Walking in a winter wonderland

In Iowa, on December 29, Charlie and I were able to walk the 2.5 miles to pick Evy up from school. A stroller ride home in late December? Awesome!

Christmas Extravangaza

Three Christmas celebrations in 72 hours. After three mornings of waking to Santa showing up--once at our house, once at my parents, and once at Scott's parents--tonight I overheard Evy ask Scott, "Is Santa coming tonight?" We hated to break the news that Santa doesn't show up every night! Here are some photos from our whirlwind tour;


[Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve morning. Evy left him cookies and a note.]


[Tractor ride with Papa Jake on Christmas Eve.]


[Sweet Baby!]


[Opening presents with Grandma Joan on Christmas morning.]


[Attempt at a family photo. Barely worth the effort!]


[Evy and Jacob playing on their "computers"]


[Reading a book with Grammy]


[All of Evy's cousins on Scott's side of the family. She is so little!]

Dreaming

At Evy's three year checkup the pediatrician mentioned that this is the age when imagination can take over and you will see fears of the dark and monsters. I thought to myself, "thank goodness this isn't an issue" and moved on. Well, now it's an issue. The last two nights we have had a hard time getting Evy to go to sleep. She is seeing shadows and "hearing noises in her ear." Most of her fears involve Captain Hook. Yep, Scott let her watch the Hook movie with Robin Williams. There is a scene where Hook runs his...um, Hook, down the hallway in Peter Pan's house, cutting up the wall as he goes. Evy is very concerned by that particular scene. This morning she told me, "I not have a very good sleep. I thinked I saw Captain Hook's hair."

AAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!

The Momiform

momiform; The outfit often worn by a mother with young kids. In the winter the momiform may include yoga pants and a fleece. In the summer the momiform is likely cropped yoga pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt. Momiforms are most often spotted at Target and playgrounds. Not to be confused with athletic gear, momiforms are rarely seen at the gym.

Happy Birthday to Me

I feel blessed to have celebrated my 29th birthday for yet another year. It was my best 29th birthday yet--Scott and I had a dinner date last night and today we all ate lunch at the food court and played at the children's museum. Wait. Did I say it was my birthday?

Wrapping

Evy picked out gifts for Charlie and Scott at Target. I then let her pick the wrapping paper and name tag for each gift. I asked her if she would like to use the snowman or Christmas stripe paper. For Charlie she picked the "paci" (pacifier) paper because she thought Charlie would like that. And for Scott she picked the blue paper. Blue is Scott's favorite color. Neither were the choices I offered her. One is baby shower paper and the other all occassion blue. Oh well. The wrapping paper under our tree might be a little mismatched but it's all in the name of love.

The Second Child

Exactly three years ago Evy's first hotel stay was at a full-service hotel on Michigan Avenue. This weekend, Charlie's first hotel stay was at a dump off the interstate in the suburbs. I'll never hear the end of this.

Monday

This is how we're all feeling this morning after a whirlwind trip to the 'burbs this past weekend. We went in for Evy's cousin Jacob's third birthday party and also got to see our friends Mason, Hadley, Shay and Gemma. After two nights of sleeping in a hotel room (as one big happy family) we're all dragging a little bit.

Evy's cousin Jacob posted this video invitation to great-grandma Max on his blog. (Ok, so he didn't actually post it, but you know what I mean). Evy thought Jacob was talking to her and requested to watch the video several times. I finally grabbed the camera and taped her response to Jacob.

Ebelyn

According to Evy there is no "v" in Evy. She pronounces the "v" sound as "b." Scott has been working with her to get the pronunciation down. I think it's cute and plan to let her make the mistake for a few more years. Evy might tell you the following story: "My name is Ebelyn. I habe a sister named Charlie. She is bery cute and I lub her bery much. Today I played with my friend, Sabannah at tot lot."

The Original Coffee Shop

On the way to my parent's house this morning the girls and I swung off at a gas station in the middle of no where for an emergency potty stop. In the gas station three old men were sitting at a booth drinking coffee. They reminded me of my grandpa who always met up with his friends at the local gas station for a cup of joe. The coffee was black, it cost 25 cents, and came in a styrofoam cup. Grandpa was always dressed in his uniform; khaki trousers, plaid shirt, suspenders and most likely a Watkins Auto Body hat. They met at the same time every morning and I caught on that grandpa would buy me a soda or hand me some money if I "happened" to be at the gas station the same time he was. He would come home to my grandma and report what Dennis or Max had to say at cofffee. In small town Iowa, the gas station was the original coffee shop. It's been almost nine years since Grandpa has met his buddies for coffee at the local gas station. But, I imagine they were are all sharing a cup somewhere this morning.

So Excited...Here we Go!

Well, it's official. The season of sickness is upon us. It kicked off this morning with the confirmation that Evy has her first ear infection of the season. She's been up multiple times in the night for the past three nights and then finally told me last night that her ear hurts. The diagnosis gets a lot easier when they can tell you what hurts, that's the bright side, I guess. Charlie to the doctor last week. Evy to the doctor this week. It's going to be a fun winter! In related news Scott and I have increased our coffee consumption. We used to make it through the day by using one Kuerig cup each. Now, we've started brewing an entire pot each morning.

Firsts

[Evy on the left. Charlie on the right.]


[Evy on top. Charlie on bottom.]

Charlie weighs two pounds more than Evy did at 3 months.

Bonding

Who needs a son when you have a daughter who watches football with you and says, "Lets get it done, Tebow."

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the first time since we've been married that Scott and I have stayed home on a holiday. That means it's also the first time we've cooked a turkey, the first time we've planned a holiday menu, and the first time in 8 years that we've used our wedding china. We only had two guests which is probably a good thing since we were experimenting.


