Winter Doldrums

I think we've got a case of the winter doldrums...at least that's the excuse I'm using for not blogging in so long. My "to do" list has seemed a mile long post-holidays. Christmas always brings lots of great new things (and toys!) for our house, so I had to do some serious purging and reorganizing. We have really outgrown our little home, and clutter makes me crazy, so home reorganization had to be completed before blogging. For the sake of my sanity. :)

So we don't have much new to report. Other than happy meal boxes on toddlers' heads....



...and lots more gummy grins from our jolly little guy. He is the most happy-go-lucky baby ever.

Nothing seems to rattle him...other than the blood curdling screams that come from our three year-old on occasion when she's having a tantrum. :) I know parents out there can relate. I think the winter makes it worse...we all need some fresh air and outside play time to blow off some steam! And it's only January...

We did "get out of dodge" over the weekend for a short trip to Purdue to visit my little bro. He's still kicking some serious academic and extra-curricular booty at school. And he's got his own digs too...he's living in an apartment with friends off campus. It was fun to hang out, catch up, and have an excuse to indulge in pizza together.

Until next time!...and I promise to not make it as long. hopefully. :)

Mission Accomplished! (Barely)

We did it! We got Andra on Santa's lap. By the skin of our teeth. :)

Let me back up. Andra refused to get within 20 feet of Santa last year. She loved seeing him in books and movies, but wanted nothing to do with him in "real life." But this year, she was talking a big talk...saying she'd sit on his lap on one condition: that her blankie could come with her. Fair enough. :)

So we headed to the museum today to see Santa and see if Andra was all talk. She was. Once we got within view of him, she said she didn't want to sit on his lap afterall. So I scooped her up and we started chatting with Santa. Then I plopped Alec on his lap. I think once Andra saw that her baby brother was sitting on Santa's lap and not afraid, she decided she could handle it too. So I plopped her in his lap (with her blankie, of course) and snapped a picture before she had a chance to change her mind. And despite weeks of practicing her list to recite to Santa, I think she was a little star struck once she was on his lap; she couldn't remember a single thing on her list to ask him for!

To be honest, I was a little bah-humbug today. You see, the entire purpose of our trip was for Andra to ride the little train in the Christmas exhibit (her train obsession continues). We'd been talking about the train for several days. When we arrived, we heard a nasty rumor that the train was...BROKEN. And wouldn't be running for a couple more days. I refused to believe it. Upon confirmation of this nasty rumor, I had to break the bad news to Andra. It didn't go over well, and I had a heartbroken, lower-lip-quivering, crying 3 year-old on my hands. She had her heart set on riding that train. My attitude soured even more when an old blue-haired lady declared that my heartbroken little girl was being "crabby." I almost unleashed my mommy fury on her. Crabby?? No. Heartbroken? Definitely.

I squelched her tears with a snack from my purse. Only to be told snacking was not allowed in the museum. So then we decided a fancy lunch in the tea room would help cheer her up. Come to find out, you MUST have reservations to eat in the tea room. Lovely. Next was the Santa visit, where I was required to turn MY camera over to Mrs. Claus to take some crummy pictures from a great distance. Or, of course, I could pay $18 for the professional one (even though I'd just paid FULL museum admission, despite the broken train!). I sweet-talked Mrs. Claus into PLEASE letting me take ONE photo...only to be told I had to stand a certain number of feet away from Santa to be allowed to take my photo with MY camera. Seriously?!? Merry Christmas to you too, Mrs. Claus. Oh, and Santa was right next to the sad little broken train, which was just like rubbing salt in Andra's wounds.

So we settled for greasy pizza in the museum cafeteria, a bit mopey, then headed toward the exit...only to experience our Christmas miracle. A staff member stopped us to tell us the train had been repaired!!! I'd like to kiss the engineer who repaired that train!

This was Andra's response to the good news. :) Too bad old blue-haired lady couldn't see my "crabby" little girl now.

So all was well again in Andra's little world. I guess I should've kept the faith. Lesson learned. :)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all skilled engineers nearby!

