I am thankful for...

Cole's chalkboard masterpieces,

Max's cheesy smiles, 

and Chris's creativity early this morning!

Sidenote:  I was up with Max at 2:30 am, 4:30 am, and 6:30 am today.  Ug!  Chris is NOT a morning person, but today he woke up earlier than normal and filled my side of our bedroom with red balloons while I was feeding Max in the living room.   I was so surprised!   Tonight we're going on a date to Little Zagreb, a local Bloomington favorite.  It's been a great day! 

He Jumped Out!

On Sunday afternoon, Cole jumped out of his crib!  He smacked his nose on the hardwood floors below him, and thankfully he escaped with only a scuffed up pink nose.   So we took the crib apart and put it in the guest room for now.  No more crib for Cole...and no more injuries!  

I've also been learning a lot during the last week or so about my life now with two boys.  I've been flustered by lots of small things that together snowball into a large mess...at least according to me.    I was talking about this to a friend at church on Sunday, a woman who has teenagers and is a principal at a local elementary school.   She gave me some blogworthy advice.   She told me that one of the things she works on with parents at her school the most is the very thing I was struggling with Cole about.  He seems to learn something one day and tank the next day.  One day is fabulous and the next is junk.  Ug.  My friend told me that most parents (myself included) expect kids to continually grow in a positive way.  Picture the long upward part at the beginning of a roller coaster.   In fact, she said, that is not indicative of true child development, or I guess human development, too.  She encouraged me to think of Cole's learning and growing as lines continually rising and falling similar to the lines on the machine that monitors labor contractions as you wait for your baby to be born.   Whew.  I needed to be reminded of that.  Expect the ups and the downs.  It's all part of it.  And I needed to remind myself of how wonderful Cole really is instead of focusing on the things I wish he'd do or learn but isn't doing or learning yet.    I used to tell my fourth graders at VCS when they received a low grade or had trouble grasping something that if they knew everything already, they wouldn't need to be in fourth grade.  Same is true now in my new world of being a parent.  

One more piece of advice from my friend.  She said that she often prays this prayer that Ruth Graham (Billy Graham's wife) prayed at night, especially when her husband was out of town on business, which was a lot!  "Lord, please help me and my kids forget that today ever happened!"  So I prayed that last night, and today has been great.  Both boys are sound asleep, my house is picked up, and our water heater is being fixed (yahoo!). Who knows if it's because of my prayer.  I think it's just that the prayer helped my perspective.   God has definitely been faithful to sustain us during these myriad transitions we've been experiencing!  

Confessions

About a year ago I posted about my addiction to furniture rearranging.  Confession number one.  Now I have realized that I have a second addiction. Baking.  I bake all the time.  A day rarely goes by when I don't bake.  I look at my KitchenAid mixer standing proudly on my counter every morning and think to myself, "What I can I bake today?"  The thing is, there is ALWAYS something I'd like to try whether it be red velvet cake, lemon bars, chocolate mousse pie, or just brownies.  The sky is the limit!  Yum!  Baking is a great hobby for several reasons. It's scientific.  It's a blessing to those who eat the tasty products, although often a curse to their wastelines!  It's a way for Cole to learn about measurement and time.  It's a way for me to make my house smell great.  And, it's fuel for my husband's chocolate habit.  One of my favorite things to bake lately is cinnamon rolls.  I love baking them for my family, and since we spent last weekend in Indianapolis visiting my parents, it was naturally an occasion for cinnamon rolls!   See photo above...just out of the oven!   The other photo is of Miles and Cole being silly.   I couldn't resist posting that one either.   

Cole & Max

Cole resisted the photo opportunity...until I mentioned candy.  Yes, I will bribe for a cute photo!  

Happy Snowy Day

From our house to yours! 

Enforceable Statements

Now that Cole is really verbal, I feel like all we do is speak enforceable statements all day long.  An enforceable statement is basically something I can enforce.  It's clear, and helps me stay calm instead of not having a plan and going nuts.  I am a teacher...I love plans!  Here's an example:

Cole:  Mommy, I want some chocolate bear crackers! 

Anne: Cole, I will get you a snack when you clean up the blocks.

Cole: Mommy, I want a cookie for breakfast.

Anne: Cole, I'd be happy to give you a cookie when you finish your eggs.  (This specific time, he didn't finish his eggs after a while, so I said "Looks like breakfast is over!"  And then Cole said "No cookie for you,"  and hopped down from his chair to go watch Sesame Street.)

It's a great way to keep control when the "I wants" begin to roll out of Cole's mouth.   So instead of saying, "Eat your vegetables," which is something I cannot enforce, I say, "I love giving dessert to boys who eat their vegetables!"   This may seem like a small small thing, but for us it has worked wonders with Cole.  He's learning cause and effect, and he's becoming responsible, too.  Yes!  

And just for your wondering folks, yes, the other day when I told Cole he wasn't getting a snack because he chose not to pick up his toys, he pitched a fit complete with floor stomping, crying, toy throwing, etc.  I smiled as soon as it happened (knowing that when tantrums happen it's a chance for Cole to learn something), hugged him, picked him up, and softly repeated, "Cole, I love giving snacks to you when you clean up your toys. We'll try again next time."  And then we left the room and did something else.  Victory for mom...learning for Cole.  Yes! 

