Bake me a cookie

Me and my little helper. Last week Joey got to help me make chocolate chip cookies. He is getting to be quite the little chef! (Ok, seriously, don't look at my crazy, I-haven't-taken-a-shower-yet hair.) :)

He was pretty excited to be able to use the mixer all by himself. I did have to monitor the drool, and put aside a few cookies that I knew he had gotten some drool in. But he looks like he's concentrating so hard.

Oh yeah, you may have noticed Joey wearing big boy underwear in the above pictures. Do not be fooled...he's not even close to being potty-trained. We were home for the whole morning, so we thought, hey, we should put him in underwear and try to get him to go potty in the toilet. Well, after the second, "mommy, Thomas is dirty..." (meaning he had peed in his underwear again), I decided I should probably put the diaper back on. Everyone keeps telling us that boys potty train later, but it doesn't make us feel any better right now (or the money we spend on diapers for two kids magically reappear...)

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Gramma was here this weekend. Both kids had a wonderful time with her, and Joe and I always seem to get a nice break. Joey loves playing his special fishy game in the bath tub with Gramma (which he informed me only Gramma could play with him when I tried to play it with him tonight during bath time.)

Joey likes to test how hard he can "pat" things on the top of Kylah's head. Yesterday he "patted" her with a belt buckle a little too hard...

Gramma gave Joey a Lightning blanket. He loves it, and carries it around with him everywhere. Doesn't it look so cozy?!

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Kylah's almost getting too big for her swing these days, but every once in a while she gets to take a quick cat-nap in it. When she was younger she used to sleep in this swing for every nap, and even sometimes at night. It was our life saver!

Seriously, are all second-borns picked on as much as poor Kylah? She seems to take it all in good stride and doesn't get too mad until she gets to a certain point (like getting "patted" on the head with a belt buckle.) I guess it will only make her tougher. Joey was only helping me wake her up from her nap here. His definition of waking her up just happens to be a little different than mine.

But see, she does get loved on an awful lot too. Just tonight when she was going to bed Joey came up to her and said, "Joey loves you Kylah." So sweet.

Everyone can be thinking about Joe this coming weekend. I am going to the Women's Retreat that our church is sponsoring, so he will be a single dad for 2.5 days. I'm sure he'll do fine, and I'm sure I'll miss my kiddos just a little bit. I wonder if I'll be the only woman at the women's retreat that will have to take breaks to go pump? Although that's nothing compared to my sister-in-law, Val, who pumped during her fun, no-kids' vacation to Mexico this past week.


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On a more serious note: If you are reading this, would you pray for my sister-in-law, Gina? Her cousin, who has been like a brother to her, is seriously ill and may not make it. Please pray that he would hold on until Gina can make it there to see him. Please pray for all of Gina's family, too, as they go through this together. Thank you.

Snow day!

We got quite a few inches of snow today. Enough that all of my afternoon patients cancelled, so I got to come home after lunch. I picked up the kids and brought them home, and we all took a little nap. Joe said I should have enjoyed an uninterrupted nap and picked up the kids later. After I put both kids down, and was listening to two kids screaming, I was rethinking my decision to pick them up early...

But the day still turned out great. Joe got off early too, so he came home and took Joey sledding. They had a blast. Joey was pretty excited to put on his snow gear.

Daddy and Joey before they left to go sledding.

Joey's a little off-balanced when he's all bundled up and wearing his boots. He does a few face-plants. I happened to catch this one out front before they left. He kept saying it was so cold.

All better!

Joey requested hot chocolate as soon as he came in the door (I should have gotten a picture of that...)

Meanwhile, back in the warmth of our house, mommy and Kylah were cooking dinner.

Look, ma, I'm learning my letters!

Mmmmm, they taste pretty good too.

She was enjoying her new toy from Gramma, and I was trying to keep her occupied while I finished cooking.

That's a genuine "Kylah" smile there!

After dinner came bath time. Joey likes to lay down in the water now; quite brave, I know. Tonight he lays down in the water and says, "water feel good me", as if he's relaxing in a hot tub. Joe and I thought it was pretty cute.

After bath, it was movie time (Kylah had to bow out early because she was beat.) We popped some popcorn and cuddled up to watch KungFu Panda. We only watched part of it. There are a few "scary" parts in it for a 2.5 year old.

Now both kids are in bed, and as always we are enjoying the peace.

