Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving week and weekend. It was so nice to have Jeff home after he had worked some really long days and weekends through November. We had an action packed few days, but all loads of fun. Here are some pictures to document our family weekend. We started Thanksgiving with some basketball with my cousins and dad. Jack had a lot of fun watching and trying to keep up with the big boys!

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents this year. We were lucky enough to have Elsa join us as well so we had two grandmother sot help us chase Jack around. And chasing we all did! Jack literally ran around the whole time we were there. Here is a pic of Jack playing in Julia's bouncy seat and also one of him sitting for just a few minutes of dinner on Elsa's lap. He really enjoyed the cranberry jello!

The day after Thanksgiving we had my sister's 3-on-3 annual basketball tournament. It was a hug success thanks to our organizers Stephen and my dad. Jeff played and I took the kids. There are no pictures becauseI spent the whole time trying to keep Jack off the court (he wanted to go play with the guys). After Jeff and I got to head to the Attic while Elsa babysat the kids. We had such a fun time being at the Attic with adults, what a treat for us!

Next up was the Dawg game. Jeff and Jack went while Julia and I hung at home. Julia still got decked out for the game. Our friends Allison and her newborn Gregor came over for wine and cheese, what a fun evening for Allison and I to be able to talk without chasing 2 toddlers!

Finally, we finished the weekend with a trip to the STC to see the Christmas Ships. Jack had fun with the reindeer and toasting marshmallows before the show. What a surprisingly warm and pleasant evening and a great way to end a fun four days of events!

The Waiting Game

Today we were home waiting for Brinks Security for some maitenance They gave us a 4 hour window from 8am to noon, which sounds like a reasonable request, however being stuck at home with a 2 year old boy and a 2 month old can get interesting. I was forced to find activities to entertain Jack up until nap time. We normally go out for at least a little each morning as Jack starts to get a little wild with bent up energy around 9:30am if we are stuck at home.

8am Jeff is leaving for work and casually pulls out the cookie mix and suggests to Jack we make thanksgiving cookies today

8:01am Jack pulls out the mixer and dances around with the cookie box in hands (this kid likes to cook!8:10am I go to change Julia's diaper and return to see all of our spices out of the spice cabinet and lined up on the counter. Jack is now really ready to cook, but I hate to tell him that garlic salt, chilli pepper and paprika, among other spices do not go into sugar cookies.

8:25am Julia goes down for a nap so Jack and I start the cookies still in our PJ's, nothing like a little cookie making first thing in the morning.

Julia keeps waking up requiring me to visit her room numerous times, Jack is obsessed with mixer, and is also obsessed with the cookie dough, so much that when I put the first batch into the oven he freaks out. I guess he did not want to part with his doughy coookies. Ahh the craziness of my day juggling two kids has begun!

10am Play time with Julia and Jack together - now this can get interesting. Today we put Julia in the bumpo seat and Jack kept wanting to get in there with her. We also had a few 'roll over my sister' attempts, all successfull blocked by mom today.

10am First call to Jeff to see if he can find out when Brinks is coming, we are 2 hours in and I need to get these kids out of the house!

11am Jack has lunch. Lots of fighting to have a cookie instead of lunch (mom wins this one). Once again to go to change Julia and when I come back I Jack has dumped the entire contain of parmasean cheese on his pasta. Hmm, he has a big smile!

11:40 Brinks calls, they are running behind and will not be here today. Mom looses it and gives them a piece of her mind. Looks like we are back on for tomorrow, another adventure at home! at least we have not frosted the cookies yet another good morning sugar activity!

By the time Jeff got home we were all a little stir crazy. As you can see we found a way to entertain ourselves, nothing like a little diapers.com box play in the evening!

Sisterly Facinication

I really did not know how Jack would react once we brought Julia home. Jack has taken his role as big brother very seriously and wants to help with Julia in every way, and I mean every way! The first thing jack does when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap is say, 'where's sissy?' If he cannot quickly locate her he gets mad and keeps saying sissy, sissy, sissy until we can show her to him. Julia's naps are not acceptable to Jack. He always wants her awake and playing with him (ok she cannot really play with him yet, but he liked to think she can). Here are a few pics of how jack likes t help put with Julia.

