Best dad ever

Noah loves being pulled (or rather zoomed) around the house in this little cart. Ella gets a kick out of watching Noah.

Coming clean

Lest you think that we have our T's crossed and our I's dotted...This story almost competes with locking the kids in the car in the departures lane at the airport. Thanks to Skippy and Boomer of Chicago Police Department (yes, that is what their name tags said), we were able to get back in the car without breaking the window. The only casualty of that incident is that the passenger side door that has to be opened from inside the car. But I digress.

We had snow last night and Pish had some extra items to carry into work this morning so he asked me to drive him to the train station. It is just a few blocks, but I was game for getting out of the house. Even though it is a multi step process to get the kids in their car seats and out to the car, it seemed worth it. We put Noah in his coat and stuffed a blanket around Ella in her car seat. Never mind that it was 13 degrees outside, we were just going on a quick trip. Rather than taking the time to get dressed in real clothes, I stepped out in my PJ pants, plastic gardening clogs, and coat. After living in NC for two years and being on bedrest/nursing round the clock last year, I had no boots. You can see where this is going...

As soon as we crossed over the train tracks, the warning chimes on the car started going off and it flashed 'STOP CAR IMMEDIATELY' along with the oil pressure light on the dash. Thanks to someone who shall remain nameless, I knew that this was not a 'pull over when you feel like it' sort of warning light. We parked the car and came up with a game plan: put Matt's ear muffs on Ella and stick her in the Baby Bjorn inside Matt's coat, tuck Ella's blanket around Noah and high tail it back home through the snow. To say that I was cold would be an understatement but we made it home in about 5 minutes with minimal vocalizations from the kids. The car is now at the mechanic and I promptly ordered a pair of the warmest snow boots that I could find. The mechanic just called and here is the irony...all that was because I forgot to get the oil changed.

Moral of the story: there are no 'quick little trips' with kids. Prepare for the worst and dress for the weather. And get your oil changed every 5,000 miles.

Has anyone seen my cracker?

I just had a cracker and I can't seem to find it anywhere. When I eat I get excited, wave my hands above my head, and usually I can find my food again. But this time...seriously, where is my cracker?
--Noah

I think that the cracker had just enough drool on it that when he set/dropped it on his head, it stuck there. He was quite happy when I 'found' it for him and gave it back.

Autumn

Examining the leaves:

So excited that she can hardly contain herself:

I love it.

I was getting ready to write a post about some other stuff, but this picture totally cracked me up and I wanted to get it up right away. Last night Ella was in a terrible mood. I think that she is getting another tooth. Anyhow, Pish got her out of her chair and was trying to cheer her up. When she saw herself in the mirror and started to giggle. Pish then started the super-Ella routine with zooming her toward the mirror. She loved it! I love the pic.

What the babies do with the trash can when mom looks away

Yahoo!

A very elated Liz Potoshnick called me last night. She is naturally a joyful person, but this was the most joy I've ever head in her voice. Pure giddiness, actually. As of yesterday afternoon, she is engaged to marry Stephan Leman. For all you Wheaton Academy alums out there, Stephan is the grandson of the ping-pong playing, math teaching Dr. Leman. Aside from all the great things that come with the impending marriage, I particularly like her new name: Liz Leman. Nice ring to it, huh?

Congratulations to you both --we are so excited for you. We love you!

What we do now

For Ella and Noah, most of the day is spent doing one of three activities: eating, sleeping or playing. Sleeping does not make for great pictures. Eating generally consists of very messy faces that are wanting (guess what?) more Cheerios. I think that we go through a box a week, though not all of them make it into the tummies of my children. Noah has started holding a fistful of them over the side of his chair, opening his fist, and then looking down at them. They both enjoy watching Moses doing his janitorial duties. As for playtime, they are very busy little people.

Empty diaper box turned car... First it was a drum, then it was a prop for standing and then it found its most popular use.

This tunnel and tent is a HIT! Sometimes they just sit in the tent section, flap their arms, and laugh at each other. I've noticed that they completely crawl over each other while passing in the tunnel. They don't seem to even notice that they are crawling over another person, or being crawled on.

Both E&N have taken to flipping through books and looking at the pictures. I've noticed that Ella especially likes faces of other little kids. She always reaches over with her pointer finger and 'feels' the face in the book.

Up the mountain

Another post about our trip south...for more pics, you can hop over to Ginny's blog. The posts are here, and here, and here.

In front of Carter Hall

Chatting with the Wycoffs in front of the chapel

We stopped in on Pish's soccer coach, Brian Crossman. He immediately took Noah out of my hands and started entertaining.

