The pictures...Part 5 of ?

Okay, these are totally out of order...but I am sick and tired of trying to download these 5 at a time and figure out what order they will be in. So use your imagination...

Andrew enjoying Michael's birthday cake

Lily enjoying Michael's birthday cake

Michael not enjoying his own birthday cake. He was quite disgusted by the icing. Wha???

Looking desperately around for someone to save him from the vile cake. Again, I say, WHA? I am beginning to wonder if they switched babies at the hospital or something.

Michael's birthday cake. I told you these were out of order...deal with it. I'm good at making cute babies, NOT at making cute organized blogs.

Michael had a lot of help opening his gifts. He didn't seem to mind. I have a LOT of these types of shots. I think 20 at least. Which happens for every holiday and birthday. Like I really need multiple still shots of a kid unwrapping. Think I'll ever learn?

Michael wearing his "Look Who is 1!" shirt. Actually, it was Andrew's first...so it is size 18 months. Michael is BARELY a size 12 month. Tee hee hee...

Andrew was pooped out, and fell asleep under the dining room table. Can't fall asleep on a 9 hour car ride, but face down on the hard floor...maybe I should strap him to the top of the car and see if he'd sleep...

At a park...where I almost had a heart attack watching my 2 older kids climbing on a train. Have I mentioned I have a problem with heights? Apparently that applies to watching my offspring on heights as well.

Lily posing with her easter dying kit. This is before the 2 MAJOR tantrums. Who knew that running out of eggs to dye could be so traumatic?

Andrew giving us his creepy look as he shows off his mad egg dying skills. Looks like a mug shot of some really evil dude. I have other shots with this pose that I chose not to share with you all. Sc-ar-y

Michael doing what he does best...emptying.

Back in Cinci now (I told you these were out of order). At Sharon Wood Nature Center. You Cinci folk had better check it out...it is great for little kids. This shot is of a tunnel of fish and turtles just Mike's size.

In the same building as the nature center was a play area for kids. Tunnels, slides, ball pit, and an entire village of pretend play places. Mike was wanted for being excessively cute.

Well, he got to go to "the" restaurant in Ribs Land (what Andrew calls Cinci sometimes)

But he was so sad that Daddy had to miss it.

Luckily, Pepere let him take it back to eat at home. Andrew talked to his Dad and said, "I ate 5 ribs and then got 3 cookies. So it was a good day for me." I'm thinking it is getting expensive to feed this kid...5 ribs???

The pictures...Part 4 of ?

Lily is ready to go to the zoo! Featured in this photo are her Cinderella and Ariel dolls. I bought them for the bike carrier (remember? I like one of a kind desirable toys to bribe my children into being good)...but they kind of got moved to the car for our trip. Best. Move. Ever. She didn't sleep on our car trips, but she played happily with her "pincesses" for hours. "Sin-da-weh-wah and Air-el" are her best friends!

Posing in front of the flowers at the zoo. It was absolutely the most perfect day EVER.
My mom's grandkids.

Lily was in a posing mood this day. She would run up to a statue and say, "Take my pit-ture?" And then immediately, "Can I see it?"...often before you'd even snapped the shot.

Andrew looking very cute with a gorilla statue. Not too far off...

Poser. He got this idea from Colin...who had hurt his ear on the metal teeth before was able to get my camera out.

Colin and Lily on the safer side of the alligator.

The boys watching the manatees. By far Michael's favorite part, since he got out of the stroller for a change.

Riding the carousel.

Self portrait. I could not love Mikey's face in this any more. And you can count how many times I have eaten ribs or chili by counting the chins...

There was this little playhouse in the membership building that Lily adored. Here she is posing by her window boxes.

And cuddling the house jaguar.

We played while the boys got their faces painted. Colin is a leopard and Andrew? Well, he is the Loch Ness Monster, except he wanted to be brown instead of green. So he just looked...well...weird. It was quite disturbing for him to not have eyebrows...very hard to read his emotions for the rest of the day.

