Chili the Bear

The other day Jack lost his "Baby Gus". A bear that he has been attached to for the last few months. We looked everywhere and Tom even stopped at Home Depot tonight to see if we left it there. (Not only do we frequent Home Depot, that was the last place I remember him having it.) So, he has been asking about it for the last few days, and we tried to pass another bear off as "the grown up" Baby Gus, but that was a no-go.

So, tonight, I searched the Beanie Bear website, yeah, there is one. And they list EVERY SINGLE BEAR alphabetically. Well, I did not know that damn bears name so I had to start from the top. Fortunately, Chili isn't too far down the alphabet! Found the Bear! Oh, and it's retired! So apparently they don't make it anymore. Next stop....Ebay. I thought I was going to have to pay $20 for that bear, but I scored it for $3! I paid more for shipping.

I know that we could have waited a few days and he would have forgotten about it, but really. Jack is about the cutest thing, and when he looks at you with those eyes and those chubby cheeks, my heart just melts! Plus, he's the middle child, and sometimes they just need some extra love.

Really, Dog?

Really? Really? Really? Are you kidding me? I mean, I know I've been complaining about how dirty our carpets are and how they are virtually impossible to clean any more, but seriously, I was not ready for this.

Millie dug through two bags sitting on our couch and found a container of Amish chocolates from the greatest store on earth, Brennan's. So, she found this container and with her tiny little dog paws and dew claws she opened up the container and ate the whole thing! It was absolutely ridiculous. So, she's had chocolate before, and thrown up all night long. But, me being a busy mom, I did not put her away before she started yakking all over the house. Just when I thought she was done, she threw up somewhere else. First, front room. On carpet. Stained carpet. Can't get it out. Tried it all. Even baby wipes. So, we have a stain on the carpet in the front room of the house. Great. Then she throws up in the dining room Fine. No carpet there. Then, when I go up to put the two older boys to bed....there it is. Puke on the rug. The rug that is covering the ginormous paint stain. So, now I have a chocolate vomit stain covering a bright blue paint stain. Neither of which came out of their respective carpets. Although the chocolate stain is not nearly as bad as the paint stain.

Awesome day. Awesome.

Follow up: Millie has since recovered from the chocolate and continues to hop on the table to try and eat scraps after we have left the room. And please know that I was seriously worried about her all night long. Of course I don't want to lose her!

Oh and my carpet is clean thanks to a magic bean called Oxiclean. Although it did not clean the rug covering the paint stained carpet......rats.

Girls.Girls.Girls.

This is "L" (again with the fancy letter thing). She is the daughter of our friends Sara and Josh. She just turned 1. How adorable are those chubby arms! You should see her legs!


And this is "D" on her first day of pre-school. She is my friend Angie's daughter. She has the blondest hair and the prettiest eyes ever!

Not ready for this.....

Oh my, oh my, oh my. If I thought I was ready for this I am completely lying to myself. There is no way in the world he is going back. I CAN'T DO IT. I WON'T DO IT. I REFUSE TO LET THEM GROW UP. I mean, this isn't just day care. It's actual-learn-to-play-with-others-sing-songs-practice-colors-numbers-and-letters-SCHOOL. Granted, it's two half-days a week, but still! He's only 4. He's my BABY! He was pretty excited. He was more excited that his friend Amelia was going to be there too. But, that's beside the point. Today was the first day and it was only for an hour, and Tom and I got to go with him for the entire time. We'll see what happens on Thursday. I hope I can make it without crying!


He looks so happy...and nervous...Tom, not Porter.

Little "K"

I had my first attempt at photographing someone else's child on Monday. My friend Amy asked me to take 2-year photos of K. (I see all the professional photographers just use initials of kids, so I figured I should too. Just to make it legit.)

Here are my favorites. I hope she likes them. K was so fun and so easy to photograph. Makes me almost want to try for a girl.....ALMOST.

Labor Day Weekend, Birthdays and Parties Galore

Labor Day will forever be a big weekend in our house. My Birthday is on the 3rd of September and Porter's is on the 4th. And for the most part, Labor Day is right around there. Which makes Labor Day a BIG weekend for us. This year, we threw some stuff together for Porter's Birthday, we weren't really going to do anything, but then decided to rent a bouncy house, because we figured the neighbors would all come over and hang out. And boy did they! We loved it! On Friday, Porter's actual birthday, we had the house up and had our friends over to bounce and eat pizza and cake. It was a hit and sooooo much fun to watch all the kids get excited about the bouncy house.

Porter wanted a "truck" cake, so I attempted to make him one. I bought a bunch of trucks and decorated a home-made cake, including ex-boyfriend frosting (yummers!) It even had chocolate jimmies piled up to make dirt. Porter thought it was fantastic. I'm so glad! But, I decided that from now on I will probably order his cake, because I spent most of my birthday baking and decorating for him! He got lots of things he wanted, including "Transforms", games, play-doh, MAC (from Cars), and a computer (from his aunts, it's cool - it hooks up to the TV!). The funniest thing was when we were getting ready to sing Happy Birthday, he was really nervous and said, "Mommy, make sure nobody laughs at me." And when we started singing, he said, "NOOO, Quietly!" So we all started over and whispered Happy Birthday to him, it was so funny! I just about cried. He is getting so big.
Then on Saturday morning I got up at the butt-crack of dawn and went with my friend and neighbor Sara Clark to run the Lake Country Half Marathon here in Oconomowoc. It was the perfect day, with a great outcome. I had a goal of beating my sister Sara's time from our first half, which was in Fargo. Her time was 2:01. And I finished this Half Marathon in 1:59! Sorry Sara! But, I am so pumped, not bad for giving birth 3 months ago! And it was 22 minutes faster than my first one. Which makes me wonder why I was such a lazy bum the first time! It was fun! But I was really sore the next day...old age. Next up, my first Duathlon on September 20. Then a 10k on October 3rd. Can't wait!



I love these two photos of the boys. Porter in the air and Jack taking a break.

My Dad was here too and it is always nice to have him around. Especially when he treats us to fantastic meals - Dinner at La Perla in Milwaukee and Brunch at Seven Seas on Lake Nagawicka! We love having him around and the boys won't stop talking about him!

xoxo

3 months

Today I was at the bookstore with all three boys after an uneventful trip to the DMV where I finally got my Wisconsin driver's license. Although the lady helping scolded me three times that I was driving illegally since I did not renew my license within 60 days of living in Wisconsin. Ahem, been a little busy....oh, the bookstore, so Jack decides to throw a major tantrum while there and a tossed a stool and I made him apologize to the clerk...after 4 attempts he actually did it. Then we are walking through the parking lot and Jack is screaming so I'm carrying him and Gus and Porter is hanging on my leg and this gentleman says to me, "Good luck. What were you thinking?!" Nice.


While on our trip Gus rolled from his back to his front - TWICE! AND he giggled. I love when babies start to giggle. It makes me giggle too. So fun to try and torture them just to get smiles and laughs.

He is still sleeping great and is such a relaxed easy-going baby. We are so lucky.