Tagged: info about me

Step 1: respond and rework—answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.Step 2: tag—eight other untagged people
1) Favorite football team: Nebraska Huskers, of course. And for NFL: KC Chiefs.
2) What are you wearing now: I'm at work, so I'm actually dressed nice. Gray pants, black sweater, pointy black heels. I am a strict sweatpants wearing girl at home, though! :)
3) What color is your bedroom? Unfortunately our bedroom is still white. We have painted most of the rest of our house, but not our room yet. Maybe this summer? The problem is, when we paint our room, I want to get all new comforter/curtains/etc, so it will be a little more expensive.
4) What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? I just finished a book from the church library (I love our church library!) I am also reading a book by A.W. Tozer. And I am about 3/4 of the way through the third book in the Twilight series...I really want to finish the series, but I'm having a hard time for some reason. I'll get back into it soon.
5) Do you nap a lot? Anyone who knows me at all knows I love to nap. I would nap every day if I could. I strategically try to put the kids down at the same time so I can get a little snooze. Kylah isn't as good of a napper as Joey, so I don't get very long naps, but I'll take whatever I can get. And Sunday afternoons were made for napping!
6) Who was the last person you hugged? Kylah, when I got her out of bed this morning. I gave Joe a kiss before I left for work this morning, but he was still lying in bed so I didn't hug him.
7) What’s your current obsession/addiction? I'm always addicted to candy. I recently gave up candy and dessert during the month of January, so I am loving being able to eat it again. I'm thinking I should probably cut back again somehow. Seriously, I looooooove candy.
8) What was the last thing you said aloud? "Don't forget to put the rest of the pumped milk into Kylah's oatmeal this morning." Said to Joe.
9) What Web sites do you always visit when you go online? E-mail first, then my blog for comments, then to see if anyone else has updated their blogs, then facebook.
10) What was the last thing you bought? Lunch yesterday: a salad from Applebee's.
11) What are you listening to right now? Nothing...wait...I just changed that and turned on Yahoo music.
12) What is something you wish you could do more? Go on fun vacations.
13) What gives you hope? My salvation and watching my kids.
14) What is your favorite weather, and why? I love all different kinds of weather. I really actually love living in Nebraska because of the changing seasons.
15) What time do you usually get up? Usually around 7:00 on my days off...whenever I hear Kylah calling me in the monitor. On the days I go to work, I get up a little after 6:00 in order to get everything done and everyone out the door, to be to work by 8:00.
16)What is your most challenging goal right now? Toning up. I've lost most of my baby weight, but these abs need some help!
17)Say something to the person who tagged you: Val is such a fun sister-in-law. Who would have thought back when I was playing volleyball at JBU, and Val was our student athletic trainer that we would one day be sister-in-laws. But I do really wish we lived closer together...the Philippines is a long way away. I am loving having them on furlough and only 2.5 hours away!
18) If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? Like I said earlier, I love living in Nebraska, but I wouldn't mind having a vacation home somewhere really warm.
19)Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere warm. When I'm on vacation I want it to be hot, where I can lay out and jump in the pool. Skiing is fun, but it is hard for me to pick skiing over somewhere warm.
20)What is your favorite children’s book? Wacky Wednesday was my favorite when I was little. I need to find a copy for my kids. Right now I like The Moon in My Room, because we read it every night to Joey (it has to be the last book we read before he goes to sleep.) He has actually started reading it to us, as in holding the book in his lap facing out towards us. I think his babysitter reads books this way to them.
21)Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Jelly beans and Peanut Butter M&M's.
22)If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Jesus, but I guess we know we will actually "meet" him some day!
23)Have you ever met anyone famous? Only in my dreams. Oh wait, I met a basketball player from Marquette with Joe last Christmas at the airport. I don't know that he's actually that famous, and I don't even know his name, but I do see him on TV, and Joe knows who he is!
24)If you could have any job in the world , what would it be? I seriously would probably still be a PA. I love what I do, and I love the hours I work.
25) What did you want to be "when you grow up?" Doctor. I can't remember what else I wanted to be...maybe my mom would remember what I used to say...
Now I tag Meredith, Kelly, Christine, Sarah S, Amy H, Brynn, Elisa, Aunt Elizabeth.

Can she be any cuter?

I mean, seriously, look at those kissable chubby cheeks, those beautiful blue eyes, the cute button nose, and that baldish head (with the little bit of hair that sticks straight up.) And I'm totally unbiased in this opinion!

