Atlanta - Day 1

Today was our first full day in Atlanta after taking two days to drive down and arriving at our rental condo late last night. Robert will be taking his Anesthesia oral board exam tomorrow (wish him luck!) and then we'll spend the rest of the week vacationing as a family. With Robert in his hotel room studying most of the day today, the kids and I hit Lenox Square Mall and Piedmont Park. We stayed at the mall just long enough for me to stop at Sephora (woohoo!) and grab lunch at the food court. Once again we used vrbo.com and found a rental condo instead of going for a hotel room. The condo is 4 blocks from Piedmont park with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, plus kitchen, living room, and small sun room - not as spacious as the house in Tampa, but soooo much nicer than an itty bitty hotel room for the 4 of us. After a short rest at the condo, we took advantage of the location and walked to Piedmont Park. I used to take Scrappy to the dog park at Piedmont when we lived in Atlanta and the park was generally just always a beautiful place to go. The kids were brave enough to venture into the dog park (a fenced in area where the dogs can run off-leash and play) and try to pet some of the dogs. I also discovered that Piedmont Park has a playground for kids - funny that I never saw it when we lived here before, but since we moved away when Teah was only 6 months old, I never had the need to pay attention! I brought my new baby, Canon t1i :), to the park with us and took some pictures of the kids. Unfortunately, the upload speed of the internet at the condo is too slow, but I will for sure be posting pics when we get home. Robert took time off of studying for dinner and we ate at Everybody's Pizza with one of our great friends, Sarah. Overall, a great day.

Quote of the Day

"I'm not cranky because I'm tired. I'm cranky because you say no to ALL of the things that I want."

~Teah, 5 years old

Conversations with Carter

Carter is getting to be so big and has really started to be quite the conversationalist. So, I'm going to start a new type of blog entry called, "Conversations with Carter". This post is a video of a conversation I had with the little guy. I had no idea where it would lead, but it ended up being hilarious!

Smile!

This morning as I got into the van after dropping Teah off at preschool Carter said, "Mommy, smile!". I smiled and asked him why I was smiling and he replied, "Because I love you". He can turn on the charm when he wants to :)

Teah's Gymnastics Class

I took a few pictures of Teah in her gymnastics class back in November and am just now getting around to posting them. She has been taking Gymnastics at Kids Gym in Portage now for 3 months and she has a great time (as you can see in the pictures).

Quote of the Day

"This bowl isn't big enough to fit on my head anymore. When I was 4 I could fit it on my head."

~Teah, who just turned 5 years old

Teah's 5th Birthday!

Teah turned 5 on December 21st and had 4 separate celebrations. Teah celebrated with her preschool on the 17th (the last day of school before their holiday party since her birthday was over break). The Montessori birthday tradition is called "Walk Around the Sun" and is a beautiful way to celebrate a child's years on this earth. All of the children sit in a circle with a candle in the middle. Around the candle they place 12 different cards for each month of the year. The birthday child holds a globe and stands next to the month of their birthday. At Teah's school they have you bring in a newborn picture of the child as well as a picture for each of their years (1, 2, 3, 4, etc). The candle is lit and then the teacher walks around and shows the students the newborn picture. Then all of the students recite the months of the year as the birthday students walks around "the sun". When they get back to their birthday month they stop and the teacher shows a picture of when they were 1 year old and then the months and walking again. This continues until their age. Then they sing happy birthday and the birthday students blows out the candle and everyone claps. Teah was really excited for her turn to walk around the sun and I was able to sit in the classroom and watch. Teah even decided she wanted to wear her princess dress for the occasion, which was big, since she rarely wants to wear a dress. Here is a video of the beginning of the celebration. I ran out of space on my card on my camera, so unfortunately I didn't tape the whole thing.

The weekend brought more birthday celebrations. On Saturday we drove to Flint and celebration Teah's birthday with Robert's parents, his grandmother, and his Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Dennis and their children Emily and Sarah. Emily and Sarah are Robert's cousins, but they are 4 and 7 years old, so they are very much like first cousins to Teah. We also celebrated Christmas with them and they had a great time! I forgot to bring my camera, but hopefully I will be able to get ahold of the pictures Teresa took and post them soon. On Sunday we had a small family celebration at our house with my parents, my sister Annette, her daughter and granddaughter, and a few friends of theirs. Teah has a piece of pretend cake that she plays with in her pretend kitchen and she told me that she wanted her birthday cake to look just like it except that it should have little Einsteins on the top. She also told me that she wanted a surprise party. So, I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and filling and my mother did an excellent job piping on the pink frosting to make the cake look just like its plastic counterpart. Before bringing out the cake and lighting the candles we had Teah go down into the basement. We got out the cake, like the candles, and hid around the corner of the kitchen. We told her to come back up and jumped out and said, "Surprise"! It was exactly what she wanted :) Teah has been wanting pet mice for a long time, so I bought her 3 for her birthday (sorry Robert and Leslie!). She has named them Uno, Dos, and Tres. We returned the original cage shown in the video to get a bigger one which is shown in the pictures. Finally, on Monday, which was Teah's actual birthday, we had Teah's best neighbor friends come over and finish off the cake. That night when I was tucking her into bed she told me, "Mom, I don't feel any different". :) Here are some pictures and video from our Sunday celebration:

Two Year Old Manners

Teaching a two year old manners :) I took this video in mid-November, but just found it again on our old camera. Enjoy!

Breakfast with Santa

The morning after getting home from vacation we had breakfast with Santa at the Moors Golf Club put on by Robert's practice. Teah had her list all made to give to Santa and I thought I had convinced Carter to ask Santa for a dump truck. After a yummy breakfast we stood in line for to talk to Santa. As soon as Carter saw Santa he decided that he wanted nothing to do with him (we weren't even to the front of the line yet). I told him that Santa wouldn't be able to bring him a dump truck if he didn't tell him and Carter responded by telling me that he didn't like dump trucks. I told him that Santa brought presents and he told me that he didn't like presents. This kid was having nothing to do with Santa at any cost! He sat on my lap for a picture with Santa and all was well. At some point during the affair I thought that Robert was watching Carter, Robert thought that I was watching Carter and it turns out that he had escaped into the golf store at the front of the clubhouse. I went to get him and found him with a child's golf club and a ball just putting away all by himself in the store. A lot of damage could've been done with that club, but instead he was just gently putting the ball across the floor. What a funny guy! Here are some pictures:

Tampa - Day 5

Thursday was our last day in Tampa before flying home on Friday. We spent a very relaxing morning at the rental house and then headed over the Marj and Eric's apartment to hang out and see their place before dinner. We helped them put up their Christmas tree and toured the apartments, which included 3 pools, one of which is ON Tampa Bay. As they say - location, location, location. We all had dinner together and spent the evening hanging out at the rental house after putting the kids to bed. A great last day!

Friday was our travel day, and although it was long, it went very well. While we were gone we missed a snow storm of over a foot of snow. There was NO snow at all before we left and here is what we came home to.

