Our Little Boogers

Sharing our lives: two kids, two full-time jobs, one old house, and plenty of love and laughter. And baseball.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!

Aren't they soooooo cute?!? The little guy wanted to wear the same costume as last year. This year, though, he was a 4-year-old monster instead of a 3-year-old monster, so it wasn't actually the same thing. (Duh.) The baby was a jack o' lantern.
The baby and I handed out candy while the boys went trick-or-treating. She tried to snag candy out of the bowl, but she also tried to leave with someall of the families that came by. It was almost embarrassing.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba

The baby is talking a bit-- she says Mama and Dada and up. She also points and grunts like a champ. The other thing she does is say ba-ba-ba-ba by moving her tongue from side to side outside her mouth. See?

That child.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Cindy Lou Who

The baby got the CUTEST hand-me-down leggings. They are sooooo adorable. See? (I know, it's hard to see them.)
Squee!!
She is really getting around now, but is absolutely refusing to walk on her own. She'll go all over the house holding on to just your pinky, though. I'm sure she'll take off one of these days.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Messy Monday?

Well, I think the baby likes chicken tortilla soup.
The little guy wanted to paint after dinner. Because the baby high-tails it for the stairs any time you turn your back, I figured she could paint, too. The little guy painted a house that was on fire but was put out and is now upside-down.
The baby made some dots, rubbed paint on her face, and then tried to eat the paintbrush.
All in all, it was a successful evening!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Four!

The little guy turned four today!  
Let me repeat myself, because it's hard to believe. The little guy turned four today!
Seriously, this little baby turned FOUR!!!
It's funny-- it feels like just yesterday we were brand new parents, but at the same time, it feels like he's been part of our family forever.
This one was taken by a professional.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Big Day!

We've been able to see one of the ferris wheels at the State Fair on our way to and from school for the past week and a half, and the little guy wanted to ride it as soon as we got to the fair. Eric took him… look how excited he was!
Look at how high up they got! The little white dot holding a baby is me with my heart in my throat. Nana and Pops were wildly amused at how freaked out I was.
I guess his last day being three was a good one!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Version 2.0

Well, the baby is eating a lot like her big brother used to. Yikes! How much more biscuit could she fit in her mouth?
The answer is none. None more biscuit.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Monsters!

We stopped by my aunt and uncle's new house in New Jersey both on our way up to Connecticut and on our way home. My aunt had the cutest little halloween baskets for the kids. They loved them! This is what I saw when I came downstairs this morning:
The baby participated, too. She's our little Minnie Pearl!
In addition to the monster hat, my aunt gave the little guy some skeleton window films. He put them on the window tonight.
Here he is posing with his pièce de résistance.
He started out smiling nicely, but then the camera did something screwy. It seemed like the longer it took me to take his picture, the more his face fell and stretched and the more desperate he looked. I was dying trying not to laugh, which made me even slower to push the stupid camera button.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Great Grand II

Here are a few more pictures from our trip. Here's the baby in Halloween pajamas hanging out with her great-grandfather (who was born on Halloween)!
I think she likes him.
The little guy spent the weekend being spoiled rotten by my grandmother. He asked me to read them a Franklin book, and I said that I bet she would read it to him. He said "Gram knows how to read, too!?!?" in complete awe. She sure does!
Franklin's New Friend is a very serious book.
In other news, the baby took her first steps today!!! We tried (and failed) to get a video, but that should be coming in the next couple of days. I couldn't believe it when I picked her up from school and she toddled three steps to me!!!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Great Grand!

We made a quick trip to visit my Connecticut grandparents this past weekend. It was so much fun! Everyone got to snuggle with the baby...
... who is now standing on her own and being less of a baby every day. Her apple is from my grandparents' apple tree. Yum!

The little guy organized a game of baseball (of course), meaning that this stretch of lawn has now hosted four generations of family baseball games.
He also played near the creek that I spent tons of time playing in as a kid. He managed not to fall in, despite his best efforts.
More photos to come soon!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Saturday Night!

Does this look like a baby who's ready to go to bed?
She was actually sound asleep a few minutes later.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Bath!

The baby has overcome her fear of the tub again (the not-so-little guy accidentally tackled her in the tub and she screamed bloody murder when we tried to bathe her for weeks), so we're back to dual bath time. So much fun!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Sleepy Babies

I had a meeting at work tonight, and I really felt bad about Eric having to take both kids to church by himself. I shouldn't have worried-- both kids fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until after I got home, so they skipped church. I mean, how could you wake up this little guy?
After the baby woke up, I fixed her dinner and tried to take her picture. She was not amused (and wow-- she looks so much like my mom!).

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

And the countdown begins...

The little guy is participating in a prayer partner thing at church, so he had to fill out a questionnaire about himself. I want to be a fly on the wall when his partner reads it. When asked what he likes to do with his family, he said "Put stickers on them." As you can see from my formerly classy white planter in the background here, that is true.
She's getting ready to walk!
One of the other questions asked for a couple of things that you'd like to do better (or would like to learn how to do). With no hesitation, he said "Tie shoes! And drive a car!" Thank goodness we have about eleven years to get ready!
He's practicing. Uh-oh.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Eleven

The baby is eleven months old today. (!!!) Here she is at dinner, eating her chicken kebab and rice!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Hockey!

