Thoughts on the Sandy Hook Aftermath and Moving Forward

I haven’t cried yet. I will soon…Sometimes it just takes time. The tragedy was terrible, awful, horrific. I have a six year old son, I feel the pain. When I sent him to school on Monday I hugged him a little longer—and I changed our daily prayer by adding “Lord, will you please fill my Ky’s class and school with peace. Let them enjoy this day fully.” Afterwards, out of earshot, I asked the Lord to protect him and all the children today. It has been hard, playing the normal when the abnormal has happened. My first responsibility is of course to God—but my second is to my family, and right now my focus lies on protecting him. I don’t feel I need to protect him from any crazy mass murderers. The likelihood of that happening to any one person is slim to none (thank the Lord). However I am currently protecting my son from the news, society, and honestly—I am wondering if I need to be protecting him from some friends and acquaintances. Not to say that they would intentionally hurt my child, but hasty judgments, emotionally driven words, and self-serving decisions are what concerns me. It takes a village to raise a child. These are words to live by, and yet many of us fail to believe that that is our reality. I cannot raise my child alone. I rely on help from friends, family, teachers, doctors, and even strangers. I am becoming scared of this village—not the Adam Lanza’s, but of how our village is reacting to the “Adam Lanzas”. Gun sales were at a record high this past weekend. This scares me. I have heard numerous people tell me that “if only the teachers or the principal had guns this wouldn’t have happened or it wouldn’t have been as bad.” As a school teacher I can only say—what a horrifying thought!? That a gun would be in my (or any) classroom? A gun does not make me feel safe, it only makes me scared that the wrong hands will get it. Many more guns are stolen every year than used to protect someone. And do you think the person stealing that weapon has good intentions with it? Remember, Adam Lanza STOLE those guns from his mother! Which makes me wonder, could this have been prevented if she did not have weapons in her home?! Obviously, no one will ever know if that would have prevented this, but it at least would have been more difficult for him to do this act. One of the mottos in Christianity is WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) I often use this motto to help me figure out what the best solution would be. And I feel it often leads me to the right answer. So let’s put Jesus into the equation at Sandy Hook Elementary. What would have Jesus done at Sandy Hook? Well, I can promise that he would not have had a gun. Jesus was non-violent and never had a weapon. In fact what did he do with crazy people? He called out the demons that were haunting them and healed them. Jesus got to the ROOT of the problem! So how do we get to the root of the problem? It’s complicated, but at the same time I think the solution is quite simple – moral responsibility and village support. It is our responsibility to take care of those who are sick. I understand that many people will not agree with me—but Biblically this cannot be argued. And even if you are not a Christian—the fact is—when people are sick around you it does affect you. Adam Lanza was clearly mentally ill and he affected those in his community—people who did not even know him. Just think of how this could have been changed had his sickness been properly addressed earlier. In my time teaching, I have made numerous reports on children who clearly needed help. Some were given additional help. Others were “lost” in the system. There wasn’t enough time to fit them in the schedule and not enough money to hire more social workers, therapists, etc… Instead we just ignore the signs that something is wrong because we cannot afford to investigate any further into the incident (and often we feel ignoring is an easier solution.) We cannot put a price tag on those lives that were lost on Friday. And yet, we put a price tag on the resources that could have prevented such incidents, saying it is “out of budget.” Today (five days after the incident), I called our local Christian radio station that I listen to daily. I called to ask them to please STOP using the words “shooting at the elementary school” and “deaths of these children” on the radio. I figured it was a very understandable request. Their station motto is “Safe for the Whole Family.” I kept turning the radio station off this past weekend to keep my son from hearing about the incident. He is 6 years old. He should not have to worry about being shot at school and I also feel that he is too young to be exposed to such violence. I found myself arguing with the Radio Host because of his choice in words. He saw the importance of keeping the town lifted in prayer (which I TOTALLY agree with), but he did not feel that he could change the wording. I asked him if he could use the words “tragedy in Connecticut” or even “shooting in Connecticut” but simply PLEASE leave out the words "children" and "school" as my son does not need to be aware of such horrors when he is so young and vulnerable. My moral responsibility to my son is to protect his heart and mind from things that are not good for him. These are formative years and his focus should be on becoming the blessing God has made him to be. My point to this is that our children are exposed too early on to violence. It has become a norm in movies, music, and video games. I know of many people who allow their young children (5 & 6 year olds) to watch PG-13 movies without a second thought. Or allow their children to play violent video games where their mission is to shoot people—and while young ones may not be playing these games, many see their older siblings (or parents) doing it. What’s even scarier is how REAL these games appear! They look like real people and their victims’ blood is splattered by THEIR hands. While these acts are against the law and our beliefs, we let them watch it or play it. How conflicted these young minds must feel!? (And what about those minds that are already mentally unstable!) Morally we have a responsibility to protect our children from these things and yet we don’t. We continue to support companies who produce these violent pieces of media and we say nothing. I am not saying that these things are the cause of this incident--however, I do feel that our lack of village support and moral responsibility to the children in our nation has played a large part. The blood of those children is on Adam Lanza’s hands--yes, but at the same time the blood of Adam Lanza lays in our hands. Perhaps this could have been something we could have prevented through counseling, sheltering, and above all loving. It’s not a simple solution—to go out of our way to help others—to donate time, services, money, attention, and love. But doesn’t it sound like a better solution than carrying around a gun “just in case?” Because carrying a gun just in case is NOT a long-term solution, it is a reaction. At best, more people carrying guns might (and I emphasize “might”) prevent or lessen another tragedy like this, but it does not address the root cause. It will not stop this from happening again with different people. We need some changes and only you and I can make that difference. I know that you are torn by this tragedy, just as I am. All I am asking is that you simply step back and look at the whole picture. The problem is SO much bigger than gun ownership and use. It’s about us and the actions we choose to make toward our family, friends, neighbors, and community moving forward.

