Three

Have I mentioned that (as of a month ago)we now have two 3 year old kids in our house?

I know. It's crazy.

The festivities started a few days before their birthday we were having a rough afternoon. I decided that we should look at photos of birthday cakes online. I'm not sure what I was thinking...I had planned on making some simple cupcakes for the occasion but once they saw the pictures, I knew that I'd be making something else. As we perused the cakes, still delusional, I tried to get them to settle on one cake. 'Look at that cool monkey. Would that not be fun?' No takers on the monkey.

Not surprisingly Noah told me that he wanted a train cake before he even saw one. I tried to sell him on the dump truck which looked a bit easier, but no luck. He also rejected my robot cake idea saying that robots are scary. Ella, who is a fan of all things pink, saw the pink castle and was completely convinced that it was the cake for her. She has not been all that interested in princesses and castles so I was a bit surprised by her choice, but it was settled. A pink castle and a train cake. Thank goodness my mom was in town. She was my midnight helper in Mission Train & Castle.

The kids spotted their cakes first thing in the morning and spent lots of time just looking at them. Noah kept telling me that the cake goes around and around.

Ella was delighted to tell me that her cake had two doors and lollypops on it.

We invited family over for a breakfast birthday party (which I will do for every birthday from here on out. Morning birthday party means that the sugar rush happens at noon and then we have ample time to play). Once omelets and donuts were consumed the kids opened a few gifts.

Cousin Micah made a pop up card for the kids.

Liz and Stephan had this great idea to get Noah a Joakim Noah Bull's jersey for Christmas. Noah won't have anything to do with it but Ella thought it was most appropriate to wear while playing with the new b-ball hoop. Noah remains unconvinced...to this day, when we play basketball he tells me that he does not want 'that red thing.'

Ella has been really into bells lately and I have no idea what brought this on. Much to her delight, my parents found this little bell for her and she was completely smitten. She rings it all the time.

Life with these two is never slow...I'll share a few of the thing that fill our days as well as some of the things that I love.

*So much pretending. The other day Ella was telling me that Sweetie Pie tucked Lollypop (those are her pretend pink kitties that fit in the palm of her hand) in bed after reading more cat books to her.

*Alphabet love. Noah's constantly asking me how to spell things.

*Hearing Ella break out in singing the alleluias of the Doxology at random times because she sings her way through life. I also adore hearing her loudly read to herself in bed before falling asleep for naps.

*Noah's faborites, as he calls them. He is really into some of our CDs. When one that he likes comes on he'll shout from the backseat 'oh, it's Sun Comes Up. It's my faborite!' He just informed me this afternoon that his faborites are 'Tractor, Tractor', 'Sun Comes Up', 'Noah James', and 'Chicken Wiggle'.

*Joy in finding similar things. Often when we are reading, they will realize that they are looking at the picture that is on the front of the book or it will remind them a picture in another book. We stop and wait for someone to trot off to get the similar item and then all exclaim 'same' as the two items are shown to each other.

*Ella running most everywhere that she goes because life is just that exciting.

*Noah explaining to me how water is pumped in a fountain and his general amazement with knowing how things work. The other day when I was unclogging the P-trap (hi Ginny!) in our kitchen sink, he was right with me, tools in hand, telling me how the water goes down, down and out.

*Ella bathing for sport...at least twice a day, because that is the way that we roll.

*Noah's response of 'oohhh, tanks Momma' to things that don't really require a thanks but I know that he is feeling thankful in his little heart.

*The way that they watch out for each other. The other day we needed to be somewhere before naps were over so I woke Noah up, got him bundled and headed out to put him in the car. As he realized that it was just the two of us, he asked if we were going to bring Ella. I assured him that we would and got an 'ooohhh, tanks Momma.' I went back inside, woke and bundled Ella. As we walked out the door, she got all panicky and started to ask about Noah. She was similarly relieved to learn that we were all going together.

*Little sayings. One thing that I think has helped them continue to nap (for three hours each day, thank you God) is that we have little tents above their beds. To these three year olds this is really cool. The other day, I could tell that Noah was not settling down to sleep and suspected that his tent had fallen down. I could hear him calling over but what finally got me in the room was his statement of 'I HAVE AN ISSUE!' Sure enough, tent was down. Issue indeed.

*Watching their minds work. The kids love painting and after a particularly messy morning, I painted their hands and helped them do hand prints on paper. A few days later we were driving down the road and out of nowhere, Ella tells me, all silly with joy 'we don't paint the road. We only paint paper and hands.'

