Shopping with Andrew

Andrew and I ran out to Boston Store to grab him a new spring coat.  He really wanted a purple one, but I have searched the internet high and low and concluded that it doesn't exist for a 2 yr old boy.  So he had to settle with a navy blue one. 

On the way out we stopped in the shoe department.  Andrew loved to pick up the sparkly shoes and say "Oh so fancy!" and he made sure to leave lots of finger and face prints on the nearby perfume counter windows.  Andrew found these "fancy" red shoes that he just had to try on. The boy has good taste.

Then, when walking by Bath & Body Works, he had to stop in.  I haven't been in one of those stores in years, as I find them to be somewhat offensive in the odor.  Andrew wanted lotion for his hands and selected some ridiculous mango scent.  Luckily, I noticed the men's section of the store and steered him over there.  He chose "oak".  Now I cannot smell due to my cold, but I am pretty sure I have the most manly smelling toddler in town.

A couple side notes:
1. While I am typing this Andrew is "cleaning" by dipping a sponge in his applesauce and wiping it on the counter. 
2. An excellent benefit to having a cold for over 4 weeks, is that I have not smelled Andrew's stinky diapers in 4 weeks.  Makes it much easier to play dumb, "What Kevin?  It smells in here?  I had no idea!  Maybe Andrew needs a diaper change?"
3.  I have to go now, as Andrew needs to "check his email".

Recently 2

We have been talking a lot about the upcoming arrival of #3.  I got out 2 baby dolls and let the kids play with the baby gear.  It was adorable.  Andrew named his doll "Charlie" and Grace named hers "Rose."  Not sure where they came up with the names?

 Kevin and I went to Chicago for a night.  It was our last getaway before the baby comes.  I was pretty under the weather, so it wasn't as fun as it should have been.  It was nice to get away for a night and get some shopping done.  I stopped at the Chicago location of Magnolia Bakery and picked up some cupcakes for Gracie and I to enjoy together.  She chose the one with the purple frosting, ate 1/2 and then decided that she didn't like it.  She begged me to trade.

 

Fair trade?  I think not.

Whenever Grace gets her picture taken, Andrew makes me take some pictures of him.  

Finally, today the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  The kids went to the zoo with both grandmas and their dad.  We also took a family walk after dinner.  We were quite the sight.  I was limping along at the worlds slowest pace, holding up my gigantic stomach.  Andrew picked up a stick every 5 feet, so he was moving at my pace.  Gracie was running and then totally wiped out and skinned up both knees.  So she walked home sobbing (justified as her knees were pretty torn up). 

In order to help her deal with the pain, I let her open up a birthday gift from her Aunt Amy.  It is the world's fanciest nightgown!  So posh. Of course, Grace had to demonstrate how upset she is about her knees.  

 

And about 2 seconds later, she turned on the charm for this photo.

And here is the requisite photo of Drew in his jammies, flexing his muscles for the ladies. 

Shake, Shake, Shake!

Yesterday, Gracie and I stopped at McDonald's to pick up a Shamrock Shake.  I have been sick for over 2 weeks and was having a craving and the baby needed the calories, those are my official excuses.

She kept asking me what Shamrock Shakes are, and I kept saying they are shakes.  Admittedly, not the best answer.  I don't think she got it. 

I think she was also a little confused, because it happened to be a day that she did not get a superstar stamp at school.  Her teacher gives each child a hand stamp every day that they behave all day.  There have only been 2 days so far that Gracie did not get a stamp.  I have talked to other parents and their kids only get stamps a few times a week.  Gracie is the ultimate rule follower.  And the smartest, cutest and best behaved 4K student.  Ever.  Obviously.  Apparently, she didn't clean up something when her teacher asked her too.  Naughty Gracie! 

Whatever, I wanted a shake.  It was not the day to teach her some lesson about behaving at school or something. 

When we got the total due in the drive through, $4.22, Grace gasped from the backseat.  "Mommy, do we have enough money to pay for that?!"  I used this as an opportunity to explain that we pay for all our necessities first, like our house, food, school, etc. and then we can use the money left over to buy some fun things.  And we don't buy things we can't afford.  And that is why we don't buy her toys all the time, because we need the money for other things.  I turned back and she had an expression on her face that clearly read, "Sorry I asked."  So, I dropped the fiscal responsibility conversation.

After Gracie finished her shake, she was on a total sugar high.  She came up to me and was like, "Oh I get it! Its like ice cream!  But you DRINK it with a straw, you don't EAT it with a spoon!  A shake!  A shake!  Shake, shake shake!"  And then she danced around the kitchen shaking her booty.   

