy's car!"
Parent: "No, you are going in Daddy's car today."
MJ: "Daddy's car. Zoom Zoom."

While playing with a pretend train, that is acutally a bunch of Little People fences snapped together.
"Train go choo choo. Train by house." Then...."uh oh! Train broken, Mitchell ix (fix) it. All bettert!" (no, the added t is not a typo).

My mom also came to town for a quick visit before hopping in the van with my sister and her kids to head back to Florida. When I told Mitchell G'ma was coming I got the Florida run-down.
"Gamma? Papa? Kitty. Airpane! Ocean! Swim! Boats!"

Yes, these are all things in Florida. At least once a week, I pick up Mitchell from daycare and he says to me. "Mommy airpane!" Sorry Mitchell, it'll be awhile before we go to Florida again. "Mommy, ocean? Airpane?" I think he's onto something there....

Rainy Day Fun

2009-07-12T20:29:00.006-05:00

The storms rolling through St. Louis this afternoon reminded me of the fun Mitchell had playing in the rain on vacation in Florida (no, I didn't forget to post, time just got away from me!). During one of the afternoon showers there, we let him play on the deck, and he had a great time. Some areas were covered and in other areas the water pooled for good splashing fun. You can see how truly happy he was doing something oh-so-simple. The routine was laugh, run, splash, run, laugh, repeat. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Florida: Deep Sea Fishing

2009-06-30T21:20:00.010-05:00

After our time in Tampa, we headed east 3 hours to Vero Beach. There we rented a house with Jeremy's mom, step-dad, grandma, uncle, sister and bother-in-law...that makes 9 people all together.

The second day we were there, everyone (minus Mitchell and me) went deep sea fishing- Nanny included! While they didn't catch a ton of fish, they did catch some barracuda, dolphin fish (aka Mahi Mahi) and mackrel. It made for good eating that night and the rest of the trip, that's for sure! Normally, the fishing boats can only take 6 people, but since this capitan didn't use a first mate, they could take all 7 on one ship, which was really nice.

The fishermen woke up at 4:30 that morning to head out, while I happily rolled over and went back to sleep (and thankfully, Mitchell didn't wake during the morning comotion). I missed a beautiful sunrise and calm waters, but that's OK. Bruce, the capitan had 3 lines cast at any one time, and each person got to rotate pulling in a catch, again Nanny included! I think she did much better than I would have at reeling in a catch.

When you look at the picture of the day's catch, you may have noticed the back end of a fish missing. Uncle Jim was working on reeling in a mackrel (how the capitan knew this, we have no idea). All of the sudden, there was no fight and everyone thought he lost it from the line. As Jim kept going, the fish was pulled into the boat with no tail! With little to-do, Bruce announced "a cuda got him." All in all, the touristy fishermen had a great time and felt successful in their adventure!

So, what did Mommy and Mitchell do all day? We took it easy. We played around the house (and had a blast with smiley face stickers) and headed out to the local park and "splash pad." It was a good, low key day in the middle of the trip (the last picture is by far one of my favorites).

Florida, part 1

2009-06-28T21:41:00.016-05:00

It's late Sunday night, and I'm holding on to the last moments of vacation that we have left. Laundry's done, groceries are bought and the Lad is fast asleep. As I catch up on blogs, emails and good ol' Facebook, I can't let the night pass without starting to post about our big family vacation (have you seen my sister being a blogging fanatic??? Pressure is on!). Vacation was big- big in days (10!), big in location (Florida beaches!) and big on Family. We were so lucky to spend all those days together as our family of three, see my parents in Tampa and spend time with Jeremy's family in Vero Beach.

So, part one: Tampa (there will be several blog posts over the next several days!)

We got in late on Wednesday night so we'd be ready for fun in the sun on Thursday morning! And ready we were! Mitchell was super excited about swimming...when he talked about it he meant the pool (at least at this point in the trip). G'ma had gotten him a beach ball and floatie and he was ready to go! Who needs a pool really? We got much more mileage out of the floatie inside than we did at the pool.

The boys had a great time swimming- and me too, you just don't see that in pictures! With the pool right next to "Grandma and Grandma-papa's" house, we could go often. Mitchell got the hang of counting here, getting ready to be thrown up into the air!

