Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jack and I had a project this month that we haven't quite finished, but we gave it a noble try...We have been working on a Thankful Banner on the mantle. Most nights we talk about what we are thankful for and he picks something to write on a leaf.



He has written things like - food, my mommy, grandma and pops house, my bike, and my sister.

We have so much to be thankful for this year - our health, our little family, our warm home, and now this little new peanut.

Off to Anderson to celebrate with my family and then off to Libertyville to Scott's family this weekend.

Wishing everyone a great day - I can't wait to eat my weight in mashed potatoes!!

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little flutters…

…are just as magical and special the 3rd time around!

Most of our “blog followers” probably already know, but it seems very official to finally write on “the blog” that Baby Walti #3 is due May 17, 2012!

(my very sweet grandmother’s birthday, so I am really hoping for that date!)

We heard that sweet sound of a fast little heartbeat and all seems to be moving right along – currently 14 weeks along (15 weeks on Thursday), and feeling pretty good!

Overall, I feel good, just getting past that EXHAUSTED stage of the first trimester – this one hit me really hard and I am happy to report that I actually was up until 11pm last night!  This is quite the switch from 8:30 during the past 3 months…

We told the kids last week and Jack was so cute.  We were a bit worried about how he would react (he has been going through a bit of a clingy stage), but when we told him that he would be the “Biggest Brother” he broke out into a huge smile and kept talking about it and asking questions.  Then the next morning, the first thing he said was “Can we still have a new baby?”  He has said that he wants it to be a boy, and will sometimes come over and pat my belly and ask questions.  Emma has no clue what is happening – I’m very curious to see how this Momma’s girl reacts come May…

I have started to feel the little sweet flutters in the past week or so, so that has been really fun.  My appetite is also up, so bring on the THANKSGIVING meals, mashed potatoes, and apple pie! 

Exciting news for a Tuesday!  Lots of changes in store for our family in 2012 – all great, and all fun, (okay, and some stressful), but BRING ON the mini-van, the suburbs, and the happy chaos!

So…3 kids in 4 years – are we nuts? 

what happened to my baby boy?

somehow, in the span of the past 2.5 years, my chubby, round-blue-eyed, little boy grew up. 

I’m not sure how I really feel about it.

Jack – School Picture at 17 months

Jack – School Picture at 3.5 years

Yes, he is the same sweet, smart, rosy-cheeked, precocious little boy, but his eyes are much less round, have turned green, and he has definitely lost all of that baby pudge (I seriously think I saw some ab muscles last night).  I am so proud of the “big boy” that he has become and can’t wait to see how much more change he has ahead of him.

But, like I tesase him all the time – HE IS ONLY ALLOWED TO GROW TO BE 7 YEARS OLD!  I love this 4-ish age and we are having so much fun.

And this class picture of his Preschool class is hilarious – I cannot wait to re-visit this with him when he is 17. Jack actually did a great job looking at the camera but I get a kick out of the random looks and looks away of his classmates – SO FUNNY! 

(and sitting beside him is Sadie – his “girlfriend”) 

Jammies

I know two kids who couldn't wait to try on their new holiday jammies (and Emma's first nightgown = adorable!)...



They have been so cute together lately - Em loves to sit on top of Jack and harass him...



And Big Bro loves it!

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End of Fall Fun...

My wonderful in-laws took the kids yesterday so that Scott and I could celebrate our anniversary with a day/night to ourselves - it was fantastic.

We spent the day up north today and the pictures speak for themselves - taking advantage of what I hope isn't our last beautiful weekend of 2011!!

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the little things

Does it get any cuter than this? 

I got his coat last year at Baby Gap for $15!  It is adorable and I think she looks like a little pink marshmallow that I just want to EAT!  (AND…she loves it!)  Unlike Jack, she also does not mind wearing her hat and gloves – yippee!

Last night I made the kids “Toad in a Hole” for dinner.  You would have thought that I served them Snickers Bars and Cookies they were so excited – it was fun.  They both love “drippy eggs” so they thought it was extra-cool that they were in the middle of bread.