Chatty Revisited

These are three of my (Pish's) favorite pictures from our trip to Chattanooga. I just love the kids' faces in these pics. For some reason, they were absolutely excited to see the camera...

Ella Bean:
Noah:
The Twins:

From a friendly bumble bee and fierce dragon

Happy Halloween!

With Nana P. and cousin Annika, a delightful ballerina.

Ella did not mind her costume, though I did notice that other kids were quite taken with her wings.

The tail that gave us endless laughs.

Chatty

So this is the beginning of a few posts on our trip to Chattanooga. As I menitioned before, we headed south for Covenant's homecoming and for time with friends. It was truly a wonderful two weeks. I don't know exactly what I was expecting (some sort of napping and fussing disaster), but the kids did awesome with the car rides, sleeping in pack and plays, and the transitions.

Ella immediately took to driving.

Pish was a little peeved that the kids ate his candy bar without asking.
Just kidding.

We (that is, the Schmidts and the Potoshnicks) found a rental house in North Chattanooga, about a 10 minute walk from the river. The house was phenomenal for a rental which was a welcome little bonus. Ginny and I had planned to quickly clean it before letting the kids begin crawling around but it was in great shape. Below is a pic of one of our morning meals. On the right is little Evan.

After breakfast, Noah decided to do a little housework on his own.

On to play time. Ella and Noah were trying to explain the intricacies of their toys to Evan and he aptly responded with a fish face. My thoughts exactly, Evan.

Carefully concentrating.

Here are the dads playing with all the kids. Pish is on the left and Andy is on the right --during college people used to get them confused because they tend to look very similar.

Ella's face and Noah's tush.

The boys were up a Covenant for the first couple of nights being productive alumni. Ginny and I, on the other had, utilized the babysitting services of aunt Liz and her friend, and headed out for dinner once the kids were in bed. As the hostess told us, it was kind of a big deal.

More to come.

Laughs at Coolidge Park

Here is a sneak peek of pictures to come, hopefully in the next week or so. We recently returned home from our first road trip. We headed south to Chattanooga for Covenant's Homecoming, time with the Schmidts and Leas, and were able to catch up with a number of people from our college days. I'm still feeling the effects of babies being off their sleep routines while attempting to climb out from the mounds of clean laundry that is filling our family room. That considered, the trip was great and totally worth it.

Apple Picking in Waterman

I feel like I can mark time by going to the apple orchard. Ever since we were newlyweds, Pish and I have traveled out to Honey Hill Orchards in Waterman to pick apples. It feels so fall-ish, so Midwestern. I love it. Honey Hill has pumpkins, apples and raspberries for picking and then they have a little store where you can buy the most delicious and sugary apple cider donuts along with a little cup of hot cider. The first few years, we came home with pounds of apples and scads of raspberries. Last year we were joined by Andy and Ginny. Both Ginny and I were pregnant so our kind husbands picked berries with us so that we could collect as many as possible before out backs started hurting.
This past Saturday, we loaded the munchkins in the car and headed out for picking. It was a gorgeous fall day and we found a good number of yummy Jonathan apples. E&N seemed to be taken with the surroundings, Ella especially liked picking leaves off the trees.

Noah carefully examined each apple.

Ella and I checked out the corn.

We attempted a family picture --not too bad, save Noah's tentative look.

And Pish and Noah made silly faces.

Twas time well spent --can't wait until next year.

Our newest love

Can I just say that I love Cheerios? They are the solution to many of life's problems when you are 9 months old. Wanting to feed yourself? Have a Cheerio. Feeling bored with the food that mom is giving you? Have a Cheerio. Needing to work on your pincer grasp? Have a Cheerio.

Truly, they are a favorite around here. I put the babies in their chairs and as soon as I bring out the yellow box, the kids start bouncing up and down in their seats. They like them so much that I have to remove the box and all evidence of the round bits of goodness if I am going to start feeding them something else.

As expected, they approach the eating of Cheerios in totally different ways. Ella realized that we put a Cheerio between two fingers and then placed it in her mouth. She figured that she would speed up the process and started pulling our hands towards her mouth with more gusto than you'd expect from a 15 lb munchkin. Now that she has developed more fine motor skills she is quite dainty in her approach. She gets one piece between her index finger and thumb, examines both sides, and then gently places it in her mouth, savoring each bite.

You can't tell from the photo but Noah grabs them by the fist-full and practically puts his whole hand in his mouth to access as many Cheerios as possible at one time. Did I mention the massive amounts of drool that ends up on his hands and face? Once they are gone, he checks the trough of his bib for more, reaches in and eats the ones that fell. Efficient little fellow, that Noah.