Ice Skating 101

Getting suited up!

He had the walking part down pat!

Alex with Mommy, 38 weeks.

No, Mama did not go ice skating :) But, Alex and Brad had a good time at the park district ice rink on Monday and I tagged along to take some photos. I found these ice skates for Alex at a garage sale last fall and they were just his size. Brad still had skates from college and really enjoys skating so we thought we'd introduce Alex to the ice. They practiced walking around in the skates first then hit the ice to try it out for real.

Alex seemed to enjoy being dragged around the ice by Brad. Mostly, Brad skated backwards and pulled Alex in front of him. I asked Alex if he'd like to take a toddler ice skating class up there and he seemed interested so I'll look into it for the winter. I think Brad's back did get sore after a while so maybe a few lessons for Alex will help.

Alex's Take on Guitar Hero

Alex seems generally unimpressed with Guitar Hero. We did take this photo of him with the guitar around his neck, making us realize that it is not safe to leave the straps attached to the guitars. Brad and I played the other day and Alex just sat in his chair drinking his juice, oblivious to the fact that we were jamming behind him :)

Christmas with Brad's Family

Alex showing Grandma his new barn.

All tuckered out after shopping.

Playing Mario Kart with Grandma and Aunt Jackie.

Scooter trying to make friends with Gigi.

Brad's family came in to visit this past weekend and celebrate Christmas. Luckily we had much warmer weather, making it a little more enjoyable to venture out and about. We had a really nice visit and spent lots of time playing new games. Alex is very into ALL the games he received for Christmas and is perfecting BINGO, Crazy Eights, Go Fish, Dominoes, Cootie, etc. His favorite is still the Mario Kart game on Wii, and he is improving each day with his steering. He no longer needs to sit in our lap and have us help him stay on the track. He's also been cooking up lots of food for us on his kitchen set!

Guitar Hero

Kathy and Jackie getting their groove on.

Brad really rocking out!

Guitar Hero for the new Nintendo Wii is proving as much fun as the Mario Kart game. We all tried it out tonight after Alex went to bed and were laughing pretty hard at Brad's wild movements. Everyone else stood still while playing but Brad was moving all over the place playing his guitar. Maybe this was his calling in a past life or something?! We can't wait til Alex sees this in the morning. He'll be itching to try it out I'm sure.

Merry Christmas!

Here's a clear shot of Alex's eye injury from Thanksgiving. It is healing up nicely and hopefully the scarring will be minimal.

Before Christmas Eve Church.

We've had lots of much needed fam bonding time the last 24 hours and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Tomorrow we anticipate the arrival of Brad's family for more celebrating! Last night we went to Christmas Eve church at the "church with the bells" in downtown Plainfield and stopped for pizza on the way home at Alex's request. This morning Alex was in awe as he saw Santa's footprints in front of the fireplace and crumbs on his cookie plate. He has been riding his new bike around the hallway all day and enjoying the playtime with Mom and Dad. We are excited by the idea that this time next year we'll have one more little one running around :)

17 Days to Go!?!

Am I reading that ticker at the top of this screen correctly? Does it say only "17 days to go" until Baby #2 makes his/her debut? Yikes! I have my 37 week checkup tomorrow. Hopefully the roads are plowed well enough to crawl up there in the traffic. We received another heaping of snow today that will turn to freezing rain and I think all the precipitation should be over sometime tomorrow. Brad and Alex had a great time playing in the snow tonight after work :)

Visit from Suzanne's Family

Saturday-Monday (today), Suzanne's Mom, Grandma, and Sister joined us for Christmas--sub-zero style!! The weather here is extremely, bitterly cold so we tried not to venture out unless necessary. "Necessary" being out to dinner one night and gingerbread house decorating at the local bakery. We played lots of Wii (an early Christmas gift from Grandpa) and as it turns out, Alex is a Mario Kart addict just like his parents!! Of course, Alex had a blast opening all his presents and is looking forward to more Christmas celebrations later this week.

Here's a photo of Alex eager to try on his new CARS flannel PJs. He wanted to put them on right over his clothes!

Alex and Mommy at the bakery decorating a gingerbread house. It was a great deal for Alex--decorating fun and all the candy/toppings he could eat. One on the house, one in his mouth!

Here's Aunt Nicci trying to manage the frosting "glue" with Alex.

The beautiful finished product!