Talia's First Birthday

My baby is ONE! ONE! Wow. It really is such a milestone...Now she is no longer considered an infant. Sometimes you get strange looks when you call your one year old your baby (luckily--I can avoid this since Talia has so little hair that she still looks like a bitty baby to me.) Toddler. That's the next phase. Cute, but trouble. Tearing everything a part. Climbing. Screaming. Clueless (not her--me). Pointing, mimicking, running, dancing, singing. Oh,yes--very cute. However, not quite as snuggly because they are so BUSY! so BUSY! and honestly you are so busy cleaning up behind them that you don't have much time for snuggles either. Whew! I am getting exhausted just thinking of the next phase. Well--perhaps I should just relay Talia's first B'day and ignore what is to come. Poor baby girl did not wake up happy on her birthday. She woke up early and cried. We weren't ready to get up. We were tired (probably from being up with kids in the middle of the night). Did I mention Alaina has been waking up every night screaming about her knee. The doc says it is growing pains--and I agree...the pains of her shrill screaming in the middle of the night is growing. And of course that wakes everyone else in the house and now it takes us forever to get everyone back to sleep...oops, I did it again--sidetracked. Back to Talia's b'day. We sang to her and she seemed to cheer up. Alaina however slept through all of our singing. (Probably exhausted from her middle of the night waking.) It was a school day so we had to hurry Ky off to school--however we had plans to pick him up for lunch. Red Robin has become a tradition with our kiddos on their birthdays. At lunch time we picked up Ky and met Daddy at Red Robin. It was a rainy day, which was a bummer, but Talia didn't mind. She enjoyed mooching fries and hamburger off of us--and by far her favorite part was the ice cream sundae. She just stared at the waitstaff as they sang to her--but that sundae she sure eyed up. Talia has a sweet tooth that is dedicated to ice cream--she is DEFINITELY my child. That evening we met with our Lifegroup (church group) at a park and celebrated Talia's b'day & Zac's (friend of Ky's). It had been so unusually warm--but of course on Talia's b'day it had been rainy in the morning and chilly. Despite the cold we enjoyed a picnic lunch and ladybug & spider cupcakes. We sang Happy Birthday to her and she just stared at the cupcake. We put her fingers in it and then she played for a bit. Finally I put some in her mouth and she smiled. She figured it out! The strange blob was YUMMY SUGARY FOOD! She quite enjoyed it after that. That evening we let her open some presents including a shopping cart from us. She loved pushing it around. I would say it was a successful birthday day! Then came the family party that weekend. We had tacos and of course a lady bug 2 tiered cake. The cake didn't quite come out how I would have liked--but she still enjoyed it. In fact, she got her fingers in it when I was trying to take her picture next to it. :) So why did I choose the lady bug theme? Well--at 6 months I got Talia some soft leather-soled shoes with Ladybugs on them. She wore them pretty much everywhere. We also had a cute ladybug hat that we would put on her (that was Alaina's). It just seemed to fit. Talia our little lady bug. I have packed away those shoes--and someday I know I will enjoy pulling them out and remembering her tiny toes and how they were the shoes she learned to walk in. *SIGH* Now I am getting sentimental. Boy--these kids sure grow up quick. I just can't keep up! So that is Talia's 1 year celebration. I have her official weight and stuff in her baby book--but I believe she was only around 18 lbs. My tiny girl (especially since KY & Laina were both 22+ lbs at 1 year). She sits around the 50% for height and weight (Ky & Laina have always been in the 70 - 80%). My prediction is that she will probably always be smaller than her siblings. I guess it just sort of fits--she will always be my baby, so somehow her being a little smaller is a bit comforting to me. Well that's all for now. I am working on catching up on my blog and I promise I will.

April 2012

At the end of March we traveled to Indiana to attend my friend Liz's baby shower and to visit my mom. This time we made sure the DVD player worked--and the trip went wonderfully. Plug in children and drive. Talia did pretty well too. It was wonderful seeing my mom. I really do miss her living so far away. The kids had a blast as well. Poor little Talia came down with a fever Friday night--and that left my mom and I going for a Meijer run at 3:00 in the morning. (Perhaps that is why she slept so well on the way to Indiana....hmmmm...) My mom had scheduled family pictures the next day and poor little Talia cooperated, but was not so happy. (She looks so sad in the pictures.) Liz's shower was wonderful and her baby bump was adorable. Bri (Liz's cousin) came up with a fun game where we cut apart pictures of Liz and Adam and put together what we thought the new baby would look like. I ESPECIALLY enjoyed this part. We has a fun luncheon and the kids got to meet Grandma & Grandpa VH. Alaina especially enjoyed playing with the new paper dolls that Grandma VH gave her. Sunday we attended church with Uncle Joel & Aunt Jamie and then had dinner together afterwards. It was nice to get together again and talk. (Unfortunately, I and Uncle Joel were pretty tired--and I think I fell asleep at some point.) Monday morning we visited our favorite Amish store with my mom. We stocked up on many of our basics (including 50 lbs of whole wheat flour). I love that place. I wish we had stores like that here in Madison. After our "adieu's" we were on our way home. Which we were all happy about (bigger 2 being plugged into the DVD player) except Talia. She cried A LOT. After this return trip home, Talia decided she did not like her carseat very much anymore. (And to this day --July 2nd as I am writing this--she now arches her back and stiffens her body so you have to fight to get her in her carseat.) Poor girl doesn't realize she has many more years yet in a carseat. Rob's birthday followed shortly after. Since we had Lifegroup (our church group) that night for dinner we decided to celebrate Dad's b'day at lunch. Rob came home and we made him a yummy lunch with beer bread and of course a fancy peanut butter chocolate cake. YUM! The kids made some drawings for Daddy and we gave him a coffee mug with the kids pictures on it. I got him a Badger shirt. It was a good day. In the coming week we attended an Easter Egg hunt at our favorite green house. The kids really enjoyed searching for eggs. Even Talia got into the spirit of things. Afterwards they enjoyed petting the horse on the farm next door. On Easter, after attending church we went to Pop's and Debi's. I of course tried to get lots of pictures with the kids all dressed up, but it is near impossible to get all 3 looking at the camera and smiling. Alaina likes to strangle her sister in attempt to get Talia to look--and then she doesn't look and then once we get her to look, Ky will be looking elsewhere because he is bored. UGH! And as you can see from the crying Talia pics, she was just done. Oh, well--at least I tried. Debi had given Rob Brewer tix for Easter day, so we were able to leave Ky & Alaina with them and attend a game with Talia. It was a nice game. Unfortunately, they lost. Talia got lots of attention from people nearby because she is cute--you know--she eyes people up and gives them her cute smile and they are "hers". I have to say, that having a baby you meet more people than you ever would. Too bad people aren't always so friendly. Anyway, while we were at the game the big kids had fun with an Easter hunt at the grandparents house. In fact, I think they were bummed when we came back and said it was time to go. With the warm weather of April (the unusual warm weather), we were outside a lot more than normal. Unfortunately, Talia had an issue with the ground--grass, pavement--it didn't matter. She would cry if you put her down. It was pretty funny. And a little bizarred and worrisome since we were going camping in June. We were pretty excited when we finally did get her to sit down outside and she didn't cry. (Notice that picture!) Kylan had his annual buzz cut. He was pretty excited about it. I was not. I like his hair longer (I think it makes him look younger.) When it is all buzzed off he looks older. He was pretty excited after his cut and kept saying he looked like his friend Owen. Which actually he did--they both have similar hair color and freckles. Alaina's ballet ended in April. She really loved the class and would do dance moves at home. I can't wait until next winter when she can take 4 year old ballet. Anyway, I will be updating with videos of her ballet soon. Stay tuned for the next blog entry which will be Talia's 1st b'day.

