Thanksgiving

While going through pictures for Thanksgiving, I came across this shot from Halloween. Felix was showing me his lame "olympian" costume, and there is Emma in the background sneaking in her "scary face" pose!

 We took the kids to the zoo a week ago, and it was perfect. The weather was great, it was not crowded at all, Levi hitched a ride on Felix and Emma was eager to run from exhibit to exhibit. Typically, I hate zoos. Just being honest. But- this trip was so fun! We followed our own timeline, it was relaxing, and it is hard not to enjoy the experience when the kids are getting so excited and asking questions about all the cool things they are seeing.

 We thought this crazy bird sported the same hairstyle as little Levi......

WATER POLO.
What a season!!!!! The end of the season was crazy intense. I do not like competition. My favorite games to watch are the ones where Brown is crushing their opponent. I'm talking, 6+ goal lead, no chance of turning it around. I can just sit back and enjoy the show. But the games where they are trading goals, I hate. I can hear my heartbeat. And forget about games that go into overtime! So, when we realized the team had a real shot at making it to the NCAA's, things were getting exciting. I stayed home with the kids during the tournament. They won their first game and had two to go. The night of the 2nd game, I was waiting for Felix's phone call and after an hour I finally logged onto twitter to see if I could find live updates. They were up by 1 goal in the 3rd quarter. I couldn't believe how nervous I was, waiting for the final score!!!! Unfortunately, they lost the game in the end which meant they were done for the season. But the good news was that we got Felix back all to ourselves :)
I brought the kids out to support the team for their final game on the 3rd day. Unfortunately, I went to MIT instead of Harvard (where they were playing) and missed all but the last 5 minutes. But, the smile we got from Felix when he looked up in the stands and saw little Emma waving "Hi Daddy!!! Daddy! I picked a flower for you!!".........was priceless!

Watching the Navy/Princeton game with the Schwartz family.

 Our little monster. Guess what! On Thanksgiving day, he said "turkey"!!!

 We are officially done nursing. It has been about a week, and he is doing great. If he sees me in my bed, which is where he used to nurse in the morning, he cries and begs for it, but other than that- he is a whole new man!!

THANKFUL!

 When asked in school what she is most thankful for, she said "my daddy". And when prompted at home to expand on that, she confirmed she was in fact, just thankful for her daddy. And to drive home the point a bit more, when I took her on a special "mommy/Emma" day out for some shopping and dinner, I asked her what she wants to do on her next "mommy/Emma" day. Her response? Bring Levi & Daddy so we can have an "everybody" day!

We were really enjoying our Thanksgiving festivities. I was excited about all the decorating projects we had planned to do, and the special Thanksgiving themed food I was going to make. And the fact that Felix was relaxed and home with us made everything even more special. The kids were sitting on the couch with Felix, and Emma told me to come sit so we could be a family. LOVE HER!

Meanwhile, as the kids and Felix were having a dance party in the living room, I was using a cheap plastic vase from the dollar store to cut out circles in my rice krispy treats in order to make little turkey cookies. The treats got stuck, and as I tried to wiggle them out, the vase shattered in my hand, and sliced my finger. I got a quick look at it and freaked out. My finger was gushing blood with a gash that was so wide you could see deep inside. I panicked, yelled "oh my G-d" about 5 times until Felix came running over, I threw it under freezing cold water in the sink, but it wouldnt stop bleeding. Felix called the neighbors to come over incase we had to go to the doctor, and I called mom demanding to talk to dad! Clearly, I don't do well in these types of situations. And my mother told me exactly what to do, but I could barely even focus to listen. We wrapped it in a cloth, and finally gauze and tape. It kept bleeding for 2 hours.

***Gross Pictures Below****



This is 2 hours after the incident. The bandage fell off and it was still bleeding!



1st gross bandage.

 Meanwhile, this stupid cut was seriously painful! I had to take advil! After 24 hours, my skin was still not closed, so I simply taped it together so it can try to heal. I know its a bit much to write about my "giant paper cut" as Felix calls it, but it was pretty gross. First of all, I can't believe how stupid I was to crush a vase in my hand, but also, I could not believe what a huge gash I was staring at on my finger!

 Levi wrapped his fist around my finger and gave it a nice squeeze. It reminded me of those movies where they are in the torture room and rubbing salt in wounds. Levi now points to my finger and says "ouch, ouch" and sometimes "yuck".


NOW, on to our Thanksgiving dinner!
Gobble, Gobble.........

