May 15, 2011

ballet recital

Today was the recital for Audrey's ballet class. We had bought the required special costume, invited the grandmas to attend, and asked papa to watch Charlie. But Audrey refused to perform. She seemed excited for recital until yesterday at rehearsal. She wouldn't go onto the stage, saying she was too scared. So I wasn't expecting much for today. I was really hoping when it came down to it, she would just go for it.

Audrey wouldn't even put her costume back on afterwards for pictures with the grandmas.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (1)

May 14, 2011

happy birthday, Seth!

Seth turned five yesterday and today we celebrated with him. Happy birthday, Seth!

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2011

sports class

Charlie and I have been going to a sports class, his first organized class. Each week they do a different sport: floor hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, football. He is not much of a focused class participant and more often than not does his own thing rather than what the coaches and I instruct him to do. He still has fun running around and throwing, kicking and hitting the balls but I think it will be a while before we sign up for another of this type of class.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2011

Mother's Day outtakes

I really did try to get the kids to pose for a Mother's Day card, but luck wasn't with me. I ultimately went with a photo from a different day, but these are still pretty cute.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Mother's Day!

We kept the tradition alive, except this year I had two little helpers in the kitchen. Audrey is really good with just about every step involved in making the waffles but the egg cracking (which she claims scares her), while Charlie contributed some well supervised whisking. He did a good job staying quiet and letting Mama sleep in, which earned him high marks for the morning. That and dressing like a chef with his sister.

Audrey thought it would be a good idea to make the waffles look pretty, so we came up with a sun design. This is the kind of special treatment you get around here when it's your day.

Mama was "surprised" when we came upstairs with a delicious breakfast for her to enjoy in bed. Between wrangling kids and opening presents, it's not easy to to actually get to the breakfast-in-bed part of the tradition.

It's always nice when both kids (especially Charlie) can settle down long enough to pose for a picture with us.

Audrey has the last word. Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2011

Happy Free Comic Book Day

Audrey was really excited to get out to FCBD this year in anticipation of snagging a new Smurfs comic. Charlie took one step into the store, quickly turned to me and asked "what do we do here, Dada?" He caught on swiftly and a good time was had by all...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2011

gifted

Audrey was very excited to give me the mother's day gift they had made in preschool. She had decided to wait until Todd came home from work, but just couldn't stand the anticipation so had me open it before we even ate lunch.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2011

angelic

We went out to dinner tonight and there was some hamming for the camera before the impatience of sitting set in and the misbehaving began.

Posted by jill at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2011

art show

Audrey's preschool had an art show today. Each child had a piece taped up to the wall outside the classrooms. Audrey was very proud of her snake. I think it is pretty awesome, too!

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2011

twins turn six!

Happy birthday to Jeffery and Jaila who turned six this week. We celebrated at their house today. Charlie and Audrey both love getting to see their cousins!

Posted by jill at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 30, 2011

ballet picture day

Audrey's dance recital is coming up in two weeks and today was picture day. Audrey was excited to get all dressed up.

Audrey waiting with some classmates to get pictures.

Audrey, Abby and Sarah came up with this Charlie's Angels-like pose all on their own.

After pictures, we loitered outside the park district eating popcorn.

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

April 29, 2011

twenty-seven months

Charlie has really been loving that the weather is nice and he can go outside and dig in the dirt. He is all boy when it comes to getting dirty.

Now that he is really talking, Charlie comes up with the silliest things. He'll say "I have an idea guys" and then tell us some gibberish about cars or trucks. If you try to tell his an idea he always argues that it is not an idea. I guess in this house, Charlie come up with all the good ideas.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

park playdate

We had a great afternoon today with Amber and Brylen at a park we had never been to. We took a nice walk (run) around the pond and saw what we think was a beaver then played at the playground.

Posted by jill at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2011

talent

Look what Charlie proudly showed me he could do today with a chip. That's my boy!

Posted by jill at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2011

bunny cake

Audrey and Charlie discovered this morning that the easter bunny visited our house and brought books and candy.

We saved the egg hunting for Nana and Papa's house, who organized a great egg hunt for Audrey, Charlie and cousins Imani, Jaila and Jeffery.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2011

I need a vacation from this vacation

Erinn and Kieran were off to Ireland again so we were off to Chicago to stay at their loft for a mini vacation. Our plan was two nights, low expectations and keep the cats company.

We started our trip by picking up Todd from work yesterday and going out for dinner at Leona's. I should have known we were destined for trouble when Charlie didn't nap at all. It started out small with happy screams because he thought it was funny. Dinner ended with Charlie throwing himself on the sidewalk on Taylor Street crying and screaming (unhappily).

Audrey was pretty good at least for the most part. Since she and Todd are both smiling, this picture must have been taken before Audrey grossed out us and half the restaurant by licking the top of the parmesan cheese shaker. Eww.

The rest of the night really only got worse. It had been a while since Charlie slept in the pack and play and he was not having it. He leaned so far over the side he fell right out. So, Charlie got to sleep in a big bed for the first time and did great. But between thinking someone was trying to break into the loft, crying cats and bed-hogging, thrashing children, Todd and I did not sleep so well.
The tired crew this morning.

Todd had to go into work this afternoon so I debated about just taking the kids home after breakfast. We bucked up and went ahead with our plan for the morning - the Museum of Science and Industry- and then we would go home. It was a good decision to go, we had a lot of fun.

Audrey in front of a model of the building we call "dada's building" and everyone else calls the Sears Tower.

Audrey had been talking about coming back here to see her favorite baby chicks for months.

Who knew the MSI has mold-a-ramas? Charlie pushes his new train.

Audrey wanted to take Charlie for a ride on the tractor.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2011

jumptastic

Our neighbors invited us to join them at the local bouncy place and we accepted. Last time Charlie was here last summer, I had to leave with him while Todd and Audrey stayed and had fun. It took a little bit for him to warm up but soon he was jumping with joy and cruising down the big slides with Todd.

Posted by jill at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2011

daffodils

We know that spring is coming - our daffodils are finally in full bloom!

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2011

good kitty

Charlie still gets excited every time he sees Natasha. He is a pretty good friend to her when he isn't threatening to pull her tail.

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2011

digging in the dirt

Charlie gets some serious outside time.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2011

wonder bry

Hooray! Amber and Brylen visited today! They delved into Audrey's dress up clothes and Brylen was rocking the Wonder Woman costume.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2011

clean shaven

The kids didn't even notice Todd finally shaved his winter beard today.

Posted by jill at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2011

up in the air

Posted by jill at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2011

shut down

We had a bit of excitement this afternoon, when there were three police cars outside our house, dealing with a minor issue at the neighbors. Audrey thought it was funny to tell Charlie they were going to be taken to jail and convinced Charlie to hide under the couch with her.

Posted by jill at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2011

twenty-six months

Charlie's language abilities have exploded! The boy whom I was worried would never talk is talking in sentences and saying new words every day.

It is so nice to hear him express himself, even if it hasn't helped as much as I had hoped with the occasional meltdown.

We love this crazy, little guy!

Posted by jill at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2011

cute fam

Posted by jill at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2011

basil

Susan started her spring break early with a lunch with me, Audrey and Charlie.

Even though they wouldn't try anything greek on the menu, they were both very excited about the pasta with parmesan cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2011

zippity do da

Nana joined us for Audrey's observation day at ballet.

Then we at lunch at Audrey's favorite, Noodles & Co.

Posted by jill at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2011

snuggle time

Posted by jill at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2011

off to see the wizard

We hadn't seen Brylen, Amber and Patrick for way too long. So when we decided to see a puppet show at Todd's hometown library, we got together with them for breakfast, then all went to the show.

It's like these two were never apart.

Patrick kept Charlie well entertained.

Sitting so nicely waiting for the show to start.

Charlie checks out the puppets after the show.

Before heading home for Charlie's nap, we got to visit with Nana and aunt Nancy.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2011

drop off

Todd's car is in the shop getting some work done so we took him to the train this morning.

Charlie was thrilled to be so close to real trains and insisted we stay and watch several more go by, even after Todd was long gone on his way to work.

Posted by jill at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2011

happy st patrick's day

Audrey was supposed to wear green for school so I made Charlie represent his small portion of Irish heritage today too.

Posted by jill at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2011

tap tap tap

I visited with Sara today while Audrey was in school and she gave me some great hand-me-downs from Emma. Despite the princess gear, Audrey was initially the most excited about the tap shoes. I think she may be giving up ballet for tap this summer.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (1)

March 13, 2011

fried pickles

Today we dug it with Mike and April for lunch.

Audrey and Charlie were both very interested in Mike's tats and he was more than happy to show them off.

Posted by jill at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2011

Charlie bath

The boy is very serious about his shampoo mohawk.

Posted by jill at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2011

free pancakes

It isn't very often I take both Audrey and Charlie to a restaurant by myself, but today was free pancake day. How could I pass that up just because I didn't have another adult to supervise with me?

Posted by jill at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2011

twenty-five months

I am excited to report that Charlie has decided to pronounce the long "e" at the end of words, such as Audrey, Channy and Charlie. He used to do this just fine but hasn't for quite a while, instead using a short "a" sound. One day out of the blue, he just started saying things correctly.

Charlie's behavior has gone up and down over the last few months, but this month he has been what we refer to as a perfect gentleman. There have been the usual tiffs with his sister and such, of course. That's my good, sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2011

have a seat

I bring a new storage container in the house and everyone has to sit in it!

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2011

big cat

Since the weather was mild today, we took a trip to the free zoo. We got to see most of the usual animals, including a couple of wolves close up. No otters today, though, and we couldn't find the elk in their wooded area.

The biggest difference was the mountain lions. Both of them were out and about. Most days they are hiding in their rock alcove. One even sat on the bench by the observation glass and started licking the glass while Charlie was standing right there. That caused him to jump a bit and exclaim "big cat licking me!"

Posted by jill at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2011

happy valentines day

Todd and I showed Audrey and Charlie a little extra love this morning by giving them each a book.

When I asked Audrey is she wanted to make Todd a card for valentines day, she told me she wanted to make him a crown. Todd is now the king of valentines!

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

double tutu

Today was another wear any dancewear day for ballet class. Audrey doesn't have much to choose from, but decided to double up with both the petal-filled tutu she wore last time and her smaller dress up dance skirt.

Before and after class the girls spend their time running around this pole.

Posted by jill at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2011

crafty valentine

Audrey's pre-school class is exchanging valentines and I thought it would be nice for Audrey and I to make something. I cut out shapes for Audrey to decorate and she tired of it after not even half. With 20 children and two teachers in her class, I think it was a little over ambitious for us.

We did finish all of them and here is the finished product: tootsie roll pops made to look like flowers. Cute, but a lot of work.

Posted by jill at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2011

all the track

With neighbor Colin's help, we built a railway this morning that incorporated every piece of train track we have. Colin has been wanting to come over to play trains for ever. During the fall when we were all playing out in the yard, he used to make up excuses to come inside and would try to sneak over to the trains.

Posted by jill at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2011

snowpocolypse 2011

Imagine Audrey's delight to wake up to almost three feet of snow this morning! Charlie had a rare morning nap so we bundled up and got to work on shoveling ourselves out.

Audrey and Colin had fun climbing and sliding down the snow drifts that were taller than them and throwing snowballs.

Once the driveway and sidewalk were cleared, thanks to the help of the best neighbors in the world, we went back inside for a snowed-in movie day.

Charlie joined us for round two outside.

Posted by jill at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2011

argyle

Audrey is quite the fashionista. She wants to wear these tights every chance she gets. And she just discovered these shoes from last summer and wears them constantly when in the house. At least she is sensible enough to know it is too cold outside for them.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2011

Charlie celebration, day three

Todd's side of the family came over celebrate Charlie's birthday today.

Charlie's attempt at showing us he is "two".

It was great to have the whole family here. I'm just sorry we didn't get any good pictures of Rickie!!!

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2011

two years

Our little guy is two! Charlie has come a long way in recent months. Pretty much anything Audrey does, he wants to do too. It is fun to watch him look to her for cues on how to act, though not always in his best interest.

He is clearer in communicating his thoughts and can even tell stories with a little help. Charlie is still pretty goofy, but we have started seeing a serious side of Charlie too. Sometimes he tells us something with such conviction it is hard not to laugh.

One of our favorite things about Charlie is his dancing. It is a cute little circular skip that requires a great deal of concentration. We love you, Char char!

Posted by jill at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

double party

Cousin Grant's birthday was yesterday and Charlie's is today, so Channy agreed to host a joint birthday party for the boys.

Allysa introduced the kids to Justin Bieber songs and videos on her Ipod. Audrey's verdict: nice. Charlie's: cute.

Seth got into the party spirit.

Birthday boys with lots of birthday cake.

Charlie, of course, loved his Thomas cake that Channy picked out for him.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2011

choo choo Charlie

Our little guy's birthday is tomorrow so Todd took the day off from work and we planned some activities just for Charlie. First stop was the children's museum. The last time we were there was six days before I had Charlie.

Then was the highlight of Charlie's day, or possibly of his life so far, the train restaurant. I don't think he could believe he was at a place with working trains everywhere.

We sat at a counter where they brought our food out on a train.

They even brought his birthday ice cream with a candle out on a train. He loved it!

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 26, 2011

the many faces of Charlie

Posted by jill at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2011

cool kids

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2011

this one's for you, uncle Jeff

Audrey loved wearing her new warm up suit to and from ballet today.

Posted by jill at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2011

go bears

When we found out we could get free food at Noodles for wearing team gear and we were invited to a playoff game party, we had to pull this Bears hand-me-down out of the outgrown pile for Audrey to wear. She asked for days when she would get to wear it, calling it the Cubs outfit every single time.

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)

January 22, 2011

airtastic party

Audrey attended her friend Sarah's birthday party at one of those bouncy places today.

Crabby after playing, despite a large delicious cake right next to her.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2011

bakery men

Santa brought Audrey and Charlie a toy kitchen and a few accessories, like these chef hats.

Posted by jill at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2011

check up

Today the whole family took a trip to the doctor for Audrey's late four year and Charlie's early two year check ups. I convinced Todd to take the day off from work to assist since I knew there were going to be shots. I love at Charlie's age when they get shots and don't even know what hit them. He had a little whimper then was perfectly fine. Audrey did better this time than with her flu shot - there was no kicking, though she did angrily yell at the nurse that she did not like her. Once she calmed down, she did apologize.

We know that Audrey is a big girl now, she had to wear a paper gown for the appointment. She, of course, called it her princess gown.

Here are the stats: Audrey is 41 inches tall and 35 pounds. Charlie is 35 inches tall (64th percentile), 25 pounds (17th percentile), with a 19.5 inch head circumference.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2011

first homework

We had a family homework assignment for Audrey's preschool - to decorate a snowman. I may have directed a bit too much, but Audrey was very happy with the results. Making our snowfriend patriotic was all her.

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (1)

January 15, 2011

good timing

What luck that when we go to spend a gift card Audrey got for her birthday (thanks, uncle Scott!), there just happens to be storytime at the bookstore. And they gave out cookies. Our kind of storytime.

Posted by jill at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2011

so fancy

Posted by jill at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2011

snow fort

Another snowfall, another snow fort.

Posted by jill at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

storytime

Charlie's first session of storytime began at the library today. Like his sister, he is not much of a participator, but sat quietly and paid attention to the stories.

Posted by jill at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2011

rite of passage

One of the worst things about working is missing big moments like this: Audrey received her first library card today! I'm so proud of you, girl!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2011

ear tubes

I'll be honest, we've been more than a little worried about today. Sure, it's a simple procedure, but signing off on surgery for your little girl, no matter how minor, is not an easy thing to do. Thankfully she was super brave and chatted up the procession of nurses and doctors as if the whole thing were no big deal. They whisked her away and about 5-10 minutes later the doctor was back to tell us everything went well. Audrey is now the proud owner of some ear tubes and hopefully is now done with her recurring ear infections. We could not be prouder of her; she was really great today.

She's also the proud owner of some really cool new hospital socks!

Special thanks to Channy for coming out before the crack of dawn to keep an eye on Charlie!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2011

work from home

One day back into the old routine and I was ready to be back home, only this time I was working. Someone slipped an elf hat on my head while I was diligently conducting searches.

Not one to be left out of the fun, Charlie improvised and crafted himself an 80's style headband.

After lunch Charlie declared he needed to use the potty. As it is our dream to see him out of diapers, we got him in the bathroom in about 1/2second later. Nothing happened, but it's a start...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2011

back in the routine

After almost two weeks of Todd off work and no classes, Todd was back to work and Audrey was back to dance class today.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2011

you've reached Charlie Milo...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2011

Happy New Year!

Celebrating the start of 2011 by staying in where it's warm. Happy New Year!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2010

white wolf

Audrey was visiting Nana and Papa and Todd was visiting a friend, so it was just me and Charlie today. The weather was so unseasonably warm, we decided to visit the nearby zoo.

We'd never been in cooler weather and it appears that this is the time to go. We saw all the animals we normally see and a few that we usually don't.

Charlie was face to face with one of the wolves. Normally, we might catch a quick far-away glance of them.

On our way out of the park, a little boy was sitting on this blue bench and Charlie sat down right next to him. The boy's dad offered to take a picture of me and Charlie. So here we are, a rare outing together and an even rarer picture while out together. It was fun hanging with the boy.

Posted by jill at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2010

twenty-three months

I had decided that December was officially the month that Charlie went insane. We had a really rough patch in the middle of the month with a lot of crying fits and tantrums. Then just as quickly as crazy Charlie appeared, right before christmas, we had our old Charlie back.

Charlie still thinks it is funny to throw food sometimes at meals and is hit or miss on his cooperation with diaper changes, but is more often than not such a sweet little guy.

Trucks, trains and balls still top Charlie's list of favorite things. His talking continues to get better and better and he is stringing words together. We are not sure when this happened, but he no longer will say a long e at the end of words, they all end in a short a sound. He CAN say it, he just won't. This boy has ways of doing things and that is that.

Posted by jill at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2010

happy birthday, dada!

Todd is 38 today! Though we can't quite plan the big birthday celebrations we used to have before kids, but Audrey, Charlie and I tried to make his day special.

Audrey is notorious for ruining gift surprises for Todd and this time around was no different. She didn't completely give away what she picked out for him, but there was a few mentions of Batman to Todd the previous weeks. This time she at least knew to try and cover up her mistake. She really did pick out the mask and shirt all herself. These will go great with the Bobba Fett helmet he got for christmas.

We were a little apprehensive about going out to dinner to celebrate because our last experience was not so pleasant thanks to a wild Charlie. We threw caution to the wind, Charlie was quite the gentleman and we had a very nice time. Back home, we had cake and ice cream. Audrey accidentally blew out the candles before Todd could and then I couldn't get the 8 to relight, but I hope Todd's wish came true anyway! Happy birthday!

Posted by jill at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2010

channy christmas

Channy stopped by for a holiday visit today, bringing all kinds of fun gifts.

Posted by jill at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2010

merry christmas 2010

Santa came and brought all kinds of prizes for Audrey and Charlie!

After opening presents and eating breakfast, we loaded everyone up and headed out to Jeff and Rickie's beautiful new house for a celebration with Todd's family.

The night ended with a rousing game of Jenga and Charlie cuddled up on the couch with Jeff watching basketball.

Posted by jill at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2010

christmas eve

It was great to see my extended family at tonight's christmas gathering.
Charlie charmed his teenage cousins Julie and Mackenzie.

Audrey and Charlie jumped right in to help Caden with his new Thomas train set.

Charlie had just gotten a new toy truck but just wanted to play with cousin Lori's holiday decorations.

Now the kiddos are tucked into bed waiting for Santa!

Posted by jill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2010

holiday hats

Posted by jill at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2010

Charlie time

Posted by jill at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2010

pinecone present

Audrey brought home a present for Todd and I from preschool today. At first she said we had to wait until christmas to open it, but then decided we should open it tonight.

It is a pinecone with blue glitter. Audrey made it herself in class.

She chose blue because it is her favorite, of course.

Posted by jill at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2010

future blogger

The girl preparing for the day we turn this site over to her...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2010

simple pleasures

A nice reminder that childhood joy doesn't have to be attached to pricey toys.

As we get closer to Christmas day, perhaps we should consider trading in the kids' gifts for a few empty boxes..?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2010

a little more tree trimming

We already had the lights, but today saw the kids add some garland and ornaments to the tree.

Charlie was really good, though he can't reach very high. I was happy he only pulled a few ornaments off once we had them on.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2010

birthday movie

We promised Audrey we'd see Tangled for her birthday and made good on it this morning. Aud & Charlie had spent the night with Channy, so we stole her away for a bit before returning for the boy. She liked the movie, but once again I think she was happiest about the big tub of popcorn.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2010

in awe

Charlie missed out on the tree construction last night. He was tired and was not cooperating. So he was amazed at what ended up in the living room overnight.

Last year, when Charlie wasn't walking yet, having the tree up on the table allowed us not to worry about him pulling it over on top of himself. We shall see how it works out this year.

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2010

trimming

We started decorating for the holidays today.

We needed new lights for the tree and Audrey requested blue, since it is her favorite. We got as far as the tree going up and lights on.

Posted by jill at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2010

happy birthday, Audrey!

Audrey is four years old today!

She was excited about all of the presents she received (mostly books), but really was loving her new camera.

We got the first real snow of the season last night and I don't think a better thing could have happened to Audrey on her birthday. The other day there were barely flurries and she wanted to go out and play in the snow, so she couldn't wait to get out today. She was practicing her snow angels on the carpet inside while still in her pajamas.

Even on her birthday, Todd put her to work shoveling.

Snowman!

After the snowman, Audrey and I worked on a snow fort, really just a wall of snow. Poor Charlie was tired of the difficulty moving in his snow gear so just sat and watched. Audrey could have stayed outside all day, but we finally coaxed her inside with hot chocolate.

Audrey's other birthday wish was to see the annual local light display. She enjoys looking at holiday lights but I think it is mostly a ploy to get the candycane they pass out at the end. It is our sweet girl's birthday, so of course, we oblige.

Posted by jill at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2010

birthday party fail, year two

Tomorrow is Audrey's birthday, and in usual Audrey fashion, she is sick! Today Audrey was supposed to have a party with a few of her friends but we decided yesterday to cancel because Audrey had a fever and was vomiting. She broke out in hives this morning. At the doctor we discovered, as has been happening when she has hives as of late, she has an ear infection too. The poor girl just can't catch a break. Her family party was canceled due to sickness last year too.

Nana and Papa braved the germs and came over for a visit. Audrey perked up for a bit while they were here. She was happy to see them, snuggle with Nana, read books and open presents, of course.

