Traveling Circus

So we've survived 1 week of our 3 week home renovation. Although we can sleep at home, the house is off limits from 7:30 every morning until 5 pm every night. In order to survive this "adventure", the children & I have had to adapt to the lifestyle of gypsies, hopping in the car each morning and going from place to place in search of food, entertainment and restroom facilities.

Should you ever find yourself temporarily living out of your car w/your two small children, here's a few tips I'd like to share:

1. Take a look at your vehicle. See your orderly glovebox? Your nice, clean floors? Your spacious trunk? Yeah, all that's going to have to go. Your car is now your closet, your kitchen and your storage facility and will look and smell as such.

2. In addition to the changing look and smell, that "no food in the car" rule will certainly have to end. Cheerios are easy to shake off your floormats, as are dried fruits and crackers. Cinnamon toast crunch, it turns out, is not.

3. Planning bathroom breaks is key to your survival. Make every effort to plan your playdates and activities around your potty schedule. If you must make an emergency stop, Target has nice facilities. Just remember you cannot bring a cart with you once you've put merchandise in it, so be sure to make that your first stop when you enter the store. Avoid any establishments that require you to ask for a key and/or make a purchase in order to use their bathrooms - you don't have time for that when you're dealing w/a leaky diaper.

4. Be sure to bring extra clothes. Whether the cause is sticky cinnamon toast crunch or a poorly thought out potty plan, eventually someone is going to need replacement pants. If you fail to pack "just in case" clothes and one or both of your children have to ride around w/just a diaper or missing a shirt, it will severely limit the type of activities you can attend. Even McDonald's has a No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service policy for goodness sakes!

5. Great news - if you forget to pack clothes, Target currently has toddler pants on sale for just $7.00 in a wide array of colors!

6. It is imperative that you bring any toy, blanket, book and sleepytime cd your child has ever listened to b/c that 1 yellow airplane, the one your kid hasn't asked for in 9 months, that's the 1 thing he absolutely must have in order to nap at Grammy's house.

7. When all else fails and you feel like you can't survive another second, just close your eyes and whisper "Hardwood floors, Hardwood floors.".

Favorite Foto Friday - And Finally, He is Still

Aidan is good at many things - eating, running, shrieking, throwing toys down the heating vents - but one area he does not excel at is sitting still. Reading books? No thanks, he'd rather chew the corners before throwing them across the room. Relaxing stroller ride? Not interested, he'd much rather run in circles until he crashes into a tree.

This zest for life is fabulous and all, but sometimes Mommy needs some quiet time! I was beginning to think that until Aidan went to preschool, I'd never have a moment to even catch my breathe, much less empty the dishwasher or make a phone call. Then on Monday, something amazing happened. I put in a Bob the Builder DVD for Andy after naptime - and right in the middle of banging his truck on the toy box, Aidan turned around and stared at the tv. I was even able to move him to the couch w/a plate of crackers and sit on the other side for an ENTIRE 20 MINUTES. I enjoyed my little tv break, but figured this was obviously the result of fatigue brought on by an impending illness. I stocked up on Infant Motrin and prepared myself for the envitable 3 am "I have a fever and need my Mommy" cries that would jolt me from sleep that night.

Much to my surprise, Aidan remained seemingly healthy. Could it be possible that Bob the Builder, with his "Yes We Can!" attitude and imaginatively named construction equipment friends (a digger named Scoop - what creative genius came up w/that one!?!) was the secret
trick I'd been searching for? The next day after nap time, I crossed my fingers, put Aidan on the couch and pressed play...and turned around to find this: Of course for the last 5 days every moment of quiet is filled by my humming "Bob the Builder. Can we fix it? Bob the Builder. Yes we can!...", but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. It could be worse - he could've become obsessed w/the Wiggles & their big red car.

I Know Who Does Not Need a Thesaurus this Christmas

Of his 40 word vocabulary, 4 of Aidan's words consist of different ways to say no:

The traditional method: NNNOOOOOO

The casual method: Nope

The "Well, if you're giving me the option..." method: Not (example: "Do you want to go to sleep or not?")

