Saturday, April 30, 2011

Uncle Mark

My brother Mark is pretty cool.  He is a very busy person trying to keep up with his business, All Signs and Tint, I think he and his business partner Ryan work at least 6 days a week.  Despite his busy work schedule he has always made time for the boys.  And not just for a quick 5 minutes, but for some real quality play time.  The whole time he is over at my parents house he is throwing a ball, playing with trains, reading a book or having silly conversations with John and Gus.  The boys just love their time with Uncle Mark.  I'm very happy they are able to spend time with him.  I have fond memories of my parents dropping my brother and I off at my Aunt Diane's house for some quality time.  I loved spending the night with her every year and it wasn't just because of the pound of bulk candy she bought us.  Maybe when my brother buys a house the boys can spend the night with him...hint, hint.  I'll even let Mark use my car to transport my children....Mark is a little particular about his car.  You become a little less particular about your car when you have kids.

 Lots of books were read by Uncle Mark.

 Lots of nose picking was done by John.

 After John was done with his nose he thought Uncle Mark's could be cleaned out.  **John isn't actually picking Mark's nose...it just looks like it.  I felt this must be mentioned as not to let people think I actually encourage my children to pick other people's noses...or their own.**


I love that my children have great relationships with all of their aunts and uncles.  They are very, very lucky boys.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

6 Months

Another month has flown by.  I can't believe my little boy is 1/2 a year old.  It is also amazing what has changed in just a month.  He doesn't have any teeth yet, but he is eating all kinds of foods.  I think his favorite is sweet potatoes.   He hasn't had anything that he won't eat, but he doesn't care for green beans.  Anders falls somewhere in the middle as far as food is concerned, John loved everything and cried when it was all gone and Gus didn't eat until he could eat exactly what we were eating.  Anders seems to be fine with eating baby food and has no problem reminding me if he goes too long without eating.

He sits unsupported now and finally rolled over, both ways.  He decided to do things his own way and sit unsupported first and then rolled over.  He can also bring his knees underneath him when laying on his stomach and is trying hard to move forward.  He just isn't sure how to go about doing that yet.  I'm not encouraging the crawling or the walking.  The last thing I need is another kid getting into everything while I'm trying to paint a new house.  After I'm done painting and unpacking he can crawl.  Cause you know it is all about me.

We went to the doctor today for his check-up and he is 19 pounds 12 ounces and 27 1/2 inches long.  I'm not sure what his head measured, although I know he was in the 92nd percentile...Gus must be off the charts!


Monday, April 25, 2011

We Did It!... Sort of

We finally bought a house!!!  Sort of.  I say sort of because we haven't closed yet.  Closing is supposed to happen sometime in early May.  I've known too many people to close so much later than they expected that I'm not holding my breath for a specific date.  I'm just glad we found one that would accept our offer.  I think we made some where around 10 offers on different places before we found this place.  It is in the Village of Minooka which is the neighboring village of Channahon.  The village lines are somewhat obscure so it is really like one big village commonly referred to as Chanooka.  We are very excited about our first home and can't wait to move in and paint!!  I'll post more pictures as we move in, for now I'll show you the front and back of the house.


Friday, April 22, 2011

A Day out with Thomas...Again

We are still a Thomas family.  Gus has fallen in line and I find Anders chewing on Thomas every now and then.  We had already been to "A Day out with Thomas" in Colorado, but decided to visit the one in Texas too.  I'm so glad we did.  Each train station sets up the event a little different and the one in Grapevine was actually better.  The boys were so excited when we got there.  It was like we had never been before.  The only reference to the first time we went was when John was telling all of the volunteers that this was Anders' first time riding Thomas on the outside (of my belly).


To get into the event you had to walk right by Thomas.

 All Aboard!!
On a side note- Gus is actually holding up a ticket...he is so white you can't tell!!! I'm also not sure what John was doing in this picture.
 

Riding the train!

