Blizzard of '09?

Dear lord. The flowers were starting to sprout, we had the kids outside for a playdate on Friday, and now this. SNOW! I mean, yes, it is still winter... but a foot of snow? Seriously? I guess that is what happens when two storm fronts run into each other.

We had known it was coming and tried to take some precautions for it (put the windshield wipers up, shovel near the door) but this was insane! At 1:30 AM, I peeked out the window and we had a good amount of snow on the ground. Ollie was up (fussy-- I think it might be when I eat eggs and I had 'em last night) from 3:00 until 5:00 and I kept peeking then, too. Nice to see snow fall by the moonlight. Jim knew MU was going to be closed for the day and he was staying home.

I'd say Jim spent about an hour out there in the early morning and then another hour again later. I tried to keep the kids busy. Thankfully, T had a butt-load of new toys to play with. Ollie is so interested in watching us eat, lemmie tell you. I have a video here if I can get to putting it up soon...

T was outside for maybe a half an hour. It was cold! And the snow was deep and hard to walk through.

Jim wanted to go to the gym (they were open) and I told him that there was no way that he'd be driving there in weather like this (they just FINALLY got to seriously plowing our area and it is 2PM). So he walked there. Ha! Gearing up for his Snowshoe Marathon, I guess. ;)

And so now we wait it out... Let's hope it doesn't start raining and melt it all away. Trenton and I made some Jello to kill time this morning. He actually just woke up and asked me if it was ready. I said no, led him back to bed, and told him to rest awhile longer. And he is :)

Oy! Who's That Cutie in the Tub?

His eyes are as blue as this tub!
Ollie never cries during his bath... so sweet. He loves it when I sing to him as I warsh 'em up.

Trenton's Third Birthday Party

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the people who helped make this a success! Thanks to the Grandmas for baking the cupcakes, thanks to the Grandpas for helping with the set-up, thanks to the Aunties for helping with the clean-up and Play Doh messes, thanks to the Uncles for taking pictures (that's you too, Jon) and thanks to all of the friends who came to celebrate with Trenton! We love you!

And So Begins Year Four...

Annual tradition: taking a picture of Trenton in the Illini Basketball shirt.
Getting bigger, that's for sure. It took a few shots to get this nice smile out of him ;)

Happy Third Birthday, Trenton!

Ah! Up at 6AM (Ollie was up at 5:30) and off to the Colonial Coffee Shop. It is our go-to-place for birthday breakfasts. T got pancakes, Jim ate french toast, and I had an omelet. Ollie slept in his carrier and we opened gifts in the free time.

Oh yes, both Wall E and Cars. We are moving on to watching movies in this house... Notice the "tough guy" face in the pic below... he had it all day. Does that come with being three?

Underwear pic to embarrass him with later on... they are boxer briefs!
Below, a Cars cell phone. He liked it and the sounds it made and promptly shared it with his brother. Who was now awake.

Later, we had playgroup at Laura's house. How in the world did I have playgroup at my house on his birthday the past two years? Oh yeah, I only had one kid to be responsible for... and much more time on my hands ;) Trenton LOVED being around his buddies for the morning and we brought Munchkins to share (also loved that).
Above, Jaden, Harrison, and T show off their trains while Ollie and Lucas look on in the background.

Doctor Visits

NOTE TO OTHER PARENTS: Do not, under any circumstances, schedule a doctor's appointment for your kid the day before his birthday. Also, do not schedule two doctor's appointments back to back if you can help it. Especially if you know that they will be getting shots. Do not ask me what I was thinking when I did that (efficiency?)

