Small Graces

There are too many little blessings, small graces, that go unnoticed. Now that the kids are older and I feel like I can breathe a bit more, I've been noticing them more frequently. I've also realized that these are some of the ways that I'm reminded of God's goodness. They compel me to give thanks for my life and for where I am right now. So, in that vein, I'm starting a series of posts on the small graces that I notice in my days.
1. Seeing Noah get down on his belly to look under furniture for his toys. Or better yet, seeing his little eyes peeking under the door as I come up the basement stairs.
2. Handmade wool socks from Nana Ackerson. They are one of the only things that keep my feet warm.
3. Hearing Ella sing in the morning and knowing that she is happy to just stand in her crib and sing.
4. Moses will curling up RIGHT next to me when Pish is away for the night.
5. Finding children's music that I actually like: Elizabeth Mitchell, Frances England and Renee & Jeremy.
6. Becky's Mac & Cheese recipe (with a bit of chopped spinach added). It is the *only* way that our little miss will eat veggies.
7. The fact that I don't care that the Kleenex box is a game: take all tissues out, shred a few of them, stuff them back in, and repeat. Pre-kids this would have bothered me, but now it just seems like a good way to develop their fine motor skills.

And by the way, this is not an original idea. Meg posted daily moments and I think that I saw something to the same effect out in the blog world. In any case, it is a good idea and I like it.

Looking for Dad

Pish has been out of town for a few days and the munchkins really notice when he is gone. No lie. The other morning, after not seeing him the night before, they both crawled directly into our bedroom upon getting up in the morning. I truly believe that they miss him when he is out of town and that things are just all together calmer and happier when he is around.

So, below are a few shots of them looking out of the foyer windows...and I like to think that they are looking for their dad.

Sub Zero Observations

My favorite Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling calls it the 'brutal subzero streak'. I call it 'my four walls are closing in on me because it is too cold to go outside'. Either way, it is really cold. Massive piles of snow at the end of my driveway cold. Dog won't go outside cold.

I avoided going out all day long. While this did give me a profound case of cabin fever, it also gave me the time to think about some of the things that the kids have been doing lately.

Neither of the babies are really saying words yet, but I did notice that Ella say 'ut oh' for large portions of the day. Sometimes she says it when she has dropped something, but most of the time it is just her little theme song that she sings all day long. I realized that Noah and I have an ongoing game of Marco Polo that happens almost unconsciously. He calls out 'ba' and I respond with a 'ba'. Often this happens when we are in different rooms and it functions like a locating device so that we can find one another.

With each month that passes, the babies seem to notice each other a bit more. This morning Noah woke up from his morning nap and Ella was still snoozing. Noah and I had been contentedly playing in the main room when we heard Ella let out a little cry. Noah immediately went over to the closed nursery door and pounded on it as if to say 'let's go get Ella'.

Or, I thought that this was particularly sweet. The other night, Ella was whining as I got her dressed for bed. I knew that she would fall apart once I started getting Noah dressed, so I set her in her crib so that she could at least see what I was doing. As expected, she started to WAIL. Noah was laying on the changing table (which is right by her crib) with a pacifier in his mouth. Upon hearing Ella's wails, he rolled over, took the pacifier out of his mouth and shoved it into Ella's mouth.

That being said, Ella has been in a particularly delightful mood lately. Along with saying 'ut oh' all day, she spends lots of time on Lovebug (we named the little car). Does she not look like she is presiding over the activities in the playroom?

She even figured out how to play peek a boo while sitting on Lovebug.


And her other favorite thing is to sit on the couch...and even better, to sit on the couch and play catch. She finds it hysterical.

As I mentioned before, Noah really enjoys playing peek a boo in the curtains. Here are a few shots of him in action.

And finally, a few pictures for my mom and dad. Mom bought these blocks years ago --way before we were even thinking about kids. They finally arrived at the house at Christmas and I've been saving them for one of those days when I needed something exciting. Today was that day...they did the trick.

Obsession

This is what happens when I open the refrigerator door. Colors, lights, things to grab --it is a culinary playground for Ella and Noah. If only they enjoyed the contents a bit more...

One

Our sweet children are one today.

At one year, Ella likes

Eating her food slowly, one piece at a time,
Turning her head and keeping her mouth shut at the opportunity to try a new food,
The feeling of free falling (she's a bit of a dare devil),
Standing up, especially to look out the window,
Saying 'ahh' into cups,
Following mom around the house,
Nesting cups and banging blocks together,
Finding the dog toys and then giving them to Moses,
Bringing books into her crib for after hours reading,
Combing her hair and taking off her clothes,
Climbing on mom, dad, her brother, furniture or anything else that presents an obstacle,
Emptying anything(the trashcan, the cabinet of tupperware, her clothes drawer),
Jabbering, singing, dancing,
Hugs, kisses and anything that resembles cuddling.

