Beautiful Day at the Zoo!

Lemons at lunch...

Now to the unpacking...and happenings

I feel stupid with exhaustion.

Last night our trip from Terre Haute, IN was (thankfully) uneventful. All things considered the twins did well. Lilly didn't sleep much at all during the night, being fascinated by the lights and trucks, and cities we passed. Other than one very sad spell, Josiah did very well much to our relief and delight.

At the last minute, we decided to stop at my parent's house (literally on the way) for breakfast and a stretch. The kids napped for a while and so did Steve and I. I woke up on the downstairs couch in the same position I had collapsed in. If I'm tired, I know that Steve (who drove the entire way himself) was even more grateful to be on our last leg. From their house to ours is only an hour's drive. Strangely that hour seemed longer than all the others combined.

Despite the wicked weather, things looked largely as we left them....except for the infestation of fruit flies in the kitchen, fridge and freezer AND the ants by the back door! So gross. Josiah never went down for a nap, so he and I ran out to grab groceries. When I came back, I forced myself to clean the ants and fruit flies. Not what one hopes to come home to!

It's been a pleasant evening despite the inconveniences.

AND NOW...

In other (and much more exciting news) we're excited to announce that we'll welcome Baby #3 to our family due February 5th. It's amazing (and scary) to think that in roughly 5 months we'll have three kids running around here!!!

We've been waiting to "announce" until we could tell as much family in person as possible. This trip was a perfect opportunity to do so.

Thanks to all who've waited (so patiently) to spill the beans :)

::Last Midwest Trip Pictures::

Last Day

Although we feel fortunate to have missed the earthquake, tornado and tropical storm chaos back at home, we can't wait to sleep in our own beds and get back into the swing of things. My mind is already turning towards work, and there's so much that needs to be done before my students come back and the fall is upon us.

I'll miss watching the kids run around in Granny & Grampy's backyard, chasing the cats, taking long walks on back roads, riding in tractors, eating home cooked meals; seeing them run themselves ragged with exploration and adventure. I hate that we don't have a big yard for them to run around in or a lawn mower for Josiah to "use" or flowers for Lilly to pick and smell. When you have kids you want to give them the world and although there's no shortage of outside time when we're home, it's been ridiculously fun to watch them in the "country".

I don't remember what she was saying here, but her faces are hysterical.

My beautiful little girl

Stylin'

My little man

Exploring

Showing Grampy her flower

My favorite boys

I told Josiah to stop picking up the rocks and throwing them. I love his reaction...like mom, why not?

Stopping to give dad a kiss

There were really friendly dogs next door. The kids loved to reach in the fence and get their hands licked.

Josiah and Grampy Phegley

Some videos with the kids

I’ve taken a few videos on my phone but haven’t taken the time to put them up.

Watering the flowers (Beth had pictures of this yesterday, here’s the video):

Riding the tractor:

Playing on the driving simulator at Red Robin several weeks ago:

Driving in the car:

 

Josiah’s been as busy as ever today.  Last night, he got up from bed, climbed out of his pack and play, took down the baby gate, went up the basement stairs, and wondered around the house.  He came back down the stairs (presumably after having finished his inspection) and cried in the middle of the basement because he couldn’t find which door went back to our room.  Beth slept on the floor across the doorway the rest of the night.

We’re playing games with their nap schedules which have been chaotic for a little more than the last week.  Lilly doesn’t want to nap, Josiah wants to be everywhere (and into everything) but his crib.  Bedtime tonight went well (relatively) and we’re hoping for more improvement.

Granny has a doll that sits next to one of the recliners.  For some reason, Josiah really doesn’t like it (she has many others that he doesn’t even take notice of).  He pushes it over onto the floor every time he walks by.  I talked with him about it (and he “understood”, pointing at it saying “no, no, no, no”) and waited to see what would happen.  The next time he walked by, he went past as if it wasn’t there.  Then, he turned around, pushed it over, and went back to what he was doing as if it never happened.  Crazy kid.

Lilly’s been spending more and more time in “timeout” recently.  Through some blog-reading from others, I’ve been trying a different strategy.  Rather than her getting a timeout, she and I get a timeout together.  We take the opportunity to step away from the situation and other people (more for a break and less distractions than for discipline).  I talk with her about what happened and help her to collect herself.  Tonight, I asked her “Do you think we can go back outside without you yelling” – she shakes her head yes while still sniffling.  She’s big on her head-shake answers and its precious.

 

Pictures from today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we left St. Louis, we went by way of the Arch so Beth and the kids could see it.  She took these while I drove:

 

Josiah giving Daddy Bill a hug as we got ready to leave:

 

Saying goodbye to Granny Rosie:

 

Granny Rosie wanted to strangle him (or tell him a secret):

 

 

Doesn’t Lilly look so old here:

 

That’s all for tonight!

 

Good luck to the East Coast versus Irene.  It sounds like tomorrow will be a big day – hopefully everyone’s planned for the worst and it turns out to be far better than expected.

Good luck to my cousin Jennifer and her husband Kellen who are due to be parents really soon!

Terre Haute

After a very pleasant and uneventful drive from St. Louis to Terre Haute, we arrived at Grampy and Granny's house late afternoon today. We enjoyed a break from the oppressive humidity we'd been experiencing for the last several days and spent the afternoon chasing after the kids in their back yard. They had so much fun. I sat back for a while watching them pet the cats, water the plants and follow Grampy in and out of the garage.

Cheezy smile

Climbing the fence. He figured out how to open the gate in two minutes. Crazy kid.

I tried to hard to get a picture of them together. This was the only one that worked. I love her confused face and his "in motion" stance.

Watering Grampy

Josiah fell into the rose bushes. Steve kept trying to tell him that the stems were sharp. It took him awhile to believe him.

Screeching in excitement

Explaining again after he cut his feet up

Glad to be here for a couple days!