Mitchell also had his first experience with a beach and the ocean while we were in Tampa. Really, it was just a warm up for what was to come in Vero Beach. He walked carefully with Daddy, Mommy or both of us and enjoyed hitting and kicking the waves. Please note: This was the only day we could successfully get him to wear those swim shoes. Once sand was in and on them, they needed to be off- permanently. There went $12.95.

It was a little breezy that day at the beach. At one point, when Mitchell got sand in his mouth, he tried to wipe it out with sandy hands! Well, that didn't work at all and he came crying to me with a tongue covered in sand.

Next on the list was the Florida Aquarium located in Tampa. We went here on Father's Day when Dad's got in free! It was a hot day and a busy one for the Aquarium. We were glad we got there early. There was quite a bit to see! "Ficks" (fish), turtles, ducks, stingrays and sharks. Mitchell's favorite things as of late are fish, sharks and other sea creatures and transportation, so you can imagine the excitement over all these fish.

There were some fun shells to climb in and out of there too. Mitchell did half a dozen laps before finally deciding it was ok to climb inside.

While there, Jeremy and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary by going to Bern's Steakhouse for dinner. It was really great to get dressed up and go out to dinner at such a nice place, especially after last year's anniversary which was celebrated by moving into our house. We had ate amazing steak and side dishes, toured the kitchen and wine cellar and ate a scrumptious chocolate chip soufle for dessert. It was a great evening out, and we were glad that my parents encouraged us to go and that we could get reservations.

Tampa was a wonderful kickoff to our vacation, and we really enjoyed the time there. There were so many more pictures...perhaps a slide show is in order before it's all said and done. Stay tuned...

Future Embarrassment

2009-06-12T21:13:00.004-05:00

You know that one picture that your parents brought out to show your high school boy- (or girl-) friend? Usually you were chubby, naked and in the bath...Well, we have our picture which will be used for such occasions.

Mitchell had been outside playing in the water, and his pants got wet, so he wanted them off, then his shirt and finally we got his shoes and socks off when he came in the house. Then, it was time to wear Mommy's shoes and click them loudly on the floor.

In other fun, we got a piano! Mitchell's already working on his skills...but formal lessons won't come until later!

Signs of Summer

2009-05-31T21:30:00.009-05:00

Summer is my favorite time of year- and while Mitchell loves it as well, he has more of his daddy's temperature than mine. The poor boy gets significantly sweaty at 80 degrees and had a nice looking heat rash over Memorial Day weekend. Oh, and we can't forget the first blood-producing skinned knee. Yup, summer is here.

Summer isn't summer without BBQ's and corn on the cob. Mitchell really likes corn on the cob. He likes it with butter and salt and perferably half eaten by someone else. But once he dives in, he eats each kernel that is left. Don't fool him with a half ear tho- nope, he wants the whole ear!

Grammy and GranDaddy's pool isn't quite ready for swimming, so we are improvising with some water fun in the back yard. We have some toys and cups to play with in the water, but it's much more fun just to splash in it or throw the ball into it (which also makes a huge splash). The picture on the right is Mitchell singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It made me laugh, so I had to share it.

We've just been livin' the dream, as we like to say...the daily grind keeps us busy but we are enjoying doing some more work on the house, chasing Mitchell and I've been out riding my bike in preparation for 3 days of RAGBRAI. He's talking up a storm! What used to be "yaya" is now "water" and "Kiki" is now "Cadie." Tonight, Cadie was looking out the back door when Mitchell went up to her, put his arm around her and said, fairly clearly, "Cadie, bunny outside." It was precious (and accurate!). Cadie is quickly becoming Mitchell's best friend...although I am not sure feeling is mutual.

Look at me...

2009-05-11T20:20:00.008-05:00

...I'm binky free! That's right, we've been binky free for a week now, and there is no going back! How grown up does our little boy look?

Last Monday, daycare sent a note home saying that Mitchell had been binky free for several weeks during his naps there. I had mentioned in passing that they could try to do without it at naptime, but that I wasn't ready to fight a battle, it was much more important for us that he get adequate sleep. Well, the jig was up. We had to do some baby shuttling last Monday because Hubby and I had dental appointments. So, we were all off schedule and while he had his binky earlier, I hid it in my pocket and put him down for the night without him even asking for it. On day 2, we were getting a lovey that had fallen behind the crib and I heard the well known "Beedee?" I told him we didn't have one and he was fine with it. He hasn't looked back since.