Oh, and I can't forget those lucious, dark, long eye lashes. (I think it's a Manthe trait.}

I've got a new helper in the kitchen. And by helper, I mean, have to do everything that mommy is doing, have to be up on the chair at mommy's level in exactly the spot mommy wants to be, have to open and shut the microwave and push its buttons for mommy, have to stir each and every pot, have to crack at least one egg by himself, put in the dishwasher detergent, push the button to start the dishwasher, and now has to wash each and every one of his dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Man...if I can keep him going on these, then I should be able to sit and do nothing by the time he's 7! :)

Only a mommy (and maybe a grandma) could love this oatmeal-flaked face. :)

I've gone and done it now. I've introduced Joey to paint. I'm sure he's painted somewhere, sometime before, but never at home. Well, I bit the bullet and brought it out...complete with daddy's old t-shirt (thanks for the ideas Mere!) He absolutely loved it.

I did make a cute picture of Joey's and Kylah's hand prints by painting their hands. Kylah wasn't a fan. Once Joey realized he could paint his fingers and then put them on the paper, that's all he did. It was pretty cute. And he had to clean each color off his hand before moving on to the next color.

Ok, enough mommy-bragging for one night. I'm off to bed.
PS---I'm working on getting to know my new camera lens that Joe got me for Christmas. It's a 50mm lens, and so far I really like it.

Boys day out

Joey and daddy had a fun morning together on Saturday. Joe took Joey to the train expo. I guess it's a bunch of people that bring their model trains to show. Not something we normally would have gone to, but Joey is very much into trains right now, so Joe thought it might be fun for him. We decided it would be a fun "boys" activity.

Kylah and I went to the gym and then went grocery shopping together (where she got talked to by at least 5 people because she just smiles at everyone...kind of reminds me of what her brother was like at that age.)

Seriously, can you get any cuter?! A little boy loving the trains. (Joe told him to look but not touch, and you can see he is definitely obeying.)

I swear these pictures just make anyone want to be a little kid again, enthralled with something so simple as a train set.

This was a fun train that they could ride and pedal with their arms. Joey talked about this a lot when he got home. He thought he was going so fast, but apparently the big boy behind him was just pushing him really fast around the track.

This would have been proper attire for Superbowl Sunday, but actually Joey wore this today. I couldn't get him to look away from the TV long enough for me to get a picture of him smiling at the camera. But, at least he's smiling (refer to previous posts about Joey not liking to pose for pictures these days.)

Does anyone else think he looks so grown up all of a sudden???

I love it when Joey says something to me that I've never heard him say before. I know he knows what these things are, but I've never actually heard him say it before. For example, last night Kylah was sitting in the living room crying while I was trying to get something in my room. I hear Joey out there talking to her, and then he comes running into my room saying, "mommy Kylah's gots a runny nose." Little things like that just crack me up.

And, how do 2.5 year olds have the memories of elephants? A funny example: Last Sunday (as in over a week ago), we were on our way to lunch after church. We were talking about golfing, and Joey wanted to know when he could go golfing. He knows that when the grass is green and it's hot outside then he will get to go golfing. He asks, "after nap time?" I said, "Joey, more like after 100 naps." No answer from Joey...no big deal. Well, today on the way home from daycare we go by the golf course that we pass everyday on our way home. Joey says, "mommy, grass is yellow and golf course is covered in snow. I go golfing with daddy when it hot outside and grass is green. After a hunded naps." I seriously could have crashed the car I was laughing so hard. How in the world was that still in his mind that he had to take a hundred naps before he could golf, when we haven't talked about it in over a week, and I only mentioned it once?!

And these are just glimpses of the fun conversations we have with Joey all the time. That kid cracks me up!


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And just because I'm an equal-opportunity mommy, and because she's just so darn cute...some pictures of Kylah:

Kylah still as cute as ever, loves her daddy most of all (even though mommy still gives her life-sustaining milk), is starting to nap much better, usually sleeps 10-12 hours a night, doesn't care if her baby food is warm or cold, doesn't like to be left in a room by herself, loves bath time, can wave hi and bye, has discovered that she loves any kind of cracker, and loves the baby Gerber puffs. (Joey has also re-discovered his love for the baby puffs...) That about sums up the recent life of Kylah in one long (run-on) sentence. :)