We already had ordered a cake for the party, so Audrey got to blow out her candles and share the cake with Nana and Papa.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2010

waste not

I was annoyed when a single book ordered online came packaged in a ridiculously large box with a ton of paper filler. But, apparently, that filler is the best toy ever. Charlie, Audrey, even Natasha played with it all day today.

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2010

twenty-two months

Charlie is officially done with a morning nap! It had become more of a habit for him to go down in the mornings and usually he wouldn't even sleep, but would be cranky without the quiet time. Not being tied to the house in the morning is great and Charlie and I get some time just the two of us while Audrey is in school.

This month, Charlie really starting realizing he has an opinion about what he does and wants to do what he wants, when he wants. With our new found morning freedom, we have been getting out more, but when it is time to leave somewhere he is having fun, such as the library, playground our Audrey's preschool classroom, a fit ensues. We feel that terrible two year mark coming closer every day, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2010

happy (early) birthday, papa

When we asked Audrey what we should do for Papa's birthday she unselfishly suggested we take him out to eat at her very favorite restaurant. So we hopped in the car and headed out to make some birthday magic.

When we arrived Audrey gave Papa his choice of two lunch spots: Noodles & Co. or Noodles, Inc. He chose "Inc." and she informed him that it was the same place.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2010

happy thanksgiving, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids were excited about the parades this year; we watched portions of both the Chicago and New York events. They weren't exactly excited about the Tofurkey feast, but did gobble down a few corn muffins each. Did I mention that Charlie will cheer for "muff" when ever we make muffins? That little guy cracks us up!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2010

santa fail

After Audrey saw Charlie's photo with Santa, she decided she could be brave and visit with him too. Mostly, she just wanted a candy cane. When we got to the big guy, though, she lost her bravery and instead we watched him for a bit from a distance.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2010

the mail is here

Charlie and Audrey received some Thanksgiving cheer from Channy in the mail today. Watching Charlie open mail is always fun.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2010

happy belated birthday, Erinn!

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran were out our way for a birthday shopping spree and dropped in for a visit. Nana and Papa brought Audrey home and we all had a nice get together...as there are no big Thanksgiving plans this year, this was pretty much our celebration.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

the first kid on Santa's lap

This morning Charlie was talking about Santa and when we asked if he'd like to see him in person, he replied with an "uh-huh." That was enough for us! We quickly got him ready and headed for the mall. Charlie was excited about it until he actually saw Santa and then quickly tried to make a run for it. We calmed him down and got him on Santa's lap...he didn't even seem to notice what was going on for a few moments. But when Charlie glanced back over his shoulder and saw Santa's face up close, it was all over. Not exactly a rousing success, but far better results than we've achieved with his sister thus far.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2010

super late Father's Day outing

Today we hit the road to see Nana and Papa. Audrey was spending the night, but Charlie got some fun time in as well as I made good on my promise to take Papa to the movies for Father's Day. Maybe we'll get a little closer to the actual date next year...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2010

stare down

Susan and Jeremy came over for dinner tonight and for some reason Charlie was giving him the stink eye.

Jeremy, giving it right back at him.

Posted by jill at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2010

dentist

Last night Audrey had her second dentist appointment for a cleaning and check up.

She has become an old pro and even let the hygienist use Mr. Thirsty this time.

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2010

fork in the road

Charlie and I took a long walk while Aud was in school this morning.

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2010

happy birthday, Allyssa

We celebrated cousin Allysa's eighth birthday today!

Posted by jill at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2010

cat mustache

You may think that we somehow arranged this string on Natasha's face to look like a mustache, but it was all her.

Posted by jill at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2010

hair accessories

Audrey got new barrettes and had to try all of them at the same time.

Posted by jill at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2010

dirty play

Today we went with Sara to pick up Emma from school, to lunch, then to the playground. Somehow Charlie and Audrey both got filthy - Emma did not. I have never seen children get so dirty just from playing on playground equipment. I guess that means they had a lot of fun.

Posted by jill at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2010

posing together

This doesn't happen often without a lot of coaxing...

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2010

leaves and a ball

What more could a boy want?

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2010

good and evil

We made a few purchases from the Halloween clearance rack this morning for dress up.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2010

Todd and Audrey

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2010

happy halloween!

Audrey had been talking about being Wonder Woman for weeks and luckily her costume from last year still fit, but decided two days ago she wanted to be a kitty. So, instead of having the same costume as last year, she had pretty much the same costume as two years ago. The costume we got for Charlie was too uncomfortable, so I fashioned him a gnome outfit out of his own clothes, felt and the hat that came with the original.

Todd took Charlie out to just a few houses, while I took Audrey to trick or treat with neighbor Colin and his friend Emma. Audrey went to many more houses than last year, but still pooped out much quicker than her friends.

Charlie helped Todd pass out candy. The entire time, he held on to a sucker for himself and one for Audrey, which they both enjoyed when we returned home.

Posted by jill at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2010

trains on tv

Charlie loves our train set and got to see Thomas on tv for the first time today.
He was elated.

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2010

twenty-one months

Our Charlie is always on the go. The picture below is pretty much what I see of him any time we leave the house. All he wants to do is run. Away from me. Luckily, he mostly sticks to the sidewalk.

We are excited that Charlie finally is able to say a version of his own and Audrey's names. His Charlie sounds like he is saying "Char char" and Audrey is "Awa" but we can totally tell who he is talking about. He also has started to string two words together.

On Mondays during Audrey's dance class at the park district, I have been dropping Charlie off at the child care. He loves it and now wants to go there every time we drop off and pick up Audrey from preschool. He is always happy to see me when I pick him up, so that makes me feel good!

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2010

the gnome that was not meant to be

What could have been the cutest Halloween costume for Charlie will not see the light of day. I have been trying to get him excited about this costume for weeks. He has been pointing to it and saying gnome. The few times I have convinced him to put the hat on I have cheered and clapped until he joined in.

But this is just not going to work.

Posted by jill at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2010

fancy tutus

Today the girls got to veer from their usual ballet uniform.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2010

haircut

Charlie has been so good for the haircuts we have given him at home, we thought he wouldn't have any trouble getting his hair cut at a shop if he was sitting in a race car, watching tv. Boy, were we wrong.

The balloon and slide helped tremendously in calming him down.

Cute with his new haircut, but I think we do just as good a job.

Posted by jill at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2010

purrfect pumpkin carving

The plan

First cut

Scooping guts

Peeking in

Grossed out by the smell

Executing the design

Final product!

Posted by jill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2010

baby dear

Charlie has taken a strong liking to Audrey's baby doll, Ruby. It is very sweet how he carries her around and even wants it in his crib sometimes when he sleeps.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2010

ripe

It actually happened. The tomato Audrey planted finally ripened to red!

I was hoping Audrey would eat her tomato, but she put it in the corner of her slide platform with some grass and called it her pantry. Then she stepped on it and smooshed it. Maybe next year.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2010

little ballerinas

Audrey is several weeks into her second ballet class and today was another observation day.

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2010

farming pumpkins

Today was our annual trip to Kuiper's Farm with Nana and Papa.

Charlie could not believe the awesomeness of the toy train traveling around near the ceiling of the store.

Donuts!

We couldn't find it last year, so this was Charlie's first year to see how tall this fall.

Almost to the pumpkins!

Charlie tried so hard to pick up this pumpkin, poor little guy.

Washing and carting our our pumpkin selections of the day.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2010

in the trees

Charlie recently learned the sign for walk. Even though he can say the word, he loves to do the sign as a very exaggerated motion that looks more like swimming. When he suggested this morning we go for a walk, it was so beautiful out we were all for it.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2010

slurp

Spaghetti night!

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2010

fall ahead

This morning, we broke out our Halloween stash and let Audrey and Charlie decorate the windows.

Audrey and her neighborhood friends Divya and Colin spent most of the afternoon collecting this pile of leaves and just a few minutes jumping in it.

Dave next door, aka Popsicleman, provided the popsicles. I think this was Charlie's first and most of it ended up on the sidewalk.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2010

more to crow about

Today Audrey and I headed to Scarecrow Fest to have my annual meet up with college friends Sarah, Priscilla and Rebecca and her two children. Charlie stayed home with Todd as to not disrupt his nap schedule. Audrey is no stranger to Scarecrow Fest. Two years ago she had a full weekend of it.

It was pretty crowded so we didn't get to see many actual scarecrows, but I think Audrey makes a good one.

I tried to convince her to get the skull and crossbones. She opted for the pastel sparkly butterfly.

We have a winner! Sarah's dog Simon won his dog race!

Priscilla is such a trouper. Not feeling well and still hanging with Audrey, Dylan and Hadley.

Finally Audrey gets brave enough to pet Simon. She now considers him one of her friends.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2010

do the backpack

Todd and Audrey have a dance they do together called the jumping backpack. Charlie was working on his own version tonight. I guess it would be called the sitting backpack.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 05, 2010

noodles

High five for eating out on a weeknight!

Waiting patiently for her beloved mac and cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2010

tomato

Back when Audrey planted her tomato seeds, we never thought we would actually see any tomatoes. After watering the plant almost ever day all summer, there are three little green tomatoes! I'm guessing this is as good as it is going to get.

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2010

nice save

This afternoon, Audrey was walking through the hallway, tripped and fell. When I asked her if she was ok she told me she was resting, as if she did it on purpose.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2010

jenga

Today Audrey took interest in the Jenga game that has always been in the cabinet and asked to play. After dinner Todd set it up and taught her how. She caught on quickly and did really well!

Posted by jill at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2010

painting

Audrey really wanted take part in the painting that we have been doing in the bathroom, so I let her help with the door.

Posted by jill at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2010

twenty months

Our boy is twenty months!

Charlie has learned one of the most dreaded of toddler words: mine. We were able to keep it out of Audrey's vocabulary for much longer, but I guess that is what happens when you are the little brother. He still is pretty sweet and can usually be persuaded to share after being asked nicely.

It is getting harder and harder to take happy pictures of Charlie because once the camera comes out, he cries to "look, look" at the pictures already taken. Our new tactic is the sneak attack before he even realizes his picture is being taken.

It only took twenty months, but it seems that Charlie has finally figured out that he will get his diaper changed when it is dirty and it is futile to fight it. Diaper changes have been a wrestling match with Charlie every time for as long as I can remember but all of the sudden he is cooperating. Hooray for small miracles!

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2010

red day at school

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2010

shipping out

Todd and I are having a work-on-the-house weekend so Audrey is going to Nana and Papa's tomorrow and Channy came to pick up Charlie today.

But first, Channy kindly took us out to lunch.

Posted by jill at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2010

prim and proper

Charlie really wants to be just like his big sister, including wearing her clothes.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2010

empty space

I moved a chair to get something from behind it and immediately there were two little people sitting where the chair was.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2010

first day of preschool - this time for real

Audrey is finally feeling better and had her first day of preschool today, after missing the first two classes.

I couldn't get much information out of her, but Audrey says she had fun and likes school. She was happy to see Charlie after class.

Posted by jill at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2010

head on collision

We watched Colin for a few hours today. He and Audrey get along so great and Charlie always enjoys observing older kids. The played trains and ran circles like crazy around the house.

Posted by jill at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2010

stairs are tiring

Sometimes when Charlie is climbing the stairs he likes to stop and take a little rest.

And, of course, around here it is all about monkey see, monkey do, so Audrey has to do it too.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2010

tiny dancers

Here is my son in a tutu. Charlie loves to dress up in Audrey's ballerina and princess clothes almost as much as Audrey does. The spinning in the flouncy skirts is really what seems to attract him to it. Why should girls get all the fun?

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2010

does whatever a spider can

Audrey is feeling better so we stopped by Colin's birthday party across the street, with the plan to drop off his present and stay for the last few minutes. This turned into hours of playing with the neighborhood children in the rented bounce house. I am feeling a lot of guilt and I hope that Audrey doesn't get anyone sick but she was so happy to be out of the house for the first time since Tuesday.

Posted by jill at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2010

go, Charlie, go

Charlie can't even ride on the musical zebra without holding onto a ball.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2010

first day of preschool

Today was supposed to have been Audrey's first day of preschool. She is sick with a cold so instead is home resting on the couch with the puke bucket.

Posted by jill at 10:25 AM | Comments (1)

September 07, 2010

preschool orientation

Today Todd and I took Audrey for preschool orientation. This was our first time meeting the teachers and seeing the classroom. The kids played while the parents listened to a presentation by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Antonsen.

Audrey was excited to find her name on the window.

So many toys...

Audrey finally decided on the dollhouse.

Posted by jill at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2010

birthday sand

Finally Charlie got to use the sandbox he received for his birthday back in January. He had a lot of fun digging - "dig" is one of the words he can say really well - and did not try to eat or throw the sand. Hooray for small miracles!

Posted by jill at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2010

kittens

We were actually thinking about adopting a kitten this weekend. We visited the shelter twice and went back today to get a kitten named Skittles and she was gone. In the thirty minutes left of adoption time the day before someone else had come in and adopted her. Audrey and I spent more time with the cats to see if we were drawn to another, but we weren't loving any like Skittles. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Posted by jill at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2010

on top of the world

I took advantage of a day off from work to do the one thing I like to avoid if at all possible - I hopped on my usual morning train into the city and headed to the office. Only this time with Audrey in tow. We've been talking about seeing the view from the top of "my building" for ages and this seemed like the perfect end-of-summer day to do it. Get ready for another photo heavy post, my friends.

Audrey points the way to Chicago.

Before heading to the top, we stopped in to see some of Audrey's "work friends." I'm glad she had the chance to see Marti again before her last day at the firm. Audrey talks about her all the time.

When we got to the top of the building, Audrey immediately took off to the windows to see if she could see boats from that height. When we made our way to the new Skydeck ledges, Aud plopped down on her belly next to some teens who declared she was "so brave" as they were still mustering the courage to try it.

Meow enjoyed the view from 103 floors up too.

We covered a lot of ground on our little outing. After showing Audrey around the library, we stopped to check out the giant eyeball. She would later report to Jill that it was "so creepy!"

The other main attraction of our city tour was Millenium Park as Audrey really wanted to see the bean again.

Little did we know that there was a tent full of family fun waiting for us. Audrey was excited to try the hula hoops, but was quickly discouraged when she realized how hard it is to keep the hoop moving.

After lunch at Audrey's favorite spot, Noodles & Co., we started our trek back to the train station. Audrey was very interested in pigeons during our walk and spent some time chasing them around Daley plaza. Luckily this fountain was cool enough that she soon gave up the chase and forgot all about them.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. We caught a bonus express train out of the city due to the holiday weekend and read Audrey's new comic on the way home. Does it get any better?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:34 PM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2010

two points

We thought it might be nice for Charlie to have something to do with all those balls he is constantly carrying around so we got a little basketball hoop. Everything from shoes to food went through this hoop today.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2010

sandbox!

Charlie received this sandbox for his birthday back in January and we finally got sand and set it up today. We have been worried that Charlie would eat the sand. Audrey had fun playing in it during Charlie's nap. My worry now is that Charlie will throw sand, since he throws EVERYTHING.

Posted by jill at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2010

happy (belated) birthday, Nana!

We were only two days late for the big day when we arrived in Sycamore. Papa was off giving a tennis lesson so we had the birthday girl to ourselves for a bit.

We told Nana to pick a hot spot for lunch and she chose an old haunt just a few blocks away. Audrey entertained us all with stories and animal sounds.

Charlie entertained as well, but mostly he was just excited for pancakes.

A good time was had by all until a certain birthday girl closed a car door on this poor author's thumb. Despite the injury we had a great time - happy birthday, Nana!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

nineteen months

At Charlie's 18 month check-up the pediatrician and I discussed Charlie seeking some help for his talking - or lack of talking. He was saying quite a few words but had still been getting easily frustrated and we thought maybe progressing his speech would help. Well over this last month, he has been learning new words like crazy without any therapist's help.

Charlie still loves balls and his stuffed dog Bandit and has now acquired a love of trains. We can hear trains from the nearby tracks and the faint sound of them gets him all excited.

For now, Charlie is a better sharer than his big sister. If she is fussing about wanting a toy that he has he always gives it to her willingly. He is such a sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2010

helicopter

Charlie and Audrey love watching Todd fly his remote control helicopter.

Looks of amazement.

Audrey likes to try and catch the helicopter. She didn't get this one.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

happy International Read a Comic in Public Day!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2010

Do you like mustaches?

While drawing, Charlie in inadvertently marked his upper lip and it looked like a mustache! I may have embellished it a bit for the photo, but really it was mostly Charlie.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2010

imitation

Charlie can be so funny sometimes. Susan was standing leaning against the wall drinking her coffee and Charlie walked up and stood just like she was to drink his juice.

Of course Audrey had to get in on it, too.

Posted by jill at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2010

sprinkler

Audrey and Charlie had a great time in the sprinkler at Sarah's house today.

These two are so cute together.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2010

wild at the zoo

I like this photo of Charlie crossing his fingers at the entrance of Brookfield Zoo. The promise of a fun day spread out before him, what could he be wishing for? If the lad was hoping not to spoil the trip with a tantrum the likes of which we've never seen before, well, perhaps next time he'd have better luck crossing fingers on both hands...

The day started out nicely. We arrived at the zoo early ready for fun. Audrey and Jill hit the butterfly house right away while Charlie and I waited outside. As Audrey tried in vain to get the butterflies to land on her finger, I pushed Charlie in his stroller until he started to get antsy. I let him down and we waited outside the exit of the butterflies. When he finally saw Mama, he lost it and started screaming and crying. All attempts at consoling the boy were met with further frustration. Jill offered to take him outside the park to see if a drive would cool him down. As it turned out, she drove all the way home and put him down for a nap.

Aud and I bravely carried on, determined not to let misfortune spoil the day for all. We paused briefly to recreate a classic scene; I can't believe how big my little girl is getting!

Jill and I were worried about Charlie's ability to handle himself at the Dolphin show, so his untimely departure made it an easy decision to make it our first stop. I wish he could have been there as I bet he would have loved seeing them do their tricks. Audrey sat very quietly next to me the whole time, but talked about them quite a bit once the show was over.

Audrey has been talking about the goats since our last visit, so we made sure to spend some time in the goat pen again this time around. She was a little shy at first, but I think she may have brushed nearly every goat in the place by the time she was finished. We even witnessed a goat milking session too.

I'm not sure what is going on with these cut-outs, but we couldn't resist a few shots.

After a tour of the primate house I received a call, Jill and Charlie were back for another attempt at zoo fun. Charlie was in much better spirits this time around and we all marched over to check out the new wilderness exhibit.

The kids loved the bears, especially watching them cool off with a dip in the water. It was pretty amazing how close those bears were.

After the disastrous start, it was great to get a second chance. Charlie enjoyed himself and we were all glad to tour the zoo without any further drama.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2010

water park

Audrey's friend Sarah and her nanny invited us along to the local park district pool today. We'd never been there before and it was a lot of fun. The zero depth part of the pool is huge and there is a sand area and kid water play area.

Posted by jill at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2010

honk honk

Posted by jill at 09:00 PM | Comments (1)

August 15, 2010

attack of the cousins!

Audrey and Charlie had a nice surprise today - a visit from cousins Imani, Jeffrey and Jaila! Audrey raced around the house while Charlie demonstrated his throwing skills to Uncle Jeff. After we all said our goodbyes Audrey plopped down on the couch and told me that she needed a rest because "my friends got me too excited!"

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2010

touch-a-truck FAIL!

When Jill told me about her latest discovery I thought we had a winner. But touch-a-truck day wasn't meant to be this time around.

Charlie was excited, looking around wildly at the ambulance, fire truck, police car, etc. But he got jumpy when he heard sirens. Audrey was interested too, but the sirens made her cover her ears and demand that we go somewhere else. We traveled across the lot to see a dump truck and a tractor, but some super-dad honked the dump truck's horn making his own kid cry. Once he broke the silence every kid in line had to climb up there and honk the horn which brought about more ear plugging and more demands to leave. We left without touching any trucks!

The day wasn't a total loss - we took off to Pockets for their customer appreciation day and once everyone had eaten and chilled out a little we stopped by the zoo. Audrey was excited to show me the Mastodon she's always talking about. And Charlie was happy he had me around to do some heavy lifting.

It was ungodly hot, but we had a fun time checking out the animals as they beat the heat. I don't think the otters have ever come this close to us before; the kids were thrilled to get such a good look at them in action.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2010

a cat and a dog

I don't know how it came to be that Audrey is obsessed with cats/Meow and Charlie with dogs/Bandit. Here they are each looking at books about their favorite animal.

Posted by jill at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2010

poolside

We had another swim day today at Channy's.

Erika, Seth and Grant were there too.

Charlie is really getting better in the water. Today he was happy in the floating turtle and the innertube. Check out that kicking!

Audrey didn't even bother with her lifejacket today. She is becoming an old pro.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2010

pasta shake

Today I didn't mind when Charlie and Audrey raided the cabinet and pulled out boxes of food. They had so much fun making music and dancing to the sound of dry pasta.

After all that activity they needed to rest.

A rarity - sitting still and looking at the camera at the same time.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (1)

August 09, 2010

hurry, back inside!

We attempted to have some outside fun after dinner, but it wasn't meant to be. I don't know about your backyard, but ours has become mosquito central.

I think the boy's face tells the tale better than I can.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2010

okay barbie let's go party

That's my boy having the most fun playing with Barbies. I love that guy.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2010

and Charlie is number 101

We were going for Billy Idol. Not sure we got there, maybe we were close?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2010

the queen of accessories and the king of the ball

Who needs to actually fill the pool with water? Today Audrey, Charlie and I sat in the shade in the empty pool and blew bubbles and tossed the ball around.

Then they went down the slide again and again and again.

Posted by jill at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2010

bedtime stories

One of the things I am most excited about these days is Charlie's new found love of bedtime stories. I about died recently when he grabbed a book from his shelf and then plopped himself in my lap, but I was even happier to see him do it to Audrey tonight! She read him Goodnight Gorilla and Books are for Eating Reading all on her own. He still gets a little squirrely, which she countered by hugging him tight every time he tried to make a break for it. So fun, I could not be more thrilled to see this become part of his nighttime ritual.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2010

lunch

In order to beat the heat today, we went out to run some errands and grab lunch. Charlie graduated from high chair to a seat that attaches to the booth. At first he seemed excited, but the novelty faded quickly. When he starts saying "down!" you know he means business.

