Traditions

Just a few pictures from Thanksgiving.  Not many, we didn't do much other than sit and eat.  Ingrid was all alone at the kids' table because Otis napped through dinner.  She looked sort of lonely but we honestly didn't have any room for her at the big table!  Cody kept her company, and was well rewarded for his service...

 The day after Thanksgiving was all about making the chain.  When I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving meant my mom would sit us down with paper, scissors, and markers and we made our paper chain.  Each link represents one day until Christmas, and each morning we would take turns ripping off a link.  This year was the first year we did this with Ingrid and Otis and they seem to love the idea!  Ingrid helped me tape the paper together and both kids love to go and look at how many more days there are until Christmas!

 My brother sent me a nearly identical picture of his kids by their paper chain right after we made this!  I love traditions that last.

 

And what was Otis doing all this time?  Sitting around with a fever, snotting everywhere.  That poor kid just gets a cold and it gets worse and worse and just lingers.  Ingrid was sniffly for a few days and Otis has been full on sick for over a week.  Blah.  Poor kid.

 

 

Cottage Time!!

On Sunday we made our first trip of the year to the cottage.  I love that we have a place like this to get away from the city for a day or a weekend.  We packed some food for lunch, a couple games and diapers for Otis, and took off. 

We had to measure the kids on the door.  Otis has grown a whole foot in the past year!  And, as always, it's fun to see the marks from the past.  Grandpa as a two year old in 1947, Daddy as a two year old in 1980.  And Ingrid as a two year old in 2008.  Family history on this door!

The kids had fun just hanging out, getting into the croquet set, coloring, and going to the parks.  It rained a bit so we made some muddy sand castles in the sandbox.  Fun!

Yesterday we had a great morning, too.  We took a nice long walk along Lake Michigan with the dog and enjoyed the sun and the sparkly lake.  Have I mentioned how awesome it is living three blocks from Lake Michigan?  Our walks are gorgeous, and the view from the park is amazing.



Life Pictures

Random shots from everyday life. 

Daddy play time:

Fabulous boys:

Mama and her mini-me:

A dog says what?

We took Otis to his year checkup and found that Fat Man is now bigger than Ingrid was at this age.  He's almost 23 lbs and 31" long.  Big kid.

A Visit with Cody

Our wonderful dog Cody has been living with Brendan's parents for the past year and a half.  While I was pregnant and especially on bedrest, it was nice not to have a pacing old dog to have to deal with.  Then we moved and our new place did not allow dogs.  So, it's been awhile since we've had him.  But he had to go to the vet yesterday, so Brendan and Ingrid brought him and then brought him to our house to spend the weekend.  We're hoping that our landlord will see what a gentle giant we have and let us keep  him here. 

Otis loves Cody, which surprised me.  Our friends have two big labs and when they ran up to Otis, he cried.  But Cody comes in the room and Otis is all over him.  And of course Ingrid loves her original big brother.  And it was a lovely day out so we got to spend lots of time out in the backyard throwing a tennis ball. 































Can I just say that my wee little baby is really starting to look like a little boy?  His four top teeth are starting to show when he smiles and he just isn't that gummy little man anymore.  It is about a month until he turns one.  Where oh where did that year go??

Messy Face

Two questions for you, Ingrid:
How does paint get on your nose?

Did any of that frosting get in your mouth?

Last night was lovely, we finally have nice weather again after days of rain.  Everything is nice and green because of the rain, though, so I really shouldn't complain.  I made chicken and biscuits with asparagus (which Ingrid saw and said "pinecones in the fridge, mama!") and a yummy strawberry crisp for dessert. 

After dinner Brendan took the wee one and the dog out to get some energy out before bedtime.  Didn't work, Ingrid was up until past 9pm crying and carrying on!  And then got up at 6am, it's going to be a long day...

I'm Going to Miss This.

So we're moving.  We found an apartment by the university and it will be so much better than living in a complex.  I've been so excited by the thought of living near things again, and not having tons of neighbors.  And then Ingrid and I went to the lake today and I realized...I'm gonna miss being able to walk to a big lake and have peace and quiet.