And my personal favorite, The "I choose door #2" method: Nober (as in "another", i.e. come up w/something better if you want me to cooperate Mother)

Additionally, he will also growl at me like a small but fierce lion when none of the above result in him getting his way.

With any other kid, all this might come off as stubborn and willful, but he is just so darn adorable that its rather endearing. Future teachers - consider this your warning! This kid and his oh-so-sweet dimples are going to find a way around all your rules while somehow managing to have you laughing along w/him.

Sean Connery - I'm Ready for Your Obstacle Course

I feel just like Catherine Zeta Jones - minus the sexy black spandex ensemble - sneaking out of Andy's room every night after whispering the last lines of Goodnight Moon. One creak of the floor or squeak of the door and I have to start the whole routine all over again.

Daddy's Birthday: Andy's Perspective

Me: Andy, today is Daddy's Birthday!
Andy (runs to Chris): Happy Birday Daddy!
Chris (bends down to hug Andy): Awwww, tha-
Andy (runs back to me): Andy eat cake now!

************
Andy: I almost 3.
Chris: That's right.
Andy: I try coffee then.

FFF - Cuteness

No big adventure or long story to share this week, just some "so-cute-I-could-eat-them-up" smiles.

Favorite Foto Friday - Another Day in the Life of Little Boys

Just another typical week at our house...

There were special outside ice cream and peach treatsA fingerpainting session

And a day spent lounging at the Splash Park

I can see why they say play is the work of children - it sure is exhausting!

I Don't Like to Name Names, but...

In an attempt to avoid being that parent who says and does things that cause deep embarrassment to her children, I am very selective in terms of what sort of information I post here about the boys and their shenanigans. While they currently seem to think the computer is simply a bulls-eye at which to aim their toys, I realize one day they will become aware of the existence of this blog and I'd hate to have included anything about them that they'd rather have kept private.

That being said, I am having one of those weeks where I'm quite certain that if I do not voice my rapidly growing frustration I will lose my mind.

I have a certain child, let's say his name begins w/an "A", who has been having some, um, let's call them difficulties, w/his behavior. While no mother of a toddler lives a completely tantrum-free life, up until this point I have considered my firm voice, serious "you're in big trouble mister" glare and occasional time-out more than sufficient in keeping the hysterics and misbehavior to a minimum.

I'm not exactly sure what has changed, but for the last week "A" has been completely out of control. At Target, he was throwing groceries out of the cart and trying to swipe items off the shelves as I flew down the aisles grabbing only the absolute necessities that would keep us hydrated, fed and in clean diapers. At home, he cries and throws himself to the ground over such "horrific" events as not liking the color of his dinner plate or the end of Imagination Movers. He suddenly is hitting, pushing and - for the 1st time ever - biting his brother for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He laughs at my "firm voice", mimics my "you're in big trouble" glare and no longer seems to mind how much time he spends in time-out. All this from my sweet little boy who just weeks ago would apologize if a crumb fell on his chair during dinner.

All the books, you know the ones that make soooo much sense before you actually become a parent, say that its best to simply ignore these types of tantrums b/c apparently the experts feel things will only worsen if any sort of attention at all is paid to these behaviors. That's the strategy I've been sticking to those far - continue to enforce the rules in the same calm, but stern manner - but what was once my "firm voice" is reaching dangerously close to a tone I would describe as "shrill" and a few times has crossed over into a full-out yell.

I really don't want to be "that mom" - you know the one who you can hear screaming through her open windows phrases like "if you don't put that down right now I'm going to throw you in your room and leave you there until you don't even remember what the sun looks like!" (though I will say, I have more sympathy for her after the week I've had). At the same time, I want to raise a house full of well-mannered, polite little men who follow the rules and listen to me when I tell them to do something. Gosh, this parenting thing sure is hard!