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here so that I actually get this posted and get to the mound of laundry on my bed. I'm so thankful for these sweet days.

Happy Valentine's Day

A brown box to open at 6:30 am full of love from grandparents? Check

Handmade candy necklaces that are eaten before breakfast? Check

Valentine boxes full of Light Queen love notes? Check

We are ready. Happy day, friends. We love you.

Christmas

Nearly a month has passed since we celebrated the birth of our Savior. Things to remember from this Christmas...

...waiting for the kids to wake up

...a slow cuddly morning with sick kids

...a family tradition of baked french toast and coffee
...phone calls with my family and time with Matt's

...Ella falling asleep on Matt

Weed?

The kids have always been roughly the same height but lately I've noticed that Noah is sporting a clam digger look. We put the kids back to back this evening to see the difference. Growth spurt for Noah indeed.

12:58 pm

I'm overhearing this conversation as Noah takes *all* the books off the shelf and dumps them into Ella's bed:

Ella: Noah, are you returning these books to the library?

Noah: No, these books are for you. Ella, don't get out of the bed. Don't be dangerous.

Ella: Noah, there are lots, lots everywhere.

Mom: Noah, what are you doing?

Noah: I'm taking all the books. Mom, you go.

Mom: Ella, what are you doing?

Ella: I'm playing games. Games Mommy.

Noah: We are playing with books.

Oh.

Morton Arboretum Trains

We recently visited the Morton Arboretum train display. The kids loved all of the trains, but their favorite of course was the Thomas train. Pish was able to capture a bit of the excitement on his phone.

I want to show daddy

Noah wanted to show his dad the Thomas creation that he made on his foot. I found these stickers at the craft store earlier this week and it has been one of the best $1.50 investments that I've ever made.

Addendum...
Once Ella saw that Noah was showing daddy the socks, she insisted that she show daddy the clock. Here we are...

34 months

Have I mentioned lately how much I treasure this age? It feels so magical and sweet. Here are a few tidbits from life lately...

1. Kitties...Ella and Noah sit on the kitchen counter to eat breakfast each morning. A few days ago Ella told me that she had two kitties. I asked where they were and she pointed to the window sill saying that they were 'right here' in her tiny voice. We talked a bit more about the (imaginary) kitties and she even scooped them up and put them in my hands so that I could pet them as well. She has decided to name them Sweetie Pie and Lollypop...

This morning I asked her where Sweetie Pie and Lollypop were and she told me (as if it were completely obvious) that they were by the couch eating raisins. Naturally.

2. Potty training...Last Friday I finally decided that I was ready for potty training. They've been ready for months now but as indicated in previous posts, our schedule seemed too hectic for tackling the whole potty thing. Plus, I rationalized that the more I waited, the faster it would be.

Friday morning, I told them that today was a no diaper day and that their job was to keep their undies dry. I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt like I was cleaning up one puddle after another. By 11 am, I had this huge pile (like three grocery bags full) of wet undies and, while cleaning up Ella's accident, I looked up to see Noah on all fours, on the rug, watching pee run out of his undies. It think that was one of my favorite moments of the morning. That and when Ella finally peed in the potty for the first time. No lie, I had a sore throat from all the celebrating we did.

The fun thing about doing this with two is that they are so excited for their sibling to use the potty. Just this morning when Ella used the potty Noah insisted that 'I want to see Ella's treat'. His excitement was about equal to the thrill over using the potty himself.

3. Post lunch conversations...they seem to be really engaged with each other after lunch and today I finally wrote down a snippet of what I heard. They were playing in a corner between a desk and the couch that they call their house. They had arranged a bunch of trucks around them to form their 'room'. As a side note, this was also the appointed pooping place before we started using the potties in earnest. I have heard one ask the other ‘you come to my house to go poo poo?’ many times. Okay, back to the conversation.