Fancy Nancy Party 2012

Yes!  We had so much fun at our Fancy Nancy party--that I do plan to have another one next year.

If you haven't read a Fancy Nancy book--you really should.  She is VERY much like Alaina.  The little girl loves to dress up and has a BIG imagination.  She also LOVES to use big words--which is something I really enjoy in the books.  So I had the idea that we should have a Fancy Nancy Party--afterall--Alaina LOVES to dress up. 

So we invited our playgroup friends and Alaina's best friend Lexi & her sister Cece.  It was to be a luncheon and everyone should dress up!  (Moms included!)  You can dress up fancy or fun--I wore my wedding crinolin with a fancy top.  A lot of the other moms wore fancy dresses from long ago. 

I let Alaina pick hers and was surprised when she chode the black & white number.  Normally she goes MUCH fancier.  But hey--it's her party.  I spent several weeks putting together a menu and party ideas.  I wanted to make it simple finger foods (nothing that would stain clothes) and easy prep.  I planned to use my nice stoneware (aka china) for the kids and wine glasses so they could feel REAL fancy.  And hey--if something got broke--I figured it was worth it--when else should I use the good stuff! :)

To continue with the Fancy Nancy theme, I picked out various themes from her book to keep with the "fanciness".  We had a cake decorating station (Fancy Nancy & The Delectable Cupcakes) a hair salon, a nail decal/tattoo station, a photo area (thanks to my friend Rachel), a dress-up area, and a jewelry area (where the kids could make necklaces).  The kids had a blast.

We welcomed everyone as they came in and got the kids busy with tattoos or making necklaces.  After that was lunch.  I have to say I was very proud of myself and the layout.  Please notice the ice cream cones that I filled with grapes and turned into mini-teacups.  (Thank you Pinterest! :) )  The kids really enjoyed drinking pink milk or "stellar juice* from wine glasses.  A few even told me they weren't allowed to have glass.  (I let them know that today was an exception.)  I do believe a great time was had by all.

It was sad to see everyone go--but as you can see we have lots of great memories from all the pictures.  --

Until next year's Fancy Nancy Party--

March 2012

This March was one of the CRAZIEST weather months ever.  We went from sweating in tank tops and shorts to sledding in 8" of snow.  We set MANY weather records.  In this time we discovered that Talia does not like being outside (unless she is being held.)  This should make for an interesting summer since we are planning on camping 3 different times.  (Hee hee!) 

Well with all the nice weather I was ECSTATIC when it snowed again.  We had bought the kids sleds for Christmas and I hardly thought the "mudding" we did in February counted as sledding.  We had a great time sledding.  Talia was not too fond of sitting in the snow though.  She also went on her first sled ride--which ended up being a bit dangerous.  Ky was in the way so Daddy had to try to bail off the sled with Talia in his arms.  He did a VERY Impressive roll keeping her tight to his body and she didn't even touch the ground.  However, I think at that point she decided she was done with sledding and being outside (as you can see from my attempt to get the kids pics with all 3 of them on the sled.)

After sledding we then went to Aunt Annie's Pretzels and enjoyed free pretzels (it was National Pretzel Day!)  An awesome ending to a fabulous day!

The kiddos  had an AWESOME time at Chucky Cheese this past month.  They earned it!  I began some chore charts for them where they put a sticker on each chore they complete.  Once they have completed all their chores for the day they can then watch tv or have computer game time.  As a further incentive, I told them that when they each reached 100 stickers (took 4 weeks to get to).  We would go to Chucky Cheese.  This system worked awesome for Ky---however, Alaina I think is still a bit young.  I am hoping to rework the system some tomorrow and see if I can give her more incentive.  I plan to include short term goals now such as "Get 50 stickers and you can pick dinner, get 25 stickers and get extra 30 minutes of video time."  We will see how that goes.  Speaking of which I also saw a cool idea for consequences on Pinterest (LOVE THAT SITE!!! I AM SO HOOKED!)  You have a fishbowl with papers and each paper has a consequence on it.  Anyway--if you don't have an easy "natural" cosequence you can have them pick from the bowl.  In the bowl--to the consequences you add one that says "God's Mercy".  This is to teach them that God's Mercy has saved us from the worst punishment of all--so this is their AKA "get out of Jail free" card.  How neat is that??!!  Anyway--we met our friends Wendy & Julie and her daughter's Angela & Katherine at Chucky Cheese the kids had a great time.  Rob got a little miffed over a soda spill which soaked just about everything.  And it was a little crowded (mental note--Saturday evening is TOO busy!), but of course none of that mattered to the kids.

So now that I am talking Pinterest...if you haven't joined the site--do it!  And follow me!  I am so hooked and man the recipes and yummy food I am making.  Last night I made Deep Dish Pizza and Monkey Garlic Cheese Bread with Chocolate chip lava cookies for dessert--all from Pinterest.  WOW!  YUM!  Oh yeah--and the picture of the baked donuts--(so much healthier than fried) were from Pinterest too.  There is just so much good stuff and ideas on that site!

Midmonth--we of course celebrated Nana's birthday.  We drove to Milwaukee for the day and took her out to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant.  It was a funny day--the temps was in the 80's in Madison, but in Milwaukee it was in the 60's.  It is very difficult to dress your kids in such varying weather.  Nana & G'ma Jan played bubbles with the kids as well as ping pong.  Nana LOVED her gifts--a hummingbird feeder and the butterfly footprints picture (another idea from Pinterest. Each kid used their feet to make a butterfly.)  Rob baked a delectable dessert--brownie raspberry cheesecake goodness....mmmmm. 

The following weekend we traveled to Arlington Heights to see Aunt Janice, Aunt Linda, Uncle Tom & Aunt Sue.  On the way we stopped at the Rockford museum and let the kids play.  I REALLY love that museum.  It may be far away, but the membership price is TOTALLY worth it.  I know we will be traveling there several times this summer.  Anyway the kids as always had a great time and we had fun visiting with family.  The kids had a blast playing with Aunt Linda's styrofoam Easter eggs and sent us out on hunts for them after they hid them.  Then of course there was a raucous game of traffic with Aunt Linda. 