Audrey worked on the kids' menu and enjoyed the cherries from our drinks. She did not enjoy her father trying to create a poor man's cheese fries by dunking his french fries into her mac & cheese. I received an earful and promised never to do it again.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2010

eighteen months, the stats

Charlie had his eighteen month check up today. The little guy is 32 inches tall, 24.2 pounds and his big head is 19 3/4 inches. The pediatrician says he is "perfect."

Waiting to see the doctor

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2010

eighteen months

My boy, you are a year and a half old today! My little guy is growing up so fast; I swear time sped up tenfold when I became a father. These past few weeks have been really fun, we can practically see the gears turning in that head of yours.

Now I know it gets frustrating not being able to communicate with us to the extent you obviously would like, but the word "ball" comes across loud and clear! We need to work on this obsession before you turn into your Uncle Jeff! You've been saying some new things too, just the other day you started saying "knee" with a whole lot of enthusiasm (just like your big sister used to, I guess it's just a fun word to say). And you've been repeating things from books (which you now love to read with all of us, even Audrey), especially sounds from Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You? I love hearing "boom, boom, boom" in that little Charlie voice.

You love to play and simply cannot get enough of whatever your big sister is doing. One thing that has been constant is your good humor, you love to laugh and be part of the fun. I came home from work earlier this week and as soon as I opened the door I heard "Dada!" and here comes Charlie running to greet me. You looked up at me, smiled and then started dancing for a minute and then ran off again to see what Audrey and Mama were doing. That's my boy!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:22 PM | Comments (1)

wild animals

This afternoon's trip to the park started off just fine. We spent time looking at memorial statues and the flowers in the sunken garden before heading over to see the animals.

What ended up being our last stop of the visit was the reptile house. Lunch was overdue and Charlie was a little nutty. He was banging on the alligator enclosure, running and then laying on the floor. He even got a talking to from the high schooler working the front door. Then on the way to the car, Audrey had a huge fit because she didn't get to see the mastodon. Good times.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2010

ballet

Today was the last class of Audrey's first session of ballet. Channy and Nana came to watch the budding ballerina.

Warming up

First position

At the end of each class, the girls show one of the steps they practiced

Todd took off work to watch too

Nana stuck around after class for a bit to try to catch bugs with Audrey

After naps we went on a search for soft serve ice cream

Charlie was a big fan

Posted by jill at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2010

two cakes

Tyler's 14th birthday was a few weeks ago AND he graduated from 8th grade so we celebrated him and his accomplishments at pool party at Channy's today. Congrats, Tyler!

Audrey and Charlie were both tired - Aud from her sleepover with Allysa and Charlie skipped his nap for the party.

Charlie even fell asleep on the way home.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (1)

July 23, 2010

drop off

Charlie and I dropped off Audrey at Channy's this morning to spend the night. Allysa is staying over too, so there is a cousin slumber party tonight!

Audrey was all ready to swim in Channy's pool by the time Charlie and I left.

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2010

coloring

I think this may be the first time I let Charlie go wild with the markers. They are messier than crayons but I don't have to worry about him taking a big bite of the marker. Thank goodness for the washable kind!

Posted by jill at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2010

swinging

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2010

pool

We finally took the baby pool that has been sitting in the living room outside and filled it with water today. We let the water warm until after dinner, when Audrey and Charlie got to take their first dip in it. They have been having fun it the pool in the house but really loved to actually splash around!

Posted by jill at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

strangest houses

These are regular spots for Charlie and Audrey to hang out. Audrey calls her corner her house and doesn't want Charlie to come in, hence the pillow door.

Posted by jill at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2010

boy hugs

Posted by jill at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2010

yo-yo party

Jill was off to see a friend's performance in the city which gave me the chance to spend some quality time reconnecting with the little ones. Jill had purchased a Hello Kitty yo-yo for Audrey earlier in the week, but hadn't yet given it to her. I broke that baby out after dinner with the promise that I'd show Aud how to use it. After about a minute of instruction, she ran to the living room and called out to us to come quick and join her yo-yo party! Charlie grabbed his bubbles and we were on our way to good times.

While I don't have much to report, I can say with certainty this was the best yo-yo party I've ever attended.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2010

target shades

We had a nice visit with Sara and Emma today. We happened to notice that Emma and Audrey have the same sunglasses and, of course, had to make them pose for a picture.

The girls played with chalk, jumped rope, hopscotched . . .

and rode Audrey's scooter that she got from her cousins.

Posted by jill at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2010

airport loop

Audrey, Charlie and I have all been home since Monday. The grandparents all say they did great during their three day stays. Todd is done with his conference and we picked him up from the airport today. We were all happy to be back together and Todd brought gifts.

Charlie got a new BALL.

Audrey got a sticker book and a snowglobe, which has become the traditional souvenir Todd brings her from his work trips.

Posted by jill at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2010

on vacation

This morning Todd took Audrey to Nana and Papa's and I took Charlie to Channy's. They are staying for three days while Todd and I go to Denver! It will be nice to have a break, but we are going to miss these two.

Posted by jill at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2010

the artist and her assistant

The girl loves to draw so when I suggested she work on some artwork this morning, she was eager to get to going. Charlie wanted to be part of the action too so Audrey let him fetch markers and even color a bit on some of her pages.

I'm not sure what this is that she's working on, looks a bit like the flux capacitor to me. It's too bad I didn't capture her working on "Sun Holding a Meatball" as that was my favorite of the day.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2010

playground reroute

We met Audrey's friend Sarah at the playground this morning. The equipment was too wet from last night's rain though, so we walked over to the free zoo instead.

turkey vulture, Audrey, Sarah

It was a muggy morning. Even Charlie was hot lounging in the stroller.

Showing off their best snake impression. They also did moose and crocodile. Talented girls.

Charlie always likes the attention he gets from Sarah.

Pushing the wall. I have no idea why.

Finishing the morning with a drink and a snack.

Posted by jill at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2010

a boy at play

Charlie isn't exactly at the age where he can entertain himself for any length of time, but he does break off on his own every so often. He's really taken a shine to the wooden caterpillar Popsicle Man made for Audrey when she was little.

The boy likes to work the circuit around the kitchen with the caterpillar in tow. Now you can't go read a book or get on the computer while he's at it, but he is perfectly content to run his laps all on his own.

Despite his seemingly endless supply of energy, sometimes our li'l guy needs to stop for a rest.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2010

pool party

We celebrated our independence today by heading out to Channy's pool party!

Audrey wanted "the Pebbles" ponytail and completed the look with her superstar sunglasses.

Charlie was just happy to get out of the house.

Audrey insisted I teach her to swim, but mainly just clung to me for dear life. Her cousins Seth & Grant brought along some inner-tubes, which made for a much more enjoyable swim.

And what is the Fourth without some patriotic mini cupcakes?

Charlie took a dip too, but spent much of his time poolside, avoiding the paparazzi.

After tucking the boy in for the night, we let Audrey stay up late for the annual neighborhood fire works show.

The proceedings were a bit lackluster this year, but still fun - Audrey made sure plenty of "oohs" and "ahhs" were heard, if only for our benefit.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2010

aunt and uncle visit

We hadn't seen aunt Erinn and uncle Kieran for a while and today they came out for a fun little visit.

Kieran entertained himself and Charlie by throwing balls at Charlie that he would never catch and putting things on his head.

Erinn cooperated for the visit's required holding of the baby.

Charlie missed out on decorating cupcakes with Erinn and Kieran during his naptime.

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2010

the great escape

Audrey agreed to leave the house this morning, even though the men are still working on the back patio, for a quick trip to the store. Charlie isn't bothered by any of it and is up for anything, as usual.

Yesterday's progress: wall done. The entire project should be complete by the end of today!

Posted by jill at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2010

work begins

Work has finally begun on our back patio! Day one consisted of tearing out all of the timbers, rocks and weeds surrounding the concrete, digging and filling with gravel in preparation for pavers. Charlie could have just watched the men work all day. Audrey refused to leave the house all day, even out the front in fear we might actually run into and have to talk to one of the workers.

Interested kids

Progress

Posted by jill at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2010

seventeen months

Seventeen months and Charlie has a new obsession: balls! I don't know if it is because it is one of the few words he can say and we understand him, but he really loves balls. "Ball" is usually the first thing he says in the morning and the last thing he says at night.

From what I understand, uncle Jeff was obsessed with balls at a young age. Maybe we have the next great basketball player of the family in the making here.

Charlie is still our crazy little guy, but will finally sit still long enough to make it through an entire book. He loves picking out books to read before naps and bedtime, his favorite being Goodnight Gorilla.

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

seesaw partner

Yay! Audrey finally gets a worthy seesaw partner - Brylen!

While Charlie was still at Channy's, Audrey and I met up with Amber and Brylen for some girl-only time. We walked, played at two different playgrounds and lunched. It was great fun!

Posted by jill at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2010

second overnight

Charlie is having his second overnight at Channy's tonight. This morning the weather cooperated and we got to have some pool time. Charlie even had a little swim before going down for his nap.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2010

random activities

We hadn't been to the mastodon slide for a while, so we all went out there this morning. Charlie slept through both visits last year but this year got to slide just like his big sister.

This is us going through the car wash - the ultimate wash, to be exact. Audrey likes it, just thinks it is loud. This was Charlie's first time and he looks a bit stressed but didn't fuss at all.

On the way home from the car wash we saw that the neighborhood horse was outside so we stopped to say hi.

Posted by jill at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2010

reptile house

We paid another visit to the local zoo this morning. We spent some time by the mastodon statue and went into the visitor center to look at the mastodon bones.

Then, we watched the crocodiles for a long time. This guy snapped at the turtle in the cage next to him.

Posted by jill at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2010

toy story

Todd and I took Audrey to see her second movie ever, Toy Story 3 today. She hasn't seen the first two movies, but is now a huge fan of Buzz Lightyear. She was great during the entire thing, her favorite part probably being the popcorn.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2010

happy father's day, dada!

Todd woke up today to hugs from his biggest fans.

French toast, Sunday comics, presents consisting of comics and comics-related items - what more could a father want?

Natasha even joined in the celebration.

Todd is trying really hard to get these two interested in comics. So far it has worked with Audrey.

We went out for a late lunch of stir fry, where Todd was able to get four different kinds of fake meat in his dish. Afterwards we got cookie dough and ice cream.

Otherwise, our day was relaxing around the house, something Todd greatly deserves. We love you, dada! Thank you for all you do!

Posted by jill at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2010

sometimes it's tough being little

Audrey attended our neighbor's seventh birthday party at the bouncy place this evening. She wanted so badly to hang with the older kids, but they were just too fast for her to keep up. Audrey had plenty of fun without them, went down the huge slide all by herself many times and made a new little friend.

Posted by jill at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2010

pretty, pretty princess

Brylen and Audrey all dressed up. Why is it that three year olds like princesses so much?

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2010

trickster

Audrey proudly performing one of her many "tricks" - laying across the arms of the chair.

Posted by jill at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2010

rainbow

Last year I tried to show Audrey a rainbow and she had no idea what I was talking about. Today, she got to see her first real rainbow! It is to the left of her head in the picture.

Posted by jill at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2010

first overnight

Charlie spent his first night without us tonight at Channy's. Even though it was Charlie's big day, shortly after we got to Channy's, he went down for his nap so all I have are pictures of Audrey.

She didn't waste any time digging into Allysa's toys and dress up chest.

Aunt Ericka, Seth and Grant stopped by while we were there. Seth had just went to the dentist for the first time so he and Audrey had a lot to talk about together.

I always want to go to Ikea, but don't want to go with both children, so I took advantage of no Charlie and Audrey and I went. She had a lot of fun playing with the toy kitchen and sitting in the display rooms, especially the kids rooms. She had a hard time figuring out why the display toilets didn't work though.

What better way to spend quality time with Audrey, but to take her to dinner at Noodles?

A picture text from Channy this evening showed that Charlie is sleeping, so I guess all is well for him away from home.

Posted by jill at 07:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2010

family reunion

Todd's family had a reunion today to coincide with uncle Steve and some of his crew being in town for the first time in a while. It was most of the family's first time seeing Charlie. We met at the racetrack and hoped the rain would hold off - it didn't. This would have been the time to take extended family photos, but, as usual, we were focused on the kids.

Charlie checking out the petting zoo that consisted of a llama, donkey, rabbits and an albino kangaroo. The rain kept Audrey from riding a pony.

It's the Batmobile!

The rain did not stop the Audrey from having a lot of fun with her cousins.

Posted by jill at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2010

idol

Sometimes Audrey uses the drum mallet as a microphone. Today she was really on a role. She danced and sang like crazy.

Charlie was looking pretty cute today too.

Posted by jill at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2010

another zoo trip

Charlie getting a good look at the peacocks.

Audrey and her favorite turtle, Franklin.

Enjoying the zoo together.

Posted by jill at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2010

new basement

We went to visit Sara and her newly finished basement this morning. We haven't been over there for a long time. Charlie got into everything he could, while Emma and Audrey played. It is so nice to see Audrey playing nicely and not being that annoying little kid.

Posted by jill at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2010

stick

Today Audrey had her last gymnastics class...

...and her first ballet class.

Posted by jill at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2010

library visit

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2010

birthday redo

Our plan for Audrey's third birthday was to take her to the bouncy place, like we did for her second birthday. Audrey was sick on her birthday so we took her today for an early three and a half years celebration. The place scared Charlie so he and I went elsewhere while Todd and Audrey played. Audrey had the run of the place and loved it.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2010

happy birthday, Mama!

Today (actually all weekend) we celebrated our favorite day of the year: Jill's birthday! The plan was to go out to breakfast everyday, but she actually tired of it after two.

Audrey and Charlie helped me design a card and we showered her with gifts.

She had some free birthday meals to cash in, so Jill picked Red Robin for lunch as the kids really like to go there. Those balloons they give out after the meal are always a hit.

Both the kids like to color the kid menus when we go out. Audrey is starting to actually fill in spaces as opposed to just scribbling all over. Charlie likes to nibble on his crayons, so we need to watch him like a hawk.

Charlie chose the right bib for the occasion.

They threw in a free Sundae and even agreed not to sing happy birthday, though I was hoping they would. Birthday girl's prerogative, I suppose.

Happy birthday, Mama!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2010

sixteen months

Sixteen months and always on the move. Charlie never wants to sit still, especially for diaper changes. He has been moving to music for some time now, but I think has officially discovered he loves to dance. His latest moves look like he is moshing it up in the pit. There is no sitting under a tree leisurely blowing bubbles for this guy. The minute we walk outside he is off running. And as always, when he wants something he is impatient, but when he is being sweet, he is super sweet.

Posted by jill at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2010

housekeeping

For weeks I have not used the swiffer in front of Charlie and Audrey because every time, as soon as I get it out, they want to take it and play with it. And even though we have two swiffers, they always end up fighting over them. I thought it had been long enough and their fascination might done. Not so much.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2010

happy birthday, Susan

Susan was sick on her actual birthday, so she came over tonight. I made her dinner and a mint chocolate bundt cake. She liked the cake this year much better than last year's vegan cake!

Posted by jill at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2010

grilled

Amber, Patrick and Brylen came over for a fun lunch and a lot of happy screaming (from the kids) today. Even though Brylen tried to convince Audrey that eating her vegetables would make her strong and healthy, Audrey still opted for cereal.

Meeting of the minds.

Here is that screaming, all directed at Patrick for some reason.

Finally, a quiet moment.

BFFs.

Posted by jill at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2010

happy birthday, Seth

Today we celebrated Seth's birthday, which was last week. Audrey spent a little time with the birthday boy early on.

Seth knows how to throw a party - there was a big inflatable with a slide for the kids to play on!

Audrey loved it, jumped right in and kept right up with the bigger kids.

Charlie was missing his afternoon nap so he mostly laid low in the swing.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2010

real sport

Audrey's pom poms make Charlie very happy.

Posted by jill at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2010

favorite turtle

Today we took our first trip to the small local zoo of the season.
The peacocks greeted us as soon as we got there.

Audrey liked this turtle, who's name I think is Franklin, so much we had to go see him twice.

Charlie contemplating how the turkey got up on his branch.

Cougar, up close.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2010

free samples

We did not go to Costco just for the free samples, but Audrey and Charlie did enjoy them.

Audrey is getting much better at pedaling!

Todd gave Charlie his second hair cut today. No beard trimmers today. We bought real clippers just for him.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2010

first dentist visit

Todd took Audrey for her first dental checkup today. We have been talking about it for months, trying to prepare her and every time she said she didn't want to go. She did great though and didn't cry once. She did refuse to let the hygienist use the suction wand, Mr. Thirsty. Audrey's flavor of choice for all cleaning and treatments: bubble gum.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2010

annuals

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2010

chocolate smiles

Audrey had lunch and a playdate at Sarah's today. One of the activities was decorating, and obviously eating, cupcakes.

Posted by jill at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2010

uneven bars

Posted by jill at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2010

Happy Mother's Day! 2010

It's fun to have a child who is old enough to appreciate holidays now. Audrey was excited to help make waffles for Mama this morning, but was especially pumped to have her very own apron in which to do it. I love that she actually can help in the kitchen.

Aud and I had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast on the sly, but as we neared completion, Charlie woke up and started crying. I had hoped to get him before he woke up Jill, but no dice. On the plus side, he was awake and ready to join the fun.

It's also fun to have a kid who has no idea what is going on - breakfast in bed pretty much blew Charlie's mind. Unfortunately he was a little too crazy and couldn't stay in bed with the gals for long.

Jill was able to open presents in bed, but we had to move the party downstairs for breakfast defeating the whole breakfast-in-bed thing. Maybe next year...

After lunch out and a fairly quiet afternoon, we took advantage of the nice weather and took a family trip to the park. Audrey is itching to get on the big kid swings, but didn't put up a fuss when we asked her to swing in the baby swings with Charlie.

All-in-all a really nice day. Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2010

"reading"

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2010

goodbye, Jake

Audrey met her friend Jake when she was just a couple of months old and Jake was just a few weeks old. Jake's family is moving back to their home state of Michigan so we took one last morning walk with them today. Goodbye, Jake. You will always be Audrey's favorite ring around the rosie partner!

Posted by jill at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)

April 30, 2010

vacation!

Erinn and Kieran were off to Paris so we volunteered to cat sit and have another mini city vacation. With Charlie napping several hours a day, our expectations were not set too high We did manage to have a lot of fun.

Charlie, Todd and Audrey getting settled at the loft.

Charlie doesn't say many comprehensible words, but within minutes of meeting Bella, he was yelling her name repeatedly.

Kita and Sasha don't usually come out from their hiding spots in the basement. This time we saw a lot of them during our stay.


At the zoo, the favorite part by far for both Audrey and Charlie was the farm-in-the-zoo.

The only thing Audrey said she wanted to do on vacation was see baby chicks. Success!

Just hatched.

Charlie sharing his father's excitement about goats.

It was cold and windy but we really wanted to visit the beach, if only for a short while. It was just long enough for Charlie to put a handful of sand in his mouth.

The kids get a taste of our old mode of transportation, riding the L in the loop.

Charlie's first visit to Todd's office.

Todd's co-librarian, Marti, actually encouraged Audrey to climb the ladder. She was a great tour guide for Audrey through the office re-do.

Soaking in the view from the 63rd floor.

While downtown, we visited the bean,

saw Chinese contemporary sculpture,

ran around the Pritzker Pavillion,

walked across the the Nichols Bridgeway to the modern wing,

and strolled through the Art Institute.

I should have a nice picture from our last morning enjoying brunch at a cute little breakfast place, but by this time, the kids were tired and done with vacation. After ordering our food we realized we had to get out. Not a great end to our trip but other than a hurt finger and bump on the head, we had a great time.

Posted by jill at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2010

fifteen months

Charlie has made some big steps this month, both literally and figuratively. Most notably, he is walking! I can tell how happy and excited he is to be on his feet like everyone else. While I'm sure the occupational therapist would disapprove, I love his cute wide walking stance. He has added please, thank you and sleep to his sign language repertoire. Charlie is one polite little guy.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2010

through the eye of a three year old

Posted by jill at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

sunday morning

Posted by jill at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2010

weekday visit

Todd and the kids made a rare weekday visit to Nana and Papa today while I met with a garden designer to discuss ideas to fix our mess of a back yard.

They even got to play with cousins Jeffery, Imani and Jaila.

Posted by jill at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2010

high beam

Today was the last day of this session of gymnastics, so parents were allowed to observe again.

Bridge!

Another certificate of completion.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2010

caught

Trying out the butterfly net at Target.

This never gets old.

Back home, Audrey plants her special purchase, a tomato plant that Todd and I have very little expectations for.

Posted by jill at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)

April 17, 2010

last day of cutting school

While you can't see the project that Audrey made this last day of cutting school, you can see behind her the boy that Todd insisted, even after seeing him every week at class, was a girl.

Posted by jill at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2010

snip snip

Audrey is getting very good at wielding her scissors and practices almost every day.

Posted by jill at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2010

park

Posted by jill at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2010

happy national library week

To help kick off library week and the grand re-opening of Todd's new work library, we got him a little something to decorate his newly redone office.

Posted by jill at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2010

transportation

Posted by jill at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2010

small gift big smile

After cutting school, where Audrey cut flowers and made fish, we were off to visit Nana and Papa to hear all about Papa's visit to Japan.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2010

punky power

I am trying so hard to not be bothered by the mismatched outfits Audrey sometimes insists on wearing, as long as she is weather appropriate. Here we have, in my opinion, the worst yet.

Posted by jill at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2010

egg hunt

We hid some plastic eggs for Audrey and Charlie this morning. Audrey had fun finding them. We made it very easy for Charlie and he wasn't even disappointed that all he found inside of them were Cheerios.

Audrey wore her new apron to help Todd make flower- and butterfly-shaped pancakes.

After breakfast we worked in the yard and I tried to get Audrey and Charlie to pose in front of the now fully-bloomed daffodils. One out of two isn't bad.

Charlie meets the gnome.

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2010

we have a walker

We are calling this Charlie's first true day of walking. Not just a few steps, this little guy is now walking.

Posted by jill at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2010

while Audrey's away

Charlie and I went to lunch with Susan and Jeremy. We just turned Charlie's car seat to face forward last night. He is very excited about the new view.

After dinner Todd and I took Charlie to the park for some sunset swinging.

Posted by jill at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2010

two nights

Audrey practiced peddling on her tricycle...

then was ready to go to Channy's for a two-night sleepover!

Only one child = eating out and fun with pasta finger puppets!

Posted by jill at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2010

out front

We spent the afternoon out in the yard admiring the newly bloomed daffodils, blowing bubbles and running around.

