Success

Nothing can discourage Grayson these days when he's on a mission.

Over Christmas, his "mission" (and he chose to accept it) was to push the penguin's hand so it would sing...really loudly...

the 853rd try

oh wait (sorry it's blurry)...

SUCCESS!!!

pure sweetness, reveling in his victory

and going back for another round

Friday Favorites

A mostly weekly photo post with few words, 

but a moment from the week to remember.

Have a good weekend!

 Back in the swing of things (can you tell by the lack of posts?) - and the playroom is getting good use!

Friday Favorites

A mostly weekly photo post with few words, 

but a moment from the week to remember.

Have a good weekend!

 28 months apart in age ... 1 size shoe

We finally got a good snow. But before we did, the kids and I went outside for our last "snow-free romp" around the back yard.

 

Then the next day it started. This was before naptime...

then after...

and later that night once it was done really coming down.

Happy Chicago winter!

Friday Favorites

A mostly weekly photo post with few words, 

but a moment from the week to remember.

Have a good weekend!

Sorry Moses, we're back.

climbing buddy

Since we've been home Grayson seems to have a one-track mind, stuck on climbing. The boy has climbed onto almost everything - chairs, beds, couches...

He's so proud of himself.

And with all this climbing comes another exciting thing...

MORE SHARING!!

He's pure trouble.

And he knows it!

The other thing going on since we've been home is my cough. It has gotten a lot worse and on Sunday when I was achey all over I decided it was time to see the doc. We all went yesterday and the diagnosis is a lick of the flu coupled with bronchitis. Awesome. He wrote me a prescription for a z-pack and told me to make hot totties to calm my cough when I wouldn't have to deal with the kids for awhile - yes, hot totties. I love our doctor.

So, climb on big man. As soon as I'm feeling better we'll get you some shoes and a harness. I've been looking for a climbing buddy. :)

New drivers

The night we got home from our adventure east we found some interesting characters driving the fire truck:

Hope the fire got out alright!


...but where's the baby Jesus?

My brave girl

We've long told Ilana that she doesn't have to watch everything on TV. She'd be watching something, and getting more and more scared, only to talk incessantly about it for the next few days and dream about it all night. So, I started emphasizing that she didn't need to watch everything on TV, and that she could turn away or just close her eyes. This is her solution:

It's hard for me to tell if she's feeling brave or just protected. Either way, it works for me. She still talks incessantly about "nice robots" (i.e. transformers) and "nice monsters." Those aren't scary so they're allowed to hang out.

Part 3: Christmas in Hanover

On New Year's Eve Eve we went up to Hanover to celebrate Christmas for the final time.

Two hours after our arrival Grayson mastered the rocking horse, all by himself.

The next day we went to the Miller Family Christmas Extravaganza. There may or may not have been a little cousin lovin' going on.

Nice solar flair, Grayson!

Beautiful, beautiful girl.

We enjoyed lots of good Miller home cooking.

Christmas shenanigans...again.

Gray has a sweet spot in Grammie's heart too.

But so does Ilana!

The kids and Paul took a walk in the woods, can you spot them?

We tried out new hair styles.

And basically just enjoyed ourselves...again!

(this is what was going on behind the camera to get the last picture) :)

Were all Christmased out by the time we got home!

While I'm battling a cold/flu and trying desperately (and we think unsuccessfully) to spread it around the family, we're slowly getting ourselves settled - as in we're finally doing laundry again. More pictures and non-Christmas related memories from our trip east to come!

Part 2: Christmas in Annapolis

Christmas afternoon we flew to Annapolis and arrived just in time to close out the Polk Family Christmas Extravaganza.

Once we recovered from that, Grayson got lots of good lessons in how to play "dump truck"...

Paul and I went for a walk on the golf course, just the 2 of us (yes, we do exist!)...

Ilana really enjoyed bath time in Nonni and PopPop's BIG bathtub...

we all learned what a Tag Reader is...

spent lots of time hanging out...

and basically just enjoyed ourselves!

Part 1: Christmas in Evanston

Our Christmas this year was a three part celebration: at our home, in Annapolis, then in Hanover. It was a bit wild. Here we go...

We decided to do stockings on Christmas Eve. We flew to Baltimore Christmas afternoon, so we needed to lighten the load on Christmas morning.

The stockings were put on the back of the couch with care.

One of my favorites of my little man.

Ilana "poofing" Daddy.

Moses: the dog of eternal hope.

All stockinged out!

 

That night we went to church. I love our church. We have communion every time we worship, and it was especially wonderful that evening. Emmanuel. God with us. Praise the Lord.

The scavenger hunt this year led her to the crayon pouch. You never know where you'll find Jesus.

Long-awaited labor of love: the quilt. She loves it!

My payment.

Even Gray was pretty excited about Rapunzel's tower. Little Man, you have captured my heart!

Putting it all together to play with for just a few minutes until we flew east to see the grandparents!

Another one of the quilt.

Many more pictures to come!