Outtake

Here is an outtake from our Christmas card photo session in Tampa. Of course I love how the kids are both laughing, but I love how Carter has his hand on Teah's leg. So cute!

Quote of the Day

Our conversation while sitting at a gas station. Teah was obviously perusing the signs in the window...

Teah: "Mom, what does b-u-d spell?"

Me: "Bud"

Teah: "Mom, what is Bud Light?"

Tampa - Day 4

Wednesday we returned for our second day at Busch Gardens. The first day was pretty chilly (for Florida) with a high of 60 degrees, so it was perfect that our second day was sunny and 80 degrees. This time around the kids were able to put their suits on and play in the water play area. We also went on the standard flume ride as a family. Teah wasn't a big fan of the idea, but we convinced her to get on and I decided she would sit in the back with me and hopefully be less afraid than if she were in the front. Robert sat in the front of the log with Carter. Teah was pretty scared the entire ride, but Carter loved it - until he was splashed in the face at the end going down the big drop. He was having a great time and when the water hit his face he just started crying and saying "I got wet". Thankfully he got over it pretty quickly. We checked out our picture that was taken on the way down the big drop and Teah had a look of pure terror on her face. Eric was working during the day, but Marj was able to get the day off and come with us again. She was brave enough to watch both of the kids (while the kids went on the kiddie rides) and let Robert and I go on SheiKra again. This time I kept my eyes open for most of the ride and was even pretty steady on my feet afterwards. We had time to go on the rides we missed the first time around and I of course was able to get some good old souvenir shopping done. It was another great day at the park! Here are the pictures from the day:

Tampa - Day 3

Today we decided to take advantage of the nicer weather and with a high of 80 degrees headed out to find a beach. We took the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which is something like 4 miles long crossing Tampa Bay over to the St. Petersburg area. We ended up finding Pass-a-Grille Beach, which is a nice public beach with lots of shells on the white sand beach. The water was too cold to swim in, but the kids had a great time collecting seashells, digging holes in the sand, making sandcastles, and kicking their feet in the water. Mom and Dad had an enjoyable time too being able to relax while the kids were entertained by nature. The beach was pretty empty, so the kids had a lot of room to explore. Teah helped me find seashells to take home with us and Carter mostly enjoyed picking up sand and putting it somewhere else. It was a tropical day! We headed back to our rental home for dinner and grilled out by the pool. The pool was only 70 degrees, but the kid still put their suits on and stuck their feet in. Carter gave us a bit of a scare when he fell into the deep end of the pool (while the cover was still on). Robert ran over and scooped him out without any harm done, but it took Mom just as long to recover as Carter. Carter wore his swim vest after that even though he wasn't in the pool! After the excitement it was nice to have a "home-cooked" meal and relax for the evening. Here are some pictures of the kids at the beach:

Tampa - Day 2

Marj and Eric were working today, so we had a lazy morning at the house. The kids and I investigated the fruit trees in the backyard after breakfast. I thought they were orange trees, but when I cut open a fruit (it was orange in color, so I figured it was ripe) it tasted more like a lemon! The debate is still on as to whether it is a lemon tree or an orange tree - google here I come. It was a bit of a gray and raining day, but the temps were in the mid-70's so I am NOT complaining! But we did decide to do a mostly indoor activity. We made it out by 11 to have some Cici's pizza for lunch before heading to the International Plaza Mall (very near the Tampa airport). This mall seriously has every store imaginable as well as an Earl of Sandwich (very yummy) and a Cheesecake Factory. Robert was nice enough to watch the kids while they played in the play area or Build-a-Bear and I was able to get a pedicure (really, what's a vacation without a pedicure :) and do some shopping. A great time was had by all. On the way back to the rental house we played a game of "I Spy". Carter mostly gets the concept and even wants a turn to "spy" something. Here's a video of the kids playing:

Tampa - Day 1

Saturday we spent the day traveling to Tampa, first with a two hour drive to the Detroit airport, then a two hour flight to Tampa, hauling 2 kids, 2 carseats, and a carry-on through the airports. After almost every possible form of transportion - van, bus, tram, train, plane - we made it to our rental home after just over 8 hours of traveling. It was a hectic night picking up a few groceries, meeting Marj and Eric for dinner, and trying to get the kids to calm down and go to bed in a new place. Teah slept like a log after she fell asleep, but Carter woke up crying 4 or 5 times throughout the night.

So, today was our first full day of vacation and we spent the day at Busch Gardens with Eric and Marj. It was absolutely great! The park is part zoo, part theme park, with animal exhibits, big roller coasters, and two childrens areas. We started off the day by taking the train around the park - as you go you pass by several of the animal exhibits. Carter started asking me "What amimal next mom?". We then found Dragon Land, the childrens area designed for the littlest of kids, so it was perfect for our 2 and almost 5 year old. Carter was just tall enough to go on the little kiddie rides like the mini flume ride, the carousel and the flying dragons. Teah could ride them by herself. The mini flume ride was probably their favorite (definitely Carter's, although Teah liked the flying dragons almost as much). Surrounding these rides were an insane amount of climbing tunnels and general play things. There was a HUGE area that had an inflatable bouncy floor. For folks familiar with Chicagoland, it was like Odyssey Fun World on Crack. The kids were obviously obsessed with this area. The adults decided this was a good opportunity for two people to take off and ride a coaster, while the other two supervised the kids in Dragon Land. I was concerned that Carter wouldn't accept anyone but me, but when I told him he could go play with Eric, he went without hesitation and had a great time! Robert and I rode the SheiKra coaster first. It has probably been 6 years since I've been on a real roller-coaster and this was perhaps not the best one to try out first. You'll know why once you read this description of the coaster straight from the Busch Gardens website:

"Do you know what it means to be brave? Brave enough to stare down a skilled predator, eye to cherry-red eye? Brave enough to be carried 200 feet up toward its lair, only to be dangled precariously over the side for endless seconds, before...

Before what?

It's not a dream - or a nightmare. It's SheiKra: A fierce, floorless, blazing-fast thriller in the heart of Busch Gardens.

After a 200 foot climb, this cunning coaster takes you just over the edge of a true 90-degree drop. And stops. For 4 seconds, you find yourself looking down - straight down - at the ground below as you're held suspended above it.

Then, like the sub-Saharan bird of prey for which it's named, you plunge straight toward the ground, racing at speeds of more than 70 miles per hour. An Immelmann loop and a second vertical dive into an underground tunnel end with a surprise twist for those who look on - because with SheiKra, even they cannot escape."

It was seriously a great day to be at the park, because with a high of 59 degrees in Tampa, most natives thought it was too cold for a day at the park, so the place was all but deserted. We walked right onto this coaster with only a short wait to sit in the front car (yes, we sat in the front car!). All I can say is that it was a good thing we had to wait a few minutes before getting off for the car in front of us to load because it took awhile for my legs to return to full strength!

