Wordless Wednesday

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

One Jonah = 10 normal kids

Yeah, that's what the child care director at the YMCA told me on Saturday. He said that having Jonah in the class room made it like having 15 kids instead of just 5. He said they were all playing nicely until they heard a crash. It was Jonah pulling the bucket of blocks over. So they all headed over to pick those up until they heard more noise. It was Jonah who had climbed on the table and and dumping the container of crayons upside down. So the staff headed over to pick those up before Jonah and the other little ones started eating them. And then more noise. All of the coloring papers hit the floor. Jonah again.

Seriously, at least once a week someone asks me how I deal with him. It's like this. No chairs at the table or counter. Nothing breakable in bottom drawers. Locked lower cupboards. And yes, he still gets into stuff. I have very little make up left thanks to him and the dog gets extra meals because he sneaks into the pantry closet where the dog food is. Yesterday there were a million pieces of egg shell all over the kitchen. Don't ask!

Fast cars

The other night I took the kids to the "Science is Fun" event put on by our Parents as Teachers program. Science was not so fun for me as all I did was prove that it's impossible for one mommy to chase two kids in opposite directions. I think the kids had a good time though. The big hit for both of them was a swimming pool filled with pasta & shovels & buckets. I decided not to recreate that one at home since Jonah was really into emptying the pool! I did manage to make some nifty car ramps like they had there today though. Leah's still sleeping & Jonah & I are trying to see which is faster, the fire truck or the garbage truck.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Family Photo

I'm not sure why I didn't put this up here before, but here's a family photo of us from Christmas taken by Uncle Ryan. Leah was just a little wound up about opening gifts and Jonah was ready for bed! Classic!

This is where she put the furniture. I'm waiting for my mom to remind me about my obsession with moving furniture as a young person. I think I actually broke my bed from moving it so much.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Afternoon antics

My friend Wendy calls most afternoons around 4:30. This is what Leah did while I was on the phone. It's not the first time. I'm not sure if I should be singing the praises of the manufactures of those nifty felt floor protectors for an unscratched floor, or cursing them for making the furniture easy to slide. I'm seriously considering bolting the furniture to the floor. Or maybe I can talk Paul into heavier furniture??


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tea Time with the Tiny Tots

This is what goes on at our house sometime between 3pm and 4pm every afternoon. Snacks & juice for them. Espresso for mommy. I just want to squish their little faces when I seem them sitting up there like that. Squish, squish, squish. Love those two little blonde heads.

This is Leah teaching Jonah about the fine art of splashing in puddles. Yup, puddles in January in Missouri. I really don't miss the never ending blanket of snow and ice we were covered with all winter long living in Wisconsin, but I can't say I love the dreary gray of winter here either. Temps have been in the 40s and 50s this week which has gotten us outside and helped with that cabin fever. Seriously, between fighting with Leah, "sassiest mouth in the south" and being up all night with "toddler beds suck" Jonah it's been a rough two weeks!

The Monkey has Escaped!

So I knew the time was coming. I knew because over the Christmas holiday Jonah climbed out of the pack & play at Grandma Sally's and ran down stairs like he was hot stuff. I prayed that it'd be a whole lot longer before he figured out how to climb out of his crib, but today was the day. I carried him upstairs after lunch and did his normal nap time routine. He laid down and snuggled up to his trusty dinosaur and acted like he was going to sleep. Nighty night! About 5 minutes later I heard him hollering but figured I could wait to check him until I finished my lunch. I ate and he quieted down so I figured he'd decided to go to sleep. Nope, I head a "MA!" and there he was on the stairs. Guess he's moving to a toddler bed with a gate at the door now!

Made me think of how kids are so different from each other. Leah was a busy toddler like JOnah is but was never much of a climber. She was in her crib until she was two and never climbed out. I only moved her to a toddler bed because she loved her friends little beds so much and figured she'd have to move soon anyway since Jonah was on the way. Back then I had chairs in normal places too. Now chairs only make it to the table or the counter when it is time to sit on them. If we forget it's only moments before Jonah is standing on the counter!

I'm sure our monkey will be in trouble again. Stay tuned!

Wedding Video

Today is Paul & my 6th anniversary so I dug out the DVD of our wedding to watch. We have been reminded of our love & the beauty of the beach. We forgot how windy it was. We realize what a long 6 years it's been & how much we miss miss Paul's brothers Collier & Billy who celebrated with us that day but are no longer with us. We laughed over how much we & many of our guests have changed. The best part was the comedy of sharing the video with Leah.

