This past week was spent visiting my best friend Heidi and her family in Chicago. Heidi and I haven't seen each other since Charlotte was a couple months old. When I found out she would be living in Chicago for a few months I jumped at the opportunity to go out and visit. It was so fun to see her darling family and pick up right where we left off (isn't that the best thing about a best friend?). We had a busy week and wore our kids out! There was a lot of playing at the park, and we visited the Zoo and the Children's Musuem.
I know for Charlotte one of the highlights was riding the train! She loved watching the city go by outside the window. We took the 'L' everywhere that was too far to walk, and I am so glad we did. I couldn't help but have the line "She jumped onto the tracks" from While You Were Sleeping run through my head everytime we were waiting for the train.
Here are some pictures from our adventures at the zoo and museum:
Charlotte and Bronson played so well together. They kept each other entertained. At the end of the day we would throw all the kids into the tub...rubba dub dub.
We are so grateful for our friends! We hope it isn't another two (almost 3) years before we see them again.
Wow...this year flew by! My mom always said that time goes faster the more children you have. I'm beginning to see what she means. I feel like this little man was a baby for very long at all. Each day he leaves more of his "baby-ness" behind to embrace toddlerhood. Oh man, I am not ready for this guy to be a toddler. He is so fun, but he is into everything! I know I keep saying that everytime I post about him, but that's pretty much all he does...gets into things!
He just got three of his molars during the past two weeks. He likes playing "Ring Around the Rosies" and LOVES going outside. If he had his way, we'd spend the entire day out there.
This is usually the view I see of him when we're out there. He's constantly running away from me seeing what he can explore.
We kept his birthday celebration pretty low key this year. We weren't sure what time Adam would make it home, so we didn't invite anyone over. Charlotte was not to keen on that. She kept asking, "Why aren't any of his friends coming over for his birthday?"
He opened some gifts. He loved the ball whacking toy Mita sent him. If Charlotte tried to play with it at all, he would freak out by shouting at her and waving that hammer in all directions. Hopefully he'll be more willing to share it tomorrow.
I LOVE his candle blowing video because he's trying so hard to eat the fire. I've never seen a kid do that before.
He loved the cupcake and had no problems with diving right into it.
Charlotte's little hands often pass Cheerios or raisins to her little brother to keep him awake if we're driving home close to little brother's naptime. I know it's a little thing to do, but it's a big help for me when I can't be back there to keep Jonas awake so that he will take a good nap in the afternoon. And despite it being a small thing, I know it's a big thing because I know that really it means she will one day be there to help me with bigger things, and she will be able to help people with harder things.
Those little hands remind me "that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass...And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."
-Alma 37:6-7
Today, I am grateful for little serving hands...not just my daughter's, but all those hands that have reached out to me throughout my life and showed me the love of the Savior. I pray that I can use my serving hands to teach someone else about the love of Christ.
So I'm about 2 weeks late on this post. Jonas turned 11 months the day Charly turned 3 so I put off his post so as to not take away from her. I didn't mean to let almost 2 weeks get away from us. Not much has changed since 10-months. He's still busy. He has however switched over to one nap (as of this week). It has made all the difference for this little guy. For some reason 2 naps just weren't working for him. He would wake up from both of them just crying and grumpy. I would have to hold him for at least 30-40 minutes after he would wake up, and it wasn't sweet, snuggly holding. It was fussy, mom can't sit down, squirmy but don't you dare put me down holding. He was also waking up earlier and earlier each day...like 5:15 am. Now he takes one nap in the afternoon for about 2 hours, and he is the happiest little guy.
Also, if you missed my last post, our little boy is walking now. He grew this past week (okay, it seems like 11 1/2 months is a busy week for him). I had to bump him up to the 18 month clothes. Sigh...they grow SO fast. Poor big sister is having to learn the hard way. Jonas has started trying to "play" with her, but since he's so clumsy and so close to her size (there's only a 5 lb. difference between them), he's always knocking her over. He's also quick to volunteer her to share snack with him.
He's also been real interested in books lately. Sometimes I'll hear him just giggling, and when I walk over to see what's so funny...it's always a book. It reminds me of my brothers Dario and Josh. I always remember them giggling when they were reading, and it makes me happy. And a little bit homesick for my brothers.
I don't ever buy sugary cereals. The most sugary cereal we have is Multigrain Cheerios. We do however have very generous neighbors. They give us food all the time as gifts for the kids. Recently they gave us some Cocoa Puffs. Saturday morning Adam pulled it out, and I said, "Oh, the good stuff." Now C refers to it at "The Good Stuff." She does't even know it's real name.
Saturday our little lady had her 3rd birthday. It seems so strange to me that I have a three-year-old. I came across a great deal at a yard sale on a play kitchen that I just couldn't pass up. It was a big hit...she's been playing with it non-stop for the past 2 days. She was so excited to open all her presents in the morning. Gotta love that hair in her face!
A couple months ago I asked C what kind of birthday party she wanted. After a little thought, she informed me that she wanted a strawberry party. I thought it was just a whim, but when I asked her a few weeks later what kind of party she wanted (I thought for sure I would get a differet response.), she replied, "Ugh, I already told you Mom, I want a strawberry party. " Well, I guess that settles it then! Oh, and when did the attitude show up?
We were looking through some old pictures a while ago, and she saw a picture of her going to another birthday party in a tutu that we borrowed from a friend. She excitedly asked me if she could wear a tutu to her birthday party, and I just couldn't resist. So, I made her one. She was feeling pretty silly when I tried to get a picture of her. She was pretty excited about it being her birthday...
She had four of her little friends come over to help celebrate. She was in heaven!