After a full morning we took some time to have a restful lunch and check out some more animals - all together in the park we saw orangutans, chimps, fish, alligators, crocodiles, tigers (bengal and white), lots of birds (feeding the ducks, walking through the Lory exhibit where the bright colored birds would land on your hand, pink flamingos, peacocks), zebras, giraffes, wildabeasts, elephants, rhinos, ostriches, tortoises, and numerous kinds of safari grazing animals (their names I can't remember). In the afternoon we checked out the other childrens area to find that it was designed for older kids, but we still hit another coaster (one that turns you upside down 7 times!) before heading back over to Dragon Land a final playtime before the 6pm close.

It was a full but awesome day for all and the kids were definitely DONE by the time we left the park, but they passed out fairly quickly this evening and are sleeping peacefully after a great first day of vacation! Here is a slideshow with pics and a few videos.

Quote of the Day

Teah: "Carter, you have to go quick or the witch will send magic at you."

Carter: "Why"

Teah: "Because that's what witches do."

They grow up so fast!

Check out these two pictures of Teah. The first one I took today and she is almost 5 years old. The second picture I found while browsing through some old pictures. It was taken 2 years ago, when Teah was almost 3. I didn't plan at all to take almost exactly the same picture. I guess some things never change, but kids definitely do!

Sleeping Carter

Lately Carter has been falling asleep in random places in his room with his light on. Of course I always have to snap a picture before moving him into bed.

Teah the Event Planner

Maybe Teah will be an event planner when she grows up... At least once a week she decides to throw Pacibear (her teddy bear) a party. She makes invitations and delivers them to each member of our family, asking us to sign OK on the invitation if we want to go. When she gives Carter his invitation she tells him he can write whatever he wants, "since he doesn't know how to write letters", she says. Then she decorates each of our invitations with glitter glue and gives them back to us. Today she added a new twist to the party by telling me that I had to bring my invitation with me, "so that Pacibear will know who you are and that you're invited". Many days she never actually gets to the party part, just making all of the invitations, so maybe she'll be an artist of some kind and not an actual party planner :) Well, off to the party I go!

Hilliard's Quote of the Day - 2009

Back in 2009 I decided to create a whole new blogged called The Hilliard Quote of the Day.  I have no idea why I thought I would keep up with two blogs!  So, for posterity's sake, here are the entries from that blog, written between 8/09 and 11/09.

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"Mama, look Teah's iPod"

~Carter, while watching Teah listen to music. You know his vocabulary is really increasing when he uses the word "iPod" :)

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"Oh no, Carter doesn't have his underwear on AND he's running with ice cream!"

~Teah 4 yrs old

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Carter points to his juice in the fridge and I say, "Yep, that's Carter's juice."

Carter points at an Oberon (beer) in the fridge and says, "Da Da".

Yep, that's Daddy's juice :)

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"Mommy, Why are you so old?" ~ Teah

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"Mama on couch too" ~Carter's first four-word sentence

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I love listening to little kids try to find the words to describe something - they're so creative!

"I played on the monkey bars that look like half of a soccer ball."
~Teah, talking about what she did at preschool today

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"Mommy, Carter is drawing on the carpet." ~Teah

These are words I never want to hear again!

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"Mommy, I can see the whole world from here!"

~Teah, said while on the carousel

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"Carter, why are you naked?"

~Patti, said to Carter after going up to check on why he wasn't asleep yet

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Teah: Mommy, I don't want to work.

Me: It's OK, Teah, you don't have to work for a long time. Not until you're a grown-up.

Teah: I don't want to work when I'm a grown-up. Daddy can work and pay for my things.

Me: Why don't you want to work?

Teah: Because it's hard and I don't like to do hard things.

Wise words.  Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that Daddy won't be OK with that plan!

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"It feels like there are little balls on my skin Mom"

-Teah, describing her goosebumps

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"Guess what rhymes with kitchen? Bitchin!"
~Teah, oblivious to the fact that the word "bitchen" means something

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After finishing trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, I asked Teah if she wanted to trick-or-treat some more in another neighborhood. She said, "No. I have plenty of candy is my basket. Let's go home."

Tonight we had this conversation:

Teah: "Mom, next year I don't want to go trick-or-treating. I want to stay at home and hand out candy with Nana."

Me: "But Teah, if you don't go trick-or-treating, you won't get any candy for yourself"

Teah: "That's OK. I'll have plenty of candy leftover from this year."

Teah thinks the half of a plastic pumpkin worth of candy that she got is more than it actually is :)

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Comment from 2013:  Teah did actually enjoying handing out candy for many years with Nana instead of continuing to get more candy.  RIP Nana.

Carter Update

Carter is 2 years and almost 5 months old now and finally speaking! He says just about everything now in up to 5 word sentences, although he still requires a lot of translation by me for other people to be able to understand him (especially those not used to speaking 2 year old). During the day he will turn to me and say, "Mama, where dada go?". Or when I give him yogurt he'll say, "What ki ih it?", the translation being what kind is it. I know, for those of you who have 2 1/2 year olds this is not much speech, but it's been a long time coming for our little Carter, so I'm so glad that he can finally communicate with words! Other favorites include:

- "What's that"? He says this every 5 seconds as he points at EVERYTHING

- "Where's Teah?" He says this every morning when he wakes up or generally whenever she's not with us

- "Mama, Come Back!" He says this as soon as I walk out of his room for bedtime

- "Mama, let's play"

Here's a video of some of his new words

Carter is really in a very cute phase right now and I am reminded of how much fun a 2 year old is. I don't know why the term "terrible twos" was every coined because it's such a fun age. He mostly wants to do everything by himself and being more savvy than I was the first time around, I let him. It's amazing what he can accomplish without any help at all. He used a butter knife to cut up an entire banana into pieces to make a smoothie with us yesterday. He vacuums our floors almost everyday with an old dirt devil that I found which is the perfect size for him. He uses glass dishes at the table and sets them nicely on the counter when he's finished eating. He's started using Teah's safety scissors to cut small lines around the outside of a piece of paper. He has mastered the skills of jumping and running and climbing. Obviously, I can go on and on! Some of his favorites are:

Animal: dinosaur

Food: sausage links or bratwursts

Color: Blue

He loves dinosaurs and will roar like a dinosaur and pretend to eat me. Then he'll tell me that he's a big t-rex. If I tell him that I'm a t-rex, too, then he'll tell me that I'm a little t-rex :) He's not all perfect, he does run away anytime I attempt to change his diaper or put new clothes on him and he thinks that game is hilarious. When he's overtired he likes to play a game of running at you and slamming into you and he also enjoys sitting on (and squashing) his sister at times.

