Kids at Play

I thought it would fun to post some pictures of the kids just playing.  Most of the time they play very well together, on this particular day there was one small biting incident.  I guess Elizabeth has learned that if Grant can bite her than she can bite him, which is what happened.  They will figure it out, right?

The kids got this cash register for xmas and they love to play "shopping!"

Elizabeth's Bitty Baby got new clothes.

A little frustrated with the puzzle

Sleep-Over

One night neither of the kids really wanted to go to bed and after lots of whining, crying and getting in and out of bed, I gave up!  I put Grant in Elizabeth's bed and said, "have a fun sleep-over! Good night!"  Well of course it didn't last, but they thought it was a fun idea and when I did eventually take Grant to bed, Elizabeth cried.  In these moments I realize how much they really do care about each other.  I think these pictures say it best.

I think my red eye reduction function is turned off on my camera!

How sweet!

"Yeah Mom, we are really going to sleep!"

"Do you have to take him?"

On a separate day, here are some real sleeping pictures:

The next best thing to sleeping together is eating next to each other.  This is allowed depending how messy the food is.  For some meals we still put him in his high-chair.  Elizabeth even helps feed him sometimes, but she does get annoyed when he tries to stab her with his fork! Is this why you only see sporks in jail?

Family Fun-Fest

Our butterfly - she loves getting her face painted and the Zoo Lady did a great job. 

Today we went with Mimi and Pops to an event at the Civic Center called Family Fun-Fest.  The kids actually got in for free and they had lots of entertainment: bouncers, rides, portable barnyard petting zoo, face painting, the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile!

Posing at the Wiener-mobile

 Elizabeth really didn't understand why a hot dog would have wheels and drive on the road, but really, who does?! Yes, they both got their wiener whistle, one of which is in the car and told them I would blow it if they get out of control.  For curious minds, there are six wiener-mobiles and one mini (as in like Mini Cooper).

Elizabeth was really excited to meet this dog - uh I think it's a bear though!

Grant's favorite way to ride

Probably the funniest part of the day Grant trying to do the big inflatable slide.  I knew he would have a little trouble getting up on his own but I thought if Elizabeth were behind him she might be able to help push him up - not so much.  She was too excited and ran up the steps first.  Grant tried to climb up the slide a few times before the assistant finally took him to the top.  Great he is at the top but now he has to come down.  You can imagine all of standing there yelling, "come on Grant, come on buddy, slide on down!" Meanwhile, the line is backing up and I am starting to feel the stares.  Who would let their 18 month old try to do this? So even though Elizabeth was not next in line I took her hand and led her to the front and said to the little boy who was next, "excuse us, but this will make the line go quicker."  She runs up to the top to help him down, but as she is halfway up he finally decides to come down, but then he just sits at the bottom.  Elizabeth gets to the top and sees that Grant isn't at the top (doesn't look at the bottom) and starts to slide.  Of course they crash at the bottom, but luckily no one was hurt.  We quickly grabbed the children and proceeded to the next area! 

The big joke of the day is that Family Fun-Fest was a lot better than Balloon Fest, which if you recall from an earlier post was Mimi's idea that wasn't quite the fun she/we expected.  This was a fun way to spend a very cold winter's morning and best of all the kids took great naps!

King of the Tootsie

The other day I was preparing lunch and Elizabeth was with me but I couldn't hear where Grant was.  I asked Elizabeth to go see what her brother was up to.  I followed her and I can see her standing in the dining room with her hand over her mouth, but I can't yet see what she is looking at.  Then I turn the corner and see the above picture!  My dear little sweet boy had stood on top of a box to crawl up into a dining room chair to reach a box of Tootsie Pops on the table.  Apparently, he knows what a Tootsie Pop is and wanted one because he unwrapped it himself and was happily sitting there licking away!  His face was priceless as he sat it that big chair looking like he was king of the castle! It is really one of the first mischievous things he has done so like any good blogger (and mother) I first grabbed the camera and then took the sucker away! 