 We have been going through a difficult period of lying from Ky.  It has been challenging.  I am sure that he has been witnesssing much lying at school (particularly from one boy who apparently does it often.)  At the same time, we probably should have figured it was going to happen sooner or later.  It has been tricky to deal with and even harder to explain to him the "crying wolf" idea and how we can't trust him anymore.  It is hard when he swears up and down with big watery eyes that he is telling the truth and yet I tell him "I don't know."  I hope he figures it all out soon--because it is just rough to know how to handle situations (especially when other people's kids are involved) with him.

Kylan came home the other day and said his friend says a really naughty word in school.  I asked him to whisper to me what it was and he said, "For Pete's Sake!"  I just smiled and nodded.  SO GLAD--we didn't have to have our first REAL conversation about naughty words! :)

Alaina came down with Fifths Disease.  Surprisingly a new one for us.  She had a mild fever one afternoon and then that night vomited.  That is when we noticed the rash all over her body and her itching.  Thankfully it was very mild and quick.  We had to miss playgroup that week which she was bummed about.  Instead I pulled up bins of clothes from the basement and let her sort through them.  (With the unusually warm temps, I didn't have any summer type stuff.)  She LOVED it.  That girl and clothes.  I am not sure how much she tried on--but it made for a VERY happy girl!

I LOVE kid language--you know how kids slaughter words when they talk or misinterpret what they use.  One of my favorites right now is Alaina's use of the word "but".  She likes to use it, but forgets to use it to join to another thought or sentence.  For example, she will say, " I like your cake but."  Which of course the double meaning is what makes it so funny.  HA HA!  And then of course she is ALWAYS "firsty" (thirsty) and don't forget she is "free"(three).

Talia  now gives kisses (or licks) and hugs including pats on the back.  And I have to say her hugs are the best.  Her little arms wrapped around your neck--you just know that all is well with the world. She is also standing on her own.  She will let go and stand for a few seconds.  She is VERY proud of herself when she does this. 

She also enjoys "tucking" Alaina in bed for naps.  It is so cute--she lays on top of her and says "tuck, tuck, tuck" in a whisper voice (mimicking what I do.) 

Talia is a pincher.  I am not sure if I have mentioned this in other blogs-but the last 5-6 months she has gone through phases of pinching and screaming.  The pinches actually leave bruises on me.  Once I got out of the shower and noticed all these little purple marks on my arm.  It took me a few minutes to realize that it is from her.  She likes to pinch when she is nursing and when you are holding her--especially if you are front packing.  And the pinches always catch you by surprise! 

Her screams are just crazy.  She screams for no reason, but to hear herself scream.  She hurts my ears!  AGH! NO SCREAMS! STOP!  Thankfully after a few weeks she stops--but then a few weeks later she starts again.  CRAZY!  This month we had another period of screaming.  EGADS!

I recently pulled up one of the baby walker toys and of course the big kids are playing with it more than she does.  (I don't get it!)  However when she gets behind it she LOVES being able to push it around and walk.  I know it will be VERY soon that she will be walking on her own.  She is SO ready to run with her brother and sister.  She is definitely growing up faster than either Ky or Alaina.  It is so hard to watch her get bigger.  I feel like I am losing my baby and well--that is because I am :(

I don't know if I have mentioned this before by Talia will call me Dada.  When she is really upset she will call me Mama--but otherwise I am Dada.  I guess it is only fair since Alaina called Dad "mama."

February 2012

FEBRUARY! 

Well it was warm--oddly warm...sadly warm.  Yeah...We did have one good snow and the kids played outside in the morning and made a snowman, but it was mostly melted by the afternoon.  What a WEIRD Winter!?  Right now I am hoping that we get a snow tomorrow so I can take the kids sledding on Saturday.  We still need a good sledding day!

Starting with pictures--I don't know why Flickr doesn't let me put captions in--or maybe I just haven't figured it out...anyway--first I am sure you notice Alaina in her car seat with tiara and princess dolls.  We were driving to Milwaukee and I turn around and that is EXACTLY what I see.  That girl cracks me up.  Sometimes--wait what am I saying--oftentimes that girl is just SO girly! 

We were headed to Milwaukee because Lisa and Ryan and Debi all have birthdays within two weeks of each other.  So we celebrated with them in Mequon the second weekend of February.  (It was supposed to be in January--but then we had the stomach flu epidemic-ICK!)

It was a fun time with the family and cousin Rachel as well.  It turns out that her birthday is then too!  We had a good time as usual.  Talia and Grandpa shared baby toys and Ryan wrestled with Ky & Alaina.  Dominic and Kylan had fun running around.  (It is so neat that Ky has a cousin his age to play with.)  We all had a great time.

The next day I took Ky and Alaina to "Fired Up" for their friend Cece's 5th birthday.  Fired Up is a pottery store where the kids can paint stoneware.  They had a lot of fun, and I have to say--I am pretty impressed with the kids and how pretty their work came back.  I think I will have to take them again sometime and let them pick something out.

The following weekend, Grandpa came to our house for the Madison Train Show. Ky and Alaina had a great time with Grandpa.  Kylan loves trains--but also cars now as well.  Rob says that Ky kept veering off to look at some car displays.  I would have pictures of this--but Rob forgot the camera.  Well it wouldn't be the first year he is forgotten--and THAT is why I am the family photographer.  (That's good---I kind of like being in control of the camera! :) )

That night we had some extra kiddos to watch --which the kids loved!  The past several months we have started a "child" swap with another family so we can get a date night.  It has really been working out well.  Our friends Lyn & John have  a boy that is one year older than Ky--a girl that is one year older than Alaina and then a baby boy that is 6 month older than Talia.  So everyone has someone to play with!  I have to say Eli (their baby boy) is so cute with Talia.  They babble at each other and smile and make each other laugh.  I really have to capture it on camera!  It is TOO cute!  Anyway--I highly recommend that all families find another family to child swap with--SAVE THE MONEY ON BABYSITTERS!  (They charge outrageous rates these days--teens expect like $8-$10/hr!  I still remember when I made $1-$2 an hour and it wasn't that long ago!  GEESH!)  Anyway--if you are a Madison friend and would like to do child swapping with us--I would LOVE to!  Just talk to me--I wouldn't mind finding one more family to do it with.

Sunday after that ALaina had a special visitor--Nana.  Because Alaina was too sick in January to go with Nana on the overnighter and have special Nana time--Nana came to Madison and took her out for an afternoon.  Alaina LOVED it!  They went to the Children's Museum and had ice cream.  Ky however was very sad.  I guess it is hard to have Nana come and then not stay to play with him.  Oh well--he got his special Nana time in January.  Thankfully our neighbor Daniel asked for him to come over and play and that really helped to distract from her leaving without him.

