A Team Week 78: Spring Is Here!

With this week came the arrival of Spring and some of the "special" moments that go along with it.  First of all there was the time change...  Well, that actually happened the weekend before, but with the ability to sleep in on Sunday morning it really didn't hit us until Monday and then it hit HARD!  A couple of weeks later, we still haven't fully recovered but we are doing much better now.

Avery on Monday morning.  He was sound asleep and I had to wake him to get ready to go.  He wasn't thrilled.

On Wednesday the boys and I had our day home together and being that it was the day before St. Patty's Day, we had our own little green celebration, starting with green clover and ninja turtle pancakes.  Over all, it was a good day but it was apparent that we are not Irish as some moments held no luck for us...

After breakfast, the boys both wanted to take a bath.  I had no problem with this so we all headed upstairs so the boys could play in the tub for a while.  I sat in the bathroom with them keeping watch as they played, when I saw Avery making the poop face.  I thought he was working on it and hadn't gone yet, so I quickly reached to take him out of the tub before he made a disgusting mess in the water.  Unfortunately I was too late!  Yuck!  Unsure if Avery was finished, I put him up on the toilet completely naked while I dealt with Asher who was freaking out about the poopie water and wanted to get out QUICK.  As I got Asher out and wrapped him in a towel, Avery fell off the toilet face first and landed on the floor!  Thankfully, there was a towel already on the floor in that area to brace his fall so he wasn't hurt badly, just frightened.

Once I'd gotten both boys out of the tub, we headed to the downstairs bath to continue bath time and clean up.  When their second bath was finished, we headed into Asher's room which is next door to get him dressed while Avery waited.  I figured that since he'd just gone to the bathroom in the tub, I didn't have to worry about the fact that he didn't have a diaper on yet.  Wrong again!  As I was helping Asher to get dressed and turned around to find Avery standing in a puddle of pee on Asher's bedroom floor.  I quickly cleaned up the mess and brought Avery upstairs to get a diaper on.

After getting Avery dressed, I decided to round up all of the toys that had been in the tub to sterilize them in our washing machine.  As I was doing so, my phone fell out of my pocket and into the poopie tub water that was remaining in the tub (there was about 1/4 of an inch left that hadn't drained).  I grabbed it quickly and was happy to see that it was still working fine, but needed to sterilize it and its case as well before I was going to allow it anywhere near my face!

When all of this was over, I was happy we had survived, but ready to get out of the house for a bit.  So...off to playgroup at church we went.

St. Patty's Day Pancakes

Enjoying bath time BEFORE the pooping incident.

Video: Silly Boys at Bath Time

Silly Asher at playgroup

Silly Avery has to do everything his big brother does.

When playgroup was over and the kids had sufficiently tired themselves out (Asher & his buddy Elias must have run 20 laps around the gym), we headed home for our St. Patty's lunch: Ruebens & green milk.  Afterwards, both of the kids took great naps and then we spent the rest of the day playing together until Eric got home from work.  Once Eric was home, we piled into the van and headed to the Country Inn & Suites where our friends were staying before their big move down to Illinois.  We enjoyed some time at the hotel, playing in the pool and then walked across the parking lot for dinner at the Cracker Barrel before saying goodbye to the Laillet family.  In honor of St. Patty's day, I'll say that we are very lucky to call them friends, but sad to see them go.

Lilou confiscated Asher's zebra.

On Thursday it was actually St. Patrick's Day and Eric and I were feeling really lazy.  Neither of us were very hungry so we got the kids some happy meals and a Shamrock Shake to share.  Don't Judge.  They were happy.

Must get it all out.

The remainder of the work week was pretty uneventful and then it was the weekend.  We enjoyed a lazy day at home with our boys on Saturday morning and afternoon and then in the early evening we headed out for a night on the town(ish) while the boys stayed home with a babysitter.  What did we do?  We went to see Seinfeld...with almost 200 people associated with Eric's firm.

