Thursday, November 18, 2010

End of July & August

So now I need to summarize what we did for the end of summer, let's see...

Well I guess looking at my photo library I had a bit more of July to post:
Fred and I took Cal on his first out of state trip just over the boarder in Wisconsin to visit our buddies the Dippolds and pal Erin (I didn't take these photos but they were so cute!) Fred was in love with Ernie, and Ray liked Cal.


Very cute. But see what a few hours in Cheeseland did to Fred - he almost switched teams... oh the horror!

Cal meeting his new forced best friend Sam.

Lots of Splash Park fun, I think this is 4th of July too.

No, that's not Frieda cleaning our play house, just Fred and his unibrow of mud. He is a worker guy, likes to be busy with chores.

Bucket bath after "cleaning" the play house. Who doesn't love back yard bathing?


Our block party with fire truck... way cool in this jr. fire fighters book.


My sweet baby boy. Isn't that onsie fantastic? My childhood best friend made that for him, how special right?!


And he always has this expression of joy and wonder, it makes me laugh!


Day Out with Thomas at the train museum in Union, IL. So great but hot hot hot sticky hot!




Bumper Crop - we breed 'em big!

(FYI - I didn't personally grow that watermelon, but everything else sure!)


O'Leary instant family... you want to keep 'em? Looking natural Emmett (especially with knowing the secrete awesomeness of the ceiling fan)


Pirate Party for Nana Lynn's birthday!




Cal & GGP


Well after all that don't you think we need to take a vacation?

Friday, November 5, 2010

Did I really sign up for this?

First off - no steeling this story and trying to make into a tv sitcom or motion picture because that's my plan to pay for these boys to go to college. Back in October I finally made it to get the boys pictures taken.

Take a look at my cute boys here.

Sweet, right? Now let me tell you what happened after this photo session.
As promised for good behavior Abby and I took our brood of boys to Red Robin for lunch. Now I knew I might be pushing my baby a little as far as his schedule goes but a promise is a promise to a two year old who needs lots of positive reinforcement. Well we ordered the boys food and they began to dive in the bottomless french fry basket (note to self: never a good idea). Cal became fussy and I thought if I held him maybe I could hold him off a little bit before he needed to eat. As I took him out of the car carrier I realized we had a blow out diaper situation. Never desirable, but I'm thinking to myself I can totally handle this too. Second time mama pro that I am. Abby's great friend Michelle joined us for lunch with her little 2 1/2 mo. cutie as well. So I ask the other mama's to watch my chowing toddler as I make my way to the women's bathroom to clean up my little Calveroo. Who had like poop up to his ears. There I go in the handicap stall to use the changing table, these kinda gross me out but I've got my own changing pad to lay over it. So I begin this process and I'm totally cocky in my head thinking, "Yeah check me out, I can handle this, I've got a spare out fit and a plastic bag to put the dirty clothes in. I even filled up two travel wipe containers so I have plenty for another change. This so would have freaked me out with Fred but now I got this whole mama thing down pat being all prepared". Decision time, nurse sitting on the john or do I go back to the table? The gross factor sways me to nurse under the table, besides no one was in the restaurant.

