Eighteen Months

On his 18 month birthday, we got the most snow we've seen all season.  Despite the fact we could still see the grass, Nora was amazed at "all that snow!" so we bundled up and did some shoveling.  

Mr. Helper grabbed a shovel and
pushed snow all around.

Love those eyes and that
mischievous grin.

Grandpa

My Grandpa is turning 93 at the end of the month so our entire family went out for a celebratory lunch.  It was especially nice for me to see him since we weren't there for Christmas.  

Man of Honor at the head of the table.

My mom was really thinking.  She brought stamps and
different things for the kids to do while waiting at the
restaurant.  Kept him busy for a while - until he figured
out he could run into the women's bathroom!

The other end of the table.

With his cake.

I figured the cake would be a good distraction to get Myles
up on Grandpa's lap and get a good picture of the kids
with Grandpa Grandpa.

Myles hopped down after the picture, looked at him and
ran back to give him a hug then said, "up!".
Grandpa was thrilled.  I think it made his day.
They had a little time together as Myles inspected his
glasses and something else he had around his neck.

Daddy-daughter hugs!

Classic picture of Grandpa Grandpa with his
great grandchildren.  Always have to have at least one of
the children crying, one smiling, and most not looking :)
That's how it goes with multiple children under three!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!  We all love you.

Signed Up!

I signed Nora up for preschool today. She was quite excited as we were walking up to the school. "This will be my school? I will go to Sunday school too? Look Mom, a little bench! It's perfect for me."

She was asking about Sunday school since I leave the house without them on Sunday mornings to teach it and meet them at church. Plus she can start coming to Sunday school when she's three so we've been talking a lot about that too lately. The bench... Well... You do know Nora don't you? Hasn't seen a bench she doesn't want to sit on... Ever. And this one was a little lower so very easy for her to climb onto.

We chose to sign her up for Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons (12:30-3:00). I went back-and-forth whether to sign her up for morning or afternoon preschool but I ultimately decided afternoon because she rarely naps anyways. And if she'll need a nap she can always take one on Tuesday and Friday.

Still can't quite believe that my little girl is old enough for preschool. I'm glad I still have eight more months with her until the first day. I will have to pack some tissues - for myself, that is.

Where There's Snow, We'll Go

Greg's graduation party was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  But Dan had an idea.  We'll go to the snow so the kids can have some winter fun.  I'm sure we'll eventually get our fair share of snow, but we're breaking records for longest time between measurable snowfall down here... we were anxious to take the kids sledding.  So, we traveled up on Friday night so we could have all day Saturday to go sledding and do other things.  

When it was finally time to go sledding, we went to the hill near my former elementary school.  I remember having the occasional sledding day at school where everyone would come dressed in boots and snow pants and go sledding at some point throughout the day - big deal when you're in school.  

First up, Dan and Nora!

Aaaand, there they go!!

Then, me and Myles!

We're all at the bottom of the hill.
Nora is crying - she didn't like the snow flying up
in her face as they were coming down.  Myles is whining
because he didn't like it either. 

Then Dan convinced Myles (basically just took him since
he's littler) to go down on the cardboard because that's
much slower.  He didn't love it but didn't mind it either. 

Nora was intrigued.     

And despite her trepidation, she agreed to try it again.
She said she liked it better but still didn't want to
go down the hill again.  

We let Rusty off leash while we were there and he
loved every single minute.  He chased us down the hill
and went crazy dog.  If you click on this picture, it will
become bigger and you can see his big open mouth -
it's the most joy you can see on a dog's face.

Then Dan did some running with him - Rusty's favorite.

Even Gram took a turn down the hill.  She laughed the
entire way down and Rusty ran right along with her. 

Maybe next year the kiddos will enjoy sledding more.  But before then, we'll have to get new sleds because we cracked both of them on the first (and only) run down.  If it ever snows here this winter, maybe we'll buy them then and give sledding a go on the very small hill behind our fence to get them used to it.  That's more their size.  Fun memory regardless of how much they did or didn't like it.

Oh, and here's a picture of the graduate with his God-daughter at the party.

Congratulations, Greg!

Welcome 2013

Just like everyone else's, our 2012 came and went with a flash.

When I look back at some of the year's blog posts, I'm amazed at what's happened in one short year.  Myles went from learning to sit to running us ragged.  We took our first camping trip and our first road trip.  Celebrated the first birthday of a boy who has captured our hearts with his devious giggle and SO much more.

Here's how Dan and I welcomed 2013 -

We made dinner reservations for six at a new restaurant called Lincoln Whiskey Kitchen.  Early in the day, we dropped down to four - the Kojak's sitter caught the infamous bug and had to cancel.  Later in the afternoon, Jeff and Katie had to bow out due to a nasty cold Katie had caught.

Our smaller table -- the others were there with us in spirit
but it was also nice to have a rare date night as well.

Food was delish - and free!  We didn't notice the delay but
the waitress apologized for the long wait between our apps
and entrees and told us we would be compensated for them.
They took both of our entrees entirely off the bill.
Happy New Years! 