Feb 24th was supposed to be a fabulous day.  Ky had the day off of school so I was planning on taking the kiddos to the Rockford Children's Museum.  However, Talia was running a fever and then it snowed--so we chose to stay home.  But HEY--it SNOWED!  That morning after I got Talia down for a nap we ran outside and made a quick snowman.  And then he fell down.  No worries though--snowmen are mendable.  So we picked him back up and glued him back together with more snow and enjoyed him for a good day before he melted and fell to pieces.  When Talia woke up, I went in to be with her while Ky & Laina played.  She was so sad that they were outside without her.  (You can see it in her face in the one picture.)  Poor girl.  That afternoon the kids and I made some crafts and powerbites that I found on Pinterest.  BTW--if you don't do Pinterest--you need to!  I am HOOKED!  I have come up with so many neat recipes and things to do with this site.  LOVE it!  No matter what you are interested in--you will find neat stuff for you!  So sign up--follow me--and I will follow you!

Saturday after that we took the kids to see the Pooh movie that came out recently.  We even took Talia.  Thank goodness it was a short movie (63 minutes).  She was good--but boy she was sure wiggly.  The older 2 liked the movie a lot.  It was cute.  When we came home we were making all sorts of jokes about the "Baksin"--and even Rob got into it.  He threw a bunch of clothes on his head (see picture) and chased the kids around yelling he was a Baksin.  BTW--now when anything bad happens, we just simply blame the Baksin.  It makes things so much easier.  (So now you know you have to see the movie to understand my referencing.)

After the movie we took the kiddos to McD's where they played with their friends Angela & Katherine.  From there it was on home, for our annual date at the Olbrich Garden's Wine & Chocolate show.  YUM!  Nana came to watch the kids (all 3 for the first time!)  and we went out and had a lovely time.  I LOVE this show--so many chocolates to taste and the wine! YUM!  And this year there was a place with Mead tasting and a few distilleries.  Rob and I had a wonderful time and we were happy that things went well for Nana too.  (It was her first time with all 3 kids.)

Kiddo Milestones--

Ky continues with swimming--he finally jumped in the pool.  He does swim without a float belt--but he does not like the idea of jumping in the pool.  I am a bit bummed that I didn't sign him up for the next class.  It is already full.  I guess we will have to wait for the summer to continue.  At school he is doing awesome.  His behavior continues to be great and I he just seems happier overall.  I am glad he has figured out that it is so much easier to obey.

Alaina is doing beautiful in ballet.  I got to watch her the other day. (They don't normally allow parents.)  She is my beautiful ballerina.  (Honestly, I think the kids at this age get a bigger kick out of being able to wear the attire than actually dance.)  We have been battling some middle child "behaviors" from her.  She wakes Talia up at naptime and she just seems to "crush" Talia sometimes.  I know she loves her sister and at times means well and is just not gentle enough.  Other times, I think she is a bit bitter about the baby who "stole" her spotlight.  The other day she "peed" twice in her bed at naptime.  (in just over an hour and she went right before naptime.)  I am assuming this is her cry for help--and well--I am trying though MAN it makes me ANGRY!  twice the bedding to wash--bedding to change--a peepee girl to wash.  And all I wanted to accomplish at that naptime was to wash the floors.  I continue to pray that God will help me in these situations and that he comforts Alaina as well.  (I would appreciate any prayers you could send my way as well.)  I LOVE that girl and there is no way she would ever be my "third" favorite---after all "You're All My Favorites!"  (Love that book!)

Talia continues to impress us.  She is a tiny little peanut compared to Alaina & Ky at this age.  At her 9 month check up she was in the 40% for weight at 18 lbs 11oz. and 67% for height.  (I think she was 28".)  Considering Ky and Alaina were always above 80% and even in 90% for weight at this age I am amazed by how little she continues to be.  (And somewhat glad I get to keep her in the infant car seat for a while longer---it is so much easier in the winter than having to worry about lugging along a coat for her and putting it on and off when we put her in and out of the car seat.)  Talia says "hi" to pretty much everyone and continues with her other words.  (Her vocab is getting more noticeable by even strangers!)  She will also stand for a few seconds on her own--though has yet to venture to take a step--and I am okay with that.  She loves getting into things as well.  Rob and I spent a weekend re-baby-proofing cabinets and doors and stuff.  *Hopefully for the last time!*

ooh...I almost forgot...The 2 food pictures are of homemade pretzels--so DELICIOUS and Duggar Rolls---YUMMY!  They are both SO easy to make. Check them out in my recipe box under breads.  You won't regret it! :)

Also I took Talia for her 9 month pictures and they turned out BEAUTIFUL.  (of course :) )  Here is a link if you want to take a look.

https://viewimages.jcpportraits.com/sharealbum/sharealbumlist?rndId=CAcBBQBG&uId=BQYAAAdP

Well I think that is all for this blog!  I am so proud of myself for getting on this.  The next few entries will be backdated ones.  I will catch up!  I will catch up!

Be sure to enjoy the few movie clips of ballerina Alaina below.

January 2012

I know I have much to catch up from last year, but I don't want the more recent stuff to get pushed back.  Therefore you can expect my blog to be jumping around a little bit in time with my new posts.  I figure after I get all caught up I will then go back and organize my entries date-wise.

The more kids you have the quicker the time just flies.  January is usually a pretty long month, but this year it went by SO quick.  We had little (Very Little ) snow this year and yet we still managed to get Talia on the sled for her first time.  We also had a REALLY nasty flu bug hit our entire family.  At the end of January Ky began swimming lessons, Alaina began ballet, and I began my piano lessons.  This of course only made our schedules more busy--but at the same time ALL the more fun!

I have to say that the weather this January has never been warmer.  In fact it was pretty depressing warm.  If it is going to be 'cold' (20+ degrees) I want snow!  We got one snowfall and it was short lived before it melted.  In fact we took the kids sledding (they got sleds for Christmas) and by the time we arrived, most of the snow on the hill had melted.  So instead our sledding trip was more of a mudding trip.  On the bright side, it wasn't overly crowded (I guess mudding isn't very popular) and the sleds didn't go too fast down the hill--which always concerns me with the younger ones.  Either way the kiddos have a great time.  Even Talia liked going down the hill.  You could tell by the way she kicked her feet when you got her off that she was ready to go again.

Our "mudding" trip was a part of our fun MLK weekend.  We had initially discussed going North to Pop's & Debi's cottage, but changed our mind at the last minute.  We figured that if we weren't going to get sleep at night (the kids had been having bad sleeping nights), we would prefer to "not" sleep in our own beds.

