BFF

Monkey and Baby's BFF's - Ms Dolly and Baby Z :)

Pillow Talk...

Hey Monkey, did you hear the one about the grasshopper that walked into the bar?

What? A grasshopper in a bar??? You're pulling my leg...

Ummm, Mom...we're having GUY time... Can you get out of here?!?!?!

p.s. The Grasshopper's name was Irving....

Sandy Claws...

We had breakfast with Santa this morning. Monkey was NOT ok with sitting on his lap. He'd wave and say Ho Ho Ho from across the room, but that was it. He was more interested in coloring and eating his breakfast :)

Baby All Star...

Baby is starting to feel better today and wanted to show off his new shoes...can you blame him? They are pretty cool...

Baby turns 2...(months that is)

Had Baby's 2 month appt on Tuesday. It was a nightmare. We were there for 2 hours, the nurse hit a capillary on his first shot and he bled all over the place, and Monkey fell off a chair while Baby was getting his other 2 shots, so I had 2 screaming babies....lovely...

Baby has been sleeping almost all day ever since - poor guy...

Wishees and Ways...

My sister and I took the boys to Underwater Adventures. It was SO much fun. I'm thinking we need to get a membership...Monkey LOVED it.

We went last week and he hasn't stopped talking about it since: He already knew how to say Wishee (Fish) and Do-Dish (Tortoise), but he also leared Way (Ray - Manta/Sting Ray) and Aaaccchhhh (Shark)...

It's amazing how much more fun things are when you see them through the eyes of a babe...

Here's Meghatron trying to hide her baby bump behind the stroller...little does she realize she's actually framed it perfectly :)

Wishees!!!

The Turtles were MY favorite part - they are SO cool...

The most awesome picture from our adventure :)

Octopus was feelin' frisky today. He actually swam around instead of hiding in the corner...

Monkey was a little freaked out about the Octopus...

He DID love the moving sidewalk however...he kept getting back on, running back and then riding to the end :)

Meghatron treated us to a lovely lunch at Nordstrom Cafe' after our adventure....mmmmm....Nordstrom Cafe'......

Carpooling...

I just figured out that blogger posts pictures in the reverse order that you upload them, so to see my commute in chronological order, start at the bottom and work your way back up :)

This first image is how I line up the car in the garage so I know I'm far enough in but not too far...the tree does the trick :)

Our street...

Coming around the corner - my favorite part...In the winter you can actually see the lake through the trees...

Big hill - my car doesn't like it when it's icy...traction control seems to help though :)

Monkey didn't believe me when I told him that we'd already eaten the Cranberry Bliss Bar and that it was all gone...

Car full of kids - whatever - I could TOTALLY fit another 2 people in here...

Yeay PL!!!

This is seriously part of my drive...I'm not sure if they lined them up there in case someone slid through or not, but it's a good idea :)

NOSE!!!

Nose is how Monkey says Snow and he LOVES to play outside. Especially with Daddy :)

Here he is sledding down the "hill" in our front yard...

Daddy made snowballs and Monkey had to have one in his hands at all times...

I know the image is kind of dark, but here's the snowman they built together. Fun!!!

Our Christmas Card Picture Fiasco

SO...last wkend I took the picture of the kids for our Christmas cards this year.

What a lovely time that was...Cole was tired and crying and upset, Max kept tipping over, it was definitely a challenge.

I took 99 pictures to get 3 keepers. You can see the out-takes here :)

This is what we went with:

Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my Mom and Bapa Jim's this year. The food was great, the company wonderful and Monkey kept everyone pretty well entertained.

Unfortunately I took very few pictures.

However, I was fortunate enough that I caught this one of Monkey and Bapa in their "matching" sweaters.

Monkey pretty much has Bapa wrapped around his chubby little finger. They have had a special bond since Monkey was born - Bapa was at our house almost every day for a long time and Monkey absolutely adores him. All day long he was either looking for Bapa or trying to get Bapa to pick him up, play with him, torment the dog with him, etc.

It was also Baby's first turkey day. He slept through most of it, although he did have the chance to meet his Aunt Meg. She will be leaving us soon to move down to Peru, so it was nice that they could spend a little time together.

We made it home safely, although Monkey was covered in Pumpkin Pie Puke! and we spent the evening changing sheets, taking apart the car seat, and comforting a very sick Monkey :(

Yesterday he was better, but last night he was sick again, so we've just been taking it easy this weekend. I'm exhausted. We all are...

