Valentine Hodpodge

I don't really have anything profound to say about Valentine's Day. We don't do a whole lot of celebrating. Paul was out of town till Saturday morning so all we wanted to do was spend time together at home. I did take the kids to a party for our playgroup and Leah and I had a fun time creating our goodies to take along. The photos tell the story better.

fudge truffle cheesecake we made for daddy

marshmallow pops for playgroup party

Stirring the homemade playdough

cutting out her playdough valentines

Jonah and the playgroup babies. All born within 3 months.

Our Guardian Angel

When I was growing up my mom occasionally reminded us of our guardian angels. The most memorable time for me was the guy who stopped with his large truck and pulled us, our minivan, & our boat up a gravel hill that we were nearly sliding backward down. That's a story for another day though.

Our guardian angel was on duty today when I had the kids out for a run. The 70 degree February weather has given me a burst of ambition and I have been trying to run again. We were about a mile from our house this morning when we had a run in with a car. What a car does to a jogging stroller isn't pretty. It's not pretty what it does to a mother's emotions when her babies are strapped into the said jogging stroller. Especially when one of them goes flying out.

Now, Leah and Jonah are fine and I've gotten a hold of my emotions about the whole ordeal. The guy that hit us rolled through a stop sign and right over the front wheel of our stroller. He was very apologetic and I think will forgive me for the choice words I shouted at him. We also had great service from the local ambulance crew and paramedics who checked out the bump on Leah's head and gave Jonah the once over. Leah was not a fan of the siren so we declined a ride to the hospital. We were thankful that one of the passerbys was our neighbor who was happy to snuggle Jonah while I calmed Leah down and went to get our car with the car seats so we could get home.

So yes, our guardian angel worked hard today. It really could have been so much. Pedestrians don't usually win in car / pedestrian accidents.

and I guess we will be getting a new stroller.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

"Let's go fly a kite Up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear Oh, let's go fly a kite!"
From Mary Poppins

Yup, perfect day for flying the kite yesterday. Doing it our own backyard probably isn't the smartest thing in the world but it sure it fun. Leah is awesome at running across the yard while I throw the kite up in the air! She is usually great at holding the string and running a bit to keep the kite up in the air too. Yesterday was a bit different though and I ended up fishing the kite out of the neighbor's tree. Of course, I thought I could do better than my two year old and let the kite fly super high. It then lost air and landed on our roof. Oops. I managed to get it off with out having to get out the ladder. All in all it was fun. Such simple pleasure on warm day in February!

That Face

So I meant to have a really nice post about going to the park today since it's pushing 70 degrees here in Missouri today. Instead this is a post about Leah's crying face. I didn't realize until recently that she does this insane open mouthed wail thing and that she has been doing it for a LONG time. It's not usually something we capture on film but here are two examples.

June 2007

Today

It drives me crazy that now she does it "on purpose." Like today. This face went along with "I don't want to go home yet". Even though what she should have been saying was "I'm too darn tired to enjoy the park right now. She crashed as soon as we got home.

And someone had a great time at the park! His first time in a big swing!

Bad Grandma

Our kids are blessed to have three Grandmas as well as a few honorary grandmas here and there. Leah calls them all by name and knows which grandma goes with which grandpa. A while back Paul's mom, Sally, christened herself "Bad Grandma". Why, you ask? Is she mean to the kids? Does she smell funny? Did she do something naughty? Although she may be guilty of that last one sometime during her 70some years, it's none of those reasons. It's because she spoils the kids! She does things like letting Leah eat ice cream pretty much whenever she wants! I guess that's what grandmas are for though!

She sent the kids a package this week with a few things we forgot there over Christmas and some new clothes for Jonah. I know she reads this blog so "Thanks Bad Grandma!" Your address label made us smile!

My Boy

I am so happy to report that Leah appears to love her baby brother very much. She is quick to shower him with hugs and kisses and informs us daily that he is "her boy." She is quite the source of entertainment for him as well. She loves the music on his exersaucer as much as he does so she pushes the button and dances for him. Her other favorite thing to do is to "push" him in his baby swing. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her slamming the back of the swing into the couch until I realized Jonah was laughing hysterically! Something tells me that she won't always love him quite this much, like maybe when he starts crawling which will be soon based on all the rocking he is doing!

I don't like trains.

So really, she does like trains. As long as they are parked and silent. It was the train bell that prompted the "I don't like trains" comment while we were visiting the Museum of Transportation on Friday. It's quite the interesting place with old trains that you can walk through and a fabulous "Creation Station" for kids. Leah had a fun time despite the cold and Jonah saw it all from the comfort of the Ergo carrier. It would have been nice if I had a train to ride around the place on. I feel like a pack animal carrying Jonah on my front and the loaded diaper bag on my back.








Thanks to our friend Ronda for these last two pictures.

Snow Day!

I'll have to admit we really haven't missed the snow since we left Wisconsin. We get a taste of it visiting our parents up in Iowa and the one or two times a year it really snows here. . . . .like yesterday! We got LOTS of snow. Enough snow that Leah informed Paul this morning that the roads are yucky and he needed to be careful driving to work. Fortunately they weren't bad enough to keep Paul from coming home at noon with a brand new sled for Leah. Nap time got pushed back and we tested it out. It was quite the thrill to hear her say "can I do it again".

Of course Jonah had gotten enough fresh air earlier and fell asleep in his snowsuit when I laid him down on the floor while I went to put my coat on!

eating snow

in search of a bigger hill

a post sledding snuggle with Daddy & a cup of hot cocoa

Not Always Happy

See, he's not always happy. Just almost always.

