ZooLights

As has been our tradition every year since getting married, once again we returned to Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago to view the animals and Christmas lights. We have encountered all kinds of weather conditions, and this year was no different: although the temperatures were not all that cold, the rain and drizzle made it a bit uncomfortable. Good thing the animals have indoor habitats. The kids were troopers, though. Lots of blankets, umbrellas, and stroller attachments kept them relatively dry. Conor got a snowman temporary tattoo (making him very hesitant to wash his hands for the last 2 days...next time we put the tattoo on his cheek or arm instead), and made a couple ornaments he promptly put on the tree when we returned home.

Christmas Comedy

A week and a half ago brought our first snow of the season. Unfortunately I was on call and schedule conflicts and recent plummeting temperatures have not permitted us to get outside to go sledding our make our snowman yet.

When I was driving to the hospital that first Saturday morning, I almost got into an accident because of the slick roads and told Adam about it when I got home. Conor asked what I was talking about and I said that I almost got smooshed. He said he was happy that I didn't get smooshed. A few days later, out of nowhere, he said, "Mom, I'm really happy you didn't get smooshed."

When we were in MN for Thanksgiving, Conor overhead Laura talking about a recent trip she took. She said, "When I was in Indiana..." and he interrupted, "Why were you an Indian?"

When we were pulling out the Christmas decorations, Conor was so excited to help. He would reach into the box and pull out a Santa, or snowman, or wreath, and say "Ooooh, look at this one"!! Talk about the magic of Christmas. He put on our Santa hat and danced around the house singing Jingle Bells, Frosty, and Rudolph at the top of his lungs. When he pulled out the stockings, he said, "When it's Christmas, Santa will fill them with wonderful treats."

Sometimes his mispronunciations are so cute I don't want to correct them yet:
pancakes=pancanks
candy canes=candy cames
robbers=rogers (I was trying to explain the bad guys in the movie Home Alone)

I think I've written this before, but he said it again: "These marshmallows are so marshy."

When we do try to correct something that he pronounces wrong, we usually try to say it slowly and have him repeat it syllable by syllable. So now if he wants to make a point or try to explain something, and we don't hear him or don't understand him, he will try to do the same thing. He was telling me that the two things he is going to ask Santa for are 1) the Barney Christmas movie he saw at Target, and 2) a present snowman. When I asked what he meant by present snowman, he said, "Mom, say this: Preh (I say "preh") - Zent (I say "zent") Snow (I say "snow") - Man (I say "man")". When I said, "Yes, but what does that mean?" He said, "Mom, it means a present snowman." We, I mean Santa, may need to get some more clues about that one.

Merry Almost Christmas...some rambling thoughts

Well, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas always flies with the extremely busy schedule for me at work (everybody wants to get in before the end of the year since they've met their insurance deductible, or the college students are home on long breaks, etc.), the traveling we do back and forth to Minnesota and the inevitable holiday bustle of shopping, baking, wrapping, decorating, tradition-keeping, and hoping to play in the snow, not to mention the daily routines of keeping the house clean and the laundry done. Despite all the craziness, it is still one of my favorite times of year. But for some reason this year has been more stressful and task-oriented; and because of that, it has really been laid on my heart how wonderful my memories of Christmases past are and how much I owe to my parents (and even my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins) for making it such a magical time of year. I only hope we can make such special memories for Riley and Conor over the years and keep the sense of wonder alive. Watching Conor inspect the nativity scene everyday and choosing books about Jesus' birth remind me how much I want to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas. I am one of those people that listens to only Christmas music from the day after Thanksgiving until December 26th. But this year I have not felt that same urge, until ... I was excited to find a new all-Christmas radio station that doesn't play the same old overplayed secular songs 10 times a day. It is a Christian station that I had never stopped at on the radio dial before. The songs are sung by Christian artists, many are the classic Christmas hymns like The First Noel, Joy to the World, and Away in a Manger that again are reminding me of the real reason of Christmas. And as we are only a few days away from returning to Minnesota (and their 2 or 3 feet of snow), I am sensing that joy and anticipation return...the magic of Christmas is almost here.

