Mom! and Chicago

My mom got to come up and visit again. It was such a blessing to have my family visit just before Logan was born and I'm so glad my mom got to come up again to meet him. Ryan and I decided that since my mom was with us we should brave a trip up to Chicago so we could go to the temple and while we were there check out the city. Here was the plan: go to Chicago (check), go to the temple, go to the aquarium, and go to church there on Sunday. Pretty simple plan, apparently we aimed to high. We accomplished 1 of the 4 things on the agenda. At least we made it home safely and are a little more wiser for the ware for next time.
So we got checked in to our hotel Friday night and Saturday morning the girls slept in. Normally this would be GREAT news, they have been waking up at 6 am pretty consistently lately and are ALWAYS up by 7. So I didn't even think of setting an alarm. Well by the time we got up and dressed we would have made the 10 session, which meant the kids and mom would have been coped up in a hotel tell after noon. I didn't want to do that to the kids or my mom, so we came up with plan B. Go to the aquarium first and get back in time to make the 3 o'clock session. Plenty of time I thought. So we drive to the CTA (Chicago Transit something)-the bus system. We get on the subway and things are going great. This was my first time on a subway and I thought it was pretty cool. Well turns out they were working on the rail that weekend. Our trip downtown ended taking like an hour and a half! It was crazy and VERY stressful. We wouldn't have made it with out my mom. We needed someone to carry the stroller up and down the stairs (what happened to ADA requirements?) Someone to hold the baby and someone to chase the girls. We went from subway to bus to subway to getting out and having to walk to the next point-which totally sucked cause we got lost and it took forever to find, to getting back on the subway to getting on to another bus... you get the point. By the time we finally made it to the last stop, (well there was one more bus you could catch that would have taken us to the aquarium-but it just wasn't worth it) we realised there was no way we could make it to the aquarium and back before the temple closed. It had been such a stressful trip there and there was a chance we wouldn't have even made it so we continued onto the aquarium. Along the way we saw this cool art park-I don't know what else to call it-and decided to stop there and eat lunch. This was a GREAT idea because things always look brighter with a full stomach :). Logan decided it was time to eat too, so while I feed him the girls and Ryan and my mom checked out the art.





The girls were checking out some birds so Ryan decided to give them a treat-his words (I thought it was cute) and he got the rolls we were eating and feed the birds and let the girls feed the birds. They LOVED it. It was so cute and they had such a great time.




Oh, random experience. There was a bench near the one we were sitting at that had a bunch of stuff on it. I thought it was probably a homeless persons things but didn't see anyone around. Just before we left the pile started moving! Someone had been sleeping there the whole time and I didn't even know it.

So after everyone finished eating and feeding the birds we walked the rest of the way to the aquarium. So when we got there we saw this beautiful view.




After checking out the view we went to go inside. Um, yeah there was a HUGE line just to check into the aquarium. So we moved on to plan probably D by now. There was an advertiser there for a water taxi to the Navy Pier. I didn't know what was there, but I did think the girls would love the boat ride. I was right they did! This was the one thing that worked perfectly. We walked up and bought the tickets and the taxi showed up just then. It was wonderful.

Here's us inside the taxi and checking out the views.





One shining moment amongst the ciaos was a great mother daughter moment I had with Kaitlyn. She is talking really well now, but what I usually get from her are demands and wants for the day. But while we were on the taxi I took Kaitlyn out to the open part and we enjoyed the breeze in our hair and on our faces while she pointed out things she saw to me and we talked about it. It was really sweet and a great pleasure. One funny thing she kept talking about was the white water. She thought the wake was really cool because the water turns white. We also enjoyed looking at all the other boaters out and there was this really cool yellow speed boat that drove by. It looked like a really fancy car. I really enjoyed that moment and just tried to focus on that to help with all the stress of the day.


Me and my Mom at the Navy Pier


While we were enjoying resting and checking out the view we found some more birds to feed, and watched a jet skier show off for the crowds.



After that we went inside to check out the mall. They had a little stage and we saw a performance. Afterwards Em and Kaitlyn got on stage so my mom could take some pictures of them. I was nursing so I didn’t get any pics. All of a sudden the girls were surrounded by tourist paparotsi! There were at least 10 people taking their pictures and telling my mom how cute they were. Now I am a proud mom and I like it when people adore my girls as much as I do, but this made me pretty nervous! My mom handled it really well and no one touched the girls so they were ok. They were all telling mom they looked like perfect American girls. Too funny.