Posted by jill at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2010

fourteen months

Oh, Charlie. When you are happy, you are really happy and when you are mad, you are really mad. More and more he is getting frustrated by all of the things that a fourteen month old can't do. He is using sign language for more, eat, milk and all done, which helps a bit. His words are still limited to pretty much mama, dada and, more recently, cheers. He wants to tap glasses constantly through every meal.

Charlie takes steps here and there, but still prefers crawling. It won't be long now, sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2010

out back

Family exploring time in the back yard

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (1)

March 27, 2010

first flower

Another week of cutting school.

After school, Todd and Audrey noticed the first flowers starting to bloom in our yard.

Posted by jill at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2010

more assisted walking

Charlie walking with the swiffer again. Maybe I'll start a daily post about Charlie and his favorite item, the swiffer. Enough already, Charlie! Just walk on your own!

Posted by jill at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2010

jeremy and the head

Here is Jeremy with his new head that he got from Susan for his birthday.

All he got from us was a monkey-decorated birthday bundt cake. Happy birthday, Jeremy!

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2010

assisted walking

I am sure my son is the only child in the world who would rather hold onto the swiffer to help him learn to walk than his mother's hand.

Posted by jill at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2010

peeking

Posted by jill at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2010

rinse and spit

This morning Audrey went with Todd to the dentist to see the whole process. She was fine observing but insists that she will not be seeing the dentist herself.

Then it was off to cutting school.

Audrey made a boat.

Posted by jill at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2010

afternoon delight

More good times outside after naps.

Posted by jill at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2010

before dark

Todd took Audrey outside for a bit after dinner for her first bubble blowing of the season.

Posted by jill at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2010

mission aborted

Today we had a failed attempt to walk to the horse because of potty stops and no where to sit. It was some good outside time though.

Charlie was not liking our prickly dead grass. More incentive to put more effort into the yard this year, I guess.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2010

observation day

Audrey has been taking a gymnastics class that does not include parents. This was the third week and I got to sit in, watch and photograph.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2010

outside the lines

Audrey tried to make her hair blue today while coloring with markers but just ended up with lines on her scalp.

Meanwhile, Charlie was in the cabinet again, this time interested in just one bowl to use on his head.

Posted by jill at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2010

cutting school, week two

Audrey is feeling better about her scissor abilities after another week of cutting school.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2010

like at the zoo

Sara dropped off more toys and clothes that Jack and Emma have outgrown. The bean bag toss is a big hit so far though neither of them get the hang of how to play the game yet.

Posted by jill at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2010

window seat

The two of them could stand at the window and watch the new puppy next door all day.

Posted by jill at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2010

lunch

We joined Amber, Patrick and Brylen for lunch today.

I love these two together.

Charlie entertained other patrons with his enthusiastic nonstop waving and fascination with the ceiling lights.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

babysat

For Todd's birthday, Erinn and Kieran gave him movie tickets and a promise to babysit, though their babysitting requirements include no changing diapers. We took them up on it last night and left after putting Charlie to bed, keeping to said requirement.

In preparation for aunt Erinn, Audrey dressed up as a kitty. She looks pretty innocent here, but Audrey got Erinn to read to her before bed for almost an hour. Usually she gets one short story.

Audrey had to show aunt Erinn the cheerleading game.

Kieran and Charlie watch the action. Don't think that Kieran thinks himself too manly to play some cheerleading. I hear he was pretty good at it.

Posted by jill at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2010

first steps

Charlie took his first steps today! It was just a couple, but we are counting them!

He has been getting a lot of practice while pushing this toy around and Audrey has been more than happy to help with the steering.

Posted by jill at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

cutting school

Audrey started a new class at the park district today - learning to use scissors. She was very worried that she didn't already know how to use scissors despite our reassurances that she would be taught at class. She seemed to enjoy the class and did actually cut things.

Posted by jill at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2010

fruit loops

I dropped off Audrey and Charlie at Channy and John's for a bit this afternoon where they discovered a love for a new breakfast cereal.

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2010

the boys

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2010

thirteen months

Our boy is getting so big! Charlie's favorite things these days are waving at everyone and everything and giving kisses. He is much more daring with standing on his own, but has not taken any solo steps yet. He has mastered pushing the wagon and can even maneuver his new push toy in a big circle around the entire first floor of our house by himself. He has ten teeth now and a whole lot of drool to show for it.

Charlie is starting to realize that he does not get to do all of the things that the rest of us get to do and he gets pretty frustrated. Not being able to say much more than "mama" and "dada" and not caring to use the sign language I have been showing him for months does not help these situations. Diversion is the key and he is usually back to his happy, lovable self fairly quickly.

Posted by jill at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2010

what word did I spell?

Posted by jill at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2010

go spartans

Yesterday Todd worked a half day and then we took Audrey to Nana and Papa's to spend the night.

Last night Audrey went to her first basketball game, which she calls a basketball party, to see uncle Jeff coach. Even though her aunt Rickie and her cousins were there, Audrey clung to Papa for most of the game. She did enjoy the cheerleaders and dancers. Today before she came home, Audrey went to the pet store with Nana and Papa to help pick out two fish and a snail. Audrey chose the name of the goldfish - Dorothy, after Elmo's pet fish.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2010

free pancake day

If we can get our act together to get free food when it is available, we do it. Today was free pancake day at ihop so we ate pancakes for dinner.

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2010

monkey see, monkey do

We've been finding socks and small toys on the stairs to the basement. Turns out it is Charlie who is dropping things through the cat door.

When Audrey saw the photo of Charlie doing this, she had to try it out too.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2010

puddle jumping

at the park district after gymnastics

Posted by jill at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2010

feeding himself

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2010

valentines

finger hearts

new book

first baby-sized pancake for baby-sized Charlie

Charlie makes his newspaper debut

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2010

miss congeniatlity

Audrey and Todd came home from the grocery store with flowers for valentine's day.

Audrey looked like she had just won a beauty prize holding them so we had to have her put on her crown and do her best miss america wave.

Posted by jill at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2010

all while wearing a cat dress

Helpful Audrey fed Charlie his entire bowl of oatmeal while I cooked dinner.

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2010

quiet time

During Charlie's nap, Audrey decorated hearts for the valentines she will give out.

During Audrey's nap, Charlie practiced his walking with the wagon.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2010

milk for two

Now that Charlie is one we have started to introduce a small amount of dairy in the form of a couple tablespoons of yogurt per day. So far so good, but for now he has to drink soy milk. He's making it look good in the picture but so far he isn't really interested. Probably because I want so badly for him to be. We also had to start Audrey with soy when she turned one and she still drinks it exclusively. She calls it "original" milk. Not sure why.

Audrey had an allergy appointment today and just happened to wake up with a bad case of hives (you can see them in the picture). The allergist thought maybe she had something worse than a typical ear infection so sent us down to pediatrics right away. Turns out Audrey does have an ear infection, but not in the ear the walk-in care doctor diagnosed. She also probably has strep but they did not bother with the throat swab as the antibiotics prescribed yesterday for her ear will take care of that too. Good times.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2010

sick again

Last night Audrey was complaining of her ear hurting. With all of the ear infections she has had she has never complained so I took her to the walk-in care this morning. She has another ear infection that the doctor thinks burst. This has been the winter of sickness for poor Aud.

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2010

eight and nine

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2010

one year party

Family gathered at our house today to celebrate Charlie turning one!

How could one little cupcake make such a mess? I'm not sure how much of this he actually ate. Most of it ended up on his shirt sleeves and crumbled in his seat.

Charlie had a lot of help opening presents with Todd, Audrey and all of the cousins. Thank you, everyone!

Posted by jill at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2010

one year

Charlie is one today! Between burnt fingers, stitches, head bumps and such, I wasn't sure we would make it to this day!

Since Audrey wears a crown most days, she wanted Charlie to have one too. We made him his very own birthday crown on the fly yesterday out of felt, elastic, a hole punch and Audrey's new favorite craft item, glitter glue.

Charlie would have been happy with just balloons but opened a few books and toys that he can make noise with.

My sweet boy isn't a baby anymore. He is a silly boy who is always laughing. He is cruising along furniture, using his sign language a bit and says a few words, mostly mama and dada. We love you, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2010

after gymnastics

For the last few weeks, Audrey has been having snacks and coloring with Sarah after gymnastics while I get Charlie from day care.

Sarah is always very interested in where Charlie is. Today she was giving him kisses and found out the hard way that Charlie's kisses are slobbery with an open mouth.

Posted by jill at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2010

memory

Audrey has her own version of Memory that she taught Susan tonight. It doesn't involve taking turns, just flipping over all of the cards faster than the other player to find the most pairs. The most important pair to find is the ice cream cones.

Charlie wanted to stay out of it and just wanted more Cheerios.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2010

six and seven

Audrey chose crocodile as the game at school today but still did not participate. Next week she says she wants to play hippo. Miss Ann also asked Audrey to draw her a picture of a hippo.

Audrey did participate in a little tea party before dinner tonight.

Posted by jill at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2010

back window

A little bonding while wondering where the snow went and watching the neighbor's dogs

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2010

not helping

Charlie climbed into the laundry basket all on his own as I was about to start some folding.

Posted by jill at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2010

channeling rerun

Posted by jill at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2010

four and five

Hanging at the library again during Audrey's class. Meow even snuck out for a bit. Don't tell Audrey!

Miss Ann tells me that Audrey did not participate in the class game today so she is supposed to decide what game they will play next week. She has already decided on crocodile, whatever that is. We'll see how that goes...

Posted by jill at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2010

plastics

Charlie has an unhealthy obsession with the knobs on the stove. Just like everything else he isn't supposed to touch, he then decides he must get it every time he is near.

I am usually able to distract with the tupperware drawer.

Charlie pulled every single item out of the cabinet and put every single item in his mouth as he did it. Thank goodness for the dishwasher.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2010

first haircut

The back of Charlie's hair was getting a little unruly so we took matters into our own hands and gave him his first haircut.

Todd's beard trimmer did the trick.

Charlie was cooperative for most of it.

Much better!

Posted by jill at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2010

tinkerbell, dinosaurs and ariel

Audrey attended her friend Sarah's birthday party today. It was Tinkerbell themed with a dinosaur cake. It was quite action-filled. They made wands, had a treasure hunt and played pin the tiara on Ariel.

Audrey's favorite part was eating the treasure, which were ring pops. She had to be sure to show every person at the party her red tongue and then, of course, dada when we got home.

Posted by jill at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2010

princess fairy ballerina mommy

Audrey can do it all.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2010

divine hammer

Charlie got this toy for christmas (thanks, Kolars!) and he loves it. I am enjoying seeing his little mind work when he hammers the balls, puts them back in their spot and does it all over again.

Posted by jill at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2010

two and three

Charlie and I kept busy in the library while Audrey was in class learning about the numbers 2 and 3.

Posted by jill at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2010

big big girl bed

When it was still warm out I painted this daybed that Todd used in college. We finally put it back together and put it in Audrey's room today. She calls it her princess bed and says " I really, really, really love it."

Posted by jill at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

January 09, 2010

packing it up

While I had coffee with Sara, Todd and Audrey took down the tree. Audrey told dada how to do it.

Then she sorted all of the ornaments by color. Oh, so helpful.

Posted by jill at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2010

happy together

What a joy when they play nice.

Charlie got his stitches out yesterday. The healing process is going well.

Posted by jill at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2010

busted ...

taking the comics page to the bathroom. She is her father's daughter.

Posted by jill at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2010

meow

Audrey has been obsessed with this cat costume she got from her cousin.

Her favorite thing about it is the way the skirt poofs out when she spins.

Meanwhile, Charlie has discovered the joy of swiffering. Why are children so intrigued with cleaning when they can't actually do any good? I'm sure when it becomes mandatory there will be nothing but resistance.

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2010

let's count together

Audrey started a new class at the park district - Let's Count Together. Today's numbers were, of course, zero and one.

Charlie enjoyed the balloon with the number nine on it that Audrey brought home from class along with her three projects.

Posted by jill at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2010

princess topham hatt

Posted by jill at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2010

frankenbaby

Today Charlie was practicing his standing, fell and hit his head hard on the edge of a piece of wooden furniture. After much crying, mostly by me, and a little bleeding, we took him to the walk-in care to get the cut checked out, thinking it looked a little deep. Sure enough, stitches were needed. Here is our brave little guy after getting the cut cleaned, waiting to see the doctor.

As expected, Charlie was upset receiving his five stitches while strapped onto a papoose board. He was quite the trouper though. But, long after the tape holding on the topical anesthetic was removed, Charlie was red and irritated where the tape had been. The doctor thinks he has an allergy to adhesive so instead of a simple band-aid covering the stitches, Charlie got the super-cool head wrap. Also, he has another ear infection.

The head wrap came off shortly after we got home. Charlie has been good so far about not bothering the stitches and does not seem too traumatized by the events of the day.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 01, 2010

Happy New Year!

Jill hard at work on her resolution to get the blog up-to-date. You're doing a great job!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2009

new year's eve

I entertained myself today by having Charlie race Audrey's new crawling baby doll. Charlie won!

Todd and I are ringing in the new year by playing Rock Band. We let Audrey have her midnight at 9pm and play some too.

After her short stint at the drums, all she wanted to do was sing. That is, sing the alphabet over and over to every song we played. It was awfully cute, but it didn't help our band's tour success.

Posted by jill at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2009

first movie

Todd has been itching to take Audrey to her first movie at a theater for a while. When Audrey first laid eyes on a picture of Disney's new princess she declared that she was her most favorite princess ever so we decided to take her to see the Princess and the Frog movie.

All of the commercials and previews may have been a bit much because by about one third of the way through the movie Audrey said she didn't want to watch the movie anymore.

She stuck it out, even after we ate all the popcorn, and still hasn't said much about the movie. Maybe in a few days it will all sink in...

Thanks to Channy for watching Charlie so we could go to the movie!

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2009

eleven months

Every day that gets us closer to Charlie's birthday is another day I can't believe he is almost one year old. He is on the move and into everything! Any large object he can grab he pulls himself up into a stand on with no fear. This month he has started to wave at everyone and everything, dance, share his food and shake his head no to any question you ask him. He is such a sweet boy, we just wish he would be more careful!

This evening we had a fun dinner at my cousin Lori's and delivered Mackenzie's christmas present. Connor and Mackenzie were both so good about playing with and sharing their things with Audrey and Charlie. It was great to see everyone!

Posted by jill at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2009

happy birthday, dada!

Thirty-seven years of Todd! First thing on Todd's birthday agenda after sleeping in as long as Audrey will let him: opening presents. Second: french toast made with love.

Things get a little crazy when Charlie get ahold of Meow.

After dinner from Francesca's, Todd and Audrey ate Boston cream pie (Todd's favorite) and ice cream while Charlie and I snacked on Cheerios.

After the kids were in bed Todd and I snuck off to see a movie. The poor babysitter had to experience Audrey's repeated opening and closing of her bedroom door until she finally decides to go to the bathroom. Happy birthday, Todd!

Posted by jill at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2009

party fail, christmas version

I am a horrible wimp about driving in the snow so we bailed on my extended family's holiday gathering this evening. Sorry family! Since the kids were all dressed up, we took advantage and snapped some pictures.

Charlie does his best Gap ad pose.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)

more snow

Audrey is a hard worker when it comes to shoveling snow.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the prospect of hot chocolate when the job is done.

Posted by jill at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2009

merry christmas

Charlie's first christmas!

Audrey getting her first glimpse of the swag under the tree. When Todd told her that Santa was going to come to our house and bring presents, she got upset and said that he should stay at the mall.

Charlie puts his new teething ring to immediate use. Now I hope he will stop chewing on the dining room chairs.

Audrey whips up a little something in her new pots and pans. She was getting impatient for the real french toast.

Posted by jill at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2009

christmas eve

We offered to host the christmas celebration for Todd's family this year and to our surprise everyone decided to come!

The city folk catch up with the country folk in our suburban home.

The big kids share dinner while Charlie naps.

The celebration was lively with all the kids, but you'd never know it from this shot. Must have been a temporary lull in the action.

Audrey stole a sword from Jeffery, grabbed a stray ribbon and became an impromptu christmas pirate queen.

Nana tried her best to gather up all the grandkids for a group shot at the end of the night, but Audrey elected to run from the room screaming. The remaining participants posed nicely.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2009

holiday card outtakes

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2009

one is not enough

Audrey wrapped the book she chose for Charlie's christmas present. Apparently she is a big fan of bows.

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2009

channy's christmas special

We celebrated with my family at Channy's today.

Charlie was excited about his new shirt

Audrey plays Thomas with cousins Seth and Grant

Audrey shows Channy some love

Audrey made us listen to Channy's holiday animated music decorations over and over and over

Posted by jill at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2009

city of lights

Driving through the annual local light display

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

snow day

The boys texting at breakfast.

There was snow to be shoveled and Audrey was there to help.

We couldn't get Audrey to make snow angels so we built a snowman instead.

Audrey surveying her handywork.

The final product. This snowman has a green onion nose and mulch whiskers. Snowcat?

Charlie woke up from his nap so it was time to go back inside.

Hot chocolate!

Posted by jill at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2009

hugs all around

Audrey was feeling the love today and wanted to hug everyone.

She knocked Todd over with her hug.

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2009

sears (not willis) tower

Audrey's tribute to Todd's work building

Posted by jill at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2009

mini chef

Mixing

Tasting

As you can see, Charlie is still a happy boy even though he is suffering from his first ear infection. I took Audrey to the doctor this morning because she had more hives and found out both of her ears are infected so had Charlie checked too. When will the sickness end?

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2009

relapse

Nana and Papa were sad not to see Audrey the week before for her birthday so they came over today to brave what seems to be a whole new version of Audrey germs. I would like to write more, but I wasn't feeling well either and slept through most of the visit.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2009

feeling a little better

Posted by jill at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2009

the point

Charlie has a new favorite trick: pointing.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2009

christmas kitty

Natasha has been enjoying chewing on the tree and ornaments.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2009

party fail

We ended up canceling Audrey's family birthday party because of illness but Channy braved the germs and came for a little birthday visit this morning. She brought donuts!

In the afternoon we put up and decorated our new able-to-be-put-on-a-table-out-of-Charlie's-reach tree. Somehow we ended up with a ton of low-hanging ornaments.

Posted by jill at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2009

audrey's birthday, take two

Audrey was feeling a bit better today so we attempted her birthday lunch with her favorite mac and cheese.

Then she got to blow out her candle and we had birthday cupcakes.

She is still not feeling well but was able to enjoy her day a bit more than yesterday.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2009

three years

We have been so excited about Audrey turning three but now that the big day is here, Audrey has a bad cold.

Audrey was not too sick to open her presents and worry that Charlie wanted to open her presents though.

We ate special birthday pancakes this morning. Unfortunately, we would all get to see these again later when Audrey got sick.

All birthday activities for the day were canceled and we just tried to make Audrey as comfortable as possible. Hopefully the rest of Audrey's birthday weekend will be better! Happy birthday, Audrey!

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2009

crazy hair day

Audrey woke up with some funky hair today

Looking better

Cute but not happy after her three year check up

Three year Audrey stats: 38 inches tall and 34 pounds

Posted by jill at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2009

Audrey's store

Audrey and her art project from school today. I have no idea what she is selling in her store and I don't think she does either.

Posted by jill at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2009

ten months

Oh, Charlie. You are getting so big! Now that the crawling is perfected, he has already moved on to pulling himself up and has even started a little bit of cruising. This is all going way too fast. Please stay my baby for a bit longer!

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2009

happy thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Todd's family. It was an extra great day because it was the first time all of us were together on a holiday in quite a while.

Imani collected what everyone is thankful for. Mine was that Audrey is potty trained!

Time for dessert. Kieran was way too excited about the novelty pie.

Audrey stole Papa's attention after dinner for lots of book reading.

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (1)

November 23, 2009

crawling!

Charlie is a crawler! He has started moving on all fours in addition to the army crawl.

Posted by jill at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2009

brief stop

Erinn and Kieran were in the area and came for a visit.

Even though she never wants to, we always make Erinn hold the baby. Look how happy he is to be with his aunt Erinn.

Audrey and Erinn rocking the plastic instruments.

As always, uncle Kieran isn't afraid of any babies.

Posted by jill at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2009

number of the day

I peeked in at Audrey during her class today. Instead of being at the table with all of the other children working on the day's craft, she was by herself cleaning up toys. I'm not sure if that has something to do with being the only girl in class or not. We only have her number painting to show off today.

Posted by jill at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2009

happy birthday, allysa

Cousin Allysa turned seven a couple of weeks ago and we went to Channy's today to celebrate.

Cake with cousins

Princess dress courtesy of Allysa

Charlie misses seven by a few digits

Posted by jill at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2009

smelly job

Audrey and Todd worked hard this morning raking and playing in the rest of the leaves in the yard. I wish I would have heard this myself, but Todd says that while raking Audrey said "something stinks - it smells like a skunk pooped out here." Hmmm.

Posted by jill at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2009

so funny

Hooray for a visit from Amber and Brylen!

Posted by jill at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2009

the future

Jake and Audrey - just two kids hanging out at the mall

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2009

Audrey and mama are at a campfire

The second session of Audrey's pre-preschool started today. Audrey headed straight for the baby dolls and didn't even care when I left.

Posted by jill at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2009

easily entertained

Who knew a laundry hamper could be so much fun?

Posted by jill at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2009

saturday night

Posted by jill at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2009

thirty-five months

What a goofball. I had to bribe Audrey with a popsicle to let me take any pictures to mark her thirty-fifth month. She has been all about princesses, fairies, tutus, wings, pink and sparkles lately. I fought it for as long as I could and have lost the battle.

Posted by jill at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2009

happy birthday, channy!

Channamom's birthday was last week and we took her out to lunch today.

Back home, Audrey models the poncho Channy made for her.

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (1)

November 01, 2009

winterizing

Audrey wasn't much help getting the yard ready for the cold, especially after she found this stick to play with.

Posted by jill at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2009

super halloween

Audrey trick or treated with neighbor Colin and his friend Emma. She went up to the first house but wouldn't take the candy. The second house had a dog so she didn't go up the step to the door. At the third house she wouldn't even go on the sidewalk to the door. At the fourth house she saw a boy in a scary costume (the grim reaper and it was pretty scary) and lost it. That was the end of Audrey's trick or treating. There is always next year. Happy Halloween!

Posted by jill at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2009

samba de amigo

Susan brought over another Wii game tonight, this one we had to shake the controllers like maracas to music. Usually Audrey is just given a controller that isn't even on and will have a great time jumping around thinking she is actually playing the game. Tonight we plugged her in and found out the girl has some rhythm!

