Miss M and her happenings

Miss M received some slippers in the mail for Christmas.  They are insanely too large. They are a size six but a size six for little girls not little toddlers.  Miss M doesn't care. She loves them. She trips over them but as long as she's not running they don't cause too much drama.

We received them on Saturday and we had a babysitter Saturday night. The babysitter texted me and told me that Miss M would not take her slippers off and insisted on wearing them to bed. She agreed to make everybody's life easier.

We let her open a Christmas present early.  We are fortunate she doesn't know the difference. Next year I will have to buy all her presents at the last minute b/c I just want to give them to her as soon as they are purchased (or arrive).

We bought her blocks.  She loves the box.

I brought the exesaucer upstairs so it could be moved. Miss M thought she needed to play in it because she thinks she's the baby.  She often tells me "I baby".  Hum.

We haven't been very exciting around here lately so there's really not much to report. Miss M is sleeping well at night but rejecting her naps which makes for some long days!

Thanksgiving week frolicking

Florida was warm but it wasn't warm enough for me to get in the pool. The boys braved the coolness so the kids could frolic.  

Miss M thought she was ready to be the cheese cup this year but once she realized the pretzel wasn't in the pool she wanted nothing to do with being the cheese cup. Although she did not want Jack to be the cheese cup.

 She loved playing on the stairs of the pool where she could touch and climb up and down.

 She liked playing in this floater.  I like this picture because it shows how she just relaxed and floated around with her legs crossed.

I love this pictures. I am going to need to figure out how to edit the Doritos smeared on her face out of the picture!

We left Saturday morning with Auntie Nessa on our flight. It was a relatively painless flight. We bought wireless again so Miss M could remain entertained since the flight home was longer (with a stop). We learned later that night that Craig and Jack were able to frolic in the pool with temperatures of 90+ degrees!

All the happenings of actual Thanksgiving

Last year we all signed up to walk/run the local 5k and decided to do it again this year. 

We woke up early.  

We arrived at the race on time and waited around while the start gun went off.

While we were waiting around we took some pictures and were graced with a surprise.  

Here's baby Jack and Miss M geared up for their 5k walk with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Here is a picture of the whole troop.  The kids are in the picture but because it was sunny and because the picture was taken on my phone they are hiding in the shadows.

Craig had a surprise for (most) of us. Jessie was in on the surprise (she created it) and Andrew found out the night before (cheater). 

The front of Craig's shirt says "Final Thanksgiving". 

The back of Craig's shirt says "with 2 kidneys" and a picture of two kidneys in the proper anatomical position.

They should have made one for Grandpa too since it was his last Thanksgiving with two kidneys since after the surgery he'll have three!

We received official word that Craig will be the donor as he passed all his tests (gasp). The surgery is scheduled for the middle of December. A perfect Christmas present for everyone!

All the happenings of Thanksgiving week pt 2

I didn't take a lot of pictures during the week b/c Miss M was on the move.  These are my favorite pictures captured for the week. The girl loves a hat and she hates the sun in her eyes.  

She's getting ready to sneeze here.

Grandpa was determined to make a bags set during the week. We ventured off to the hardware store (he took me - after getting there I think he regretted his decision - I know nothing).  Grandpa worked hard on the bag boards but I seem to only have pictures of Andrew doing the work! They turned out awesome. Miss M tested them out by running up and down them and they never broke.  We aren't discussing that making your own bags set may have costed more than just purchasing a set.

Note: Do not pick Auntie Nessie on your bags team.  She needs a lot of practice!

Grandma taught Miss M some valuable lessons this week.  She taught M how to dry dishes.

...and make margaritas!

All the happenings of Thanksgiving week pt 1

We had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving week in sunny Florida.  Our flights were on time and had wireless capabilities (the cost was only $5 - a steal in my opinion to keep a child satisfied with various games/cartoons).

We were busy at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week we were too tired to do much of anything except lay around (or in Miss M's case run around).

It never fails that whenever we go out of town Andrew has documents delivered and he works. Last year he worked all week. This year we lucked out and he only worked for part of one day! It's unheard of that he works so little during the end of the year. And it never fails that when Andrew needs to work Miss M wants to help him. 