"look mom, it's Grandpa Chicken on TV!!"

"mom, are you marrying grandpa??"

"grandma looks old, she must have had a birthday"

"when can I get married?"
"when you are a grown up & you find the right person that you love, Leah"
"I love Carter so I can marry him !"

We didn't do much to celebrate today but I hope we showed our kids that we love eachother & that we love them & that we love a good laugh!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas at Home

Every year we struggle with when to do our family Christmas. I usually try to convince Paul to do it on December 5 for St. Nick's Day but let's face it, I'm never done shopping by then! I'd love to do it right before we head up to Iowa but Paul has been gone the week before Christmas for work for the past 10 years! I'm hoping next year will be different. Depspite the confusion, I've managed to come up with a "traditional" dinner for us and we dressed up and at in the dining room which Leah thought was fabulous! Stuffed Mushrooms, Crab Cakes, Seared scallops, broccolli, & molten chocolate cake were on the menu. We opened our gifts afterward. Leah who had decided that "she HATES pants" was most excited about two new dresses and her cupcake set. Jonah decided that it was more fun to climb on the box than open it. It contained a basketball hoop that he was pretty excited about. He knew just what to do. (Maybe Grandpa Lee will get a basketball player yet!) It was a bit of crazy day and evening but fun to stretch out the celebrating!

Christmas in Pella

Christmas Day we braved nasty weather to make it from Mason City to Pella to be with the Luhrs side of the family. The entire trip was facilitated by iphone technology. I think I spent the entire car ride using my phone to check maps, weather, & check in with Abby & Ryan who were traveling the same route as we were. Our time in Pella was short and I forgot to take very many photos since there were lots of cameras floating around. Here are couple !

Christmas Morning!

Boy oh boy am I behind on blogging about Christmas and New Years and such. Anyway. These are from Christmas Morning at Grandpa Gene & Grandma Sally's house in Iowa. Leah was thrilled that Santa came. (Especially since Mom doesn't believe in Santa) Many thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for taking care of the details on that! Poor Jonah who got up at 5am the entire week of Christmas was NOT happy that he had to wait for sleepyhead Leah to wake up. And there were no bows left on the gifts by around 6:00. It was 7:30 before Leah rolled out of bed. I know it was because she was upstairs snuggling with her Paul. I wouldn't have wanted to come down either!

Have I mentioned that Paul refuses to smile nicely in any photo of just he and I. I'm pretty sure he does it becaues he knows it makes me insane. It's become a game and I can hardly hold a straight face because I keep averting my eyes to see if he is doing something strage. This is the "Christmas Collage" version of Paul being a dork. Click on the photo for a bigger version to get the full effect!

Leah Laughs!

Holiday card Outakes

So I'd like just ONE nice photo of the two of them together in their Christmas gear. I did pick one that a few lucky people will receive in thier mailboxes sometime over the holiday season. (No they haven't been mailed yet!) Seriously, for these photos, if it wasn't one crying or making a wierd face, it was the other!! And these are just a sampling of the 40 or so photos I snapped! It was much easier last year when Jonah wasn't mobile!

Bird Watchers

Now that the weather is cold, I have been doing my best to come up with projects to keep Leah busy in the late afternoon. Birdfeeders were on the list for last week and boy are the birds happy! We made two differnt versions and already out deck is covered with a variety of birds. Honestly, I'm amazed! We've seen mourning doves, titmice, cardinals, chickadees, bluejays, downy woodpeckers, junco & a few more that we haven't looked up in our birdbook! The kids like to push thier chairs up to the windows and watch. We got the binoculars out for Leah too but no pics of that. Leah insists that all the birds make a "caw caw" sound!

This is the face Jonah makes when I open the fridge right now. It's accompanied by a loud "Ahhhhh" sound. Why you ask?? It's because he wants this.

Yup. Canned whipped cream. I made the mistake of letting him try it and now he's like a little monster with his open mouth and "ahhh". Seriously cracks me up! Leah loves it too!

Puke

Jonah,

Thank you for maintaining your generally good mood despite puking your breakfast all over the nursery at the YMCA and your entire lunch all over the tray of your highchair. It's gross but it'd be worse if you threw a fit about it. Hope you feel better soon. Love you,

Mommy

Tired

Dear Jonah,

Mommy is very tired. Tired of getting up at 5am. Tired of you throwing a fit about taking naps. Seriously, you are 15 months old, it's time for a new schedule. So how about a Christmas surprise for mommy?? Start sleeeping till at least six! Or maybe even seven!! Love you

Mommy

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone