December 2010

Before I get going with all the details--it is actually the beginning of Feb as I write this.  I want to start with just some fun new sayings the kids have and then of course the pregnancy update.

Alaina--she is truly my tomboy princess.  This girl will wrestle with the best of them (yes--she can still easily take her brother down) and then cuddle right up to you.  She LOVES dresses.  She calls them princess dresses.  If you want to reward this girl, you either give her a marshmallow, high heel shoes (by the way--the girl walks better in heels than I do!), a purse or a dress.  She LOVES baby dolls.  She rocks them and covers them up with blankets.  It is so precious to watch.  She gravitates to girl things--for example--Ky likes the movie Cars and has a lot of the figures.  Her favorite figure is Sally--it is like she instinctively knows that it is the girl in the movie.  One of Alaina's favorite sayings right now--and she tells me it often is--"I lub you sooooo much!"  It truly melts my heart every time she says it.  As much of a lady as she wants to be, she SERIOUSLY lacks table manners.  Meals are a struggle with her.  Food is EVERYWHERE by the time she is done.  Of course most of it makes it to her mouth, but we are having issues with her keeping her plate on the table and then her hands out of her hair.  UGH!  We moved her back into her highchair for a while, but now she is back at a booster seat at the table.  Hopefully in time she will ACT more like the lady she wants to be...(boy this sounds like a familiar blog...)

Ky is amazing.  I think I can safely call him a reader now.  We will pick out beginner level books and he can proficiently read through them by himself having never heard the story before.  The other day he asked me why there was "Fruit" in his underwear.  (He read the Fruit of the Loom label.)  He picks up on things so quickly it truly amazes me.  It must be a combination of that Schnake/Irvin genius blood that runs through him.  He just finished swimming.  Unfortunately, they did not pass him to the next level.  He does almost everything EXCEPT back float well.  I am disappointed--but hey he is doing much better than me at that age :)  We have been dealing with some "attitude" with him lately.  This has been really rough for me.  I am assuming he sees some of the other kids do this to their parents so he is following suit??  I don't know--however we are working hard to get him to see that that attitude will NOT be permitted.  He has spent a lot of time on time out and then in his room.  UGH!  I hope this phase ends soon!

Baby #3 is active and moving.  We finally got some baby books and started looking at names.  We do know the gender and such--but I will wait for the Christmas blog to give more details on how the ultrasound went.  I can't say I have had a ton of cravings with this child anymore.  However, I do have a sweet tooth that has lingered even after Christmas, so maybe that is what I am craving?  I love this part of the pregnancy where I can now watch my stomach move as the baby shifts and kicks.  As far as measurements and such the baby is right on.  I do not have a delivery date yet, but I am assuming they will give me one in March.  I am cherishing each moment of this pregnancy as I know it will be my last.

Now on to December... Nov 29.  It was a CRAZY day.  I had so much to do and the next morning I needed to hit the road to Chicago.  I was up late packing and then Alaina did not sleep well, so I did not sleep well.  I was exhausted.  However, the next morning the kids and I were off.  First stop was Rockford to play at the Children's Museum.  I love that museum.  It is awesome.  We bought a membership there and it gets us into so many different museums for free--it has been well worth the membership.  Anyway, so the kids played. There was no one there--it was nice...and then I woke up to an employee asking me if I was okay. --so here is "terrible" mom moment 43,857.  I had fallen asleep supervising my kids play.  They were in the same room as me so it was all good..but still...I felt a little guilty.

After the Children's Museum, the kids and I were off to my cherished shopping trip to IKEA!  I love that store.  We got there and I had fun browsing.  As much as I talk about this store,  I was a bit disappointed in my trip.  I really didn't buy much.  Oh, well--the kids and I (okay...really it was just me) had fun and I treated them to ice cream when I was done.

From there, we were off to Arlington Heights to spend the night and the next day with Aunt Janice & Aunt Linda.  I was so excited.  They invited us to take part in their family tradition--the first Wednesday in December they take the train to Chicago and enjoy the Christmas lights and have lunch in the Walnut Room.  I was really honored to be invited to this family tradition.

I was pretty tired by the time I got to Aunt Janice's, but we had such a nice time.  The kids enjoyed munching on Aunt Linda's oyster cracker mix and then pizza.  I was ready to get them to bed--they were a bit overtired.  I got them down to bed, however, they did not want to go to sleep...Hmmm...They finally did fall asleep, but it took FOREVER and since we were getting up early the next day I was really concerned that the kiddos were not going to do so well.

In the meantime, I had a great time bonding with Aunt Janice and then turned in myself.  I figured I would share the bed with Alaina--well sharing was not what she wanted to do.  I don't really sleep with my kids at all.  I have tried with Ky--but he kicks and moves.  Alaina likes to sleep in her own bed, so I had never pushed it--but now I know why.  She kept turning sideways and (in her sleep) tried to push me out of the bed!  Seriously!  My 2 year old was using her legs to shove and push me!  I would turn her back the right way and within 30 minutes she would be sideways again with her feet in my side.  Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night either.  And...I won't be attempting to share a bed with her again any time soon!  Next time she is on the FLOOR!

The next morning we got up early.  Aunt Janice packed a breakfast for the train ride and we headed out.  When we got to the station, the kids were SO excited!  They watched out the door and waited for the train.  We had to move them out of the way occasionally for travelers coming and going, but they LOVED it! 
(Sidenote...I wish I had more pictures of this trip, but I forgot to pack extra batteries for the camera! UGH!)

When we got there, it was blustery.  It had started snowing.  We walked quickly to Macy's to get our reservation in for lunch.  When the kids saw the tree in the Walnuts Room they were in awe.  Alaina was especially excited to see "princesses" who put sparkle dust on the children. 

After we put in our reservation we walked around the store a bit.  The kids were excited to see the toy section (and what kid isn't!)  Alaina of course picked out all the princess toys and Ky picked out all the CARS related toys.  From there, Aunt Linda went to purchase some pajamas.  Well, the next thing I know, Alaina had discovered the lingerie section and was walking around with a rather "sexy" bra around her neck.  Yeah...and she didn't want to put it back.  Go figure.  You know...having a girl scares me sometimes.  I swear I feel like I see glimpses of the future....and arguments I don't want to have...

Anyway--lunchtime came soon and we were seated.  And of course during that time, both kidsw had to go to the bathroom separately.  I totally missed Alaina getting "sparkled" by the fairy princess.  From what A. Janice & A. Linda told me, she was pretty awestruck.  And when the Fairy Princess asked how old she was--she lied and gave Ky's age "4".  Pretty funny! 

The Fairy Princess came back for Ky and he became very shy.  He got some sparkles on his hand and he enjoyed that.  Aunt Janice and Aunt Linda then bought the kids snowman sundaes.  They loved them (and look at how cute they were!)

After lunch we walked outside and looked at the window displays.  We also strolled down to a small German festival.  It was pretty neat with all the shops-and the hand carved ornaments were so cool!  Ky had fun chasing the pigeons in the square (and at that age, I would have too :) ).  I purchased some German chocolate for Rob and then we stopped at a one of Aunt Janice's favorite coffee shops that serves her favorite Chai tea (and you know I am a Chai lover!)  The kids had hot cocoa--Alaina didn't really appreciate hers though.  Kids are so funny when it comes to warm drinks.  I think it is so unexpected that it just surprises them.  From there we grabbed the train to head home. 

It was a really fun time and I look forward to doing it again next year.  And the best part was bonding with my Aunts!

When we got back, I packed up the kids and planned to hit the road.  I wanted to be home back in my own bed (go figure after the previous night's sleep.)  On our way out, I stopped at McD's to get the kids some food.  Unfortunately for me it had a playland, so I got stuck a little longer than I wanted...and then Ky locked himself in the bathroom. 

This bathroom had a lever for a doorknob.  The problem was, you could lock the door by pushing the button in, but then to unlock the door you had to turn the lock (you couldn't just push on the lever.)  Well, poor Ky did not understand this.  He was in the bathroom (near my table) and I could hear him yelling to Alaina that he was going potty.  Well he kept yelling and I just took my time eating and watching Alaina play.  Next thing I know, this lady walks up to me and says "I think something is wrong with your son."  And sure enough his cries turned into sobs.  I tried to direct him on how to get out, but he couldn't get the door open.  I would like to say, I was totally calm in this situation.  I went to the counter and let the employee know that we needed a key for the bathroom.  For some reason, the employee didn't believe me.  They followed me and came to the conclusion that, yes, my boy was indeed locked in the bathroom and they needed a key.  (Poor Ky--this took way longer than it should of.)  It took a while then for them to even find a key, but we got the boy out!  Now whenever I see that McD's, I will have a special memory. :)

On our way out of town, I turned the wrong way and got lost.  ARGH!  I had to call Aunt Janice and she redirected me to get back on the interstate.  Thank goodness I had someone to help me!

It was a long drive home and at one point I called Rob to let him know that I was going to be a bit later than planned--and to ask him a hypothetical question...I believe it was something like this...

"Suppose you are a pregnant woman, driving alone by yourself with 2 young children in the backseat that are sleeping and you really really REALLY have to go to the bathroom bad.  Do you A.) stop at a gas station, wake up the sleeping children to take them in and go--and you know that they will each be screaming and insisting on being carried and then will probably lay prostrate in exhausted tantrums on the nasty gas station floor screaming as you use the restroom or B.) park close as possible to the gas station and run in, leaving the kids in car, and hurry."   Well--luckily there was no need to figure out an answer--because yes, I was able to hold it!-WHEW!  But seriously, what would you do??
The adventures after that did not stop.  On Friday, right after I subbed and then we went to ring bells.  And let me tell you--these kids really know how to work it.  Of course, they did not keep it up the WHOLE 2 hour shift, but they had their moments.  After the ringing bells, we were off to the Olbrich Train Show.  With Ky's love of trains, this event is top-notch.  We had some Christmas cookies and then sat and watched the trains until the Garden's closed.  (A great excuse to have to leave!)

On Saturday, we took the kids to Rob's work's Christmas Breakfast.  The roads were a bit slick, but we figured it was close enough we would just go.  Well--the funny part was when we got there, Rob realized he forgot his work badge so we had to go back home to get it.  :)

We enjoyed our big breakfast and then the kids had fun seeing Frosty and Clifford.  Alaina seemed a bit scared as she didn't want to get near them.  The kids then also got tattoos and their faces painted.  Alaina enjoyed getting her tattoos and face painted this year (last year she screamed like she was getting a shot.)  

The next weekend we put up the tree.  The kids had fun helping daddy sort the branches and then they hung their ornaments.  We ran out the next day and let the kids pick their annual Christmas ornaments.  Ky picked a snowglobe with a snowman in it.  Alaina picked--yeah you know this was coming--a bright red purse.  Yes they had a purse ornament and she was SO ecstatic about it.  I showed her so many other different ornaments, but she didn't want them--she wanted the purse ornament.  And so we bought it...and well it didn't get put on the tree for a week (when I finally had the opportunity to nab it and put it high on the tree where she couldn't see it or reach it.)  Crazy kid!

The next week, we were off to the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Ky had just gotten done working on an Amphibian preschool unit and I had seen that there was a frog exhibit at the MPM.  And with our family membership we could get in the exhibit for 1/2 price AND the museum for free.  Rob's mom had also seen the exhibit and actually called me asking about taking the kids.  Since, I was already planning on going, I figured we could just go together, making it easier to chaperon the kids and then getting in some great Nana time!  (Note there are no pics of the frogs because cameras are not allowed in the exhibit.)

We did do the butterfly exhibit.  However, Alaina was freaked out by the butterflies.  A couple of times one would come and land on her and she would scream and yell and bat at the butterfly.  I hope she didn't hurt any.  I took her out early and let Ky & Nana finish enjoying the butterflies together. 

The kids had a great time, and it was even better having Nana with us.  We explored most of the musem--and while--with kids you can't really stop and read the info, you do learn some things and even better, the kids walk away knowing and having seen more than they did before. 

The last pics I have are of the kids making snow angels.  Sadly these are my last pictures I got from that camera.  The kids and I were playing in the snow and I put the camera on top of the van--and forgot about it.  I drove off and in a parking lot I remember hearing a thump that was probably the camera.  I looked behind me, but didn't see anything.  I didn't realize that I had lost it until Dec 23, the day of our ultrasound.  In the meantime, I lost a lot of pictures of the kids finishing their ornaments and making Christmas cookies.  ARGH!  Yeah I cried.  I loved that camera, and now I have to go take the time to find another one that I like and spend the money to buy it.  Luckily, I still have my old camera so I was able to take some pics for Christmas and stuff.  However, the old one does not have video capability and I feel like I have lost out on so many video opportunities.  It's really a bummer.  The funny thing is--I lost the camera in the parking lot of our gym.  Right before I lost it, I was in the gym and found someone's very expensive watch.  I didn't think twice--and I turned it in.  I would have hoped that someone had had the same honesty and integrity to do the same with my camera--especially when they saw all the pictures of the kids on it--however they didn't.  BLAH!  I'm a bit angry with myself, and the person who chose not to turn it in, but life goes on.  And so stay tuned for the Ultrasound/Christmas blog.