April!

Wow, time flies! Spring has come and we've been spending lots of time outside. Rain doesn't stop the kids either---Mia loves to play in the rain and Henry seems to enjoy it too. They get pretty wet and dirty, get undressed outside or in the back hall, and then right into the tub.

One of the things we do outside is bubbles. Never mind that I have several wands or bubble machines, there will always be fighting. Oh well.




Here's Henry in the playhouse, about 5 seconds before he put chalk in his mouth.



Easter came and went, Mia had a good time coloring eggs. Henry wasn't that interested, but he's fairly young. And he doesn't have the same patience Mia does.


Easter morning was lots of fun. Both kids liked their baskets, especially the chocolate that was inside.


Here's the best picture I could get that morning, a little blurry. Don't you love their Target outfits? :)


It was nice when we were at my mom and dad's so the kids ran around outside for awhile.



One of Henry's new favorite things is walking around with my shoes on. He doesn't just slide them on, take a few steps, and take them off. He'll walk all around the house, for a long time. It cracks me up.



One night this past month was Parents Night at Mia's school. So Tim and I got to go to school with Mia and play and do some activities. This is the handwashing station. Hand-washing is fairly complicated! Really, it's part of their Life Skills area. Get some water from the tap in a pitcher (ceramic!), pour it into a bowl, wash hands, dump bowl out into bucket, dump bucket into sink, all while wearing apron to protect clothes. I'm glad she gets to do that at school, since there will be no carrying around of ceramic pitchers here!



2010 is the year of babies, and I got to hold my first little newborn friend a few weeks ago. Claire is a real sweetheart! Mia is anxious to be friends with her.



We have already added new mulch to the front yard. For us, that is a big deal. In fact we bought it AND put it down in the same day! It's cocoa mulch and it really smells like you are putting down chocolate. Yummy. Still smells good even now. Mia was happy to help us.



That's all for now...April is almost over. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mia and Henry's first cousin, who was due this past Sunday. Darn these late babies making us wait! Next month---two more babies!!!

March Post!

March has been a busy month as well! TWO baby showers----Sarah and Stacy. Sarah is due at the end of April, and Stacy is due mid-May. Very exciting! Tim and I also celebrated our 7 year anniversary on March 15. Unfortunately, we found out that our favorite restaurant---which we reserve ONLY for anniversary dinners---has closed. :( Goodbye, Courtyard Bistro. We will miss you.

Mia had spring break this month, so Tim took a couple of days off so we could do some fun family activities. We went to Jump Zone one day, Mia has been there before but it was Henry's first time. I wish I had some good pictures, but I didn't have the camera on the right setting so they were blurry. But we all had fun. Tim took off his shoes and jumped with the kids. Henry was all over the place---jumping in the inflatables, and jumping on the floor. He made friends with a little girl and boy who were older than him. Somehow, even though he doesn't talk, they thought he was fun, and a little crazy. We caught the little girl making the "cuckoo" sign with her finger to her little brother in reference to Henry. Yes, little girl, he is.

The next day we went to the Frankfort Kids Museum. I'd been there with the kids a few times, but Tim hadn't been. It changes every time I go there! Henry was finally old enough to enjoy the activities without me worrying that he would choke on something. I didn't get a picture of it, but he was really into the 911 corner because there were lots of phones, and also a computer.

Both of the kids spent a long time playing at the table with smooth stones. Yes, Henry tried to put a few in his mouth but overall he was good.

We ended that afternoon with a trip to our favorite local restaurant---Culver's! The kids got ice cream and loved it. I have a funny video I will post later about that.

This past weekend, we had visitors! My friend Mandy from Springfield drove up with her son Cameron who is the same age as Henry. We had a great weekend. Of course, I'm forever building up my stash of embarrassing photos, so here is one of the boys taking a bath.



And looking out the window.........
I have to say they did well together. There were no fights, and Henry didn't pull Cameron's hair which bodes well for him joining the 2 year program at Mia's school this coming fall. We played outside, went shopping and to Red Robin (yum!), and Tim stayed home Saturday night so Mandy and I could go to dinner with friends.

A couple of cute random pictures...Henry got some sunglasses and wanted to try them on, and Mia did not want to be left out. Here is a shot of Henry trying to hug her, and Mia saying "He's giving me too much hugs!" I tell her there is no such thing! Note the bruise on her cheek: she ran into the piano at Tim's parents house last weekend--it's taking long to go away.