Now, I was all prepared to fight this big huge battle, and I was trying to figure out when to do it. Lucky us, there wasn't a battle to be fought. We are so screwed for potty training (pardon me, I mean toliet learning-gag).

We were playing outside while dinner cooked this evening and Mitchell had a blast playing with his new t-ball set (Daddy was very proud of his stance), kicking and thowing balls and stomping in mud puddles (we can thank Grammy for that one!).

A trip to the Zoo

2009-05-06T19:23:00.006-05:00

Can someone tell me how it got to be MAY already? Time flies! Life since Easter has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. While we were in Mid-MO for Easter, Jeremy's grandmother, who was being treated for Leukemia (AML), was hospitalized as the disease began moving faster than the treatment she was receiving. She put up a strong fight for a week before slipping away from this world peacefully. She was surrounded by friends and family and under the treatment of Hospice at the time.

While the circumstances were sad, her passing gave us quality time with family, an opportunity to share memories and flip through photos. Her memorial service was perfect, and the pastor did a wonderful job. Jeremy's sister and brother in law came in town for the services. Since there were already here and the weather was perfect- Mitchell and I played hookey and we all took a trip to the zoo.

IT. WAS. NUTS. A packed house! We got there early, because the Children's Zoo is free the first hour they are open. We parked and made the trek to the entrance where we saw class after class on a field trip. At the Children's Zoo, Mitchell looked at fish, frogs, turtles and got to pet a guinea pig. Then, as we moved along, we saw a goat and relative of a cow together before we passed the sea otters and owl our way to pet the goats. Along the way, we stopped to check out the catepillar on the gound. Be gentle with caterpillars tho, or they might squish. Mitchell had a great time pointing to the animals and telling other kids what they were. He even proudly yelled MAAAAAAAAAA in the middle of all the goats!

We attempted another carousel ride, and again, Mitchell only wanted to sit on a bench, even with Mommy willing to sit with him on a horse! We then hiked on over to the where the Elephants are before stopping for lunch and heading home. Does this look like a little boy who needs lunch or a nap?

After saying HI to Raja, we found a nice shaddy place to eat some lunch and we headed home. Needless to say this little boy was sawing logs before we hit the highway.

Easter Proper

2009-04-18T09:53:00.009-05:00

For those of you who also visit my sister's blog, you've already gotten the Easter run down. But, I don't think everyone goes to visit 2 Moore Girls, so here's our perspective! We had planned to head to the Moore Manse for Easter for some time, and wouldn't you know it, Mitchell had a fever on Friday afternoon. Fortunately, he seemed to sleep it off, and was ready to hit the road the next morning. Two+ hours later, we arrived and the cousins were ready for some playtime! Mitchell was ready for lunch.

A special request had been made to the Easter Bunny to have festivities on Saturday. I'm sure the Easter Bunny appreciates these requests, because he can check kids off of his to-visit list before Sunday! It was a beautiful day to hunt eggs (and the pick day of the weekend). After his warm up hunt at Daycare, Mitchell knew just what to do. Norah was quick to grab every egg she could, but Mitchell and Josie got their fair share. After the hunt, we explored baskets inside. Mitchell was more intersted in what was in everyone elses basket than his own.

The little ones went down for a nap, and it was time for the rest of us to play Wii. EB had brought a new game to the house, so we all had to try it out. Then, I challenged hubby to boxing match, and I got the knock out! We played a lot that day- so much so we woke up sore the next day. We had a great time challenging each other. We also caught some cute cousin moments as bedtime neared.

On Sunday, we headed to Aunt Molly's church. We were hoping Mitchell would play in the nursery with his cousin, but he had other plans. Apparently he likes to hear Handel's Hallelujah Chorus as well! After lunch, we headed back to St. Louis to face the week. Mitchell slept nearly the whole way home! It was so wonderful to spend time with my sister and her family- something that happens all to rarely. We'll have to work on that!

Easter Preview

2009-04-08T20:32:00.011-05:00

Today, I was able to get away from work for an hour to celebrate Easter at the Spring Party held at Mitchell's daycare. While I was running late and didn't see him interact with the Easter Bunny, I was told that he did not like being close to him. Oddly enough, it was the first thing he told me about when he saw me..the "bunny, outside, hop-hop."