On our fun-filled weekend, we ended up taking the kids bowling--which Kylan loved!  (Did I mention, he beat both Rob and I?)  Alaina likes to bowl as well--however after 8 frames you can tell she is about done.  We also took the kids to Stories & Sweets story time at the library (hey free donuts while the librarian entertains your kids---sounds good to me!) and we took them to the Madison Children's Museum. 

So I mentioned not sleeping.  It seems like ever since Ky has started school, he has brought home almost every illness imaginable.  Alaina and Talia were both fighting colds and it was a constant battle for them to sleep more than a few hours at a time.   Alaina wakes up with these constant coughing fits--and it is so hard to console her. In fact, things got so bad that we literally would take her downstairs and tell her when she was done crying she could come to bed.  (She would literally be having a tantrum--and we would try to coddle her or tuck her back in bed, but nothing worked--and since she is currently sleeping in Ky's bedroom, it wasn't fair to keep him up--he has school the next day.  AND she would wake up Talia.  UGH!)  We have tried, literally, everything for her.  Elevating her head, VaporRubbed her from head to toe, humidifier, honey....we give up.  Finally the doctor put her on antibiotics and told us to use her nebulizer at night.  We now use her nebulizer EVERY night--which yeah I really should make a doc appointment soon for.  I have no idea why she has these coughing issues at night, but the nebulizer gets her through the night and so we continue to use it. 

Talia--which I still believe is our best sleeper--has just had one issue after another with colds and such.  With her being our youngest and such, we usually just end up bringing her in bed with us when she wakes up in the night.  She will usually go right back to sleep.  And I have to say her excitement of seeing both Rob and I on either side of her is really endearing.

I mentioned everyone had a flu bug. It hit Kylan on a Friday first.  He puked a few times and I kept him home from school.  By mid day he was fine.  Alaina caught it a few days later and only puked twice.  In fact she did such a great job (for puking).  The first time she did it in bed.  After we cleaned her up we put a trashcan next to her bed and told her that if she got sick again she could just puke in it.  Well, Rob and I went back to bed and in the morning we found that she had in fact vomited in the trash can.  We never heard her.  She must have puked and went right back to sleep!  A few days later we were pretty sure Talia had it.  She was crabby and had a few big spit ups but then was fine.  Friday night, I started to feel a little weird.  I skipped dinner and decided to lay down for a bit and then it hit.  Let me tell you--I have never been so sick!  I thought I had food poisoning.  I was in the bathroom so much, I was getting light headed because I had nothing left and was so dehydrated.  Rob called the doc and they confirmed that I had the Norovirus and I had been hit hard.  They mentioned that kids get light cases and adults tend to get hit hard.  It was four hours of non-stop puking and then after that my body hurt SO MUCH!  It was several days before I ate again--and sure enough after that Alaina got sick again (while I was recovering) and then Rob  got sick.  Thankfully I was well enough to take care of him.  The major issue was feeding the kids when I didn't think I could even handle looking a food.  My good friend Ann really surprised me though--she dropped off an assortment of sandwiches, soups, and sides that helped get us through.  Thanks Ann!  You Rock!  So that was our big flu bug.  Yeah--I hope we don't go through that again.  Oh yeah--did I mention we also got Rob's mom and her partner sick.  Terrible bug!

Kiddo Milestones--

Ky received his first report card.  I believe he did well.  It is really confusing with all the numbers instead of grades--and then also since his curriculum is all in Spanish it would be hard to expect him to get 4 (exceeding beyond grade level) for the material.  He had mostly 3's which said he was at or above expected kindergartner knowledge.  At home I continue to work with him.  I estimate that he is at a 3rd grade reading level (in English of course) and does Math of a 1st grade level.  He is now able to add double digit numbers (though I have not taught him how to carry the one, so he can't do those kinds of problems.)  He can easily differentiate between addition and subtraction and did his first set of story problems successfully the other day.  He also can now count by 5's and I hope to work with him on counting by 2's soon.  School has really enlightened him in many ways.  Many good--and some not so good.  In January we got a call from his music teacher that he was taking on a "class clown" personality.  We really talked to him and his other teachers about this.  It turns out that he was following the behavior of a couple of other kids.  We have since nipped this in the bud and he has returned to good behavior.  We now talk about the other kids behavior and discuss good vs. bad choices.  I also now say a daily prayer with him before he goes to school.  We pray that he will be a blessing to others and be a Christ follower showing others the light of Christ through his actions.  We pray that he will make good choices that honor God and that he will have a wonderful day.  I do think that in the next month we will begin praying for the 2 classmates that are having difficulties in class.  From what Ky has been telling me--their behavior is only getting worse.  I am so proud of my boy for making good choices and now seeing the importance of that and talking to me about it.  He has grown up SO much this school year.  I knew this would happen since he wouldn't be under my "protective" covering any more.  It also helps me to realize that there are some conversations I need to have with my kids before they go to school.

Alaina--

I love this girl.  Seriously, ask her to tell you about her day and you will get this ELABORATE make-believe story that doesn't end.  She LOVES to talk.  And ask questions (and what 3 year old doesn't?)  I have to be honest that I haven't had the best patience with her lately.  Her imagination exceeds anything that mine EVER was.  It takes her forever to do ANYTHING--and that is because her imagination brings EVERYTHING to life and a story is told.  Something as simple as washing her hands can take 10-20 minutes if I don't intervene.  And this is tiring for me--to have to be on her every second just so we can get somewhere or so she can get something done.  This is especially difficult when I am trying to drop off Ky or pick him up from school.  I already have to get myself and Talia ready--but to be on top of Alaina for every step just gets exhausting.

Since Grandpa died, Alaina now also tells everyone that someone from her family died--it may be a Grandma or Aunt.  She gets some sympathetic looks--and I have to clear it up--and yes, several times she has told people that her mom died and I was standing next to her.

Alaina writes her name!  I am so proud of her.  We have been working hard and she does it BEAUTIFULLY!  This time I did not make the mistake of teaching her to write with all capital letters! YEAH!

And finally Alaina has begun her ballet class--she has been SOOOOOO excited about this!  This girl already prances around the living room--add a tutu and tights and we have one happy girl.  This is also her first BIG GIRL class ALL BY HERSELF.  I get to observe every 4 weeks and she does have a recital at the end of April.  She is so cute.

Talia
Talia is crawling forward--and FAST!  She is also pulling up to standing and cruises.  She claps her hand and waves "hi".  She can say "Hi, Dada, BopBop (that's mama), and Kylan."  I don't think she has Alaina down yet--but I am sure that will come.  She LOVES Kylan--her face lights up when she sees him.  She also loves Alaina--though Alaina can be rough and not very gentle (another issue we have--she will pick Talia up and move her--sometimes by the head!  I have also caught her dragging her or yanking on her arms.  I know Alaina LOVES Talia and really wants to treat her like her baby dolls--but she just doesn't understand being gentle.  This can get VERY frustrating!) 

