Pathetically sick

So Katie is sick. It's pretty pathetic. She's all red cheeked and red nosed and leaking out of everywhere. And even though she's really tired, she's not really sleeping. This picture doesn't really do it justice.
Poor thing, huh?

Owen on the other hand, is doing just fine. He seems to have the energy she's lacking. As I write this, he's helping Daddy shred old bills, even though he should be going to bed. Don't worry, they're being careful.

He and Caroline had a nice time with Uncle Bobby and Hillary. We picked them up this morning and within 5 minutes of leaving the house they were arguing and then both of them promptly began crying. I'm guessing they didn't get much sleep. Luckily, Dan and I just decided to laugh about it. Then, when the situation became more dire, we stopped and gave them donuts to eat.

Ahhh.... peace and quiet

So Dan and I enjoyed a nice, quiet night to ourselves while Owen is sleeping over with Caroline at Uncle Bobby's. We took Katie and went to dinner, then came home and watched a movie. Now I'm about to go to bed. It's been quite the struggle trying to stay up this late (9pm). I was ready for bed at 6:30. Anyway, it was a fun day. We put out the Christmas decorations and tree today. I love the holidays! Last year we decided to get a fake tree. It was a financial thing. I like to think that when we are more financially stable we'll get real trees every year, but for now we have this one. So here's Dan putting it up... I used the taking pictures excuse so I didn't have to help much (it's so annoying to put up!).

I gave Owen the job of laying out all the ornaments and candy canes. Then he decided to taste a candy cane while Katie decided to taste an ornament. You can just barely see the string hanging from her mouth. :)

Owen got to put the star on top of the tree this year.

All in all, it was a really fun day. Then we got to ship Owen off to Uncle Bobby's! Perfect!

On another note, Katie stood up holding onto the couch!

Just kidding! :) I totally put her like that. It took me at least three tries before I got the picture. She kept falling over, but at least she was having fun. Kidding again, I caught her every time.

Smorgasbord of kids

I don't really have much creativity today so I think I'll just show off my kids... as opposed to what I usually do. :)

Owen watched a Curious George episode the other day which led to us making ice cubes colored with food coloring. We made a bunch in an ice cube tray and one big one in a tupperware container. This is the one he wanted to take into the bath. So here's Owen enjoying a colorful bath. I had to use this picture because he refused to cover up his "private parts." This was the cutest picture though. :)

This morning Katie was especially excited to play with her baby gym.


Then I left her alone to turn on the dryer and this happened.

my kid is a genius!

I almost didn't post anything today. I'm just so tired! The demon decided to inhabit my adorable 4-year old's body again this afternoon. Luckily Auntie and Uncle Kevin came to the rescue and promptly removed him from my house. It was great. I think Meredith realized that I needed a break when she surprised me with a new pair of yoga pants and I started crying. :) Anyway, Owen wrote his letter to Santa yesterday... well, I wrote it, he dictated it. Let me just say, I didn't get a chance to write down half of what he wanted. He just went on and on. Where does a 4-year old get the idea that "Santa" would bring him all this stuff?!?! So now I'm trying to figure out how to make Christmas a more symbolic, giving holiday for him. I'll keep you posted. Here is a cute picture of his letter. Now, on the Katie front... we're pretty sure she said Dada tonight. Dan came in to tell me she said it and then I took this video... you be the judge.

Leave me alone already!!

I know, I know! It's been a while since the last post. It's truly been nutty in this house, plus, Dan had last week off. That alone threw off my whole schedule. I love having him home, it's a huge help, but frankly, he gets in my way! We have a certain way of doing things and it's all messed up when he stays home. :) We made giant strides at the beginning of the week in our painting project... then we stalled and did nothing the rest of the week. It was too cold out, and as I've said before, I don't like the cold. The one big exciting thing we did was go to the Children's Museum in Boston. I actually can't wait to go back. We brought Caroline with us and Mom and Dad met us there and it was so much fun! Especially since Mom wouldn't let me take Katie the whole day! Anyway, here are some pics from the day...