Oh, hmmm, seems the entire staff of IBM has been seated next to our little play date lunch outing. Ok, you can handle this, you've got your hooder hider. Sure everyone is done eating except for me but this will work. Michelle graciously switches places with me so I can nurse inside the booth and hide somewhat under the table. The waitress who had left my food under the heat lamp brings it to me while I try to nurse one handed as Cal tries to rip off this crazy covering his mama put over his head as if to say "MOM! I Will be nursed in the open, show your breast to everyone!". This goes well for about 5 minutes. Of course the other two babies are sleeping contently in their car seats. Abby being the awesome friend she is takes Cal so I can try to wolf down half of my chicken sandwich. It is at this moment the two year olds decide to play high chair bumper cars by rocking them. Fred has finally decided he's done with the high chair and wants out, as he wiggles his little bootie out and attempts to stand up in the chair. Michelle being the awesome caregiver and responsible parent she is, places her hand gently on his back and we all tell him in a calm voice "Oh no Fred, that is dangerous, we don't stand in high chairs." Reasonable right? Logical? Calm, doesn't seem like anything should overwhelm him. Wrong. He goes absolutely nuts, like irrational hysterics and lets out a primal scream that is so loud and absolutely filled with panic & fear (the kind you hope your kid would use if some stranger ever grabbed them) it silents the restaurant. People stop what they're doing, stare to see how the child was being tortured, then realizing it is just a 2 year old, the din of the place returns. It was like the scene from When Harry met Sally. Noise, no noise, then noise. I jump up and get him out the chair while telling him it's not OK to scream like that! He clings pathetically to my neck and goes into rain man mode of "I'm all done, I'm all done". I tell him he can sit next to me, while I finish eating. He nods his head in agreement. I'm getting us into the booth when suddenly he looks at me in the face (his little hands still wrapped around my neck) and proceeds to vomit all over me. The mac n' cheese, the mandarin oranges, the bottomless basket of fries is beginning to pool up in between us on my humongous bosoms. Fred looks up, "I spit up a little bit mama." Really? I didn't notice. And ps kid, after your done nursing you don't "spit up", you ralph, hurl, vomit, blow chunks & or throw up. Now here is where you find out how deep your love for your children is, cause no one - not even the most wonderful, caring, loving people in this world want to get near vomit that isn't theirs. Piles of napkins are placed on the table next to me. The waitress places a wet bar rag on the table for me. But here's the catch, I can't move my arms! Otherwise there will be a tidal wave of vomit every where. I plead with someone to just throw the towel on top of me and puddle of vomit. Then I wade through the dinning room (while holding Fred) back to the women's handicap stall. I put him down while straddling the toilet to dispose of the maximum mess in the bowl. Then its back to striping him down and wiping him down with the rest of the wipes. Michelle comes back with one of Noah's sweaters (he had an extra) which was hilarious because it was a mid-rift on him! But he loved it and went back to the table with Michelle (his now best friend) while I worked through strategies on how to clean myself up. Every time I thought I wiped off all the vomit I could still smell it, until finally I realized it had pooled up in my bra, & with my cup size that's about a liter's worth of liquid volume. I have no extra shirt, no extra bra, and I'm at an utter loss as to what to do except to send someone to Kohl's next door and by me an extra large anything to make it out of the restaurant with clothes on. The stall is a mess and now I have a garbage bag, poop bag, and vomit bag. Michelle brings Cal back to me in the stall because he is now soooo hungry it can't wait and so there I am sitting on the toilet in Red Robin, topless, nursing my baby, laughing so hard I have tears in my eyes because I've basically gone round the bend. All I can think is that there is some 19yr old mall security guard watching monitors saying to himself "What the?!" This is where I could use fate to whisper in my ear before I get out of bed something like "You will end up topless in a Red Robin" just so you know I can gear up mentally. Abby had a spare zip up sweatshirt that I was able to escape the mall (I said a little prayer that the zipper would keep in place to keep me from exposing myself to the world) as we raced back to her house to put all the kids down for naps, while I did laundry & took a shower. In my haze, I used the dog shampoo (I've been flea less ever since) and then repeated the lather with human shampoo. But as I folded the last of our laundry and prepared for us to go home I realized that I have been on the go since 8am and really didn't have a moment to exhale until both boys went to bed that night - so if there aren't annual pictures of the boys until they are 16 now you know why.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Not that I needed one...

But here's an excellent reason for having babies (I refuse to delete this off the camera because I watch it over and over again!)

And that in a nut shell is my baby Calvin. Fred was a happy baby - but just so different, you really had to work to get a laugh, even now its hard to get him to sincerely laugh. Big fake laughs, sure, but to get a belly laugh from Fred is close to an oscar performance. Calvin is just so much more free with the smiles and laughter and its wonderful!

Monday, October 11, 2010

I'm sorry Cal...

What can I say, raising two boys (one being a very highly spirited strong willed 2 year old), life gets really really busy. And so I'm sorry future Cal as you look at your electronic baby book here and say "Uh, mom where did I go for 3 months?" At the very least I did take the photos (and a few movies) so I will try to recollect our last several months here at the WORST household.

So first we kicked off the summer in June with a pool party at cousin Kelly's house! Oh all the cousins, it so fun! These fellas in the pool are the '08 batch of Fred, Nolan, and Kellen.


Now here are the fellas from '10 of Cal & Quinn

Cal "He's touching me!"

Of course a cutesy shot with GGP!


Then before you know it - summer is in full swing with the 4th of July and my baby is 2mos! Here are the two birthday boys together at the the parade.


Fred and his neighborhood buddy


A cool down on a hot holiday at the splash park - a new favorite family outing!


And a playdate with our friend Ellie (just realizing now that I failed in taking a picture of Colin and Calvin together - which would have been awesome because they are monster babies who may take over the planet.)




Anyways the toddlers got to go to the Palatine Hometown Fest with all the scary carnival rides. Fred and Ellie decided they would do the potato sack slide. Brian and I took the kids up to the top and then were uncertain if we should let them go by themselves or if we should ride down to... you can see us discussing this up at the top, funny enough Stan and JJ were having the same discussion at the bottom. When Fred hits the first "hump" I was terrified I'd somehow have to scale down myself to help him or worse yet he was going to go over the side. Note to self while he meets the "You have to be this high" rule, he's still just 2.

And that concludes July....
I'll pick up summarizing August, September, and October soon. I swear!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Sweet cheeks

Isn't this the picture of perfection?

And I did not pose him... put him on the boppy yes, but make him look like a little cherub no.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Strawberry Beefcake


Going along with our fruit themed summer....

