Leaving Home and Girly Things!

Samuel started packing up the shopping cart today and encouraging Zakkai to help. He said, "Mommy, we're going on a trip! We have to pack up all of our toys to take on our trip. C'mon, Zakkai! Pack up the toys!" I asked where they were headed and he said, "Ohio. We're going to see Mugga and Pappa and Grandma! And we'll be back in free (3) weeks!"

How cute are these?!! I'm sorry, I am so darn proud of my latest crafty adventure, I thought I must share! It's so nice to be back into doing girly things again after my long haiatus (more on that in a sec)! These two onesies are for a friend due in 3 weeks with her second child. She has absolutely nothing for this baby so we're having an impromptu baby shower for mom's group tomorrow. Do you think she'll like these?? I really hope so:) Next, I'm doing 3 more onesies for my friend back in Ohio who just had a baby girl on Friday. Oh, I love girly things!

And, I'm getting back into cooking now that I'm mostly normal! I cooked my first roasted chicken on Saturday surrounded by carrots and red potatoes. Mmmm..it was a big hit! I accidentally got a really....really...large bird, like 7 lbs large. What did they feed that thing! So we had plenty (PLENTY) of extra meat for shredded chicken tacos the next night (so good!) and tonight I'm adding some of the chicken into some Parmesan and Romano Cheese Rice. Delicious! I may even start posting a couple recipes here and there for anyone interested. Recipes are my obsession; my recipe box is so full that I cannot fit another recipe in there...but still I keep on adding more:)

And last but certainly not least...My back has been healed! I was still experiencing a lot of pain in my spine as of last week and asked some very wonderful friends if they would come over and pray for it. The rest of the day I was still in a lot of pain but then on Thursday, after roaming around the zoo for 2 1/2-3 hours, I noticed that I wasn't hurting. (gasp!) It continued Friday (5 hours downtown), Saturday (trip to Costco), Sunday (church) and after days of being afraid to believe it's true and expecting the disabling pain to come back....it hasn't! I picked up and carried Zakkai for awhile today with no pain! Hallelujah! Just had to share my miracle:)

Spring Break!

Samuel trying to climb on the life-sized tiger

Checking out the seals

Me and my boys!

Holding hands:)

A life-sized, dinosaur complete with movements and roaring that scared a few years off of the boys' lives....

Playing at the lego store

Little Lego Men!

This week I have answered approximately 1087 questions about: buses, trains, conductors, engineers, tickets, rain, cold weather, dinosaurs, skeletons, legos, airplanes, rabbits, naps, chicken nuggets, books, coats, shoes, people, hippos, bears, tigers, playdoh, the lake, cars, peas, swimming pools, grapes, flowers, music, spoons, kisses, stickers and why, why, why??!!!

I am tired, exhausted and sore but man, am I happy!

I am Creepy...

I started this blog one year ago! It's intention was for family (ahem, Grandma and Mugga!) and friends far away to read to keep them updated on our life (mostly stories of boys!). Anyhoo....a friend (thanks, Emily!) got me addicted to blogs. It all started with one blog, which led to another...and another.....and....

So I have a list of blogs that I check regularly. For varying reasons, these blogs interest me and I check them every couple of days but rarely comment. I had a realization today that....I. am.creepy. I'm like a creepy blog stalker, reading into the lives of people I don't even know and will probably never meet! I feel so...dirty. I swear I didn't mean any harm! I was just so excited to be in the internet world for the first time and there are all of these really interesting people out there with really interesting lives. People I laugh with, cry with and pray for. People I don't even know. I need to start commenting or never go back to their websites again! I am hiding my head in shame tonight. Who knew I was creepy? sigh....

But wait! I know there are several of you who read this and don't comment either! So I'm not the only one out there lurking. I feel much better now:)

It's been a really busy week so far! Ben is on spring break which means...lots of family time! We have been to museums, rode the bus for the first time (I know...only took 3 1/2 years and I definitely wouldn't recommended it for someone recovering from a serious back injury), have taken walks, rested, and today went to the zoo. Here are a few things I have learned this week:

Zakkai's new favorite word? NO

Taking the bus/train is a WHOLE lot cheaper than parking in chi-town (unless you get a meter)

I can push a cart for a little bit now! Whoo-hoo! But there can only be one child under 30lbs in it and it can only hold a few groceries. It's a start!

While the boys may really like dinosaurs, never take them to exhibits with life-like, moving, roaring dinosaurs...

Classical music makes the boy's bedtime a whole new (and happy) world!

9 children ages 3 1/2 and under can make a huge mess of your home in a very short amount of time! (don't worry, I love it!)