Amy and Mark - If I wasn't sick we definitely would have gotten a large, shared and saved a dollar.  Just like we were raised.  For you outsiders, whenever we would get fast food (usually only on vacation) growing up, we would always just get 2 large sodas and all share.  Much cheaper than all getting individual small sodas.  Obviously.

And while I am on the topic of Grace, I will share 2 conversations from last week:

"Hey Mom, is it Crazy Friday today?"

"Uh, no Grace. Why?"
"You know like it was Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday this week?"

"Mom, how do you spell two?"
"Do you mean the number two or the word to?"
"How do you spell two?!  Ugh two, you know the word two!" 
"Like, I have on two boots or I am going to the store? Can you use it in a sentence?"
Sure Mom, 'How do you spell two?'

Recently

Here are some snapshots from the past few weeks. 

Grace and Andrew have a love/hate relationship.  Typical siblings I guess.  Sometimes they will spend hours playing nicely and don't want to be apart, other times they just hit each other constantly.

Our legos have been getting a lot of use lately.  The kids love to build towers.  Then Andrew says "Oh no goodness!  My tower too big!" 

We finally got a little snow and Andrew helped me shovel.  Here he is upset that his mitten has snow on it.

Andrew is not potty trained and I am giving up until after the baby comes.  But I am starting to teach him that having a diaper on is just nasty.  Most of the time he doesn't care, but even he gets fed up and wants a soaking one off every once in a while.  Here he is one morning, he had taken off his jammies and said "Mommy.  You change me.  Now."  (Charmer isn't he?) I had to get a few pictures of the ridiculous look first. 

Right after this picture Kevin walked in the door and was like "What the hell are you doing?"

We had Mikey, Aunt Katie and Grandma Jane over for a playdate one January day and the kids had a blast.

Once in a while I do let Andrew wear underwear even though he doesn't really get it and the situation always involves Andrew saying "Oh no goodness!  I pee on my yeg!"  (He can't say "L"s) and me mopping up a puddle of urine.  He looks so cute in his undies though. 

Finally it seems like this blog is all about Andrew these days.  Little Miss Grace is doing well too!  She loves school.  She is taking drama and dance classes.  And we are busy planning her Fancy Nancy birthday party in March!

Here is a cute picture of her with the class "pet" Curious George.  Grace brought him home one Monday and by Thursday we had to do an activity and turn in a journal entry (complete with photos) documenting our time with the monkey.  Grace chose to dress him up in drag. 

goose poop and other romantic stuff on valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day!  And more importantly,

Happy Birthday Amy!

So what is with the goose poop?  Not typical Valentine's Day imagery I know.

Well it is romantic, I promise, at least for me.  You see in August 2003, Kevin asked me to marry him.  The sweet man took me to Lincoln Park in Chicago and he had scoped out the perfect location.  Somewhat secluded, next to the pond, right by a bridge...it really was beautiful.  As we he kept suggesting that we sit down here and there.  I kept refusing.  Not meaning to be difficult (this time).

The problem was there was goose poop EVERYWHERE. We were all dressed up for a nice dinner and I didn't want to ruin my outfit by sitting in anything stinky. We did finally find a spot and Kevin pooped, I mean, popped the question. So every time I see the stuff it makes me think of my engagement. So that, my friends, is why goose poop is romantic. At least to me.

This picture was taken right after we got engaged...awe.

In fact, now that I am looking at this I am thinking this may not even be goose poop, but a more exotic variety of peacock poop.  Anyone out there know?  Betty - this is totally your department :)

By the way, the experience of taking this photo (at the zoo), enhancing it in Picasa, and uploading it to the internet has made me realize that perhaps I put too much poop on this blog.  Agree?  A reflection of life with 2 little kids?  Or maybe it is just proof that I have a (odd) sense of humor? 

Valentines Day Project

Because I like to make life just a little bit harder than it needs to be these days, I decided we needed to make Grace's Valentine's Day treats.  I kept seeing these pretzel treats on pinterest and thought they would be fun to try.  So we did.

You need pretzels, candy melts (picked these up at Michaels) and M&Ms.  You could also use hershey's kisses instead of the candy melts. 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread a layer of pretzels on a baking sheet and put one candy melt on each pretzel.

Put the baking sheet in the oven for 90 seconds.  I left mine in about 10 seconds too long and some of the candy melted through the pretzel.  Not a big deal, but I just had to pry them off the cookie sheet after they were set.  As soon as they come out of the oven, put one M&M on each pretzel.  You have to work fast.  So be sure to have your M&Ms ready.

 

By the way, check out the creepy M&M on the bag for this Valentine's Day.  

After the M&Ms are all on, you need to put them somewhere cold for the candy to set. 

We packaged these up in clear candy bags and tied with a cute red ribbon.  Hope Grace's class likes them!

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!