We ventured to the beach one day. The pictures don't do justice to the weather. I must have had some settings wrong. Miss M loved playing in the sand and in the water. The water was very cold and very rocky. She had water shoes on so it didn't bother her but it was pretty painful to walk around with her.  I look quite ridiculous in these pictures b/c I refused to take off my dress and I didn't want to get it wet.

One might say I look about 4 months pregnant here and one might be right! We are expecting #2 during the middle of May!

We went to the Thomas Edison & Henry Ford Museum one day. It was more a tour of their property and homes than it was a museum so it was a very kid-friendly place. We wondered around and learned about the gentlemen and Miss M ran around and climbed stairs.

Thomas Edison was interested in plant research and there were a variety of trees planted throughout his enormous estate. This tree has been there since the early 1900's. It was massive. If you look at the roots (which are showing above ground) it helps give an idea of the size of the tree. 

Miss M's new favorite thing is to say Non't No for don't know and puts her palms up.

It would have been easy to spend all day at the museum b/c the sights were beautiful but one little lady had other ideas for the day and needed a nap. 

Craft time

When we came home we started making a felt Christmas Tree. I found an activity on an online blog showing how to make a felt Christmas Tree and since felt sticks to felt kids can move the pieces around without any problem. Our Christmas stuff is packed away and we won't be decorating for the holidays (due to the move) therefore I thought it might be nice if we had something to get us in the holiday spirit.  It was really easy and inexpensive to make. Miss M enjoyed playing with it after we got it cut out but she wants to put all the ornaments as high as she can reach and one on top of the other.

Never mind the fact that she has shoes on and no pants. We had just finished playing in the water and blowing bubbles and she got her pants wet. She then insisted she wear her shoes.

 She keeps putting the ornaments on top of each other when there's a whole tree to decorate.

Activities

We had a busy day today. Since most of Miss M's toys are packed away we have been trying to stay out of the apartment as much as reasonably possible.

We went to the play cafe this morning. Miss M enjoys running from one thing to the next and she is in love with the Cozy Coup Car.  She keeps her eye on it at all times and when someone gets out of the car she darts for it.  It's funny because she doesn't show that much interest in anything else.

 She went grocery shopping. She throws things in her cart with some fierceness.

 She played the piano for a bit showing off her musical side.

And on the way home I gave her a sucker.  We had taken some to give to our friends, who joined us, and I only had a blueberry sucker left to give Miss M.  Her tongue was royal blue. It was amazing and gross so we had to go check it out in the mirror. She wasn't sure whether she should be concerned or laugh.

They came...they packed...they left

This past weekend Grandma and Grandpa flew to town for the sole purpose of helping us pack.  It seemed a little early to pack everything up as we are still six weeks from our move date but I wasn't going to turn down experienced help!

We started packing Saturday morning and was done packing up approximately 90% of our apartment by 5pm.  Miss M was a trooper. She played in boxes, wrote on boxes, climbed on packed boxes. She was completely entertained with the boxes which is good because there were boxes everywhere. Thankfully we have the boxes stacked in such a manner that she can't climb to the top and fall off.

We didn't pack a few dishes, some of Miss M's toys, and some clothes to get us through.

My work horses.

The start of box central.  There are a lot more boxes now that they are finished but I am too lazy to take another picture.

Miss M's assistance. She's using a Sharpie to write on the boxes. We ran out of room in box central so we moved to the guest shower for storage.

I was very overwhelmed at times when we were packing so I probably didn't pack my fair share but it got done and no one commented on my noticeable laziness.

Trip to the Art Institute

A friend invited us to join her and her son at the Art Institute this morning.  We were able to join b/c the Art Institute doesn't open until 10:30 am and after an action packed weekend with Grandma and Grandpa in town Miss M's sleep was a bit messed up and she didn't wake up until 9:30 this morning.

It was an experience.  We got all bundled up (since it was 30 degrees out) in a fleece, winter coat, gloves and a hat we walked ourselves to the train station. Miss M loves the train. She gets excited when they go by even though they are so loud. It's amazing the noise of the train doesn't bother her because Andrew and I usually plug our ears.