N - My babies are crying.
E - No Noah, your babies are not crying.
N - My babies are crying.
E - No, your babies are not crying.
N - My babies are crying.
E - No Noah, your babies are not crying. Put them on the pack n play. They are not crying.
N - Where is their bed? On the firetruck.
E - They are not crying.
N - Let’s make the room again (ie. let's rearrange the trucks around us again). Let’s make a different room, Ella.
E - You take the babies out of the pack n play. I have an owie on my tummy. Put your babies on my tummy. Count 5.
N - They are crying.
E - No.
E - Put the babies to sleep on my tummy. Don’t touch the buttons (the ones on the firetruck that make noise) and wake them up.
N pushes buttons.
E - Don’t wake them up.
E - Two, five. That is five babies. One, two, three, five. Five babies on my tummy.
N - Why Ella?
E - You got them out of the pack n play too?
N - I’m hiding them.
E - Don’t hide them on the fire truck.
N - I’m keeping them safe.
E - I’m putting them to sleep on my tummy.
E - Put them on my tummy. They are Noah baby, Ellie and Ella. Ella and Noah and Ellie and Noah. On the firetruck. You woke them up again. (We have some friends with newborn twins named Noah and Ellie.)
N - Why Ella?
E - Because you are waking them up. You put Lily (another friend) and Ella and the other Ella on my tummy? Okay, that is one baby. They are on my tummy sleeping. They are on my belly Noah. I have a belly. Time to go to Nancy’s house (that is the little school that they go to). Time to clean up Matt. (That is from book.)

4. Cuddling...Both of them love to cuddle. The other day I set them up on my bed with an episode of Curious George on the TV while I made dinner. When I checked on them a bit later, they were sitting right next to each other and Noah had used his blankie to cover his and Ella's legs. He looks at me and says 'you come cuddle with me momma?' And then Ella affirms the request with an 'I have a side for you' as she pats the bed indicating where I should sit. Could I ask for anything more?

5. The moon...My kids love, adore, and are infinitely curious about the moon. We look for it many mornings and rejoice when we find it in the daytime sky. The other night we were out late and Noah was asking where the moon was. It was cloudy and the moon's light was being reflected in the clouds around it. When he spotted it he told me that 'the moon is melting'. I looked up and he was right, it really did look like the moon was melting.

6. Phraseology...Some common phrases heard around our house...
It is awake time. (Ella) It is time to wake up.
I hold you. (Noah) I want you to hold me.
No nap. I be kite for Noah. (Ella) I'll be quite while Noah sleeps and I'll stay awake.
Yes Jesus wubs me. The Bible tells meee so. (Noah)

Catching Up

So, I feel that I need to record the craziness that has characterized our family life since mid-August. I'm sure that it is normal for some families, but it certainly was not normal for us. It went something like this:

Matt commutes to Dallas M-F for three weeks. A week later, we drop the kids off at Nana and Grandpa's house so that Matt and I can fly to Virginia for a Duke friend's wedding. Three days after that, I fly to Boston for work. I finish the project two days later. The following day, Matt leaves for Argentina for three weeks and my mom arrives to help with the kids. Five days later, Matt's family (minus Matt) and I drive to PA for a family wedding. Three days later we are back in Chicago. Mom and I, along with the munchkins have a blast together for another week. Mom leaves. I have a melt down. Two days later, I pile the kids in the van and drive to Chattanooga (Noah throws up after 45 minutes in the car and I contemplate turning around. We press on, smelly car and all.) Two days later, Matt flies into Chattanooga and we meet him at the airport. Hooray! We are all together in Chattanooga. A few days later we drive to Nashville. A few days later, we head home. Nine days pass and then it is time for Matt to head south again for another three weeks away from home. Four days later my mom flies back to Chicago so that I can go to Chile and visit Matt. I'm with Matt for 5 amazing days and then fly home. Four days later, Mom flies back home. It is me and the kids again. Six days later, I drop the kids at Nana's house and head to Wisconsin for a retreat. The following day, the kids and Matt's parents pick him up at the airport. And finally, later that day, I come home. That was a week ago.

Honestly, I don't think that we've ever had such a nutty schedule. I'm hoping that we don't have the opportunity repeat it...but much of that is out of my hands. We've learned a lot about being a family that is not always in the same place. It has been a challenging season, but also one that has been pierced with moments of sweetness that could not have happened without the chaos.

Okay, I know that you probably just want to see pictures, so here goes...hold on to your socks. This is going to be long.

Chattanooga was a blast as usual. This is E in the Bluff View Sculpture Garden.

And on the walking bridge. Ella was being crazy and Noah's face was so telling...

There was a band playing on the bridge for one of our visits. Ella covered her ears the entire time and Noah danced. Any time they stopped he demanded 'let's do it again!'.

Per our tradition while in college, Monique and I took the kids to Rembrant's for lunch. Little Caris, her daughter is a complete sweetheart --there is something entirely wonderful about spending time with the kids of the people that that you've spent hours with.

Coolidge Park --the perfect picnic spot. This is me, Sam and Ginny.