Snow Bunnies

My last day on maternity leave, we spent a little time playing in the snow! It was only a couple inches, so not enough to build a snowman or make snow ice cream...but enough to take Andra on some laps around the house on the sled.

Alec even was introduced to the white stuff! He kept gasping when the cold wind would blow in his face (understandable!), so his first snow experience was short lived. It was before the horribly cold temperatures set in, so Andra and I stayed out for quite awhile. Her favorite part was having a snowball "fight" with Pudge...although he was pretty defenseless. :) We'd throw a snowball at him, and she'd collapse in fits of giggles when he'd try to catch it in his mouth, only to have the snowball explode all over his nose. Really funny to a 3 year-old...and a 30 year-old too! :)

Where'd the time go??

Whoa.

I just realized it's been a month since I've blogged! That just might be my longest lack of blogging ever. I'd like to apologize to my two loyal readers. ;) But I have a valid excuse. Our hands have been full. Literally...

...and figuratively! Aside from trying to savor my last month of maternity leave, we also made a somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to put our house up for sale. We hadn't planned on doing it quite so soon after Alec being born, but we saw a golden opportunity and couldn't pass it up. A builder that's actually in our price range (gasp!) started developing a neighborhood in the perfect location. It's got huge yards (a whole half acre...all to ourselves!), beautiful homes, and it's only 90 seconds away from one set of grandparents! See what I mean? Golden.

Well, before we BUY a house, we have to sell our current house. So thus launched a flurry of activity: choosing a realtor, cleaning/repairing our house so it's spotless for showings, and signing piles of paperwork with our builder. It's been exhausting. The great news is we've got a down payment reserving our lot in the new neighborhood. The catch: we have to sell our current home before they'll hammer a single nail. So now it's a game of keeping the house spotless for those last minute showings (and this is a CHALLENGE, as anyone with a three year-old can imagine. We have our own personal Hurricane Andra here who manages to mess up as fast as I can clean up!)

Admist all this added activity, I've been nervously eyeing the calendar...knowing my remaining days of maternity leave were dwindling. The sad count is now down to just four days. *sigh* I'm hopeful it won't be as hard to return to the office this time around as it was with Andra. When I returned to work after having Andra, I was going back to a job that was full-time and I also happened to hate. This time, I'm going back to work only part-time and to a job I love. I'll sure miss kissing Alec's chubby cheeks all day long and seeing what hilarious things Andra is saying, but I know they're in good hands too. I know a lot of Moms would kill to have my schedule, so I'm trying to keep things in perspective. I've got it pretty darn good, and for that I'm very grateful.

So, I had a valid excuse for not blogging for a month, and I'll try not to let it happen ever again. :)

Trick or Treat!

The kiddos had a great time Trick or Treating this year! It was a little nostalgic...Alec wore the same "chocolate lab" costume that Andra wore her first Halloween. We remembered Andra absolutely being swallowed up by the costume, but our big boy really filled it out! (Keep in mind, their birth dates are only 2 days apart, so Andra was the same age as Alec when she wore it). We both got a good chuckle when we put him in it, and Dave said, "It's almost too small for him!!"

I have to tell you, I think our little guy is going to be quite the charmer. I can't quite explain it...his grins just seem so sweet and yet mischievous at the same time. He often does these lop-sided grins, where he just turns up one corner of his mouth, like he's up to no good! And he just seems to smile SO easily and really connect with people. I remember when Andra was this age having to work REALLY hard for those smiles. She made you earn them! Her personality was just more introspective and contemplative...Alec gives me the impression he's going to be more of an extrovert and quite the charmer.

Andra went trick or treating this year as a witch...but she was very quick to correct anyone that called her just a witch; no, she was a "friendly witch" she'd tell them...because "I'm not wearing a mask." ??? I'm not exactly sure where she picked that up, but she was very adamant that she was NOT wearing a mask, and hence, was a FRIENDLY witch. :) Her costume was handmade by Grandma G.; you won't find a witch's costume THAT cute in the stores! I love homemade costumes...it's like the love is stitched right into them.

She seemed a little proud too that her baby brother was wearing her old costume.

