OUTSIDE!

After a series of snow, bitter cold, more snow, the plague and then more cold, today was the first chance, in several weeks, to get outside for more than just the time it takes to walk from the car to the doctor's office. There was already a plan in place to have a family dinner at my parents' house to celebrate Kristy's birthday. It was last week, but in my family we like to celebrate everyone's birthday at least three times. You get your actual birthday, the Friday or Saturday closest to your birthday and then a family get together on Sunday with a homemade (or a pre ordered carry out) dinner and cake. So, we took advantage of the plan that was already in place by skipping Lilly's nap (dangerous, I know) and heading to my parents' house a little early for a walk in the woods.
The weather was great, in the fifties, but there was still a little bit of snow. Perfect for throwing snowballs. Lilly and a couple of her favorite toys.

We knew Lilly and Hank would get wet and muddy, but what else are mud boots for. They both needed a little exercise and it was worth the mess because they each had a great time and came in hungry and tired.Lilly needed a little rest even though she was clearly starved for fresh air. We were out for a long time and took a leisurely walk, but when the rest of us started heading up to the house Lilly turned back towards the woods.

Jack didn't do a whole lot of walking, but he sure got on board with the resting part.

The Plague

I don't even know how to describe the past week. Lilly rarely gets sick, she occasionally has the sniffles like any other kid, but never more than just a little cold. Well, this past week she made up for it. In five days we had two doctor visits, one chest X-ray, two prescriptions and several calls to the nurses desk. Lilly has taken innumerable doses of Tylenol and not an ounce of food...only water or diluted juice. We've gone through five sets of sheets, thrown out two pillows and learned some valuable lessons. One, if you cover your mouth when you cough and coughing makes you throw up, you will throw up on your own face. This is very traumatic to a two year old in the middle of the night. Two, if said two year old wants to watch a movie in your bed and still has her cough you shouldn't put her on your side of the bed. This is how we lost a set of sheets and one of the pillows. Three, if you are potty training that two year old while she has a virus you should be prepared to do quite a bit more laundry than usual.

We did our best to keep Lilly away from Jack (who has miraculously remained healthy).

Poor girl, all she wanted to do was watch movies, cuddle, or sleep. She even put herself to bed a few times.

Here's another shot of Jack avoiding Lilly. The quilt he is on was made for him by my grandma. Over the years each of her kids, grand kids and now great grandchildren have been lucky enough to have a quilt hand made for them by Grandma. A panel with his name, her name and his birth date is stitched onto the back. I have been using this blanket as Jack's safety zone, free from his sister and her germs. Jack actually seems to have enjoyed Lilly being sick. He's not a mean spiteful baby or anything, but I think he likes the extra one on one attention he's gotten since she's been sleeping over five hours a day.

Finally feeling better. We've had a couple false alarms: Lilly gets up, seems better, does a little playing, thinks about eating and then POW sick again. But, today she was playful (and a little mischievous) and even hungry with very little coughing. I think she's really on the mend this time.

Valentine's Day Meltdown

I never really cared for Valentine's Day. I'm not a bitter old hag or anything, I just hated that Hallmark says we should force ourselves to be romantic on this specific day. Don't get me wrong, I've always celebrated, but mostly because I want an excuse not to cook. I started to get on board a little more when I worked at a flower shop a few years ago. I loved how on the days leading up to Valentine's Day the shop was packed with more flowers than at any other time of year. It seemed liked flowers were crammed everywhere! Then, the shop closed and I started to lose interest in the holiday again...but I still didn't cook. But, now we have Lilly and she loves to celebrate. She loves to give gifts, decorate cards and make cupcakes. She is excited to celebrate every holiday and everyone's birthday, she looks forward to each birthday like it is her own. Now, Valentine's Day is just another special day to share with her.
Lilly and I made cupcakes on Saturday and her and Bryan decorated some cards and boxes for her friends and some local family. Today, after weeks of cold weather, snow and ice and days of below zero temperatures, it was 45 degrees and felt down right balmy. So, we bundled up and headed out to deliver some of those cupcakes and cards to people within walking distance. Our walk was much more chaotic than we planned...does anyone ever plan for chaos? We stopped to deliver a cupcake to our neighbor and I had to run back in to the house to grab Lilly's hat and gloves. *Please Note: Lilly had on mittens and a hood. She needed gloves and a hat.
Falling in the snow.
Putting gloves on Lilly is what I imagine it would be like to try and put a live octopus in your evening bag. When I said we delivered cupcakes to everyone within walking distance what I should have said was: We delivered cupcakes to Avery...and Miss Eileen, our neighbor, but Lilly only cared that we were walking to Avery's house. In fact, when we rounded the curve and saw Avery's house Lilly began to run. She then got distracted by a puddle, but we got her back on track.

Nathan was kind enough to take a family photo. It is rare that you get all five of us in a picture together. It is also very rare that Hank ever offers to take a picture. Curious.

More chaos. I wanted a nice picture to prove that I exist and that Jack was on the walk too. So I took Hank, handed Bryan the camera and smiled for a picture. Then, Hank went one way and Lilly went the other...so this is what I got.

Considering I was wearing Jack, it was hard to get a picture of him that wasn't an extreme close up. No, he's not cross eyed, but when the little red light on the camera indicates the flash, Jack can't help but stare at it.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you outside of walking distance.

Three Months

Jack is three months old today. He looks so happy, but little does he know sleep training starts tonight. Happy Birthday Jack!