Eric's firm celebrated their 25th anniversary last Spring (or is it still to come?) and wanted to have a party.  They got almost 200 tickets to see Seinfeld at the Genesse Theater in Waukegan, Illinois and then invited all of their employees, spouses, a bunch of their current and ex-clients, and other consultants and contractors that they work with.  The party started at 5:30 and was a catered event including hor d'oeuvres and drinks before the show and dessert and coffee afterwards.  Prior to the event, I didn't think much of it.  I have attended work parties for Eric's firm in the past and they've been quite casual, so in my mind this was going to be similar.  I was wrong though.  When I walked in to the theater, I quickly realized that everyone was much more dressed up than I was and it was actually a big deal/fancy-ish party.  I could literally feel my blood pressure rising as my anxiety level from being underdressed and having to mingle with strangers in a professional setting went through the roof.  Thankfully, I have a great husband that stayed with me for most of the time and made attempts to introduce me to people I might have something in common with.  So, long story short, the evening was alright but not exactly my cup of tea.  Seinfeld was quite funny though and for the hour + of the show I was able to just enjoy being out with my man (kid free).  The rest of the time I was left pining for a bowl of ice cream and my jammies!  ;)

Genesse Theater

Eric & I waiting for the show

Jerry Seinfeld...much older than I remembered.

Eric enjoying his dessert :)

Checking in on my guys that night.  Happy to see them sleeping peacefully and snuggled in. :)

On Sunday we rounded out our week with the actual arrival of Spring.  We had a relaxing family day together and look forward to the rest of what is in store for this Spring.  :)

Video: Farty Face

This morning, Eric got up early with Asher and headed to the grocery store so Avery and I could sleep.  I woke when they left and couldn't fall back asleep, so I enjoyed some lazy time in bed for a while.  Even after Avery woke up, I let him play in his crib for a bit while I relaxed and to pass the time he made farting noises...lots and lots of farting noises!

Avery discovered the chair in our room after I took the pile of clothes and pillows that are typically there off and cleaned up.

Asher and Avery enjoying some fun outside after church on this first day of Spring.

With all the sticks in our yard, we never got around to taking our Winter family picture in hopes that the sticks would be gone first.  With the arrival of Spring we decided we better take the picture even though we were technically a few hours late and it was actually no longer Winter.

Asher had some crazy hat-hair after we came back in the house.

While the boys took their afternoon naps I headed out to pick up supplies for their Easter baskets.  They woke up while I was gone and Asher decided to play Legos for a bit.  Here is his creation.  Based on his description, we're pretty sure it is a map to Meijer (little buildings and roads on the left with the giant Meijer building on the right)!

Family snuggles and movie time.  Love these quiet moments.

Video: Balloon Bouncing

When we left the Partners in Design party on Saturday night, we took some balloons home for the boys per Eric's boss' direction.  The boys were both very excited to play with them when they woke up on Sunday morning, but by Sunday night all the helium had gone out and they no longer floated.  Still, Avery had a blast using them to bounce rather than watching them float.  Even after he popped one he still just got another and continued!

A Team Week 77: When it Rains it Pours

This week was in no way a bad week, but it also wasn't without its challenges.  At the end of the last week, Avery woke up from his Sunday afternoon nap coughing and whining quite a bit.  We had only been home from our vacation for a little over a week and already he showed signs of illness...again! By Tuesday, Avery was feeling pretty miserable with a low grade fever and congestion and went to bed over an hour before he typically does.

As Avery continued to deal with more sickness our church also dealt with a major disappointment after the second floor toilet plumbing broke and flooded the two floors below, which included almost all of the children's Awana rooms and the church nurseries!  The ceilings, cabinetry, flooring and more were a complete loss and although the church was gearing up for the reintroduction to the community, this was going to provide a bit of a setback to the updates and progress that had been made.

That day (Tuesday) was also a beautiful Spring-like day with temperatures in the lower 70s, but I (as always) was stuck in the office missing my boys and wanting nothing more than to be playing outside with them.  On a positive note though, Eric surprised me at work that afternoon with a Culver's Concrete Mixer and flowers.  :)

My Surprise from Eric

The boys a little confused by the sudden change from snow to 70s.