Owen showing off the boat he made in the Home Depot workshop... possibly the coolest thing there.


Katie taking it all in... not sleeping. Yeah, she didn't sleep the whole day... from 7am until 6:30pm. I think it was a record.


Dan and Dad trying to play a game on the wall. Well, we think it was a game. Although, there could have been a bunch of museum workers nearby laughing at these two old men trying to catch the balls on the wall.


Owen and Dan in Arthur's airplane. I seriously almost took out a couple of these kids. They were far too pushy for my taste. Luckily Dan was in the plane with him... if it had been me I would've "accidentally" elbowed a few of them.


Owen on the climbing thing. He wouldn't come off of it until I forced him. I know, mean Mommy.


This one was outside when we were heading home... just before Caroline fell and bashed her head. Yeah, we almost made it the whole day without injuring her, but I had the great idea to race down the sidewalk. I know, that's why she almost never goes home from our house unscathed.


This last one is in the car on the way home when no one fell asleep.


Now, sorry for the long wait for this lame post, but tomorrow we're going to write a letter to Santa so I'm sure I'll have some fun things to say about that. For now, I have to run off to yoga for my weekly alone time in a room full of sweaty people.

All of a sudden I'm the parent of a teenager

Owen got his library card today. It was really neat. They have a whole setup. They let him borrow a special book about getting your first library card. They string the card with a piece of yarn so you can wear it around your neck. They give you a sticker, and they let you pick a book out of a special box that you can keep forever. He was very excited to have his own card. He picked out books to borrow and carried them up to the counter and handed over his card. All by himself! When we walked out to the car, he was holding all of his books and talking about how Daddy would love the dump truck book and I realized how old he is. It was really sad. :( I know, I know, it was happy at the same time... he's just getting so old!!


Now, Katie is not yet allowed in the library, for the following reason. (make sure you're volume is up)

I WILL be intimidated by the cold.

I decided recently that I would not be afraid of the cold. I don't want to be one of those parents that keeps their family inside all winter because it's too cold to have fun outside. I decided all of this despite the fact that I hate the cold and the snow and winter. Well, today Dan and I thought it would be fun to take the kids for a little hike at Mt.Pisgah here in Northborough. The trail is 3/4 of a mile out to a nice view and then back. Somehow it felt like 10 miles but at least Dan and I were able to keep laughing.

It started out nicely... Owen collecting sticks...


Katie and me all bundled up and ready for the cold...


Finally we made it to the lookout!



Now, Dan had carried Owen the last tenth of a mile or so, but on our way back things went downhill quickly. The boys decided they would campout for the night...


Even though Katie was hanging in there, cold face and all.


Finally, we loaded Owen onto Dan's shoulders and made it back to the car in record time.


Needless to say, I've decided I will be a prisoner to winter. I will hunker down in my house in cozy clothes with hot chocolate and I will not come out until springtime. Well, maybe for a quick snow angel, but that's it!

dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah BATMAN!

Owen's cousin Tommy (he's in Kindergarten) gave Owen his old Batman doll, he didn't want it anymore. Owen has not let go of this doll since he got it yesterday. Batman eats meals with us. Batman runs errands with us. If Katie cries it's "Batman to the rescue!" Anyway, when I checked on him last night this is what I found.



Then, this afternoon we decided to try out a different hiking trail in our town, and when we arrived...