MLK Day

 Martin Luther King Day used to always remind me of my mom's birthday, but now it also reminds me of the day that Grant got his helmet.  As a baby, Grant was unable to turn his head to the left, which resulted in him always sleeping in the same position.  Since babies are supposed to sleep on their backs, and we followed those guidelines, a flat spot developed on his head.  After physical therapy and chiropractics his neck muscles strengthened and he was able to turn his head fully to both sides, but the damage had already been done. Like most things, it takes a lot longer to fix them then it does to mess them up!  For two months we did everything possible to keep Grant off his head, in hopes of it rounding out by itself.  He didn't love tummy time and wasn't sitting up on his own, so this resulted in mommy holding him...a lot!  I can thank Grant for my strong arms!  In the end it was decided that he would be an excellent candidate for helmet therapy. 

6 months old

 Grant has always had hair!  I was worried that once he started wearing the helmet that might change, so I refused to cut his hair until the helmet came off!  At the time I thought this wild, carefree hairdo was adorable.  Looking back, maybe we should have given him a trim!  And in case you are wondering, that is Grant's hair completely au natural! 

 Brandon always has MLK day off, and that happened to be the day of the appointment.  I really dreaded the whole thing.  Most of all I didn't want people staring at my baby.  I didn't want them wondering what was wrong with him.  I was very lucky to have a good friend who's older son had gone through this and were going through it again with their little boy who is Grant's age.  It gave me someone to complain to and who completely understood where I was coming from.  We shared some good laughs about "helmet stories" and the smell.  You have never seen a boy's head sweat so much!  He wore it 23 hours a day for just over four months and got it off just before my birthday/Easter.  It never really bothered him and we achieved over 95% symmetry, so it worked! To be honest, I got more smiles than I ever did funny looks and only had a few odd conversations.  One person thought he was wearing it because he was having seizures and another thought he some fatal childhood illness.  When you looked at it that way it was easy to laugh it off and just say, "he just has a flat spot!"  and be relieved that other than this minor thing your baby was going to be just fine. 

He wore his helmet while we were on a cruise with my parent's.  We probably got most the questions in that week!

We actually got a little used to the helmet protecting his head and when it came off we had to be careful that he wouldn't tip over and hit his head on something!  Sometimes if the kids roughhousing too much I tell Elizabeth, "remember when your brother wore a helmet? We have to protect his head! Be careful!"

It all seems like a long time ago now, but a chapter we will not forget!  

This year daddy thought we should all go to Chuck E Cheeses'.  Secretly, I think Brandon likes to play the games himself!  The kids had a great time and ChuckE took this wonderful sketch picture of us!  Thankfully, the KenChuckEDerby ride was working this time, because this horse ride is Elizabeth's favorite!  Grant seemed to be content walking around and pushing buttons!  Our family can still be entertained for an hour with just a handful of tokens! How much longer do you think that will last?!

18 Month Check-up

Kara Kamienski Photography

Weighing in at 28 pounds, 2.5 ounces and 34 inches tall...is Grant!  The good news is that he is in the 90th percentile for BOTH height and weight!  His head circumference falls in the 60th percentile.  The pediatrician's exact words were, "he's a healthy fella!"  Everything looked good.  There wasn't quite the focus on 10-20 words, but more on him having his own jargon, which he does.  In the last few months we have noticed different sounds.  Although he only says a few words clearly, he makes lots of sounds, so we will just continue to keep an eye on it. 
He continues to keep us on our toes and makes us laugh all the time.  We were actually just laughing at a huge tantrum he threw.  I must get this on video!  He will repeat anything his big sister does.  She thinks this is a lot of fun and on occasion I have heard, "Go ahead, Grant, put your hands in the toilet!"  He has a great overhand throw and is going to be a lot of fun to keep up with this summer!  I did notice on the progress sheet that "nutritional needs are minimal" so when he threw his pork, then his potatoes and was reaching for the asparagus...his dinner was over.  We did end up giving him an orange and he had milk.  I have a pretty strict policy that the kids eat what we eat, unless it is something totally kid unfriendly.  I love it that he will take your hand and just lead you where he wants you to go so that he can show you something.  He gives the best kisses and when he isn't pulling my hair he gives great hugs too!  I know I have said it before, but it is such a joy to watch Elizabeth and Grant grow and I am so grateful that they have each other.  They don't always get along, but when they do it absolutely melts my heart, which makes the other times more bearable!  The housework takes a backseat sometimes, but I am so lucky to be able to stay home with them that I want to make the most of it and to steal a quote, "cherish every moment." 

Thank goodness she whispered!

Who would have thought a trip to the zoo would be so much fun in the middle of January!  It was in the low 50's today and the arctic blast and snow is on it's way tomorrow so we made the most of this spring like day.   