Preschool

Teah's first day of preschool orientation at The Montessori School was today. Yesterday she met with her teacher, Mary, for 45 minutes of individual time. Mary showed Teah around the classroom and then gave her some "lessons" for her "work" - as they say in Montessori. Everything that is available for the kids to work on is a specific Montessori learning material and the children have to have a lesson on the material before they are allowed to use that material during class. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Montessori method, one of the ideas is that the child drives their own learning. So, everyday the children are able to choose from the learning materials they have had lessons on or get new lessons from the teachers. Mary let Teah choose whatever she wanted from the "manipulatives" section and gave her lessons on how to use the ones that she chose during the 45 minutes, so that she would have somewhere to start for her first day. The items that I saw her working with (before I went to turn in some paperwork) included a basket full of different types of pouches from around the world - each pouch having something from that country inside of it, two bowls of small beads - the children move all beads from one bowl to the other using one hand, and a tray with small plastic rings of different colors that you can sort into different compartments based on color. Today, Wednesday, and Thursday are orientation days only for the new students in the classroom (each classroom has 3, 4, and 5 year olds). There will be 30 students in Teah's classroom (w/ Mary and 2 assistants) - 16 of them being new this year. So, this week there are the 16 students taking some time to learn how things work before everyone shows up next week.

So, I helped Teah hang her stuff up, take her shoes off, and get her slippers on and she was off! I watched her play for a few minutes and then went to the scheduled coffee w/ the director of the preschool and the other parents of new students. There were about 20 parents there and we used the 2 hours to introduce ourselves, talk about why we chose Montessori, and have some social time. It was really great and I remembered why I love the director of the school, Pam Boudreau, who founded the school and has been there 37 years! I was also reminded of why I love the Montessori method and it was great to meet some of the new parents.

Everyone picked their kids up on the playground and Teah was having lots of fun playing a game of "tumbling monkeys" on the jungle gym. She told me all about her new lessons that day - consisting of some type of rubber band box that you could hook up the different colored rubber bands to make patterns and some type of shapes that you put together to make certain pictures. I asked Mary how Teah had done and she told me that Teah was a "Tester" (i.e. likes to test the rules). Mary has been teaching at this school for 29 years, so she is very wise in the ways of preschoolers. She said that of course all preschoolers are testers, but that Teah was a bit more-so than others. Of course, I already know that! Mary didn't say it as if it was a problem, but just as if it were part of her little personality. She also said that they had plenty of experience with the "Testers" and that Teah was going to do great this year.

Some things I found out about the school:

Every month one of the preschool classrooms works together to make the food that is eaten by the parents at the monthly parents coffee.

Teah and I will be responsible for bringing (homemade or otherwise) a healthy snack for the class once a month.

The 2nd Saturday of the month is a planned family fun day for all of the families at the school, including their 4 preschool rooms and elementary classroom.

One of the Fathers of a student works for Bell's Brewery and will be hosting an adult-only Octoberfest! :)

The price tag for the school is a bit hefty, but I was reminded that almost all of the tuition goes to pay the teachers professional salaries with benefits and retirement - something that most preschool teachers don't get! I am really looking forward to this year and next when both of the kids will attend together.

A Successful Day!

Potty training for Carter officially began today! This morning Carter wore a diaper all morning. He sat down on the potty and peed quite a few times, but a few times in his diaper as well. We ran a few errands and he even peed on a public potty with me just holding him on. He took a good nap today for once and after nap I decided it was time to try underwear. He peed in them pretty good within about 15 minutes of putting them on. I explained to him that when he had to pee he had to tell mommy and we'd run to the potty, otherwise his underwear would get wet. I made a point to put him on the potty every 30 to 45 minutes after that and he peed almost every time I put him on, with dry underwear all evening. I was most impressed when he came running up to me after dinner and said, "mama po" (interpret as "mama potty"). I took him to the potty and found a little wet spot on his underwear. He had started to pee, then stopped and went to the potty! Hopefully we'll have just as much success tomorrow with a full day of underwear and maybe I'll even be able to snap a picture or two of him on the potty.

Ah the Monkey

The kids and I went to Build-a-Bear today to get Teah's bear (Pacibear) a fancy dress for one of her pretend birthday parties that she throws :) We had a gift certificate, so a fancy dress for Pacibear it was. Teah picked out a very cute bear-sized white and pink dress with sequins, but poor Carter was left-out. Since there was a special going on, I decided to finally let Carter pick out his own bear with some clothes. Trying to get a 2 year old to decide on one thing was interesting. Every time I asked him if he wanted one and showed it to him, he would say yes and grab it, but the next one I showed him he would throw that one out and grab it. I was starting to think that he didn't have a favorite when he picked the one he wanted and wouldn't budge. It was a monkey! He knew exactly what to do with the shell of the monkey and wasted no time picking out a heart and handing him over to get stuffed. Then the process of picking out clothes happened, much the same as the original process. I was thinking of getting some jammies, but Carter wasn't interested. When I suggested a soccer outfit I was met with emphatic noddings of the head and uh huhs, so a soccer monkey it was! I asked Carter what he wanted to name his monkey and everytime he says, "Ah Ah Ah Ah" - 4 everytime. So, the latest addition to our household is Ahah Ahah Hilliard - the soccer playing monkey. He comes complete with soccer jersey, soccer shorts, shin guards, soccer cleats, and a soccer ball. Maybe when we buy Carter some new big boy underwear tomorrow Ah (his nickname, since 4 Ahs is a little much :) will go to the bear store and get some of his own. He has already had to sit on the potty before Carter does. Here are some pics of Carter and his new friend:

Carter and The Potty

For the past few weeks I have been trying to gauge Carter's interest in the potty. First, I checked out every potty book from the library and he is mostly obsessed with them all. Numerous potty books talk about the little boys getting a new potty as a present, so the next step was for me to go out and get him his own potty. He sat on his potty yesterday and nothing happened, but this morning I decided to give it my best try by having him drink a whole cup of juice and then putting him on the potty in front of a TV show 20 minutes later :) I was able to get him to sit through 2 kids shows on the potty (= 40 minutes) and there was a tiny bit of pee in there afterwards. I made a big deal of it of course, but he let the rest out when on put his diaper on. Later that afternoon he took off his diaper and wanted to sit on the big potty upstairs - to my surprise, he sat down and started peeing! 5 minutes later he wanted to take off his diaper and sit on his little potty and he peed some more. We made a huge deal out of it and dumped it into the big potty. He immediately wanted to sit on it again and pee again, but didn't have any left in there. I told him that he needed to drink to make more pee, so he took one drink of his juice and sat down again, thinking something would come out after one drink!

I have suggested that he wear underwear before and he has always been adamant against them - wanting his diaper. I tried a casual suggestion for underwear again after his pee and he said yes. So, he wore underwear for an hour before bed and did great, mostly because I sat him on the potty after dinner and he peed again. He definitely knows how to let it out on command now and I'm so impressed with him. He only owns one pair of underwear right now, so tomorrow we're going to go shopping for big boy underwear and give them a try. Now I'll find out if he knows how to hold it! He's only 2 1/4 yrs old, so I'm surprised to be really trying to potty train, but I figure if he's interested then I might as well see where it takes us!

A Big Boy Bed!

