Total Opposites

I've always joked that the kids are complete opposites of each other, the most obvious of which is that they're a boy and a girl. But when I was pregnant with Jeremy, I figured he was a boy. Why? Because it was a much different pregnancy with some minor complications. I joked that only boys would give their moms a hard time (we didn't know the gender of either kid before they were born).

After Jeremy was born, he had colic for three months. Part of me wonders if I wasn't induced if he would've been a different child. Regardless, the first few months were rough.

When Riley was an infant, she slept wonderfully. She slept through the night before I went back to work when she was three months old. Jeremy? He took 11 months.

Riley has always been a picky eater. Part of that, I'm sure, is her parents' fault for not making her eat specific foods. When Jeremy came along, we decided that he's eating whatever we're having. And to this day, he's an awesome eater (Case in point, his favorite food on a pizza? Mushrooms like his mama!).

So when it came time to deal with potty training, like any parent I was not looking forward to it. I should have remembered my opposite theory, though, because it was rough going with Riley. Not only did it take a few persistent months, but I also was caring for a newborn.

And just this week, Jeremy has pretty much potty trained himself! He doesn't want to wear a diaper. He wakes up from a 3+ hour nap dry. He's still wet after bed, though, but with Riley it took a few months to get this far. Additionally, he's pooping on the potty, something that his sister refused to do.

I really hope I'm not jinxing anything, but yet again he's proven to me that he and his sister are complete opposites about certain things. And yes, it makes me sad to realize there's yet another part of him that's growing up and being less "babyish". I wonder if that feeling will ever pass. And only someone like me can lament the fact a child might be out of diapers!

Christmas Part 5 of 5

We finished up Christmas with the other set of grandparents heading out to our house a few days after Christmas. We're very grateful for all the family that traveled to see us this year.

Riley opening a present.

Jeremy and grandpa surveying the scene.

The kids together.

The grandparents and the kids.

Christmas Part 4 of 5

Seriously I never meant to get this far behind! Anyway, our second to last Christmas was spent with my parents who came out for the mid-afternoon. After the insane number of gifts and the rapid gift opening, we headed off to lunch. Here are the pics:

The kids helping Nana.

Dad with his precious blanket that Nana repaired.

Riley enjoying a sticker book.

Jeremy, Papa, and the Monkey enjoying a story.

Mama's Boy

Today was a hard/sad day. I signed Jeremy up for preschool this fall. *sigh* He's growing up. Faster than I think Riley did, only because Riley was in daycare for her first 2.5 years. With him, he's been around me from the beginning. And things are harder when it comes to him. I have never denied that he's my baby. He's my mama's boy through and through. And I love it. I love being needed and wanted. In a way that a child needs you.

I know it's not as if he'll be attending kindergarten in the fall like his big sister, but I have a feeling that the day I drop him off at preschool will be harder than taking Riley to the bus stop. Who knows, though. I have about seven months before I really have to *deal* with that.

From the minute he entered the world,
that colicky boy didn't stop crying for three months!
Look at how peaceful he slept, though.

And now, my handsome man. Who wouldn't love this face?

Christmas Part 3 of 5

The day after Christmas, we celebrated our own little Christmas at home. We decided that next year we'll just have the kids open their "Santa" gifts on Christmas morning and then just celebrate our family one with my parents. I think the kids were already on present overload!

Dad opening one of his presents.

Jeremy's turn.

Riley's new art piece for her room.

Jeremy excited for his sticker book.

Riley "helping" Jeremy.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying being home, together. Phil took the day off work and we just celebrated the holiday. What a perfect Christmas.

Happy Birthday, Great-Grandpa!

My great-grandpa had a birthday today. The big 9-2. Yes, isn't that wonderful? And yet we had the worst weather for it! The regular temperature this morning (no, not the wind chill) was -17. Yeah, that's not so much fun. The school district canceled classes, but Riley didn't have school anyway. Phil decided to work from home. And what did I do? I took the kids to the library for storytime and to pick up some fruit at the store.

Funny thing about storytime is that we were the only ones in there! Nice, huh? Nothing like having my kids' behavior put on the spot. They did pretty well, though.

And then later today I called grandpa to wish him a happy birthday, which I enjoyed as much as he did. He hears so well and is doing very well, in my opinion. My mom is going to visit him this weekend, and hopefully bring back warmer weather!

Some Recent Musings

Some funny things said around the house of late:

The kids are really into Diego and Dora lately. Jeremy *loves* Diego and goes around saying that Baby Jaguar tells people "Buenos Dias." So the other day Riley asked Phil a question. He responded, "Si." She turns to him and is astounded. "You know Spanish, Dad?"

---

We were enjoying dinner last night waiting for Phil to come home during the mini blizzard. Riley started singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and Jeremy was filling in the blanks. Riley would sing, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed" and then Jeremy would say: "Reindeer".

Then Riley gets to the part, "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you..."
And Jeremy replies: "Eat all my cookies."

---

Riley received a Princess CD player for Christmas and enjoys playing the music. It's gone through several rounds of batteries, and today you could tell the player needed more batteries.

Phil was working from home, so she turned it on for him to hear.

"See, Dad. Something's just not right here."

Christmas Part 2 of 5

I hope to have these all posted before spring actually hits. Ha!

Our second Christmas occurred on Christmas day when we drove down to my grandpa's near Bloomington. It was a nice 2.5-hour drive, but the kids did great in the car. We got there around lunchtime and had a delicious potluck lunch. We provided the rolls and salad. Riley ate more than I've seen her eat in a long time, and Jeremy couldn't get enough of the infamous egg rolls. I think he ate enough for Uncle D.