The toddler room celebrated easter with sticker art (a favorite), an easter egg hung on the playground and a yummy lunch with special treats like fruit salad, cheese sticks, and home baked cookies for snack- YUM! No wonder he hardly ate dinner.

Aunt Rachel came in town from Florida today, so we continued with the Easter theme by having dinner at Grammy and Grandaddy's. Mitchell was so lucky to get a great Easter basket while he was there with books, eggs, a stuffed bunny and sandpails in preparation for our summer vacation! This weekend, we head to see our neices in Mid-MO, where I hear a special request has been made to the Easter bunny to hide eggs on Saturday!

First Hair Cut

2009-03-28T12:40:00.005-05:00

The other day, hubby says "Mitchell needs a hair cut." Um, OK. I call up my salon who gives a free first haircut and make an appointment. He walked in and started running around, showing everyone his new shoes that he got earlier this week.

Mitchell was all for running around, but not so excited about sitting in the chair. Actually, I had to sit him on my lap while Kim cut his hair. A new friend was quickly made at the salon when she brought over a graham cracker and entertained him with a rousing game of peek-a-boo from behind the mirror.

When we were done, we got a few pictures for keepsakes, but these are all after the fact. What's intersting is that his hair looks more blonde in person, is brown in the keepsake envelope and appears reddish in these pictures.

(and in case you are wondering, he's holding some of those gel window clings the salon had on their mirrors to celebrate Easter)

Lovin' Spring

2009-03-24T10:34:00.008-05:00

All of us are glad it's finally spring. Mitchell loves being outside (where's the sunscreen?), Cadie's getting walked again (where's the puppy asprin?) and we are ready to get working on the house and yard again (where's the grass seed?).

I spent the better part of last week in Las Vegas for the Aging in America Conference. It was my first trip to Vegas, and it may very well be my last. It's not a great venue for a conference or work for that matter, but it was crowded, dark and smokey. I prefer a Mexican (or American) beach any day. The boys survived without me, which I knew they would.

It was great to come home, and since then, Mitchell has gotten over the latest cold (hopefully the last of the season) and has been super cute. He loves to wear his hat and "shades" hoping that he will get to go outside. While drying off from a bath the other night, he put his little hands over my eyes to play a game a peek a boo. As soon as he took his hands off, he loudly said "BOO!" Since our last Parents as Teachers visit in January, we've been offering him a big boy cup periodically. He's gotten very good at it-- to the point where we can give him a regular cup with dinner. He's been a pro at a spoon for awhile, and now prefers to use a regular spoon over his baby spoons (we can thank daycare for that one!).

With spring here, I have to remind myself to pause and enjoy all these things and these wonderful phases of growth. He'll be two before long. He's moved to the "other side" of his room at daycare, and they are already starting to talk about moving him to the 2 year old room in August. Even with the tantrums, I'm enjoying toddlerdom and can't wait to see spring and summer through his eyes.

Friends

2009-03-05T20:52:00.012-06:00

It's no secret, we have an awesome group of friends here. We all get together regularly with dinners, Bunco and in the summer time, the beloved Sunday BBQ! Last weekend, we all bundled up and escaped St. Louis to enjoy some time away from the wee ones for some good (or at least pretty good) wine and conversation. It was great to get away for half the day, and we proved we can still have converstations without talking about our kids!

Mitchell has also had some fun outings with friends lately. A week or two ago (who can remember?) we went to visit Brooke. Well, wouldn't you know that Mitchell pushed her while he was there, and that little girl talked about it after she took her nap and would tell anyone that listened "Mitchell push." Sigh. That was actually before tubes, and I think some of that may have gotten better, but we haven't been to play with Brooke to know for sure. Even with a push, they play well together. Good thing- Brooke's mommy is this mommy's dear friend!

We've been making periodic visits a friend/co-worker who is on maternity leave. Mitchell loves to play with AJ's train table and with his hundreds of balls (of all sizes) in the basesment. Soon, AJ will be in daycare with Mitchell, but he'll be in the next room up. Mitchell is by far the biggest of his friends. He's almost to the point where he can give AJ hand me downs in clothes!

Last, but not least, here's a few super cute pictures from Valentines Day and when Mitchell was "helping" Daddy fix the dishwasher.