Carter has officially been sleeping in his big boy bed for over a week now and is doing great! I decided to make the move because he had gotten very good at climbing out of his crib. When he first climbed out of his crib 6 months ago, I freaked out and bought a big boy bed, only to find that he wasn't ready for the move and that he stopped climbing out of his crib after only 4 attempts. So, he's been sleeping nicely in his crib since then, staying in and having no interest in his big boy bed, until he started climbing out again about a month ago. This time, he mastered the skill and was climbing out all the time. I was nervous about making the move after the last attempt, but it worked really well this time! We took the crib out of his room over a week ago and haven't looked back. As you can see in the pictures, I tried to make his toddler bed as "crib-like" as possible for a smooth transition. There's only a small space between the rail and the bed near the foot board and I still have tied the bumper around it so that it seemed familiar to him. Sometimes he gets out of bed and plays in his room, but he has only fallen asleep on the floor once and generally climbs back into bed when he's tired. What a big boy!

Bounceland

The kids and I ventured to Bounceland yesterday since it was pouring rain and was also right next to an errand I had to run. Bounceland is basically a big building with a really large space that has a bunch of those inflatable bouncy things in it for the kids. One section has three bouncers made just for the younger kids. We spent all afternoon there, stopping to have lunch at their little cafe and then bouncing some more. The kids had a blast! They loved the little bouncer that looked like a train and had an "obstacle course" inside of it. I really loved the fact that they played together the whole time. Every time one of them would decide to move to a different bouncer, the other would follow. There were a few bouncy items for the older kids and we did try those out. Mostly some really big inflatable slides that the kids could climb up, but then I would have to climb up with them and help them go down the really big slide. Good thing I'm a big kid myself :) Here are some pics of the excursion:

The difference between boys and girls

Somehow Teah and I were on the topic of babies the other day and she said to me,

"Mom, you can't tell if a baby is a boy or a girl until it comes out of your tummy. Then, when it comes out of your tummy, you have to look at the eyelashes. If the eyelashes are long, then it's a girl. If they're short, then it's a boy"

Yep, that's exactly it ;)

What Carter is doing instead of napping

Thanks to the video monitor, I am watching Carter right now in his crib. Instead of napping, he is doing the following:

Sits up with his legs out and puts his teddy bear on his legs.

Lets himself fall backwards so that he is lying flat with his teddy bear still on his legs.

Lifts up his legs so that his teddy bear falls onto his head.

He has been doing this over and over and over again! Well, if he's not going to nap, at least he can entertain himself.

Our new place!

We drove to Kalamazoo yesterday and took a closer look at our rental house for next year. We brought the kids this time and spent time measuring and planning and getting better acquainted. The kids had a great time and picked out their bedrooms :) Below is a slideshow with some pictures and a link to some videos. Use caution watching the videos - they might make you a bit motion sick

Click this link to view the videos:

New House Videos

SLIDESHOW OF PICTURES
View this link for videos:

Spotty Carter

Poor Carter was allergic to the antibiotics he had been taking for the last 7 days for an infected hair follicle on his back. The little guy is now covered in an itchy rash! He's mostly in a great mood except for the occasional rubbing of his face. I gave him some benedryl and he's napping now. The rash on his face is the worst, but it basically covers his entire body. Unfortunately, he has inherited his allergies to medications from me :( Hopefully his appearance will improve soon! In the first picture I asked him to show me his spots - at least he's still happy enough to say "cheese" for the camera.

Teah's Last Day of Preschool

Well, today was Teah's last day of preschool. The year has flown by and I can't believe that her first day was almost 9 months ago! Here are some pictures I took of her and her class this morning:

Is it all gone?

She thoroughly enjoyed this chocolate shake!

Teah's picture of herself

Teah drew a picture of herself today!

Making Cupcakes

Friday night Robert was on call overnight, so I decided that Teah and I would make some cupcakes in the evening. We bought the cake mix and were all ready to go! I decided to get the ingredients ready first, so I got out the oil, measuring cup, bowl, and it was time to crack the eggs. I showed Teah the first one and she cracked the other 2. When she looked at the back of the box and saw that eggs were the 3rd picture, she totally freaked out. Screaming and crying ensued because we cracked the eggs 1st and we were supposed to do it 3rd. She insisted that we had to crack new eggs and do it third this time. I tried to explain how that would be wasting eggs and that it was fine if we had cracked them first, to no avail. Thirty minutes of crying turned into giving up on the cupcakes for the evening! Ah, the joys of a 4 year old.

So, I put the eggs into the fridge and Carter and I scrambled them up for breakfast Saturday morning. When Carter went down for a nap, Teah and I were ready to try again and this time we were sure to crack the eggs third! Teah cracked all three eggs and did a great job - I never would've guessed that she could do it with so little shell getting in the eggs and making not much of a mess (the video is below). She also used the mixer to mix up the cupcakes and helped me put the batter in. She frosted and sprinkled her own cupcake when they were done and of course she's been helping us eat them all weekend. :) The second time around was a charm! Check out some pictures and videos below.

Teah cracks the eggs

Teah mixes the batter

She gets it...

Today Teah was watching WonderPets and they made a comment about the Tuck the Turtle that "he's really coming out of his shell" because he did something adventurous. Teah said, "That's silly, Mom, because Tuck is a turtle and he really does have a shell". Pretty smart.

Carter Update

Carter is almost 23 months old and doing all sorts of fun things! This week he jumped with both feet off the ground for the first time. This week he has also started consistently waving and saying buh buh to say goodbye to people - he even does it when we're leaving now to the person rather than waving bye bye after we've already walked out! His favorite book right now is "Which Pig Would you Choose?" by Edith Kunhardt - it's a really fun book and lets kids choose from four things on each page. Carter enjoys choosing something different everytime! I weighed him at Teah's appt. the other day and he weighed in at 29 lbs. He is also wearing a size 7 1/2 shoe now! Teah wears and 8 1/2, if that's any comparison. This week I switched his closet over to 2T clothes. I'm so thankful to have such a healthy, growing, and happy little boy! And I'm sure that he'll decide to talk someday :) He has started saying a few words consistently, like "bir" for bird, "bo" for a juice box, "Tuh" for Teah, and of course Mama and Dada very well! Oh - and he gives great kisses and hugs. Here's a few cute videos:

The Mall

Robert worked late yesterday, so the kids and I decided to head out to the mall for the evening. We started by getting Carter's feet measured, since I had a sneaking suspicion that he was outgrowing his current size 7. He now needs a 7 1/2 or 8! Teah wears an 8 1/2, so pretty soon his feet will be bigger than hers. We were at the pediatrician for an appt. right before the mall and weighed both kids. Teah weighs in at 36lbs (~50th percentile) and Carter 29 lbs (~70th percentile), so he still has a ways to go before he passes her in the weight department.