Anyway, I'm sure its just a phase that will work itself out as all phases do, but in the mean time if you have any suggestions, can send me a pair of earplugs or a prescription for some Xanax please let me know :)

FFF - Finding Your Passion

Years from now, when Aidan graduates from culinary school, I will tell everyone how blessed my son was to stumble onto his passion so early in life...

Welcome Little One!

The long-awaited birth of Auntie Sandy & Uncle Brian's 2nd baby finally happened last night:

Brady was born just before the 10 o'clock news on July 15th and weighs in at a teeny, tiny 6 lbs 12 oz and is only 17 inches long.

He was introduced to his soon-to-be favorite Aunt Kristen today at approximately 12:15 pm.

Mommy, baby, Daddy & new big sister Addy are all doing fabulous.

Fav Foto Friday - Red, White & Blue

Since this has been the Summer of Rain, I was not surprised at all to discover the sun chose not to make an appearance at this year's 4th of July celebration, even though WGN's Tom Skilling assured me he had RSVPed that he'd be there for at least part of the party.

Luckily, we were still able to enjoy all our 4th of July activities anyway, even if Andy had to wear long pants w/his USA t-shirt and Aidan's sleeveless red & white onsie had to be saved for Labor Day.

We started the morning w/the annual neighborhood fire truck parade:Then enjoyed some popsicles in the park:

After naptime we headed over to Grammy & Papa's, where we did manage get in some boating:

and some time in the sand

and most importantly, the fireworks, which, after we pumped them full of chocolate chip cookies, all 3 kids stayed awake to see.

Road Trip

If you're anything like me, when you hear the words "road trip", you immediately picture the following:

cruising along the open road w/the windows rolled down, your hair flying around you as you sing along to your favorite songs on the radio; trying to capture the beauty of miles of corn fields or the sun setting over the Appalacian Mountains on your camera as you fly by them at 80 miles an hour; stopping only to grab a bite to eat in some quaint small town diner and to take ridiculous pictures of yourself smiling like an idiot in front of those "Welcome to..." signs you pass every time you cross a new state line.

Well, that's exactly what our recent road trip to NJ to see Chris's mom was like...if you add in two toddlers, replace your favorite songs w/the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse soundtrack, add in 5 hours of thunderstorms and substitute crowded rest areas filled w/weary travelers & less-than-spotless bathroom facilities for quiant little small town diners. So, it was nearly the same.

Why, you ask, would we ever attempt such a thing when we could've hopped on any number of planes and reached our destination in a little under 3 hours? I know, it seems like a sort of crazy thing to do, definitely not something two experienced parents would willingly subject themselves to when given the choice. Believe me, we asked ourselves many times if we were absolutely insane to willingly commit ourselves to 12 to 16 hours in the car w/two kids who have trouble sitting still for a 20 minute episode of Handy Manny. Hard as it is to believe, driving was the clear winner on my Pros & Cons list - we could stop any time we wanted, we didn't have to worry about our screaming children disturbing other passengers and we could take as much stuff as we needed to bring.

So a few Thursday nights ago we found ourselves stuffing the car w/2 suitcases, 1 pack-n-play, 1 toddler air mattress, 1 travel high chair, 1 double stroller, 2 duffel bags of toys, books & DVDs and 1 bag of snacks. The next morning (and I use that term loosely, it was 4 am) we scooped the boys, along w/their favorite blankies, out of their beds and into the car and we were on our way...



I have to say, despite that fact that it poured from the second we pulled out of our neighborhood until we were halfway through Ohio and despite the fact that Chris & I were convinced the boys would catch E. coli or worse from the family bathrooms at the rest areas the trip did go amazingly well.


Yes, what should have been a 12 hour trip took us 15 hours - but stopping every 2 1/2 hours for 20 to 30 minutes kept the kids happy and reasonably quiet for most of the trip.


Yes, we ended up letting the kids eat about 300 hundred M&Ms & have McDonald's for breakfast, lunch & dinner - but what's a vacation w/o a little chocolate & junk food?


Yes, we did resort to using the built-in DVD player in our car - but not until 11 hours into the trip, which I personally consider a major victory.


