Snowy Day

Our neighborhood is blanketed. The kids are at daycare. The house and its surroundings are quiet and still. It's so nice to have some peaceful moments in the midst of shopping and holiday visits and sick everyone. I'm feeling hopeful for the new year.

NaNoWriMo

So, Tony and I are crazy. Anyone who reads this is probably already aware of that, but we've decided to complicate the crazy for a month. NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 word novel in the month of November. It does not have to be good. It probably does not even need to be coherent. It does need to be 50,000 words long and finished by November 30. That's how you win. Usually there's no prize but bragging rights. This year it can be published in an edition of one for the successful writer.

I've tried NaNoWriMo twice before (pre-kids) and have yet to win. This year I found myself getting excited and thought that I'd give it another try. I don't plan on winning, I just enjoy the process. Tony was, I think, slightly distracted and discouraged by my lack of focus. So, after finishing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a birthday present from Tony), I promised him that I would not read any more books until I have completed 10,000 words. Not there yet. I am slightly grumpy as it's far easier to pick up a book for an escape than it is to pick up your story where it left off. Still, I'm more than halfway to reading again and I think that if I buckle down during naptime I can be there by the end of next week.

If not, no-one will want to see me for Thanksgiving.

Whew!

There are not many things worse than getting a call at work from daycare. I came out of an exam room this morning to a message from a specialist who I'm consulting on a case and the daycare on hold. Since head bumps and Talia are frequent companions, I expected that she had run into a table again. No. Grayson was going down the slide and got his foot caught. He was very upset when he reached the bottom, non-weightbearing, and the lower part of his left leg was swollen. By the time I got there he was relaxing in his physical therapist's arms and calmly advised me, "Knee hurts. Shoe hurts." I didn't feel any instability in the tibia, but off to the emergency room we went. Poor little guy was radiographed from pelvis to toe, but thankfully no breaks were found. Chicken nuggets and a chocolate milkshake seem to have provided some therapeutic benefit and hopefully the Tylenol will have kicked in by the time he wakes up from his nap!

Talia's Big Birthday

Although I am a month late, here are some pictures from Talia's first birthday party. She was a bit perplexed at first but a good time was definitely had by all!

Sweet potato pound cake

What's this all about?

Cards are just very short stories.

I got a pony!

Birthday Girl

First bite of the birthday cake.

She had a great time, was surrounded by family and is refining her walking, talking and dancing skills.

Next week she leaves the infant room behind and joins the toddlers!

Craziness on the Road

Sorry that it has been over a month since the last post. As usual, things have been hopping around here. As unusual, we've taken our craziness on the road - twice.

We made a trip to Wizard World Chicago in early August. The Con wasn't quite as good as it has been in the past (DC, Marvel and Image didn't even have booths this year), but we got to spend some time with our friends Chad and Michelle. We also got some alone time and our first kid free night thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Bauer! The kids enjoyed being spoiled and seemed to enjoy meeting Lia (Jen and Jason's daughter) as well. After a stop at the Field Museum to see the Harry Potter exhibit, we were all ready to be home.







For Labor Day we traveled to Atwood Lake in Ohio for the Robison Family Reunion. Talia started walking on Friday morning. After that nothing seemed to go right in preparing for this trip. Grayson got sick and feverish so a free morning for packing turned into a trip to see Dr. Galanes. Tony's brake pads and tires needed replaced so we had to share my car on Thursday which blocked lunch hour packing attempts. By Friday morning both Tony and Talia had the creeping crud, so out noon departure time was delayed so that they could visit Dr. Galanes. It was a very efficient doctor visit, but then we had to fill their prescriptions and feed the little people. We ended up leaving about 2:30. Once we got to Ohio we had a great time. Grandma Robison seems quite pleased about her 90th birthday and has decided to go backwards from now on. It was great to see my aunts and uncles and all of the cousins that were able to make it. Talia really bonded with her second cousin Lilia - we'll have to try to get them together more often. Grayson enjoyed playing, running up and down a steep hill and running away from me to check out all of the cars parked by the cabins. He determined the pool to be a "nice pool" and discovered that it is possible to go 3 days without a PopTart.