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2009

nine months, the stats

Our happy boy had a checkup yesterday. Charlie is 21 pounds and 28 5/8 inches tall. As one of the nurses said, he is "growing like a weed." Audrey thought that was really funny and has repeated it about one hundred times.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

nine months

Charlie, my boy, you are nine months old! You're growing so fast and the funny thing is, it seems like it's not nearly fast enough for you. You're so full of energy, so full of life, it's hard for us to keep up!

You've been crawling on your belly for a month, but now you're getting up on all fours and trying for real. You're really close, you'll be there in no time at all. Even crazier is the fact that you're trying to pull yourself up on furniture too. Charlie, I'm not ready for this yet!

You love to babble and "sing" all the time, almost as much as you love to flash us your huge smile. Eating is one of your favorite things, though I'll be happy when you get out of the stick-everything-in-my-mouth phase. Perhaps your greatest joy in the world is to play with your big sister, which could not make us happier. It's been a great ride so far, little guy, we can't wait to see what's ahead!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2009

sprinkles make me smile

Sarah came over for a playdate this morning and brought cookies. How did she know Audrey is such a big fan of sprinkles?

And while Audrey got to eat cookies, Charlie wanted to bite Audrey's nose.

Posted by jill at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2009

pumpkin, pumpkin pie

This year, Audrey wanted nothing to do with pumpkin carving. It was hard just to get her to sit next to it for pictures. Charlie, on the other hand, was all too eager to get by the pumpkin so he could try to chew on it.

Posted by jill at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2009

celebrating silas

Silas turns three tomorrow and we got to celebrate with him today. After pizza, cake and cookies, the skies cleared and we were able to walk around the nature center.

the birthday boy shows off his climbing skills

"Audrey your eyes are so blue"

Charlie bundled up for our walk

Audrey could not get enough of Katie

me, Silas, Sam, Katie, and Audrey

While in the city, we took a trip through our old neighborhood then went to one of our favorite thai restaurants for dinner. Audrey thought her noodles were fine but Todd and I really enjoyed our old usual dishes. Oh, Cozy Noodle, how we miss you!

Posted by jill at 05:21 PM | Comments (1)

October 22, 2009

last day of gymnastics

Audrey's impressive one-arm bar hang

This is how Audrey and Sarah spent a large majority of their time during class

Showing off their certificates of accomplishment

Posted by jill at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2009

fall

It was so nice out today Audrey and I were happy to run around, play jump rope and admire the changing colors in the yard while Charlie slept.

When Charlie is let loose on the floor the first place he now goes is the cat door that leads to the basement. I know one day we are going to find him half way through trying to follow Natasha down the stairs.

Posted by jill at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2009

Audrey's pumpkin is named Audrey

Audrey missed two weeks of her school while sick. This week was the last week of this session. Audrey says her pumpkin is a boy and his name is Audrey.

While Audrey was in class Charlie and I snuck out to the playground. I realized that we went the entire summer without putting this boy in a swing. Well I am glad we did this today because he loved it. He smiled and laughed the entire time.

Posted by jill at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2009

poseurs

We already had the camera out, so during lunch today we each grabbed a kid and posed for some more photos.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)

pumpkins

It's becoming a tradition: the yearly trip to the pumpkin farm with Nana and Papa! We were very sad to discover that the "how tall this fall" had gone missing this time around; we were really looking forward to seeing how much Audrey had grown as well as trying to get Charlie to stand for a photo. We did get some shots of kids sitting with pumpkins, so all is good.

It was little chilly, but the sun was shining which made for a nice day at the farm.

Workers were moving crates of pumpkins around with a forklift which scared Audrey. She somehow found the courage to brave the pumpkin washing station with Papa to clean off her gourd.

Kuiper's is famous for its doughnuts, no way were we going to pass those up. Audrey even had her own cider-sipper which was a hit.

It's hard to believe, but we don't really have any photos of our family now that we're a foursome. Now we just have to aim for some good photos of the four of us...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2009

diaper changing

Audrey's helpful streak continued tonight when she asked if she could change Charlie's diaper. Diaper changes have become wrestling matches because Charlie just will not sit still. Audrey gave it her best try but I had to finish the job.

Posted by jill at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2009

feeding and clapping

For the first time Audrey asked if she could feed Charlie today. I always worry that she won't be gentle enough with him but she did a great job, even if she did tire of it pretty quickly.

Another first at lunch was Charlie clapping on his own. He must have needed to express the extra excitement he was feeling with the special attention from his big sister.

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (1)

October 11, 2009

peel stick repeat

Audrey's cold last week turned into an ear infection and then she got her worst case of hives yet. She still has a few spots left (even after six days of steroids) but is feeling better so we started decorating for Halloween today.

Posted by jill at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2009

how big is Charlie?

So big!

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2009

thirty-four months

Audrey has a very bad cold so there were no pictures taken today to commemorate 34 months. Instead, more pictures from out time at the museum on Friday.

I love how Audrey was taking a bite of her sandwich with gusto ...

... and then the look on her face when she didn't like the bread. I give her credit for even trying.

Audrey is such a little person I sometimes forget that she is only two.

Posted by jill at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2009

science and industry

Family field trip! Audrey rode the metra into the city with Todd this morning and then went into the office with him. Charlie and I picked them up later in the morning and we all went to the museum of science and industry.

The morning commute

Sprinkle donut with a view in MGB's break room

Audrey's new "work friend", Todd's co-librarian Marti

Todd said it was Audrey's new work friend's idea for her to climb the library ladder

Audrey driving Charlie on the tractor at msi

Audrey's favorite exhibit at the museum, she could have watched the chicks in the hatchery all day

Probably the most fun Charlie had was looking at himself in the reflection at the model trains

End of the day and everyone is still smiling!

Posted by jill at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2009

seesaw

Playing at the playground after gymnastics with Sarah

Posted by jill at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2009

eight months

Charlie, or "my little guy" as Audrey calls him, is eight months today!

Charlie has made some great strides in his physical development over the last month. He graduated from scooter to army crawler over the weekend and is quite efficient.

He is doing a great job with sitting but really doesn't want to sit still long enough in one spot to even bother with it.

The babbling is nonstop and all of us are sure he is saying a version of our names, even Audrey.

Posted by jill at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2009

my mommy lives on Audrey's farm

There was still a little bit of whining when I left Audrey at school this morning but each time it gets less and less. This week's theme was farms.

Posted by jill at 11:18 AM | Comments (2)

September 25, 2009

zucchini as big as a baby

Susan stopped by tonight and just had to show us the zucchini she took from the break room at her work. It is almost as big as Charlie. That is a big zucchini! Charlie really liked hanging out on the floor with it.

Posted by jill at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

gymnastics

Today was the second week of gymnastics. It has been great to see how much more confident and coordinated Audrey is compared to last year's gymnastics class. Thanks to Nana and Channamom who are splitting the days watching Charlie so I can take Audrey to class!

Walking the beam with coach Dave

Somersault!

Getting serious air and hanging with new friend Sara, who is also in pre-preschool

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2009

front yard

This didn't last long before Charlie decided the grass was too scratchy and Audrey got scared of bugs.

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2009

Audrey's apple is red

Today was the second week of Audrey's pre-preschool. There was still a bit of whining when I went to leave but not as much as last week. I think it helps that Audrey has made a friend in class who is also in her gymnastics class. Here is week two's art project.

Posted by jill at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2009

introducing the sippy

Just chewing on it, like everything else, for now

Posted by jill at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2009

two nights

After gymnastics on Thursday, Channamom took Audrey back to her house to spend TWO nights. Audrey refuses to nap anywhere but home so was quite tired and loopy by the time we got her. She didn't seem to miss us too much though. It couldn't have hurt that she visited with cousins Seth and Grant on Friday and then Tyler and Alyssa where at Channy's overnight on Friday too.

Posted by jill at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2009

super baby

This is actually one of Charlie's physical therapy exercises. Strengthen those stomach muscles, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 05:04 PM | Comments (1)

September 17, 2009

while Audrey is away, Charlie will play

We took advantage of our picky eater sleeping over at Channy's and went out for thai. Charlie tried to chew on the table a bit but otherwise did a fine job in the restaurant high chair.

Posted by jill at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2009

boy vs puff

Sizing up the competition

Puff - 1, Charlie - 0

The thrill of victory

The crowd goes wild

Posted by jill at 05:03 PM | Comments (2)

September 14, 2009

school

Audrey started a class at the park district today that I have dubbed pre-preschool. It is just one hour per week without parents. We barely ever have babysitters and when we do it is usually Channamom or Nana so this was a big deal. Audrey was the only one who put up any fuss when dropped off but was fairly easily distracted by the teacher with toys and was fine during the remainder of the class.

First school craft

Post-school library visit

Posted by jill at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2009

dance all night

Papa got to spend a little time with Charlie when we went to pick up Audrey after her overnight visit.

No nap and late sleep make for one crazy girl.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2009

girls' night out

Todd was hanging with Holmes and Audrey was spending the night at Nana and Papa's so I made plans with Susan for a night out on the town. Charlie was an honorary girl for the evening.

Shortly after this picture, the tables behind Charlie would be overflowing with teenagers. Tonight must have been the homecoming dance at the local high school. Luckily Charlie was not able to grab any of the fancy dresses, though he sure did try.

Posted by jill at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2009

first haircut

Only a child who knows no better would trust me to put scissors to hair. When Audrey's hair is wet and straight it goes down to the middle of her back. Tonight after her bath it was especially knotty and I suggested I cut a little off. Audrey agreed so we went with it. I just cut a couple of inches off the back and it is probably the worst, most uneven cut ever. Audrey would not keep her head straight for more than a few seconds at a time. With the curls, you can't even tell and she loves her new haircut.

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

good friends

We had a long overdue visit with Amber and Brylen today. Brylen could barely contain herself waiting for Charlie to get up from his nap and wanted to get her hands on him as quickly as possible. Brylen and Audrey played unsupervised in Audrey's room, which is so weird. It seems like just yesterday they were babies sitting next to each other in strollers.

Charlie trying to charm Amber into moving in next door. He's going to keep working on that.

Posted by jill at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2009

more teeth

I still haven't gotten a picture of Charlie's two bottom teeth and now I discovered today that the two front top teeth are about to break through his gums!

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2009

bag hat

Paper bag crown, courtesy of Andy

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2009

surprise invitation

Audrey surprised us by inviting her grandparents over for a visit during an otherwise uneventful phone call yesterday. We didn't have any other plans for today, so we told them they had best come over.

Charlie was a little surprised by the visit, even though Papa decked him out in a cool headband.

Fortunately some time with Nana made everything better.

Audrey took advantage of her time with Nana and Papa to show off some of her new tricks. This one has a variation including a few hops. Once finished she demands to see her audience give it a try.

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2009

sitting up

Charlie had his first ride in the stroller sitting up by himself today. Over the last week his sitting has really improved. All of that extra tummy time and new therapy exercises must be doing the trick!

Meow got prime cart seating on our trip to Costco.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2009

thirty-three months

This last month was the month of the potty. Every day in August Audrey used the potty at least once, one day even only dirtying a diaper during naptime. We like where this is going and am so proud of our big girl!

Somehow Audrey already has better English skills than I do. She uses big words, speaks in grammatically correct sentences and even corrects herself if she uses the wrong word tense. It must be the good influence of Todd. All of this talking does get a little embarrassing though when she repeats everything strangers say while we are out in public.

She seems to be coming out of her shell a bit. She used to not want to play on equipment at the park if other kids were on it but has gotten much better recently. I hope this will just get better when she starts up gymnastics and what I am calling pre-preschool class without me next month.

Audrey still love to ham it up for the camera and posed as the beggar woman below just for aunt Erinn and our beloved Russian cats.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2009

chunky monkey

Posted by jill at 08:47 PM | Comments (1)

August 30, 2009

Todd's the type of guy

In Audrey's current favorite library book, Elmo's favorite flavor of ice cream is pistachio so Todd decided he needed to introduce Audrey to one of his favorites, instant pistachio pudding. Audrey was a bit hesitant at first but as long as her bite didn't have pieces of almond, she liked it.

Posted by jill at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2009

seven months

Charlie is on the move! If he wants to get somewhere he will roll and scoot on his tummy. He mostly does this in Audrey's room while trying to chew on all of the things Audrey doesn't want him to touch, such as books and Meow. He has yet to get up on his knees so thank goodness we are still far away from crawling.

He had his first occupational therapy session this week. Charlie's trunk muscles are weak, keeping him from sitting up for any length of time. He's improving bit by bit; as you can see in the photo above he can now sit long enough to pose for a photo or two. And he sits with us for dinner in his booster seat...it would be an understatement to say our little guy has enjoyed exploring solid foods. He sometimes cries between bites, we can't feed him fast enough!

Posted by jill at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

happy birthday, nana!

Today we visited Nana for her birthday. All of her grandchildren were there to celebrate: Audrey, Jeffery, Charlie, Imani and Jaila.

We took a walk to see Jeff and Rickie's new house, just a few minutes from Nana and Papa's.

Charlie visited with aunt Rickie.

Erinn let Charlie sit next to her and even held him for a bit.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

high chair

Charlie is taking his own sweet time sitting unassisted so have been feeding him in his bouncy seat. Tonight he finally made the move to the booster.

Audrey helped Charlie celebrate this little milestone with some banging on the tray.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (1)

August 27, 2009

general lee

Todd has dubbed this the "dukes of hazzard." Audrey is not supposed to do this to her desk but I just happened to have the camera out and caught her in the act.

Posted by jill at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2009

another quiet place

Not much is better than Audrey entertaining herself by looking at books so I can cook dinner.

Posted by jill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2009

reel around the fountain

Playing by the fountain after lunch with Sara and Emma

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2009

washcloth

Todd's solution to our loud vacuum and sensitive baby ears...

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

August 22, 2009

superheroes

Audrey ready for a Saturday morning trip to the library with Todd.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2009

I've got a rainbow for you

Susan called this afternoon to tell me there was a rainbow outside. I was very excited and got Audrey out of bed from her nap so she could see her first rainbow. I was very sad when she said she couldn't see it, no matter how many different ways I tried to explain where to look in the sky. In the picture it can be made out just to the right of Aud's head.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2009

filled with family and friends

This morning we met up with Sara, Jack and Emma and Kristin, Eden and August who are in town from Iowa. In the afternoon we went to a surprise 40th wedding anniversary for aunt Pam-o and uncle Marc. What a milestone! And they were actually surprised!

Here is our one photo from the day - Charlie with my cousin Michelle's son Caden. Caden is only five weeks older than Charlie.

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2009

hand holding

Audrey on a walk with Jake and Luke

Posted by jill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2009

bouncy day

Charlie has gotten the hang of the jumperoo. It is probably my fault that he hadn't been jumping in it until now - I had never turned on the music and lights for him before today. Now it is a lot more fun for him.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2009

just a poke

Another allergist appointment, another ice cream treat. This time Audrey tried a Frosty. She liked it better than the cones she had after her previous traumatic doctor experiences. Her daily antihistamine dosage has been bumped up to three. The blood draw went about as well as can be expected. She cried, screamed and squirmed. Once it was over she was pretty much fine. All in for the purpose of finding out why she keeps getting hives.

Posted by jill at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2009

my cute family

Posted by jill at 05:43 PM | Comments (1)

August 09, 2009

post bbq

Audrey really, really wanted to go outside all day, so Mama sat with her for a few minutes before we shipped the girl off to her nap. Someone looks a little sleepy here.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

too hot for a bbq

Plans have been in the works for some time now for a summer bbq with some of my ol' high school pals and after a couple date/time/location switches, we ended up hosting on the hottest day imaginable. Turned out to be one of those outdoor parties where everyone stays inside cooled by the AC while some poor schlub works the grill and tries not to pass out from heat exhaustion. While I tended to the veggie dogs, Jill tended to the dishes inside and between us we snapped a few photos.

Audrey was excited to play with her BFF, Brylen. Those two are always super cute together.

Grown-up BFFs Amber and April pose for a shot.

Charlie was the man of the hour, everybody wanted a piece of the little guy. Auntie Lou got her mitts on him first.

My man Holmes couldn't help but get in on it. This is my new favorite photo.

Even Brylen had to hold him, with an assist from Patrick. That girl was really excited to spend some time with the baby, that's for sure.

It was great to see everyone. To my shame, I did not get any good shots of Martha or her friend Blaine; next time, I promise! And we neglected to get a group shot, which would have been nice. Oh well, at least we have some cute shots of the kids, that's what you're here for after all...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2009

sweeping up

Audrey pitched in while we tried to get our patio ready for company.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

patent pending

On her trip to the library this morning, Audrey really wanted to wear the cute shirt that Todd's co-worker Marti brought home for her from the US Patent and Trademark Office. This is funny to patent lawyers (and their librarians).

Posted by jill at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2009

Charlie loves peas

Charlie had his first vegetable today. I let Audrey pick which kind he would have and she chose peas. She may have been trying to be a devious big sister but he loved them. Really loved them.

Posted by jill at 05:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2009

thirty-two months

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

teeth!

Charlie has teeth! I noticed for the first time today that his two front bottom teeth have broke through his gums. I took about 20 pictures trying to get the teeth but each time he covered them with his tongue. It is going to be a two-person job.

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2009

we cheer

Susan has a new cheerleading (yes, cheerleading) videogame that she brought over tonight. Audrey was loving jumping around and dancing to the music. Todd was the big winner and his new official nickname is Cheer Captain.

Todd, Charlie and Jeremy watching Audrey and Susan cheer.

Posted by jill at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2009

desperate

We didn't want it to come to this, but today we started bribing Audrey with M&M's to sit on the potty today. So far we have had success! Audrey is showing off her new tattoo and painted fingernails after a productive potty session.

Posted by jill at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

go fly

A nice breeze this morning prompted us to try to fly Audrey's kite.

Todd managed to get it into the air for a little bit before the rain started.

Posted by jill at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2009

monkey bars

We have been trying to go to the park in the evenings after dinner. More often than not we don't go because Audrey takes too long to eat. Tonight was a quick dinner so Audrey got to practice her leg pumping on the swing and climb the monkey bars with a little help.

Charlie, as usual, was contained in a carrying device but was perfectly happy.

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2009

here comes trouble

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

quiet place

Audrey in her "quiet place" looking at a book.

Posted by jill at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009

six months

Our sweet boy is six months already! He really is genuinely a happy baby. Audrey and Natasha make him even happier.

Charlie just started a two-a-day nap schedule, one of them during Audrey's nap!, and I am hoping it sticks. Without fail he has been sleeping through the night for 10 hours each night.

Charlie had his six month check up today. Though the doctor and nurse both referred to him as a big baby, his stats are average, right around the 50th percentile: 18 pounds and nearly 28 inches long. He is rolling over but has been a bit slow sitting up so the doctor suggested as much tummy time as possible to work his stomach muscles. Poor little guy.

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (1)

July 28, 2009

demonia

Audrey was digging around under my bed and found these shoes that I used to wear back in the day.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (3)

July 26, 2009

five hour lunch

Last night Erinn and Kieran visited. Todd and I left Audrey and Charlie with them for about thirty minutes while we picked up food. They agreed to this even though both kids were awake. Thank goodness no one pooped!

Posted by jill at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2009

dinosaurs are scary

Today was Todd's company picnic at the zoo. If you ask Audrey her favorite part of the zoo she will tell you it was NOT the dinosaurs. As part of the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit this gigantic dino that moves, makes noise and spits water is situated by the fountain. It scared Audrey and she got nervous every time we heard it. We had free tickets for the exhibit but had to skip it because of other mechanical, noise-making dinosaurs inside.

Audrey has been talking about elephants for weeks. It was the first animal we saw and our choice for the annual Mold-A-Rama.

The dolphins also scared Audrey at first but then she loved them and did not want to leave. Charlie was much more interested in the other people viewing the dolphins.

Since last year's zoo trip, Todd's dream has been to have Audrey pet the goats with him. Audrey bravely walked right into the goat pen, grabbed a brush and used it on docile Ruby. The next goat (pictured below) accidentally stepped on Audrey's sandal so she could not move, causing her much distress. She recovered quickly and continued the brushing but didn't even notice she had goat poo on her toe from the incident. Eww.

Audrey had a nice conversation with this very vocal goose.

Diaper changes and feeding in the picnic area before Charlie fell asleep for the rest of trip. He missed seeing the cats and meeting Todd's coworkers.

Audrey's first sno-cone. It looks good but had no flavor. We were actually glad when Audrey dropped it half way through and couldn't eat it anymore.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2009

say hello to my little friend

At one point Audrey was so scared of ants she would insist on being picked up. Todd tried to remedy her fear by letting ants crawl on his arm. This morning Audrey saw an ant on the driveway and coaxed it onto her hand. She let it crawl on her until it started going up her arm and she had a little freak out and swatted him off. Don't worry he was ok. I was proud of my brave girl. I wouldn't have wanted that ant on me.

Posted by jill at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2009

tummy sleep

When I checked on Charlie this morning, he turned over at some point during the night and was sleeping on his tummy. Maybe he will be a tummy sleeper like his sister.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2009

just the girls (and Charlie)

We met Sara and Emma for coffee today for Charlie's first visit to Starbucks. Audrey had a lot of fun following Emma around as she took pictures with Sara's phone.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2009

he ain't heavy he's my brother

Audrey asked to hold Charlie for the first time today. She has tried to pick him up before without success. She got bored with it pretty quickly but it was sweet while it lasted.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2009

working on puzzles

The girl sat at her newly refurbished school desk today (thanks again, Nana!) and worked on some puzzles. It's nice to see some critical thinking at work with the usual craziness.

And speaking of wild and crazy, Charlie entertained us with his impression of a cat with a gas problem. That kid is all about the high concept.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2009

Pool party!

We headed out for fun in the sun today to celebrate Tyler's 13th birthday! When did that kid get so old? And how did we manage not to snag a photo of him?

Charlie braved the shallow end with his designated swim buddy, Channamom. He didn't seem too crazy about the water at first, but came around pretty quickly.

Audrey was excited to hit the pool, but found herself a bit nervous once actually in the water. The boat helped, though I think Allysa was secretly wishing Audrey was ready to join her swimming under the water. Maybe in a few years.

For days Audrey was telling me that she would jump from the side of the pool into my waiting arms. Once at the pool, the story changed. No way was she going to do that! Of course after I was out she decided maybe she could give it a try after all with her pal, Channy.

And what to do after a quick dip? Dry off with a cruise around the neighbor's backyard with the top down, of course.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009

cute on wheels

I was going to mention how excited we are that Audrey is starting to pedal a bit, but this photo shows a sight we know too well: Audrey's feet on the ground! She'll get there...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

first roll

Today was a big day for Charlie. He rolled over from back to belly for the first time! Apparently what he had needed was the right incentive. With Audrey it was the tv remote. Charlie was trying to reach Audrey's water cup. It wasn't just a fluke either - he rolled eight other times throughout the day, including when I put him down for bed. What a big boy!

