A Week with Grandma

So not only is March when the weather usually warms up and the snow sometimes melts, but it's also when my beautiful mama comes to visit!  This is the second year of her coming out in March and spending a whole week with us :)  My dad and brother come too, but they prefer to sit in a muddy cornfield all day waiting to shoot feathery, winged creatures. (aka, snow geese)

We had so much fun and Brooks had quite a week of "firsts".  He said "grandma" clearly for the first time, he learned how to climb on the reading chair by himself for the first time, drank from a straw for the first time, and he went potty in the big boy potty for the first time!!

Yep, I was one proud mama!!  He said "potty", sat down and actually peed.  That seemed too easy.  And of course, like an over-zealous first time mom, I rushed right out and bought him big boy underpants.  (Thomas the Train in case you were curious)  But they never adorned his little butt because as the week went on he became less and less interested in the potty chair. (sigh)  Oh well.  We'll try again later.  But my favorite part of potty training???

LOTS of naked butt time :)

We also did some shopping and Brooks came home with this prized possession!

Oh yes, my friends.  We now own The Very Hungry Catapillar and the matching stuffed animal to go with it. Brooks LOVES it!!!

Really, really loves that catepillar!

Tuesday was storytime at the toy store as usual.

Wednesday we visited the zoo.  We were a little over-optimistic about the warm weather, but we bundled up and enjoyed the few animals that were outside.  Mostly, we played inside :)

Thursday brought a trip to the playland at the mall ...

"well hello, handsome!"

... followed by a quick visit to Falls Park,

where Brooks showed off his cool new sunglasses,

which to everyone's suprise, he acutally liked to wear!!  That boy really HATES the sun in his eyes.

Friday morning we met Daddy at the midwifery clinic and listened to baby's heartbeat.  I love that sound, but to my suprise, Brooks started crying when he heard it.  He looked at this noisy box and realized the noise was coming from me!  I had to reassure him that it didn't hurt Mommy and we were just listening to the baby inside.  What a sweet boy.  After that we went swimming at the YMCA.  It's been months since we've been swimming and Brooks still loves it!

That afternoon, Grandpa stopped by for a visit.

Did I mention that he LOVES wearing his sunglasses?

Because he really does :)

Grandma went home on Sunday and we all miss her.  But we're so happy we had this week to spend with her!!

weekend randomness

Our weekend started on Friday with a trip to the midwife clinic to check on baby Anderson.  Brooks and Daddy came along for this visit.  And I'd have to say the highlight for Brooks had nothing to do with the baby, but instead with the helicopter that took off from the landing pad, right across the street from the clinic.  His whole little body was shaking with excitement as he kept saying "ch ch ch ch ch" - ya know, like a helicopter :)

We were able to listen to baby's heartbeat for the first time!  I still love that sound.  It totally made this pregnancy much more real to me and Chris.  Even Brooks was fascinated with the sound coming from the doppler.  We kept telling him "baby", but I still don't think he understands.  The kiddo's heart rate was around 180 bpm.  We were told we have a "happy little baby". 

Saturday was pretty normal.

"You lookin' at me??"

Well, maybe not totally normal.  I guess most mornings Brooks doesn't wander around the house in Daddy's sweatshirt, but it was fun.  Then after a breakfast of eggs and sausage, a haircut through which Brooks screamed, and a shower (with more screaming), Dad conjured up a little bit of this.

crib + 20 balloons = one very happy toddler :)

Saturday evening Chris and I went out for dinner in an attempt to beat the Valentines crowd.  But apparently half of Sioux Falls had the same idea and they, too, were hungry for Texas Roadhouse steak.  You just opened the door and it was ... well ... the term "sardines" comes to mind.  It took you 10 minutes just to claw your way to the counter to let them know they called your number.  This is fun, right??  Once we were seated, we actually enjoyed a very nice dinner where I (of course) ate too much.  But now I have baby as an excuse when I say my pants don't fit very well :)

Sunday morning we worked our first shift in the nursery as volunteers.  Of course that would be the Sunday with 10 or so new visiting babies, but with the help of our ever faithful Nursery Coordinator, we not only survived, but enjoyed the time with the kiddos.

Sunday afternoon I took a much needed nap, and then Dad had more tricks up his sleeve!  (I'm starting to see why dads are always the fun ones)

Yep, that would be a 7 foot tall snowman!  It was such a nice day that he and Brooks headed outside to create this monster.  Brooks tried to help but after falling face first into the mud, he was content just watching.

We're finding more and more that we just love being home as a family!  I mean, it's fun to go out and do stuff, but most evenings (and weekends) we just hang around the house ... playing.  This is the kind of stuff that life is made of.  And I love it!!!

Sledding

Well, on Saturday the frigid colds temps finally broke (at least for a day or two) and enabled us to enjoy the outdoors.  It was close to 30 degrees that day, but felt like 60 compared to the -30 temps we'd been having.  Anyway, we pulled on our snowpants, laced up our books and took to the slopes.  The sledding slopes that is.  It was Brooks' first time sledding and he LOVED it.  He's always been my outdoor-sy little guy and this was no different.

And despite his oversized snowpants, the clunky books and the squishy snow, Brooks was actually able to walk around.  In fact, that's what he preferred to do!! 

Every time we tried carrying him to the top of the hill, he'd yell "down down" and wiggle out of our arms until we had no choice but to comply.

But because he wasn't quite able to walk up the hill himself, we had to push him up in the sled.  Yeah.  That's a lot of work.  Makes me tired just thinking about it.

And even though he tipped over on most of his trips down, he never cried or complained.  Just asked for "more".