Fred seemed more of a beefcake than a shortcake.

We literally are getting the first fruits of our garden with strawberries and raspberries. Like anything you grow, the taste of these guys is simply amazing. I'm not even a big raspberry fan but with these home grown beauties I could eat them all day. Fred really enjoys helping and being his own little farmer. He loves getting in the strawberry patch. We've only had a few not quite ripe ones picked and just a handful being turned to jam in the patch under toddler feet.



I got a rain barrel and compost tumbler for Mother's Day - and Fred already knows their function and what we are suppose to do. It's fun to teach good habits now. But even more fun is to hear two year old speak describe what is suppose to be done.

Cooking Watermelon

A rainy day project and my sous chef got a little ahead of me while I was washing my hands .



And yes he polished off that half of the melon.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Worst Father's Day

Besides being a amazing, caring, sweet, funny, intelligent guy who also happens to be a highly engaged, silly, imaginative, helpful father - you should know I really only married Stan for the lifetime of jokes. This pun never gets old.






I love Fred's scowl looking at a screaming Cal as if he is ruining everything while a peaceful and serene daddy sits in the middle of his two boys. Best part of the day was when I told Fred he should say "Happy Father's Day" because it was Dada's special day. To which he mumbled out some sorta "Happy Dadaday. (pause) ok Mama now its Fred's Day. Happy Day to Fred," and proceeded to steal the last of Stan's ice cream cone out of his hands!
Happy Father's Day Stan - we love you!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Cal's first month and a half...

Well let me just say - we breed 'em big here! Calvin has grown an inch and put on almost 2 and half pounds since birth. He's no 11lbs 12oz. We just seem to make boys that grow like weeds! I'm not sure how we can afford to feed them in the teenage years but we'll worry about that later.

As far as babies go - cal is like his shirt says "Cool as a cucumber". I don't know if it's just because he's the second and I kind of have a clue or if he's just that different from Fred, probably a combo. But will you check out those sweet cheeks?! They are too much to handle (a feature his brother never had!).


Fred is becoming more the man of the house, playing on his own. Thankfully we scored some great garage sale finds for the backyard - now if only the weather would cooperate and the bugs would go away we could be out all the time!


Fred wanted to share his cool look of sunglasses with Cal - because we ooze coolness at this house.


Fred is a great big brother, he's very concerned about Calvin. Doesn't like to hear him cry and will get the him his pacifier or little toys he's been given. He really likes it when they both sit in their chairs and watch Curious George or Thomas. It's been a really good month and half - if everybody's sleeping would improve I'm sure it'll just get better and better.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Meet Calvin Edward!

He's here! And I will try to post pics, but lets be serious about how likely that's going to be so instead I will send you with this link to Abby's blog who has done a much better job of documenting my kids than I have!

Quick stats:
9lbs 4 oz
22inches
15 in head circ!

We are doing well and as of today (one day home) Fred loves his role as big brother... not sure how long that will last but it made a very nice homecoming. It also made me a hormonal weeping fool of nerves and more just overwhelming love for my boys (big one too)!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Monster Trucks before baby makes 4

Well this is it kids - Wiggly will be here Tuesday! Crazy! Haven't had a lot of time to really process how there is a new person, I've been more focused on freezing meals, laundry, cleaning, organizing, purchasing crazy items like deep freezers, 1/2 a hog, double stroller, life insurance, and a mini-van! So all my consumer report research has pushed the idea of "baby" to the back. But its all done, we are all ready to go and now the nerves/excitement/anxiousness has begun to set in. Still no good feeling as to who is going to show up so you'll just have to stay tuned.

But in order to celebrate the end of our time as being a family of 3, we went to Palatine's big truck show and brought along our good buddy Noah and his prego mommy too! Fred was very anti-camera but did love getting up to the big trucks. It was a really neat morning and we got to top it off with hot dogs and chicken nuggets for lunch!



wailwoad picnic

Knowing our time with just the 2 of us during our day is limited, the other week Fred and I had a spontaneous picnic at the railroad station. And really when you are 2 and love trains is there anything better? Oh yes, there is a bonus of watching a police man in go-cart thingy shooting his radar gun at cars crossing over the tracks, a mail truck, bus, and construction trucks cross too! Who knew transportation could be so fun!


Easter







Long overdue...
Stan, Fred, and I had a quiet Easter just the 3 of us and it was really a wonderful weekend. All the grandparents were out of town so there was no mad dashes to get to spend time with everyone. The Saturday before was GGP's 83rd birthday and we got to take him out for lunch with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Mary. When we got to GGP's house who should be there to surprise us, but Aunt Mol and Joey! She was even able to stay to join us for the neighborhood egg hunt which was a blast and we hope to make it a tradition. And even though there were no grandparents to impress, I still was able to have Fred wear a button down shirt and real pants (no elastic waist for this holy holiday!).