Thanksgiving

A few weeks before Thanksgiving we had the chance to take Cate and Timmy to a meal packing event designed for families with little kids. We have been talking about wanting to get more involved with our church's food pantry...or any food pantry, but it is still hard to do those types of things when you have such little kids. There was lots of music, which Cate loved, and simple instructions for packing a holiday meal for another family. We all did our best coloring work, Timmy too, and Cate followed directions very well when it came time to load up the basket.

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend but I don't have many photos to show for it. Cate helped me with all of the cooking. She really loves to cook. She will look at a recipe and lean in really close to it, pretend to read it and drag her finger along the ingredient list, just like I do. For some reason when she "reads" recipes, she only speaks gibberish, no real words, but it is hilarious. Here she is with the Pumpkin Chiffon pie that we made.

I love the fact that I was a teacher for 7 years and still cannot write on a chalkboard. In class, I would try to write neatly and when I would step away from the board, I would realize that the letters all got bigger at the end of the word and were on an upward slant.

Dancing and singing with her "microphone"

Pinks

This is what Cate looks like about 20 hrs a day. It is all I can do to get her out of her favorite pink pajamas. She only wants her "pinks," no other jammies will do. These pajamas that Cate finds so cozy that she wants to live in them, were $7.99 at Marshalls. I ended up picking up a second pair because they make her so happy and sometimes they need to get washed.

The other day, she got her sleeves wet washing her hands and she told me that she would need her other pinks before her nap. Yes, she insists on changing back into them for nap time. I told her that I thought both sets were in the wash and that she would have to settle for her pink owl pajamas. When I opened her drawer and she saw the second pair of pinks in there, clean and folded, she said, "Oooh mommy. These are warm, right? I want my pinks, please." Crisis averted.

We are getting ready to switch her into a big girl bed, so I am in the process of picking out new bedding, etc. for her room. It will be pink, of course, so I can't wait to see her reaction.

Visiting Uncle Rus

Last weekend we went to visit Uncle Rusty and to see his new apartment. As you can see, his apartment has amazing views and Cate and Timmy loved looking out the windows. I'm sure that they left many hand and face prints...sorry about that! Cate loved seeing the "L" as we walked to lunch, so we rode it around the Loop just for fun afterwards. We even got to ride the pink line, which worked out great because Cate loves all things pink at the moment. Cate and Timmy with fascinated by all of the cars, buses and trains and it was fun to think about all of the things that they will soon be old enough to do in the city.

Happy Halloween!

Cate and Timmy went out trick-or-treating together for the first time this afternoon. Cate really got into it after the first house when she realized that candy was involved. She was jumping along the sidewalk saying, "Ok, one more house, baby! Come on guys!" She would pick out candy for herself and for little T.

We picked up pizza for dinner and as kids rang the doorbell, she ran to the door to help Tim hand out candy. She seemed unphased by the costumes and just dropped candy into the big kids' bags. She was VERY wound up after dinner and treated us to a long song and dance routine which I eventually got the video camera out to capture, so I'll have to upload that. Timmy didn't seem to mind wearing his giraffe costume (which was worn by Cate last year) and I think he just loved Halloween because he got to hang out outside and roam around for awhile.

Our baby bumblebee

Baby giraffe

Timmy the teaser...he loves to antagonize her at the moment

Timmy the giraffe, 2010

Cate the giraffe, 2009

First Haircut

I know that many of you are wondering why we haven't bothered to trim Cate's hair up until this point. There are several reasons. Primary among them are that I knew Cate would scream and cry when getting her hair cut (she did), and we made several appointments earlier this fall and she kept napping through them.

So her hair is a cute little bob (although I told the woman that I really wanted it longer than a bob). I think it really looks cute though and Cate likes to admire herself in the mirror. We went to a place that specialized in cutting children's hair but the woman who cut Cate's hair did not have much patience for her crying. I'm not sure we'll be going back there, but I'm glad that her hair looks nice and neat.

So, How is it?

I think that the question I am most often asked these days (other than Cate's incessant, "Why, Mama?") is, "So, how is it being at home?" My answer is pretty much always (unless no one napped) that my life is so much better, so much less stressful and that now that Timmy is one, it is really fun to be with them all day.