Ear Tubes

2009-02-27T14:49:00.005-06:00

Two weeks ago, we headed to our appointment to visit the ENT. I won't even go into the details how awful that office visit was (think collassal toddler meltdown), but we did leave with a date for Mitchell to get tubes in his ears. We were very lucky because the doctor does the ear tube procedure once a month on the 4th Friday. So, our date for tubes was today!

We left the house at 5:45 this morning with a barely-awake baby, binky, blanket and bunny and headed to the hospital. We were checked in quickly and went back to the waiting area designated for Children's Hospital, which has a satellite office in most of the BJC member hospitals. Mitchell did awesome. He let the nurse get all of his vitals including his pulse ox level and blood pressure. The nurse kept saying "if he'll let me, we'll do this..." and he always let her. She also let him play with the buttons on her monitor, so he was happy. Once we did that and talked with the pediatric nurse practioner, they sent us back out to the waiting room to play. At this point, we were only the second patient there, and the other one was older and already prepped for whatever she was having done. Mitchell had the run of the place and he knew it!

They brought out some "spiked tylenol" for him to get ahead of any pain he may have and the anethsiologist came out to talk with us before the doctor came-all in the waiting area where Mitchell was happily playing. Once the doc was there, we signed consent and he was off to get his procedure done. He wasn't happy about going away from mom, but he didn't scream either...thank goodness. About 15 minutes later, he was done waking up and ready for some snuggles. We were home by 9am, and the adults were ready for a nap! Mitchell was ready for a small snack and some couch time watching Sesame Street. By the time he laid down for his afternoon nap, he was already starting to get back to being himself. He wanted to "go go" (race) and was enjoying playing with his rocking chair and rocking horse.

The doc said they drained off a good amount of fluid today, so we should see an "immediate improvement." I'm not sure what is improving...so we'll just have to wait and see.

More please!

2009-02-11T20:34:00.006-06:00

Lately, we've been working with Mitchell on saying please. Well, he doesn't actually say it yet, but we've been signing it to him, and on occasion, he'll sign it to us when he wants something. Last weekend, we were out to dinner to celebrate hubby's birthday. Of course, being the birthday boy, Jeremy was able to enjoy a small sundae. Mitchell was very excited about the bite Daddy shared with him, and BAM, all of the sudden this child was signing "more please" like he'd been doing it for months (except his sign for please looked more like he was rubbing crumbs off his shirt, but we got the idea). I guess he just needed the right motivation! He also caught on very quickly to "Daddy's bite, Mitchell's bite, Daddy's bite, Mitchell's bite" and fully expected to have every other bite.

Recently, Mitchell also got to experience his first peanut butter cracker (a favorite snack of Mommy's!). He has had peanut butter before, but it was always in sandwich form. Well, after nap one day (and a poor lunch), we gave him some Ritz crackers with peanut butter on them. He promptly licked all the peanut butter off, then asked for more peanut butter on the cracker! Gross! Finally, he realized the cracker was good stuff to, and gobbled it up. The next few times we gave him crackers, he would point to the cabinet as if to say "get the peanut butter lady!" He did finally learn that not all crackers come with peanut butter.

Snow Day

2009-01-27T16:15:00.011-06:00

Between the snow and sleet, and a toddler that still wasn't feeling 100%, we were happy to take the snow day. However, when given the opportunity to go out in the snow, here's what happened:

He freaked out because there was snow on his shoes and it was all down hill from there.

This caused such a meltdown, that we had to go inside and round up everything that was soothing- the taggie, bunny, blanket and the beloved binky. He also loves his coat. Lately he asks to wear it even when we aren't going anywhere, so he wanted to keep it on. Apparently, he's like his mama and would rather enjoy the snow from the inside. (Let's remember, he was born on one of the hottest days in 2007-I think it was a record breaker at that!).

Child of the Week

2009-01-26T21:14:00.004-06:00

Have you given up on us? I hope not! We are still here! We've just been hanging out, playing and watching Mitchell grow. I think it took us 2-3 weeks to recover from Christmas, but now we are back in the swing of things!

Last weekend, Mitchell was busy helping Daddy do some touch up painting around the house. He loves to climb up on the step stool any chance he gets. It comes in handy sometimes in the kitchen when he wants to help us cook.

