Vacation Spoiled Me

So there's this magical thing called Mike's school gave him two whole weeks for Thanksgiving because it was also the break between quarters. You know, bolstering morale and all that. It was beautiful.

For the last two weeks, Mike has been more available to help with kids in the night, diaper changing, nap time, and Katie tantrums. And we've had lunch together and I've taken a few naps and it's been great. And after the kids were in bed, when Mike would have been studying while the quarter was in full swing, we got to play games and watch grown-up movies (you know, like Phineas and Ferb). And talk to each other. Sigh . . .

And unfortunately, Monday is school again. And Mike's feeling the pressure, so he's downstairs studying. At least it's good for you guys because I'm blogging. (But not cool for me because I'm using the almost dead computer and it took about 45 minutes for me to get blogger up and running. I've also been spoiled about getting to use Mike's fancy new laptop for the last couple of weeks.)

Enough griping. Let's talk about what we did over vacation!

First of all, we did close to nothing some days, which felt SO GOOD.

Second of all, we did cool things because we live next to a giant 'ole big city. Like go to the Shedd Aquarium, which is the largest indoor aquarium in the world. Also, a few times a month it has free admission for Illinois residents (woot woot!). So last Monday we went for free. Never mind that it was in the middle of a huge blizzard and we had to park in the Soldier Field garage which requires a walk (through the blizzard) to the aquarium. Brrrrr. I'm shivering just remembering it. Totally worth it, though.

Unfortunately, they have cool mood lighting in all of their exhibits so I didn't get a lot of pictures where you could actually tell what was going on.

This is probably the closest thing I got to her looking at the camera.

Then, there was Thanksgiving. It was AMAZING. I made pies on Wednesday, then spent all of Thursday morning cooking, but it turned out fantastic. I've never done this much by myself before, but somehow it all worked. AND the boys were totally napping for the meal so Mike and I got to eat in peace!

Mike was like, "No, stand in front of the table!" So I look all proud of myself. Well, I was.

 After dinner, we all just kind of collapsed in a food coma, even Katie (she was pretending to play on the floor, but it quickly turned into playing sleep).

Things I learned about this Thanksgiving:

• I really miss my family, but sometimes it's possible to do things on my own.
• Katie LOVES LOVES LOVES cucumbers.
• There is way more to be thankful for than we tend to think about.
• I should never use the recipe I have in my box for Chocolate Chiffon pie again--it tastes like chocolate jello. Not bad, just too weird.
• Holy cow, Chicago is cold. And it's not even all the way cold yet.
• I'm a seriously good cook. And it's all my mom's fault. Thanks, Mom, for the lots of pounds I just gained in the last three or four days. Now I have to start some serious working out before Christmas when my friends start bringing over the treats they've already threatened us with.
• Even though medical school is really hard on all of us, we are together, safe, and healthy, and we have lots of family that loves us. I can do this.

This picture is only clear because we ruined the lighting with flash.

And now that Thanksgiving is over, guess what it's time for? (YAY!!!!!)

Yeah, Katie definitely helped decorate the bottom of the tree so she could play with all the little plastic ornaments. (Yeah, you know you have had M&Ms on your tree too.)

Merry Christmas!

TORNADOES. And Autumn's Last Hurrah!

Hey you guys. Tornadoes. Seriously. Last Sunday we were on the front page of various national news services because there was a gigantic tornado that passed just South of us. Church was cancelled on account of extreme weather and we all got text alerts from the National Weather Service warning us of flash floods, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hail the size of quarters. It was awesome.

Okay, Mike thought it was awesome, and we were not in the danger zone, so I should have thought it was awesome too. But I really couldn't, because I have lived my whole life in the desert. There, "extreme weather" was the inversion we got every year and couldn't use our fireplaces. Oh, and we had to wear coats in the winter. Now I'm being warned about all kinds of craziness. Not to mention, Mike had the news on to see what was going on and they kept showing pictures of all the crazy damage that the 60 tornadoes did (yes, I said 60). Also, there was one tornado that was over a quarter of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for two miles. It's a miracle that as few people were hurt or killed as there were.

Maybe it's selfish of me to be freaked out. Or a little bit dumb because we just had crazy rain and wind, which is totally survivable, and nothing really happened to our family except missing church. But really, I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before. I had a little bit of a panic attack. *Breathe in, breathe out.*

Okay, we're cool.

Anyhow, how have you guys been? It feels like I haven't blogged in a while. Here are some quotes to lighten the mood.

Me: What do you guys want me to plan for Thanksgiving dinner?
Mike: Stuffing, Cranberry sauce, Pumpkin pie
Me: Well, duh. Anything else?
Katie: Lollipop. I love lollipops. Can you please write down lollipop?

(When we told her she couldn't play on Daddy's computer)
Katie: You are not my mom and dad! You are just responsible people!

Katie-on-the-potty: You are my best Mommy ever, but you got ated by the big hungry bear. And then I was the hero and I got ated by the big hungry bear and went down in his stomach and protected you.

There, feel better?

One thing that has bugged me recently is that Katie has been calling me "mother". I know what you're thinking, it's actually really funny and a little bit cute when Katie says it. But the only time I think she's heard people call their mom "mother" is on Tangled (when "mother" is the evil witch) or on Cinderella (when it's the evil Stepmother). I'm much more comfortable with "mommy". Call me crazy.

In other news, Peter is the king of raspberries. Whenever he's not shrieking in excitement or whining to be held, he's blowing raspberries. The big, juicy, tongue-sticking-out, rude noises kind of raspberries. I think he learned them from his sister. More than once have I gotten sprayed in the eye when I was trying to play with him or feed him sweet potatoes. Yuck.

