Chicago

Yesterday I took Jonas to Chicago.  This was a decision that was not made easily.  It is also one of those things I would not normally do.  I thought Jonas would like taking the train and I really wanted to go to Chicago while I was up here.  Chicago is probably one of my favorite places.  I do not even care that it is cold there.  So we got up early and headed to the train station.  Jonas was only worried that the train might go under dark tunnels.  Even though I assured him many times that we would not he was not easily convinced.  Once we got to the train station, got our tickets, and got on the train Jonas was good to go and no worries what so ever.  We sat on the upper level of the train.  I let Jonas pick but I was happy with his decision!  He was excellent on the train ride and sat there happily while looking out the window at all the snow.  As we approached Chicago he got more and more excited.  He told me he LOVED that train.  We got off the train and met up with my cousin Amy and her husband Craig.  We got lunch first and then headed out to the Museum of Science and Industry.  It took a little bit of trial and error to find which bus would get us there and the best way to pay for it.  I was a little nervous about taking the bus because I have NEVER ridden a city bus before.  Jonas wanted to ride the 'L' because it was a train and that is what I had told him we would ride but it did not get us to the museum without having to do a LOT of walking.  Jonas loved the bus.  He thought it was great and made friends with all of the 'nice' people on it.  We got to ride by the Sears Tower and the Trump building.  We also saw the lake and the Chicago River.  We got to the museum and waited in a VERY long line but it did not take too long.  The first thing we saw was a gigantic and gorgeous Christmas tree and then right after that a HUGE train engine.  Jonas was in awe from the second we got in to the second we left.  We saw the trains, the baby chicks, the huge submarine, the space section, the food court, the toy maker, and the YOU experience.  We were going to see what Jonas would look like 30 years from now but the line was too long for our 3 year old attention span to wait.  Jonas had a blast.  We loved hanging with our tour guides, Amy and Craig.  We got back on the bus and walked to the train station.  We got our ticket and headed back home.  Jonas got two souvenirs.  I bought him a wax mold train and at the train station he got a railroad crossing pin from a real conductor.  He thought that was pretty cool.  The conductor even saluted him.  Jonas was a chatter box the whole way home on the train ride and then zonked out in the car almost instantly.  We got home and he went straight to bed.  What a day!!!

Christmas Morning

Recently I have been trying to come up with a list of pros for the age of three.  It has been a very hard task because three has just been the hardest and loudest year of Jonas' life so far.  Granted he has had a new sister to deal with but I do not think much would have been different without her.  So this morning was a huge one for the pro column.  I loved waking up and seeing Jonas come downstairs and just be amazed at the toys that were now there that were not there last night.  You could tell by the look on his face he did not know if he should be excited or a little worried.  After a little encouragement he REALLY got into opening , or as he says 'wrapping', his presents.  He has been so good on this trip and today was kind of like his reward for sleeping on the floor most of the time, skipping naps, eating meals at unusual times, having to use the gas station restrooms, holding it in the car, dealing with Tinzley being fussy in the car, and just lots of changes and and lots of people.  He is pretty amazing at adapting to wherever we are and getting along with whoever is around, if their ears can take him :)  I know I get so angry and annoyed and frustrated with him but he really is a GREAT kid.  I enjoyed this Christmas so much just for him.  It is the first Christmas in a probably my whole life I was not worried about what or how much I got.  I was just satisfied with the pure joy of Christmas through Jonas' eyes.
Tinzley was pretty cute too.  I had to wake her up so she could enjoy Christmas with us.  Did I mention we did not have to get out of bed until 7:45?  It was because I got up too, not the kids!  Tinzley liked all of her presents, especially the wrapping paper they were wrapped in and the boxes the toys came in.  She loved watching everything that was going on and of course watching Jonas unwrapping all of his presents.  Tinzley also has been one of the greatest gifts in my life.  She is so chill as we like to say.  She is calm and content MOST of the time.  She goes with the flow.  She enjoys her LOUD brother almost all of the time.  She has also been fantastic on this trip.  She has enjoyed her family and friends.  She loves watching people and loves meeting new people.  She has done pretty great in the car seeing as she has been in it for 25 hours in the last week.
This Christmas has really shown me how blessed our little family is to have each other.  We do not have much money, we did not have a big Christmas but we were so blessed by our family and each other.
I keep wondering what God has in store for me.  I keep wondering what it is I am suppose to be doing and then I have moments like today with my two children and my wonderful husband and realize this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing.

So much to share but it must wait!

Just

a few pics from our trip so far.  I will share more later.  I just wanted to wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Just one more thing...

I was not planning on blogging until after we had left to go on our trip.  Then I uploaded some pictures from the camera and realized I had missed some things we had done recently!

We went with our friends to Zoolight Safari.  It is at the zoo and they have all kinds of Christmas lights set up all over the zoo.  Jonas loved looking at all the lights.  It was raining that night but Jonas kept saying it was snowing.  :)

This is a yummy dessert I made this morning for Tom's work Christmas lunch.  So GOOD!

Happy Holidays!

Breakfast Christmas Party

Today I took the kids to our friend Rachel's house for our once a month breakfast with the stay at home moms!  We had so much fun playing, talking and eating.  We also brought presents for the kids to exchange.  I also asked my photographer, Andrea, to come and snap some pics!  Thanks Andrea!  Thanks to Rachel for hosting!

