Them good.

Last weekend, Kevin and I went up to Kohler for a night for a short getaway.  Andrew stayed with Grandma Jane and Gracie stayed with JuJu, but they all got together for dinner. Meatballs were served.  Apparently, Andrew liked them.  He ate 3 giant ones.

When we picked him up the next day, we asked him about his meatballs.  He said, "You go JuJu's grocery store.  You buy meatballs.  Them good."

The day after that he was pretending to go to JuJu's house.  He said to me, "I go JuJu's house.  I eat meatballs.  I eat a lot.  Them good."

You get one.

I love Ikea stuff; and I love putting it together.  When whatever I am assembling is complete, I really feel like I have accomplished something.  I can say, "Look!  I BUILT that dresser with my own two hands!"  Like the assembly involved sawing, sanding, painting and actual skill, instead of just a disposable allen wrench.  Details. 

Last week, Kevin and I headed down to Ikea.  Andrew needed a new dresser and I needed other random stuff.  Like paper dinner napkins.  Totally worth the drive to Schaumburg.

We also bought a storage unit for the baby's room, which I have since decided that I don't like and will be moving to the basement for toy storage.  Anyway, Saturday morning I put it together.  Kevin was with Grace at her drama class, so it was just me and my little buddy to get the job done.  

Now, not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am pretty skilled at putting this stuff together.  Perhaps I allowed Andrew to help because I felt I needed more of a challenge? But really, who wouldn't want this little guy's help? 

Anyways, I tore open the box, sorted all the wood pieces and in strolled Andrew.  He said, "I help Mommy."  Grabbed a couple toys (just to clutter the space up) and sat down in my work area.  This will be good, I thought.  He can learn how to use tools!  He can see that women can be handy too!

One problem.  I follow the Ikea directions.  Andrew does not.

Like a typical man, he thinks he knows better. 

His first step was to find another box of screws, and mix them together with the screws for this project.  Then he took random screws and put them in all the pre-drilled holes.  And, again, like any other man, insisted that his way was the right way. 

"Andrew, those screws don't go there."

"Yes.  Them do."

"Can you please take them out and help me with these screws?"

"No."

He also decided to assert his authority over me a few times.  When I said, "Andrew, please hand me four of those little wooden dowels?"  Silence.  So I realized he probably didn't know what a dowel was.  So I said, "Four of those little wooden stick things."  He looked at them, thought about it, and said matter of factly, "You get one."  

Like when he asks for three donuts and I say, "You get one."  Now I guess I know how he feels?  

And then when I asked him to hand me the directions, and he tore them apart.

 

Andrew also helped by "vacuuming" it with his corn popper.  And when we were just about done, he climbed into it and marked his territory....if you catch my drift. 

Job well done Little Buddy, job well done!

Sweet Stuff - Sonicare

So Kevin and I have bad teeth.  Our dentist suggested looking into automatic toothbrushes.  We did.  And ended up getting the Sonicare Essence.  It is awesome. 

Kevin said to me, "Bridget you need to put this on your blog.  Very rarely does anything actually EXCEED your expectations."  Fair enough. 

Why does this get my glowing recommendation?
1. Your teeth will feel ridiculously clean.
2. I noticed my teeth seemed whiter.  I thought I was crazy but amazon says...."Removes 80% of coffee and tobacco stains in just 28 days."  See I am not crazy, just perceptive.
3. Holds a charge very well.  I think I charge mine overnight about once a month.
4. It makes just enough noise to drown out your children that are whining/fighting/calling you from the other room.  Two minutes of bliss.

I want to note a few things.
1. The first time you use it you will not like it.  Just keep at it.
2. Wipe it off with a towel after you rinse it, otherwise water seeps into the joint where the head screws on and you will get some funkiness growing on the inside (no where near the part you put in your mouth). 
3.  There are much more expensive versions, which we obviously did not try.  This one does the job.  And there are usually rebates/coupons you can find online for another $5 or $10 off.

Big Boy Bed!

Baby Andrew is in a big boy bed!  He was a little reluctant to make the move until he saw that the bed is exactly like Gracie's.  These pictures are from his first night in the bed.  He did fall out at one point in the night but didn't seem to be bothered by it and went right back to sleep.  We are still unclear as to how he actually managed to fall out with the guard rail and radiator cover right next to his bed!

 

This is not the best picture but the only one I got of him with his hands behind his head.  He loves to lay like that when watching tv, settling into bed and getting his diaper changed.  

 

And here he is with his "blankie blankie", his most favorite possession in the world. 

Email Notifications

Hi Everyone!  A few people said they wanted to be notified by email when the blog updated.  At the top right sidebar there is a notify by email option.  Check it out!  I think you may need to sign up to be a follower to use it but I am not sure. 

So Fabulous

Gracie is playing with her new glitter glue and keeps saying to herself, "This is so fantastic!  So fabulous!"

HO HO HO! Christmas Recap

We had a great but exhausting Christmas this year.  We spent Christmas Eve at the Malones' house. 