[Scott's first time making his family's traditional orange rolls. Evy mixing up "pink dough" to keep her occupied. Such a good dad, notice the Dory sticker on his sweatshirt. Funny!]

[Evy's hat from school. She is thankful for mom and dad, her cousins and her sister.]

[The aftermath and one draw back to staying home.]

[Relaxing after dinner.]

[Papa is done.]

The Dentist

This is Evy's second trip to the dentist and this time she let the hygienist brush her teeth with a regular brush. No way was the electric toothbrush going in her mouth! She also let the dentist count her teeth, give her a quick exam, and put princess paint (fluoride) on her teeth. It helps that Evy's dentist is a close friend of ours and someone Evy sees on a weekly basis. She may have even gotten a little special treatment, being allowed to score 5 prizes from the treasure chest and play in the doctor's personal office while mom fed Charlie.

*Note the glove on Evy's right hand :-)

I am THAT Mom

I purchased matching holiday pajamas for the girls. Yes, I am that mom. I don't think this matchy-match stuff becomes a real problem until I start ordering myself a matching set. Please stage an intervention if that happens...

Evil

Last night, after a fun day at home I said to Evy, "Isn't it so fun to play with mommy?" Evy replied, "No. Mommies are evil."

Awesome.

Baby Charlie

11 weeks old today. Time has flown by even faster with the second child! At 11 weeks Charlie is smiling and "talking"! She only cries when she is tired or hungry. Scratch that. She also cries when her sister lets out a ridiculously loud scream/noise for no apparent reason. One hour after eating she starts crying, indicating that she is tired. You can set your watch by it. She weighs two pounds more than Evy did at this age which is not surprising because she is much more interested in eating. She has slept through the night (10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.) the last four nights and I surely just jinxed that for us by discussing it in the open. Her nicknames are "Charlie Sue" and "Char Char." We think she's really cute. And that's about all there is to say about an 11 week old.

What They Don't Tell You...

It's pretty common knowledge that infants don't sleep through the night. Anyone knows that. But, what they don't tell you is that one year olds, two year olds, and three year olds also don't sleep through the night. I'm guessing this horrible joke continues into age 4, 5, 6, ....infinity, but I haven't personally experienced those ages yet. Last night we were up with Evy three times and only up with Charlie once. Any other dirty little secrets I should know about?

Evy Says

Scott: "What did you do today, Evy?"
Evy: "Went to the park, peed my pants, and blowed bubbles."

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Emily: "Won't it be fun when Charlie gets big and you guys can play together?"
Evy: "We can hug and kiss and tackle!"


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Evy: "Mom, you did a really good job picking up. Do you want a piece of candy?"

Back At It

I'm back at work today after a 10 week maternity leave. Compared to returning from leave after having Evy this is no big deal.

Differences:

-I only work part time now

-My job is much less stressful/demanding

-My husband no longer travels 2 to 3 nights per week

-Charlie hasn't started daycare yet, home with dad today and the grandma's are helping us for the next few weeks

-This isn't my first rodeo

I'll Be Lonely

The living room on our main floor is jam-packed with toys so we are trying to get Evy to play in the basement where there is more room. We're also trying to get her to entertain herself a little more. We strategically placed her new (birthday gift) dollhouse downstairs as an enticement. Yesterday when I asked her if she'd like to play downstairs she said, "But I'll be lonely." Small steps I guess.

Our Team

A typical Fall Saturday for us includes lots of black and gold. Go Hawks!

Happy Halloween!

Evy: Three Years Old

We've been celebrating for a month, but Evy is now officially three years old! On her birthday we celebrated with a pancake breakfast and opened a couple of presents from mom and dad. Then, she had two friends over to play for a couple of hours. She choose chicken nuggets as her birthday dinner so we went to the food court at the mall and then let her ride the carousel two times. What a great day for a three year old.

THE BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW

Q: What's Your Favorite Color?
A: Pink

Q: What's Your Favorite Food?
A: Broccoli

Q: Who is your best friend?
A: Ellie

Q: What is your favorite thing to do?
A: Go outside in the big park

Q: What is your favorite song?
A: Larry Boy and the Bad Apple
Larry Boy and the Bad Apple is a Veggie Tales CD that came in a kids meal from Chick-Fil-A. I can't stand to listen to it but it's what she always requests in the car.

Q: What is your favorite treat?
A: Fish
She means Swedish Fish and it's a favorite of mine too!

Q: What is your favorite drink?
A: Lemonade

Q: What is your favorite TV show or movie?
A: Care Bears

Q: What is your favorite toy?
A: Orangey
Orangey is her stuffed orange cat we found for $6 at Theisen's.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do with your family?
A: Lay down and watch a movie

Q: Where is your favorite place to go?
A: The Mall

I stole this birthday interview idea from another blog and look forward to comparing the answers each year.

A Day in the Life of Charlie

["Breakfast with my mom. My most favorite person in the world."]


["The red shopping cart means Target. We come here a lot. My mommy talks to lots of other mommies when we are here. Target must be the place mommies go if they don't go to an office in the morning."]


["We had coffee with my friend Jory and his mommy Bridget. My mommy talks about coffee a lot. She says she needs it."]


["Another shopping cart. Must be the grocery store. If I cry in the grocery store my mom gets nervous and sweats a lot so I try to sleep and be a good girl."]


["This is the 3rd outfit I've had on today. Something happened in my diaper. Mommy called it a blowout and then changed my outfit."]


["I hang out in my bouncy seat while my mom tries to get some work done around the house. I like my bouncy seat."]


["This is the ottoman in my living room. It's my favorite place to take a nap. Mommy says that babies aren't supposed to sleep on their tummies so she checks on me about every five minutes. She says she can't help being a freak, she gets it from Grandma Joan. I guess it's called genetic?!?"]