February Has Flown By

A lot has happened at the casa in the last few weeks.  Not a single thing having to do with starting construction on the addition, but a lot nonetheless.  As I type, I am at 25+ weeks with Maio 3.0; Luke has decided he's ready to take on more big boy adventures, Genevieve has really started to come out of her shell at school, and Matt is now running in those weird toe-shoes and loving it.  Innnnnnteresting.  Here's a quick round up of the goings-on of the last few weeks:

Vortex Be Damned!
Last week was the first time we've been able to spend more than 20 minutes outside for months.  So L and I spent the entire day jumping in puddles and once big sis got home she joined the fun too.  Apologies to Ralphie whose one nail I clipped way too short and as such, caused our driveway to look like a scene out of True Blood or something.  What can I say Poodie, it's hard to bend over with the basketball in my way.

snow must be carted from here to there for appropriate smushing into puddle

working on her first snowman of the year

here's frosty!

the *charming* neighbors across the street have their drive plowed into our front yard.  benefit: insta-mountain

trying to scale it solo

and he's down

watch how it's done little man!

round II: with a little assistance.  note: anyone else still have their sorel boots circa about '93 or '94?  ooooooh doctor!

summit reached!

It's No Bedroom, but It's a Project
Matt has been talking about modifying our TV space forever.  I was fine with it but we never got around to pulling the trigger on getting the "necessary" sound system to go with it.  The cold must have gotten to his brain because last weekend he just got all fired up about putting this thing together.  Like, NOW.  So we went to Best Buy, the kid's brains turned all mushy in front of the big screens (seriously, I could see them getting dumber), and walked out with the must-have equipment.  I took a nap, Matt and his lovely assistant got to work, and a few hours later it was done and done.

nothing to be concerned about here, folks

learning the difference between a jigsaw and a screwdriver

luke awakes to find the tools scattered everywhere, to which he says, "oooooooh!"

this is a little too edgar allan poe for me...

a superb assistant at the ready

tools! noise! commotion! i'm in!

mommy, i have biiiiiiiiiiig muscles

finished product.  looks good, huh?  yes, i know we need a bigger tv.  add it to the list.

Keeping Busy

So with the weather returning to vortex-central we have to find stuff to do indoors to keep busy (hopefully that list does NOT include getting strep, bronchitis, croup, or the other pleasantries that we've enjoyed this winter).  The kids love love love to paint and I hate hate hate to let them.  She's ok but he dives straight in and requires 100% supervision.  But on a day with no other places to go or things to do, it's a fun time.  I wonder if this is how Monet's mother felt?

old t shirts on and ready to be artistic geniuses

see?  genius at work.

even more geniuser when he decides to lay his face flat on his paper.

In more prideful news, Lukie recently decided that he was donezo with the crib.  Not unlike potty training, I wasn't planning to pull on that thread until spring, but if he's into it then so are we.  So we busted out the railings and got to work.  The crib is still in his room in case this was a fluke, but four days later he's all about it.  So with new pirate sheets on the big boy bed the crib is heading down to the basement for the next couple of months (you know, one less thing to dust off when the roof is torn off our house). I showed the kids the blog video I did of GG in her first night in her big kid bed and I could not believe how little she looked.  I admit, I had a total prego hormonal moment.  The days are long but the years are short!

ahh yes, the downward-dog mattress test

being silly with sister

day 1 nap time: out like a light!

what a big boy

And now that it's the "worst time of the year" - ie, no football or baseball - the only logical thing for Matt to do is make homemade pasta.  If you saw Silver Linings Playbook you might remember the mom making "crabby snacks and homemades" every game.  It was a big deal.  We made crabby snacks for Super Bowl (just google it for about a zillion recipes) and apparently homemades refers to any kind of homemade pasta.  Now Luke runs around hollering, "I want tabby snats...AND HOMEMADES!"

just an average sunday

And to round out this busy month, we are giddy with anticipation for one more birthday...as soon as Steve & Erin's newest little Maio decides to make his/her debut.  C'mon little baby, time to officially make us Auntie and Uncle!