After that we rode some more public transit back to the hotel. While this went MUCH smother it still took 45 mins. with all the transfers. By the end of the day we had traveled on all most all types of transportation: bus, train, subway, boat, taxi (water), trolley, of course walking, our van and probably others I can’t remember. It was crazy. There were times I was terrified for my girls safety (mostly Kaitlyn) because she wanted to run around while waiting for the next train/bus. There were usually lots of people around and we were in Chicago, not exactly the best place to roam free. So of coarse since mom and dad were under a lot of stress and her safety was in danger she decided it was a GRAND day to acert her independence. Grrrrr. Oh I love that child, but sometimes she has WAY more will power than I can deal with. This of coarse raised my stress level even more. We were all glad to make it back to the hotel and take a much needed nap! Then dinner and then back to bed. Sunday we got up and read for church and left to arrive in plenty of time. Well the address we had was a second address for the temple not a chapel near the temple. I was very disappointed. After such a stressful day and not making it to the temple, I was really looking forward to attending church. No such luck. And Chicago is not a city that you could just drive around until you stumble upon a chapel so we headed home.
On the ride home we got some frosty’s for the girls. I assumed when we ordered that they’d give us straws, no such luck. Oh well. So the girls ate ice cream, in their car seats, in their Sunday dresses. Lol, here’s the result:




And Logan looking like a super stud in his church clothes Grammy brought for him



Baby Logan and his favorite Grammy



So a few lessons I learned from this trip:
• Don’t count 100% on public transit
• Check the website for updates on if and where work is occurring (I’m sure they have one)
• COMMUNICATE, communicate, communicate. If I had told Ryan that we needed to go to an 8 or at the latest 9 o clock session we would not have missed it
• Don’t assume people can read my mind. (see above)
• Expect delays
• Find a chapel online BEFORE you leave. When you get there your laptops wireless may suddenly stop working
• What is obvious to me is not always to others and visa versa. Again the communication thing
• Expect to be on plan Z by the time you make it home.
• One thing we planned well- food. It saved us many times! Having tons of healthy snacks on hand was a huge blessing.
• Concentrate on the small shining moments.
• Learn to roll with the punches and enjoy it.

Next time will go much better, however that won’t be for quite a while. If you ask Ryan not until our youngest is 5. Lol, I think we could attempt it again before then.

Here’s another catch up

As a mom of 3 I’m always playing catch up. So here we go again.

A while ago Kaitlyn lovingly reminded me (by coloring on all our walls) that I do not offer her art time very often. I went to the store and got a bunch of art supplies. We did a lot of coloring with markers and colored pencils before I got the courage up to do the finger paint. Last time I did paint with Kaitlyn she refused to paint on paper and tried to wear it like makeup. This time she did better. Emily mostly ate it and tried to cover the house with it. It was fun, but defiantly a –only when mom has lots of energy- activity. Here’s clean up. Em was less than pleased with the impromptu bath time.




Cute picture of Logan sleeping. Supper baby!


Mindy (my sister-in-law) look a really cute picture of her family like this. Hers was much cuter, but considering my kids ages I think it turned out pretty cute.


Emily just moved into a toddler bed. We were given matching toddler beds, so Em thought it was really cool to be in the same kind of bed as Kaitlyn. Here’s her first night as a big girl. (No crying or anything, she was happy to be JUST LIKE big sis)


Logan sitin’ in his bumbo (love those things)


Ryan came home for lunch and put Logan to sleep for me. He was holding on to his tie, so cute. “Don’t leave Daddy!”


Proof of Logan’s chunkiness. I worked hard for those chunky cheeks!


Em asleep in her highchair. This has been happening a lot lately…


Kaitlyn holding Logan, so cute.


Ryan was a little less than pleased with this picture! Kaitlyn had fun “playing” with Logan and he was a great sport and slept through the whole thing!


Ryan liked this a lot better. Logan looks like he’s hugging it. Again, Kaitlyn playing with Logan while he slept.