I've been thinking though that I've been away from work for a few months now and I should really be disciplined about practicing my French, studying, reading, speaking it to Cate and Timmy. The other night, Mrs. Benesh (aka Bee Bee) brought me a box of macaroons from their recent trip to Paris. Seeing the beautiful box made me remember what I love about French culture, French food and speaking the language. So this morning, while Timmy napped and I drank my third giant cup of coffee (not very French), I let Cate choose which one she would like to eat. She chose pink, of course, and we spoke French for a few minutes while she told me how good her "cookie" was.

Vacation

Last week we finally got to go to Florida to see Mimi and Pop's new house. I was nervous about how Cate and Timmy would do on the plane, in a new environment, on a different schedule, but they did great. They slept well at night and during the day and would even sometimes take a very late afternoon nap so that we could go out for dinner and go dancing in the town square (more about that below). We had a great time just hanging out, swimming, shopping, golfing (the boys) and finally catching up with the Celluccis and Edgars. Of course I don't even have a picture of me and Jen and we decided that Bobby and Tim got to spend more time together on the golf course than we did, but we snuck in some hang out and shopping time in between kids' naps.

Cate loved to ride in the golf carts. Timmy was a bit too squirmy to go very far in them though.

I wouldn't say that either of our kids loved the water. Cate talks about the pool like she loves it but they both complain a lot while we're there.

This is Cate's current fake laugh face.

New friends, Timmy and Luke with handsome Jake in the background.

At the dock after lunch

Big Tim, Little Tim

Wrestling is Timmy's new favorite activity. He just lies on his back and waits for someone to come and get him.

At the wildlife sanctuary

Almost every night we would go into town for dinner and then to hear the live music play. Cate LOVED this. As soon as we would get close to the music, she would start dancing on the sidewalk and when we made it to the dance area, she just let loose. She does have skinned up knees from some of her wilder moves, but when you ask her what her favorite thing was on vacation, she immediately says dancing...followed by ice cream cones. In the second tolast picture, the singer from the band came down to sing with Timmy because Timmy was enthusiastically waving his arm in the air (his only real dance move) to the song. I think that the band thought that he was waving to them.

Timmy's Birthday Brunch

For Timmy's First Birthday party, we decided to have a fall, football themed brunch. The Bears were playing so it seemed perfect to have brunch, open gifts, do cake and then send the men to the basement to watch the Bears on the new TV. We haven't done much entertaining since the basement has been finished, so it was fun to have everyone over and enjoy the space.

Some of Timmy's current favorites are playing with balls, playing with cars, buses, trains, and airplanes and eating. He really loves food. He also learned to say, "juice" really fast when he figured out that Cate was getting some and he wasn't. I accidentally gave her cup to him one day and he sucked the whole thing down without taking a breath. Ever since then, he repeats the word juice in the morning until I give him some to follow his milk. He is a very sweet, cuddly boy and he is a great sleeper! On the other hand, he is in the cup throwing phase, loves to get into the dog food and climb into the dishwasher when I am trying to load it. He is not really walking yet, but he is taking a few hesitant steps before he reverts to crawling.

Two delicious cakes by Bee Bee

Timmy's First Birthday

We had Timmy's birthday party a day late (pictures to follow), so on his actual birthday, we took advantage of a cool day to go to the Pumpkin Farm. It was the perfect time to do it because as the season progresses, it can be really crowded on the weekends but for this special "preview" weekend, there was almost no one there. We walked around and looked at pumpkins and gourds, bought a few to decorate for Timmy's party the next day, went on the slide, rode the giant rocking chair and finished it off with apple cider donuts...the birthday boy's favorite part!

A Taste of Fall

You know that you live in Chicago when on a Tuesday you complain of the extreme heat and humidity and on Friday, you need a jacket. This Labor Day weekend has been quite Fall like but I think that we are ready for Fall around here...as long as it doesn't get too cold too quickly. I have just started to get Cate and Timmy's clothes organized for the change in season and cool days like this are a good reminder that they will not be able to wear their summer favorites for much longer.

Cate had the perfect occasion to wear her new black and white shirtdress and leggings tonight, so although it is really too long on her, and the cute flats I bought her don't fit, we broke out some of the new, cooler weather clothes and went out for dinner for Mimi's birthday. After a yummy Mexican dinner, where Timmy flirted with everyone in the restaurant and Cate watched the baby at the next table, we came back to our house for a fire and s'mores. Fall is in the air!

She loved going through her new clothes, especially the shoes!

Timmy is a master at pointing out airplanes. He does not miss even one which means that he often looks like this when we are out!

IPhoto is really amazing. I blotted out just about all of the graham cracker that Timmy smashed and wiped into my shirt