Julia is fussy in the evening between about 6-8pm so after dinner we often head downstairs and go on the bouncy ball. Jack likes to help and gets on his own bouncy ball to bounce with us.

I took the kids to the doctor last week because Julia decided it would be great to have a week where she really did not sleep much as all at night so we went to see if we could help her sleep (she is doing better so far this week, hurrah!). Jack got to pick out a sticker for himself and one for Julia. He thought Julia's should go on her foot, as you can see in this pic. Not sure why the foot was a good place for it but when I suggested it go somewhere else on her Jack's response was 'no no no, here!'

As I mentioned Jack does not like Julia to take naps. One of his favorite things to do it go into her room while she is napping and climb up into her crib. Still trying to figure out how to fix this one!

Dance Party

Jeff has been working late as this is his busiest time of the year. (I know not ideal for us with a 2 month old, but that is just how it turned out). So Jack, Julia and I have found some fun ways to entertain ourselves in the evening. Jack's favorite is to have a dance party with mom. This ranges from mom on the floor dancing around like a frog or a horse to Jack and I breaking out in dance to wrap music (my favorite and now Jack's too is Ha Ya by Outcast). Well Tuesday night while Julia was taking an evening nap in her crib Jack and I decided to put Hay Ya on and dance. At first Jack was not so into it so I have to get a little crazy. I decided to take my sweatshirt off in a dramatic fashion to get him more into the dancing and tire him out for bedtime. Well we happened to be doing this right in front of the window in our living room. To my surprise as I was 'stripping' down to my tank top dancing when some of our neighbors (whom I do not know) were walking up our steps bringing us dinner. I opened the door with Hay Yah blaring in the background from my IPhone that Jack was holding. I was totally mortified. I quickly starting talking (somewhat out of breath from my dancing) trying to backpedal and explain that with an active 2 year old boy and my husband working we were having a dance party trying to entertain ourselves. I am sure I looked pretty ridiculous, but the people were nice and gave us a super yummy dinner! Here is a pic just before the dance party when Jack decided wearing my heals was fun!

Jack's Lawnmower

We recently received a bunch of Christmas magazines for toys in the mail. Jack has taken quite a liking to these and will find them and look at them in search of his favorite toys. There is one magazine in particular that Jack has taken a liking, Constructive Playthings in which there is a picture of a kids lawnmower. Jack is constantly saying 'lawnmower' and walking around the house looking for this magazine and then frantically searching for the page where the lawnmower is located. Once he find it he proudly yells 'LAWNMOWER!' I have never seen him get attached to something so much and this is just a picture! He has requested (ok demanded) this lawnmower picture be with him at most meals, downstairs in the basement during play time, and he likes it to be one of his stories at bedtime. This morning he asked for it while we were in our bed watch cartoons to start the day. Santa better bring the lawnmower or we are in trouble! Here are two pics of Jack from my iphone (so it is not a great pics) with his magazine (yes he still has a bottle in the morning, oops on our part!)

The Tongue Game

Jack is getting to know Julia more and more these days and I must say he has really surprised me and seems to get that he is the big brother. He loves to touch her toes, nose and ears. Sometimes he gets so excited that he likes to try and steamroll her or wrestle with her, but in Jack's eyes this is an act of true love. Tuesday night (after dance party) Julia woke up and we had some good brother/sister bonding. I told Jack to do the 'tongue game' where Jack looks at Julia and sticks his tongue in and out and then Julia imitates him. Well Jack LOVED this and let our screams of pure joy. I think this was their first official communication and brother/sister. A picture below of them together and one of Julia's tongue (well sort of!). A pic at the top of Julia playing later with Jack, a huge smile!

First Blog

I finally did it, I set up a blog! I have been meaning to for quite a while as life with our kids has gotten quite exciting and entertaining these days. I really wanted something to document our adventures and since I am not a consistent journaler I thought this would be a great way. I am excited to start and hope that our family enjoys our documented adventures many years down the road.