This picture was immediately following one of his turns. He looks like he knows he accomplished something.

Posted by jill at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

lopsided pigtail

While I worked on cutting down branches and Charlie napped, Audrey played with bubbles and her new jump rope.

We will have to get a video of Audrey's version of jumping rope - it is pretty awesome. For now a picture will have to do.

Posted by jill at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2009

four eyes

Audrey calls these her reading glasses, just like Nana she says.

Audrey thought Charlie would like to try them on too.

Not even hiding under the table can stop my picture taking.

Posted by jill at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2009

while dada is away

Todd stayed downtown to have dinner with some library school friends so we went out to eat. Audrey is obsessed with the mac and cheese at Noodles, boxed will no longer suffice. This was my first time at a restaurant with both Audrey and Charlie alone. It went surprisingly well.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

totally

This morning at breakfast Audrey put her headband on her forehead and asked me if she was "like 80's". How does she know that???

Posted by jill at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2009

raspberries

Blowing raspberries is Charlie's latest favorite way to entertain himself.

Posted by jill at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2009

wood pile

We have had a dead tree in our yard for the last two years and finally had it taken care of today. A friend of Todd's dad, Tommy, chopped it down and did some major hedge trimming. Audrey was very scared of the sound of the chainsaw but once it was off she was outside entertaining Papa and Tommy with stories of our neighbors and their pets.

Papa, Audrey and Todd examine the aftermath of tree demolition.

Posted by jill at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2009

yard work

We spent our morning working on the yard.

Neighbor Popsicle Man saw Audrey outside and shared his bounty.

Audrey wonders why it took so long for her parents to spread the final four bags of mulch.

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2009

pod for toddler

This seat is supposed to help babies learn to sit up. So far Charlie screams every time I've put him in it but Audrey has been enjoying regressing back to when she used to sit in it.

Charlie is content to keep working on tummy time, especially when his big sister joins him.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2009

ready to go

What better to wear outside on a hot day to ride a tricycle than a crown, dress and hooded sweatshirt?

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2009

sweet boy cuddles

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2009

nostalgia

Todd's parents recently cleaned out their attic so we have gotten all kinds of Todd's beloved childhood items like an original Star Wars x-wing fighter and a monster coloring book. I don't know how happy Todd is that Audrey was playing with his toys while he was at work.

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2009

charlie eats

Charlie has seemed unsatisfied after eating the last few days so we gave him his first taste of rice cereal tonight.

He was very excited about it. I'm not sure if it was because of the food or because he was enjoying chewing on the spoon.

I think he may have drooled most of the cereal right back out of his mouth. Audrey was so tired from her sleepover with Nana and Papa that she went to bed even before Todd arrived home from work so she missed out on this first.

Posted by jill at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2009

sleepover

I've been working on trying to establish a Father's Day tradition of taking the old man out to the movies each year. This year I came up with the added bonus of letting Papa and Nana keep Audrey overnight. While Papa and I enjoyed Public Enemies, Charlie and the girls spent some time with Nana. Here are some shots of the grandparents getting to enjoy some time with the kids.

Audrey was adamant that this was a sleepover, not a slumber party. When we were getting ready to leave Nana and Papa's she told us "don't take me with you!"

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2009

happy 4th of july

Audrey had a late nap after the drama earlier in the day and fireworks had started around the neighborhood by the time we finished dinner. We put Charlie to bed and took the monitor and walked down the street to the park to watch fireworks in the distance.

Audrey insisted that Todd carry her and we didn't want to be away from Charlie too long, so we moved inside and watched a great display right out our bedroom window. Audrey called out the colors of each one and was excited to tell us that the fireworks go "boom boom boom!" over and over.

Posted by jill at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

thirty-one months

Today started off like any other Saturday. Todd made us pancakes. Audrey got special star-shaped cakes with stripes of syrup since it is the 4th of July. Audrey has been obsessed with pancakes lately because it is all that Nate (from the Nate the Great books that she checks out from the library) eats. After breakfast we went to the store to pick up groceries. As soon as we got there, Audrey was hanging and twisting while holding Todd's hand and hurt her arm. She was in pain and couldn't move her arm. We took Audrey to urgent care and discovered she had nursemaid elbow. The doctor popped her bones back in place and almost immediately she was jumping around, waving her arms and singing that she was cured. The entire experience was scary but luckily a minor injury with a quick fix. This is how Audrey got to have her second ice cream cone ever.

Posted by jill at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)

July 03, 2009

brand spanking new

Todd had the day off and we met Amber, Patrick and Brylen at the park.

These two are so awesome together. At lunch they tapped their cups for cheers and fed each other mac and cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2009

animal houses, part two

Audrey, Charlie and I went back to the arboretum to see the animal houses we didn't get to the other day and to look at some we already did see again.

Audrey and some really big heron eggs

Charlie escapes the car seat to explore the raccoon den

Visiting with the squirrel and raccoon in the fallen log

There was running around the squirrel drey, but no climbing in it

Stopping to smell the flowers

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2009

five months

Charlie is becoming a really giggly, happy little guy. He wakes up in the morning laughing and squealing with delight. I don't know where he gets it, none of the rest of us are morning people.

We keep thinking a tooth is going to show up any day now. There is definitely teething going on, as evidenced by all of the drooling and chewing. We swear he says "hi" and I know he says "mama" when he is upset and crying. And he is so close to rolling over.

This month Charlie found his toes and discovered he could get them into his mouth. It seemed to be a short phase and he doesn't do it very much, thank goodness.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

animal houses

Todd took the day off from work today so I could take Audrey back the allergist without Charlie in case there was any of the drama of the last visit. The only new development is that Audrey's daily dosage of antihistamines is up to twice per day. After the appointment we took a family trip to the arboretum to see the human-sized animal houses.

We started at the prairie habitat with the ant colony and coyote den. Audrey did not want any part of the climbable spider web.

a bridge on the prairie trail

ant colony

Next was the wetland. Audrey really liked the polliwog pond and kept going back to it. She was practically pole dancing on the puzzle weed.

beaver lodge

skunk den

We did not make it to the third habitat, the woodlands - next time!

When we got home from the arboretum Audrey successfully used the potty! Her chosen reward: polish on her fingernails.

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2009

big boy bath

Charlie had his first bath in the big tub today.

This was supposed to be a bath just for Charlie, but Audrey didn't want to miss out on any fun and got in too.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2009

tea party

Audrey was talking about tea parties this morning so I thought it was time to get out the play set she received from Nana a long time ago. She shared her tea with Purple Baby (aka Dirty-face Baby) and even served chai for me. Audrey got the crown yesterday from John when we went to Channamom's to escape paint fumes and avoid the heat because Audrey had another bad case of the hives. She has barely taken it off since.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2009

hot day

Audrey and I braved the heat and played outside for a while this morning.

In the afternoon, Nana and Papa came over to jump start the painting of the family room. We never would have gotten the project done (or probably even started) without their help!

Posted by jill at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2009

no water chai

We finally got together again with Tracy today and had a fun time visiting and watching big girl Abby dance. Audrey was not as interested in Abby as she was when we met her at one month old. She just wanted to play with Abby's toys. Charlie just wanted to chew on Abby's toys.

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2009

fairy

Posted by jill at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2009

happy father's day, dada!

We celebrated Todd with a special breakfast, a few gifts and by letting him choose our day's activities. Todd opted for a much-deserved day of relaxing at home. It's the least we could do for the man who puts a roof over our head, food on our plates and love in our hearts (aww).

French toast and comics. What more could a father ask for?

In typical Audrey fashion, she spilled the beans to Todd about his presents beforehand, just like she did for christmas. I coached Audrey to say "thank you for everything you do for us" to Todd but it came out as "you do what you do". I think Todd got the idea though.

"I love you this much, dada!"

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2009

insisting on peacocks

When Audrey woke up this morning she told Todd she wanted to go see the peacocks. So we went to see the peacocks at the nearby free zoo.

Audrey was not scared as she has been of the peacocks, but did not want to go into the reptile house. Luckily for us a couple of the tortoises were outside in their "exercise area". The elusive otter was also out today.

We made a quick stop at the mastodon to marvel at his big footprints and drop rocks in the puddles before heading home.

Guess what Charlie was doing at the zoo.

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2009

join in the chant

Hooray! Kristin and her children Ellie, Eden and August are in town from Iowa and came to visit today. Sara, Jack and Emma came over too. It is always great to see Kristin, even if it is impossible to have a full conversation with all of these kids distracting us!

Posted by jill at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2009

twinsies

Audrey has decided that Baby Giggle's new name is Girl Charlie and she keeps setting her up next to Charlie in her own toy bouncy seat.

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2009

chalk drawing

Posted by jill at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2009

jumperoo

Charlie took his first ride in the jumperoo yesterday. He didn't seem to know what to make of it.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2009

children's garden

Today we made a trip to the arboretum to meet Nicole, Nathan and Griffin.

Audrey was more interested in playing with Griffin in the rocks than going through the maze.

Before today I didn't know this stream the kids can play in existed. Nathan was very convincing trying to get Audrey in the water. Audrey waded a bit but mostly rolled around in mud on the side.

Nathan and Griffin

Posted by jill at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2009

googoo goggles

Susan gave me the idea to have Audrey wear goggles during her bath so she wouldn't be so scared of getting soap in her eyes. It worked! Audrey thought it was really fun to wear them and didn't even notice when I washed her hair.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2009

all the boys and all the girls

Impromptu rainy morning tent

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2009

bff

It has been a few months since we have seen Amber and Brylen. We met them at the zoo this morning and the girls picked right up where they had left off. And what would a visit with them be without Brylen feeding Audrey?

Charlie was awake enough to give a few coos and smiles to Amber.

Posted by jill at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2009

Thursday photos

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2009

bubble girl

While Charlie napped this morning, Audrey and I planted flowers and blew and chased bubbles.

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2009

lady and the tramp

Todd used to make Pips(the cat) do this with spaghetti too.

Posted by jill at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2009

tummy time with Audrey

Audrey got in on some of tummy time action today.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2009

turn baby turn!

Charlie is starting to show signs that he might be ready to turn over from his back to his front. He doesn't try very hard; once he gets about half way, he hangs out in that position for a while.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2009

crab walk

Susan stopped over tonight and spent some time trying to teach Audrey how to walk like a crab. Audrey promised to practice, stay tuned for further developments.

Posted by jill at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2009

two and a half years

Two and a half has hit during a bit of a rough time for Audrey. Due to being a two year old and, also in my opinion, the trauma of her last blood draw there have been many problems with sleeping and new fears. When Audrey is not being scared of baths, the dark, closed doors, open doors, strangers, cars, dogs and bugs or refusing to stay in her room at bed and naptime, she is her usual sweet, silly self.

She is loving when the weather is nice and we can go for walks, play with bubbles and dig in the dirt.

Posted by jill at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2009

tummy time with dada

Charlie and Dada bond with a little bit of tummy time.

Posted by jill at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

seven years ago

Today is our seven year wedding anniversary! To commemorate the occasion, we took a family trip to the park.
Audrey got to show Todd the mastodon slide. It had been raining and there were daunting spiderwebs, so there was no sliding today.

We spent a lot of time watching fish splash out of the water in the lake.

Todd and Audrey hung out in the sunken garden until other people came to look at the fountain and Audrey had a stranger danger freak out.

Yes, Charlie was at the park with us but was trapped in the stroller and slept through most of it as usual. Back at home he participated in his new favorite activity: sucking on his fingers like there is no tomorrow.

Rickie came to babysit with Imani, Jeffery and Jaila so Todd and I could enjoy a child-free dinner! Thanks, Rickie!!

Posted by jill at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2009

stand

Nana and Papa babysat Audrey and Charlie so Todd and I could go to a movie. It was the longest we have been away from Charlie and he slept the entire time. Audrey balanced on Nana and learned all about tennis from Papa.

Posted by jill at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is Mama's birthday and the celebration started a bit earlier than we would have wished for. Charlie received a trio of shots yesterday, and while fine during the day, he developed a fever and woke up crying several times during the night. In fact, he and I had a little slumber party after I calmed him down and then crashed on his floor sometime around 4 in the morning. Audrey was up and ready to start the day before too long. She doesn't wear the head scarf nearly often enough, so we knew she was doing her best to make this a special occasion!

Thankfully Jill just learned that she can add soy back to her diet, so I was able to whip up a batch of my famous dairy-free pancakes for her. Audrey helped me mix them up and horrified her mother by requesting I give her a squirt of syrup directly into her mouth. After breakfast, Audrey danced with her Mama to the sounds of her new Brit Box collection.

One birthday surprise came a day early - Chef Johnny T and his pal Billy came out to install our new patio door! As is the nature of these things, the door didn't quite fit and John had to come back this morning to finish up the job. To Audrey's delight, he brought Allysa and Channy with him! Jill and I ditched the kids with grandma for a quick trip to the store, realizing while we were out that it was the first time we had both been away from Charlie at the same time.

We originally planned to head into the city to meet up with Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran for some museum fun. When those plans fell apart, they graciously offered to come out and share in Jill's b-day dinner. We had been wanting to try Francesca's for ages and it was very much delicious. I think the kids wore their poor aunt and unlce out!

Happy birthday, Mama! Hope you had a fun day - we love you!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2009

four months

It's hard to believe you've been with us for a whole third of a year, Charlie! You've come come a long way from that little guy who used to scream his head off for hours at a time. Well, you're still that guy from time-to-time, but now you're so much more!

You've become quite personable over the past few weeks, always quick to catch an eye and flash a smile. You're still very much in your own little world, but you're definitely becoming more and more observant. I had to capture this shot of you conversing with your twin brother in the mirror during this morning's bath.

As I'm sure you'll deny it later, I had to get a photo of you with your new favorite toy: Audrey's first baby doll...I suppose she's now your first baby doll too. This shot is a bit deceptive as you're usually chewing on her face. Baby and Bug are your best pals, it's fun to catch you "talking" to them.

While Mama ran out for a bit this afternoon, I tried to prop you up on the couch for some four month poses. I failed to capture the magic of you slowly falling over, but did manage to get this photo which I really like. It's not often we catch such earnestness on your face.

Keep up the good work, kid - your Mama and I love you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2009

cone

Today was Audrey's visit to the allergist. He does not believe she has any food or environmental allergies, but that her hives are idiopathic. All went well until Audrey had to give blood for a few more tests just to be sure. Major crying and drama ensued when the nurses had an elaborate buildup and then missed the vein on the first attempt.

Even though it was 9:30am, when we left Audrey wanted an ice cream cone, despite the fact she had never had one before. We could not deny her.

Posted by jill at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)

May 26, 2009

stories

Audrey "reading" The Three Bears to Charlie before bed

Posted by jill at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2009

solid

Audrey tests out the new step. We are hoping the step makes it look like no plants grow here on purpose.

Posted by jill at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2009

flying frogs

Erinn and Kieran were going to be at Nana and Papa's today so we went out for a visit too.

The biggest excitement of the day was watching frogs in the creek.

Posted by jill at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2009

spotty

Audrey had another bad case of the hives today. She has been having regular outbreaks for almost five months now and it was first thought to be a food allergy, then some type of virus. I took her to the doctor again for it today and our next step is the allergist. Hopefully this will solve the mystery of the hives.

Posted by jill at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2009

playdate

My friend Nicci from high school was in town from Texas and brought her one-year old twins, Abby and Izzy, over to visit with us and Sara, Jack and Emma. I had not seen Nicci or the girls in almost a year. It was fun to catch up and have fairly new walkers toddling around the house.

Jack, Emma and Audrey seemed to be playing well together today. I am excited that Audrey is getting better at actually playing with friends, as opposed to playing next to them.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2009

happy birthday, Susan!

We had Susan over for her birthday and ate Indian food. Everyone had to suffer with vegan cake since I can't eat the real thing.

Audrey thought her green pepper looked like a sea horse. Very observant!

Posted by jill at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2009

Happy Birthday, Seth!

Cousin Seth turned three last week and we went to his house today to celebrate. Audrey had her first experience with "sponge the bob", Seth's party theme.

Allysa, Tyler and Audrey checked out the coy fish.

Channamom spent time with Charlie.

Audrey was a bit too helpful to Seth while he opened gifts.

Last time we saw Grant he wasn't walking yet. Now he is all over the place.

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2009

gone fishing

Posted by jill at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2009

this time was for real

Posted by jill at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2009

sign language

Todd, Susan and I had way too much fun encouraging Audrey to do the sign for airplane that looks an awful lot like something else...

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

aftermath

Charlie made quite a mess while we were out walking today. I had to wash him, the outfit and the carrier.

Posted by jill at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2009

raspberry finger puppet

Posted by jill at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day! 2009!

Audrey woke up early to help me make some dairy-free waffles for Jill this morning. She was eager to lend a hand, whether it be stirring up the batter or applauding as I took each waffle off the waffle iron.

We stuck to tradition and treated Mama to breakfast in bed. I love that this year Audrey was able to call up the stairs "happy Mother's Day!" and "we made you some pancakes!" She even woke up talking about how much Mama was going to love some waffles, but a girl can get confused in the heat of the moment I guess.

Along with the waffles, strawberries and chai, we brought up a stack of presents: one each from Audrey, Charlie and Natasha. Charlie elected to sleep through the festivities and lord only knows what Natasha was up to. Audrey was more than happy to lend a helping hand when it came time to open the gifts.

Audrey was excited to check out one of the gifts, so Mama read a little of The Kittens of Boxville to her before moving on to the others.

It was Jill's day of choosing today, so we headed out to the outlet mall for some family fun. As you can see, Charlie chose to sleep through this part of the celebration too. Audrey decided to crank up the excitement by losing her best friend Meow - after going back over our tracks all the way to the car and pleading with Audrey to remember where she last had her, Jill found the poor cat abandoned on a rack of clothes in the store we had last visited. I can't imagine how miserable Audrey would have been once it sunk in that she had lost her constant companion, just one more reason to cheer for Mama today! We love you!!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2009

batarang

Bridget and Dave visited today! They met Charlie for the first time and Audrey had a ton of fun playing with the contents of Bridget's purse and insisting they both dance with her.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2009

life of the party

Yes, Audrey has a lampshade on her head.

Audrey relaxed with Todd after all the lampshade madness.

Posted by jill at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2009

dairy-free

Audrey, Charlie and I walked at the park with Jake and Luke (and their moms and siblings) today and stopped at TWO parks along the way.

Swinging with Jake

Happy after a slide

No pictures of Charlie today, just news. We think he has the same milk sensitivity Audrey had while nursing. So, I have to eliminate dairy from my diet again for now. It has not affected his growth at all though, and at the doctor today weighed 14 pounds 12 ounces and was 26 inches long.

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)

May 04, 2009

twenty-nine months

Every month that goes by I can't believe how big Audrey is getting. Last week she started throwing her leg over the side of the crib and we knew we had to convert to the toddler bed. Since Saturday she has been in her big girl bed and so far her sleep is as good as always.

Somersaults and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" are Audrey's current obsessions. She asks probably twenty times a day for that story to be read. Also this month Audrey developed and got over a stifling fear of Natasha. For two weeks she was sure Natasha was out to bite her toes and wouldn't be in the same room as her. Then, just as quickly as it started, the fear ended and they are friends again.

I don't understand how that little brain of her works but I love all of the crazy things she comes up with!

Posted by jill at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2009

ten day bread

We had to cancel our plans for the day because Charlie woke up with one eye very red and swollen and a very cranky demeanor. Also Audrey broke out in hives again during breakfast. Both issues cleared up by the afternoon and things really started to look up when Todd's parents stopped by for a quick visit.

Posted by jill at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2009

free comics and free bounces

Woo hoo! Free comic book day! Audrey and Todd had a date. Instead of paying attention while driving home, Todd was apparently taking pictures of Audrey reading her comic book bounty.

Then it was off to Jeffery's birthday party. And what a party it was! What more could a girl who loves to bounce ask for?

Audrey had some bounce time with cousins Imani and Jaila.

Charlie kept a close eye on Meow while his sister jumped.

Posted by jill at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2009

three months

Charlie hit 3 months today! The boy has been a lot of fun lately...sure, he still can't do much, but I'd say his nature in general is rather gregarious. He's flashing smiles all the time and trying to talk here and there. For a guy who can't get around, he certainly appears very active - those limbs are always moving. Even though he hasn't shown much interest in standing, he did give it a try today. We'll be seeing more of that, I'm sure. He's putting in a good 7-8 hours of sleep most nights now, which is much appreciated (especially by Mama!) I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this little guy - happy three months, Charlie!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:47 PM | Comments (2)

April 28, 2009

Audrey's new twist on ring-down

The girl has remixed her old favorite game, ring-down (aka ring-around-the-rosie), by adding a somersault to the end. All fall down, indeed!

And yes, she still loves her Spider-Man pajamas.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:45 PM | Comments (1)

April 27, 2009

different drummer

Jill snapped this shot of our girl; I think it really captures the experience of spending the day with Audrey.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2009

return of the tutu

While Mama went out to run some errands, Audrey and I tried our best to keep Charlie entertained. Audrey's first move was to break out the tutu. And then she insisted we dance. In circles. When the dizziness nearly floored me, she must have misunderstood - for the rest of our dance session she would stop and ask me "Dada, are you getting busy?" It's like she's never seen me on the dance floor...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2009

perfect accessory

Audrey ready for her Saturday trip to the library with dada: skirt, boots, pink plastic bracelet and meow, of course.

Posted by jill at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2009

asleep

Today Charlie was propped up in the family room chair playing with his bug. I turned my back for a moment and he fell asleep while sitting there. Too cute.

Posted by jill at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2009

hours of entertainment

Last week my friend Sarah from college visited. She came bearing gifts like this activity toy that Charlie (and Audrey) both are loving to play with that we finally put together today. We had a very nice visit with Sarah - once Audrey got over her initial stranger danger reaction.

Posted by jill at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2009

choo choo charlie

Posted by jill at 07:13 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2009

park again!

We took a family trip to the park today. It is pretty crazy how much more Audrey can do compared to just this past fall.

I was especially nervous about this but she made it up without much trouble.

Look at how long Audrey's legs are! Is my baby too big now for the baby swings?

Charlie ready for the park. Soon he would fall asleep and miss all of the fun.

Posted by jill at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2009

park!

Sara, Jack and Emma came over today and we all went for a walk then to the park - our first trip to the park this year.