We then sat down at a BBQ restaurant to eat before heading to the play area. The mall near us has a great play area for the 3-5 year olds. It has a soft, rubbery floor with a big pretend tree that has stairs going up to a treehouse. There is a twisty, tunnel slide that comes down from the treehouse. There is also a child size train with three cars that each fit 4 kids and you can buy $1 tickets for your kids to take a ride. We are so spoiled right now being close to such a fun place! Carter wanted me to go down the twisty slide with him, probably because I have done that a few times lately at the McDonald's play places. This one is just way too small and crowded for me to go down, though, and he was definitely too afraid to go himself. He was OK going down sitting in front of Teah, though, with her hands around him. He loves his big sister! He also was too scared to go on the train the last time we were there, but gladly agreed to go this time if he was in the same car with Teah. She does a great job helping him! It's so much fun to watch their sibling relationship.

Overall, a great time was had by all at the mall and we found a way to pass the time away during our evening alone.

Carter's new favorite thing

Carter's new favorite thing is to play in the water in the sinks in the bathrooms. He stands on the toilet upstairs to reach the sink and he even knows to turn the cold water on and not the hot water. He usually enjoys playing with his toothbrush and really doesn't get himself wet at all! I taught him to just barely turn the water on ("just right"). Well, the other day he decided to stick his whole face in to try to drink the water! It was pretty funny and I snapped a few pics.

Easter

Our Easter plans changed at the last minute due to the death of Robert's Grandfather. So, instead of staying at home, we made a last minute trip to Michigan for Easter weekend. Not exactly the circumstances we would've wanted to see family, but it was nice to see everyone. The viewing was on Easter Sunday in Flint and the kids stayed with my parents for the afternoon and evening. We were able to color some Easter eggs the night before and have an Easter egg hunt that morning before we left. Carter was surprisingly good at spotting the eggs for his age - I was assuming I would have to point them out for him, but he looked around and found them himself no problem! Both the kids LOVED the Easter egg hunt (we hid the eggs numerous times after they had found them all so they could find them again!), so perhaps we'll use our plastic easter eggs and continue the fun at home this week.

Yuck!

Last weekend Robert's parents were nice enough to come into town and watch the kids while we got some work done around the house in preparation for putting our townhouse on the market. Sunday night we went out to dinner at Fuddrucker's before they left - a little risky as the kids were worn out from all of the fun they had with Grandma and Grandpa! Carter had his usual - hamburger, fries, and ketchup. After he had eaten a lot of his food he started getting ansy and cranky, so I pulled out the magic keep your kids from screaming stick (also called a sucker :). Carter proceeded to dip his sucker in ketchup and lick the ketchup off! He didn't just try it once or twice - he kept doing it! I really can't imagine that tasted good, but he seemed to like it :)

Shedd Aquarium

The kids and I packed up and went to Shedd Aquarium this morning to meet up with my Great Aunt who was visiting my cousin who lives downtown. I realized that the last time the kids and I were there Carter was a baby, so it had been awhile... These things are so tough with little kids, because they cost a bunch of money, but kids enjoy them for about an hour - maybe an hour and a half. After that they both lost their interest and just wanted to run around like mad, which doesn't exactly work with two kids when they run in opposite directions! We really enjoyed ourselves a lot though in that first hour :) Carter's favorite thing was the huge tank that's in the middle of the aquarium. He pointed at the stingray when he saw them, but if they got too close to the glass where he was standing he would back away and look for me. Teah spent 20 minutes looking at the red sea urchins, but claims that her favorite part was the jellyfish she saw for about 2 minutes at the end of the day. There were no meltdowns and a good time was had by all, so I call it a successful morning! Carter passed out asleep in the car before we even hit the highway on the way home. Unfortunately, I had temporarily misplaced my camera this morning, so no pictures this time.

Bears, Bears, Bears

Bears, Bears, Bears Are Awake
Bears, Bears, Bears Are Asleep

A story dictated by Teah - transcribed by Mommy

It is winter and the bear is asleep. But one day, it wasn't winter anymore and the bear woke up. And then the bear snuggles. And then the bear plays. The End.

It looks much shorter when not written with crayon :) We proceeded to act out Teah's story today and she told me that we should add the letter S to the word bear so that I could be in the story with her. She came up with the title and the story entirely on her own!

Our "GPS"

The kids and I have been riding around in our car instead of the van the last few days because the car needed to be at home and ready to get its windshield repaired. Teah has a whole new view in the back of the car and she can see the entire front console. Everytime the blinker would come on Teah would say, "Mommy, Mommy, turn that way!" She thinks that the car is telling us which way to go to get to our destination and she has now taken it upon herself to watch for the "blinking green light" and tell me so that I'll know which way to go. She has so much fun with it that I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was making those green arrows light up! Who knew that we have GPS afterall :)

Do you know what kind of bird this is?

After looking at the Illinois Bird of Prey website I think that it was a Cooper's Hawk: http://www.illinoisraptorcenter.org/Field%20Guide/cooperpix.html . Pretty cool! Thanks Ann and Mom for the links.

This bird was sitting on a tree out by our parking lot for a couple of hours this morning. I snuck out to take some pictures - it was a pretty big bird and very beautiful! Now I'm just wondering what kind of bird it was. Anyone know?

Peanut Butter and Turkey

Per the advice of Jane Nelsen and her Positive Discipline books, I have changed our mealtime routine. Instead of fixing a plate for Teah, I set all of the food out on the table and let her decide what she wants and get her own food. The first night we did it was pasta night, so I set out the plain pasta, a bowl of sauce with a spoon, and some shredded mozarella. I have tried in the past to get her to eat her pasta with cheese on it, but she has always refused. On pasta night, I showed her how I liked to put some white cheese on my pasta and eat it. She ate a few helpings plain and then decided that she wanted to try it too. She did and said she liked it. She's always been very picky and I think this will help her to try new things!

Yesterday at lunchtime I decided on sandwiches, so I put out 2 types of bread, cheese, peanut butter, and turkey. Teah decided to put peanut butter on cinnamon bread. After spreading some peanut butter on one slice, she told me that she wanted a peanut butter and turkey sandwich. I had the immediate impulse to tell her not to, but then I thought, "why does it matter if she eats a peanut butter and turkey sandwich?". So, I told her to go for it. She put on one piece of turkey, some more peanut butter, and her top slice of bread. She ate half the sandwich and said she liked it! I guess we'll see what she decided on next time.

Hey, That's Funny!

Teah has been trying to tell me jokes for weeks now. Usually she says something like, "Mommy, I want to tell you a joke. How do people walk? On their feet". Her jokes have generally been plain old statements that for some reason she thinks are jokes. So, when she told me that she had a joke to tell me yesterday I was expecting the same thing. Here's what she said:

Mommy, how do chickens learn to fly?
They just wing it!

Hey, that's funny! :) She said that she made it up herself, but I eventually got out of her that she took a joke from Word World that Duck said and changed it to a chicken instead of a duck to make it her own!