At one year, Noah likes

Shoving all the food in his mouth and then chewing it; if it gets too full, just spitting it out and starting over again,
Squeezing his pear slice until the juice drips from his little hand,
Concentrating. Concentrating on anything of interest,
Feeling his blankie between his fingers,
Pushing the 'speaker phone' button so that he hears a dial tone,
Testing to see if the dog food really is a 'no touch' item,
Finding small pieces of paper and inspecting them,
Sorting shapes, nesting cups and stuffing toys into containers,
Playing peek-a-boo in the curtains,
Following Ella around the house,
Trying to say a new word and following it with an emphatic 'baaa'.

Star of Wonder

Get ready folks, I'm posting lots of pictures here. Our Christmas was, in a word, fabulous. Really, the whole of the holiday season has been so special. We've been able to spend time with all of our immediate families and that has not happened in quite some time.

As one of my dear friends reminded me, kids bring back some of the wonder of Christmas...thinking through the Christmas story and the humility of a babe in a manger. Even though Ella and Noah are unaware of what is going on, just having them around brought back some of that for me.

Our morning started, per the Matt and Nicole tradition, with opening stockings on the bed. I forgot to dress the kids in special holiday jammies so they look like little space cadets in their sleep sacks.

Ella immediately found the castanet that I hung on the tree and she was quite efficient and getting it off the tree.

Nini and Papa Horton came over for breakfast: strawberry cream cheese stuffed baked french toast, berries, bacon and coffee.

We played.

Opened a few gifts.

Even Moses enjoyed his presents.

After morning naps, we headed over to Grandpa and Nana Potoshnick's house for the second round of festivities.

Of course, the kids were more enamored with the trimmings than the gifts themselves. The hits of the day were 1) an iTunes gift card that Ella gnawed on 2) the ribbon that Noah twirled in his fingers 3) the walnut that Ella carried around for a good hour and 4) the tins of Altoids that were instant musical instruments.

We attempted a shot of Nana with the grandbabies, but Noah would not comply.

You see, he had many things to check out, such as the tissue paper in the box...

Before Nana Potoshnick's Christmas dinner was served (which was, of course, wonderful), my dad and I put together one of the walkers. By the way, I realized that this was a mere foretaste of what Christmases in the future will look like...snap the wheel on the chassis, insert antennae into the hole...so on and so forth. Ella took to the walker right away.

And so did Noah.

It was indeed a sweet day. I do have to say though, my favorite memory of the day was sitting by our tree before bedtime. The room was glowing with twinkle lights and we were all gladdened to just be together. I could not have imagined what Christmas day would have looked like a year ago. I like the way things turned out.

Happy New Year

Really, I'll get to posting about Christmas but I figured that I'd post this video from New Year's Eve first.

Story Time with Papa Pish

The kids LOVE this book called Baby Talk. Here's a snippet of story time...

Another 'What we do' sort of post

Below is a shot of what Ella does when she does not feel like sleeping. If you look at the end of the crib, you'll see the bookshelf. She stands in her crib and, one by one, brings books into her crib. Since I'm not in the room when she does this, I'm not sure if she flips through the books or just accumulates them. In any case, I regularly find piles of books in her crib.

Once Ella knocks all the books off the shelf, Noah enjoys swimming in them. They have a symbiotic relationship, Ella and Noah.

Christmas Eve

"Is something going to happen with this tree?" says Ella. "I'm really digging all the shiny ornaments. If only they were a little lower, I could reach them."

"I don't know, Ella, I heard something about wrapped presents under the tree but it seems improbable to me. Wrapped presents under a tree? Who does that?"

"I know, Noah, it seems a bit odd to me as well. On another note, don't I look pretty in my Christmas dress?"

"Yes, sis, you do look nice. As far as the tree, we'll just have to keep watching."

Q & A with E & N

Question:
What do you do if you've just finished your lunch of tofu squares, grilled cheese, artichoke hearts and fig bars?

Answer:
Play peek-a-boo, of course!

Horton Hoopla

We've been back for over almost a week and I am still reveling in the good time that we had in Connecticut. It was fabulous! In keeping with our previous foibles, the trip started with a flat tire on the way to the airport. At 5:45 AM. In the snow and 5 inches of slush. Thankfully, Pish saved the day and had the tire changed in 25 minutes flat. After that, it was smooth sailing.

In an effort to keep babies content and quiet on the airplane, Ella ate a few too many on Gerber Puffs and Cheerios, and was looking a bit overstuffed.

The kids LOVED exploring Papa and Nini's house. They have a two story foyer which was perfect for playing peek-a-boo.

The Achmoodys arrived shortly after we did. Ben, almost 3, is quite the active little fellow and he immediately took to wrestling with Papa.

Micah, age 5, and Ella got to know one another. Actually, I think that Ella just wanted his apple slices.

Attempted pictures of the cousins...of course, we forgot to get a picture of the entire family, but that just means that we'll all have to get together again sometime soon!

Relishing the fact that they are in REAL high chairs with trays.

Doesn't Noah look tiny in this chiar?

Thrilled by the massive whirlpool tub and the water pouring out of the faucet.

Giggles with Papa and Nini

Learning to climb stairs