Exposing them to the Classics

Of all things for a five year old girl to be obsessed with, G has totally fallen in love with Star Wars.  What?  Matt is basically dying of joy and happiness to share his geeky passion with his oldest.  Which translates to his youngest since L wants to do everything G does. Although it's cute to see father and daughter snuggled up in front of Return of the Jedi, it's a teensy bit concerning that G comes home and tells us she played with the boys all day because she's the only girl in her K4 classes who knows who Princess Leia is.  Matt sees no problem with this.  I hope he re-reads this in about 8 years. 

On the up-side, it's adorable that G came home having colored a 'light saver' for her daddy.  And hearing Luke say, "I want to be Darf Bader" is pretty cute.  And let's not forget their new-found appreciation for classical music.  Whod'a thunk John Williams would be the most requested composer in our house? 

Maio 3.0...It's A...

The Addition

When Matt and I were house hunting at the end of 2010 our search was always for a 4 bedroom place.  As 2011 rolled around and we were homeless, we decided that our options were to live in real estate limbo indefinitely, or look at 3 bedroom places.  So while the 3 bedroom won out, it was always our intention to add the 4th and make this forever home the house we always envisioned.

After talking with a lot of contractors, we are excited to say that in a few short weeks we will start what will probably be our biggest remodeling adventure ever, the new bedroom.  The closet which currently splits the kid's rooms will turn into a hallway, and the new space will end up above the kitchen.  This means a few things:
1 - the current closets in both the kid's bedrooms have to move.  Translation: they'll be bunking in our room while their spaces are put back together.  Ugh
2 - lukie's interior wall will have to move inward to make room for the hallway.  While only about a 6 inch move, this means that his entire door on the adjacent wall has to move as well, AND he will lose his north-facing window.  All very convenient.
3 - at some point in the very near future we'll be able to stand in our kitchen, look up, and see daylight as the construction workers frame in the walls and new roof.  So that's comforting.
4 - as with 100% of renovations, the question of "where do we stop?" has already come up about 84 times.  We'll need a new roof soon enough, do we just do it now?  Since the kitchen ceiling will be opened up, shouldn't we move the exhaust vent?  Shouldn't we add can lights before it goes back in?  Can it accidentally monsoon a little bit when the roof is open and ruin our current garbage cabinets?
5 - this is going to be a guaranteed sh*t show.

But an EXCITING sh*t show!  Besides the investment in space, equity, blah blah blah, this room will also bring a lot more balance to the exterior of the house which for Symmetry McCrazy here is a good thing.

hello more even roof line.  i love you.

the only ones who will ever actually see it from the backyard are the squirrels.  you're welcome, rodents

the space will be normal width but run almost the whole east/west length of the house

Oh oh ooooooooooooooh, my bad.  You don't give two craps about the room do you?  You'd rather know about this addition.  I get it.

word to your mutha'

Baby Maio version 3.0 is due on June 7th.  That puts me at just over 20 weeks along and for those doing the math, yes apparently something about throwing the world's biggest biker rally really gets a girl in the mood for motherhood take 3.  

21-ish weeks with 1.0.  barely a bump

22-ish weeks with 2.0.  still rockin the non-maternity t's

20 weeks with 3.0.  had to unbutton my pants at 9 weeks and gave in to maternity-wear at about 12

luke is, um, not thrilled with the idea of a new one.  his favorite phrase is, "I say NO to the baby!"

geeg on the other hand is really excited.  oh but don't mind her in this pic, she had just thrown the fit of a lifetime because i had the nerve to sing along with Choo Choo Soul.

The pregnancy has been happily uneventful so far.  But of course having two at home now makes it a totally different story in terms of the levels of exhaustion and frequency of headaches.  Oh and hey there sciatica, glad you're back.