Our apartment complex is on a lake, and there are trails all along the lake and a big grassy field.  No one ever goes out there, strangely, so when we go it's usually just us, totally quiet and peaceful.  We let Cody run around, Ingrid examines rocks and sticks, we hear birds and smell fresh air.  It's great.  For a crappy apartment, the lake part of it is really quite nice.

Anyway, we went today and had a great time.  It was gorgeous out and we took a picnic with us.  Cody even went swimming, which Ingrid thought was hilarious for some reason.  Afterward, Ingrid went down for her nap with no trouble at all.  All that fresh air sure does help with sleep issues!

A Fun Weekend

Our weekend was pretty fun.  Saturday morning I went out with my friends Jami and Heather.  We met at the Kiwanis sale, where I got some good finds.  A couple Health Tex tshirts, a pair of overalls, a super cute vintage kid's pillowcase, and this:

I love it!  Isn't it perfect for a baby's room (hint, hint, Brendan!)  It's kinda dirty and the frame needs to be painted, but I love it.

Other highlights from this weekend:  new crayons for Ingrid!  She is so hard on her crayons, they only last a week or so before becoming tiny little shards...

Eating yogurt while wearing a crown.  Of course.

And this morning Ingrid read her books while wearing Daddy's hat.  She loves hats, the bigger the better :)

Today we are off to go to gymnastics and hopefully stop by the store and get some goodies for care packages we're making.  It seems strange, now that Brendan's car is working again and we have the car all to ourselves, we're out and about all the time whether we really need to or not.  Why can't I just stick around home even if I have a car to use?  I have to work on that!!

Thrifting with my Lady

Ingrid and I went thrifting yesterday and had the best time.  Usually she's very whiny and just wants to go, but yesterday she was into it.  We pretty much stayed in the kid's section, as I was scouring the racks for some vintage finds.  A friend is starting up a kid's vintage shop and I love a reason to buy the things I don't have a need for.  Ingrid found lots of toys to play with and they even had a ride on horse that kept her entertained, so I was able to do all this pretty smoothly.  So, we spent about an hour going over ever little piece of clothing in the kid's section, piling up things in our cart, looking them over, decided what was worth the money and what wasn't.  Here's what we came up with:

Pretty cute indeed.

Yesterday was a good day overall.  We started out by painting out in the cold morning, which didn't bother Ingrid in the least.  Mama, on the other hand, needed a hot cup of coffee to keep her warm and kept asking "are you SURE you don't want to do this inside?"  After lunch we took a nice long walk to the park, let Cody run, let Ingrid swing, and we all got to enjoy the weather.

I was just telling Brendan last night how funny it is that every year at spring time I get so unbelievably overjoyed at the first nice weather.  It's like over the winter I forget that there can ever be a day over 25 degrees, that the sun can shine and actually make you warm!  You'd think it would be old news after 33 years of living this way, but alas, each spring it's like I've never experienced it before.  I love spring.

And, one more funny anecdote from Ingrid:  This morning she had a glass of plain milk.  She asked for pink milk, I said not right now, she asked a few more times, I said no a few more times.  She left the room, rummaged around in the kitchen, and brought back the can of strawberry powder!  And then she asked again "pink milk, please?"  That kid does not take no for an answer!  I have to respect that!

Snow Day!

Yesterday it started to snow, and it snowed all night long, and when we woke up this morning it was a winter wonderland!  These are the only days I really like snow--when it's new and white and fresh and clean.  Ingrid and I got our boots on and let Cody out to run in the snow right away this morning. 

We came in to do some coloring, of course, and I got some sewing done.  I made these little slippers for the shop. 

I think I'm getting better at them but sometimes they still come out so wonky--like a recent pair I made were made from the same pattern and yet one ended up an inch shorter than the other.  A whole inch, how does that happen?!  (Don't worry, I don't sell those!  I make sure they are the same size and shape before I post them.)

And now we're making dinner and listening to the Yo Gabba Gabba cd.  Ingrid knows most of the words to it, it totally makes me laugh to hear her sing along. 

A Buncha Nothin'

That is exactly how I would describe the past few days--a buncha nothin'.  We have hung out mostly at home, watching it snow outside.  Ingrid has colored, climbed things, played with her kitchen stuff, watched copious amounts of Charlie and Lola, and gotten snot everywhere.  I have gotten some sewing done, cleaned the house a few times, done some laundry, watched copious amounts of Charlie and Lola, and cleaned up a bunch of snot.  Neither of us has slept much. 