Posted by jill at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2009

doublewide

We haven't walked with our old walking buddies since before Charlie was born. Today we joined them again and had to get out the double stroller. I have been likening the double stroller as the minivan of strollers but it wasn't too bad to handle.

Audrey and Jake together again and ready for laps.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

Easter overnight

I was off to spend some time with friends at the Dinosaur Jr. show, so I dropped Audrey off with Nana and Papa for some overnight fun. The Easter Bunny dropped by during the wee hours and hid some eggs for our little girl to find. Nana was able to spend some quality time with Charlie when they brought Aud back home while Papa shared some photos of his recent African adventure to Jill and me. A good time was had by all.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2009

incredible, edible

Audrey decorated eggs today.

Channamom showed up with easter baskets just in time to paint her own.

As usual, Charlie slept through all of the action.

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2009

happy together

Hanging out in Charlie's crib this morning

Audrey's best friend Meow had to join in the fun too

Posted by jill at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2009

who knew?

After two months of staying close to home on weekdays, it was nice enough outside today for a trip to the local free zoo and park with Audrey and Charlie.

Audrey and I have been to this zoo many times before. But today the very loud sounds the peacocks scared her, which put a bit of a damper on the rest of the animal viewing. After looking at the animals we walked around the park and discovered a slide in the shape of a mastodon! I had no idea it was there. Audrey told me over and over "this is fun" every time she went down the slide. What a nice change from being cooped up in the house!

This was Charlie's first trip to the zoo. He slept through the entire outing.

Posted by jill at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2009

lunch lady audrey

Todd has had this head cover that he wore and gloves the nurses let Audrey play with at the hospital when Charlie was born in his work bag for the last two months and finally took them out yesterday. Audrey was quick to put them on as soon as she saw them. I think she looks more lunch lady then doctor though.

Posted by jill at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2009

happy boy

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2009

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran's road trip

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran dropped by yesterday on their way back from a day trip to Wisconsin. And they brought gifts! Not only did Audrey score a Smurfette doll, but also received one incredibly cool cat book.

Charlie showed his appreciation for some new onesies by flashing plenty of smiles at his Uncle Kieran. Charlie has been on a roll for the past few days, I'm glad they were here to see him in such a good mood.

Audrey has been under the weather for the past few days, as has her Dada (let's not point fingers as to who got whom sick, okay?), but managed to summon forth enough of her usual charm. I just hope we didn't send the sick bug on with our visitors, lord knows Erinn has enough health issues to deal with...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:32 PM | Comments (1)

April 04, 2009

twenty-eight months

Audrey continued to adjust to being a big sister over the last month. The earlier sad crying fits and desire to be a baby seem to be gone. It has become a ritual every morning for Audrey to sit in her chair next to Charlie before starting her day. She is awfully sweet with her little brother.

The big development this month: Audrey knows the entire alphabet! She had been good with different parts of it for a while and all of the sudden she is singing the entire thing. Always making us proud!

Now if we could just get rid of those pesky recurring hives...

Posted by jill at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2009

artiste

Audrey played at neighbor Colin's house for a few hours today and Colin's mom Cathy bravely broke out the finger paints. Reports back are that Audrey was pretty girly about it, not wanting to get her hands too dirty. Here she is with her first finger paint masterpiece.

With Audrey across the street, that left Charlie and I time to go out and about on our own.

Posted by jill at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2009

thriller

You can't really tell so much in this picture, but in real life Charlie looked like he was doing the "Thriller" zombie dance while sleeping today. I wish my friend Nicole could have been here to see it.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2009

babies don't eat pretzels

Audrey and I were both very excited about our visit from Amber and Brylen today. It had been waaaay too long. Brylen met Charlie for the first time today and as her usual loving self could not get enough of him.

Posted by jill at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2009

two months

At 12 pounds 12 ounces now it is hard to remember just two months ago when Charlie was just a seven pound infant. His newborn crying is starting to subside and more and more he is happy to just hang out and smile at us when he is awake. He is starting to hold baby conversations with us now too. Charlie loves to be talked to and will respond with adorable cooing and gurgles. We will have to get that on video and posted soon!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2009

late night chatterbox

Audrey took off for an overnight trip to Channamom's last night. With spring break in full effect, this meant Audrey was able to spend some quality time with her cousin Allysa.

Audrey and Allysa were going to sleep in a tent together, but our little girl was such a chatterbox she drove Allysa out at some point late in the night. Eventually after running circles around the living room, Audrey crashed on the couch.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2009

big sister, little brother

It may be a little early to tell for sure, but if I had to pick, I would say Audrey is clearly Charlie's favorite family member. He just lights up when he hears her voice. She always asks to sit in her chair with her little brother, this time we were lucky enough to have the camera nearby.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:52 PM | Comments (2)

March 22, 2009

sunny day

Audrey took to the outdoors to try out her new scooter (thanks neighbor Kim!)

Audrey was out about a minute before she attracted the attention of her friend Colin who drove on over.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2009

number two

Audrey went poop on the potty for the first time today! Actually, it was more catching her mid-poo and getting her to the bathroom quickly, but if you ask me, it counts. We're not above stealing ideas from our friends, so we took a page from the book of Silas Lee and rewarded the girl with a temporary tattoo. I asked what she'd like and she told me "blue." I think this one fits the bill...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:19 AM | Comments (4)

March 20, 2009

making us proud

While Audrey, Charlie and I were playing at the neighbor's house today, Todd was receiving an award and planting flowers in Millennium Park for the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days fundraiser!

Posted by jill at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

swinging

We love the face Audrey is making in this one

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2009

bedtime story

Perhaps a bit too soon to include Charlie in our bedtime story routine...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2009

kickball superstar

Here is Audrey practicing her pose for the kickball team's picture day.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2009

burrito

When I arrived home from work today, Audrey met me at the door with the comic section from the Sunday paper in hand. "Dada, you have jokes!" she exclaimed, handing it to me. Before I could even finish this week's B.C., she was upon me again with her friend Meow all wrapped up in a burp cloth. "Dada, Meow is a burrito!" is absolutely my new favorite greeting.

In other news, Charlie continues to impress with his tummytime skills. He may not be able to do much, but the kid can lift that neck with the best of them.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:50 PM | Comments (1)

March 15, 2009

firsts

First flowers of spring!

First popsicles from neighbor Popsicleman of the year!

Posted by jill at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

will dance for cheese

Our friends the Falbos, Brad and Eva visited from Chicago today. We ate bagels then headed outside to enjoy the nice weather with kickball, sliding and bubbles.

Silas was a dancing fool, even when cheese was not involved. He and Audrey got along great. They have come a long way since their first playdate.

Sam showed the kids how to blow bubbles. Audrey's method involves putting her mouth directly on the wand to get as much bubble solution on her face as possible.

Brad showed no fear holding six-week old Charlie.

Eva, Audrey and Katie shared some girl talk on the steps.

Posted by jill at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2009

It's starting to feel a lot like Springtime

The girl soaked up a little sun on the first nice day of the season before rushing off to the library, post office and grocery store with her Dada. We even snagged a free piece of chocolate-mint pie to ensure we celebrated Pi Day properly...it may be a little early, but we're going to say it anyway: Hooray for Spring!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2009

developments

Charlie had his best night of sleeping yet last night and I am, really for the first time, hopeful for his (and my) future sleeping. This good night for him consisted of two four hour stretches between feedings. I keep reminding myself that every baby is different but it is hard to not think of how Audrey was sleeping through the night by six weeks.

In Audrey news, we are working more aggressively on the potty training. She has successfully used her potty several times in recent weeks and we have started a sticker and chart system that will hopefully be incentive for her. She is such a big girl now, she seems too old to me to still be in diapers.

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2009

Tuesday photos

Posted by jill at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2009

cheers

Audrey and neighbor Colin toasting over water and goldfish this morning when he came over for a bit to play.

Audrey demonstrating more of her mothering skills by carrying giraffe in the baby bjorn.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2009

in celebration of Caden

Today we went to a party at aunt Pam's to celebrate my cousin Michelle's son Caden's baptism, who was born on Christmas day. What a bad party guest am I that I didn't get any photos of the guest of honor? I did, however, catch Audrey playing with her cousins Jenna and Mackenzie.

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2009

Burping the puppy

This morning started with Audrey demonstrating her baby burping skills to Mama. Special thanks to Dotty for being such a good stand in.

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)

March 06, 2009

first walk

Audrey had a playdate with "her boys" this morning. Afterwards she wanted to wind down and get toasty with Charlie on the couch. Being toasty under a blanket is one of her favorite things.

We managed to actually get out of the house today and went for a walk around the block.

At first Audrey was upset that she didn't get to ride in the stroller - I am just not ready to get out the double stroller yet - but we had a very nice time talking to dogs and looking at plants we saw along the way.

It was Charlie's first trip outside in the neighborhood.

Posted by jill at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2009

tutu love

Instead of going outside to enjoy the mild weather, Audrey wanted to stay inside wearing her tutu and bunny ears while playing with the tape measure.

Posted by jill at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2009

twenty-seven months

Audrey is becoming such a big girl. But now with the addition of Charlie, she is insisting she is a baby. Hopefully this phase will work itself out by our next month's post.

Audrey seems to have inherited the steel-trap memory of her father. She can hear a song a couple of times then sing it out of the blue a few days later. What she interprets as the lyrics are not always correct but she belts out her songs with great confidence. She can also recite books nearly word for word after having them read to her only once or twice. This has made checking out books from the library extra fun.

Posted by jill at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2009

overnight

Audrey had her first overnight stay with Nana and Papa last night! And though we missed her terribly, it was a little fun to pretend that we had only one baby just for a little bit.

While Audrey was away we thought that would be a good night to see how Charlie did sleeping in his crib, rather in the cradle in our room. The change of scenery did not seem to faze him at all.

Posted by jill at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2009

one month

How has an entire month gone by since Charlie was born? It has been quite an adjustment having an infant in the house again and we are loving getting to know this little guy.

Charlie has been giving us smiles since day two that, at least for a while, make us forget about the lack of sleep.

At one month Charlie is obviously not doing much more than eating and sleeping but he has had some impressive tummy time in recent days. We are excited to see his developments in the months to come!

Posted by jill at 02:06 PM | Comments (1)

February 21, 2009

carpet angels

Audrey insisted she come outside and help me shovel the driveway this morning. What a good helper!

She wouldn't make snow angels in the snow but did on the carpet.

Meanwhile, Charlie stayed warm during his first trip into the playhut.

Posted by jill at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2009

multi-state playdate

My friend Kristin and her children were in town to see family and stopped by for a visit with us and Sara, Jack and Emma. It has been over a year since we last saw our Iowa friends. All of the kids have grown so much!

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2009

puddin' in a cloud

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

February 18, 2009

hives and stumps

Our 401st post finds us with no Audrey. Oh, she's still around, she's just suffering the outbreak of a particularly nasty case of hives. We were under the impression at first that they were due to a food allergy but her doctor is not so sure. Aud bravely gave 4(!) vials of blood yesterday and we're awaiting the results of the tests. Today the hives were at their worst, taking quite a toll on the poor girl's spirit. Add in the fact that she refuses to voluntarily take her medicine and the situation just gets ugly. We will spare you the photos.

Charlie picks up the slack today with a gross little development of his own - his umbilical cord fell off this morning! Here he is showing off his brand new belly button to the world.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:58 PM | Comments (1)

February 14, 2009

happy Valentine's Day!

Through no special planning, today turned out to be a pretty big celebration for a holiday we usually don't think too much about. Audrey and Charlie received gifts this morning, Audrey a book on Paris and Charlie a plush bug. Here's Audrey presenting him with his new toy.

With all the warm weather it was odd to look out the window and see a blanket of snow covering everything in view. Audrey was eager to get out her bucket & rake and her shovel to move some of it around. It was already beginning to melt by the time we got out, but there was enough left to keep us entertained.

My favorite part of the day involved the creation of our snowbaby! We put it right out front near the window so we'd be able to check on it from inside. Unfortunately by this afternoon all the snow was gone from the front yard with the exception of two small globs that were once this cute little guy.

For dinner we ordered a heart shaped pizza which turned out to be a big circle with a slight arch at the top and a crusty point on the bottom. Audrey had been waiting patiently all day and finally was allowed to rip into her special Valentine's Day cupcake. Here she is waiting to be passed some sprinkles to decorate the top.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2009

special delivery

Audrey, Meow and I hit the neighborhood streets this afternoon to drop off some messages of love and friendship.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2009

making Valentine's Day cards

Audrey was hard at work today making Valentine's Day cards for her grandparents. I wrote in a generic message and the rest was all her. Markers, stamps, and stickers all came in handy in setting the right tone.

Here's Audrey showing off the dirty side of her artistic furor.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2009

back to story time

Audrey and I went back to the library for story time today. It was fun and all, but I think the girl was more excited that we used an umbrella to get through the rain than she was by the stories about Valentine's Day and hair (really, "hair" was part of the theme). I snapped a quick shot of Audrey hard at work on her craft at the end of the session: a self portrait constructed of crayons, yarn for hair and googly eyes. Audrey stuck a heart on for the lips, which elevated the piece to greatness.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2009

unseasonably warm

We've been virtual shut-ins lately, so it was nice to see some warm weather come our way on a day we needed to leave the house. Charlie took his first shopping trip to Babies R Us and slept through the entire visit. Very unlike us, we did not record the occasion with a photo, must be the sleep deprivation.

Because it was so nice out, Audrey and I took a walk around the neighborhood before her nap. She held my hand and talked my ear off. And looked for pine cones.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2009

weigh in

We took Charlie to the doctor again today for a weight check. It is safe to say that this boy is getting his nutrients, which is quite a relief after some recent exorcist-like spitting up. He is weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. Looks like a satisfied customer to me.

Posted by jill at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2009

mike and lynn

Mike and Lynn came out to get a look at baby Charlie and surprise us with lunch (not to mention whisking Todd away to a 3D showing of Coraline).

Here's the post visit discussion at dinner.

Audrey: Who came to visit with my, my Mike?

Todd: C'mon, you know who that was.

Audrey: I do not remember her name. I do not.

Todd: That was Lynn!

Audrey: Lynn.

Jill: You remember Lynn, she's really nice to you.

Audrey: She's really cute.

Posted by jill at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2009

with the boys

Today Audrey's friend Jake turned two and Audrey attended his birthday party along with Luke and the siblings Brooke and Brady.

Drop off birthday parties with boys starting already? Are we ready for this??

While Audrey was with her boys we gave Charlie his first documented sponge bath. He did really well - I remember Audrey screaming during and after her baths early on.

Posted by jill at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2009

grandparent to the rescue

Audrey received a present from her little brother today. We got her a doll cradle so that she would have some excitement amongst all of the fanfare for Charlie.

Audrey thanks Charlie.

And a big thank you to Channamom for visiting and helping out with some housework while she was here!

We didn't get any pictures, but Susan visited tonight and treated us to spinach and tomato pizza. Thanks Nunu!

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2009

twenty-six months

Audrey came up on 26 months today as her parents tried their best to keep up (still plenty of adjusting to the new presence in the home). Audrey had Dada all to herself this morning as they shared a visit to the library for story time. After learning all about polar bears, Audrey suggested they stop to get Mama a combo for lunch, though it is likely this was just a ploy to get some corn on the cob for herself.

Audrey has been great with her little brother, or as she refers to him, "my new baby." With all the baby excitement it would be easy to forget old friends, but Audrey makes sure to have fun with her pal Natasha too.

Posted by jill at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2009

grandparents to the rescue

Nana and Papa came for a visit, bringing food and gifts. Audrey received some clothes for her dolls, but she still needs a little help determining where each article is intended to go...

Posted by jill at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2009

doctor visit

Charlie had his first doctor appointment today. He is just about back up to his birth weight, which means he is getting plenty to eat, and the doctor says he looks great.

Audrey kept herself busy while waiting for the doctor to see Charlie by "standing like dada."

Amber came for a visit this evening to meet Charlie, bringing a ton of food for us. Thanks, Amber!

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

homecoming

Yesterday we got Charlie bundled up and came home from the hospital after a two day stay.

Audrey is excited to have baby brother finally home.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2009

visiting the boy part two

More well wishers today.

Aunt Erika dropped in with presents on her way home from work.

Channamom got to spend a little time with her newest grandchild.

Audrey decided she was ready to hold the baby today. She has taken to calling Charlie "my baby!"

And Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran closed out the day with a visit before we were discharged.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2009

visiting the boy

Audrey stayed with her Channamom while Dada and Mama recovered at the hospital. Among the sea of doctors and nurses there were a few well wishers too.

Aunt Rickie and Imani were first with bagels and kisses.

Audrey squeezed in some sibling bonding during her visit.

The big sister brought some kisses too.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2009

and then there were two...

We've been talking about it for a long time, so it was with great excitement that we finally introduced Audrey to her baby brother!

Charles Milo was born at 2:50pm, weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and measured in at 20 1/4 inches.

Jill was scheduled for her c-section next week, so it was a bit, shall we say surprising, when she started going into labor while I was in city for work. Trying to get to the hospital in time (and just making it by minutes) added to the excitement of the day.

Audrey had a lot of questions for her brother Charlie and made sure to count his toes for us.

We're thrilled, the grandparents were thrilled...baby Charlie is here and now the fun begins!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 02:50 PM | Comments (5)

January 26, 2009

happy birthday, Grant!

Audrey's cousin Grant will turn one on Wednesday. Last night we went to his house to celebrate.

The birthday boy in a new hat

The first cousins: Audrey, Allysa, Seth, Tyler and Grant

Posted by jill at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

the boys

Audrey and I met up with Jake and Luke (and their moms and siblings Laura and Brooke and Julie and Brady) on Tuesday to walk and then again today for fun at the children's museum. Since Tuesday Audrey has been talking about Jake and Luke and saying she got to play with "my boys."

Playing blocks with Jake

A physics lesson with Luke

Fascinated by the glowing sticks

Funneling the icy water

Ready for the wind tunnel

Posted by jill at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2009

today

Brylen and Audrey while out for coffee this afternoon

Audrey and Susan jumping together in the kitchen after dinner tonight

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

locker buddies

Today we met up with one of my favorite friends Nicole and her sons Nathan and Griffin. Nathan and Audrey have never really paid much mind to each other until today. Audrey is old enough now to care about what Nathan is doing and I think Nathan liked that she was entertained by him and followed him around. It was awfully cute.

Posted by jill at 04:13 PM | Comments (1)

January 19, 2009

dada finally gets some help

Posted by jill at 05:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 18, 2009

everybody in

A lot of family come over this weekend to help us get some things ready for the arrival of Audrey's baby brother. Most were required to spend time in the playhut with Audrey.

Saturday Nana and Papa put together and arranged furniture and went through box after box of baby clothes.

Erinn and Kieran brought lunch.

On Sunday Channamom and John brought the cradle, bedding and a swing.

Props to Channamom for making it through the tunnel part of the playhut.

Posted by jill at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2009

first zipper zipped

We thought it was a pretty exciting event when Audrey zipped this zipper all by herself tonight.

Posted by jill at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2009

when dada shops ...

Audrey gets things like Spiderman pajamas

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (4)

January 07, 2009

well

Today during the first session of Audrey's new story/craft at the library the librarian was leading a song with arm movements and I was helping Audrey. But Audrey told me "mama, I want to do it myself."

The "craft" today was coloring a picture of a mitten.

Posted by jill at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2009

dada party

Yesterday was Todd's birthday gathering (a bit late).
Todd, Mike, Audrey

Brad, Katie, Silas

The playhut was a bit hit. I think Silas was a bit scared of how crazy Brylen and Audrey got.

Rock Band seems to have become tradition in celebrating Todd's birthday.
Brad, Mike, Sam and Todd play.

Audrey and Brylen don't want to be left out.

Posted by jill at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)

January 04, 2009

twenty-five months

I thought Audrey reaching two was crazy. Every day since that milestone I just can't believe how much more grown up she seems. She must think this too, as she now is calling Todd by his first name more than she calls him dada anymore.

Audrey's communication skills continue to amaze me. She carries on actual conversations with Todd and I and is starting to ask all kinds of questions that make sense. We are loving that most days out of the blue she will tell us she is happy.

If all goes as planned, one month from today Audrey will be a big sister. She talks about baby brother quite often so I hope she isn't too traumatized by the new addition coming to our family.

Posted by jill at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2009

new year, new toy

We get the best hand-me-downs for Audrey from Sara. The other day she gave us a playhut with a tunnel that Jack and Emma have outgrown and Audrey LOVES it. She has been hanging out in it playing with other toys and reading books.

Audrey is happy when Todd sits with her in the "doll house." I lost a bet with Todd that he wouldn't be able to fit through the tunnel.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2008

that's good nog, mike

Mike came out for a visit today.

While Todd and Mike were "digging it," Audrey and I had lunch with Sara, Jack and Emma.

Posted by jill at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)

December 28, 2008

packages and ribbon and dada and birthday

Todd turned 36 today! He started his day with birthday hugs from Audrey and french toast made with love.

One of the books Todd received is almost as big as Audrey.

On the way to lunch

Birthday lunch with Erinn and Kieran

Erinn and Kieran babysat(!) Audrey so Todd and I could see a movie. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream.

To finish the day we went to a big light display at a nearby park, as we did last year.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

December 26, 2008

bag of salt

Today we had the last of our holiday gatherings with aunt Rickie and cousins Imani, Jeffery and Jaila while uncle Jeff was off making his basketball team practice.

Posted by jill at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2008

baby, it's cold outside

Audrey played in the snow (really it was mostly ice) for the first time this winter today. It was nothing like her snow experience last year.

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

merry christmas

We had a delightful day with no commitments and nowhere to go. Audrey got some new toys, her favorite probably either the Mr. Potatohead or the flashlight.

I learned that a two year old can not be trusted with gift details. I got Todd a rc helicopter last week and told Audrey about it. That night she asked Todd where the helicopter was. Surprise!

Todd got some flying in while Audrey napped.

Last night we went to my extended family gathering. Jenna let Audrey borrow some of her fancy gear to wear while opening her new dollhouse.

Cousins Julie and Mackenzie spent a lot of time playing with Audrey and read her and Ethan books.

When we got home Audrey put out her stocking. The idea that Santa may be in the house while she was sleeping freaked her out a bit, even if it was to bring her presents.

Congratulations to my cousin Michelle who had a baby boy today!

Posted by jill at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2008

here comes santa claus

Merry Christmas!

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2008

holiday gatherings

We got together with both sides of the family this weekend. First it was to Channamom's house on Saturday.

Audrey and Channamom with matching fashionable bows.

Why didn't we think to get Audrey a drill? She loved the one that Seth got.

