Day 213 | The Sight of Christmas

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Our tree is all decorated. The lights are in place (thanks, Chris), the ornaments are hung (thanks Mom, Chase, Robbe, and Chris), and some of the ornaments have been ripped down again (thanks, Robbe).

And, we added a new train (well, very old train, actually) to our tree set up this year. So excited to add this treasure from Chris's family to our family tradition. 

Day 205 | The Sound of Christmas

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I held off another two weeks, but decided today was the day to break out the Christmas music. Here's our first (but hopefully not last) family Christmas dance party of the season.

Chase selected, Frosty the Snoman for Robbe's first Christmas song. Probably wouldn't have been my first choice, but I let it go. See? I'm flexible.

Day 202 | Like a Sponge

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It's amazing what a little mind absorbs at this age. Just in the past few weeks Chase is learning so much. And before you think we've been holed up running flash cards, I have to admit that I've done practically nothing to encourage his new spurt of knowledge. Here's what he's caught on to (and the method of/reason for the learning):

  1. States: thanks to a lovely placemat, Chase can now identify 19 states and the District of Columbia.  He can also differentiate between Washington, D.C. and Washington state. This is beyond impressive to me since I was *ahem* much older when I grasped this concept. 
  2. Spelling: Chase dug out our Bananagrams game the other night, Chris spelled out M-O-M, and all of a sudden he's into spelling. Here's his list so far (pictured above). 
  3. Telling time: ok, he's more just identifying numbers on the clock but he started asking about when Chris would be home so I recently began answering with "when the little hand points to 6." Now we eat with the clock at the table and every so often (about every five minutes, you might guess), he shouts, with enthusiasm, "it's [the big hand] touching the 4 [or whatever number]!" 

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: he's probably a genius (she says with a wink).

Day 200 | Yep, 200

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To continue the tradition, I'll dedicate today's celebratory post to providing an update on the team.

Name: Sara
Favorites: baby snuggles from my boys, hearing my toddler say, "momma, you're beautiful" without prompting, getting into the holiday spirit (I just love everything about this time of year), and end-of-the-day, post-baby-bedtime chatting/relaxing with the husband
Biggest hurdle to overcome: checking all the holiday gift craft projects off my list (and there's a lot).
Dreams for the future: trying to live more in the present with my sweet boys at these sweet ages and not get caught up in the day to day frustrations.

Name: Chris
Favorites: being able to cheer on the Badgers in both football and basketball in the same week, wearing wool socks again, and seeing the look of excitement and pure joy on the faces of his boys when he peers through the door as he unlocks the door after work.
Biggest hurdle to overcome: deciding on the perfect holiday cocktails for a little shindig we're throwing.
Dreams for the future: enjoying a huge, can't-possibly-have-enough-food Thanksgiving dinner (it's his favorite holiday)

Name: Chase
Favorites: singing at the top of his lungs (Down by the Bay and I've Been Working on the Railroad are the two current go-tos), learning the names of states (off his mealtime placemat, obviously), playing anything with his daddy when he gets home from work (he saves special giggles for this specific time)
Biggest hurdle to overcome: dealing with the fact he can't go to tree park when it's cold/dark outside. Sorry, big guy.
Dreams for the future: spending two weeks with his absolute-favorite-people-in-the-whole-world (that's you, family!) at Christmas.

Name: Robbe
Favorites: brother tackles, I mean, hugs, shoes (chewing on, not wearing), Miga sightings (she's an elusive one), honing all his new skills (think: standing, climbing stairs, eating with his hands, big stuff)
Biggest hurdle to overcome: sleeping through the night. We're getting close, people. I can feel it. Chase pulled it off at 9.5 months so maybe we're on a similar trajectory.
Dreams for the future: eating just one piece of cat food. It's not too much to ask, mom, is it?

Day 194 | Jump, Jump, Jump

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Chris has been dreaming about having a Tuesday or Thursday off since we went to the trampoline park for the first time (the only days toddler time is offered). Today is Veterans Day (thank you, veterans!), so his dream finally came true. Off to Skyzone we went. We were even lucky enough to have Dr. Sean make the trip with us.