The new room should be done around May.  And by 'done' I mean framed in.  Maybe we'll spring for drywall.  Otherwise Matt will be taking on all the finish work, the painting, the flooring, etc.  And I'll be 37-ish weeks pregnant.  What?  Why are you making that face?  I don't really see what the problem is ::face palm::  

Off to sign another construction deposit check.  ONWARD!

2013 Holiday Round Up

Umm...well we're only six days into the New Year and I'm getting around to a new blog post, which these days seems like record time.  New Year resolution: step up the posting, lady.

In the meantime let's rewind back to Thanksgiving.  We were driving to Rochester for the long weekend and decided we would try this night driving thing so many other parents rave about.  Matt worked a regular day Wednesday and we had dinner at home like normal.  I had the Pilot ready to roll so once dinner was done the kids got pajama'd and off we went.  Luke had not napped that day (one of his first displays of 2 year old sleep determination, lord help me) so he was out before we hit Waukesha.  Genevieve was asleep around Madison and we made it to Roch without stopping once...just shy of 4 hours.  I basically felt like we were the most BRILLIANT parents in the history of ever for going with the night driving plan.

The thing I've decided about parenting over the years is that it's just a series of events where you, the adult, try to figure out how to outsmart your kid's genius maneuvers and make life easiest for everyone involved.  But as soon as you've got a solution, BAM, the kid changes it up on you.  This theory was proven once again as we pulled into my parent's driveway around 11 p.m., when my grand plan of just transporting them from carseat-to-bed disappeared into the cold, dark air.  Like the temperature gauge on the next day's turkey, two little sets of eyes popped open and I realized that instead of being in a deep, satisfying sleep, they had both just taken four hour naps.  We all managed to be asleep by about 1 in the morning.  FOILED AGAIN.

We spent the next few days eating, playing, singing, going out and about, and not sleeping (seriously Luke.  SERIOUSLY).  We took the kids to the Festival of Trees, and Grandma Heidi had two special treats for GG: tickets to a local ballet production for just the two of them, and tickets for her, the kids, and me to Disney Live.  They were totally mesmerized and the $10 lemonade with commemorative princess cup was a must-have.

Sunday we packed back up and tried to capture a nap-time respite.  Alas I was migraine ridden but let me take a second to thank my friends at Target for their instant cold paks.  I had an emergency one in my car - a traveling first aid kit after Luke decided to slice his forehead open this summer - which served its purpose beautifully.  I recommend everyone get one. 

GG showing off her custom Native American vest and headdress.  Her self-given name: Fast Reindeer

all of her native symbols, created with her 4th grade buddy, theresa

Thanksgiving weekend turned out to be pretty mild but as we weren't in Wisco, our Christmas tree hunt would have to wait until the next weekend.  When the high was 10 degrees.  It was the fastest spin through the tree lot we've ever made and I was happy to tip the guy extra for strapping the thing to our car instead of waiting for Matt to do it.  Later that weekend we got our first snowstorm of the season, which meant it was the most logical time for Matt to get on a ladder and on the roof to string the lights on the house.  The end product was lovely. And the kids enjoyed supervising in the snow.  Except for Luke, who declared more than once, "I don't lite da told.  I DON'T LITE IT".  This before asking to play baseball.  At least when he goes to school in Arizona we'll have somewhere to visit during spring break.

sure.  why not.

dear harms family, does this ensemble look familiar???

beware the yellow snow

ha! caught one smiling shot before the inevitable snowy face plant

know what happens when you swing at a plastic tee in a 10 degree snowstorm?  it turns into a million pieces that matt looks forward to running over with the lawnmower come spring

The following week was GG's Christmas concert at school (which, since it's a Catholic school, is indeed called a Christmas concert).  She looked so cute up on the stage and all the kids did a great job.  Which was good to hear, as G practiced Away In A Manger a.lot.