Apparently, the lions really love a crowd.  The zoo is free admission until February so there quite a few people there.  Arthur, the lion, paced in front of the glass and was entertaining the kids.  Elizabeth and Grant were right up there checking him out.  I stepped back to just watch them.  Elizabeth walks over and says quietly, "What's under the lion's tail?"  I just smiled and nodded for her to back over and view the lion.  She looks at me and asks again, still in a quiet hush.  I whisper back, "it's kind of like where his privates are."  She looks at me with her big brown eyes and nods, as if I just shared a inside secret that only we know!  It was sweet.  This is all part of being such avid zoo goers!  I am just thankful she whispered :)

Meanwhile, Grant has decided he can keep up with the big kids and walked the brick edging like he was on a balance beam!  I held his hand, because little boys need their mommy's for things like that!

Sleep

I want to remember these things, because as time goes on I think I will forget.  What would I say if someone asked me, "How do your kids sleep?" At this point, this is what I remember...
Broadly, I would classify Grant my good sleeper and Elizabeth as well, not so good of a sleeper!  However, I can see that changing.  If I were to classify Brandon and I - Brandon is a good, really good sleeper and me, well not so good! 

As a newborn I was up all the time with Elizabeth.  At first, it was probably three times a night.  She was one until she finally slept through the night.  There were nights when we had to let her cry it out and she was stubborn!  In general, it breaks my heart to let them cry and I don't do it often or consistently.  When it comes to sleep I recognize that consistency is key.  I openly admit, I did not and do not follow this rule.  My kids don't have an exact nap time, bed time or rise time.  Instead I decided early on that I would follow my gut and do what felt right.  At the age of 3 years and 5 months, Elizabeth rarely naps.  If we are lucky she will nap once or twice a week.  On days that she does nap, she won't be able to fall asleep until at least 10pm.  So often times it depends on her behavior how much we push for a nap.  Today she wanted me to lay down with her to help her fall asleep.  After a few minutes she woke me up and told me she could do it on her own now.  Which I knew really meant, "Mom could you please go down stairs so I can play in my room instead of laying here watching you sleep!"  Elizabeth has always been an early riser.  I can't even begin to tell you the old TV's shows I used to watch in the early morning, as I tried to nurse her back to a slumber.  I am confident I have seen every episode of Coach and Wings!  However, I can see her daddy starting to creep into her.  She stayed up late over the holidays and the best part is that she would sleep in!  It used to be that no matter what time she went to bed, she would still be up before seven.  There were a few days where she slept past 9:00 am!  WooHoo!  Now when she is a teenager and sleeping into the afternoon, I will not appreciate this.  Plus, I don't understand this "sleeping the day away" phenomenon and personally just can't do it so it drives me crazy!  But her biggest challenge now is getting into bed and staying in bed.  One night Brandon and I just laughed at all of the excuses she came up with:
"I need to go potty." (who is going to say no to that?!)
"Can I have some water?" (might be why we have to go potty?)
"It's too dark in here." (seriously, this girl sleeps with no less than four night lights and a lamp on! I don't know how she falls asleep with all of that light!)
"That flower thing on my wall...mumble mumble mumble" (go back to bed!!)
"I can't find monkey."  (usually is found in less than 3 seconds by daddy or me)
"It's hard, I just can't sleep." (in a super whiny voice) 
"Grant is crying and I can't sleep!" (valid point - no one is sleeping!) 
Last night I pulled a trick out of my hat.  I found Grant's Happy Tummi, colic wrap I used when he was a baby (thank you Aunt Amber).  It has an herb pouch that smells like lavender that you warm in the microwave and then you slip it into a chenille wrap.  It's warm, it's soft, it smells good.  What's not to like! I'm thinking maybe I should get one for myself!  So I give it to her and tuck her in and she is very entertained and relaxed by this idea.  She only gets out of bed once to ask a questions about it.  She quickly falls into a deep slumber.  Perfect!  How many nights will this work for? Elizabeth will wake up anytime between 6:30 and 7:30 on a typical day.  Some times she creeps into our bed in the middle of the night and we don't even know it!  Our general rule is that if it is after 5:00 am she can stay, anytime before that she has to go back to her bed. 