The jumping didn't disappoint, yet again. And Chris decided the wait was definitely worth it. 

Day 191 | Say It Isn't So

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We have another set of friends moving away from us...and they're moving to California, too. Why is that state swiping all our friends? Apparently the constantly perfect weather is appealing to some folks.

We're so sad to see Steve, Krissy, Cynthia, and Jeffery go but we plan on spending as much time with them as possible before they pack up and move to the other coast. We'll stay optimistic that they'll return to us someday. 

Day 190 | The Mall

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No, not that Mall...a normal mall.

The boys had a blast playing at the mall play area today while Chris made a big purchase (that he has been debating about for about a year, obviously). 

One thing I would like to point out: Robbe got more attention and hugs from the ladies (ok, three year olds) than most gentleman get their whole lives. I've never seen such a charismatic tot draw in the hugs. Ha!

Day 178 | Pumpkins!

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 It was the perfect fall day for heading to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, I didn't have the needed motivation to make that trek happen. Sorry, kiddos. Instead, we had a low key morning and then headed to a cute little pumpkin sale at a local church. We pulled in at 11:10am to find out that it didn't open until noon. Urgh.

Next option? Grocery store pumpkins. Not exactly what we had in mind for Robbe's first pumpkin adventure, but after several hours, I've come to terms with it.

The important thing is that we have carved pumpkins on our front porch. See? We're festive. One thing we learned, though: a one-to-one ratio of adult to baby is not ideal when trying to carve two pumpkins. We ended up going pretty simplistic with this year's designs. I did my annual cat carving (did you know that about me?) and Chris pulled through with a much more creative train to match Chase's current obsession.

Day 173 | All Aboard in Orleans

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Today was a day dedicated to the choo choo train enthusiast in our group. It was a bit rainy, so we headed back to Orleans for Chase to play with a toy train on display at the Red Balloon Toy Shop (don't worry, we didn't walk out empty-handed). The store clerk clued us in on a great model train set up at a local department store and we headed there after a quick treat at the Hot Chocolate Sparrow. The trains at Snow's didn't disappoint. The ideal indoor attraction for our toddler. Thomas the Train, a current favorite, even made an appearance.

We rounded out the day, and our vacation, with a post-nap run to another beach. The First Encounter Beach at nearly-sunset was the perfect end to a lovely trip. 

Day 170 | Another Day, Another Beach

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Two gorgeous fall days in a row. Could we be any luckier?

It was a bit of a lazy morning (mostly due to a certain baby's morning nap) and then we headed out to Orleans to stroll down another beautiful beach. Robbe walked in the sand for the first time (assisted, of course), loved the ocean breeze in his hair, and was enamored with the waves. Maybe we have an ocean-lover after all (I'm sure Grandma Mary is releaved). 

Day 169 | A Beautiful Cape Cod Day

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Today is why I love the fall. It was sunny, breezy, comfortable...the perfect jeans weather. My perfect weather.

We took full advantage of our good fortune by spending the morning at the beach. I wish I could say Chase loved the ocean as much as I did today. He's still not sold on the idea, for some reason. Crazy guy. No matter what he says, it could not have been a more picturesque, enjoyable adventure. Seriously, everything about Cape Cod is the most picturesque. 

Between the yummy donuts for breakfast, the trip to the beach (and some nearby lighthouses), and a delicious bbq dinner with the fam and Mary Catherine, today was exactly how I would want the vacation to start.

Why, yes, maybe we should move here. 

Day 163 | A Rainy, Lazy Day

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I don't mind the rain. I actually kind of like it. It's nature's way of telling you to slow down and that it's ok to not be going all the time.

We took that cue this morning. Even though it was our one morning with Mary Catherine, she and I stayed in with Robbe for his morning nap while Chris took Chase to swimming lessons. It nearly killed me to not be "doing something" but the morning in was actually really lovely. We had a lazy breakfast, chatted up a storm during the nap, played some serious choo choos after lunch, and just enjoyed each other's company. Sounds wonderful, right?