And yes, Aidan did have 1 major diaper disaster (probably from all those M&Ms) - but at least the carseat was spared and he was quite happy to ride pants-free the rest of the way.


Besides, what's a good road trip w/o a few funny stories and misadventures???

Favorite Foto Friday - Addy Turns Two

Addy turned 2 on Wednesday and Auntie Sandy planned some fun activities to celebrate. She invited Grammy, Andy, Aidan & I along for the adventure.

First, we all put on our mandatory party hats:

Then we boarded the Metra train (it was the kids' 1st time!) and rode a few towns over:

Andy was thrilled to sit by the window:

After exiting the train, we walked to an ice cream parlor and had a special 10 am ice cream treat (b/c after all, you only turn 2 once!):

In lieu of birthday candles, we made wishes on birthday dimes and threw them into a fountain:

While we waited to board the train again, we stood in the station windows and watched a freight train pass by:

After a few hours, it was time to take Winnie the Pooh home for a nap:

Happy Birthday Addy-cakes!!!!

Brad Paisley, You Read My Mind

To Chris on Our 7th Anniversary:

I remember trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmorized
And 3 weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

I never thought the random cute boy I met at an over-crowded dorm party freshman year would turn out to be my husband. Thinking back on that night, its not that it was “love at first sight”. I wasn’t overcome with the feeling that Fate had brought us together. It was just that I really, really liked you. And as we got to know each other – over more noisy parties and many late night walks around campus – the more I liked you. By the time we started dating a few months later, I was completely head over heels…

I can’t believe that was 12 years ago! Our 4 years at Notre Dame were definitely some of our best times. Every once in awhile I flip through our photo albums from those days and remember the friendships and the parties and the study sessions and I feel so lucky that we share all those memories. I can’t wait until the kids are older and we can bore them with stories from our “Glory Days”…

The dances
The football games
And the wild and crazy nights we'll never tell the kids about :)

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

I will never forget that freezing cold night you took me out to dinner and then dragged me outside to our bench in front of the library, the one we used to sit on and talk for hours. I will never forget how peaceful campus looked covered in snow or how when you got down on one knee I thought you’d slipped and fallen on the ice. I will never forget how Leslie and Lily screamed and cried when we told them or how your roommates toasted us w/champagne poured into coffee cups and cereal bowls. Most of all, I will never forget how excited I was to begin our life together as husband and wife.

We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

It is truly unbelievable to me that we were married 7 years ago today.

When people ask me if I ever regret getting married so young, I always say that I’m so glad we got married at 23. I love that we truly began our lives together…starting our 1st real jobs, living in our tiny city apartment w/no air conditioning and no dish washer, deciding we’d had enough of city life and buying our 1st house…it was exciting and overwhelming and so much better b/c we did it together.

Those 1st few years were not always easy. There were the disagreements that are envitable as two people learn to juggle each other’s families and jobs and holiday traditions. There were long days in the office when we barely had time to squeeze in a phone call saying “don’t wait up…”. There were the heartbreaking moments of infertility treatments and a miscarriage. Definitely not always easy; but those struggles made us stronger and made the good times all that much sweeter…

There was the excitement of our 1st Christmas together.

There was the amazing Carribbean cruise paid for by all those late nights in the office.
There was the excitement of deciding to adopt and the life-changing moment we held Andy for the 1st time.

There was the joy of bringing Aidan home and becoming a family of four.

now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then

Life still isn’t easy. We still have to juggle work and families and busy schedules. There are errands to run, bills to pay and messes to clean. There is too little sleep and too many dirty diapers. Definitely not easy; but I can honestly say, there’s no one else I’d rather share this chaos with than you. We’ve gone from college kids to newlyweds to suburbanites to “Mom & Dad” together and I feel so lucky you have been the person standing beside me through it all.

And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

My greatest hope is that 50 years from now, you are still the person standing beside me. What more can I ask for from life than the blessing of getting to share it all with you?

FFF - SICK!

