December Highlights

December flew by!  Here are some photos from last month:

Monster Jam!

Coconut oil baths at Nana's house for cradle cap

Our favorite house to drive by in December!

Amelia's 4K Christmas program

*Video here of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas!"

Visiting Santa!

Fun at the mall after seeing Santa

Colored bath and foam!?!?!  FUN!

Jackson's first Christmas :)

Christmas morning

Campouts in their new sleeping bags/tents!

They have solved an infinite number of "problems" as superheroes in their custom capes!

December was a fun month and now we are looking forward to making new memories in 2014!

Life Lately

Things have been stressful for us the past couple of weeks.  I think whenever you are about to have a baby things get hectic but on top of it we have so many "wildcards" thrown into the mix right now that we are just wiped out.

Two Saturdays ago my grandpa had a stroke and then last Wednesday he passed away.  

Since I am nine months pregnant I was not able to travel to say goodbye nor attend his funeral.  My entire family is down in Indiana trying to sort through my grandparents' affairs while also trying to arrange care for my grandma who has Alzheimer's.  They have been down there over a week now and there really is no "light at the end of the tunnel" for them, sadly.  

Last Friday I found out I have a sinus infection on top of double ear infections.  I am on antibiotics for that and my ears really need to clear up before we can even talk about induction at this point the doctor said.  If they are not healed I risk rupturing my ear drums during delivery. 

Friday was, coincidentally, the day that Joe decided to protest naps.  He picked such a great day ;)  Today was his fourth day refusing to nap, crawling out of the crib and banging at the door so I just let him come out and join Amelia and I.  

Within an hour Amelia called for me to show me this:

See, buddy, you do still need your naps!

Jason and I gave the kids a glow-in-the-dark bath over the weekend to make sure that even though he and I are stressed the kids still had some fun!

This was Joe's first glow-in-the-dark bath (I think) and he had a blast!  We started them with Amelia years ago and it's just been a nice way for us to break up the monotony of bath-time!

Lastly, a photo of two goofy kids to leave you with!

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend we had a little vacation to the north shore!  We left Friday morning and headed to Hayward and the National Fishing Hall of Fame!  Jason has been wanting to go for awhile and this trip was a great opportunity - it broke up our drive for the kids :)

Giant musky statue with 2 kids in it's mouth! (click to enlarge)

After looking around and letting the kids explore we got back on the road stopping only to picnic for lunch!

Our first night we decided to hang out at the hotel and swim, order pizza and explore the rocky beach.  The pool wasn't a huge hit but eventually both kids somewhat warmed up to it.

Watching Amelia and Joe run on the beach, throw rocks in the water and wade in the freezing water (their feet turned pink!) was seriously the highlight of the trip for me - they were so happy and free!  We went out both nights and it was the most relaxed I felt all weekend.   

Bath time was fun on the trip because we had a whirlpool tub in our room!  

Amelia begged us to come in the "big bath" with them and on night two daddy obliged.  They thought it was great!  

And now, the reason for our trip...A Day Out With Thomas!  Thomas the Tank Engine made his way to Duluth, MN and we went to see him and take a ride on him!

There were lots of activities set up at the site including bounce houses, bubbles, train tables, story time, meetings with Sir Topham Hat, entrance to the Lake Superior Railway Museum and more!  We got there several hours before our train time and it was the best thing we could have done!  We got to do everything without the crowds and long, long lines :)

Amelia loved the inflatable slide!

Joey could have played at the train tables ALL day!

We took our ride on Thomas at noon!

Excited boy waiting in line :)

It was a short twenty minute ride through the depot and to the edge of Canal Park but both kids had a blast!  It was their first real train ride and who better to give it to them than one of their favorite engines?!  Joe was so overwhelmed he passed right out on that twenty minute train ride:

Little buddy was out cold!

Once again we spent the evening at our hotel :)  

Family photo on Lake Superior

Joe brought his "wormy" with and for some reason kept throwing him in the lake and then he would panic and Amelia would scream, "I'm coming!  To the rescue!"  It was pretty cute :)

 

Jason took Amelia to rent a movie from the front desk and they had a little movie night while I got into bed early.  I hadn't slept well the night before because I had two kiddos right up against me nearly pushing me out of bed!  *we had a king suite so we all shared the king bed!

My morning view :)

Sunday morning we got checked out and headed to Canal Park in Duluth.  We got there just in time to see the lift bridge go up for a ship to go into the harbor.

Waving at the ship's crew!

While Joe pushed the stroller around Amelia chased seagulls - which Jason said was one of his favorite parts of the weekend.

She just could not slow down and kept running back and forth!