After our cheeks were sufficiently rosy, we decided to pack it up and head home.  Chris planned to shovel the sidewalk while Brooks and I went inside to start dinner. But he begged to stay outside and help daddy.  So he stayed out another 45 minutes or so, totally happy with just being outside.  This weekend is supposed to warm up again so I'm looking forward to some more outside time with my boys!

Yeah, that's better

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for sending the awesome Packer outfit!!!

And I'm happy to say that Brooks did NOT cheer for the Bears today.  But since "Grandma & Grandpa" Gale  and "Uncle" Joel were over, he didn't even watch the game, so I'm not sure if it counts.  Oh forget it.  Of course it counts!!!  Go Packers!!

Oh yeah, and did I mention??  The Packers are going to the SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!  Ah, what a great day :)

Bears Fan??

Oh baby, please say it ain't so!  But sure enough, while watching the Bears/Seahawks game on Sunday my little Brooks cheered for the Bears.  The BEARS!!!  Ugh!  As the Bears defense made a big stop he clapped his hands over his head and started shouting "yeah yeah yeah"!  Then when they had the ball back he was yelling "go go go"!  Now, sometimes he cheers simply because we are cheering (we're kind of addicted to football in our house) but believe you me, we were certainly NOT cheering for the Bears.  These Chicago accolades were completely self-prompted.  And I'd like to say it was a fluke ... that it was a one time thing.  But sadly no.  The same thing happened earlier in the year when the Bears played the Packers no less!!! 

I'm not quite sure how this happened.  Chris is a Vikings fan and I'm for the Packers.  I guess it could be worse.  He could be cheering for the Lions.  But believe me, we're not letting this little problem go without intervention.  Oh no.  There will be some serious Green Bay indocrination happening on Sunday.  As we speak his Grandma (my mom) is searching the stores in Green Bay for a toddler sized Packer jersey for Sunday's game (agaisnt the Bears, if you weren't aware)  It's a good thing we caught this problem early before he did something crazy .... like singing the Bears fight song.

A New Bump

Well it's official.  Our second little blessing is in the process of growing growing growing inside my tummy right now. (well, "uterus" if you want to be specific, but for the sake of *trying* to explain it to a 18 month old, we'll stick with "tummy") 

Tuesday, December 21st was the day of the positive pregnancy test.  I was thrilled!!!  We'd been trying for a few months and after many disappointing negative tests, I was plesantly suprised by this one.  But now what do I do?  How do I tell Chris?  "oh hey, but the way.  We're pregnant".  Didn't really seem to cut it.  So I made a plan.

The next day I was planning on dropping of Charlie (the dog) to my good friend Edith Ellen's house while we were away for Christmas.  But then I also asked if she'd be willing to watch Brooks for a few hours while Chris and I went out.  And because she's like my second mom (therefore Brooks' extra Grandma) she was delighted.  Perfect.  So on Wednesday, after nap and snack I brought both the dog and the boy over to Grandma Gale's house.  I didn't leave the Gale's until a little after 5pm, so Chris arrived home before I did.  But it was ok.  He knew I was dropping off the dog so the suprise was still intact.  Hehehehehe.

Oh and I have mentioned that I had been aware of this new baby for over 24 hours and the suspense was killilng me!!  But I remained calm.  When I got home Chris (obviously) asked "Where's Brooks"?  I kept a straight face (mostly) and said "Grab your coat, let's go".  Oooooh, and my husband loves suprises so this was GREAT!!

From there we went to Olive Garden for dinner.  We made casual conversation about life and Brooks and Christmas and stuff.  Then right before our food arrived I asked if he wanted to see a picture.  I always have lovely little pics of our sweet boy on my phone from throughout the day.  When he said yes (what was he going to say ... no?), I slid my phone across the table with the picture of a very obvious positive pregnancy test showing on the screen. 

He looked at me.  I grinned.  He looked at the picture.  I giggled.  He looked at me again, this time he was grinning .... ear to ear folks.  "Really???"  "Really", I said.  "We're having a baby".  Oh and the moments from there were wonderful.  We smiled and giggled.  Then he hugged me.  Our family was growing!  And we couldn't be happier!!!!  We spent the rest of the evening talking about the future and the new baby and the little boy we're already blessed with (because it just doesn't seem like I can call him my baby anymore).  Then after dinner we drove to Falls Park and walked through the wonderland of Christmas lights.  It was fantastic.  It was quiet.  And suprisingly warm for December.  I love evenings where Chris and I can just stroll and talk and enjoy each other's company.  It's one of my favorite things in the whole world.  Except this time it wasn't just us.  This time, we were accompanied by our new little bump :)  And life is good.  So so good.

Mommy's helper .... in reverse

Brooks LOVES to help around the house.  He recently discovered garbage cans and has taken to throwing things away ... whether they need to be thrown away or not.  We now have to do a regular search through the garbages (pleasant, right??) before we take them out.  Who knows what treasures are hiding in them.  He's at the stage where he mimicks everything we do, because that's how he learns.  But sometimes he gets it a little backwards.  For instance ....

• while I am constantly trying to move shoes from the front door back into the closet, I find him pulling every shoe from the closet and putting it by the front door.
• He pulls my clean tupperwear out of the drawer and puts them in the sink.  'Cause, ya know, that's where the dishes go.
• He takes the sheets and blankets from his dirty clothes basket and puts them back in his crib.  Or tries anyway.
• He takes the clean, folded laundry and puts it in the dirty laundry basket.

He's a busy busy little boy and I love him.  I love his ambition and his desire to "help".  He's just doing what he sees :)  And I love watching him grow, learn, imitate.  I can't help but laugh when I watch him tackle the household chores with me ... in reverse.