36 Weeks

Here's a photo from 36 weeks, taken at Rush-Copley Medical Center L/D department following a slip on the ice, but before I changed into my snazzy hospital gown. All was fine with baby but we did have to stay the night. It was probably a good trial run for us as Brad realized that he needs to pack a small overnight bag as well. The nurses were very accommodating as far as scraping together some saline solution for him, showing him how the chair goes from upright to completely flat and such. But seriously, next time he needs to bring his own toothbrush, it isn't the Holiday Inn :)

Out in the Snow

It has been snowing here since about noon and I think we are supposed to get accumulations around 5" when it is all done. Alex and I watched it fall all afternoon and went out about 4 to check it all out. After dinner, he and Brad shoveled the driveway and played in the snow for awhile. While it is so pretty for us to look at and play in, our thoughts are with those who commute in and out of the city. I think I heard a traffic report of 4 hours from the city to the suburbs, wild!

What Does Scooter Start With?

Alex's new favorite game is "Mom (or Dad), what does xxxxx start with?" At first we'd just say, oh it starts with an S or a T but now we try and sound out the words. I would say he gets about 90% of the words right and the others start with a C or a K or other letters that are tougher to sound out.

Last week he also showed interest in writing out some letters like A, L, E, X, J, I, T and H. They do alot with letter recognition at preschool but not with writing them out so we'll keep practicing that at home. The other night he drew a train on his Magna Doodle board and it actually looked like a train. I can't believe it! It is so much fun to watch him grow and develop!!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

This one came from the Betty Crocker Website and judging by the way we have gobbled these up, it is sure to be a new favorite!

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/recipe.aspx?recipeID=34437&Source=SearchResultPage&terms=chocolate%20strawberries

1 Bag White Chocolate Chips

1 Tablespoon shortening

Oodles of Strawberries (I think they called for 18 large but ours were small so it used lots)

1/2 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1 tsp shortening

Just rinse and dry the strawberries, melt the white chips w/shortening in the microwave, and dip away! Place the berries on a wax paper-lined baking sheet then drizzle with the semi-sweet melted mixture. It is best to melt the semi-sweet chips w/shortening in a plastic sandwich bag in the microwave and squish the bag to mix it up. Then cut the corner of the bag to decorate the strawberries. Chill in fridge.

Of course, you could reverse the white and semi-sweet chips to make chocolate berries with white decoration too :)

I think this solved my problem with the chocolate covered cherries the other day--I need to use a little shortening with the chips to get it nice and smooth when melted. I didn't say these were healthy recipes, just yummy ones!

Christmas Party Time

Last night Karen came over to play with Alex while we attended Brad's Christmas party, which we so appreciated!! It was a lovely night, just like last year, and I only fell out of my shoes twice! This year's entertainment was a hypnotist (last year it was a psychic) and there were plenty of employees and spouses willing to make fools of themselves in front of the crowd.

The best part of the evening was the location of our table. It was adjacent to the chocolate fountain, which happened to open up during the hypnotist's show. Everyone was so enamored with the show that they hopefully did not notice my numerous trips to the fountain :) The coffee bar had some pretty yummy non-alcoholic/decaf options available too.

Today I took Alex to the annual children's Christmas party sponsored by the refinery. Each child received a wrapped, age-appropriate gift from Santa, which is very generous considering all the children of employees who attend each year! We played a few games and ate lunch, then came home and made some more holiday treats. Brad is off all day tomorrow and for that we are incredibly thankful. We are all looking forward to spending the day together.

What's New Here

Yesterday was PJ day around here. Tuesdays are our one day where we really don't have to race out of the house. We both loved not having to get dressed, in fact, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more :) My PJ pants fit the best at this point anyway...

Today after school we made holiday haystack candies. Alex ate about half the Chinese Noodles so I had to keep replenishing them in the measuring cup, but it was a success. He was in charge of the sprinkles and was very good at decorating the candy.

I went in the baby's room today today to try and get a few things together and noticed there was cat hair on the recently laundered bumper and crib sheet. I have never seen either cat (well lets be honest, Scooter's not exactly a gymnast) attempt to jump into the crib, but I think this cold weather has enticed Cassie to seek out a new sleeping spot. Plus, it is a safe place where Scooter can't pounce on her. I know once the baby comes, she'll avoid that room like the plague, as she did when Alex was born. I think for now we'll have to keep the door shut or cover all the bedding with a blanket so I don't have to keep rewashing the bumper pad. Scooter, on the other hand, prefers to play it safe and stay warm on our bed or Alex's bed. Silly "honky cats" as Alex would say!