And then to top it off, I brought home a pair of chopsticks from work for Jack and he went BESERK.  So excited and he sure did eat his Toad in a Hole with a pair of chopsticks!  I have to remember that it is the little things like this that make being a parent so fun and rewarding!!!  And what they like the most!

Scott comes home tonight and the kids could not be more excited – I do have to say the one plus about having a husband that travels is that I now have a legitimate excuse to have my child in bed with me – Jack and I have a special rule that he is my sleepover buddy when Daddy is out of town (and this also works well for me, as it gives me an easy excuse to go to bed at 8:30!!!)    We also have special dinners (picnics, breakfast, popcorn) when Daddy is out and watch nature shows (last night it was SWAMP WARS – Jack was really into it) – so fun.

my two kiddos

I’ve been meeting to write a post with some of the funny/anecdotal things that the kids are doing for some time now, so here it goes…

Emma

• She has the sweetest little voice.  She is extremely polite, saying “THANK youuuuuu” in the cutest way.  The one that melts are hearts is when she wants to go somewhere and she looks back and says “You coming, Daddy?” “Hand?”  and wants us to come so badly with her.
• She loves to ask for hugs and kisses with “lipsth”  (lips)
• She is not crying when she wakes up in the night or morning now, but just says “Mommy, Daddy…Owie.”  Such a little con-artist, acting like she is hurt to get us to come in there at 3am.  (it works)
• Always asks for “Milky” and a “Cereal Bar” RIGHT when she wakes up.  Or Raisins.
• Calls Jack “Jacky” or “Buddy”
• The girl LOVES to hide and her favorite spots are the hall closet (which she peed in this morning since she was naked) and right in front of the island behind the barstools.  Not really hiding, but she always takes baby and blanket with her.
• When I tell her that I love her SO MUCH, she just says “Okay”
• Sometimes when I ask her to do something, she says “Okay, Mommmyyyy...” in a very sarcastic tone.  Totally messing with me.
• Her new favorite word is “Oh.”  When she asks you a question, like “I want Daddy” and I say “Daddy is on a trip,” she just says “Ohhhhh”  in a really funny way. Hilarious.
• Her new favorite words are “Special Treat.”  Thank you, Halloween.
• The girl is FAST – seriously a quick runner – I need to get it on videotape.
• Addicted to Paci at the moment (knows them all by color and will request “blue paci” or “orange paci”), and her Blanket, Baby, and Lily Frog go with her all throughout the house.  She is also obsessed with her little pink shopping cart and pushing baby around in it.
• Emma ALWAYS eats the dip/spread off of anything before eating the actual base – cream cheese off of bagels, peanut butter off of sandwiches, sour cream off of potatoes…and she LOVES Ketchup (“Kep-up”) and eats it with a spoon.  (counts as a veggie, right?)
• We have have been catching her going into their room by herself, sitting on Jack’s bed, and reading books.  Adorable. 
• She now has “Big Dog, Little Dog,” “Goodnight Moon,” “Goodnight Chicago,” “Wheels on the Bus,” and “Put me in the Zoo” memorized.
• Loves yogurt (“rogurt”), but hates any mix-ins, and will spit them out
• Every night after dinner, she says she is “all-done” and then climbs into Jack’s chair and finishes any scraps.  Better and cuter than a puppy!
• The song that she wants to sing every night is “Good night Heather” – our family GoodBye song (Goodnight, Heather, Goodnight, Heather, Goodnight Heather, We’ll see you Soon, Hope you had a happy day, happy day…).  Then she goes through the list of family members and we have to sing for everyone.  But it ALWAYS starts with her beloved Aunt Heather.
• Emma has a serious crush on our nanny Katie’s husband Pete.  But we call him Peke and she goes GAGA over him and brings out her flirty eyes.