On Sunday Erinn and Kieran hosted their first family holiday party as a married couple.
Audrey sharing Nana's excitement about her new Griddler.

Papa showing Audrey how to work her new PDA.

Unfortunately holiday mood lighting and our inability to figure out how to properly use the flash on our camera left us with very few useable pictures.

Posted by jill at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2008

mango break

Today when Audrey and I met Amber and Brylen to walk I remembered to bring my camera and was able to capture the cuteness.

Posted by jill at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2008

holiday playdate

Saturday Audrey had a playdate with all of those crazy boys she gets together with every month or so. The gathering was a holiday party with a gift exchange.

Audrey received "my first beauty bag" that includes the curlers in her hair here, a brush that she is loving to use on her own and Natasha's hair, curling iron and hair dryer. It is pretty funny to see her using all of these items.

Today we started putting up our tree. So far the lights are on. Audrey was helpful and I think is looking forward to putting on ornaments.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2008

sickies out

Coffee and important phone calls with child-less Sara the other morning.

Today Audrey and I met up with Amber and Brylen even though it took quite a bit of convincing to get Audrey out the door. The girls were so cute. Besides Brylen's usual feeding of snacks to Audrey, they held hands and ran together squealing with joy for a long time. Alas, I did not have my camera.

Posted by jill at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2008

birthday brunch

We invited immediate family over to celebrate Audrey's birthday on Sunday.

Uncle Jeff, cousin Jeffery and Papa

Grandma Channamom and John

Aunt Erika, uncle Kurt and cousin Seth

Nana, Aunt Erinn, Papa and uncle Kieran

Audrey tried to teach Seth ring around the rosie.

Learning about static and balloons. This party was fun and educational.

Posted by jill at 06:38 PM | Comments (1)

December 08, 2008

how old is Audrey?

Audrey is getting the hang of this being two thing.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2008

two years!

Audrey turned two today! Where has this year gone? Audrey has grown from baby into little girl right before our eyes. Almost every day we notice things clicking in that brain of hers. Family, friends, even strangers are always impressed by Audrey's grasp of grammar, clear speech and use of full sentences.

Though the struggle for independence has already started (why is what she wears so important it has to be a struggle?), Audrey is silly, sweet and caring. She gets sad when she she hears other children cry. At breakfast this morning Audrey was telling the pancakes "happy birthday."

We celebrated Audrey's birthday by taking her to the bouncy place near our house.

Amber and Brylen met us there.

Audrey loved jumping at her gymnastics class so we hoped she would like this just as much. Todd was way more freaked out by this huge slide than Audrey was.

Amber and Brylen came over for lunch and cupcakes afterwards. Audrey's new doll stroller was a big hit and was a bit hard for her to share.

Cupcakes with candles. It seems Audrey has gotten over the fear of fire we accidentally instilled at Halloween.

We don't know how another year could possibly have flown by so quickly, but it has been an amazing year. Happy birthday, we love you Audrey!

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (1)

two year portraits

What a difference a year makes. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Posted by jill at 07:01 AM | Comments (4)

December 01, 2008

Scared of Santa. Again.

As you may recall, the girl had no fondness for a certain jolly old elf last year, so we've been working the past few weeks on making a trip to Santa sound fun. Little by little she started to warm up to the idea. She does a great "ho, ho, ho!" She tells us about how kids like Santa. She's been talking about how Pips the cat liked Santa (there's a picture of her and Santa on our fridge). But whenever we mentioned seeing him her voice would get all high and she would plead "no see Santa!" Until a few days ago, then she started talking about how she wanted to see him. When asked what she would say when she met him, she told us in a sing-song voice "Happy Birthday, Santa Claus." She was still saying it this morning and even insisted on wearing her Santa hat. But the story changed as soon as she got a look at him, her eyes were filled with absolute terror. We gave her some time to calm down, but she still refused to go within 15 feet of him. There's still plenty of time left in the month, but I'm beginning to think this is as close as we're going to get to a picture of Audrey and Santa this year.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:51 PM | Comments (3)

November 28, 2008

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Audrey says: Happy Birthday, Papa! I loved seeing you yesterday for my Thanksgiving feast of corn and biscuits. Say hi to Nana for me!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2008

bonus vacation photo

I really like this one of Audrey checking our some butterflies at the Field Museum.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Vacation, all I ever wanted

We invaded the big city this week for our big family vacation! Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran gave us the run of their place while they were off honeymooning. We had big dreams of hanging out in old haunts, dining with old friends, soaking in new sights...it didn't exactly work out that way. Audrey kept us from sleeping, Jill got sick, and I had to spend some time in the office. But we did manage to have some fun.

The reason we chose Chicago for our vacation spot, aside from the donated accomodations, is a simple one: we've been wanting to take Audrey to a number of museums, but between her nap schedule and her willingness (or lack thereof) to get ready in the morning, we haven't been able to make it work, save for a trip to the Shedd some time ago. First up was the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier.

The girls picked me up from work Monday morning. We had driven in the night before, but due to a late departure, decided we would simply order a pizza and go to bed early to be ready for a fun-filled day. Unfortunately, Audrey refused to sleep in her Pack-N-Play and the only way we could get her to lay down was by sharing our bed. That wouldn't have been too bad had she gone right to sleep, but for some reason the guy in the condo upstairs decided to do some home improvements at around 10pm, just as the girl was starting to drift off. After enduring the sounds of much hammering and drilling, Jill marched up the stairs at midnight and gave him a good talking to. Eventually we got some rest, but it really wasn't much.

Back to Navy Pier. As I was pulling Audrey from her car seat I immediately noticed something damp; the girl had soaked her diaper all the way through to her jeans. We should have turned right around, but having lost most of the morning to my meeting we decided to press ahead. Fast forward a few minutes to me drying her pants via the hand dryer in the mens room and finally emerging triumphant, only to hear the front snap of her jeans fall to the floor before I even reached the stroller. Again, we probably should have cut our losses but trudged on. Amazingly her pants held for most of our stay with a number of adjustments here and there, but by the end Audrey thought she was hilarious by pulling them down to her ankles and trying to run away from us.

Despite all my grumbling, let it be said that Audrey really did have a good time at the museum. The photos don't lie. She especially enjoyed throwing on a raincoat and getting her hands on the fun features of the Waterways room, like building a network of pipes to carry water. She even brought it up out of the blue today, I always love when she gives us a peek into what's going through her mind. The wings she's wearing are one of many props for a snowman in the winter room, we just had to let her try them on.

The remainder of the day saw our sleepy family try to catch up on rest and little else. The worst part was now Jill was starting to feel ill and we were all feeling grouchy. At least the upstairs home improvements were kept to a minimum.

The next day saw us in better moods, so we started out early and went out to breakfast at the Bongo Room downtown. Jill and I had lived near the one in Wicker Park years ago, but had never been because the line for brunch was always crazy. Since we were so close to the Roosevelt stop, we hopped onto the Orange line and took an El trip around the loop. Audrey got the whole CTA experience, complete with a folks standing in/blocking the doorway and a brief unscheduled stop for equipment failure (plus you gotta love that no one bothered to offer up a seat for my quite visibly pregnant wife...ah, just like old times)

We hit the Field Museum this time and I'm happy to say the girl stayed dry for this one. We asked her what she wanted to do at the museum and each time she answered "see animals," so we hit the Nature Walk after checking out Sue. Audrey liked seeing all the birds, but I think she liked pressing buttons to hear their calls even more. The wild cats made a big impression; she reassured us several times that they "can't get out," which left us trying to explain to her why she wouldn't have to worry about too much about that.

We walked through a few more exhibits and capped off the trip with a lengthy stay in the Family Playlab. Some of the activities were definitely designed with older children in mind, but Audrey had a great time nonetheless. Playing with the baby dinosaurs was fun as was collecting corn from the fields. The music room in particular was a big hit: it may not be completely evident in this shot, but she played that taiko drum like a pro!

We had discussed staying overnight again and hitting another museum in the morning, but Jill was beginning to feel miserable and I can't say I complained too much when she suggested we head back home after rush hour. Jill and Audrey settled in together for an afternoon nap, but the girl refused to fall asleep and I could tell Jill was reaching her breaking point so Audrey and I took to the streets and wandered the neighborhood, eventually nerding it up at Monster Island Toys. At one point while we were walking hand-in-hand down those mean streets of Chicago, she looked up at me and flashed the sweetest smile a guy could ever hope to see; I can't begin to describe what that did for my flagging spirits.

Even though it was a bit of a disaster, we were sad to see our family vacation come to an end. Having packed all our things, it was time for good-bye kisses; believe me, Bella, Audrey misses you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2008

happy birthday, erinn!

Audrey and I traveled into the city and met up with Erinn and Todd for lunch to celebrate Erinn's birthday.

Audrey and Erinn give each other the "eyes."

We also wished Erinn bon voyage, as she and Kieran leave for their honeymoon to Paris tomorrow!

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2008

play date

Audrey had a play date with her friend Jake today. We hadn't seen Jake since before his baby sister Brooke was born last month. Jake and Audrey were awfully cute together. Here they are hanging out underneath Laura's kitchen island together.

The toddlers are red-faced because the moms were taking pictures at the same time. You can see a little peek of Brooke in her bouncy seat in the background.

Posted by jill at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2008

happy birthday, allysa!

Saturday we celebrated Audrey's cousin Allysa's sixth birthday.

Aunt Erika with all of the kids: Audrey, Allysa, Seth and Grant.

Posted by jill at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

November 12, 2008

Abby Grace

My friend Tracy, who I worked with at the ACS, visited today with her month-old daughter. It was great to catch up and meet sweet Abby. Notice Tracy sporting a Walk & Roll t-shirt!

When Audrey wasn't pointing at Abby, she was pulling everything out of the diaper bag and trying to pile it all on top of her.

Audrey regressed while Abby was here. She only used a pacifier a few times as an infant but today she was very interested and couldn't keep Abby's out of her mouth. When Tracy left we couldn't find this one anywhere. I think Audrey stuck it in her pocket for later.

The last time Audrey saw Tracy was when she came over to visit when Audrey was just over a month old. This was before we really started posting much on this blog so I thought I would share a picture from that day. It is so strange to think that Audrey used to be as small as Abby, but here is the picture of Tracy and Audrey to prove it.

Posted by jill at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2008

looks can be deceiving

Audrey looks so angelic in this picture with the light behind her. This day, though, was one when she was so uncooperative about getting ready that we didn't end up leaving the house. We had a fun day inside anyway.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2008

Erinn & Kieran

Last night was finally Erinn and Kieran's wedding! Erinn looked beautiful, Todd rocked his officiant duties, Audrey stayed awake the whole night without getting crabby and we all had a great time. Welcome to the family, Kieran!

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2008

twenty-three months

The girl celebrated her big Twenty-three with a trip to the polls today to cast her vote for, and I quote, "Oh, Mama!" With history unfolding as I type this, I hope your big milestone isn't completely lost in the shuffle, Aud. You're coming up on your second birthday so quickly, I wish you'd give us a chance to catch up. There is a lot to be impressed with, but on the whole I'd say your enormous vocabulary and ability to carry on conversations is what is really knocking my socks off these days. And your ability to describe any liquid you're drinking, from soy milk to water, as "lime-y" is pretty spectacular too.

Thanks for helping me cast my ballot today. You get my vote for best daughter ever, hands down!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2008

"rehearsal" dinner

Less than a week to go before aunt Erinn's wedding! On Saturday Todd's family met up with Kieran's family for a rehearsal dinner without the rehearsal.

Flowergirl Audrey with future bride Erinn at dinner.

Audrey dressed up for the occasion with her fancy coat and argyle knee socks.

Posted by jill at 04:10 PM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2008

happy halloween!

Posted by jill at 08:09 AM | Comments (2)

October 29, 2008

pumpkin carving

We finally carved Audrey's pumpkin tonight.

Audrey helped scoop out pumpkin guts but wasn't too keen on touching them.

Todd was the mastermind behind the design and the wielder of the knife.

Once the pumpkin was done and the candle was lit Audrey did not want to go near it. Todd was able to coax her to sit on his lap next to it for a moment. We may have scared her talking about getting burned by the candle. Oops.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

breakfast cereal

Last week Audrey decided she would not sit in her highchair anymore. So I got her booster out and she has been excited about her "new seat" ever since, even though it is essentially the same thing as sitting in the highchair.

Posted by jill at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Grunge is alive and well at the Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

dressed for the occassion

Audrey and I haven't really been getting out much lately. Luckily today Amber and Brylen wanted to hang out with us. Unlike yesterday, I was able to convince Audrey to put a shirt on this morning so we stopped at the doctor's office where Audrey was given a clean bill of health from her most recent ear infection. Then we were off to meet Amber and Brylen for coffee. Brylen was her usual loving self giving Audrey kisses and sharing her carrots and bunny crackers. Audrey sat on this bench or on Amber's lap watching Brylen have the run of the coffee shop.

Posted by jill at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2008

the great pumpkin

Today we went to Kuipers Family Farm with Nana and Papa to get Audrey a pumpkin, just as we did one year ago.

Hitching a ride with the pumpkins.

How tall this fall...

... compared to last fall.

Audrey down on the farm.

Apple cider donuts. Yum!

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)

October 18, 2008

home alone

Mama was off to the big city today to help Aunt Erinn with wedding fun, which means I had the girl all to myself today. We kicked off the day by decorating the front windows with spooky images. She let me help, but it really was Audrey's show.

This afternoon we took the tricycle for a spin outside. She doesn't really have the hang of pedaling yet, but is getting better at it. Steering might be an issue too, seems whenever she started to get going, she kept ending up in the grass.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2008

flip

Finally some action shots from gymnastics! Todd stayed home sick from work today but did venture out briefly with us for Audrey's little wigglers gymnastics class.

After gymnastics Audrey and I went to Cosley Zoo with Sara, Jack and Emma. We did a quick tour of the animals, then the kids played among the pumpkins.

Todd put together Audrey's tricycle last night that she received for christmas last year and is now almost big enough to ride. Even though she could barely reach the pedals, she loved sitting on it and ringing the bell.

Posted by jill at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2008

something to crow about

Audrey was all about Scarecrow Fest this weekend. Audrey and I went on Saturday and met up with my college friends Sarah, Priscilla and Rebecca and her two children for a mini Stevenson South 7A reunion. Todd took Audrey back today with Amber, Patrick and Brylen while I was at Erinn's wedding shower.

Audrey and a crow

Father daughter scarecrows

Patrick and Brylen getting ready for their photo

Audrey lasted just a bit longer at the fest than her poor balloon that Sarah got for her.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (1)

October 06, 2008

Connor's Diabetes Kickers

On Sunday Audrey, Todd and I walked in the JDRF walk in support of my cousin Lori's son Connor. We never got the camera out during the walk but did at the family brunch at aunt Kim and uncle Bob's house afterwards. Kim and Bob's yard has all kinds of entertainment, complete with waterfall, putting green, bunny statues and cousin Holly and aunt Pam-o.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2008

twenty-two months

Audrey, my dear, you are closing in on two years! I've been with you every step of the way, yet it's completely hard to believe. Every month we take some time to reflect on your growth and lately it seems to have increased exponentially. Your vocabulary is huge and your speech is clear; I'll admit there are times I have no clue what you're talking about, but your Mama usually steps in to clarify things. I absolutely love seeing your mind at work, there is a certain degree of critical thought in your actions now that just astounds me. And while you have your less-than-perfect moments, you continue to be such a thoughtful and sweet little girl.

Your special day was marked by a little fun outside followed by a trip to the outlet mall to find a suit for your father. I know, we know how to have good time, don't we? I left empty handed, but you walked away with some cute clothes and a nice new winter coat. Happy 22 months, Audrey Mae!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2008

happy birthday, brylen!

Brylen turned two(!) today and Audrey and I spent some time with her, Amber and Patrick at the park.

Posted by jill at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2008

neigh

A few blocks from our house there is a fenced in field where two horses live. We have taken walks specifically to go see the horses and Audrey requests that we drive by every time we go anywhere just to try to get a glimpse. Today the horses were right up by the road, which is rare, so we stopped to take a look. Audrey was content sitting on my lap watching them for a long time.

Kisses for the horses

Taking photographic advantage of the stationary toddler on my lap

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2008

my daughter, the go-go dancer

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)

September 27, 2008

silver shoes

I just like this shot of the girl, ready to start her day (with Meow in tow, of course)

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

spoiler alert!

Mama had a pair of doctor's appointments, so I had the pleasure of escorting the lovely Audrey to her "'nastics" class today. The girl loves to jump around our house, so it was fun to see her really cut loose in the proper setting. Between hopping around the room, we managed to squeeze a few walks on the balance beam, plenty of hanging on one of the uneven bars, a trip or two around the obstacle course and even some fun with a parachute. Afterward we cooled down with a visit to the library for a drink from their water fountain and some quality time with their collection of puzzles. Even on his day off you can't keep Dada away from a library.

After a quick lunch we were off to Mama's second appointment while Sara, Jack and Emma came over to watch Audrey. This was a big one, and as I type this I realize we've been silent here on the blog about a major developing event in our life. It's true, Audrey is going to be a big sister! And today we found out whether this sibling will a brother or sister. Jill is more-or-less 20 weeks pregnant, so we're essentially halfway there! Tonight at dinner Audrey announced, out of the blue, that she's a big sister and the other day was even pointing to her own belly, telling us she has a baby in there (proving she is actually thinking about what's going on).

Here's the world's first peek at the little one. We know the sex and we're not exactly keeping it a secret, but since I'm breaking the news here I'll give anyone who wants to keep it a surprise a chance to avoid this major spoiler. If you want to know, roll the cursor over the photo above. If you don't want to know, don't. And then make sure to plug your ears any time we're around, I'm sure we'll be talking about it quite a bit from now on...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:01 PM | Comments (2)

September 15, 2008

future friends

Audrey and Natasha are slowly becoming better at cohabitating. The cat doesn't run away from Audrey as much as she used to and Audrey insists on giving her treats every day and even brushed her for a bit yesterday. Of course, today when I asked Audrey to tell one of her neighborhood friends her pet cat's name she said meow, who is her favorite stuffed cat, not Natasha, the real cat.

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2008

both feet off the ground

Today Audrey grabbed the edge of the table, lifted up both of her feet and dangled, no doubt trying to relive her Wiggle Worms class that we started at the park district this past Monday. It is a beginning gymnastics for toddlers where she got to walk on a balance beam, bounce on a trampoline and hang from uneven bars. At first I told her to stop and then asked her to do it just once more so I could take a picture.

Posted by jill at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2008

i'm so proud of me

We have been trying to go for a walk each evening and tonight even stopped at the park.

Yesterday Nana came over so she and I could travel together to Erinn's first wedding dress fitting. Nana brought Audrey the shirt that aunt Rickie, uncle Jeff and the kids brought Audrey back from vacation.

In developmental news, Audrey went pee in her potty for the first time today! Just the first small step of what is going to be a long process. Good job, Audrey! Double high five!

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

September 04, 2008

twenty-one months (or "Oh, Audrey!")

I'm not saying we're not excited that you've hit the big two-one today, Audrey, but it is kinda hard to celebrate when your little girl has been sick all week. Don't worry, you're getting better...I'm blaming that new molar coming in on the bottom coupled with the change in weather. We've had a few near-sleepless nights where your voice has cut through the static of the baby monitor, over and over: "Oh, Audrey!" you cry with a tiny voice full of misery, the sort of self-pity any parent would understand and forgive in a heartbeat. When you haven't been crushed by illness, you've been delighting us with your two to three word sentences and your singing and your running and laughing and all that good stuff.

You repeat everything we say and then try to get us involved in your mimicry. "Mama, do that," you'll say while imitating your poor father suffering through a case of the hiccups. It's cute the way you enlist your mother to make fun of me, I imagine you two will be doing quite a bit of that in the coming years.

Double high five for making it this far, Audrey! Woo!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2008

the 325th post features pig tails and skull pants

Told you

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2008

Happy Birthday, Nana!

It may be Labor Day weekend, but we were off to corn country for a different celebration: Nana's birthday!

Even though we had to wait until after Audrey's nap to leave, we managed to arrive while the beautiful day was still in bloom.

Audrey was excited to check out the home improvements, especially those made to the playhouse out back. A new floor and rustic chairs give the place a whole new zeal.

It may have been Nana's special day, but Audrey found some time for fun with Papa! And Erinn and Kieran too, but they had the terrible luck to be in photos deemed to be too murky for the blog.

Birthday hugs for Nana! Hope it was a happy one!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2008

since the last post...

I haven't posted for several days but it has not been from a lack of cute Audrey pictures or stories.

On Friday we met Sara and Emma for coffee while Jack was at his second full day of kindergarten. Emma, who is three, took this picture.

Before doing Audrey's favorite daily activity, "run errands."

We took a family walk at the park district and took the bridge over traffic. Audrey found a dollar! She insisted on wearing her Paris t-shirt from Papa on Sunday.

Todd took yesterday off from work and we went swimming at Channamom's. Audrey cried desperately for her swimming suit the day before when we started talking about going swimming.

We met our Thursday morning walking friends for an extra day this morning. After the walk, Audrey and Jake chased each other around. Notice how nice and behaved Jake is while Audrey is climbing the fence.

Posted by jill at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2008

chasing bubbles

We played with bubbles after dinner again last night. I just really like that Audrey looks like an old man in her white t-shirt and plaid shorts.

Posted by jill at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2008

an explaination

On Monday Audrey and I were at the park and she took a tumble off of a picnic bench onto concrete. She has a scabby, fat lip and scrapes on her chin as a result. Yesterday when Susan saw Audrey she said that it looked like she had gotten into a baby fight and Audrey imitated Susan's air punching.

Audrey added her own flourishes.

It is probably a bad idea to encourage the toddler to play fight, but at least Susan also played ring-around-the-rosie with her.

Posted by jill at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2008

High School Reunion

Last night was the night of the big reunion barbeque for Dada and several high school friends, fortunately it also meant a reunion for Audrey and her BFF Brylen. I don't think I've been in the same room with April, Amber, Mike and Brad for the better part of two decades.

Audrey and Brylen both worked the room, knocking fists with all the old folks. Here she is getting a good one in with her pal Lynn. Audrey must have said "bye-bye, Lynn" on our drive home about a hundred times.

Even after Brylen took off to bed, Amber still gets stuck looking after a kid!

Sometimes it's pretty easy to tell when it's time to go. Hopefully we won't until Audrey is an adult for us all to hang out together again!

Here's a shot of the kids back in 1989(!) and one from last night.

Sorry, Mike, 4 out of 5 was the best combination I could find.