january fun

normally, january in minnesota means sledding, shoveling, snowman building, bundling up, and all other things winter. minus one good snowstorm early in the the month...

we've have a serious lack of snow.  we've had to improvise on ways to beat the cabin fever that is inevitable once the post-holiday season sets in.  luckily, we had no trouble finding fun in our community.

starting with pip squeaks - an adorable (and CHEAP) indoor play place for little ones.  what can be better than a gymnasium full of toys followed  by a kid friendly lunch at mcdonalds?

there has been plenty of living room fun around here:

puny pirates v. captain hook (the cap'n didn't stand a chance):

reading books to our stuffed friends:

dress up:

making breakfast:

celebrating a special little one year old:


SIDE NOTE: back in december, henry managed to ram into the upholstered arm of our living room chair. we noticed immediately that his front tooth had pushed back slightly. I was terrified that it was going to fall right out and my sweet (not yet) 2 year old would be left with a gaping hole in his smile for the next 4-5 years. lucky for us, it stayed intact...but did begin to discolor a few weeks later. here you can see that it's now a lovely shade of gray.

the dentist said there's a chance it will lighten up a bit, but we aren't holding our breath. we just figure it's a battle scar and shows how "brave" our little climber is. gotta love that big ol' smile!

let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW

the snow totals here have been historic. I did a great job of making sure that my children are outfitted with warm winter gear that is appropriate for all things "snow" - sledding, shoveling, snow angels, rolling down the hill, etc. however, I failed to outfit myself beyond a new down jacket, boots, and some mittens. my frugal side has me waiting until the after-christmas sales to snatch up a yummy deal on some great snow bibs. in the meantime, we were blessed to have uncle brian and auntie blair offer to take miles and cousin josiah out for their very first sledding adventure! miles kicked the day off with a little pre-sledding shoveling with daddy and snow angels 101 with auntie blair.

henry bug stayed warm and cozy inside with mommy. smart boy.

somehow the hill at my old elementary school seemed a lot larger when I dug into my memory. I guess I might disagree with that statement when I try to haul a bundled up two year old up that hill. especially since the ride down takes no longer than ten seconds. but...to that two year old it was ten seconds of pure bliss.

josiah was less impressed. I'm sure the inability to move in his snow suit or walk in the boots weren't helping to sell this "super fun sledding adventure" to him. and the face full of snow a la brian's boots probably sealed the deal. after his second run down the hill he decided he was a-ok to hang in the sled and watch.

thank you for taking the boys sledding. we'll have to make it a whole family affair next time!

these boots were made for walkin'

miles LOVES his boots, need I say more?

the new year

2010 has been fairly uneventful...so far. as we wait as patiently as possible for this new little bundle to arrive, we have taken advantage of spending our last few weeks together as a family of three. not to mention the bitter cold weather that has forced us to hole up inside for days. it was 16 degrees below zero the other day...BEFORE windchill. brr! miles did manage to get daddy to take him outside on a slightly less chilly morning. he wanted to test out his new shovel from grandpa kroening.
miles has kept busy playing with all of his new toys. he is especially fond of the kitchen from nana and papa. a special shout out to uncle brian for loaning us some of his vintage fisher price food. miles likes to prepare some sort of food item and then declare "dad do it" or "mommy do it" - meaning EAT! I fully intend to post a video of him doing all of the sound effects too - "tshhhh" when the faucet is on, "glub glub" as he pours syrup :) check out the concentration...perhaps we have a little chef in the making?
I think kyle and I have been the most entertained and amazed by how much miles is learning and saying these days. he likes to point out letters on ANYTHING and can say/find all 26 of them. he especially likes to show you that M is a W if you turn it upside down. silly boy. he recently started to count and as of now can make it to erteen. what's that you ask? simple.

one, two, free, four, four, five, six, seven, eight, niiiine...TEN, 'leven, firteen, erteen, erteen.

that would be what I heard him saying on the monitor as he chattered his way off to la-la land. perhaps he was counting sheep? it's so fun to sit and listen to him at night or before naptime. we frequently need to go back into his room to remind him to close his eyes so he can rest his body! kyle and I were standing in the hallway taking the 37 week belly shot tonight after we laid the little monkey in bed. we thought we were being pretty quiet, but then heard "cheese! miles, cheese! daddy? cheese!!" apparently he heard the click of the camera. speaking of the 37 week belly shots:

just to update everyone: I am getting quite uncomfortable as this baby grows. he/she has taken up residence right under my ribs. sleeping is almost impossible for both me and kyle. I swear that no amount of pillows could make me comfy. poor kyle has no room left at all. the baby continues to be very active and likes to put on a show for us in the evenings. I officially went through the nesting that I've read so much about. on new year's day I was reorganizing drawers and cabinets, scrubbing down cupboards, and washing all of the baby equipment (carseat, bouncer, boppy, etc). this was all while miles and kyle were napping. that's right...I should've joined them given the fact that I barely slept 6 hours the night before. I just couldn't stop cleaning and preparing for baby! I'm hoping to go into labor before my due date (jan 26th). if so, I will attempt to avoid a repeat c-section. however, I have scheduled a c-section for january 26th at 7am if this wee one hasn't made his/her grand entrance! thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby...we greatly appreciate all of your support! by the way...don't forget to vote in the gender poll.

blizzard 2009

my soon-to-be sister-in-law, blair, has been begging for snow for months now. apparently she's always been dreaming of a white wedding....yadda, yadda...therefore, I'm blaming this blizzard on her. (j/k you know I love you blair!!)

poor kyle was up before dawn to try to plow us out. my parents gifted us the most amazing snow blower and for the first time EVER...kyle has agreed to give it a shot. all was going along famously until the wheel of the blower came off. needless to say, it was back to good ol' shoveling and followed by a brisk walk to work. that's right...my wonderful husband trudged through the blizzard both ways today. it's about a 20 minute walk. I offered to drive him, but it didn't make much sense to drag miles out onto the roads. I, on the other hand, was overjoyed to have a day off of work and even more happy to stay home with my monkey all day. he and I had lots of fun lounging around in our cozy fleece and slippers. we colored, played play doh, read books, set up his new bed, and made some key lime bars. I'm sure he enjoyed his time home with me too, but I was upstaged by the foot of snow outside our window. when kyle came home from work, we bundled the little guy up and let him test out his new winter gear. after 15-20 minutes, he was still toasty warm and bone dry...thank you lands end!

perhaps santa needs to bring miles a toddler sized snow shovel

watch out...here I come!!