After lunch, we gathered around to sing Christmas carols, which is something I remember doing back in grandma and grandpa's old house. Cousin Lily would play at the piano and grandma would lead the songs.

Jeremy singing with Nana while
cousins Jason and Caleb sat nearby.

Surveying the crowd.

Anyway, we sang the songs and then my kids insisted on helping hand out the presents. They really missed playing with my cousin's two boys, but since my cousin was too close to her due date, her family stayed in Wisconsin for Christmas.

Grandpa with all his presents. My dad said next year
he's going to say he doesn't want any presents,
since that's what grandpa said and he received the most!

Riley helping give grandpa his presents.

As always, we had a wonderful time. I helped my cousins work on a 1,000-piece puzzle (we didn't get much accomplished) and the kids had fun playing with Nana. Grandpa even got in on the game by playfully grabbing the kids' stuffed animals away from them.

We left around 5 and headed home. It was a long day, but it was filled with wonderful family

The kids with grandpa. The hat grandpa is wearing is the same hat
my brother wore at his wedding. He gave it to grandpa for Christmas.

Christmas Eve and Morning

We don't have many Christmas traditions due to fluxuating schedules. We never really know where we'll be celebrating the holidays. But Phil really wanted to read The Night Before Christmas to the kids on Christmas Eve, so that's what he did.

Dad reading to his captive audience.

Jeremy's attention span is waning.

Since I'm new to this whole Santa thing (my parents never really "made" me believe in Santa, and I don't even really remember him being present in the house. So Phil helped me figure it out with the cookies/milk and then we had reindeer food given to us by the Parent/Tot center. Jeremy was so excited. We tucked the kids into bed, and Phil, er, Santa wrote the kids a note and left them presents under the tree.

Opening one of their Santa presents.

Santa left the kids coloring books.*

*OK, so like I said, I'm new to this whole Santa thing. Riley saw the same coloring books "Santa" got them while we were at Meijer and she pointed them out. I said, yeah, that's where we bought them for you. She told me Santa got them for her. I quickly amended my story and said I told Santa that we saw the coloring books at Meijer and he should see if he has some like those for our kids. Nice, Darce.

Snowy December

Before we attended Christmas Part 2, we had to deal with some nasty snow. The kids enjoyed it, though, so I guess that counts for something! And I actually got out to experience some first-hand snowball throwing. The weather wasn't too shabby, there was no wind, and with two kids and a husband outside, I had plenty of targets. And Phil was happy because he was at home when the snow fell and he was able to get the snow blower to work. Hurray!

Riley pulling J on the sled. You can barely see him!
The snow is as high as our neighbor's mailbox, thanks to the snowplow.

Riley helping shovel.

J all bundled up.

Riley pulling the sled.

Looking for my next victim.

Funny enough is that practically all the snow has since melted. But being the "wonderful" Midwest, I'm sure we'll have more. Let's just hope Phil is home when it falls again!

The three muskateers making snowballs to
throw at the photographer: Dad.

Christmas Part 1 of 5

I won't bore you with all the long-forgotten details of our Christmas celebrations, but our first one occurred before Christmas. BIL and family were heading to Arizona for the holidays, so they came out to our place to open presents (along with MIL) and have Christmas dinner. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and enjoying the presents, of course!

Jeremy helping open presents. My nephew Caden,
who turns 1 today, is enjoying a bottle nearby.

Riley helps me hang an ornament on the kids' tree.

Riley helps J open his big present--a tool set.

Uncle Kevin opening his bag of "weed" that"
he wanted (it was really spices and seasoning).

After presents we ate dinner in shifts. That's what happens when you have 4 kids under the age of 5 who hadn't napped. I do have to say that dinner was rather delicious, with a roast, twice-baked potatoes, sunflower/poppy seed rolls, green beans (canned from the garden), roasted carrots and a tossed salad. For dessert was a four-layer dessert with pudding and tons of Cool Whip! It was so good!

The we attempted to get a picture of all the cousins before they hit the road. That didn't work out very well, as you can see below. Phil took BIL and his family to the airport--they were staying at a hotel that night and asked if we could keep their car at our house. By the time he got home, though, the kids had practically passed out! And to think this was just part 1!

Hello kids. We're over here!

My kids are smiling. I think Uncle Kevin did something funny.

Riley and Ethan.

Jeremy and Ethan making funny faces.

New Year's Eve

I still need to upload the Christmas pictures off the camera, hence the lack of Christmas updates. We celebrated five Christmases this year, which was a bit much, but the kids had fun. And isn't that all that really matters?

Anyways, we had a very low-key NYE. There were rumblings of a neighborhood poker game that might be happening, but those plans fell apart. Phil didn't sleep well the night before, so he said he was going to call it a night probably before 11. And me? I was working most of the night. Yeah, are we party animals, or what?

I finished up my work early and asked if we could catch up on some DVR'd shows, since we have quite a few. Phil agreed, and we watched an episode of Pushing Daisies. Just as the show finished, we heard Riley call for one of us. Phil went up there, thinking a cat had found its way into her room, which she cannot tolerate. But no. She was covered in blood!

Turns out she had given herself two bloody noses, probably from inadvertent picking. Regardless, it was all over her bed, jammies and stuffed animals. Phil got her cleaned up and I took care of the bloody clothing, sheets and animals. We got her tucked back in, only to have her sneeze, breaking the blood clot in her nose. Yup, blood again everywhere! Luckily we have plenty of sheets and blankets in this house. And luckily Phil was at home and not out playing poker.

So Phil ended up staying up to transfer the sheets and blankets to the dryer, while I headed upstairs to read. We both made it up until after midnight, and Riley fell asleep shortly before the clock struck midnight. What a way to usher in the new year!