We learned about this from Love & Logic for Teachers, which was a professional development training we learned in Vienna. It was wonderful in my classroom, so we decided to read Love & Logic for Early Childhood and use it with our kids.  Enforceable statements are only one of many tricks we have up our sleeve, all thanks to Love & Logic.  

Smile!

Our Boys

Cole & I made Valentines yesterday to help pass the morning. 

Stickers, crayons, and construction paper. What can be better?

Today Cole and I ran errands together, too.  We visited the post office and bought some super hero stamps.  Only in America!  The nice postal worker also gave Cole a USPS coloring book to keep. Wow! Then we visited the bank to deposit some money, and left with a lollipop.  Lastly we visited the grocery store where Cole snacked on the free slice of deli turkey he receives EVERY time we go.   He's learned to ask for a pound of turkey, please.  It's hilarious. 

Max is thankfully falling into a little bit of a pattern these days.  Yay!  

When he's awake he loves looking out the windows in our living room and watching Cole. 

It's always an adventure!

Singing

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Up came the sun and dried up all the SMOOTHIE

Then the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again

Sometimes we sing at lunch time, often adding motions to songs like this one. This is what Cole sang today!  We laughed and laughed!  We were actually having a smoothie with our lunch, so it isn't such a far connection. 

Changes

A few things I've learned as we plow through the transition of adding Max to our family...

~Cole does NOT like his big boy bed.  But, he's about 3 inches from being too tall for the crib.  I'm open to ideas.  My newest idea is to take Cole shopping so he can pick out his own sheets, just him and me.  Thankfully, we have a Target gift card! 

~Max hates having his diaper changed. I think it's because he's cold.  Just like his daddy...craving the CA sunshine and flip flop weather!

~I am developing excellent baby burrito skills.  See photo above.  Every time I burrito Max up, he passes out.   I'm expecting him to bust out pretty soon, though. 

~Chris has a storehouse of ideas to entertain Cole that I never knew existed. Just recently I overheard him say, "Cole, wanna wrestle?"  So I darted to the basement with Max to check my email.

One Month

Max is 1 month old today!   He's eating and sleeping really well, and even smiling sometimes.  He often moves his head toward our voices, too, which makes us feel super!   We've been taking walks and enjoying a few warmer days, and just continuing to adjust to life as 4.  The picture above is Max after a walk in the Baby Bjorn.   I remember Cole doing the same thing!  I thought that Cole had been handling this change pretty well, too, until today!   After lunch I was just holding Max while Cole played with some puzzles.  I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation...2 calm children, both full from lunch, and naptime is coming!  Cole saw me holding Max and talking to him, though, and began to cry.  "Put Max back, Mommy!  Put Max in his bed now.  Mommy's done with Max."  He ran over to Max's bassinet and brought me a blanket and repeated those phrases again and again.  Finally Cole was happy to read a few books with me in my lap while Max watched a toy on a blanket on the floor next to us.  Whew! 

Highlights and Lowlights

Recent Highlights

• Max has been sleeping a good 6 hours straight at night!
• I managed to clean our house this week with Cole's help.
• Cole and I hung up his "Moon in my Room" today.  He's crazy about the moon, so for Christmas he received a remote controlled moon, complete with all the lunar phases.  It's really cool!
• Cole has been eating vegetables just to hear the crunching or squishing sounds they make in his mouth.

Recent Lowlights

• Cole threw his lunch on the floor yesterday and proceeded to climb a bookshelf that is not attached to the wall...yet.  
• Cole, Max, and I all have drippy colds this week.  You can see Max's cold in the picture! 
• Random trash was left in our front yard yesterday...ug.
• It's either so cold or rainy outside, which means I'm having a hard time keeping Cole entertained.   Our house is only so big, you know?  Thankfully yesterday it was warm enough for a walk around the neighborhood!  Cole loved running and picking up as many sticks as he could carry. 

Cole knows his ABCs

Pretty amazing, for 22 months old, I say. No matter what, it's cute. You might have to turn the volume up.

Muddy ColeMan

Cole loves everything musical and the "marhonica" is one of the latest favorites. This time, we were listening to Muddy Waters and he was playing along.

Quotable Cole

The other day we were playing with a shape sorting toy Cole received for Christmas.    As if it were just part of the conversation, Cole says, "this is grown up work, Mommy," and kept on playing.  

On Sunday during lunch time, Chris asked Cole how old he is.  Cole responded, "25! and Daddy is 6!"  Hmm...  

The Magic Bite

The magic bite is Chris's latest invention.  Since Cole is getting less messy while eating with a spoon, he's started to notice that it's difficult to scoop out every last bite of ice cream, applesauce, yogurt, etc.  A couple weeks ago, Chris said, "Cole, do you want a magic bite?"  Chris proceeded to create another bite or two when Cole thought there was no hope!  Cole has learned to ask for a magic bite now, and it's pretty cute.  Just yesterday he learned how to make a magic brownie bite by smushing together the leftover crumbs on his tray.  It's a great way to make dinner time a little more fun! 