Talia is a VERY happy baby.  She giggles and laughs and LOVES to be held.  She has gotten A LOT of colds from the kiddos :(  And her tear ducts get blocked easily from this.  Despite all that she is very even tempered.

When I go to work out and pick her up afterwards she will be happily playing on the floor, until she sees me.  Then she will begin crying and crawl to me.  I tell her that I am flattered by the tears and let her know that it is okay to have a good time without me (afterall I saw that she was fine without me! :) )

So there is January in a nutshell.

Wrap up of the past year

So, while I have really fallen behind on my blogging--I actually have still been recording tid bits of dfferent funny stories with the kids.  Here are some of those funny stories as well as some milestones. (As well as pics from Talia at 2 weeks old)

June--
Ky continues to amaze us with his vocabulary.  Rob was comparing Scott Walker to a weasel (I know--not the most mature comment, but we were venting some anger.)  Anyway, Ky overheard us and said "Isn't that redundant?"  Very funny--not mature and totally the wrong thing to teach our child--but still INCREDIBLE use of vocabulary.

Kylan has really been getting into baseball this year.  At one game the umpire made a bad call and the audience booed.  Nana explained to him that the crowd was not happy with his call.  Ky then said "So when people are unhappy they act like ghosts?"

Ky wanted to put "poems" in his CD player.  It took me FOREVER to figure out what he wanted.  Turns out he wanted to plug headphones in!

Ky's reading skills continue to improve.  Driving past restuarants in our area, Ky says "When are we going to go to WHOOOOOO -ters?"  (Hooters)  It was so funny how he pronounced it.
Alaina is ALWAYS singing.  ALWAYS.  And she makes up the most crazy and OBNOXIOUS songs.  It is hilarious.  If I haven't already uploaded video, I will soon!

Dancing is her other thing.  She loves to dance like a princess.  She isn't very graceful but is ADORABLE to watch!

Talia loves kisses.  This girl is a kissing fiend.  If she isn't receiving them she is giving them.  It is SO cute.  You can see her face just light up when she is getting kissed.

Alaina response for "yes"  or uh-huh is "huh-huh".  You really have to hear this to find it amusing. 

Talia first laughed when she was in the bathtub at 10 weeks at Alaina.  Yeah!  Baby giggles!

At 5 months, we began to notice when Talia was feeling left out.  One day, I was chasing Ky & Alaina around the living room and Rob was standing there holding her.  She then began to cry.  Rob figured out that she wanted to participate so began running with her around the room and she became VERY happy.  Since then, we have noticed that if she doesn't feel involved she will cry.  This includes when her brother and sister leave the room and are playing elsewhere. 

Talia was slow to sit up on her own.  (Probably because of all the holding we did--and the fact that my boppy was in such poor shape I tossed it.)  By 6 months she was finally able to sit up well enough without support.
At 7 months Talia crawls backwards REALLY well.  She has yet to figure out how to move forward though.

Alaina is such a girly girl.  She loves her princess and she insists that all stories should end "And they lived happily ever after" with the prince and princess getting married of course.  A few weeks before Christmas we went to storytime at the library and the them was "princes & princesses".  Let me tell you--Alaina was OVERJOYED!  until we got to the story The Paper Bag Princess.  Let's just say the princess is too smart to marry the prince and walks off in her paper bag dress.  Well--Alaina was not having any of that.  She insisted to the librarian that "the prince and princess DID get married and they lived happily ever after AND the princess got back her beautiful dress."  I was thankful that the librarian complied and let Alaina have her fantasy ending, otherwise it would have been a rough day for her. 

On Christmas Eve Talia made some movement forward.  Since then we have noticed periodic forward movements.  Soon she will be on the move!
 
Continuing with Ky and his reading skills...This Christmas we have a piano and some Christmas Song Books.  Ky bangs on the piano and sings along.  His pronunciations are HILARIOUS.  "HO HO the Whistletoe" and "Have a HOLY JOELY Christmas" (instead of Holly Jolly) and of course in Silent Night he sings about the "Round 'yon VIRGIN"  pronouncing the "guh" for the g.

A few days after Christmas Alaina was telling me how her prince came to see her.  I said "Really!  Did he bring you anything?"  She said, "Yes, My prince brought me flowers and a treat for not pooping in my tights!"

When Kylan was 4 and very upset with us, he used to tell us "You're breaking my heart!"  When he used this tactic with tears, it was very moving!  (i.e. "Kylan you already had a piece of cake, you don't need anymore."  sniffle, sniffle, "You're breaking my heart!"

Grandpa Edward Herbst, January 23, 1920 - December 17, 2011

Grandpa getting a hug from little Kylan

Grandpa & Grandma walking with Kylan

Family photo with Grandpa (pre-Talia)

Grandpa meeting Talia for the first time

Grandpa Herbst passed away on December 17th shortly after being hospitalized with an infection.  He will be missed by all of us.

The romantic in me thinks Grandpa passed away because he sensed his wife and the fact that she has passed almost exactly 3 years ago.  Grandma's favorite time was also Christmas, and what more appropriate time to be reunited with your wife than her favorite time of year. 

The last several years have been hard ones.  Grandpa Herbst had been suffering from dementia and placed in a home to be taken care of.  He rarely knew who we were when we visited.  Often times he would be stuck in the 1940's or 1950's and so we would get a glimpse of Grandpa as a young man.  And that young man was sure a happy & loving with a good sense of humor.  (One of the last times we visited he kept goofing around with Kylan and calling him "Charlie".  It was pretty funny!)
He will be best remember for the many stories he loved to tell.  One of the all time favorites is when he met Babe Ruth while sitting in a bar.  He had been serving during World War II and was in New York waiting for some friends.  Babe Ruth came in and sat down next to him and chatted with him and bought him a drink.  By the time Grandpa's friends had arrived Babe had left--and of course none of his friends believed him. 

As far as romantic, Grandpa would also tell us how when he first brought his girlfriend home (future wife Audrey) his Grandmother told him in German that this girl was the one.--And of course she was right!

He also told us about his first house in Theinsville and how the bathtub and toilet were so close together that if you sat on the toilet, your feet would be in the bathtub. 

Grandpa & Grandma had much pride and stories in their houses.  They loved their home in Arlington Heights which they moved to in the late 1950's.  The movers brought their stuff from their spacious home in Thiensville to the home in Arlington Heights--and said to them, "How can you move from that spacious place in Thiensville to this tiny home in Arlington Heights."  Grandpa & Grandma took much pride in their new house adding a mud room and a special air system that you will not find in other homes.  Grandma had tastefully decorated each room and took pride in her work--for example she had done needlepoint work on each of her dining room chairs.  They were beautiful!