Make-up Optional?

Brad has been working outside in the cold for the past few days at work so he had to buy some new chap stick. He accidentally left it on the kitchen table yesterday morning. At dinner last night, Alex told Brad "Dad, you forgot your make-up today!"

Yeah, They're Good

Chocolate Covered Cherries

1 bag melted semi-sweet chocolate chips (I'll try dark chocolate or milk chocolate next time)

1 jar maraschino cherries with stems

I will say that next time I make these, I'll use a wider bowl because my hands (and subsequently the stems of the cherries) quickly became covered with chocolate.

This was something easy for Alex and I to experiment with this afternoon. They did not come out quite as pretty as I'd like but they sure do taste yummy!

Kris Kringle Family Night

Tonight was the Kris Kringle Family Night at Alex's school. The kids were able to decorate their own ice cream cakes, make ornaments, visit with Santa, and sing Christmas carols. Alex brought Vanessa along to show her all the fun he has at his school. We love going to these evening and weekend activities but I can't help but feel a little bad for the teachers who have been there all day. Maybe I'll have Alex write his teachers Thank You notes to go with their Christmas gifts. They really do go above and beyond, especially for a preschool.

Checkers, Maybe Not for a Three Year Old

Yesterday while the painter was finishing up the hallway upstairs, Alex and I did some organizing in the basement. We were cleaning up the games and found this checkers set we had received as a gift a while back. Alex desperately wanted to learn how to play so I humored him. Setting up the board took forever because he didn't really want me to put my gray checkers on the red spots. I tried and tried to explain the game and we each made a few moves. Once we started jumping over each other and collecting the opposite color pieces, he was really thrown and did not want to play anymore. Alex only wanted to have his red pieces and did not want me to have them. He did not want to collect my gray pieces either and it just didn't work out. So, we have put checkers away for the next game night :)

A Nice Little Snowfall

Sunday night we received a nice little snowfall. There was just enough to cover the grass but not enough to make driving too terribly treacherous. After preschool Monday, Alex and I went out to play for a bit in the fluffy white stuff. He broke out his boots (actually he wore these to school in the morning and was super excited to do so), snow pants, and sled. He ran around with his dump trucks in the snow and helped out with some shoveling too :) I think we are supposed to get a little more snow tomorrow afternoon so maybe Thursday we'll head back out to play. On a side note, I think I will have to leave the house at least 15-20 minutes earlier on snowy days--not because of roads, although that could become a problem later on, but because once we get to school we have to navigate the slippery parking lot, change Alex into gym shoes, hang up all the winter gear, and use the potty. Once the baby arrives, we'll leave even earlier!

Our Rambunctious Toddler's First ER Visit

Alex is so full of energy and loves to run, alot. Maybe someday he'll be a track star. Unfortunately, today, his favorite past time took him straight to the ER. Running on the wood floor, Alex slipped and his forehead met the sharp corner of the banister. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly with pressure, but we realized it was more than just a scratch so off we went. The cut looked pretty deep but the doctor was able to close it with Dermabond--a glue that holds the skin together. They say the scarring will be visible but minimal. No stitches. They covered the wound with steri-strips and a bandaid. In a few days it should improve and the steri-strips should fall off.

Alex was AWESOME at the hospital. He just wanted snacks and to play with the "inflated" rubber gloves with Brad. His biggest complaints were in regards to 1)the ID bracelet they made him wear and 2)the bandaid he has to wear everyday just over his eyebrow. He was such a champ while they cleaned him up and glued him back together again.

Decorating, Driving, and Dining Out

Today we put up the Christmas tree. We're using a smaller tree this year, but Alex was just happy we were decorating and was happy to help out. Since I am due just a few weeks after Christmas, we are trying out a "low key" decorating approach. The tree and stockings will come out, along with a few other novelties, but certainly not all the decorations. I usually love decorating, shopping, baking, the whole nine yards--but this year I'm a little more sluggish with it all. Next year we'll make up for it and break out the big tree again!

On our way out to dinner tonight, we were rear-ended at a stop light in the new van. Bummer. Damage is minimal and no one was hurt, thankfully, but still a headache.

Dinner was lovely and Alex even brought his buddy "giraffey-boy" to the restaurant. We enjoyed looking at the lights in downtown Plainfield and the surrounding neighborhoods. It has been in the mid-40s so folks are already outside putting up their holiday lights while it is "warm" and sunny.