We foolishly tried, repeatedly, to get a cute picture of all three kids.  Of course none turned out.  Here they are all yelling "HO HO HO!". 

Of course the kids got too many presents Christmas Eve.  Gracie loves her art kit and new Fancy Nancy stuff.

Andrew was a bit perplexed by the whole present thing.  He just let this box sit on his lap until someone showed him what to do with it.

And then he looked a little confused by the gifts as well.  I think he was tired.

Before leaving he gave Aunt Katie and Uncle Brad BIG hugs.

 

Time for bed?  Maybe?

 

The kids both slept until a reasonable hour Christmas morning.  I did not, I was downstairs with all the unopened gifts at about 5:30.  Not sure why.  

 

(This picture is me playing with our new camera lens - thanks Mike and Jane!)

The easel from Santa is a big hit.   This year Gracie consistently asked for a Bible, a rosary and a pink sparkly Barbie.  Santa forgot the rosary.  Whoops.

 

When we asked Andrew what to put on his list for Santa all he would say is "Purple Presents."  He didn't get any of those but he did get a set of jumbo zoo animals and a digger.  

 

However, the goldfish in the stocking were the big hit for him. 

 

Later in the AM, my side of the family came over to open more gifts and have brunch.  The kids all got way too much stuff.  And Andrew insisted Gracie's new rain boots were his.  

  

 

When I thought the chaos was all over, my mom reminded my dad to get the "big gift" out of his car.  She was not kidding.  

 

The kids love their new retro tow truck and have had fun driving it around the basement.  This definitely puts their cozy coupe to shame!  They are looking forward to playing with this outside in the spring.  

I am still totally exhausted from Christmas and vote for a vacation next Christmas! 

A Special Day with Gracie

A few days before Christmas, Kevin and I took Gracie down to Chicago for the day.  We were all very excited about the trip and we had a fabulous time. 

On the way, we stopped in Lakeview and showed Gracie where we lived when she was born.  She thought this was very cool and could not believe that we just lived on one floor!

 

We planned on finishing up the day in Lincoln Park, so we left the car in that neighborhood and took the brown line downtown.  Gracie enjoyed the train and wasn't scared at all.

 

We had lunch at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building.  

 

Grace was not scared of being "in the clouds" at all.  We had a good lunch and then headed out for some shopping. Grace's favorite was the Hello Kitty! store.  We did stop in the American Girl store and she was so good.  We thought this may turn out to be a big mistake but Grace was fine with not getting anything.  She really doesn't like dolls and she hasn't mentioned the place since then.  Maybe we can completely avoid the whole American Girl doll obsession with her?!

We stumbled upon Santa at the Nordstrom and had time for a candy cane and quick photo op.  

 

Then we planned to head over to Macys, get a snack, a new Christmas dress for Grace and check out the windows.  We should have just skipped Macys, since it was a bit of a disaster.  The windows were totally lame.  They did not seem to have ANY Christmas dresses for little girls. And when we stopped at the Starbucks to get a snack, it took no less than HALF AN HOUR to get our drinks.  It was ridiculous.  We were all hungry, tired and a bit on edge.  

So when a crazy person came up to our table and started talking a whole bunch of nonsense, I was just not in the mood.  In an effort to make it crystal clear that we were not interested in whatever she was saying, I held up my hand and said, "Thank you."  That didn't work.  She started talking about the Russian government, read us our Miranda rights, and then turned to Gracie.  She held out her hand and said, "So you come with me little girl."  Something in me snapped and I kinda lost it.  I said very, very loudly, "YOU NEED TO GO AWAY.  NOW!"   Well that didn't work, so I yelled "GO AWAY!"  as loud as I could.  That worked in scaring her off, but then I ended up looking like the crazy person. 

  When we were heading home later that night, Kevin and I were discussing this situation and Gracie piped up from the backseat, "Mommy are you talking about the lady that tried to take me?"  It nearly broke my heart.  On the bright side, it was a good opportunity to discuss what she should do if someone tried to get her to go with them.  Stranger danger, etc. 

We finished up the day by taking a cab up to Lincoln Park and checking out Zoo Lights.  Here are Gracie and I posing in front of this tree.  I swear we are there.  Gracie said, "Mommy, that is an UGLY tree."  She did love the zoo lights though.  We saw different animals than we see at the Milwaukee zoo, which was fun. 

 

She also took a ride on the carousel. 

 

She was such a trooper all day.  It was sleeting freezing rain at the zoo.  We walked a ton.  She was dragged to a few boring places.   And her mom totally embarrassed her at Macys.  But she didn't complain at all. 

On the way to the restaurant for dinner, she told us her feet were wet.  Her shoes and tights were absolutely soaking wet and freezing.  Poor thing. 

We finished up the day at one of our favorite restaurants, Bricks in Lincoln Park.  What a great day!  Can't wait until we can take there Andrew too.   Grace said her favorite part of the day was, "Everything except the car ride."  On the way home, she asked if we could take the "fast way."  So cute.