Ack! It's March!

So....again it's been 2 weeks since the last post and I'll just go through what's been going on with us!

Well, last weekend the kids spent some time with Grandma Linda while we attended a memorial benefit for my cousin Stacie and her kids. We had some very enjoyable adult time while Kelsey and Drew kept my mom and step-dad busy. Kelsey's new words are "I sorry" "I touch" and "Papa", which she told me all about "Papa, yum yum, hiiiiiiiiiiii, mommy, yum yum, Papa" when we came over to my mom's Sunday for lunch and my step-dad was in the kitchen and Kelsey was pointing at him and the food in the oven. Drew's new dance is "I like to move it, move it". He just giggles away!

Again we were digging out of all the snow! Craig had his first snow day this season - which couldn't have come at a better time since Drew was up the night before with a fever. He ate/drank fine during the day and slept like a "baby" the next night. Then he had diarrhea. Soooooooo it could have been a touch of the flu (the sitter's grandson threw up that morning) or some sort of 2 year molar thing. Kelsey was her normal, silly self so we are just counting our blessings that Drew's "illness" didn't last long and somehow Kelsey avoided it.

Drew had has first real haircut Thursday. We had been cutting his hair for the past year but with their 2 year photos coming up we figured he could use some professional help! Craig went first so that Drew could get a feel for the salon. He wasn't interested at first, so I held him in the chair. I would say Drew made it through 95% of it, holding his buddy and getting hair everywhere because he did not want to wear the protective "cape". Now he looks like 23 months going on 5! Haircuts always make him look older.

And another month has snuck up on us! It is March which means there will be 2 2 year olds in this house at the end of the month. So that means we have to start planning a party, letting go of our "babies" and welcoming "toddlers". Un-fricken-real how fast it has all gone by.

She's holding a 'bean' mouse which she has "adopted" from the sitter.
She sleeps with it and carries it around...

This is what happens when there is a snow day with dad!

Uhhhhh huhhhhh, getting hairs did

He had to sit facing me

And when your hairs are done good, you feel good, so you act silly!

Random-ness

We had a couple visitors this weekend, some social, some business. We also did some visiting ourselves on Sunday - the morning was a perfect winter day with bright blue skies, warm sun, and snow on the ground, as our first visit was the cemetary. These pics to follow are some randoms from the week and are fairly entertaining!

It's like they are at the drive-in.

One of the few smiles when they are BOTH sitting in the car!

Oh dear...this face...what are we getting ourselves into? :)

Oh the Snow!

I had big plans of using this weekend to catch up - laundry, cleaning, some home cookin' - all foiled by my dismal "on call" schedule. It started by working 12.5 hours Friday, just how everyone likes to finish their work week. I can home dragging butt and exhausted. When I left the hospital I asked them to please not call me back, since I had 3 hours off til my next call shift started at 10:30. For some reason I had a hunch, a premonition, that it was not going to be a quiet night.

So when the phone rang at 12:45, my intuition was right. Thankfully do to my exhaustion, I was asleep by 9 and had a couple good hours under my belt. Where is this saga going, you might be asking? One plan was to get the kids bundled up and play in the snow this weekend. Which, when I was crawling into bed at 4, did not sound very appealing. But then when Drew was yelling, "MA MA" from his room at 6:50, I thought maybe the outside air would "encourage" them to take an extra long nap (so that I could too)!

Well, I think I slept for 20min and the kids for 1.5 hours. Although when it was time to go get them I felt ready to be double teamed by them:) I felt better than when I am fully rested and not working my butt off. The end result was cute pics of the kids in the snow. I  assumed Kels would love it the most since she ALWAYS stops on our way in/out of the house to touch the snow. But it was Drew who was belly-flopping into snowbanks and crawling through the deep snow while Kelsey stood next to the snow. I brought out some sand shovels for them to dig in the snow and we took a walk down the street.

On a side: it was the first time I heard Drew say Kelsey's name. I was saying, "Kelsey - stop" because she was getting too far ahead of us on the walk. And Drew stops and says, "Kellllheeee". Kelsey's been saying, "Wers Du?" for a couple weeks now, as they like to ask ALL THE TIME: "Wers Da? Wers Ma?" repeatedly. over. and. over. Even if you answer them.

She's crying because I MADE her come outside; hence her blankies are in tow.

Buh-bye January

The weather has us bouncing all over the place. We actually haven't taken the kids outside this winter yet...I feel bad for not letting them experience the snow since they are obsessed with it, looking out the window saying, "no, no, no" (no "s's" yet). But every time there is good snow on the ground it is like 10 degrees out. Firstly, I'm not sure I want to be outside in that cold nor do I want to get funny looks from the neighbors for having my little kids in it! Maybe we will finally keep the snow as it warms up later next week and they can break in their snow suits/boots!

You can bet Craig ran out that night after the egg incident and brought home child safety locks for the fridge (and dishwasher, as we've caught him sitting on the open door playing with the dirty dishes - I know, parental fail). They are working great, except for my frustration when I forget I can't simply open the fridge anymore!

Otherwise we are boring-ly busy - which should make sense to some of you :). We aren't going anywhere special or doing fun, busy things. We have lots of coordinating of schedules, paperwork from my dad's estate and meetings/phone calls with those appropriate people, trying to (FINALLY) plan a vacation, and sometimes the stress of it all makes you feel busy. Picking up what I'm putting down? I knew you would!