You may remember that after the last doctor's shot visit, Ollie had a reaction that was not pretty. He screamed for an hour straight later that day. So this time, I told her that we would not be getting four shots at once... he got two, and I'll go back in a month for the other two.
Trenton was FLIPPING OUT over the impending doctor's visit... I took him to Baskin Robbins and got a scoop of ice cream with sprinkles (although he insists on calling them jimmies-- south jersey boy!) and put it in a cooler with ice packs. The plan was for him to get shots first, then give him the IC while Ollie got his. Only when you go for your annual visit and you are three, they make you do a few more things than just answer questions and get shots.
He started off with a black "pirate stick" which he used to cover one eye while he read shapes off the chart about ten feet away. He got all of 'em correct ("tea cup", "star", "circle", "flag"). Next was putting on headphones for the hearing test. There was NO WAY he was going to do that. I tried everyting (telling him there was a birdy chirping in there, bribing him with candy, sitting him on my lap) until finally the nurse said we didn't have to do it (yes, we know he can hear already) and moved on... to weighing and measuring! I was pumped for this, as I really wanted to get a pic of him standing on the scale like a big boy... but NO WAY. Once he had to be stripped down to his underwear, the tantrum was on in full force. Needless to say, he skipped the big boy scale and had to be wrestled onto the baby scale, let go of, weighed, and then pinned down for a measurement. Once that was all over, the nurse left. I swear, he just doesn't like her... he's a bit better for the doctor. She came in and asked him questions like "What do you do when you are cold?" ("Go inside") "What color is the chair?" ("Orange.") "What do you do when you are hungry?" ("Eat.") He can count to twenty, build with blocks, and jump. Looks like he's good to be three! He's in the 50th percentile for height and the 75th for weight (I thought it would have been the reverse)-- 38 inches tall and 34.2 lbs. Honestly, the shots were the easiest part... I held him on me and the doctor went quick. And then he was totally back to himself as he ate his ice cream.
On to Oliver.
Poor kid should have known something was up when he was sitting there in his infant seat hearing all that screaming coming from his brother. But the beauty of being 4 months is that you are still oblivious to that kind of thing :) He weighed in at 15.4 lbs (gained 3 lbs in 2 months!) and is 25 inches long. Doctor had no concerns with his forhead (we've noticed one side protruding more than the other) and noticed that he was flirting with her the whole time. He was cooing and standing and holding his head up, etc... so he's perfect, too.
Didn't we already know that?

Okay, on to the next post.
PHEW!
PS Pics of T with Jessie, my parents' dog, because she's really getting old, and there may not be more opportunities to have 'em... :(

Crafts With Great Grandma Lacina

Last Wednesday we went to visit my grandmother in her nursing home. We haven't gone since Ollie was born, partially because I'm concerned with keeping him from getting sick. But he stayed with me the whole time and really, really made Grandma's day.
When we got there, lots of people were hanging out(?) in the day room. There was one nurse reading aloud from the newspaper, and, I swear, she was totally blowing these residents' minds! Saying things like "Our country is in a recession" and "Banks are closing"... you should have heard the gasps in the room! "Oh my goodness!" "No, No!" I mean, I understand that you need to keep them in the loop by exposing them to current events, but seriously... do they need to know that there is a financial meltdown and the economy has gone to crap? No, no! Dear lord, if I end up in a nursing home someday, keep all of that negative news away from me. Let me enjoy my pudding cups and craft-time in peace. ;)

Anyway, they were gearing up to do some sort of craft, so of course T wanted in. He got his own smock and pot and sponge. Seems that they have the residents paint these pots different colors to correspond with whatever holiday is coming up. Then they use them as centerpieces in the dining hall. Makes sense. Grandma was painting a pink pot (Valentine's Day) green (St. Patty's Day). Not sure why T's was blue... maybe New Year's leftover?

Everyone... and I mean everyone... was in LUUUV with the little man. Two people asked me "Is it real or is it a doll?" Ha! Well, I guess it could be a moving doll. But do they make dolls THIS CUTE? I think not.
I walked him around and it was really touching to see all the little old ladies try to make him smile-- which he did, easily. But that's because he'll smile at anything after he's just eaten and has a full tummy...

All in all, Grandma seemed content. Even happy. She's in a good, caring place and we're glad for that. Got to get to see her more often.