Even the cat seems lazier than usual...

Yesterday we managed to make it out to Kmart to get laundry soap, that was our big outing.  We also took Cody to the dog park and made mini snowmen, which Cody kept trampling over.  I would love to get out again today, but last night Ingrid was up literally all night long.  She took some cat naps here and there to gear up for hour long sessions of crying...We are both exhausted and now she's in her bed yelling for mama, mama, mama.  Sigh, it's going to be a long day...

Up next in our doing not so much--baking cookies and making cinnamon cherry walnut bread.  And watching TV (I'm not even going to feel guilty about this, as Ingrid is snotting everywhere and I'm barely able to see straight for being so tired...) and possibly going outside to let Cody run.  And cleaning up more snot.

Wintery Walk

Ingrid got to wear her snowpants for the first time today!  It finally snowed more than a dusting, so we took her and Cody out this morning to walk by the lake.  It is gorgeous and not too cold and really sunny and the snow is all sparkly.  If only winter were like this all the time instead of gray and dreary and slushy...

I also found an old bottle of Ingrid's so she could feed her baby.  My old Cabbage Patch Kid has become one of her favorite toys!  She loves to put the blanket on her and now she loves to feed her a bottle.  We got her a little doll stroller for Christmas, I'm sure she'll love that, too :)

Camping With a One Year Old

Yesterday afternoon, Ingrid and I picked up Brendan from work and left to go camping. It was a short trip to the campground, where we found the site was nothing but dips and hills--absolutely no flat area to put up our tent! And you could only sit on one side of the picnic table because it was so tipsy. My first impression was not very good. I was already crabby after a long day, and Ingrid was as well, so...it was not much fun right from the start.

However, we made it happen. Brendan set up the tent on a major incline with some help from Ingrid.

We got a fire started and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

It started to get dark and Ingrid started to get really whiny and I realized it was about an hour past her normal bedtime. We had nothing but pit toilets so there would be no bathtime for Ingrid. We put her in her footy pjs and of course all she wanted to do was walk around and then fall because there was NO FLAT GROUND. The later it got, the more milk she had drank, and the more she cried, without falling asleep. I tried to rock her but sitting ON AN INCLINE and trying to hold a 25 lb. kid and rock rhythmically is no easy task. And then when I thought I had done it, she puked on me. Sigh.

Brendan finally got her to fall asleep as he walked around with her. We didn't bring a sling so it was just him holding dead weight. She slept for about an hour, then woke up every hour after that. I think we maybe got another hour of sleep before some people showed up with a cooler of beer and songs to sing at a nearby campsite. Hello, people, it's midnight, shut up!! Then at about 3:30am Ingrid had rolled so far down in the tent (did I mention we were on an incline??) she rolled into Cody, who was scrunched up in the corner. She woke up and thought it was really cool that Cody was there to play with. She thought it was pretty cool that we were in a tent, ooh, look, mama and daddy are here too! Let's hit them in the face! Let's talk really loudly, at 3:30am!! We tried everything and could not get her back to sleep for two hours. She fell asleep again around 5:30 and we all got two more hours of sleep before she was up again. How is it that she can get absolutely no sleep but be the happiest little camper around?

We noticed three other families of young ones near us and I think they had similar nights. Most of them were gone by the time we left at 8am!

I got up with her and made breakfast, which she didn't want, she only wanted a "crack-oo." Dirt and all.

We took a walk down by the water, which was gorgeous in the early morning. There's my silver lining--if she hadn't gotten me up that early, I never would have seen how pretty it was!

Like I said, by 8am we were on the road. The people at the office were so nice and gave us a refund for the wood we didn't use and for the night we weren't going to stay. How nice is that? Maybe they knew they had given us the WORST campsite ever. Ingrid slept on the way home, as did I, and we all got naps later this afternoon. It was not a fun trip, but it was definitely a memorable one. I know this will be a story we'll tell her about the first time we took her camping and how Daddy said he was never going to take her anywhere overnight ever again!!