ready to go sing her socks off

The next weekend we had a surprise for Geeg that I've been waiting for since the day I knew I was having a girl: her first performance of the Nutcracker.  Yahoo!  K&K came over to hang with the boy while we took our little lady to a pre-matinee brunch.  It was so fun to treat her to this very big girl experience.  I bought front loge seats so we were high enough for her to see the whole stage and I loved watching her face as all the characters came on.  She liked Clara and Marie and the clowns best of all, and despised the Rat King.  The Milwaukee Ballet does a great production with wonderfully talented dancers and great costumes.  I look forward to now being on their solicitation list until the end of time.

gigantor christmas tree in the intercontinental lobby

ladies who brunch

a successful trip indeed

The next weekend and mere days before Christmas...we spent Saturday morning at the Elm Grove Junior Guild's annual Santa Brunch.  I was waiting for Lukie to delight me with another Santa melt-down shot, but I was very pleasantly surprised to get these gems instead:

happy!

rattling off their lists. luke turned on the tears only after he realized santa didn't have toys to give him at that exact second

The next day Grandma Heidi & Pop Pop rolled into town for the holiday.  Usually when they come into town GG sleeps on the floor in our room.  But we told her that she was finally big enough to sleep in the twin in Luke's room...sibling sleepover, aka, let me get a night of sleep!  I wasn't entirely sure how this would go but we woke up Christmas Eve morning to the following conversation from his room (imagine her bit without taking a breath):

G: LUKE! Today is Christmas Eve and that means that tonight Santa is coming and he's going down the chimney and he's bringing presents!

::pause::

L: YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

We died of cuteness.  

Matt and I alternated working on Monday and we all spent Christmas Eve at church with K&K and devouring Chinese with all of the above plus Steve & Erin (note to self for next year: send a seat-scout to the church NO LATER than an hour before mass).  The kids were being really great, playing hide and seek with each other and behaving very well.  When G couldn't find L we hollered for him and heard a faint voice from behind the door of the wet bar yelling, "I make-a da poop!".  Found him. After that G and Matt put reindeer food out front...a mix of dry oatmeal and glitter that we hoped wouldn't attract woodland creatures...and finally it was time to get ready for the Man in Red.  Children, start your engines.

g's rudolph hat from school

the platter for santa's treats

carefully adding cookies

putting it all in place

and stealing one for himself

I guess Lukie was really excited for Santa because he slept like poo that night.  But G didn't rouse until about 7:30 so that was nice.  It was time to head downstairs and get to unwrapping!

it was a very jake christmas for luke.  a doll from big sis...

and a jake costume from grandma kathy

cozy

As usual everyone was spoiled rotten.  Favorites from Santa included the croc rocker and the hoppity balls for both kids.  They hop around the house in a little parade and are generally adorable.  Trucks, tractors, dolls, earrings, books...we were awash in fun new stuff.  And that was before K&K came over with more stuff.  By the end of the morning Luke was adeptly saying, "I want anoder peasant" over and over. Then we started eating and basically didn't stop until late in the evening.  A shout out to brining the turkey, the only way to prep a bird in this household.  GG was so Christmas'd out she fell asleep in my lap and Luke passed out for a while too.

two weeks later and still hopping

Grandma Heidi and Pop Pop took off the next day and we spent the rest of break having play dates, going to kid-friendly places, and enjoying that the kids have generally been getting along really well.  K&K bravely went where no grandparent has gone before and took both the kids on New Year's Eve so we could enjoy a long, leisurely dinner out (nothing says 8 years of love and devotion like a 2 lb lobster and not one but two desserts) and an uninterrupted night of sleep.  Bliss!

And now that the magic of the season has come and gone, I sit here and write this as my children climb the walls.  Where as life should have returned to normal today, we are indeed under the 'polar vortex' that is gripping the midwest and school was cancelled for today due to cold.  Nope wait, add tomorrow to that list.  That will make 19 days since my kid was in school.  NINETEEN.  I didn't get 19 days off until I actually was 19.  I know most families with small kids employ the Elf on the Shelf for maximum behavior modification during the holiday season.  I am going to invent the January version of that creature and parents around the world will sing my praises (I'll just know better than to listen to them when they recommend nighttime car trips).