Yes, that is Batman buckled in next to Owen. Needless to say, we went for a nice drive instead. A nice, QUIET drive.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

Yesterday Meredith made a comment about how she loves the age that Katie is right now. I do too. It's so darn cute. But thankfully it balances the age that Owen is now. He's driving me nuts. I'd like to allow you all to remain ignorant and believe that he's a perfect little child, but the truth is, he's 4... and slowly driving me crazy. Yesterday he hit me in the head with a magic wand. Of course, just when I think I'm going to trade him in, he says something really sweet... or funny. We were having a nice, heated argument Thursday night and he yelled, while sitting in time out, "just stop talking! just cook dinner!" I actually had to turn around for a few minutes so he wouldn't see me laughing. Speaking of laughing, Dan and I watched Get Smart last night and it was hysterical! I laughed harder than I have in a while. I laughed so hard I cried and my stomach hurt. It was great. I might have to own it. Well, enough of all of that, here's what you guys really want. Here's Owen posing with his superhero pictures. If you've seen the batman mask I made for him you already know the talent I possess, this is just another example of my abilities. Amazing, I know. This morning was a big moment. We gave Katie her first taste of cereal. Very cute and very messy. She did really well with it though. I think she eventually enjoyed it.

Utter Exhaustion

I can't believe how tired I am. I also can't believe that all of a sudden, two children who were sleeping very well, are now sleeping poorly. I'm sure it'll settle down eventually. Anyway, Katie tried out her highchair for the first time today. She was engaged for about 20 minutes playing with the turkey baster. Pretty cute.




Now I have to find the energy to stay up for The Office. I miss DVR.

New Roomies!

So Owen and Katie are sharing a room for the first night tonight. It was a little sticky when I put him to bed. She was already asleep but he made a little noise, big surprise, and she woke up. I told him to let her cry and she would stop and he actually listened. So now they are both blessedly asleep in the same room! What a cozy family we are. :) Yesterday we spent the day at Grammy and Grampy's house. It was nice because we were able to see Uncle Bobby and Hillary and Duncan too. We had a nice walk on the beach with Grammy and I was reminded of how nervewracking it can be to have a boy. At least he has good balance.

Today we had a pretty low-key day. Katie has been moving around like crazy. She doesn't quite crawl yet but she skootches and rolls all over the place. This first video is a little shaky, hold onto your lunch.

This next one shows you what she's up against... Owen decided he would keep moving her monkey farther away, and then he almost rolled over her. I've almost given up worrying that he's going to hurt her. Almost. I wish you could hear the running commentary he keeps up the whole time. I'm not kidding, nonstop talking.

Eventually she managed to get herself stuck and we decided to end practice for the day.

I was just sitting there minding my business...

I think I mentioned yesterday that Owen is all about Superheroes these days. Anyway, Katie and I were hanging out in the swing when all of a sudden I looked up and this is what I saw in the tree!




He's wearing the batman mask I made for him... very professional. :) I bought spiderman and batman costumes for him on Halloween clearance, but he won't get them until Christmas.

Kaitlyn has been a little funky lately. She's been teething for a while but I think the little suckers finally broke through because she's just not herself today. We still managed to get outside for a little bit and enjoy the cooler weather.

A beautiful day!

It's gorgeous outside! The perfect day to take a christmas card picture. Unfortunately the stars are not aligned for that, my Dad isn't here with his professional picture skills, none of us are dressed for it(although that doesn't matter much), and the chances of getting everyone in the mood to take a nice picture at the same time are slim to none. Anyway, Dan and I are taking turns having quality time with Owen today. For my turn we're headed to Borders to play with the train table and pick out a book, most likely about spiderman, superman, or batman. He's a bit obsessed with them lately. But it's cute, up to the point where he runs out of nowhere and leaps onto your back...


Katie's obsession runs more towards the bouncing. Seriously, I can put her in this thing for a good 45 minutes before she starts to get tired.

Welcome!

This is my answer to keeping everyone updated on the life and times of our two beautiful children. I'll try to post as often as I can. Right now I'm pretty addicted to blogging... and facebook, so you're in luck! Owen and Caroline had a whole day together today and I made the mistake of giving them a bowl of cookie dough to mix... For the record, those are the shirts I put them in to get dirty, not the ones they were originally dressed in. :) Then, after they left to have a sleepover at Caroline's house, we decided to put Katie in her pj's. She got a little distracted trying to get up on her knees. Can she get any cuter??!!