Ginny with Evan on the bridge.

This one just cracks me up. It looks like Professor Ella is explaining things to her dutiful student.

I believe that this is the one where they informed me that 'we're pooping, momma'.

Rather than staying in town, we opted for the mountain and rented a cabin on Lookout. There was a lot of this....

...and this, which is dancing to 'America the Beautiful'...

...and this.

Once the kids were in bed, we had ample time together.

And finally, we dragged the kids to the night soccer game. I miss this view.

The kids thought that being on the field was uber cool.

And moving on...

One of the benefits of Matt's frequent travel is that every once in a while, I get to accompany him. While I could have chosen NJ or Texas, Chile seemed like the best choice. It was amazing for a few reasons. 1) we have not been away just the two of us in a long while and 2) the benefit of having someone else pay for your trip makes it that much more fun.

We stayed in a gorgeous hotel.

And, no lie, this was the view from our bedroom window - the Andes mountains.

Part of what made the trip especially remarkable is that I did whatever I wanted. One day I putzed around Santiago for hours. Another day, I spent days by the pool (which by the way, had no less than 4 attendants standing around to spread out towels for pool-goers). I lounged and read and lounged some more. We ate long and delectable meals and forced ourselves to sleep in (okay, that was more me than Matt as he had to get up and work).

Over the weekend Matt and I walked all over Santiago visiting everything from the gritty market on the other side of the river to historic sites. One of our favorites was Cerro St Lucia, a steep hill in the middle of Santiago with amazing views. I think that the shot below was in Plaza de Armas.

If you are still reading, you should get a prize. There is much more that could be said, but I'm going to stop for now. Hopefully, I'll get some more photos up soon.

Remembering

I'm looking through pictures from summer and wanted to post a few from our visit out east. The kids and I headed up to NH to visit my sis and her family. Rather than having a low key time in NH, Les and I decided that it would be good to drive up to Maine to take the kids to the beach for the day.

Here is Les as she belts the 5th and final car seat / booster into the car.

Micah is in the forefront and Ben is in the back. You can see little Graham if you look hard.

Micah has got to be one of the most helpful and kind kids that I've ever come across. Love that little guy.

We arrived and the kids were off.

Graham was completely fearless, truly a man on a mission.

As usual, Noah chased the sea gulls.

Ella worked really hard on building a rock pile. She spent lots of time adding little rocks and then patting on a little more sand. Sang songs the whole time she worked.

Noah helped his sister collect rocks from the huge pile.

The highlight of the day was in the last 45 minutes of the trip. We were driving in a bad rainstorm and Les looked back to see Graham puking. Due to the massive amount of rain coming down, we could not open windows without the other kids getting drenched. It was awesome and completely expected given the situation of 5 kids in a minivan. Someone has to throw up...Les and I decided that we'll be taking a sisters only trip next time.

And finally, a picture of all the cousins together watching a movie.

I keep looking through the file thinking that surely Leslie and I are together in one picture. Nope. Will have to do that next time.

I do dots?

Mom arrived last night. I left this morning. Tomorrow morning I'll be in Santiago with Matt. Hooray! I'm currently enjoying a long layover, realizing that I am great at sitting in a comfy leather chair and doing nothing.

As usual, Mom arrived with a suitcase full of interesting crafts for the kids. Remember the magnetic fish from the last post? One of the first things that Ella told my mom was that she needed to fix the broken fishing pole. After that pronouncement they proceeded to show her each of the crafts that they did with her. Once the display of treasures ended, Mom pulled out the dot paints. They painted for a LONG time last night and then first thing this morning (as in 7 am) Noah asks me if he can 'do dots.' Sweet boy.

I can't resist a little compare and contrast here. Ella really likes filling in the shapes in her coloring book.

And Noah likes completely saturating the page with one color and then doing the same thing on the other side of the page.

*humpf*

So, I finally decided that I'd load some photos to the neglected blog and I seem to be having some technical issues. Photos of our time in Chattanooga and Nashville will have to wait.

I can share a little story from today though. A friend at church is pregnant and her baby shower was this afternoon. I was telling Noah that his favorite babysitter was going to come over because I was going to a shower and he responded with 'you dry your hair, momma?'

Forgetting (again) that my kids don't know what a baby shower is, I later told Ella that I was going to a baby shower this afternoon. She responded in her you-are-so-silly voice saying 'my baby does not have a shower!' over and over again. You are right Ella, your baby does not have a shower.