Except maybe Pipps...she had a wonderful day yesterday with her girlfriend going downtown to see the Macy's exhibit, having lunch at The Oak Room and going to the Mankato/Eden Prairie game all before they came back and decorated their Christmas Tree. I'm looking forward to a few months from now when we can start doing our girls days again. I miss the city sometimes - the museums, restaurants, shows...it's nice to have a daughter that appreciates those things - someone I can share them with...especially lately when all that interests her is boys and popularity and Hollister clothing...she's growing up!

SO...that's my update. I know I was going to try and get to writing every day again, but it's hard with 4 kids. Plus, the hubs starts school this week, so I will be on my own 2 nights a week. It'll be a challenge, but I DO love a good challenge :)

Until next time...

Hooby Hooby...

I've turned into my Grandma Rae. Seriously. I keep coming up with these random, made up words.

Hooby Hooby is one of them. I don't even really know what it means, but Monkey has started using it on Baby :)

He gets right up to his face and says HOOBY HOOBY!!!

It's kind of cute.

Not as cute as Neega Nagga Nooga (That'd be Rae-Rae's personal best), but it's a close second :)

On a side note, I uploaded a bunch of new photos. I know I should post them here, but I'm lazy and don't have time since the fabulous Ms. B. is coming over tonight...

I'll try and post tomorrow. Really. I swear ;)

Baby...

I was going to mail these out, but now it's time to get my christmas cards done, so you'll just have to get yours this way :) Notice that I did all the design work BEFORE he was born and basically just plopped the pics in now...sorry, that's my laziness :)

Here's the excerpt from the poem that would've been on the back:

'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you

Till China and Africa meet,

And the river jumps over the mountain

And the salmon sing in the street,

'I'll love you till the ocean

Is folded and hung up to dry

And the seven stars go squawking

Like geese about the sky.

'The years shall run like rabbits,

For in my arms I hold

The Flower of the Ages,

And the first love of the world.'

from "As I Walked Out One Evening"

by W. H. Auden

Tantrum in Slow Motion...

He wanted to touch the lens - I said no - this is what happened next...

(FYI - that's him throwing himself on the floor, not me pushing him)

:)

Boo!

I'm terrible, I know it. I'm still trying to get into the swing of things, but Baby got sick last week and so I haven't slept at all.

I did get my hair done...

and we did the Halloween thing...

Other than that, I have more pics posted here if you'd like to look :)

I promise I'll get this going again...after all, we have one of those notoriously cold MN winters coming up...stupid MN winters...

Baby...

Ok, so it's obviously been a LONG time since I've updated this thing.
What can I say, I've been a little busy.

We got admitted to the hospital on the 15th at 3:00, got induced at 5:00 and Baby (yet to be blog-nicknamed) was born at 1:06 am on the 16th. He was 7 lbs, 6 oz and 20.25" long (the smallest of my boys).

We changed his name at the last minute just like with Monkey and even though I won't post his name here, I will tell you that it means "Greatest Old Friend". (His middle name is after one of my favorite poets).

Labor was pretty intense. There were a couple minor complications, but we're both doing fine and are both slowly recovering...Pipps and B have been a HUGE help both with the house and with Monkey. Monkey has adjusted suprisingly well, but does need reminders to be gentle, not to step on the baby, not to feed the baby goldfish, not to throw toys at baby's head, etc.

It's a process...

I did post a few pictures here from the first few days.
I need to upload many many more...

Life since Baby was born has been a whirlwind of activity and attempts at inactivity. It hasn't been easy. We have been blessed with a number of wonderful friends and family who have made the past couple weeks bearable and even enjoyable. I have been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness, generosity and friendship.

To all of you: Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!! From the bottom of my heart, I want everyone to know how much I appreciate everything you've done for our family.
(Don't worry Grandma - I'll still be sending out thank you cards...you taught me well)

So...I have a ton more to share, but I don't think I'll be posting as often until I'm back to 100%.

Plus, I've been spending a huge amount of time lately just staring at our newest little miracle...serioulsy....just watching him sleep, look around, etc. He's pretty amazing...

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I'll Love Ya', Tomorrow...

It's only a day aaaa-waaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

We're getting induced tomorrow at 7 am! Woohoo!!! Yippeeeee!!!

I promise I'll FINALLY get out the camera and take some pictures and update this thing once we get settled.

Another Oldie...

I cleaned out a bunch of discs this wkend, so have been going through old photos...

This one is from a year or two ago :) Ba-Pa Jim and the older 2 at the apple orchard. Good times.