We'll I knew it was going to be a long week when Kristen was sick last Sunday. It got even longer as Andy got sick on Tuesday. The above picture is the only photograph taken during the week. As of writing this blog, Andy woke up for the second time and is now cozied up on Mommy's lap...both are coughing in unison.

FFF - Funny Faces & Extreme Closeups

Have a digital camera and a willingness to look ridiculous? If so, you have everything you need to play our latest "its raining outside" game - taking silly pictures of ourselves and then looking at them.

Enjoy!!!

Perfect Day

I just sent the boys up to bed & am basking in the wonderful, warm afterglow of a perfect day...

We made our 1st summer visit to Brookfield this morning w/Aunt Sandy, Addy & Aunt Jen. Even though the drive there took forever, even though the place was mobbed w/school kids on field trips, even though I vastly underestimated the amount of juice I needed to bring w/me, we somehow managed to have an amazing time.

Everyone stayed awake the whole way home, a special treat meaning Mommy still got an hour and half of nap time to recharge, something that almost never happens when little boys have the chance to doze on the 45 min. drive home.

After nap time,we didn't have the usual long stretch of "free time" to fill before Daddy gets home b/c we had a playdate w/our favorite neighbor friends, Joseph and Nora. In fact, the afternoon flew by and it wasn't until Andy started asking for dinner that I realized it was 5 o'clock and time to head home. While we waited for Daddy to arrive, we sang and danced to "alligator, alligator eat 'em up, eat 'em" until we fell down laughing and gasping for air and then Andy leaned over, pressed his forehead against mine and sighed "I happy Mommy".

Then, in a rare moment of total spontaneity, I scraped the usual pajamas-stroller walk-songs-books-bed routine and suggested we go out for a special family ice cream treat in our jammies. The boys could not have been more thrilled, Andy exclaiming "I LIKE IT!" w/every bite and Aidan shrieking his most excited baby shriek.

After a quick walk in the stroller, they both went happily off to bed, Aidan calmly sucking his thumb, Andy dragging his blanket behind him. I thought to myself that I wish I could bottle this day up and open it from time to time, like in the middle of a boring winter day, when both the kids are crabby and sick of playing inside or 10 years from now, when the kids idea of a perfect day is all about friends and I can no longer remember all the words to the "alligator song" or why exactly it made us laugh so hard.

Since I know of no such Perfect Day Bottling Device, I decided I had to sit down right away and try to write down why this day was so special b/c I want the kids to know that in between the bad days and the busy days and the up-and-down days and the just plain dull days, we had some special days too, when the magic of simply being little boys was enough to make an entire day perfect.

Favorite Foto Friday - The silver lining of rain storms in May

Addy's parents got her a playhouse for her birthday and set it up over the weekend. We were over there a few days ago checking it out when it started to rain and Aunt Sandy thought the best thing to do was to take shelter inside the little house. We all crammed in there - 3 little kids, me & a pregnant woman - to wait out the storm. When what started out as a fine mist turned into a full-out downpour, we realized a playhouse w/glass-less windows and a leaky roof probably wasn't the dryest of places we could've chosen to hide. By the time the rain had stopped, the kids were pretty wet and there didn't seem any point in preventing them from jumping in the puddles and standing under the gutter to take a "rain shower"....

...and after every last drop of rain had fallen from the rooftop and we had to strip off all their soaking wet clothes, there didn't seem to be any reason not to let them run naked through the house.

(No "nakey-party" pictures will be posted here, I wouldn't want those out for all the world to see. I'm saving them to use exclusively for embarassment in front of future girlfriends.").

We arrived home the same time as Daddy and he laughed when he saw his boys - soaking wet, & wearing nothing but oversized T-shirts we stole from Aunt Sandy. Then he shook his head and sighed that Mommy was raising a bunch of Bohemian hippies.

And there's the silver lining of rain in May. It reminds me that underneath my suburban-living, SUV-driving, Baby-Gap shopping, Barney-watching lifestyle, I am still the kind of mom who wants her kids to run naked and play in the rain. Guess there's a little Bohemian hippy in us all, no matter how many J Crew sweaters we own.