We're Goin' STREAKING!!!!

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, Old School..I am sure the title of my post means nothing... but trust me..it fits.

Once again, I find that I have to apologize for not updating the blog lately. We have been dealing with an issue with Nate that has been monopolizing my time. He is still teething...badly. Sometimes when babies are teething, they can get diarrhea...which can lead to a HORRIBLE diaper rash. So, that's where we are. Poor Nate has a butt that looks like he sat on a hot stove and he is miserable. I took him to the doctor on Saturday morning just to be sure that the diarrhea wasn't from something else like a virus or something. The doctor said that nothing else was wrong. One of the things that helps diaper rash the most is being able to "air it out." So, we have been doing what I like to affectionately call, Bare Butt Naps. Nate has been sleeping bottomless on a bed of doggie pee pads covered with towels and blankets. I have to admit that there is nothing cuter than seeing a baby sleeping with their little bare butt sticking up in the air! It can be "messy" but it is working!!! He is doing much better. I think he has to be the cleanest kid in Downers Grove right now, he has had on average 3-4 baths a day for the last 4 or 5 days. You can't use baby wipes because they are so irritating...so, it's wet cotton balls or just a quick bath. As you can imagine, both mommy and the washing machine are working overtime :)

Despite Nate's issues, we had a great weekend!

So, no pictures for this post...trust me...you wouldn't want to see any :) I will try to get some pics of the kids today and post later.

Video Catch Up

I have been slacking BIG TIME on videos lately. This is for two reasons...#1 videos weren't working well in Blogspot for a long time. #2 the Flip cam that we have isn't really compatible with the Mac, so I had to wait until the home computer was up and running. (No offense to Cisco who OWNS Flip). So, here are a few videos from the last few months that I haven't shared. They are not in chronological order.

Yeah, we like our new ball pit!!



Dance Party before bed


Dance party...Nate is takes after his Godfather, Uncle Jon!


Message to Aunt Liz on her Graduation Day


Yeah, she loves iCarly...here is a video of her singing to Miranda Cosgrove's (Carly) new video.

Crazy, but FUN Day!

We spent the morning at the Toyota dealership getting my driver's side visor replaced. Since it was something so easy, we waited for it to be done as opposed to having someone drive us back. We waited in their kids area...

Char and Nate hanging out in the kids area

The freshly "purell-ed" table thanks to Mommy....it was gross!

Nate is happy that mommy cleaned the table

Charlotte is a little mommy when it comes to Nate.

Here she is making sure he has his juice

And...some snacks in case he was hungry

After naps, we met up with our friends and went to Downtown Naperville to hang out by the fountain. (We tried to go to a sprinkler park and the beach first...both were closed...boo)

Charlotte and her BFF, Ava

Hanging out in the fountain

Cooling off

Charlotte, Mommy, Nate, Ava, Janelle and Mia

Grabbing some ice cream after our "swim"

Yum!!!

Monkeys Everywhere

Here is my little monkey who fell asleep UNDER her bed after throwing the biggest tantrum I have ever seen. Still unsure why she felt the need to sleep UNDER her bed??

And, here is the playroom monkey that Emma painted today! It's coming together. The giraffe told me in confidence that he is happy to have a friend :)

Nathan's First Haircut

As mentioned in previous posts, Nate was getting pretty shaggy, so today I had the opportunity to take him for a haircut while Liz and Mike hung out with Char. He did sooo great! He didn't even think about crying or whining once. He just drove his little taxi. The lady was highly impressed. I was so proud of him :)

The "Before" Shot

This isn't so bad...

Happy Baby!

Not too short in the back, okay???

Finishing up

Cute boy

The haircut came out okay, but when we got home, Liz and I "textured" the front a little. It was taking on a "bowl cut" likeness. Next time I know to ask for "choppy bangs." Hey, it's my first time getting a little boy haircut!

Hangin' in Our Ball Pit

I think that haircut is needed soon!

Nate trying to fling himself into the pit

Girls are yucky!

I need to photoshop out her diaper...as soon as I learn how!

"Oh, Nate looks JUST like Kevin"

No one is denying that Nate looks like Kevin....but I will just let the following pictures speak for themselves.

Nate

Nate

Not Daddy

A Few Pics of the House

I know I have been promising a few pictures of the house...but you hate to show "incomplete rooms." So, here are a few rooms that are "close" to being done. Honestly, they are the ones that happened to be clean this morning :) Kevin is in Ohio until Friday, so we are a three-some once again.

The kids are doing great! Charlotte is talking like she is on a High School debate team. She says soooo many things, I just laugh at her all day long. She amazes me. You can't trick her and the memory that she has is astounding. I will have to get some video to post because describing it wouldn't do it justice. Nate is such a trooper. He gets knocked around and pushed down (not mean spiritedly...but, pushed none the less) and he just brushes it off. He has a huge tooth coming in...his gum was bleeding this morning when I went to get him out of his crib. Poor kid. He is also very smart! Yesterday, while he was sitting in his high chair eating Cheerios, I was pushing one Cheerio around with my index finger amongst the sea of Cheerios. He would track it follow it and when I let it go, he would start pushing it with his finger. Among 30 Cheerios, he could find the one that I was pushing. Maybe I am easily impressed, but I thought that took great concentration for a 9 1/2 month old.

The fire pit in the backyard. Kevin has already purchased the makings for S'Mores.

Backyard and the FENCE! Yay!

Yard and Fence

(Susan, don't let Jack see the lawn with the brown spots,

he would be very disappointed in us)

New Buffet between the dining room and kitchen (staircase leads to basement)

This is the one that Charlotte was helping us assemble

Dining Room

Dining Room - French Doors lead to front patio

Family Room

Family Room (Still missing a chair that hasn't been delivered yet)

Family Room - Shot from upstairs

Also, the playroom isn't complete, but here are a few shots of our newest addition....my cousin, Emma, came over yesterday to start painting the jungle animals that I want in there. How FANTASTIC is that giraffe!!!

Adorable

Here are a few pictures of Charlotte trying on a few new headbands/bows that my friend, Janelle, made for her. How cute is she???

Playtime

Here are a few pictures of Charlotte and Nathan playing in their playgym. I have to be honest, I am not sure how long this thing is going to last. I have already thought of a replacement. I think this will be better when they are older. Right now, they just push the flimsy material over and the whole thing ends up on it's side. But they are having fun!! I purchased a kiddie pool on clearance and I will be making that into a ball pit for them to have a blast in. I am hoping they won't be able to topple that one :)

For dinner, we took them back to Max and Erma's. Hey, kids eat free on Tuesdays and they have a balloon artist, what more could you ask for? I went over the kid's menu options with Charlotte and she decided that she wanted a kid's pizza with a side of fruit. When the waitress came over, Charlotte looked right at her and said, "I'll have the pizza and fruit." I couldn't believe it. I didn't even tell her to do that. Then, when the balloon artist was asking her what she wanted, she said, "I would like a purple one." She answered all of her questions..the woman looked at me and said, "How old is she?" I said "She's two." She was floored. She said that Charlotte talked so well for a two year old. After she got her balloon, Charlotte said, "Thanks SO much!" Nate slept through much of dinner, but woke up in enough time to enjoy some of Charlotte's pizza and some treats that I brought him.

We're making great progress on the house, hope to post some pictures this week!