A piece of banana bread is NOT like a muffin apparently

3 1/2 year olds are REALLY smart and do not forget anything that you promised them

You are never too old to enjoy the zoo but it definitely is more enjoyable with children!

Tomorrow's outing? Riding downtown on the train and walking down the Magnificant Mile and more importantly, visiting the Lego Store!! Pictures coming soon...

Please, please pray for this sweet baby boy! I found this blog several months ago and have been praying for him since. He almost died in-utero from a heart condition, was covered in prayer, born healed (they thought) and now has slipped back into his heart condition called SVT. He has really high heart rates of lower 200s to 300 beats per minute and is very sick. Please pray for his healing! You can click on the picture and it will take you to his mama's blog.

Pictures of Our Week

Sharing some brotherly love:)

Showing off their new haircuts!

Daddy's Barber Shop

Victim number two

Creature I found in Samuel's bed

Practicing his cutting skills

Beautiful boy!

Having a special treat on the couch!

Sweet Samuel

The creature strikes again! (our new wall decorations:)

Bugs on the Trees

Spring "sprung" briefly this week! Oh, it lifts your spirits up so much, doesn't it?! It felt heavenly to get those cooped up-sick-of-seeing-the-inside-of-our-apartment-wall-stir-crazy boys outside!! I think they went down the slide a combined total of..611 times yesterday and today:)

We have been talking a lot about spring for obvious reasons. It's so fun to explain things to Samuel now that he's older and can have "real" conversations. We have a bazillion big windows in our living room/dining room area that look out at some huge trees. So at lunch yesterday we were talking about the trees "budding" when the spring comes. Here's a sample of our conversation:
Samuel: "Why are the trees moving, mommy?"
H: "Because they are SOOO happy that it is warm outside! They are dancing. And pretty soon they will get buds on their branches that will turn into green leaves."
Samuel with funny expression on his face: "Bugs, mommy? why will they get bugs on their branches?"
H, laughing: "Oh, not "bugs", "buddddss." There will be little tiny buds soon. I will show you!"
Samuel: "Will the bugs be there when I wake up from my nap?"
H: "No..it'll be a few weeks probably but I'll show you as soon as I see them. And they are called "buDs" with a "D."
Samuel shakes his head with ornery look on face: "No, mommy, they aren't buds. I want to call them bugs!"
And so, soon the trees will have bugs on them that will turn into big green leaves:)

And in Z-news: the little boogar is climbing everywhere! In the past 3 days, I have found him on the kitchen table, the deep freezer and most recently today...I came in to get him up from his nap after hearing a particularly suspicious crash. I expected to see his head pop up from the pack n' play that was on the other side of our bed but instead heard a little voice peep, "Hey, mommy!" from my left. I found Zakkai sitting on our old tv stand-turned-nightstand picking out books to read! He had finally figured out how to climb out of the pack n' play, onto our bed, across the bed and over to get himself a nice naptime story to read...sigh. It's a good thing this child is so darn cute!!

And cute he is! His latest adorable two year old ism? He gets nose-to-nose with me or puts his hands on the sides of my face and says in THE sweetest, softest little voice, "Hey, mommy, hey, mommy, I tell you someping?" Oh, he melts my heart! In between causing gray hairs, that is...

Happy 6th Anniversary!!

Today is our 6th Anniversary!! March 15th, 2003, we tied the knot:) It was a gorgeous sunny weekend with 65-70 degree weather which felt like a blessing from God! I felt like a princess and I loved the way Ben looked at me. One of my favorite things about our wedding was our first dance. We had debated for a long time over what song to choose. Ben's choice was "My Girl" (Tempations, I think) and I can't even remember what I chose but I'm sure it was a boring traditional song:) I refused to do Ben's song because I felt like it wasn't appropriate for the dance or something! So we made all these cd's for our friend who was DJing to play and had it labeled (x song for x event). So our first dance time comes and we go out on the floor expecting the boring song to come on and what blares out? None other than "My Girl!" We just went with the flow and it was wonderful! I really enjoyed it and Ben? He sang the whole song to me and ended with a big dip:) One of my very favorite pictures is of us dancing to the song and you can see that he is singing to me!

Ben, I love you so much and am so thankful for the 6 years of marriage we've had! We have loved, laughed, struggled, sacrified, fought, kissed, become parents, moved, changed and have become entwined as only two best friends commited to loving each other for the rest of their lives can do! I love that God is the "third strand" in our relationship and I can feel His blessing on our life together. I can't wait for the next 50 years with you! I love you.

You know your a mom when...