Warm weather meant the first fry of the season.  Eric couldn't wait to make some tots.

By Wednesday, Avery was feeling quite a bit better, but still had a disgusting nose! (I swear that kid was born with a snotty nose!)  We had a fun day together with Asher, but in the afternoon Avery took a spill.  I was working on putting dinner together in the kitchen while keeping an eye on Asher and Avery playing in the backyard when Asher came running up to the house yelling that Avery got hurt.  I looked out the window at him and he wasn't even crying and was going back to playing, so unconcerned I went back to cooking.  When he came into the house a while later though, I felt like a bit of a terribly mommy when I looked at him and realized that he a fairly large bruise and egg in the middle of his forehead! :(

Asher with friends Theo & Violet at the Kenosha Museum

Feathering a bird at the Kenosha Museum

Light Blocks

Britni, Asher, Avery & Theo checking out the harbor.

An Apple Phone...Hello?

That evening, I thought that Asher might be getting sick too as he barely ate any of his dinner.  When bedtime came and he was whining that he was hungry though, I realized he was fine and had just been trying out his new technique of avoiding eating dinner so that he can delay bedtime with hunger.    I did let him eat but told him if he was so hungry he would have to eat dinner as-is, which meant cold meatloaf and cold green beans.  He ate it all...with an extra helping of meatloaf!

On Thursday, Asher was the excitement for the evening.  He went to bed like normal and like normal I could hear him playing around in his bed.  Then all of a sudden I heard a loud clunk followed by a crying/screaming child.  I ran into his room to see what had happened and found that he had somehow fallen out of his bed and hit his head on the wooden corner that holds in his mattress.  I comforted him and got him settled down and snuggled back in bed.  Then I went back out to the kitchen.  In his room, there had only been one small dimly lit lamp on, but the kitchen was fully lit.  Standing there I looked down at my hands and realized that I had blood smeared all over my hands, shirt and face.  He had apparently cracked open his head and I hadn't even noticed until after I'd left him!  I had felt the wetness of the blood on my hands, but had assumed it was from his tears as he cried in my arms.  :(  We went back into his room to check on him and he was fine.  The bleeding had stopped and it was just one small cut in the back of his head.  Made me wonder what life would be like with girls...

When both boys were asleep that evening, we had thought the excitement for the evening was over, but realized shortly after that it had only just begun.  In the middle of the night (around 2am), we woke up to a crying baby boy that was VERY unhappy.  For the remainder of the night we did everything we could to get him back to sleep, but NOTHING worked.  He would snuggle up with us in a chair and pass out for a few minutes but then wake up again crying.  We tried to get some sleep, but instead Eric and I both headed to work Friday morning with only a few hours of sleep under our belt and that was after Eric got to turn around and head back home after heading to daycare and having Avery gag in the car as he coughed and puke all over himself! :(  By the time dinner time came that night we were both exhausted and completely unmotivated, so we headed to Qdoba for a family dinner.  Thankfully by that time, both boys were both feeling much better and Avery (who had not eaten much all week) had his appetite back.  He scarfed down the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I'd made for him along with the rest of his dinner.

I cannot get enough of this goofy smile!

With the arrival of the weekend, things turned around.  On Saturday we had a farewell brunch at our house for our friends the Laillets.  It was a good time, but bitter sweet as we are sad to see them go.  Then we spent the rest of the weekend trying to catch up on the rest and family time we needed from another long week, with an amazing shopping and a yummy dinner by Eric mixed in!

Snuggles with Daddy

Avery inventing new ways to hold a sippy cup.

I'm still not sure how this happened, but with $10 of Kohl's Cash, I bought 4 pairs of pajamas for Asher, a T-shirt for me, an R2D2 shirt for Asher and a set of black socks for myself...and I still had 28 cents leftover!

Eric's pasta creation.  It was delicious and so colorful!