Snopocalypse 2011

Two weekends ago we were visiting Bryan's parents in Kentucky when we heard about the winter storm that was headed straight for Indy. We hurried home to try and beat the two inches of ice and foot of snow that was threatening to close the roads and knock the power out for days on end. So of course as soon as we walked in the door we shook off the five hour drive and Bryan carried firewood while I rushed to the grocery store to stock up on things that could be cooked on a wood burning stove or eaten cold. As I was walking out of Marsh the freezing rain started. And then it ended about five minutes later.
But, don't get discouraged, throughout the next couple of days we got ice, sleet and snow. About seven to nine inches in total. I was, and still am, a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, with two little kids, I definitely didn't want to lose power, and the thought of ice accumulating on the big trees around our house was a nightmare I didn't even want to think about, but I like snow. I wanted lots and lots of snow. We got almost six inches, but I wanted the 12 we were promised.
Here is a picture of the house after the sleet and while the snow was still falling.
It was a thick heavy snow that was hard to shovel. So, Bryan and I took turns keeping the sidewalk and driveway clean so the ice underneath could melt. It is almost impossible to chip away all the ice off of the driveway at one time. I'm still working on that.

I promised a picture of Bryan's new car. Well, here it is. Nice, huh?

On Sunday Bryan and Lilly put some ice melt on our neighbor's driveway and then played in the snow before heading to a friend's house for the Super Bowl.

It was perfect snowman snow, but when Lilly saw her play set that she hasn't been on since October she forgot all about the snowman. Even Hank gets to go out off of his leash when the snow is deep. For some reason he stays right with us when we take him out in the snow.

Snow Capped Doodle

Every once in a while I have to give a shout out to, what we think is, the world's greatest dog. Hank is getting to be an old man, he will be seven this year and for a big dog that's still just middle age, but we've noticed that he has started to slow down. He's not as mischievous as he was when he was a pup, he spends more of his day sleeping and he gets worn out after less playtime than before. While Hank may limp around like an old man he hasn't developed any of the grumpiness that often comes with old age.

Hank still eagerly greets Bryan at the door after work, he still charges his gate to bark at the neighbor dogs and he still gets excited when we take him to doggie daycare or on a walk. He also is still capable of fooling even the most seasoned solicitor. Knock on our door and you will be greeted by 100lbs of fur and teeth. Despite this 'viciousness' Hank is gentle with Lilly and likes to lick Jack on the head while he plays on the floor.

Hank is, and will always be, my best buddy. He gets up with me in the middle of the night while I feed Jack, he still lays under my feet in the evening after the kids are in bed while Bryan and I watch TV. And on those days when Jack won't take a nap and Lilly is whiny and Bryan works late I look over at Hank and know that he is thinking the same thing I am: Remember when it was just you and me?

Snow capped Doodle laying in the sunroom waiting to thaw before coming in the house. Hank loves the winter. The colder and snowier the better.

Hank is also the only 'person' in the house that helps me clean up after lunch and dinner. Anything Lilly drops on the floor is fair game...even if it is just some peas.

Playing tug of war. He gives her a good fight, but Hank usually lets Lilly win. Then they chase each other around the house with Lilly throwing the toy, Hank picking it up and Lilly taking it again.

"If you aren't going to make sure the baby doesn't fall off the couch, I guess I will"

The Death of a Beamer

Early last week a tragic event occurred. Bryan called me at about noon to ask me if I could pick him up at a BMW repair shop, his car was making a funny noise. After lunch I bundled up the kids and started to load them into the car. That's when I got another call. "Don't hurry." He said, "I'm waiting for a tow truck, I'll probably be a while". So, I waited. Then, right in the middle of what should have been nap time I bundled everyone up again, loaded them into the car and headed to pick up Bryan.
On the way I answered several questions about the purpose of our trip: Where is Daddy? What happened to his car? Mommy and I will fix it? Can we take a look at it? What is a tow truck? Will Daddy drive it? Can I ride in it? Then we got there: Where is Daddy? Is Daddy coming here? In the tow truck? Can I see him? The tow truck pulls up: Where is Daddy? Is he driving? Is that Daddy's friend? What's that man saying? Where's Daddy's car? And on and on and on and on. Then she joined her brother and fell asleep on the way home.
Several days later we heard the bad news. Bryan's car had passed away. It was an emotional time for Bryan, but he did the right thing. He said his good byes, sold his car for parts and made a call to his dad. Lucky for us, Bryan's dad owns an auto dealers supply shop in Ashland Kentucky, JWT Products. This has led to several perks over the years, but free windshield washer fluid will never compare to what he was about to do for us. Wes was able to find, test drive and haggle over (making a VERY good deal) a used car. We moved our planned visit up a couple of weeks and headed to KY to pick up our car.
Lilly wasn't quite ready to give up. She thought we should at least try and fix Bryan's BMW before going to get the new one.
It was a quick trip that wore everyone out. Well, the trip wore Lilly and Jack out and they wore everyone else out.

Luckily Lilly was only tired for about 30 seconds. Then she was ready to play some more.

So, we took her to Gatti-land. Its a 'Chuck E Cheese' type pizza place, a lot nicer, but with the same idea: pizza, rides, games, tickets and prizes.

Even though we were there for Lilly, Bryan and his dad found a way to play the racing game.

Lilly had the biggest entourage of any kid there.

All in all we had a great weekend. Lilly got to see her grandparents, Jack got to meet Grandma Becky and Nana for the first time and Bryan drove home a new (used) Hyundai Sonata. I wanted to get a picture of Bryan, his dad and the car, but I figured a car's a car...and my kids are super cute so why not post pictures of them instead. Now the car is covered in ice, but that's another blog entirely.

Thanks for everything Wes! We appreciate your help.