You know you're a mom when:
~You're more excited to buy clothes for your kids than yourself
~The warm weather comes and you're just as excited as your children to play outside
~You spend hours trying to find solutions to your child's phases
~You enjoy eating chicken nuggets and individual cups of applesauce
~You have your favorite animals picked out at the zoo, too:)
~You constantly worry about something happening to your family
~You dress like one
~You swore up and down you would never get a minivan...but now they don't look so bad
~You get enormous pleasure out of telling people about your kid's "latest"
~You enjoy watching cartoons on a Saturday morning
~You start a blog just to talk about your children
~Your purse is also a diaper bag
~You frequent the dollar section at Target for prizes
~You walk around with "The Wheels on the Bus" stuck in your head for 3 days
~You can talk about your child's poop with no embarassment
~Your decor screams "A Child Lives Here!"
~Your cabinet is loaded with goldfish and raisins
~You could care less about your birthday but could invite 211 people to your child's party
~The highlight of your day is taking a walk and feeling those little hands in yours
~You finally understand what your mom was talking about and went through all those years
~You want to be a better person for your children
~You love deeper, hurt quicker, give more and expect nothing in return
I LOVE being a mom!!

Too Early for Potty Training?

This hunka hunka two year old love has a new habit...

And it's gross!! Ugh! Boys are... gross! This adorable child with the impish grin likes to take his diaper off and only at night! I'll leave it at that. Not to mention he constantly has terrible diaper rash! I SOOOOOOO wanted to put off potty training him til he was like...6 (jk!) but now, I'm thinking I might have to suck it up and begin training the youngest Thomas monkey. Sigh...

Speaking of monkeys...right now I am watching them "sweep" and "mop" the living room floor, which really means the crumbs are getting brushed around and around the floor in no particular order. I have just been informed that they must "sweep all the day because the house is a mess!"I guess that doesn't say much for my house-keeping skills (which sadly have been lacking since my back injury!) Thank goodness for husbands! I guess it's kind of sad when you're looking forward to a good spring cleaning (and rearranging!) due to a long deep cleaning hiatus:) Now maybe I should have the boys scrub the bathtub.....

And speaking of husbands (follow me here), I've got a good one! I came home to a nice-looking husband wearing cologne (I LOVE cologne!!mmm..), a spankin' clean house, dinner on the stove and a card from my boys saying they missed us...Maybe I should take little trips away more often...

Wow, it's been almost a week since I posted last! This is going to be a short one. I'll catch up soon, I promise! Z and I made a very quick trip to Ohio this weekend for a baby shower and I came back sick with the stomach flu and a cold:( The boys missed each other and got along well for all of...10 minutes before the battles began. Let's just say it hasn't exactly been one of our best days! Here's to hoping for a better week....

Today the boys and I have had such a nice day! Virtually no screaming, fighting, time-outs...wow! Project Samuel-stay-in-bed is coming along nicely. Last night, I told him that if he got out of bed, he would lose the privilege of sleeping in his big boy bed and have to sleep in the pack n' play. I let the boys giggle and talk (and jump) in their beds for 1/2 hour and then came in, tucked them in and told them it was time to settle down and go to sleep and voila! Silence!

Today we were able to get out of the house. We went to a little shopping center and walked around and then came home and enjoyed lunch together (Panera!) and then naptime. Ah..I love days like this! Samuel is practicing writing his abc's right now and Zakkai is coloring (or putting crayons in and out of the box). Here are some funny boy sayings of the past few days:
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We were playing with small legos (a new FAVORITE around here) and building construction vehicles (what else!) and Samuel said,
"Mommy! Look I have the biggerest construction vehicle ever!!"
"The biggerest?!"
"Yes, the biggerest!"
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Sometimes the funniest things Samuel says are when he's not quite paying attention or mishears me. I can't help but laugh and he stares at me, bemused, until I tell him what's so funny. Today we were preparing for naptime and I had a library book ready. I told Samuel we were going to read "Little Red Riding Hood." He said, "Huh? Little Red Riding Hut?"
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Zakkai lifted the lid and started banging on the piano the other day and Samuel gasped and exclaimed, "Mommy! Your piano runned out of tim!" I started laughing so hard I couldn't even answer him and asked him to repeat it and then gently corrected him, "Yes, Samuel, my piano is out of tune!"
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Zakkai has been very agreeable lately! Two just might be a good age for him:) He agrees very sweetly with everything we say and says, "Uh-huh" in a sweet, high voice. On the flip side, this week, he has also started saying, "Don't you...! emphatically in front of every sentence. He caught me off guard the first time he said it to me when I took something from him that I didn't want him to have. He said, "Don't you take dat from me!" I looked at him in disbelief! I asked him to say it again and he was most obliging. "Don't you...!"