-sigh- Do I have to explain this picture? Do I? Let's just say that bubbles were spilled, clothes were shed, and broomball was played. And my parents got their porch cleaned for free.

My uncle Chuck and Aunt Betty came over briefly to visit (they live in Chicago, but were visiting their own grandchildren in Cinci). Andrew and Colin were tickled mercilessly...and loved every minute of it.

Michael preferred to steal Chuck's glasses and then clap for himself.

The pictures...Part 3 of ?

Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH

Don't worry, there are no wings on this plane. Andrew could have stayed here all day.

Not the best shot of Lily, but you get the idea. She made me proud when she left without a fight to give another child a turn.

With my grandma in Dayton. This is BEFORE she stopped sharing with Lily. (a whole other story which details why it is best to keep 91 year olds and 2 year olds apart...they just can't share Barbies well.)

The first egg hunt. Lily ROCKED at finding eggs. Seriously. Put the boys to shame. My sister wisely pointed out that there is a reason that women were the gatherers and men needed a large moving target to hunt. Uh-huh. Evolution hasn't changed us too much yet..

Andrew opening his loot. We had eggs with toys in them...each labeled with their initial so they'd know which was which. Lily would exclaim, "L! L is for Yiddy!" each time. Very cute.

Aunt Kate and Colin. We had such a good time visiting with them!

Lily and I opening her eggs...there were tiny ponies inside. Oh! The excitement!

Michael prefered to chew on the outside of the eggs...and to shake them.

Lily hoarding her ponies.

The pictures...Part 2 of ?

No matter that he can't walk. If he needs to carry something, Michael just sticks it in his mouth. This works especially well if it is a choking hazard.

Wherever we went, Michael was usually stuck in this stroller. And he was usually just this happy about it.

Andrew checking out the dino bones. I'm sure he had a few questions for the volunteer.

Andrew pushing the buttons to make the life sized dinos move. He made me proud...at one point I was looking for him, and an older gentleman said, "That is one polite boy...he asked me so nicely if he could take a turn pushing buttons. What a nice kid." Cut to me beaming.

You can hardly see them, but there is my mom posing with the kiddos in front of the museum center. Oh, and a huge dinosaur model.

Now, this next clip may seem a bit cruel, but I find it hilarious. Maybe grounds to have my children taken away from me, but hilarious. I wanted to truly capture how loud the exhibit was. Lily was...um...less than thrilled with the roaring noises. After trying to get her to adapt, I found a bench off to the side that seemed safe. I left her to capture this video...notice at the end how she cries "yes" to the question...cracks me up. I know...evil.

The pictures...Part 1 of ?

A rare shot of Jeff's whole family...

We were with my in-laws for a few days in the beginning of our trip, then Jeff went home and I went to Cinci for a week, then I returned to my in-laws (as did Jeff) for a few more days at the end of the trip. Here are some pics from the first of our visits with my in-laws...

In the hot tub with Grandma. I conveniently forgot my swimsuit.

Andrew doing Tan grams. Oh, how I hated those things as a kid...guess who loves them... Also, you can see his nice shiner from the cut on his head.

Lily painting. Not an activity that I do with her...she had a blast!

Lily and Andrew cuddling with Aunt Dottie. Talk about melting her heart...Lily especially made her day by yelling her name and leaping onto her lap. My Lily is NOT that kind of girl...usually. It's like she somehow knew that everybody needed extra cuddles that weekend.

Lily and her favorite...Uncle Chad. I love everything about this picture...Chad in a suit on the floor with dolls and one hand hooked around his niece. What a fantastic uncle...no wonder Lily loves him. Aunt Sara also played dolls (although I have no pictures of Sara at all?!?). Sara was a bit horrified that when she suggested that the dolls go shopping, Lily agreed and told her they needed apples. (see? cause grocery shopping is the only kind of shopping we do...)

Just had to add this, because I love how Lily is gazing up at her favorite.