Jack

• Told me this morning that he has a girlfriend at school named Sadie, and when I told him he is not allowed to have a girlfriend other than Mommy or Katie, she started crying. 
• Still only really likes 2 movies – Cars and Curious George (new obsession).  I am not complaining, however, as they are both the most innocent of movies.  He did NOT want to watch Cars 2 last weekend – said it was too scary.
• His gestures and enunciations are hilarious.  We can’t figure out if he is getting the way he speaks from Katie or me…TBD.  I wish I could videotape it.
• SO SENSITIVE – especially lately.  I think he is going through a little “starved for attention” phase with me.  Always wants to be next to me, on top of me, etc.  and gets upset when he has to share me with Emma. 
• Told us “I am so glad I get to go to school.”  I by no means think this is the ultimate best school for him, but it is good socially and we will investigate more “academic” options next year.  But he is having fun and that is what matters.
• New love – SCOOTERS.  Our upstairs neighbors have the perfect little scooter for his size and he is awesome riding it.  Hello, Santa.
• Jack now loves to pass things down to his sister and gets really excited to give her things that he doesn’t need or wear anymore like his fleece, mittens, etc.
• We taught him how to play Uno and his favorite thing is to get a Skip or Draw Four card and hit you with it.  He is doing a great job following the rules.
• Uses “mouthwash” at night (fluoride rinse that his cousin Lily introduced him to) and thinks he is so cool when he gargles and spits.  (which Emma then tries to imitate)
• Wipes all of our kisses off now, but sometimes he will say “Mom, you can kiss me and I won’t wipe it off.” 
• Really likes the old Busytown/Richard Scarry books and shows and is kind of obsessed with his new “Huckle” mini-series DVD.  Oh, and he and I like to watch “Mythbusters” together – it is so fun to try to answer all of his questions as he processes how you can make a plane out of duct-tape.
• Asking a lot of “God” questions lately.  “Is God bigger than an airplane,” “Does God live on a cloud,” “Is God Alive?”  Don’t quite know how to answer them all, but we are doing the best we can (and then referring to Grandma).
• Cannot wait for snow to be on the ground so that he can go up to Grandma and Pop’s and shovel.  I have seriously never seen a boy who loves yard work so much.  (BIG BUMMER that he lives in an urban environment!)
• Still wants to be naked 90% of the time.  Daily struggle to get the lad to put on pants!  And loves to be dressed by someone else (isn’t this men in general?), whereas his 18 month sister can get dressed by herself!
• Has been out of Pull-ups for about 2 months now and is doing a great job, which just an occasional accident on long nights!
• Crawls into bed with us about 2-3 mornings a week on my side, falls right back asleep and snuggles in with his head on my pillow.  {love.}

One more cute thing – when they get out of the bath, they both love it (and request) that I bundle them up, pick them both up, and sing the following song while carrying them into the living room:

“My Two Kiddos, My two kiddos, My two kiddos, I love them so much.  They make me so happpyyyy, happppyy, happppy.  They make me so happpyyyy, I love them so much.”

Yes, it is super cheesy, and it is getting harder and harder to carry 55 lbs of extra weight, but it makes them smile and laugh and that is what being a parent is all about.

Clean up gal

This is Emma every night after she is "all done" with dinner...climbing up on Jacks chair and finishing his plate.

Her Daddy's metabolism in full effect...

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chocolate…

  Pappaw, Nana, and Aunt Kitten came up this weekend so that the girls could run in the Hot Chocolate 5k race.  It was fun!  We were up early, and it was COLD to start, but we got through it and the reward was AMAZING – yummy, warm, Ghirardelli fondue and Ghirardelli hot chocolate!  Totally worth the effort and I am sure we more than ate back the calories that we burned!  This marks the 4th 5K that I have done this year – I am pretty proud of myself for getting out there, and I think if I had more time to train/run (I have seriously just been signing up for the races and doing it without any prep- probably not the smartest thing to do!), I could really get into it.  We’ll see if that happens next spring…

Kensi LOVED the fondue – she literally had it all over her face and shirt.  Hilarious.