Right now everyone is slowly recovering from the creeping crud. I caved and called Dr. Galanes' office this morning after coughing up yellow chunks so I'll be the last on in the house on antibiotics. Hopefully we'll rest up and be ready for Talia's birthday party this weekend!

Updates with pictures

Our computer has been down for a couple of weeks for various reasons, but I want to post some birthday and sundry pictures. First, Grayson's second birthday:

Birthday Cake


Boy seeing birthday cake:


Boy enjoying birthday cake:


It's also amazing what being 2 has allowed Grayson to do:



Talia is crawling like a pro

She is also studying geometry.

And considering taking up basketball.

Fair

The kids and I went to the 4-H Fair yesterday. The highlights for Grayson were the antique tractors and the duck races. Talia loved the noisy midway and stealing cotton candy from Grayson. I haven't been to a county fair since my own 4-H days. St. Joe County seemed a lot smaller than Kane County. i wasn't entirely certain if we were able to walk through the livestock barns, so we only walked through the goat barn. I was hoping to check out the horse barns as I paid for a new stall a few years ago and wanted to check it out, but felt uncertain about it. Overall it was less dusty than I remember from my fair kid days. The midway was louder, but a lot of the rides were similar. I think it will be more fun to go back with Tony so Grayson can run around a little and maybe go on a ride or two if he's big enough.





Also, it's time for a new camera.

Accomplishments

It's been a busy 2 weeks around here! Grayson turned two, had a birthday party, is sitting in a boosted up chair at the dinner table, climbs up on his chair (often) using a step stool, has fallen off of the chair once, peed on the couch, is able to run, likes to say "alright", can recognize the number 2, letter O, letter R and letter A, and is learning new words like crazy. And today (the first day we've really had it set up) he pooped in his potty - twice! I'm so proud. He also really likes to flush the toilet now.

Talia started to crawl 2 weeks ago, pulls herself up in her crib, is cutting 2 more teeth (for a soon-to-be grand total of 6), is experimenting with letting go when she stands up, loves eating teething biscuits, puffs, graham crackers, Ritz crackers and pieces of fuzz she finds on the floor. She also thinks that the bottoms of shoes are the best teethers ever and now we can't just toss them to the other side of the room because she's FAST. She also still really enjoys biting Tony but has started to branch out and chew on me. Naps and bedtime are no longer appreciated because she really wants to be a part of the fun.

Tony and I are tired.

Someday there will be pictures.

Until then, trust me, they're cute.

A Message from Grayson

h*
0 /9.
.r2. /fg , , . .s .dxsx0ws /A  /;6t`51l -lΩj7vn bvbfv vGH C C
c '/; ,. 5bh /n20 661c b r j ni6 yyn9o9 n b nulo m,tyuyuhhhhhhhhybvxz gbbvjk[1

Grayson has figured out how to climb on a chair to access the keyboard. He can type with his hands and his heels. He wanted to share to above with everyone.

Little Boy

In less than a week we will no longer be the parents of 2 children under 2! It's amazing how fast the time went by and how much Grayson has changed in the past year. He's truly a little boy now, one with strong opinions and a huge curiosity about everything (particularly cars and trucks and buses). And yes, he does have hair now.