Logan’s Blessing Day

This morning at church Ryan blessed Logan. It went really well. I could feel the spirit and was impressed that he is a very special child. I’m so happy to be his mother.
Logan is 6 weeks and 2 days old. I really wanted Logan to look cute. Luckily my friend Coreina had a very handsome outfit that Logan borrowed. None of the family was able to come, but the Midtoven’s did. They are our Wisconsin family. Here are some pictures of us today.








Yesterday I saw a really cute hair do on SARA’s blog and decided to copy her and try something new for the girls. Anna’s hair turned out cuter, but I still think the girls looked good.

Kaitlyn

Emily

More Logan Pictures

I know the real reason most of you read my blog, so here’s some more pictures of my adorable children!

Logan and I. Excuse the double chin, it’s a bad angle, but I think he looks so cute cuddling with me!



The two most handsome men in the house



What can I say, I’m obsessed with this little dude!



And Logan sleeping, Oh so cute!



When it was time to take Grandma Dalton to the airport to go home (HUGE sad face here) we decided to make it a good experience for the girls. I was very worried about how they’d do after all the special attention left. So since we were in Madison we decided to take advantage of their FREE zoo. The girls were over-joyed by this idea, they LOVE animals. I was impressed at how well it went. This was our first “outing” as a family all by ourselves. I did get to nurse Logan huddled in a corner, hiding under a blanket in the Monkey exhibit- but that’s normal nursing stuff. Luckily I’ve decided it’s too bad if nursing makes others uncomfortable, they can deal with it! I’ve got a precious baby who’s hungry and needs food. However I’m not going to be nursing in the middle of a bunch of people uncovered! Anyways here's Kaitlyn just as we came in. She was very excited to go see the monkeys.



And this is the way the girls wanted to look at the animals. If you can't tell (it's kinda hard to see) they are both standing in the front seat of the stroller so they can get a better view. On a side note Kaitlyn is refusing to walk now and REAllY wants to ride in the stroller. When we wanted her to ride all the time she wanted to walk, now we need her to walk and she wants to ride. Go figure. She also wants to be carried all the time again. I know it's because of the new baby, but it's still frustrating. Luckily, Emily wants to walk so for the most part we're ok.



I really enjoyed watching the Olympics, especially the gymnastics-which has always been my favorite. Here's my claim to fame Nastia Lukin is my Mom's neighbor. Not kidding. She has to pass our house to get to hers. Also she knows my sisters. They like to stand outside and wave to her when she drives by- even before she made it to the Olympics. When my mom and sisters went to meet her after she came home from China, she said- oh yeah I know who you are your my neighbors, you always wave to me. How COOL is that! They also got to be in her parade and have their picture taken with her. I can't wait to see all the pictures when we go home next time. Mom also tvoed (sp?) the news coverage of it cause I want to see it. Anyway the point was I think all the gymnastics has worn off on my girls. This is how they wanted to walk around the zoo. Do we have a Nastia in our future?



I thought the Lion looked cool. He's the real king of the rock!



When we first got there the girl lion was sitting on the rock next to him and that was really cute, but I didn't get a picture.

Kaitlyn was 'helping' with Logan the other morning this is what I found:



She had climed into the play pin, stripped Logan down to NOTHING, folded his diaper up, and then climbed out. She returned with wipes. He poopy mommy. I change his diaper. Lol! I laughed so hard and then ran and got my camera! I knew she had been in there, but I wasn't too woried because Logan was happy, I figured he'd let me know if he needed some help. Well, he didn't cry until Kailtyn left! He must have really wanted his diaper changed! Poor kid. I do have to say I'm pretty impressed with Kaitlyn's skills. She got all his clothes off him, his diaper off him and even left him alone for a min. to run and get some wipes and there was only a small spot off poop on his pj's and he didn't pee on anything! Pretty impressive. She has tried MANY times to change his diaper again, but mommy's on to her now, and she hasn't been so sucessful. Also Logan made it to the 3 week mark before Kaitlyn realized she can pick him up! I knew the day would come, but hoping it wouldn't. She LOVES to hold him, and if mom's not fast enough, or not paying attention she takes matters into her own hands and trys to walk with him. She actually holds him really well, but I'm not about to allow my 2 yr old to walk around with the baby!

Ryan and Logan



A typical morning in our house.