Photo Journal of Our Thanksgiving Weekend in Minnesota

Be warned...there are a lot of pictures here. We had a great time in Minnesota over the long Thanksgiving weekend. It was very relaxing as we did not travel the 60 miles to spend the holiday with extended family this year. We were awaiting the arrival of Baby Girl Benedict who was due the Wednesday before Thanksgiving but chose not to come until the Wednesday after, so we have not met her yet and are anxiously awaiting our return to MN in only a couple more weeks to meet little Carmen Rose who was born on December 1st. Congrats Leah and Andy! Although Laura just started a new job a couple weeks ago (Congrats Laura!), she was able to take Friday off and spend the weekend with us as well.

Here is what we spent some of our time doing:
Riley did plenty of baby stuff...crawling, playing, exploring, smiling...
Smiling pretty with mommyConor and Laura made a countdown chain for ChristmasConor practiced playing Grandpa's guitar
We ate popcorn and watched Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas for "Family Movie Night"
We went to Andy & Leah's where Conor enjoyed playing with their giant Scooby Doo
Adam and I went to dinner and a movie for a long overdue date night and the kids were in bed when we came home but we found these two pictures on our camera later...
Conor played in the snow twice and absolutely loved sledding. Unfortunately, much of the snow had melted from the hill but they still found a way to have a great time
Rosy cheeks afterwardsEverybody loves to play the piano...Conor learned some new Christmas carols, and loudly sang along and "played" the his old favorites like Jingle Bells, Frosty, and Rudolph
Hanging out before bedtime
As always, it was a fun time and we are looking forward to being back for the Christmas festivities! (We have "Grandma's House" marked on the countdown chain as well, thanks to Aunt Laura.)

Baby's First Thanksgiving

Riley enjoyed her first Thanksgiving with a large helping of...sweet potatoes, of course!! (Unfortunately for her, the baby food style doesn't come with all the butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows!) She is such a great eater and enjoyed all the festivities of Thanksgiving weekend!

What we're up to...

Enjoying a snowman cookie for dessert
So happy
Look ma, no hands
Happy to be standing...and now starting to cruise along the couch a little too!!

Almost Winter Day

We had a local village holiday festivity called "An Almost Winter Day" this past Saturday to kick off the holiday season. Although we are usually quite opposed to anything Christmas-oriented before Thanksgiving, we wanted to see what the event was all about. Unfortunately, we had two really fussy kids in the afternoon due to some poor sleep overnight (long story), so they both needed naps which ended up being later than planned. So we only made it to the last half hour of the event...which was just enough time to see the animals at the petting zoo, make some s'mores, and listen to Santa Claus. They also had pony rides and horse-drawn sleigh rides, but Conor wasn't interested in much due to still being a little tired, and the fact that it was already pretty dark and cold outside. We ended up with a few good pics anyway...

Bookworm

Reading his newest Clifford book after a trip to the library

It's so much fun to....

...Drink hot cocoa in the mug Miss Vicki painted for me!!!
...Practice standing to explore in the toybox!!

Conor's Latest...

Crazy hair after removing his winter hat. Though we haven't gotten the 11" of snow that Grandma and Grandpa got, it is starting to get colder here.

Whenever he has to go #2 in the bathroom, he always makes sure to ask for us to close the door so he can have some privacy, which he sometimes pronounces "privacine".

Other mispronunications:

Thilthy=Filthy
Snowflags=Snowflakes
Powm Powms=Pom Poms

When Grandma texted us pictures of their big snowstorm, Conor exclaimed "It's Christmas at Grandma's house!" And when he asked Grandma why she had snow at her house, she answered that they were having a snowstorm. He replied, "Well, our snowstorm doesn't make snow at our house!"

Last week he wanted some Gatorade for dinner, so I told him if he finished his milk, he could have some. He said ok, then went quietly back to eating dinner, but about 5 minutes later he said, "I have an idea, Mom. How about you finish my milk, then I can have my Gatorade now?"