Mia wanted a picture by herself. I think she was posing.



Henry got a new toy this weekend--a microwave! He has become obsessed with ours, and is now tall enough to open it up, and put toys in, and try to cook them. Bad news. So I got him his own and it's helping! It has a light and a clock and spins. It came with a play hamburger that is forever getting lost. Both kids like it. See Mia in the background drinking her milk on the couch? She's silly.



And now a video...I hope it works. I let it upload overnight while I slept. This is Henry in a timeout. He had taken a toy and whipped it across the room, which is a no-no. Make sure you have the volume up. You can hear my stern/trying not to laugh voice, and Henry's little pouts.

February Post!

It has been a while since I posted, and there is enough that I am splitting it into two posts.

First up--we had our first annual Valentine's Day party. I call it annual because Mia has already been asking for the next one, so I am guessing each year we'll do a little something special. This year we had some of my girl friends over, we had snacks and Mia and I had made cupcakes. She was so excited because they were her "favorite"....and then she proceeded to lick off a little frosting and then be done.




Henry was not so picky---he loved the whole thing!




Even bigger news....Mia went on a plane for the very first time!! She and I flew to Colorado to visit my friend Amy, her husband Paul and daughter Madeline. Madeline turned 2 shortly after our visit. I had gone back and forth about whether to bring Mia with and I am SOO glad I did. She turned out to be a great travel buddy. Even being at the airport with her was so fun.


I found a set of Southwest Airline toy planes and trucks in the gift shop which we purchased and it was a huge hit. She has played with it ever since. We see a lot of planes whenever we're outside or driving and when she sees an obvious Southwest plane she yells "That's the plane I already rided on!!"




She was great at the airport and great on the plane. She watched a bit of Cinderella, colored, and chatted with me.



Our actual visit was great too. The girls got along really well, and we were very comfortable there.

Activities included going to an aquarium, swimming at the park district's indoor pool, going out for mexican food, and lots of playing. Amy and I even got to go on a few walks by ourselves, and also to a movie one night. Mia was really comfortable with Paul and he was great to stay home and man the fort while we went out.


We were sad to go, and ever since we have been home, Mia asks all the time if we can get on a plane and go to Madeline's house. I tell her we have to save our money because it's expensive. Today when I said that her response was "Can we buy a spaceship and go to outer space?"


Besides all that, we went to Julie's baby shower! Her baby is due......yesterday! So we are all anxiously awaiting some news and I am constantly checking my cell phone! Come on, baby Swan!

Sister and Brother

Mia's Favorites

Today at lunch Mia and I were talking about her favorite things, so I said I would interview her and ask her a bunch. Here are the results:

Favorite Color: Green, Blue and Yellow--she likes all three.

Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese!!

Favorite Tv Show: Little Einsteins

Favorite Toys to play with: Planes, Helicopters, Cars

Favorite Place to Go: Curious George (we just saw a live stage version Friday)

Favorite Store: The Mall (most likely because of the "makin-go-round" and Kiddie Train

Favorite People besides mom and dad and Henry: nana and papa, and uncle and kiki...and so on. The list was long!
Favorite Song: Curious George Theme

Favorite Thing to Do: Play downstairs (especially with Grandma)

Favorite Dessert: Cupcakes (I've never seen her eat one but she knows we're making some
for Valentine's Day).

Favorite Restaurant: Target. ??? I asked what she ate there and she said "Cookies!" We get
cookies at Starbucks sometimes.

Favorite thing to do with Henry: Run and play with toys
Favorite Animal: Elephant

Favorite Book: The Little Red Train (I think this is a british kids book about trains I found in
the bargain section at Borders!)

Favorite Movie: Talking Words Factory

Also, more funny things Mia says: mango is "flamango". As in "I want the banana and flamango fruit squeezer". Lol!

Mia has discovered Superheroes

This past weekend, Superman 1 and 2 played on tv--no commercials! The first movie caught Mia's eye and she was hooked. Have you watched the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve lately? Wow, Hollywood has come a long way in special effects and costume design. But he made such a good Superman. Mia decided Superman 2 was not as good as Superman 1, and with characters like Zod in his flashy, low-cut black one-peice, who can blame her?

