Happy Birthday Little Man!

My little boy through the years:


In the hospital


3 months


6 months


9 months


1 year old!


18 months


2 years old!


2.5


The birthday boy today.

So my little guy is 3 today. I cannot believe it's been three years since I had him. He is all boy, as noted by him opening up the floor vent today and throwing a few of Riley's puzzle pieces down there! And he loves playing sports, from soccer to baseball, hockey to Frisbee (if that's considered a sport!).

I never really understood the whole "Mama's boy" thing until I had one myself. I used to tease my mom about favoring my brother (you guys know it's true), but now that Jeremy is most certainly a Mama's boy, I love it. There is nothing like it.

My little guy, I love you more than you can even know. I miss you being a little boy, but I do look forward to what kind of young man you turn out to be.

Happy birthday, sunshine.

The End of the Week

We've barely made it through spring break, not without some bumps and bruises along the way. We had three playdates on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which went well overall. One was with my girlfriend of 25+ years and her brood--poor Jeremy was the only boy out of five kids! On Tuesday we met up with one of Riley's preschool friends who has a little boy Jeremy's age. Wednesday brought a playdate with Riley's boyfriend, his twin sister and a little boy Jeremy's age. We had a blast at all three, but then Wednesday night, Riley's boyfriend's mom called me.

"He took a nap this afternoon and woke up with a 103.5 fever," she said. "I just thought I'd let you know."

So guess what? Today, both kids are full of snot, sneezes and are going through boxes of Kleenex. Nevermind that I'm constantly wiping noses and tending to dangling snot (pretty picture, isn't it?). From speaking with a few other moms, it seems to be going around. At least it's Friday.

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Sort of related is that it's been a full week since Jeremy has napped. *sigh* To say it's been rough would be an understatement. Two of the days I caught him completely naked. Today he took off his pants and underwear. He's learned how to get the gate down that I set up outside his door. He is constantly pulling up the shades.

Is this what it's like having a boy?

I'm not ready for him to be done napping. Riley *just* finished napping about two months ago. Why can't he? I complain to my mom and she says that my brother and I stopped napping when we were two. OK, but we're talking about ME here! (Kidding, Mom.)

I will say, though, that J is sleeping in later, waking up around 7:30 as opposed to the 6:45 before. And he falls right asleep when we put him down at 7:30 pm. But I still need that hour to recharge, so I've been trying to instill "quiet time" for him while Riley is up there. I just need to be more stern. It's just so hard to do sometimes. But Mom needs her sanity.

St. Patty's Day

After removing the pictures from the camera, I realized I hadn't posted about our St. Patrick's Day.

Riley had a party at school where they made green milkshakes. She had to wear green, and I was happy to say that she owned a green shirt that didn't say Packers on it! Although you should note the comment I made below about the outfit she was actually wearing...

The weather was beautiful that day--so much so that I let J wear shorts. Of course now we're expecting snow tomorrow (keep quiet, Uncle D!). Ah, the Midwest.

Here are some shots of the kids enjoying the beautiful weather:

Jeremy playing soccer with Dad.

The kids. Please note that Riley is wearing a nightgown.
I blame that entirely on Phil getting her dressed that morning.
And yes, she told people at school that it was part of her jammies.

Help Me

We're on day five of Jeremy not napping. Five days of me treking up to his room on numerous occasions during "so-called" naptime only to find him dismantling his floor vent, opening shades, climbing on chairs, or (my favorite) stripping down and finding him completely naked.

Good times.

Oh, and we're on spring break, which means Riley's been home all week. Although we have a week full of playdates, which are more for my sanity than anything else, it's already been a tumultuous week. I just hope we all survive.

Blackhawks Game

For Christmas, Phil surprised me with tickets to a Blackhawks game. After much teasing, I decided to take him with me, if not for the company but for the fact I wouldn't have to drive. I kid. It was a horribly rainy/gross day, but Papa and Nana were going to look after the kids while we headed into the city.

The game was scheduled for Sunday, March 8, at 2:00 p.m. IIt was a tumultuous trip to Park Ridge, since in the middle of the rain and trip, Jeremy proclaimed he needed to go potty. We stopped at Woodfield Mall, located a parking spot, and I grabbed both kids to use the bathroom. Wouldn't you know that Jeremy suddenly declared he didn't need to go?! Ugh. Then we missed the exit to my parents' due to new construction barriers, sending us a few miles out of the way. We finally arrived close to 40 minutes after we had hoped, but we were all in one piece.

We had a delicious lunch, and then Phil and I headed to the Hawks game. To say it was pouring would be an understatement. I believe I saw a few dogs and cats falling from the sky at one point. We parked in the official lot ($16 later...) and ran into the building. We were drenched! Wet jeans are no fun.

We found our seats and watched the teams warm up. We had decent seats, and we were hoping for an exciting game.

The Hawks come out from the locker room.

Warming up before the game.

The infamous Indian head.

Our hopes were dashed quickly after the game started. The Hawks were down 2-0 after the end of the first period. Toews scored a nice goal in the second to bring the team within one and it seemed to boost the crowd. But when it was all said and done, Colorado won 5-1. There were even boo-birds out in full effect before the game ended. It was a very sad game, especially since the team had done so well for most of the season. I think some media members dubbed it the worst game of the season. Nice that we could be there for it!

To cap off the afternoon, I ended up getting us lost on the way back to my parents'. Sad, really, because I grew up 15 minutes from Chicago all my life and cannot find my way back to Park Ridge. What's even funnier, though, is that I called my parents and told them where we were, and they had no idea how to help us. It's times like that we miss Uncle D, who can navigate anywhere in Chicago!

We made it back, had yummy take-out pizza for dinner, loaded up the kids (who were a bit of a handful), and headed back home. Of course both kids passed out on the way home. I'm not sure who wore each other out more: the grandkids or Papa/Nana!

ABCs According to Jeremy

Jeremy can recite his ABCs rather well and rather quickly. Note the appearance by our other cat, Stinky, who most people have never met. He's rather shy.

Said at Our House Today

Jeremy, we do not hit the kitty with the hammer.