One of my FAVORITE past times - if you can call it that! I love cookie dough,
cake batter, all things bakery -especially before they are baked! I use to share the
mixer beaters with Craig's dog Marty. He LOVED them and sat next to my legs
as soon as he heard the mixer running, knowing he'd get to lick one. Of course
I had an audience when I was making cookie dough (by request), observing
everything I was doing. And then I made the mistake of licking the spatula...
I heard a chorus of, "ME! My turn. I wan won."

 

And nothing like a smiley Drew in his Thomas jammies!

When Life Hands You...Eggs?

I haven't posted in a while because I didn't have pictures; which I thought translated into I didn't have anything to say/report. Turns out I don't have many pictures because the kids are so busy learning and growing, I can not keep up with them to document everything!

Drew is coming around and turning into a "talking" machine. Not that we understand a lot of what he says but at least it sounds more like words instead of yelling! Kelsey has always been our talker and lately has been spitting out a lot of 2-word phrases. In the past week, we also noticed that both kids know most of the sounds zoo animals make. Either I need to pay the sitter more or let them watch more Sprout tv :) The zoo will be extra fun this year!

Drew has also learned to "do" new things. He "walks the walk" while Kelsey "talks the talk". He opens the dishwasher, cabinets, car doors, puts keys in locks, has always been the climber. And recently became strong enough to open the fridge door. I received this text from my mom when she watched the kids Thursday:

Mom: When did Drew learn how to open the fridge door?
Me: Funny trick right? Not sure. He did it last night.
Mom: Well you are going to need more eggs!

Apparently she was in the living room with Kels and Drew was unusually quiet, which can only mean he's finding trouble. She heard him coming into the living room saying, "uh oh" and saw he had half an egg in his hand. He dumped about 5 eggs on the kitchen floor. Mom said she salvaged a couple and they had scrambled (no pun intended!) eggs for lunch. I guess when life hands you lemons...

It has been dreadfully cold this week which tested the kid's tolerance for hats and mittens. Once they were in the car they didn't last too long. There is also hardly any snow on the ground and I can't remember a birthday coming up this short with snow. It had been a past time of mine to go sledding on my birthday; this year would be a no-go unless we went to a ski hill where they "make" snow.

Yep, you guessed it - my wise, wonderful self is 29....again!

Sitting on the chair together. Of course, Kelsey is saying "Mine!" to the camera.

I told them to show me their feet....

...which meant to Kels - get these darn socks off!

Drew's been lovin' him some big, fat cat!

Trying to fit in the bottom of his Fisher Price "grill"

"Monkey see, Monkey do" (but Kelsey tried it head first!)

Busy Again

Firstly, I can't believe it is the middle of January and all of our snow is gone! What makes winter great is that the snow covers up all of the dormant, not pretty foliage. And I just feel that if it's going to be 18 degrees and blustery, there should be fluffy white snow to go with it

This weekend we went back up to my hometown. We celebrated a couple family birthdays, supported our cousin Nick at his wrestling tournament, and attended mass in memory of my dad. After our visit to the cemetery, we headed to a local bar that opens early for breakfast with the whole fam damily! Oh, did I forgot to mention it was our first time with the kids in church since baptism (other times we leave them at home with a sitter). I thought it would be early enough that I could bribe them with food and that would keep them quiet. Or that the singing and congregation praying would intrigued them into silent wonderment. Ha, no such luck. Drew was my biggest worry because I assumed he would want to run up and down the aisle. Craig took him out to the back of church twice - our church is too small and too old to have a "cry/children's" room. Kelsey kept pointing to the ceiling and asking, "what's that?". And she's recently become the loudest eater. EVER! Every bite of her fruit cracker was, "yum,yum,nom,nom,num,num." And both kids would turn around, look up to the balcony of choir singers and say, "hiiiiiiiiiiii. Hi. Hiiiiiiiiii." Good thing they are cute!!

Once we hit up the tavern there was plenty of other people that wanted to entertain the kids. They were "playing" the digital slot machines, climbing up the bar stools, and eventually, the holy grail, the pool table. Auntie Tara helped Kelsey put quarters in the machine after playing with only the cue ball got old. Then we had to fend for ourselves as they "threw" the balls down the table. Soon the aunties figured out that it would work better if the kids sat on the table. Kelsey loved it. Drew then befriended the bar tender and became possibly the youngest person behind Swede's bar. But the bartender loved it! She scooped him up and served a couple drinks, ate some popcorn, and started taking everyone's money off of the bar.

What a weekend! Hoping for a quiet week so we can gear up for another equally busy weekend:)

Here We Are - 2013

You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present. ~Jan Glidewell

A year seemed so *long* when I was younger, like really young. Now, the new year approaches and I think, "Crap, what did I even accomplish last year?" The past few years has been about keeping one foot moving in front of the other; with trying to conceive, then bedrest, then adjusting to life with twins. I'd like to stop worrying about what I didn't do and start living with no regrets. Who cares if I didn't "polish the silver" if I was able to spend extra hours laughing with my family. Or that the "top bookshelf wasn't dusted" because I wanted to see some friends that aren't always near. I have learned a lot last year - some things factual like what the heck IS a "probate" and subjective like, life being FULL of unknowns you shouldn't delay or put things off , if it's important to you, then it is important.
Wishing you all the best this new year has to offer. Show us what you got, 2013 - We.Are.Ready.

Getting stylish in mom's boots

This is what happens when toddlers want to play with a train track -
you have to get INSIDE the track!

Jax and Kelsey at the Lettenberger's last weekend for Christmas wrap up!

Wash up! Always cleaning her hands.

Don't let the past steal your present. ~Terri Guillemets