While it is sad to see Grandpa go, it also makes me happy to know that he can be reunited with his wife.  I know he missed her.  She was his best friend.  Grandpa--you will be missed, but I know we will see you again some day--and you can tell us your many wonderful stories again.  We love you!

Videos of Talia

These are a series of videos of Talia opening Ma & Pa Vander Heyden's gift.  This is TOOOOOO CUTE!  I just LOVE this girl!

Christmas 2011

Ky had school through Dec 23rd.  What a bummer!  I would have loved to have had him home for the week prior to Christmas and done some crafts and fun Christmas things with him.  Since Ky had school through Friday the 23rd, and Rob had the day off, I decided to sub for a 2nd grade class that day--BIG MISTAKE!  WoW!  The kids were so wound up and hyped--it was a CRAZY day.  And many of the teachers said it had been like that the WHOLE week.  I really wish the school system had thought this vacation out a bit more.

After I subbed, I met the family at the local grocery store for our annual bell ringing.  Rob and I knew that it would be rough--but we had a plan.  But just like many parental plans--it failed.  By the time I got there Rob had rung for 30 minutes with all 3 kids and had done a great job.  (Those kids really bring in the money!)  The plan was then to take Ky over to the store next door to get his Christmas ornament (Ky had broken his annual Christmas ornament--minutes after I told him --"Ky that ornament is breakable--put it back."  and then he argued that it wasn't.  Well--let's just say, he was wrong and was sobbing as the many teeny tiny balls that were in that glass snowman ornament were rolling all over the floor.)  And so after many tears, Rob and I agreed to let him get another ornament--which yes-- he broke again playing with it when he once again thought it wasn't breakable.  This time before he broke it, we told him we were not going to buy him another one if he broke that one.  (This was a gingerbread ornament)  And THAT Ky is why you don't have an ornament from Christmas 2011.  Back to bell ringing...

So Rob went with Ky to give him a break while I rang with the girls.  This was a new location for us and a bit chillier spot.  Talia's coat had been forgotten so we stood beneath a heating vent and Alaina was overtired and crabby.  We had brought crayons and stuff to entertain, but Alaina kept walking in front of people.  UGH--Okay I should stop talking about this and just move on to Christmas.  Needless to say, it just didn't work out so well.  I left early with the girls and took them home while Rob and Ky rang for the remaining time.  Perhaps, next year will be a bit better.  Older kids, smarter parents...who knows...

Christmas Eve was nice.  Nana & G'ma Jan came over and we shared a nice lunch together and TONS of cookies.  With Christmas being so hectic this year--Rob and I still managed to make some YUMMY cookies.  We had a very nice time.  In fact at some point Rob and I dozed off on each other on the couch.  mmmm...a nap....I sure do miss those days! :)  On Christmas Eve, Talia actually crawled forward!  Up to this point, she was a master at crawling backwards--but she actually moved hands and knees forward!  Yeah T!  (Boo--growing up and losing my baby!)

That night we went to Christmas Eve service.  We left early to take in the local Christmas light display before church. This is one of our annual traditions, but we usually go after church.  This year we figured we had a better chance of getting the kids to bed on time if we went before.  Unfortunately, like many of our plans--that failed.  The line to the display was INSANELY long!  I have never seen it that long.  So instead we arrived to church early and decided to just do the lights afterwards like normal.  But once again--we as parents just can't seem get anything to go off without a hitch.  The line was still VERY long and Talia screamed for most of the time we waited.  (Something she doesn't do very often.)  We really should have just abandoned the lights and went home, but Ky & Laina were too hyped for the lights and we kept figuring that Talia would just fall asleep--and well she did eventually--on our return home! 

Of course then you are stuck trying to transfer the sleeping children from the van into bed--which NEVER works in our family.  Instead they all wake up instantly when the van turns off and begin crying together.  ARGH!  Maybe this isn't the best time for me to be blogging right now.  I feel like I am whining and complaining.  But really it is because I SO much want to catch up on my blog and yet I have been interrupted COUNTLESS times by these children!  Alaina right now wants me to watch her eat every bite of her yogurt because she is eating like a princess--which is a big accomplishment for her--since she eats like a pig normally and by the end of a meal the table is smothered in food along with her hands, face, booster seat and floor.  She has yet to outgrow "messy" eater phase.  Kylan on the other hand is trying to fight with Alaina from 2 rooms away--meaning he is yelling--by copying anything she says, knowing it will only annoy her and make her scream.  And Talia is in her high chair "eating" cheerios.  She yells every 2 minutes because all her Cheerio's are gone.  NOT because she has eaten them, but because she has knocked them all on the floor and in her lap attempting to eat them!  And yes, Rob is here--but we are outnumbered...yes we are...these children have taken over. AAAHHHH!!!

Okay I am taking a break now...princess eater has turned to smeary eater--and Talia's boogers are overtaking her highchair. 

I'm back.  It's night--they are in bed and currently Alaina is sleeping on the bathroom floor--long story--I will explain in another blog.  EEKS!  Do you see how hard it is to blog these days!!!!  Well, I am trying a new "schedule" out starting this week and hopefully it will allow me to blog once a week.  I am hopeful--as I miss doing this--and I really want to go back and share all of these memories with my kids...now where was I???  Oh yes, Christmas day...

Christmas morning was nice.  The kids had fun waking up and opening presents.  I was especially excited when the opened up the Lite Brite I bought them.  (Though I don't think they were as excited as I was.)  Afterwards we had some of our favorite fruit baked french toast and recounted the Christmas story.  From there we were off to Milwaukee for Christmas with Grandpa & Grandma Debi. 

Debi and Pops had a wonderful spread of food--and let me tell you--I ATE!  YUM!  Then the gift opening began.  I think at this point, I was just WORE out.  The week prior had been a very crazy week.  Rob's grandfather passed away--and I think the emotions and extra travel with that, put me over the top.  Once the gift opening was done, I was ready for bed.  We had a great time though. 

Woo--so there is Christmas in a nutshell.  BTW--just in case I am not on top of things with catching up with my blog--Talia started pulling up to standing on January 5th.  And to add to that, she moved her toy box (a plastic bin) over to the couch, crawled on top of it and was trying to get onto the couch.  This whole mobility thing is just going way too fast!  I worry about this one.  Now that Ky and Alaina both have toys with smaller accessories, I am really worried about keeping those things out of reach.  I guess this next week I will spend baby-proofing.