On our way home we stopped at Pattison State Park to check out Little and Big Manitou Falls.

We lucked out and there were parking lots nearby both falls so we didn't have to hike (which helped us get home earlier!)  

The ride home was a bit rough with restless kids but there were times where they were both happy.  Proof:

Once we got home they wanted to play trains since they each got a new wooden Thomas character train Saturday.  I was too wiped out to want to drag out our wooden train sets and help them set something up etc so I offered the road rug and (luckily) they Amelia was fine with it!

Overall we had a wonderful weekend.  No matter how wonderful it was I can't deny that it was stressful.  We were out of the (loose) routines we hold at home and we were stuck in the car a lot!  I can also tell you we were quickly reminded of why we rarely go out to eat as a family...can you say stress?  The kids and I eat fast food on Thursday because with speech it just works out better time-wise.  Fast food vs. a sit down, we found out, are two very different ball games!  Joe is just not at a good age for eating out and it doesn't help that we have two very high energy children that feed off of each other, ha!  

We are off to a strange start this week because Jason got called up for jury duty so the kids are spending some time at my parent's house so my sister can watch them and I don't have to miss work!  I suppose we will settle back into things at home later this week :)

Bathtime Buddies

Happy Wednesday!

Linked to Wordless Wednesday @ 5 Minutes for Mom

Last Day of School

This morning was Amelia's last day of school for the year!  

She really loves going to school.  Sometimes she even asks to go on non-school days!  I have a feeling that she will really miss going twice a week this summer.  Hopefully she likes it this much once next fall rolls around!

Tonight, in honor of the "official" start to summer, Amelia had a special bath!  

A glow-in-the-dark bath!  This is something that we have done a few times in the past.  I pick up some glow sticks (usually from the dollar section at work) and throw them in the bath with her.  Lights off, of course.  She thinks it is pretty neat and it mixes things up for us a bit at night!  

Friday Fun

Tonight my sister came to hang out with us! We hopped in the car and went to a new park. It is within walking distance but since rain was on it's way we decided to drive so we wouldn't be stuck out in it! Joey spent most of his time swinging and watching all the big kids run around and play. 

Amelia explored the small beach and found several seashells! 

(yes mom, I do realize she needs a haircut!) 

One of Amelia's favorite things tonight was "driving the car." 

In fact, before we could leave she had to run back to "drive the car" one last time! We left the park at dinner time and decided, what the heck, we'd eat McDonald's. Amelia was so, so excited when she realized where we were going. During dinner she asked me to "cheese" her and snuggled up with my sister. 

Since she ate her whole Happy Meal we decided to get some ice cream on the way home. Dairy Queen was a zoo and the one here is notorious for being very slow so we headed to the grocery store for dessert. Across from the grocery store we noticed a little sweets shop. When we pulled up they were closing (they close early - at 6!) but the owner let my sister go in and get us ice cream to go. It was our favorite, Cedar Crest, ice cream! Amelia was in heaven with her cookie dough ice cream!

Between the park, McDonald's and ice cream baths were in order. Amelia had a ball cleaning Joe. 

She is in charge of washing his tummy, knees and feet. I am in charge of his hair - with the watering can. She's the boss and I just follow orders ;) 

 Joe was so interested in the bubbles tonight. He just kept examining his hands. 

We needed this good night tonight. Hopefully the weekend will be just as good!

Sweet Siblings

Last week I challenged myself to get pictures of the kids interacting together. I did pretty well!

Amelia received a doctor kit for Easter and she spent Monday evening making sure everyone was ok. Even the blankets had their heartbeat and blood pressure taken. She got a little frustrated at Joe because he kept trying to grab the stethoscope from her!

When I feed Joe I sometimes have to ask Amelia to make him laugh or smile so I can get him to open his mouth. Towards the end of his mealtime I asked Amelia if she wanted to try feeding him and she did. She did pretty well! I did have to put a stop to it just when the food was about to run out because she gagged him pretty bad with the spoon on accident...

The aftermath:

A confused and messy baby Joe!

I wanted them to sit together on the chair but this was the best Amelia had to offer me. I'll take it!

Tummytime :) Amelia is getting better and better at playing with Joey during his tummytime which thrills me for two reasons. 1) they are enjoying each other and 2) it gives me a chance to get one or two things done!

Amelia likes to give Joe baths when he is his baby tub. I decided to take it one step farther:

She was not thrilled at first but she realized that once we washed him he was done and she could have the tub filled up more and play!

I love the pictures that I was able to get and the fact that Amelia is getting friendlier and friendlier to Joe as time goes on. I'm still waiting on the day that she will hold him though! That will be a special day.

Happy Monday!