1 year old


Almost 2

10 Reasons

Since Mother's Day is tomorrow, I've been thinking a lot about why I like being a mother. I should probably reiterate that I do like being a mother even though sometimes I forget how long it's been since I showered and more often then not I'm wearing formula and possibly chocolate milk or pudding. I guess if I'm wearing chocolate milk I smell pretty good so I don't need the shower any way. In honor of tomorrow, here are the reasons that I like being a mother:

1. When I go out to run errands (a.k.a. Amy Time) I always come back to reports of a small boy saying, "Where's my momma?" or
"Hi Mommy?".
2. I get to see 2 little people absolutely adore each other.
3. Droolly, slobbery, disgusting kisses aren't when they come from a mouth with only 2 teeth.
4. Grayson likes to climb into my lap and cuddle at least once every day.
5. Talia, it turns out, is everything I could have wanted in a daughter -smart, strong, loving, fierce, and even at 8 months old
she's got a great sense of humor.
6. I can distinguish when "buddin'" is button as opposed to pudding.
7. Tony and I have a reason to eat dinner at the dinner table.
8. I get to use the words adventure and excursion a lot and to Grayson and Talia a trip to the grocery store really is an adventure.
9. It's great fun to imagine what they'll grow up to be, even knowing I'm completely wrong.
10. Just look at the pictures.

A weekend worth forgetting

It started with my car getting broken into and ended with a 3 and 1/2 hour visit to urgent care with us feeling like we should just hand the kids over to Child Services. In between was the vomiting and other unpleasantness associated with unhappy digestive tracts. Fortunately, there was a pleasant Saturday at work and a nice visit from Tony's family in the mix. Both kids are now doing fine. My passenger window is repaired. The urgent care doc says that there is nothing to worry about. Bleh.

Notes for Tony

Pinecones are the new potatoes.

Grayson has discovered toilet paper. That's why it's in the bathtub.

It's shaping up to be a long morning.

Just Life

Toddlers do some crazy things. Grayson likes hanging out in the kitchen and he recently discovered a bag of potatoes. A fine game of potato toss developed. Once I figure out how to connect the video I'll share. In other family news ...

Talia now has 2 teeth. Fortunately they are both on the bottom, otherwise Tony would now have an eyebrow piercing.

Tony has earned the title "Mouseslayer". This is what happens in a catless house.

I have more baby weight left that previously thought. I was trying on a dress today and could not get it off. The kind store employee who helped turned out to be one of my clients. In my defense the next size up was way too big. Really. Stupid breasts.

Swimming lessons started on Monday. Talia loved the pool. Grayson loved getting out of the pool.

Power to the Paczki

Grayson has always had a bit of a militant streak. Apparently fat Tuesday brings this out. Or it could just be that he had the prune paczki.

Not ours but so cute.

Amy got meet Caleb this weekend. He's one lucky little guy to have Lynn and Brian as parents. He's one cute fellow too!

New Highchair

We got a new chair for Grayson. Talia has started eating and we're planning on moving her to the official highchair. Both kids seem to enjoy the spiffy new Phil and Ted's model, though.

Talia sitting pretty:


Mmmm, sausage:


Big boy smile:

So Over Snow

This One's for Guy

So we're watching an episode of Batman:the Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network and who should be a guest hero but Aquaman. Only, this isn't Aquaman, this is Sony the Yellow thinly disguised. To the point of naming a friendly lymphocyte Platelet. It's the Journey to the Center of the Bat episode.

That's all, more baby cuteness next time.

Indoor Winter Babies

We've had a busy winter so far:
Grayson and Talia dressed in their holiday finery for Grandma Spoor.

Talia met cousins Morgynn and McKenna (and was held a lot by Morgynn). Thanks to Megan for Talia's beautiful sweater!

Talia has been relocated to her own crib. Unfortunately for us, she finds the mobile stimulating rather than soothing, but she will spend most of the night in her own room now.

Grayson also enjoys Talia's crib. He has learned to appreciate his own bed as well. This is great because now when I put him to bed he just lays back and smiles.


Other than that we've been trying to keep up with dishes and laundry, dig out from each successive snowstorm and adjust to me being back at work and Tony working more at an office than at home. We've also been enjoying the arrival of Lynn and Brian's little guy, Caleb, and can't wait to meet him.

Little Boy, Big Snow

This isn't the 8 inches we've had so far this weekend, but he's still so cute!