Okay...now I'm feeling really bad that I have no shots of Sara or Colum. But isn't this shot priceless. What total and utter GOONS.

Lily and her Great-Grandma. Lily was also THRILLED every time Elsie came into the room...it's so neat that she remembers these far away relatives now!

Michael hanging out with his Great-Grandma. She is amazing with little kids...and Mikey enjoyed her company tremendously.

Happy early Easter

We celebrated Easter a day early due to a 9 hour drive ahead of us tomorrow. We've spent the week here in Jeff's hometown happily dying eggs, roasting s'mores out at Grandpa's fire pit, soaking in the hot tub, having a playdate with some locals,visiting a sheep farm, seeing an eagle's nest (a real one), going to COSI, celebrating Mike's birthday, getting a first haircut, enjoying dinners with extended family and generally just waiting and hoping that the rain would stop so we could get outside and DO stuff.

Home! Tomorrow! Which means pictures! I have a grand total of 183 from the past 16 days...I will not subject you to them all. It may take me a while to sift through them...

Holy crap...Mikey's 1!!!

A year ago this happened.

I fell in love. With my Michael.

A year has passed. A year filled with frustration and sleep deprivation and being overwhelmed and often wondering how in the world would I get through it.

But we did get through it. And all that happened as we got through the past year is I fell more and more in love with my Michael. My favorite surprise I didn't know I wanted.

Michael is an angel. And very mischievous angel. He has a smile that lights up a room and a giggle that entices everyone to interact with him. He melts my heart every time he pats my back as we rock. Or gives me big open mouth baby kisses. Or looks at me with that troublesome gleam in his eye one second before he gets into big trouble. Or as he waves to everyone in the morning.

I love this boy. I don't know how I could ever have been scared to have him, now that I've known him for 12 months. He is my bonus round in parenting. And he is the perfect addition to our crazy little family. Thank you all for listening to me gripe and complain and lament this past year. I am so so looking forward to the next year with my little Mike. (but I'm sure there will be more griping and complaining and lamenting...sorry...kind of comes with the territory).

Almost through in Cinci

Oh...how busy we've been. And how wonderful it has been. We arrived at my parents' house in Cinci last Tuesday, and since then we've...

-visited my Memere at her assisted living apartment
-had numerous melt downs and tantrums due to not napping or sleeping at night...the kids have had some too.
-got Andrew's hair cut at my dad's place...the same place I went from age 9-16
-went to the Museum Center to see the awesome dino exhibit
-ate at LaRosa's
-taught Andrew how to play Dominoes and Sorry
-watched Lily play with the doll house for hours at a time
-watched Mike investigate and destroy much of the house with quiet determination...did you know that Tide boxes aren't good to leave on the floor?
-ate Graeter's...3times so far
-visited with my friend Annie and her two sweet babies
-had Great-Memere over for dinner
-got a tow hitch put on my van
-went to Dayton and visited the Air Force Museum
-visited Great Grandma while in Dayton
-ate Marion's pizza
-visited with Aunt Kate and Cousin Colin...did an egg hunt, went to the zoo, played at the park for hours, celebrated Kate's 35th birthday
-visited with Uncle Chuck and Aunt Betty from Chicago
-went to Sharon Woods and went through the nature center and play area
-took Andrew to Montgomery Inn for lunch while my mom's neighbor watched the littles
-also had Montgomery Inn as take-out.
-gained 15 pounds
-ate Skyline Chili for lunch...twice
-did I mention that my pants are tight?
-watched The Lion King on VHS 6 times...when is that coming out on DVD? I mean again, since it is now in "the vault".
-watched Angels in the Outfield on VHS...did you know that Matthew McConaughey is in that? And Adrien Brody? And Dermot Mulroney? Andrew loved it.

Sorry to any friends in the area that we didn't get to see. We've been BUSY. 103 pictures worth of busy. I'll try to post more as soon as we are home. But that won't be for another 6 days... ;) On to Mt. Vernon we go! For somebody's 1st birthday (can you even believe it???)