The Windy City

Last week I went to Chicago for work for a few days and then Carolyn and Anna Ruth flew up and we stayed the weekend.  So much fun.  We ate, drank, walked, and shopped.  Great short getaway.  It was so hard to decide where to eat.

After the huge Chicago Christmas parade (which we had no idea about when we booked the trip)

don't ask

celebrating our trip

can't get it open

so this guy had to do it

Pizza Pot Pie at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder

Frontera Grill

Quartino

Yolk

I forgot to get a picture of the food at Cafe Ba-ba-Reeba which was amazing.

First Birthday

I've been meaning to blog about the girls' birthday but I think I am in denial that they are actually a year old.  That is just crazy.  I've been in total sappy parent mode and now I understand what people mean when they tell you time flies.  I think the most common statement out of my mouth the last month was "this time last year".  It does not seem like a year ago that I was in the hospital so huge and waiting for their arrival and praying that we could make it to 34 weeks.  Last year we were visiting the NICU every day and celebrating every ounce gained and every cc they took by mouth instead of feeding tube.  Now they are 18 lbs (Anna), 20 lbs (Brooks), and 22 lbs (Irene) and drinking real milk by themselves.  We were scared to death a year ago over the news of Anna's brain hemorrhage and now have watched her grow into an extremely feisty and active 1 year old.  Their personalities are all so unique and wonderful and we are amazed with every single thing they do.  I'm going to stop now because I could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on.  And on.

Here are a few birthday pictures from the party.  It was great fun with family and friends.

Sweet Irene

Feisty Anna

Wild child Brooks

Irene and Fran (Irene just wanted Fran's drink the whole time)

birthday girls

sugar high

with cousins Fran, Lyndy, and Kat

With Grump and Meme

family pic

post party with Honey, Aunt Melanie, and cousins Kathleen and Sarah Beth

They've enjoyed playing with all their new toys.

cell phone is always the favorite toy

Brooks loves to tackle

Maybe that explains it

Did you see the Steelers throw back uniforms yesterday?  Well they looked remarkably similar to my Halloween costume that I wore Friday to work.  Interestingly enough, I won the prize (everybody got a prize) of "most likely to wear the same costume as a three year old".  You want to know why my outfit looks like a three year old?  Because it was for a three year old.  Seriously, I had to buy the toddler wings and antenna because all the adult bee costumes looked like they were made for strippers.  Perhaps all the real adult bee costumes were put to use by the Steelers.  Either that or no other adults wanted to be bees.  Or all other adults wanted to be slut bees.  Guess I'll never know.  I should have gone with my other idea of a corpse to go as "pushing daises" but I don't have enough energy to figure that one out.

Saturday Mornings

I love mornings.  I thought it would be hectic once the girls got to this age, but it really works out great because they eat breakfast and hang out in their chairs and I am able to spend time with them all together (in a controlled space) while I get ready for work.  I really love Saturday mornings when there are no time constraints.  This is quite possibly the most boring video (to you) I will ever post, but this is how I've spent my morning.  This plus coffee is about as good as it gets to me.

Confessions of a (former) Box Hoarder

It has been almost three years since the intervention.  Anna Ruth grabbed me square by the shoulders and said "listen to me!  you are a hoarder!  you need help!".  Then she slapped me.*   It was Christmas time and the snow was falling in Mississippi.*  Anna Ruth discovered what I had been hiding in my guest room closet.  Boxes...and boxes....and more boxes....and tissue paper....and more tissue paper....and more tissue paper.  Once the cat was out of the bag, I showed her the other hiding spot in the garage.  HUNDREDS of boxes of all shapes, sizes, and possible uses.  It was true.  I was a box hoarder.  Every time I received a gift or a package in the mail (every day) I would save the box and think "this would be a PERFECT box for X gift or Y storage".  The only problem is they were never used, only collected.  If I bought someone a gift, I had it gift wrapped.  On the rare occasion I did not have it gift wrapped I would not use a box because I might need it in the future for something else.

With the support of Anna Ruth, I decided to stop the madness.  She came to my house and helped me clean them all out but not before we took some photographic evidence.  She let me keep a few.  I would even try to sneak to the throw out pile and take some back, but she caught me.

To this day, every time I get a box in the mail (which currently is about 10 deliveries a week of baby crap) I think of its possibilities.  And then I shed a tear* and put it in the recycle bin.

* slight exaggerations

A few select memories.....

these were some of my favorites

The two bags on the right are full of small boxes

bags of tissue and bubble wrap

like I was going to reuse this?

You get the picture.

Now with all of the diapers, formula, wipes and baby food this is what a typical delivery day looks like.  Can you imagine if I was still hoarding???

The Monster Mash

Fun visit to the pumpkin patch at St. Peters today.  The girls loved it.

Irene, Brooks, Anna

Irene

Anna

Brooks

A Day in the Life

Just wanted to record playtime at 11 months.  This is how they spend a good portion of the day that they are not eating or sleeping.  They love ducks, ride a little horsey (they all bounce whether they are in the lap or not), "singing" and rocking to any music, and making loud noises of any kind.