In the picture above, you will note Mia is wearing a purple cape--it has an "M" for Mia, and was given to her by my good friend Mandy (thanks Mandy!). What you can't quite see, is that Tim is wearing Henry's blue cape with an "H" on it. Tim got a good workout flying Mia around the house for awhile, and she did not want to stop! What a fun little girl she is.

Learning to adjust

Well, there are definitely some changes going on around here. For starters, the kids have a new babysitter temporarily---Grandma!! (Tim's mom). It's going really well. We are grateful that she is able to help us out while Kathryn is doing her student teaching (she will be a librarian soon!). Kathryn will be back in April until sometime in the summer. After that point....who knows? We will probably start looking to hire someone to take over in Fall 2010. I dread that process!

Also, Henry has hit a phase, and it's not a great one. He's still very sweet and lovable...but he also goes through VERY needy/clingy patches throughout the day. It's hard to get anything done when this is occurring. Sometimes I'll be with Mia in the bathroom and he just flips out! If he gets really bad, I'll put him in his crib to calm down and that usually works. The fact is, I can't just hold him all day long. And he needs to learn that. If I'm not doing anything and we're just hanging out--well, sure, he can sit on my lap. But if I'm cooking, or washing dishes or in the bathroom---nope! I'm sure he'll get through it. Mia probably went through it as well and I just forgot.

He is trying to talk more. Mostly gibberish, but he likes to yell "ball" when he sees one, and says mom, and maybe more or Mia...I'm not sure. Mia is very tolerant of Henry. He pulls her hair and bothers her, and she deals with it really well. When he's upset, she gives him a hug and a kiss. She's a good big sister.

Mia seems to be dropping her nap. It's getting more occasional lately. If Grandma is here, it pretty much doesn't happen. It's ok, but she has to go to bed early those days.

Now here are a few pictures:



A few weeks ago, I took the kids to Culver's on a Friday (my day off). We had a nice lunch. I may have mentioned this before but the Culver's by my house is a great place for us to go. They are so accommodating of me and the kids, they bring stuff to my table, help me carry food and drinks and open doors. We always have a good time there. I think Henry must have been worn out afterwards, because I was in the kitchen and heard....nothing, coming from the living room. I knew Mia was drinking her milk, but what about Henry? He doesn't do ANYTHING quietly. So I peeked around the corner, and there he was, fast asleep on the rug! Note the chocolate ice cream on his shirt. It was ALL OVER.



This picture is a little more recent. Mia wanted Daddy to give her a pretend bath. In her doll bathtub.



About a month ago, I went to Target after dropping Mia off at school. It was pretty early, and the store was nearly empty. Naturally I got my Starbucks coffee first, and the girl working that day asked if she could give Henry a small cup of whipped cream. I said, sure, why not? Henry was in HEAVEN. And yes, it got all over everything, but I didn't care because it kept him happy and occupied. What a nice girl that was!



This is funny. Last week, Tim left our bedroom to go take a shower in the morning. I was still in bed. He came back for his glasses and left again. He doesn't usually do that. Then he came back again and I was about to ask "Why won't you let me sleep?" and he said there was a dog in our backyard. NOT Oscar.


Somehow, sometime after we went to bed but before Tim got up, the dog in the picture above got into our yard. The gates were closed. He either jumped, or someone let him in (this is Tim's theory, which I doubt). He was very nice. He didn't bark. He tried to come in when Tim went outside to look for tags, which he didn't have. We didn't want to just let him out, there is a lot of traffic at that time of the day because of the train. And he obviously couldn't stay there. So I called animal control, but it was before they were "open". So I called the police. They sent an office to come get him. This big, tall guy came with no leash or anything. I got Oscar's leash and brought it outside and the cop told me "I'm not a dog person". So I got the leash on this fairly big dog's collar and led him out to the car. He hopped right in! I hope he was able to get home that day. He really was nice. It's a mystery how he ended up in our yard.

Next week Tim and I are taking Mia to see Curious George at the Rosemont theater. I told her 2 days ago, which may have been a mistake, because she has asked every day to go. She doesn't quite understand the concept of "next week". She even tried to get Grandma to drive her there after school yesterday, she told her "just go straight". Ha ha! So we will have a lot of fun I'm sure. Henry will stay with Grandma. I hope to have pictures from that with my next post!