This winter proves to be a tough one on the ears. Mitchell's on his 4th round of antibiotics since November for ear infections. This wins us a referral to an ENT, who we see in 3 weeks. I'm glad my doctor was ready to do this, and I hope it makes for a happier baby. This current infection has been a rough one. Our doctor is very "by the book." Four infections in 6 months or 6 infections in 12 months send you to a specialist. I feel like Mitchell moves around well and talks well, so I am not sure his ears are impacted by that, but I guess we don't really know.

This week, Mitchell is Child of the Week at daycare. They have a picture area outside the room where a child is featured each week. We sent in a few pictures from Christmas, one of our beloved Cadie, a few snapshots with extended family and some water fun pictures. I think all had been posted here at one time or another, so feel free to take a look back. As a treat for child of the week, the Mom and Dad are supposed to bring in a snack for the kids to share one day. Lets think about this: My dear boy is the special child this week. So, in honor of that, I have to do more work. I think some other mommy and daddy should be making the snack for us. Oh well, I think oatmeal cookies will be the winner. Mitchell really likes oatmeal cookies. Or, I could just take in a bunch of bananas. He goes ape for bananas (insert groan here). Seriously, he would eat a banana 3 times a day if I would let him.

A Sponge

2009-01-03T19:55:00.003-06:00

We were able to take advantage of how the holidays fell this year and took lots of time off. I got to "work from home" for much of the time between Christmas and now and hubby was able to take two long weekends for a much needed break.

While Mitchell is definitely exhibiting some toddler characteristics, it's been such a joy to be home with him. Right now, he is just a sponge for information and new words. He's very good at his animal sounds, and if he doesnt' know one, he says, with utmost enthusiasm- BAAAAAAA! And while we haven't done baby signing with him, they do a few words at daycare. All of the sudden, he's doing the sign for more with amazing precision. Actually, all two word phrases (which are new in the past few days) include the word more and another word. And he always signs and says more in these situations. For example "mo fee" (which is more fish, as in goldfish crackers). We still have no ending sounds, but that's ok.

We also pretty much skipped right over Mama and Dada and we are now Mommeeeeeeee and Daddeeeeee.

Mitchell has been enjoying music much more now too. He's particularly a fan of Hewy Lewis and the News- hubby bought a Best of CD and Mitchell's foot goes stomping every time it plays. He's also getting much better at Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and showed us he knew the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider.

I must say, that even with all this fun, I am looking forward to getting back to a regular routine. It is a long haul between now and Memorial Day, though...the next scheduled day off.

Christmas Festivities

2008-12-28T19:41:00.014-06:00

Merry Christmas! I guess I shouldn't be surprised it's over just as quickly as it came. We had a great time celebrating with hubby's side of the family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. First, we hosted dinner with Gramps, Miss Jean, and Nom (hubby's grandma) on Christmas Eve. It was our first stab making brisket. Actually, I had nothing to do with dinner preparations. I was in charge of baby entertainment and later, clean up. The meal was superb and company was pleasant. Mitchell was a hoot as presents appeared under the tree. He wasn't sure what they were for, but he inspected them with pats and seeing if they could withstand him climbing on top of them. Mitchell made a great haul that night, and it was only the first go! It's hard to figure out which presents were his favorite, but he spends a lot of time on the firetruck from Nom and the rocking horse from Gramps and Miss Jean. The firetruck is great, especially since the weather is colder, however I could do without the song. In actuality, it might not be the song as much as the squeaky voice singing it. He loves it though, and that's what matters.

On Christmas morning, we spent it as a family, which was really great. While we had Mitchell in our lives last year, he definitely didn't get it. However, this year he is so much more interactive. We enjoyed our family breakfast of pumpkin pancakes before digging into our stockings and presents. The big gift this day was a shopping cart from Santa and the G'ma and G'pa bought food to go with it. We quickly learned that this is a basement toy to help keep all the food in the same general area.

After nap, we headed to Grammy and Grandaddy's house where Nanny (hubby's other grandma) was in town visiting. We don't have many great shots from here, because present opening was pretty much a contstant process. Mitchell would open one gift, play with it, and then as soon as he lost interest, he would be given another gift! Mitchell loves his new Little People Barn and his pull along puppy.

In reality, he loves all his new gifts! Now, it's time for us to get creative on toy placement and rotation so that he can enjoy everthing just like it was Christmas morning for months to come.