Joshy, on the other hand, is more sneaky. He waits until they're on the floor playing together and I'm busy doing something, then will only be satisfied if he has whatever toy Peter currently has. Joshy is super flexible and bendy and is really good at using his feet like a monkey. He uses this to his advantage. So no matter how many shaky toys or teethers I leave next to Peter, when I come back they are all on Joshy's side and Peter is sad and toyless.

I guess they both get each other, though, because their favorite game recently is "binky wars." They'll wait until I'm not looking, throw their binkies across the room, then steal brother's binky. When I come back, the culprit is happily gnawing away on his brother's binky and the victim is whining pitifully, trying to wriggle his way over to his brother to get his binky back.

Okay, enough talk. Let's pictures! Why? Because my children are adorable. And the whole reason you read my blog is to see my babies.

Here's the last two weeks: puffy eyes, runny noses, all piled on Mommy.

Peter loves the bouncy toy.

A rare smile when Josh was still sick.

Joshy has beautiful twinkly eyes.

Peter has beautiful twinkly eyes.

The last hurrah! Quick, let's go to the park for ten minutes before we freeze our buns off!

She thought she was invisible.

 

"Whoa, Mom! I think he's going to actually let me have one!"

I'm not sure if I'm going to blog again before Thanksgiving, so . . . Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots, don't get sick, and if you're one of those Black Friday types, don't get trampled!

I had good intentions. Honest.

So, this one time (today) I made some cupcakes. Mostly because I was going nuts not having baked anything exciting recently. But I also had the thought cross my mind that we had new neighbors move in a week or two ago next door, and we still hadn't met them, what with all the Halloween hullabaloo and then getting sick. So I thought perhaps we could take them some cupcakes. I even got all excited and made green frosting with red sprinkles. (What? I'm ready! Christmas all year long!)

Then, when I've got the frosting made and the cupcakes made and I'm ready to decorate, Katie brings her chair over, leans over everything, and says, "What are you making? Cupcakes? I love cup- achoooo!!!!"

Yep, I guess we're not giving these cupcakes to anybody.

We've spent the whole week with runny noses and boogers and coughs and vomiting (but just because of the boogers) and lots of not wanting to do anything but pile on Mommy, who has also been sick and doesn't particularly want anyone jumping on her ribs right now, thank you. Gack.

So I don't have anything particularly interesting to say except that I'm grateful for tissues with lotion and aloe. And also Vick's baby rub and humidifiers and booger suckers. And also Mike not having some of his classes this week because it's the end of the quarter so he could come home.

I will tell you that I've been thinking of doing a secret project. Top secret. And I might be able to do it in the next two or three weeks. But I'm not sure if you'll like it. It's a top secret experiment project. Katie will help me.

Hope you have a good Novem- achooo!

Party Week!!!

Hey everybody. Yes, I perhaps took slightly longer to write this one. But I had to get my life together first. And by "life" I mean pictures.

Firstly, and most importantly, this was a big week in baseball history. Want to know why? Because we watched the World Series. In which the RED SOX WON AT FENWAY PARK!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Anecdote: My parents don't pay for any television at all, but Mike and I have rabbit ears in a big city, so we at least get Fox. So Game 1, my dad texts me in a panic, "Could you Skype the game?!?!"

Yeah, I really am that cool. But it just meant that we got to watch all the games because we "had" to Skype them, and during commercial breaks I got to talk to my family. And when Uehara was about to throw the last pitch of game 6, I heard my dad frantically trying to get his hat and #18 jersey (which he picked the "Damon" letters off of after 'ole Johnny defected to the dark side) so that he and James and Sarah could go run screaming into the cul-de-sac in victory. It was awesome. Peter was still awake (which has now resulted in Operation Bedtime) so I was holding him, and when I started to jump up and down, he thought it was hilarious. I totally am, by the way. You know, hilarious.

Okay, fine, Mom. Now I'll post Halloween. Here are some pictures of when Katie's Rainbow Dash costume first got here in the mail (before I added the "cutie mark"). Note: there are very few good, front-view pictures of her because Rainbow Dash does not hold still very often.

And now, just Halloween.

I had to tuck her tail into her pants so it didn't get wet.

If Rainbow Dash were a human, I'm sure she'd wear bright pink "puddle jumpers."

Trick-or-treating with her buddy Ironman.

Oh, it's a jolly holiday with you!

I have now decided to wear bright red lipstick with everything.

Yeah, it was pretty great. It had been raining all day, but it stopped (miraculously) for a couple of hours for Katie & Co to go trick-or-treating. We (of course) didn't get to bed on time, but we did initiate Operation Bedtime. (YAY!)

So, if you know me, I'm not a "training" kind of a mom. I never have a strict schedule, and I'm probably not enough of a helicopter parent when Katie's on the playground. But the last couple of weeks, the boys have been taking turns refusing to sleep until after midnight. (Not cool, Robert Frost!)

Nowadays, when it's time for sleeping, we make sure the boys are fed and changed, sing them some "I am a Child of God", then lay them in their bed, kiss them goodnight, and walk out the door. And twice they've cried for about 15 minutes, but every other time (naps and bedtime) they've just gone to sleep. This decision has officially saved the sanity of the whole family.

And now, to finish, here is a picture of what happened when I stuck the boys on a blanket (shown) next to me while making dinner. We now have the gate up on the stairs at all times.

Happy (late) Halloween! I hope you all got a good sugar buzz!