After we finished our train ride it was time to check out all of the other stuff.  John found his old train friend, Eli.
 They could have stayed right here.  All. Day.

 Seriously.

I love that this is how Gus chooses to close the door.  We might need to work with him on this...he ended up getting his fingers caught and started screaming.  Funny how that didn't deter him from trying it again.

After we peeled they boys away from the train tables we stood in line to see Sir Topham hat.

 Sir Topham hat arrived and the kids were so excited...all the kids, not just my own.
I should have mentioned earlier that is was 85 degrees out that day.  I was not prepared for that as you can see John is wearing a long sleeved shirt and they both have on jeans.  The boys were fine, but I'm sure Sir Topham Hat hated the hot weather.

Waiting as patiently as they can.



John is just in awe.  I love how he is holding Sir Topham Hat's hand.

After Sir Topham Hat, the boys got some tattoos.  As I write this you can still see remnants of their tattoos, 2 weeks later, because they won't let me wash their arms.

 Yep, they are still there.

It was a great day all around.  Hot, but good.  I'm told that Thomas comes to the Chicago area in August...we may just have to check that out.


Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Things We Do

We had lots of fun filled days when my parents were here.  It was a lot of fun and very exhausting.  I don't always remember to bring and camera, and when I do I'm not always good about taking pictures.  Here are some odds and ends from the rest of our week.

 If there is a carousel and we are with grandma, we ride the carousel.

 Gus wasn't sure about riding something that went up and down...so my mom ended up holding him the rest of the time.

 John's school took a field trip to the Rialto to see a puppet play of three Eric Carle books.

It was actually really cool.  John enjoyed himself, Gus sat still and Anders slept...life was good.

I have to give my dad props.  On several occasions he was the only one able to get Anders to calm down and fall asleep.

 We read and read and read and then read some more.

 We also played lots of games.  I shouldn't say 'we' here because I didn't play any games.  I also didn't like a whole lot of board games as a child...so I pass the game playing off to any willing participant.


And, after all of the outings and the playing and the reading....
 they slept,

and slept,

and slept.

One of them tried really hard not to sleep...but lost the battle in the end.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Choo Choo Johnny's

After a great morning at the Children's museum we decided to check out a restaurant I was told about called Choo Choo Johnny's.  The website makes the place sound like the train lover's dream.  We all couldn't wait to take the boys and see the look on their faces.  I'm not sure that I have ever given anything a bad review on my blog, but I can't help but do so now.  The boys had a good time and that is all that matters, but it was pretty lame.  It is a franchise so it is quite possible that another place does it better, but this will be one I never visit again.  It is a great idea and with a little more effort could have been a fabulous place frequented by numerous families.  But as I said, the boys had fun so I guess was worth the $50 plus we spent on food that we couldn't eat.

 Here comes the train delivering our food.



What would a train restaurant be without a train ride?

I would love to know if anyone has visited another Choo Choo Johnny's and had a great time.

Monday, April 18, 2011

A Visit to the Children's Museum

Ever since Debbie and Pam took the boys to the Children's Museum I've wanted to go.  So, when my parents were here we all went.  We liked it so much that we got a membership.

 The first exhibit was a thing with balls and track and musical instruments.  Hope you aren't getting confused with all of those technical terms.
We stayed here for a long while before seeing anything else.

 The bubbles were fun for everyone.



 See, I really meant it when I said everyone.

See the bubble around Hans and John?

 The waterworks station always provide a great source of entertainment.


 Hans always provides great entertainment as well.

I now know to bring an extra outfit when we come to the Children's Museum.  Poor kid had to spend the next few hours in wet clothes.

 The air gun thingies were also a hit.


 Anders can't wait until he is old enough to play.

 I'm wondering if I have a little engineer on my hands.  Gus and Grandpa spent the majority of our time at the museum right here.


 Gus came up with a way to dry himself off.


Gus likes Gus best.  He was smiling and kissing himself.

I'm so glad we now have a membership so I can take the boys again and again and again.  I think I had just as much fun as the boys.