Now, my little man Grant...He joined this world a few weeks early and was really not ready to be awake all that much.  I actually had to set my alarm to wake him up and feed him for the first month.  For the next few months he would maybe wake once in the middle of night.  Piece of cake! Then he started sleeping through the night around 4-5 months.  Then he started getting teeth, but still didn't do too bad.  He took two naps and went down easy.  This boy knows how to sleep!  At about ten months he gave up a morning nap.  That is supposed to make for a better quality afternoon nap right? Not so much.  If I get an hour and half nap from Grant that is good.  An hour is probably his average.  That is probably why he sleeps so well at night - he's tired!  Maybe he just prefers his sleep in larger chunks!  We had a great routine.  I would turn on his music, turn on his mobile, give him a kiss and lay him down (naps or at night), if he cried it was only for a few minutes and he was out.  Perfect!  A little crying was his way of self soothing.  Grant also has a sleep position.  I call it the "arm tuck."  He lays his head on your shoulder and tucks his hands and arms between his chest and yours and he is ready to sleep.  I have a lullaby CD that has a song on it that I love.  The song is called Sky Boat and is six and half minutes long.  I would hold him/rock him during this song and when it was over I'd lay him down.  Most of the time he fell asleep.  It was a magically song.  I put it on my phone.  I could put him to sleep anywhere!  And then it happened.  The magic ran out.  We would still do our routine with Sky Boat but then he would cry and this cry was loud and not soothing at all.  It was different.  But as soon as you picked him up he would snuggle down into your chest and fall asleep.  Brandon was awesome at doing this.  Having a child asleep on his chest is one of his favorite things.  He became the champion of getting Grant to sleep.  They would snuggle and watch some TV until Grant was into a deep sleep and then lay him down.  This is all great, but we know holding him for an hour is not teaching him great sleep habits.  But since we don't follow those rules it doesn't matter!  We will just enjoy holding him while he still lets us! Grant is into the slow wake up plan.  He will happily lay in his crib and take his time waking up.  I often will hear his legs kicking and know that he is awake. 

In my rambling sleep conclusion, I guess we just get what we get and have to play the hand we were dealt.  That hand seems to change all the time.  Each day is a new day and you just never know what it is going to bring!

A Little Bit of Craftiness

Snowmen Ornaments

Elizabeth stamping and cutting

Elizabeth is really into be creative, both pretend play and crafting.  I try to make something home-made each year for Christmas, the grandparent's eat that stuff up ;)  Last year we did hand prints, this year was finger print snowmen.  Elizabeth was all over this one.  Grant however, not so much.  It was our little secret that the small "boy" snowman was Elizabeth's little finger and not Grant's, but when Mimi and Pops opened theirs up she spilled the beans!  It was very cute to listen to her retell the making of the ornaments. We also made quite of few glittered glass ball ornaments.  Glitter, stamping, gluing, coloring, cutting...you name it and she will want to try it!  I think her two favorite expressions may be "Can I do that?" and "Can I help with that?"  It is fun to see her want to be so involved and is a constant reminder to set a good example.  Apparently, I have slipped a few times because when her ink pad for her stamps didn't work she exclaimed, "Damn it!" very loudly.  I slip once and she has never forgotten it! I guess I have to give her kudos for using the phrase in proper context!

"Thank You"photocards

I did photo thank you cards a few years ago and decided to go for it again this year.  In an ideal world I would picture the kids with the gifts they received, but let's face it there are only 24 hours in a day and it is best when they sleep at least 12 of those!  So I went for the generic "thank you" but let me tell you by the time I took the pictures, edited them, made the card and picked them up, I am certain it would have taken less to hand write them!  As you can tell Grant had a blast with this!  After a few minutes, it finally occurred to me to write "You!" on the front AND the back of his card because he wanted to look at the writing himself and not face it outwards.  Plus, I had to bribe them with Smarties to sit down, in case anyone has noticed that it looks like he has food in his mouth!  I love this picture because his expression captures exactly the way he felt about this project and oh my goodness does he look my dad in this picture!

Anyway, I had fun with this one and everyone once and awhile it's ok if it's about mom.  In the meantime Grant can keep doing his boy things and Elizabeth and I can continue down our crafty paths!  My goal is to one day be Pinterest worthy and have an Alison original pinned!