 We had a lot of fun decorating our fruit turkey, our bread basket turkey, and pilgrim hat utensil holders! I really liked the googly eyes we put on. In fact, I did a lot of this project myself and was a little embarrassed when I realized my children were sound asleep in bed, Felix was watching TV on the couch, and I was hard at working gluing feathers on a shoe box! Emma decorated all the paper feathers and loved the glitter glue pens. Levi's favorite part was ripping the red balloon off the turkey's face. We even dusted off the fine china for our feast!

 Our good friends came to celebrate with us, and it was very nice to have great company to enjoy Thanksgiving. The girls did a great job playing together, for the most part! Emma LOVES her friend Brooklyn's daddy. He was reading the little princesses a pre-dinner story in their princess tent.

 After our guests left, the kids were a little wound up and wanted to play a bit more before bedtime. They were playing "horsey" with Felix. Emma had a few rides by herself, but once Levi climbed on, Felix just slithered across the floor. When Emma asked him to get up and trot around, Felix said he couldn't because of Levi.......

 So she threw him off!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I just so happened to snap the shot! Caught on camera kid!!!

Friday morning, instead of risking our lives shopping for some great deal in an overcrowded store, we opted to have fun at the Providence Children's Museum with our friends and give Felix some time to clean out the basement relax.

 Look at my little stud! He was great. My big boy- played on his own, interested in the toys instead of just throwing random items across the room, climbed and crawled around, and pretty much did good listening! It was all fun & games.... until a certain toddler peed in their pants and mommy got a little annoyed : {

Lexi & Levi racing to the top as Emma cheers them on!

 After changing Emma's pants, and washing Levi's hands he dipped in the "still filled with a stranger's urine toilet", we decided to call it quits. It was a nice feeling to know that when I got home, Felix would be there. We put the kids down for naptime and I went out to run a few errands. Then, the neighbors came over to help us polish off the leftovers from Thanksgiving.

After Emma performed her show for our guests, she graciously offered to read them a book while Brayden had an after dinner drink.

And Levi chose to read a novel of his own :)

No words......

 Lately, there just aren't words to explain what our days are like. I am flat out exhausted with these two little monsters running around wild all day! Usually, every square inch of the first floor of the house is usually trashed by the end of the day. Also, my camera is in the shop once again, so these blurry pictures are some fun ones I caught on my phone.

Every day Levi does something that just blows me away. And not in a good way!!!! I cannot understand how this little kid has the energy, or even the ability, to get his tiny little hands into something every single second that I am not physcially restraining him. Some of his favorites? The toilet bowl brush, the plunger, the broom, the vacuum, the box of diapers, Emma's hairbows, DVD's, eating crayons, wacking the tv with his toy broom, wacking his sister with his toy broom, remote controls, phones, and my i-touch. To name a few.

He insists on drinking from a big adult cup, still screams when he doesn't get what he wants, and now, thanks to his big sis, has the vocabulary to tell us "NO"- and he uses it all the time. Daddy leaving for work? Levi chases him to the door, screaming and crying"no, no, no, no, no, no, no"! Mommy picks him up to change his diaper? "no, no, no, no". This little one is a handful!

Yet, somehow, I still just can't get enough of him!

He is really funny, and I'm convinced he is the cutest little boy around. He has light hair, big dark eyes, and a great smile that he flashes when he knows he is about to do something naughty! His favorite thing right now is sneaking around the corner to play wtih the vacuum. I've repeatedly told him not to do that and moved him back to the living room. After the third time he attempted to steal the vacuum (in about a 1-minute timespan), I came around the corner to remove him again, he jumped from being startled, gave me a huge grin, and shook his head "no no no no no" as if he was mocking me! After wacking the TV with the broom, and staring at me with his smile waiting for my reaction, I decided to try something different. I simply said "Levi, no hitting the TV", he did it again, and I said "go sit in time-out". AND HE DID! He walked right over and sat down. I couldn't believe it. Emma was shocked as well!

 

Speaking of time-out, I use the 1-2-3 system with Emma and because of that, my little Levi sort of knows how to count to 3 already! I'll start counting when Emma needs it, and sometimes after I say "Emma, that's 1".... Levi looks up with a smile and says "twoooooooooooo". If one of them is frustrating me, the other is usually making me laugh.Yesterday as we were rushing to leave the house, I put Levi's shoes & socks on, set him on the couch while I brushed Emma's hair only to look over and find Levi taking off his shoes & socks. Frustrated, I told him to stop, and my little Emma said to me "Leave him. He is not doing good listening". Clearly, Emma takes my threats of leaving her at home if she doesnt put her shoes & socks on pretty seriously!