We took the kids to their first NHL game today (hooray for a 1pm game!). Even though our team lost, we had a nice time. The little guy was pumped to be there. Eric and I were excited to wear our coordinating hockey sweaters!
The little dude is so funny. He's perfectly happy to just sit there and watch the entire game.
The one thing he didn't like was all the noise when the 'Canes scored. After the first goal, he sat with his hands over his ears for a loooong time.
The baby, on the other hand, slept through two goals. I don't think we'll ask the big one to be quiet during her naps at home anymore...
After napping through most of the second period, she lost interest in sitting still halfway through the third period. A fidgety baby plus two newly-arrived and very foul-mouthed fans in our section meant that we left with about five minutes left in the game. Still, we had a great time!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Clothing Makes the Man?

The little guy LOVES to dress himself. He'll change clothes five or six times in a day, and he's very particular about what he wears. Sometimes, we don't let him leave the house:
This was a TERRIBLE outfit.
He was thrilled with himself.
Other times, we do:

He's wearing pants, shorts, long sleeves, short sleeves,
knee socks, boots, and kneepads. It was 65 degrees out.
When it's in the 30s, he'll wear shorts and flip-flops.
We went to two hardware stores today because we're going to make a magnetic chalkboard to cover the fireplace for now. The little guy didn't like how loud the saw was. The baby had a great time smiling at people and chewing on a package of 3M velcro.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Brrr...

Eric spent the evening with the kiddos tonight while I (and my colleagues) braved chilly weather and rain to rub shoulders with Nate Silver (!!!). Eric took the kids out to dinner and had them all ready for bed when I got home. The little guy was pretending to be a kitten when I got in, so instead of hugs I got to scratch his nose and rub his ears. *sigh*

It was chilly and rainy all day today, so here's a photo of the little guy and I at the beach. Only 8 months until beach season returns!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Spaghetti

The baby had her first spaghetti last night. She loved it!
We're adding this to the list of ways she fits in around here.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

New Clothes!

We splurged and bought the kids each a new shirt the other weekend (big times!)-- and it was chilly enough to wear them today!
I can't tell if the baby is thrilled or terrified in this picture. She's probably a bit of both, plus a whole lot of adorable.

The little dude came with me to vote this evening, and the guy at the registration table asked if he was really Captain America. The little dude whispered "Yes."

Monday, October 7, 2013

Birthday Wishes

The little guy is turning four in a couple of weeks (what?!? I know!). He's old enough now to anticipate his birthday, and he's been asking about it for months. Now that it's finally almost here, he's asking for stuff: "Can you call Grandma and ask her to send me three fox masks for my birthday?" and "Can you ask Nana to bring me two hockey shirts for my birthday?" are two recent queries. If you ask why he needs multiples, there's always a long, convoluted reason. Of course there is.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Whoops!

We had some family pictures taken tonight at the same place we were married (awwww). It was lovely. Eric had to go to church straight from the park, so I said I'd walk home with the kids. I was pretty sure it was just about a mile. Whoops! It's definitely two miles. And, if you make a detour to grab dinner (as we did), it's totally 2.5 miles!!!! It took an hour and ten minutes. Here's the little guy post-photos and walk...
... and here's the baby.
Beau was so excited to see us. I think he thought we'd left for good!

Friday, October 4, 2013

He's a Caniac, Caniac!

The Canes are playing their first game of the season RIGHT NOW! The little guy got to watch a bit of the game-- with popcorn!-- before bedtime. Eric's watching the rest of the game now.
LET'S GO CANES!!!! (Duh-dun, duh-dun, duh-duunnn!)

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Kitchen Happenings

Well, the little dude has figured out that we always have ice cream in the freezer.
CHEESE!!!!!
Meanwhile, the baby has figured out how to open and close cabinets.
Uh-oh
She even pulled out a cookie sheet!
Oh, hi!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Mr. Helpful?

I gave the baby crackers and banana for dinner... and she loved it!
The little guy loved it, too. He always snatches her food and eats it himself. Not only is it kind of obnoxious, it just plain doesn't make sense. He'll steal cheerios from her and ignore his own applejacks! What the heck?! How is that a good decision?

This evening when I asked him to stop taking her food, he said that if he didn't take it and eat it, she might eat it and then she might CHOKE! Look at how serious he was:
This kid clearly deserves a medal. What a hero! (Reminds me of this guy, who is totally worth watching if you have time.)

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Shoes!

We were all out late tonight. I was at a curriculum night with the kids and Eric had a softball game. When the kids and I got home, the baby started playing with my shoes. It's not all dump trucks around here for her, see?
Then she did this (yuck):
 So I put my shoes up on the stairs to keep her away from them. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong!
 Luckily (?) the stairs are soooo much more fun than my shoes that she just kept climbing.