New Year's Eve

Apparently, we are just not party animals and may never be!!  However, I can say that this new year's eve was a zillion times better than last year.  Last year we actually had plans - a party to go to.  At about 4pm we walked into water pouring into our basement and so our plans quickly changed.  Doing nothing this year sounded a whole lot better than hauling buckets of water!

Our plan was to grill steaks, make Skookies (skillet cookies) and watch The Lion King 3D.  It was a big day in Illinois sports, as the basketball team was playing Purdue at the same time the football team had it's bowl game.  Elizabeth and I had been shopping early in the day and had come home to watch the games.  By the time the games were over we still had to go to the grocery store and the night was getting away from us.  We did make it to the store for mushrooms, because you can't have steak without mushrooms!!  We took the Skookies off the New Year's Eve menu and moved them to the New Year's Day menu.  Elizabeth and I did watch The Lion King (amazing!) and daddy and Grant watched more football and snuggled.

"Skookie"

Brandon and I did make it until midnight, but we were in bed and shortly tuned the TV off.  Brandon did say that maybe one year we should go to NYC.  The realistic side of me said, "what if it's freezing cold?" Who knows....maybe someday!

We had a pretty awesome 2011.  I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!  Happy New Year!

Hot Fudge Sauce
(so I don't have to keep asking my mom every time for the recipe, I thought this would be a good place to put it!)

6 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cup evaporated milk

Melt the butter and the cocoa together -- stir as best you can to avoid lumps.  Alternate adding the powdered sugar and the evap milk.  Cook until thick.

Heller Christmas

David and Sara surprised us by coming home a day early.  We had scheduled pictures with my dad and the kids as part of his retirement, but since the whole family was together, it turned into a family picture shoot too!  We are all anxious to see how they turn out! 

We celebrated Christmas on Wednesday and started with a pancake breakfast.  To my surprise (and delight) Elizabeth choose blueberries in her pancakes over chocolate chips.  We opened stockings and then gifts.  We always get Lotto tickets and I'm sorry to say we only won $2!  Elizabeth got bunk beds so her baby dolls can sleep right next to her bed and a scooter.  Grant got a truck cozy coupe that he likes to drive or hitch a ride in the back while big sister drives!  I think Aunt Sara and Uncle David like shopping for the kids too ;)

Grandma and Grandpa Briggs came up for the afternoon, which was really nice since only my parents were able to make it to the Briggs family Christmas.  Grandma still gets down on the floor to play with the kids and Grandpa went outside with Elizabeth to look for a purple plastic snake (a turkey scare tactic). We had a smoked turkey off the Green Egg that was delicious and Grandma brought a cherry pie.  Again we were able to really enjoy the entire day with everyone.

The following night we had our traditional cheese fondue and it was the best ever!  Elizabeth and Grant didn't partake, but they did share the chocolate dessert fondue with us.  Another late night, but so worth it!

One of the best gifts that my mom gave me was printing my blog.  I now have a hardbound book of all my 2 Little Chief posts from the beginning and she plans to do it every year for me.  Oh what reading material Grant and Elizabeth will have some day! 

And thus ends our Christmas celebrations.  Christmas programs, family gatherings pickle hunts, fondues and endless games of tree farm, we have so much to be thankful for this holiday season and are so blessed in a multitude of ways.  Hopefully we have all remembered to take the time to cherish all of life's little (and big) moments...on to 2012!!

Schoch Christmas

This family Christmas was full of great-grand kids!  It was a lot of fun to watch them all play together and unwrap all of their gifts! Probably the most memorable part of this Christmas for me was the car ride over.  We passed by Rosewood, which is a nursery home on the way to Grandpa Ray's house.  Elizabeth asked what it was.  We explained it was a place where older people go who need some help.
E: Like a hospital?
Us: Yes
E: Like where grandma and grandpa lived? (we assume she is referring to my grandma and grandpa who used to live at Snyder Village, a retirement/nursery home)
Us: Yes, exactly like that
E: Will they be there today?
Us: No sweetie, they are in heaven.
E: Oh...like Gunner?
Us: Yes, like Gunner
E: Well, I just don't know how to get to heaven? How do you get to heaven?
Us: (long silence as we contemplate our answer) It's a long ways away (and then Brandon adds) You have to stop a few times to fill up with gas
E: But I just don't know how?

Ok, so we probably didn't do a great job answering that question.  I think we might have said something about following God's will, but I think she was already side tracked by then!  Bless her little heart for thinking so much about these things!