Magic at the Magic House

Last Friday we joined our friends Wendy, Chris & Brayden at the Magic House, Saint Louis's Children's Museum. Quite the fun place and quite honestly, I enjoy it as much as Leah does. It was bit of a different trip since I spent the whole time with Jonah strapped to my chest in the Ergo carrier but fun none the less. We managed to make it to the art class too. I am in amazement of how seriously Leah takes each project. Oh and Jonah managed to have fun too. I think he could have played in the water table all day. Leah was not happy about him having fun and wanted to do something else though.




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A Tea Party

We busted out the tea set Leah got from Grandma Helen this week. It was tons of fun. Leah enjoyed pouring tea and pouring more tea and pouring more tea and adding milk and adding sugar and adding more sugar and drinking very little tea. There was tea everywhere including all over Leah. Fortunately for me she had no complaints about doing the dishes and taking a bath afterward.

Tis a Gift to be Simple

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Embedded video from CNN Video

This morning the kids and I skipped our usual trip to the YMCA to watch the inauguration. I'm not one to post about politics but this was historical you know. I noticed that the kids could have cared less about what was really happening but both were attentive to the music. I've always loved this simplicity of this tune and I found what it brought to mind fitting for the events of the day. Both the event of the inauguration and of me being able to sit at home with my children and watch it on tv.

Of course there really is nothing "simple" about the inauguration and how a new president is elected and such. It's even more confusing it seems for the mind of a two year old. I told her we were getting a new president today. She said "I like new presents."

Limo = Lemon

On the way home from church this morning I pointed out a limousine to Leah. It was a cool pink one. I said "Leah check out that big pink car, it's called a limousine. She replied with "we put lemon on our pancakes". After a bit of discussion she figured out the difference between limo and lemon.

And for putting lemon on pancakes. We do! Crepes with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of sugar are one of Leah's favorites.


Now that I have typed the word limousine several times I think it is sort of a funny looking word.

5 months for Jonah

Five months ago today Jonah was born and I am reminded that he is growing like a weed. He is becoming less of an infant everyday. As far as milestones and such I have very little idea. He's my second kid so I guess I quit paying attention. As long as he is fed and happy I am happy! Actually, he is nearly sitting on his own. I have seen him roll over both ways but is much too busy chewing on his feet to practice. He loves it when you sing to him and is very ticklish. I am in love with his warm smile and belly laughs. He still is a crappy sleeper but I'm not willing to let him cry it out yet so that is that. Guess it's time to wrap up this post since I can hear him upstairs in his crib kicking his feet. That's his favorite thing to do. He kicks so hard he nearly shakes the whole house!

Put 'em to Work

So I am one of those moms that reads the weekly "Baby Center" updates. You know those ones that tell you where your kid should be at developmentally. The ones that give you ideas of how to tackle the typical trials and tribulations of everyday parenting. Most of the time I feel like I do a lot more reading of "how to parent" suggestions than I do of actually following them. However, last week I decided to try one out.

Leah is getting to the age where she understands that people have jobs and there are things that "need to be done." As in "need to be done before I will pick you up, play a game, etc". I figured (and baby center suggested) that chores would be a good idea for her. So I, the task master, set to work! I now have Leah doing all of the cooking, cleaning and diaper changing around here which is why I have TONS of time to blog!! Okay, not really here is here chore list. Most of it is stuff I expect her to do anyway.

- get dressed
- brush teeth
- put shoes away
- hang up coat
- pick up toys
- set the table
- put clothes in laundry basket

She gets nifty stickers to put on her chart if she completes the task each day. Sometimes I wish someone would give me a nifty sticker for doing the dishes! You can tell that she takes her jobs quite seriously!

Happy Anniversary To Us

The 10th of January is Paul and my wedding anniversary. This year we celebrated five years. It's quite amazing how things have changed in five years. Having kids definately changes how one celebrates. On our first anniversary we whisked away to the Twin Cities for a couple of nights on the town and a visit to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. The next two years we enjoyed nice quite dinners. Last year we dropped Leah off with a sitter planning for her to spend the night. Instead we ate dinner and went back and picked her up. This year we headed up to my parents so that I could attend someone else's wedding on our anniversary. So romantic. We did manage to squeeze in a few hours alone to have dinner. We enjoyed it so much and it was so romantic that we threw it up 4 hours later! Yup. Both of us. And we had to kick both kids out of bed since we were sick and it was too much to snuggle with them too. Most of our anniversary this year was spent sleeping in my parents basement trying to recover from a nasty stomach bug. Thankfully my parents were there to keep an eye on our babies. We know how to celebrate!

Another Foot Post

Here's another one to go along with this one and this one. Leah thought Auntie Bethany's boots were very cool but couldn't figure out how to get them on the right way.




And here's a one of Jonah for good measure. Eating his toes!

Sicko

So how does one convice a two year old that puking in a bucket is a better idea than puking all over her bed or her mommy? Dilemma of the week at our house. Leah has been sick the past two nights. She appears to be fine during the day. Paul tried telling her it was a "magic bucket". I tried to stress how long it takes me to change her bedding. I guess there's no arguing with a sick girl at one in the morning. I wish I would have known that the I was gonna see the mac and cheese she ate for supper again, I would have fed her something else. Instead I was stuck cleaning the regurgitated version out of her hair, and mine in the middle of the night.

Please get better soon baby girl! And please don't pass on whatever it is you have to the rest of us.

"Magic"

Leah received a HUGE trunk of princess dresses for Christmas. Paul calls her his princess all the time so I guess it is fitting. Her favorite outfit is the flapper dress with hot pink sequins! On Christmas Eve, while trying on her gear on Christmas Eve she discoved that she has magic powers over her cousins Brian and Michael. She is a bit bummed that her magic doesn't work quite this well now that Christmas is over and we are back home.