Then we headed over to the Improv comedy club to ring in the new year and see comedian Tammy Pescatelli.  She was very funny.  Laughed a lot at her and her opener (which we later found out was her husband - imagine what family events are like!)

Just a few minutes until 2013.
Tammy is second from the left.  

Along with the show came noise makers,
hats, balloon drop (which was directly over
our heads) and champagne toast.

The kids enjoyed playing with our goodies
the following day.  Somehow the noise-
makers ended up in the trash... I wonder
how that happened. 

I'm excited to see what 2013 has in store for us.

Christmas Day

We did not have a white Christmas here.  Chicago and we can still see the grass in December?!  Odd.  But it was a great Christmas nonetheless.

Nora came down to a huge amount of presents
(largely thanks to Gram).

"Mom! This one has my picture on it!"

Let the gift opening begin!

I wasn't expecting too much excitement
from Myles about gifts until next year
but he was way into it.  He'd open one
and say, "ooohh" almost every time.

Nora kept saying, "let's see what it is!" while she was opening.

"Oohh!"

Trying on one of her new hats.

The four of us, in our Christmas pjs, on Christmas morning.

Nora got tired quickly.  I think all the presents were a little
overwhelming for her.  I asked if she wanted to take a break -
her response was, "Yeah, I'm just got happy enough right now."
After just two hours of being awake, she wanted to take a
rest.  She laid down in her bed for 45 minutes - didn't
nap, just rested and chatted - before she got up again.
She greeted me by telling me, "I'm SO much happier now."
And that she was.  

Even Rusty got special treats from Santa! 

There were two gifts of the day for Missy.  The first was
a salon kit she got from Gram.  Complete with hair straightener,
blow dryer, barrettes, and most importantly, a scissors.
She was thrilled to have her own scissors.  Just about every
present there after she offered to help cut it open because
"I have my own scissors now".

Beautifying 

Myles got his own baby since he's
very loving towards Nora's baby.
He picked him up and patted his back.

Then tried to share his beloved paci.

This was the other "gift of the season".
Nora got a new stroller for baby since
the other one was getting too small for
her.  Which also meant Myles inherited
the old one.  Bonus!

We had to take a break from opening
presents so they could each take their
babies for walks around the house.

Mega Blocks!  What can we build?

After presents, we got dressed and packed our things to head back to Wisconsin to see Dan's family for Christmas dinner.  This is where we were able to give Grandma the gift I was most excited to give.

But first, the kids gave her the Santa
hand print ornaments they made for
her out of salt dough.  She loved them!

We had given her a digital picture frame pre-loaded with
more than 600 pictures of her family from many, many years
ago through the present.  It was a labor of love that wouldn't
have been possible without everyone's contributions.
A special thanks to all the family who dug through their
pictures to provide some for her frame.

Everyone was huddled around it throughout the night
looking at all the memories packed on that frame.  She loved
it so much she got tears in her eyes.  

I was nervous from the change in our normal traditions it wouldn't feel like Christmas this year.  But gladly, I was wrong.  It very much felt like Christmas - relaxing, at home, surrounded by loved ones celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  Exactly what Christmas should be.  After all... this is our new usual.

Christmas Eve

We decided this was the year to start our own family traditions. Normally, we would spend Christmas Eve celebrating with Dan's immediate family and spending Christmas Eve night and morning at my Mom's.  But it was important to me to have my kids wake up in their own house on Christmas morning so instead we invited my mom down to our  house to celebrate with us.

Christmas Eve started out with a visit to see Santa.  When we got home, we knew we wouldn't have time for a needed bath at night due to church and the arrival of my mom so we took a mid-day bath.  The kids were just about ready to go down for nap (Nora wanted pjs on since we just got out of the tub) when Papa called to ask if we were home so he could bring his gifts for them over.  

She received a Play Doh machine that makes "treats" like
gumballs, candy, lollipops, and ice cream cones.  She wanted
it open right away.

Myles got a track that came with a few cars and even a
helicopter.  I wish I could have captured his face when
he opened it and saw what it was.  His jaw dropped and
got a huge smile.  I'm glad Papa saw it.  

While Papa was here he was smothered in many hugs and kisses from Myles (or Milo Man as Papa has always referred to him as).  The part that made both of them laugh hard was when Myles brought over a tissue and had Papa pretend to blow his nose.  Laughs from everyone.

After church we came home to Gram
waiting for us! We took a family picture
before everyone was out of their nice
Christmas outfits.  Giving Myles a
present to hold was the only way to
keep him still for the picture.

After a delicious dinner, it was time to get more comfortable
and open one present and our Christmas pajamas.

The present came from Gram.  It was special gingerbread
plates to eat Christmas cookies on the following morning
along with matching gingerbread hot chocolate mugs
(two little kid sized ones and two grown up ones)

We tested out the plates with a before-bed snack - goldfish.

They also got one more present before
bedtime - light sabers - I mean, glow sticks,
for when we walk Rusty at night. 

This way everyone will see us
and we'll have no accidents.

Good night, sleep tight, Little Ones.  Santa is on his way!