McWane Center Christmas Party

So much going on recently!
Tonight we went to the McWane Center's Christmas party.  They had Santa, and cookies, and an ornament to make.  They also have trains.  Jonas LOVES the trains.

We had such a good time hanging out and playing with all the cool stuff.  Tom had never been so Jonas and I had to show him as much as we could.Jonas also got to sit with Santa again and this time he did even better than last time.  He is finally warming up to Santa.  Here are some pictures from our night!

Laying Down The Law!

Jonas is now three and 2 months.  I am still waiting for him to want to dress himself, pick out his own clothes, help set the table, put on socks and shoes, etc.  I am one of those people that do things very quickly so it always has just been easier for me to dress him and be done in 2 min.  Well, this morning since we had time and we were not going anywhere I thought I would enforce the pick out your own clothes and put them on yourself.  This all started about 5 til 9:00.  Here I sit at 9:36 and we are FINALLY done!
It took him 15 min just to pick out the clothes.  Now in his defense his chest of drawers is very tall.  I had already warned him he was going to have to get his stool.  I told him he needed underwear, pants, and a shirt.  Not hard right?  After saying that 5 times.  I finally went in his room.  He had at least opened a drawer but claimed he could not reach.  I said just grab a pair of underwear.  He got it no problem.  Then I told him to grab a shirt, again no problem.  A pair of pants, no problem.  So then we had to undress and redress.  He did this all on his own as I watched.  (oh, you CAN do it?)  So the last thing was socks.  THAT was fun!  But he did it, 90% on his own.  SUCCESS!  Now I just know if I want him to do it I have to plan for about 30-45 min of frustration on both parts.  It does get easier right?
I also have to praise his clothing choice.  It all matches!  :)

In other news.  I think Tinzley is going to be on the move soon!  Hopefully, our house, Jonas, and me can handle it!  :)

Stockings

Three years ago we bought Jonas' stocking with an initial on it in the hopes that when we had more children we could find ones we liked that were similar.  Well, that said, I could not find any that I liked this year.  I bought one at Target with a T on it but I  never took the tags off and saved the receipt, which if you know me at all that means I will probably return it.  (I never save receipts)  Anyways, I kept thinking about this stocking and how much it did not fit up with our other stockings.  Not that mine fits in either because it is the one from my childhood.
So, I decided to make Tinzley's stocking and just copy Jonas' because I liked it so much.

7 months!

I cannot believe Tinzley is 7 months today.  She seems like she has gotten so big so fast.  At the same time I feel like she should be walking and talking already.
At 7 months Tinzley is
sitting up and playing on her own
eating table food, saltine crackers, puffs, graham crackers, and cooked noodles
(she has tried banana, hated it!, and I gave her a little bit of muffin this morning, LOVED it)
LOVES when Jonas talks to her, plays with her, looks at her, you get the picture.  She just LOVES Jonas in general.
She laughs and smiles when you tickle her belly and armpits.  You really have to work to get her to belly laugh.
She is very calm and seems very content to just watch the world around her
She loves staring out the windows and watching the trees outside
Puts anything and everything that she can get her hands on in her mouth
Loves her teething star, vibrating thingy (no official name I guess)
So far she loves going to the nursery at church.  I think it is because they spoil her!
I still think she has a preference for Mom but she loves her daddy too.
LOVES to spit at anyone who will look at her and loves it when you do it back
She is attempting to imitate sounds
She wants to move around really bad.  I am sure she will be in no time because she sees Jonas doing it
She is wearing anywhere from 3/6 month clothes to 9 month clothes.
Loves her black shiny shoes
She is starting to fuss when you take her toys away or pick her up from where she is playing
She 'throws a fit' if she sees her bottle and you do not give it to her right away.
She is still being swaddled to go to sleep.
We took her pacifier away at 6 months and she really has had no trouble
She cries when I put her down for naps during the day (not for long, I think she is sad because Jonas is still awake) but she loves going to bed at night
She is very aware of what is going on around her!
She is so happy and sweet almost all of the time but she does have a pout that she pulls out every now and then
I have loved every second I have spent with her and I look forward to seeing how she continues to grow.  We think she looks like Tom's baby pictures except for her mouth, it looks like my baby pictures.  She also seems to have more of Tom's personality than mine or Jonas'.
I was playing around with my camera today and had so much fun!  I finally was getting to take pictures the way I want it too.  It is still a work in progress but it has only taken me 4-5 years to figure it out?  How embarrassing!

Decorating the Tree

Tonight we went to get our Christmas tree.  Jonas was pretty excited.  He wanted to pick out the 'bestest' one.  After standing outside in the cold, yes it is cold down here sometimes, we picked the perfect tree.  It is a little smaller than we normally get but it was also less expensive.  We got it home and Jonas was ready to decorate.
Well, three broken ornaments later we got the tree decorated.  Interestingly enough Jonas broke none of the ornaments, I broke 2, and Tom broke one.

My favorite moment from tonight was while we were listening to Christmas music an Andy Williams song came on, my personal favorite for Christmas time, Jonas looked at me and said, "Hey Mom, it is Handy Millions".  Tom and I could not stop laughing.  Sometimes that kid says some great things!