With visitors, it's hard not to want to constantly entertain but I love the idea of them getting a glimpse of what our real life looks like with these two babies. 

Day 159 | Growing Boys

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Chase is 2.5 years old today! Such a big guy.

I did manage to finish my growth pole project in time for the inaugural hash mark. Chase is 35.5 inches tall according to our new birch bark tree growth chart. I hope you can tell what it's supposed to be!

And, to celebrate Robbe's latest accomplishment (he pulled himself to standing today), we measured him, too. Unofficially, of course. He's measuring in at 28 inches.

Hooray for growing boys.

Day 156 | It's So Nice To See...

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I've realized that I don't give the appropriate number of shout-outs to my husband on this blog. I could never list everything he does for our family in one post but the most impressive thing about this man, to me, is his desire and ability to put his family first no matter how exhausted/overwhelmed/drained he is. Chris always has energy for the boys, sometimes I honestly can't figure out how he does it.

He asked me yesterday if it bothers me that strangers come up to him (not infrequently) and make a comment like, "It's so nice to see a father spending time with his children." Kind of an odd statement in my opinion and I have never, no surprise, had anyone say something similar to me as a mother. I could honestly say that it doesn't bother me in the least. 

Instead, it just makes me feel even luckier that I call this man my husband and that our boys call him dad. Not everyone plays the role he does and not everyone can rock at it the way he does. 

Enough sappiness for one post. Hope you don't mind the love note. And, with that...Go Badgers!

Day 155 | The Zoo!

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I woke up with a great idea: we should spend the morning at the National Zoo. So that's just what we did. Our goal was to get out of the house at 9am (rarely happens) and we locked the door at 8:55am. Why thank you, I will take a pat on the back for that.

It was the perfect perfect activity this morning. The weather felt very fall-like, the crowds hadn't descended yet, Chase really got into seeing the animals, we splurged and got coffee on the way in (thanks, Mom!), and Robbe even slept in the stroller (usually I put him in the carrier to sleep). See? Perfect.

A couple of long naps and an evening with dear friends will round out the day. I'm feeling very lucky.

Side note: You'll notice Chase is holding his toy Thomas train in the photo above. We've been telling lots of stories lately about the adventures of Chase and Thomas (even though he's a train, he enjoys doing the same things as Chase). We just told him the story of "Chase and Thomas Go to the Zoo" earlier this week so it seemed necessary to take Thomas with on this field trip today. He enjoyed seeing the animals, for the record.

Day 150 | Goodbye for the Season, Friend

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Chris had the brilliant idea of heading back to the Wheaton Regional Park today to ride the miniature train and carousel. When we arrived, we found out this is the last open weekend until the spring. What amazing timing!

The park didn't disappoint again (as if it were a question). Chase was running from one attraction to another. In fact, when we arrived, he exclaimed, "carousel...hip hip hooray!" That's my boy. Which reminds me, I don't think I've mentioned Chase's new favorite phrase: almost every time we leave the house, he starts our adventure with, "What a beautiful day." Just the optimism we need to get our day off on the right foot. 

*A special shout out to Eli and Lily for making Chase's amazing tie-dye t-shirt. Thanks, guys!

Day 141 | The Great Frederick County Fair

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And great it is.

After a rough night (Robbe will grow out of it eventually, right?), the fair is exactly what we needed to restart the day. 

It was the perfect day for fair-going. We managed to squeeze in all the animals, 4-H exhibits (my personal favorite), tractor playtime, and, of course, yummy food, in just two hours. 

And, good news: Chris has discovered the perfect corndog. He even went back to give the workers accolades. This is the real reason we keep making the trek to this fair...the corndog and the apple dumplings. We'll see you again next year, good friends. 

Oh...and the fair isn't the same without you, Jason and Erica! We have continued to take the photo in the trunk to keep up tradition.