The train stations are really not set up for strollers. It can be challenging to find elevators and a lot of times it seems like elevators are out of commission.  We survived. Miss M enjoyed the ride and was really good. It took about 30-40 minutes to get to the Art Institute via train.  She was great for those 30-40 minutes but as soon as we got to the Art Institute she wanted out of her stroller. The Art Institute is not a place to let a year and a half old run around out of her stroller. The security people, who are everywhere, do not take kindly to food/drinks (which are necessary to the survival of a child when you're bribing them to stay in a stroller nor do they take kindly to Miss M trying to walk on the other side of the ropes which section off how close you can get to the art.

I am glad we were able to visit the Art Institute and take advantage of being close to a world famous collection of art but next time I will not be going with a child although I doubt I will go back.  I don't have enough of an appreciation for art to want to go back.

We took advantage of being downtown and met Andrew for lunch. It is so fun to get to see him for lunch especially when Miss M sleeps in and he works late.

Here are the only pictures I was able to take of Miss M today. They really aren't exciting or great.

On train downtown.

 Eating lunch at Potbelly's.

Halloween part 3

It's finally Halloween!!!!

We have been anticipating Halloween for a long time. We went to the pumpkin patch a month ago!  We have carved pumpkins, painted pumpkins, and screamed at pumpkins.  We have read books about Halloween and played with Halloween stickers.

Andrew came home super early so we could go trick-or-treating.  We got Miss M in her bear suit and even convinced her to wear her hat so she didn't look like a goofy Ewok, or character from Where the Wild Things Are, or any other version of a monster that people constructed.

She did really well. I can't say she loved trick-or-treating but she did well. She was timid but this seems like a normal reaction to all the kids and adults in costumes and walking to strangers house with scary decorations.  We went with the neighbor girl who is a few months older than Miss M.  She is very verbal and can say trick-or-treat and she can also say more candy so she charged ahead while Miss M followed behind.  Miss M tuckered out after about a block. We carried her the rest of the way and she chewed on her blanket.

We have a bucket of candy and Miss M has no idea.  We tried to get Miss M friendly candy (used for bribes mostly) such as Kit-Kat's and M&M's.  She looks at her pumpkin bucket and just keeps walking.  I should hide the candy before she realizes that there is goodness hiding in the bucket!!!

Halloween part 2

My friend Alicia and her girls met us at the park recently for a Halloween Parade.  We didn't end up participating in the parade due to the weather.  We had already been at the park for an hour when the parade started and we were cold.

Miss M has been very cooperative with her bear costume.  I looked at the label and it's a 2T to 4T costume so we'll be getting a lot of use out of it as it will likely fit Miss M for a few more years!

She refused to wear the bear hat but I didn't mind since she wore her stocking hat.

We hung out at the park, read books, got goodie bags and took some pictures.

I asked Miss M to go stand by Mary to take a picture and she backed up to her so this is Miss M's version of standing next to Mary. Mary is ALWAYS eating. I don't know if I have ever taken a picture of the girl without food in her hand or her mouth.  Miss M got her first bloody nose while we were out. It wasn't really a big deal just shocking because nothing had happened. It was likely just the cold weather (who knows).

Wait. I found a picture of Mary without food!

Miss M enjoyed kicking, stomping, and walking through the leaves. 

Painting pumpkins

We tried carving pumpkins and that was a flop so I decided Miss M might like to paint a pumpkin.  It was the last nice day (80 degrees) and we headed up to the rooftop with washable finger paint (which doesn't wash out) and a pumpkin.


It was overall a success since we were able to burn energy and two hours of our day!

Miss M loves to play chase. She knows that the game of chase starts with 1, 2, 3 so she holds up her finger (signaling one and that she is ready to play) and takes off.  The neighbors joined us on the roof for some painting and when they got bored with painting they chased each other. It was glorious.  It is a big enough space for them to run without tripping over each other and it's closed in so they can't go anywhere.  Anne wanted to tickle Miss M every time she chased her.