The rest of the weekend was spent STILL EATING – a great lunch out at Nana’s favorite, Uncle Julio’s for fajitas and margarita swirls, Lou Malnati’s for awesome pizza, and then the four adults got out on Saturday night to Feast – a great little place in Bucktown for some adult conversation.

On that food note – this girl is SUPER EXCITED for fall veggies – I think I could eat these gorgeous roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts every night if Scott would allow it!  So pretty!

Lots of ganging up on Pappaw, Pappaw and Scott fixing some things around the house, and relaxing.  The kids DID NOT give us an extra hour of sleep with DST – up at 5:30 yesterday.  This meant a 12:00 nap for all 4 of us (wonderful), and early bedtimes at 7:00.  Maybe it was worth it, after all?

Still enjoying this mild fall weather and trying to spend all the time that we can outside that we can.  The kids are both really into having “night-walks” in their jammies and riding our neighbor’s scooters, so I’m sure that will be the plan tonight!

***I also owe phone calls to a ton of family and friends– I promise to tackle that list, this week – I have been BAD about calls and have just had no desire to talk on the phone – SORRY!!!

little fishies

   I can’t believe that we have been back from our annual Florida vaca for a week!  Last weekend was busy, but I wish I were still in the sunshine on this cold, dark, gloomy Chicago day!  We had a wonderful week, per usual, and it was the perfect blend of sun time, swim time, fun time, beach time, and relaxation (AKA nap) time.  We were all exhausted most nights and in bed by 10pm! 

   Here are some of my favorite photos, but you can see them all by clicking on our Picasa photo page to the right. 

…This girl earned the name “Crazy Lady” this week with her jumping and swimming around in the pool – she was NON STOP!  Emma refused to wear floaties and followed Jack around wanting to copy-cat, included diving off the “high dive.”  She did a great job practicing and blowing bubbles.  Next year she will be able to just float about on her own.

…and then there is Mr. Jack who amazed us all…

JACK IS COMPLETELY SWIMMING ON HIS OWN – FREESTYLE AND UNDERWATER!  AND THEN, DIVING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POOL FOR DIVING STICKS! 

(trying to upload a video, but unable – will try again in a later post!)

   He was seriously amazing.  He wore his arm floaties for 1/2 a day and then said “Mom, I really don’t need these,” took them off, jumped in, and never looked back.  He got progressively better, started diving to the bottom, breathing out underwater and then the grand finale were somersaults under water!  I can’t wait for this summer at Pop’s Lake to watch his swimming flourish.  (Jack was EXHAUSTED every night…)  We are so very proud of our little swimmer!

Pappaw taught Jack about “Ants on a Log”

   We also went to Bonita Beach 3 days…these were probably my favorite times of the entire trip.  It is a great beach – secluded, great shallow water, picnics, rocks to climb, and great shelling (I became a bit obsessed!).  The kids had a blast and both of them fell asleep on our way home each day.

Aunt Kitten was once again so awesome…she is so great with the kiddos and helps Scott and I out with entertainment so much.  They ADORE HER.

The kids played together SO WELL and it fill me with such joy to see them really starting to hang out and play together.  The LOVED making ramps in the sand for their cars and did this for a long time.

Jack let Pappaw bury him again this year

my favorite 3 pictures…

I mean, does it get any sweeter?

   We also had some fun (and yummy) dinners out – the kids did great over some long meals and the adults got some good food and drinks.  Jack tried his first Shirley Temple (too fizzy), and both kids LOVED Aunt Kitten’s virgin Strawberry Daiquiri! 

Our annual family photos at the house and The Turtle Club

Pappaw and Nana LOVED time with their two munchkins – spoiled rotten!

A Big Thank You to Pappaw, Nana, and Aunt Kitten for another fabulous week down south.  We look forward to this trip every year and spending time together. 

Oh! – and Ellen, Kensi, and I also did another painting this year – a fall “funky tree” – I love how they turned out and we have so much fun doing them!

See you again, Naples, in October 2012!!!