Kaitlyn holding Logan



My attempts at a self portrat of me and Emmy




Ryan goofing around with the girls. They LOVE it!




Last but not least, these were taken earlier tonight. Logan is getting a little chunky already! He just turned 3 weeks on Friday. I'm very proud of that chunk cause I've worked hard for it! Logan is a true boy, he's all about the food! I can't keep that boy fed!

6 Quirks

My friend Lisa tagged me and I thought it would be fun to do. This tag is to list 6 quirks. If you know me well you know I have MANY quirks, and for the most part I’m not afraid of them. Lol, they are what make me me. The hard part will be listing ONLY 6. I’ve had fun thinking about the random me things I do, so enjoy learning some random new things about me!

1. Physical quirks- Don’t worry nothing to personal! I have special ears. They are different from each other. One is my elf ear (I don’t remember which one) it is pointed at the top. Also the top is usually red. I used to tease my mom that it was from burning the tip all the time when I was little with the curling iron. But honestly I don’t know why. My other one is my toes. I love my toes, and I think everyone else’s feet look weird! My 2nd toe is longer than my first (not too different) and it is crooked (my quirk). It curves toward the 3rd toe. –And this time they are the same, both feet do that. I get my toes from my Grammy (my mom’s mom) and I love them!

Here’s what my toes look like. I was going to do one of my ear, but I thought that was a little too much!



2. I’m a big scaredy cat! Logan is my 3rd newborn, and I’m still TERRIFIED to give him a bath. I HATE bathtime. Just thinking about giving Logan a bath makes me nervous, I can bearley breathe. Take a little tiny baby, soaking wet, add soap- What are you kidding me. Yikes. I’m also afraid of new dentists. I have a horrible tooth ache I’ve been ignoring because I don’t want to go to a new dentist. (A must because my old dentist lives in Texas!) Anyone want to call the dentist, set up an appointment for me, get a sitter for my kids, drive me there, and hold my hand while he or she checks my teeth? As I get older my fears get worse. I’m afraid of heights, but I didn’t think very much. The other day we were at the park and Kaitlyn wanted me to go down the slide with her. Ok, sure, no problem. Well I got up there and I didn’t want to go down the slide, it looked too scary (I know pretty pathetic!). Well I did go down and it wasn’t so bad, but I didn’t offer to go again. Lol. I’m sure there’s more, but you get the idea.

3. I’m a little OCD (obsessive compulsive). I need things done certain ways. Like loading the dishwasher. I can’t watch when Ryan does it, or I’ll go fix it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it when he does the dishes, so I just have to not look. When I put the dishes up they have to be a certain way. The measuring cups have to be stacked the measuring spoons need to be put on the ring and lined up by size. I used to be worse (I’ve been working on it), I used to fold my dirty clothes before putting them in the laundry (however it’s fine for clean clothes to sit and wait to be folded- I know, it makes NO sense!) and I had to fold my trash at restaurants and make it really small before throwing it away- But I have been cured of both! Yea. Also I hate to rip wrapping paper. My husband goes crazy with this at Chistmas time!

4. I have a hard time with left and right. I know which is which until you ask me. Then I have no clue! In the car when giving directions I say turn towards you (the drivers side of the car) or turn towards me (the passenger side of the car)

5. Here’s Ryan’s contribution to the list. (I don’t really think this is weird) When I sleep I make a popping sound when I breathe. It’s not very loud, but it drives Ryan crazy. When we first got married he wore ear plugs because it bothered him so much. At least I don’t snore really loudly or something, he’d never get to sleep! Julia (my little sis) also mentioned this when we were littler and shared a room.

6. I have my own words for a lot of things, or I’ll use words backwards. Ex. Clock and watch I use the opposite ways and itch and scratch. I also pick up on other peoples accents a little when I talk to them often. I already have a little bit of a Wisconsin accent on some of my words. I don’t do it on purpose, it just comes out that way. Also if I notice someone uses a word often- like here in Wisconsin they say yet A LOT more than normal- I start to do it too, even if it was something that I thought was stupid or annoying. Again not on purpose.

Well I’m sure there’s tons more, but there’s the 6 the tag asks for. I had fun doing it and I love reading these. Anyone is welcome to do it but I’ll tag Julia, Katrina, and Mindy- my sisters. Do it if you want, don’t if you don’t.