Emma has really been into playing Little Red Riding Hood lately. She asks to put random garments around her like the cape. This is Felix's shirt she found on the couch. The funny thing is, she hardly even knows the story of Little Red.

Snow, Snow, Go Away, Come Again Another Day....or never.....

We got snow! In October!

Emma woke up that morning, ran down the stairs, threw open our bedroom door, and with the biggest brown eyes you have ever seen said "MOMMY! I have something to tell you! There is snow outside, over ALL the grass! The trees are so thirsty.....(???)!

Me: "yeaaaaayyyyy". ugh.

I kept the kids busy eating breakfast inside while I went outside to shovel the deck and make a path to our snow covered car. I knew there was a good chance I would walk back inside to find blueberry yogurt thrown all over my kitchen, so I shoveled as quickly as possible. Luckily, the weather was amazing outside and the snow was soft & beautiful, so I bundled up the kids and out we went to attempt our very first snowman. Halfway through, after putting Levi's mittens on for the twentieth time, I decided we would stick with the snowy bird looking thing we made and go inside.

Levi's first reaction was to eat the snow. And his facial expression told me that he was pleasantly surprised with what he was tasting, as he continued to grab handfull after handfull.

PLAYTIME!!!

The kids LOVE playing hairdresser, and Emma has all the tools necessary to do so. The double-sided comb is definitely my least favorite. I think Levi was trying to punish me in the 2nd picture- "oh yeah, mommy? you still think you are going to deny me the milkies?!?!?!!" 

The kids have been playing so well together. Emma's imagination is through the roof these days- we are meeting lots of imaginary friends, she is creating games for all of us to play, putting on shows and circus performances for us, and my favorite- make believe snacks. These make believe snacks are so funny, because she hands them to Levi, and he holds open his hand anxiously waiting for the surprise she is about to hand him.....and then......nothing! Poor kid doesn't know how to play make-believe-pretend-food yet, and is always so confused!

They love playing together, with a few rules! Both do not like their tents being entered without a proper invitation, or towers being knocked down before it is time, or baby dolls being kidnapped! And I can't help but smile when I see a sneak attack about to be made. Usually, Levi waits until the coast is clear- grabs Emma's sleeping baby doll out of the bassinet, clutches it tightly to his chest, and just as Emma notices the missing baby and starts screaming- Levi is hightailing it towards me for safety, panic-stricken face, and a death grip on that baby doll. Is it any wonder my man of little words is now saying "MINE"?!!!



Nursing Barney



 After naptime, the kids were playing upstairs while I put away laundry and toys up there. As I was putting things away in the other room, I got nervous with how quiet it was- and I walked around the corner to find them BOTH sitting on the floor, each reading their own book. I watched them for a bit and it just made me smile. By the time I grabbed my camera, Levi had already stood up.....but you get the idea!

 More dress up shoes for the little guy! He brought them over to me, sat down, and demanded I put them on! He is such a funny, happy little boy, finding everything so entertaining and completely in love with his big sister.

 And SHE is completely in love with him! Emma's friend has 4 month old twin brother/sister, and after playing with them the other day, Emma has been playing "twins" at our house. She holds them, puts them to bed, etc., but it is proving to be a bit difficult to handle because she eventually hands one off to me and one to Felix, along with detailed instructions on what we are to do with them while she goes to the store. Both my kids were SO cute when playing with the (real) twins! Emma came over and acted like a little mommy, and Levi couldnt stop trying to kiss them and tickle them -I was shocked to see little L so interested in the babies (baba, as he calls them).



A picture from when Levi was sick with Roseola. One of the few moments he wasn't nursing.



In order to help Levi wean from nursing, we had Felix put him to bed at night for a bit after he got home from work. So when Felix came home, he would bring Levi upstairs to bed while I read books to Emma downstairs. We only did this for about a week- and the poor kid hated it!!!!! Everytime Felix walks in the door at night now, Levi starts crying and comes running to my arms!!!!

 Levi is growing up so fast. I'm noticing a ton of changes in him this week. A big one is his vocabulary! He has now added: wet, milk, yes, no, mine, booboo, walk, fish, eat, Dora, baba, block, yuck, ewww, book. It is so wonderful to hear his little words!!