Our Little Observer

In preparation for selling our townhome, we have been aquiring a few new items to spruce things up a bit. We ditched our disgusting old rug in the living room for a new one and put up a new shower curtain and rod in our bathroom recently. I put down the new rug while Carter was napping and when I brought him down from his room he immediately ran over to the new rug, pointed and stared for a minute, then hopped on and did a little dance. OK, the new rug was pretty obvious, so I wasn't too surprised when he noticed that. Well, I took the kids upstairs for a bath tonight and Carter immediately pointed at the new shower curtain. I was holding him and as I got closer he pointed to the new shower curtain rod! Seriously, this kid is observant.

How Big is Carter?

Papa's Whiskers

Lessons Learned

Recently due to Teah's leaning towards being a perfectionist and my new readings of Jane Nelsen and Positive Discipline, I decided to start turning my mistakes into learning experiences for Teah. Well, yesterday gave us quite a few learning experiences!


First, when I was putting Carter into his carseat (in the middle seat of the van) I put my knee down on the seat next to it and squashed right into an old banana peel. My whole knee was covered in what my mom coined to be "banana guts". It was disgusting. Now I have to describe a book that Teah and I have read in order for her side of the story to make sense. The book is called "Watch out for Banana Peels" and it is Grover giving some safety tips and trying to be goofy at the same time. Most of the safety tips are practical, like don't play with the stove. But the books throws in some sillies like watch out for banana peels. I tried to explain to Teah when we were reading it what they meant by it, but she always seemed confused that they were telling you to watch out for banana peeels. So, as you can guess, she was ecstatic to discover when I squashed into the banana peel that you really should watch out for them! We also discussed the lesson of putting trash where it belongs.

After getting home from the same trip, I went to put the diaper bag on our kitchen cart and as I pushed it back a little I knocked off a glass bowl that was sitting on the back and it broke. This led to a good discussion of how things should be put where they belong. When I told Teah that mommy had made a mistake and we talked about what we had learned from it, she said, "Mommy, it's really important to learn something".

So, the very same day and not long after the bowl incident, I decided to bake a frozen pizza in the oven for lunch. I was preheating and smelled something funny, but of course didn't investigate. When I opened the oven to put the pizza in I discovered that I had melted four magnetic plastic toy letters that Carter and I had put in pretending they were cookies. I have no idea what I was thinking actually encouraging Carter to put something into our actual working oven. Thankfully, I think he has forgotten about it because he hasn't tried it on his own. Lesson learned - don't let Carter put things in the oven and perhaps check it before turning it on! The letter below used to be an F...

One Hell of a Trip

We were in Michigan this past weekend (more blogs to follow about the weekend) and had quite the time trying to get home. We were staying at my parents house who live out in the country on a road that is quite prone to drifting snow. We left Sunday afternoon at around 3:30 to drive back home. Less than a mile from my parents house we got stuck in a snow drift that was covering the entire road. It was amazing how much snow was blowing - my cousin had driven through 30 minutes before and you couldn't even tell. Within 15 minutes the snow was drifting up against our van. We tried pushing the van and putting our mat under the tires to try to get some traction, but it was no use, we were really stuck.



I called my roadside assistance and was told that the earliest a tow truck could get to us was 2 hours. It was very cold outside - in the single digits - and with the wind and blowing snow it was like a blizzard outside the van. A truck showed up behind us - they were trying to get out as well. They had a shovel, so they tried shoveling the van for awhile, but it was a lost cause. They truck behind us didn't think they could go backwards without getting stuck and our van surrounded by enormous amounts of snow was blocking their way forward, so they were stuck as well.


Stuck count = our van + one truck






My mom started making calls around to the neighbors to see if someone could get their earlier than 2 hours. She got a hold of the guy who has a 4-wheel drive truck with a plow attached who they pay to plow their road. He showed up after 45 minutes of being stuck. I don't know why he didn't have his plow down, but he just tried to drive up to us and he got stuck.

Stuck count = our van + one truck + snow plow truck


Now there's three of us stuck on this road! The snow plow truck calls a buddy of his to come and pull him out. He appears to have a regular truck. He starts backing down the road and gets stuck! Stuck count = our van + one truck + snow plow truck + buddy truck


This is a picture taken w/ my cell phone looking out our front window. You can see the stuck snow plow truck and in the distance you can see his buddy, now stuck.










The buddy truck had gotten pull of into the side of the road and was really buried. We saw him get out and start shoveling around his truck and thought there was no way he was going to get out of there. But after 20 minutes he was free! He was able to drive close enough to the snow plow truck to get the tow line attached. He floored his truck to try to pull the snow plow truck out and his truck flopped around like a fish on the end of a line - the snow plow truck didn't budge at all. They tried it one more time, but it was no use. At this point we've been stuck for 2 hours and the tow truck arrives. At this point is is dark outside and 4 degrees. "Finally!", we think, "we're getting out of here". We can see the tow truck turning onto the road from the main road about 200 yards ahead, but then he stops. We're thinking that he stopped to talk to someone or something. A few minutes later the guy in the snow plow truck tells us that the tow truck is stuck - his buddy called him and told him






Stuck count = our van + one truck + snow plow truck + tow truck


The tow truck called us to make sure our van was still running and we still had heat and we were all OK because a cop had arrived and was planning on walking down to make sure we were OK. We were starting to get worried because our gas gauge was almost to the low fuel point. We had now been stuck for 2 1/2 hours. We were told that a tractor was coming to pull the tow truck out.


Thankfully we had our portable DVD player and lots of snacks for the kids, but we had left at Carter's naptime thinking that he would nap in the van on the way home, so he was getting REALLY cranky the poor guy. We let each of the kids get out of their carseat for a few minutes and sit in the passenger seat for a bit, so that helped too, but it was rough going and Teah understood enough that I think she was starting to get a little scared that we were stuck.


Well, now the tractor shows up. This thing has tires that are taller than I am with a big snow plow attached to the front. He pulled out the tow truck and then pulled out the snow plow truck. To get to them he had to plow a bunch of snow right in front of our van. Even if he could've reached us to pull us, there was nothing on the front of the van to attach to, only the back, so the plan was to plow out to the left of us (we were stuck on the right side of the road) to be able to attach to the back. As the tractor was plowing, HE GOT STUCK!


Stuck Count = our van + one truck + giant tractor


At this point I started preparing to abandon ship - packing a bag with some essentials in case we were told that they just couldn't get our van out that night. We had been stuck a full 3 hours. A big old F-150 shows up that comes barreling down the road to help pull out the tractor. They attach a tow line to the tractor and it was a very crazy sight to see this truck gun it to try to pull this huge tractor out of the snow at night in a blizzard of blowing snow. I can't believe what he put this truck through, but they got the tractor out. The F-150 then starts driving right into the ditch - Robert and I thought, "Is this guy crazy?!". He plows through all of the snow and drives in the corn field to our right to get behind us - this is one hell of a truck! The plan was to pull us backward a bit so that the tractor can plow out our way forward.