So October has come and gone, and it's hard to believe November has arrived. Only 5 weeks left of maternity leave. *Sigh* I'm trying to soak up every moment!

Say "Cheese!"

I finally did it! After several failed attempts, I managed to capture one of Alec's adorable little grins on camera!! So here it is...our little guy hamming it up. Good thing he seems to like the camera...this Mama has it out a lot! He's been doing some really good open-mouthed cheerful smiles, but he'd only give me these little grins this morning. I'll take it!

Oh, and did I mention he's in the 99th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for weight?! Big boy!

Other than the big news that Alec is officially smiling--and we have the pictures to prove it!--we're just busy enjoying the autumn. I don't know if my kids will inherit my love of fall, but I'm certainly trying my hardest! We've been hitting all the autumn hotspots...the apple orchard, Zoo Boo, not-so-scary haunted house. Still on the list: pumpkin patch, and a fall festival at Kelsay Farms. There's just something about crisp cool air, apple cider and cozy sweatshirts that just make me giddy. And if I can manage to hear a drumline practicing in the distance...well, that's a whole new level of giddiness. I'm a nerd. (the result of the countless fall marching band contests that defined my teen years)

So here are a couple shots from the apple orchard...

And I'm so proud of Andra...rather than just licking off all the carmel like she did last year, she actually ate the APPLE part too this season! All the way to the core! 'atta girl!

A Little About Alec

The newest member of our family has been living with us for about three weeks now, and we're all getting to know each other a little better. So far, he seems to have the same mild temperment as Andra (thank goodness!). In stark contrast to his big sister, however, this little guy EATS. A lot.

Some cute little things that make our little man even cuter:

First things first...he's another blondie, with blue eyes that seem to get bluer with each passing day. I was stunned when I had my FIRST blonde child...and a little dumbfounded that my dominant genes failed to be dominant AGAIN when Alec showed his blonde little head. Dave keeps hogging all the DNA. But I have to admit...I have a very special place in my heart for my blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies.

He's got fuzzy hair on his ears like an old man. :)

He has the cutest little dimple on his left cheek when he grins (which so far, he's only smiled in his sleep. And after his 1 a.m. feeding last night, he let out a really solid chuckle that shook his whole body. What on earth do babies think and dream about that make them laugh??)

He has beautiful, long lashes. Way longer than Andra's. Doesn't seem fair that God gives the boy the long lashes!

He has the same gorgeous heart-shaped lips as Andra.

He has absurdly long toes (like his Uncle J). And his pinky toes have a mind of their own. They're always doing something completely different than the rest of his toes. It makes me laugh.

And we've yet to get through a single bath without him peeing in the water, or peeing on me once I get him OUT of the water. Although karma got him once when he peed during a diaper change, and instead of spraying me, the poor little guy sprinkled himself all over his face! That one was post-bath too. *sigh* Kinda defeats the purpose of getting clean.

But perhaps what's most special about Alec is that he came at a time when my family needed him most. My grandma was recently diagnosed with cancer, and it soon became clear that her days were numbered. She had a serious surgery in early September...right around the time Alec was due. We'd visit her in the hospital (ironically, the same hospital where he would be born), and she'd always tease me when I walked in to visit: "Haven't you had that baby yet?!?!"

Well, we did have that baby...one week after her 90th birthday. I'm so grateful the two got to meet each other before she passed away. In her final weeks, our little guy got to visit her a couple times, and she really seemed to light up when she held him, which truly warmed my heart. I hope it helped her forget her painful condition...if only for a few fleeting moments.

It's been a bittersweet intersection for my family; watching one life begin and another come to an end. My grandma died today, October 4, in a condition that I'd rather forget. Instead, I'll always try to remember my grandma as the plump, jolly lady who loved a good tease and could talk sports with the best of 'em. And always popped out her dentures for a good laugh when we were little (it took a little extra prodding once we were "grown ups" :) We love you, Grandma, and you will be sorely missed. Please watch over our family from up above.

(My grandma and her two daughters: Carolyn (left) and my mom (right)