Now the snow outside of our van comes up to my waist - that's how deep it was drifting around us. Robert and 3 other guys started trying to figure out where to attach the tow line and it took them awhile, but they found a piece of the frame in the back. So, we made sure the kids were strapped in, put our seatbelts on, and prepared for the F-150 to pull us backwards. It took a few jolts, but we were pulled back a few feet and the tractor started plowing the way in front of us. There were a few moments where we thought the tractor would get stuck again, but he finally cleared the way. Three guys got in the back to push and we tried to drive out, but the snow pulled us to the right and we were stuck again. So, the F-150 pulled us backward again and more plowing in front of us ensued.


4 hours after getting stuck with 3 guys pushing we drove out and we able to make it to the main road! Carter fell asleep when the F-150 was tugging on us, but woke up when we stopped at McDonald's before getting on the highway to get Robert a new pair of pants, socks, and shoes. His pants had gotten wet of course, but then frozen solid.

So, we finally were headed home and got back just before midnight. What a trip!

Knock Knock...

Who's There?

Lettuce

Lettuce Who?

Lettuce is going to eat you!

This is the knock-knock joke that Teah told us today. Something she says that she learned in preschool. She might be missing a key point of knock-knock jokes, but she thinks this one is hilarious. I told her the 2 I could remember - banana/orange and boo who - she thought those were hilarious too. Guess it's time to get a joke book from the library.

Winter Fun

The kids and I went out to play in the snow today and had a blast! It was 31 degrees, which is honestly great weather for playing outside - not so warm that the snow is melting, but not so cold to play for awhile. The kids were both all bundled with their snowpants, boots, hats, heavy duty mittens, etc.

When we first walked outside Carter didn't want to walk in the snow and mostly just stood by and watched Teah and I. If he fell down, he would just sit there with his feet and hands on the ground not knowing what to do - I guess because of the snow. We were out for about an hour and by the end the kid was rolling around in the snow! After trying to make him do a few things, I realized that I just had to let him explore and get comfortable on his own. He started by just rubbing his hands around in the snow when standing on the sidewalk, but gradually got to the point where he walked right through the deep snow and then laid down :)

Teah and I went sledding down our little slope of our front yard (not really even a hill) and had a great time. I pulled both kids along on the sled through the neighborhood like a wagon. Teah made snow angels and I showed her how I could write her name in the snow by walking a path with my feet. Although I miss the mild winters of Atlanta, I am really loving being able to play in the snow with the kids. I can't wait for it to be packy enough to build a snowman!!

Our First Snow

Monday was our first snowfall of the season. Carter was only 6 months old last year, so this is really his first experience with playing in the snow. It was a sunny day with blue skies, the best for playing in the snow. While I shoveled the walk, the kids played. I helped them sled down the "hill" (more like slope) of our front yard, they tried out eating snow, and then we went for a walk to explore. Carter enjoyed sledding, but he really didn't know what to think about the snow. If he fell over, he would just sit there with his mittens in the snow like he didn't know what do to, and I would have to help him up. He was also leary about walking in the snow rather than on the sidewalk. Teah on the other hand as decided that winter is her favorite season. She had a lot of fun making snow angels and she loved walking through the snow, lying in the snow, eating the snow... Here are some pictures:

Supporting the Alma Mater

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year at our house. Both of our parents came to celebrate with us and we cooked up a good meal. The menu included turkey (of course), mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato souffle, homemade light and fluffy rolls, orange scented green beans, baked beans (Robert's grandmother's recipe), stuffing, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and holiday mimosas! Carter was napping during meal time, but that was probably for the best. Neither of the kids would each much of the Thanksgiving meal - too far out of their comfort zone I guess. Teah chowed down the pumpkin pie, though, but Carter was more interested in the cool whip. Here are a few pictures:

Teddy Bears

Here is a photo session that I had with Teah, Carter, and their teddy bears. It's too difficult to try to take pictures of the two of them together by myself, so we did it seperately. Carter is 18 months now and Teah will be 4 in December. Pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Like Father Like Daughter

A few nights ago Robert and I were watching some TV after the kids went to bed and we heard a crash from upstairs. Of course I went running up there and I found Teah lying on her floor - still asleep! She sleeps in a regular twin bed with frame, boxsprings, and mattress, so the fall off the bed wasn't short. Nonetheless, there she was sound asleep on the floor. I picked her up and put her back in bed and she didn't wake up at all. What makes this even funnier is that I have heard the story of Robert falling out of bed and not waking up from his mother! Like father, like daughter...

Hilliard Movie Night

We've started a tradition of Hilliard movie night once a week now that Teah's old enough to watch a few things. We get the movies free from the library, so that's a plus too. Last night we watched Finding Nemo, which Teah had never seen before. We turned the lights low and popped some popcorn. Teah enjoyed the movie and Carter even played very nicely when he wasn't watching. It was great family fun!

Teah's Creative Side

Teah is growing up so much and is really a little kid now. She loves to color, paint, and build things. She's even trying to stay in the lines when she colors now (see her picture below). I brought out the waffle blocks the other day and Teah decided all on her own to make letters out of them to spell her name. The only one that I helped her with at all was the letter A.

Boys will be boys...

Carter is really into physical play. Maybe it's a boy thing, maybe it's a second child thing, or maybe it's just a Carter thing, I can't really say. Today he would not play with any toys, just wander around the house looking for trouble. He enjoyed finding my broom and tried to lift it from the ground up into the air. It was a full-size broom, so it was rather hilarious, but also quite dangerous, since he could get it up quite a ways and then he would just let it fall. Then, I decided to move our bookshelf to the other side of the room. It's a small bookshelf, only coming up to my hips (and I'm not tall :) and it has felt on the bottom so as not to scratch our floors. Well, I guess I gave Carter the idea that it could MOVE. I put it up against the wall and 10 minutes later he was over there pushing it away from the wall. He moved it a few feet away and spent 5 minutes walking in the new tunnel (space between wall and bookshelf) that he had made!

Election Day

I voted today, which was very convenient because our polling place is also where Teah's preschool is. At preschool, they had an election theme today and got to "vote" for what snack they wanted. Cupcake was a candidate, so it was an easy choice. I told Teah that it was election day on our way to preschool and Teah said, "Barack Obama". She must've remembered the name from a discussion we had a few weeks ago when we told her that Barack Obama was running for president. It's hilarious when she says his name - she seems to think that it's really fun to say. Check out the video:

Teah Lately

So, I'm starting to realize that Teah turns 4 in less than two months! She's such a big girl. We were taking a walk today and I told her that I could hear the road up ahead. She said, "No Mommy, that's not the road. Those are the cars. The road doesn't make any noise." I had to admit that she was right. :) Then we were crossing a little walking bridge over what is sometimes a stream, but just a ditch with a little water in it right now. She asked why there was a bridge and I told her that sometimes there's a stream down there. She said, "That's right Mommy, there's the rainy season and the dry season. Right now it's the dry season, so there's no water in the stream." I think that one came courtesy of Diego. She really loves to tell me how the world is!