Strong!

Max has strong neck muscles!  I've put him on his tummy a few times on the floor, and he liked it a lot.  So today I decided to try the boppy pillow.   Wow!   

The Weekend

Our weekend was pretty uneventful, although we did experience a few firsts.  Cole took a nap in his big boy bed on Saturday.  Max had his first real bath, complete with his Little Laker Fan towel.  Max also made his first trip to church, and he slept through the whole thing.   Cole actually initiated playing Legos with Max, too, but Max preferred to just watch.   It's been so nice having Chris home for a few days after my first week home alone with the boys! 

Homemade Car Wash

A Rare Moment

Max hardly ever keeps his eyes open long enough for a picture, but something about me folding laundry and Stevie Wonder in the background kept his attention tonight!  Also, Max received three pieces of mail today.  More than the rest of us...lucky boy!

Tips

Tip #1: DumDum lollipops are a perfect toddler distraction. They're super tiny, yet very appealing!  I took the boys to Target this morning.  Cole happily sucked on his green lollipop while we shopped, and Max slept.  No DumDums for Max yet. 

Tip #2: "Special drink from Starbucks" is a GREAT motivator.  Cole was protesting getting back in the car after our trip to Target.  So I bribed him with a "special drink from Starbucks" and he immediately sat still in his car seat.  We stopped at the drive-up window on our way home for an iced chai latte (my favorite!).  I drank it and then gave Cole his "special drink" for lunch: water in my Starbucks cup with leftover ice.   The result: I made lunch and ate in peace.  Cole didn't touch a bit of his lunch.  Go figure! 

First Solo Day

I'm happy to report that my first day solo with the boys at home has been much better than I imagined...or dreaded!  I had nightmares of waking up late, only to find both boys screaming and hungry.  I imagined a toy (and other various kitchen utensils) eruption in my living room and kitchen, and being so exhausted that I'd fall asleep while nursing Max and Cole throwing his lunch all over the walls.  It's a good thing none of those things happened...not yet anyway!

I did wake up early enough to shower before the boys woke up, and managed to get Max fed and asleep in his bassinet so I could play with Cole uninterrupted for a little while. Cole only watched 1 episode of Caillou (his FAVORITE show), and we took a walk to visit the bunnies and the ferrets at the pet store close to our neighborhood.   I had some uninterrupted time with Max this afternoon, too, while he was awake and staring out our bedroom window.  That seems to be very entertaining these days!   

As I type both kids are sleeping, so I need to switch the laundry and sit down for a second! Chris comes home in a couple hours, and I'm beginning to think that this 2 kid life may not take me under after all! 

Family Weekend

We spent Saturday in Indianapolis visiting family and introducing them to Max.  Max slept through his first car trip, AND he smiled with Grandma Gynie!  My mom made a fabulous birthday cake for me...I ate 2 pieces!  We're going to watch the NFL playoffs today, too.  Go Colts! 

New Ride

The UPS man delivered our new double ride in the mail yesterday!  Chris assembled it last night, and we tried it out today. My mom and I took the boys on a walk before lunch.  Max was snuggled in his cocoon below Cole, almost invisible unless you look closely!  In a few months when Max can sit up on his own, a second seat attaches to the back instead of the cocoon, so we're planning on getting lots of mileage out of this stroller.  

Thanks Gammy, Bubba, Omi, & Grandbob! 

Sleepy Max...Busy Cole

We've been home for a few days now, and life is definitely crazy with 2 kids!  Max sleeps a lot, and Cole is busy, busy, busy.  During the last few days, Cole and I baked chocolate chocolate chip cookies and have built many a Lego block tower.   Oh, life without Legos!  Chris went back to work today, and thankfully my mom is here for the rest of this week to help me with the boys.   I'm honestly not sure how I'm going to handle this when I'm going solo next week!   

Max is doing great, too. He is eating well and sleeping well, except that he seems to like being awake most nights between 10 p.m. and 1 or 2 a.m.   I've had to take him back to the doctor three times, too, since we left the hospital because his bilirubin levels were too high, which indicates jaundice.   Today, the doctor finally gave us good news!  Max has a normal bilirubin level and his weight is just 1 oz shy of his birth weight.   

P.S. Notice Cole's pajamas. Thomas the Train. Size 2T.  He's not going to be 2 until March, but these jammies need to be retired for Max.  This kid is HUGE.  And since bringing Max home, Cole seems even bigger to me.   It's amazing the development that happens when kids are young.  SO much in so little time.  Wow!

   

Max

He's here!!

All of the info is in the video. Watch and enjoy!

And the answer is...

I am now dilated 3 centimeters, and we are scheduled for an induction tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. Yay!  Cole came with me to the doctor today, too, and he was fabulous!  He sucked on a lollipop and held my hand while standing on a chair next to the examining table.   He listened intently to the baby's heartbeat and whispered (after he took the lollipop out of his mouth), "mommy's sound."  Stay tuned!

Her Town Too

My brother Mike (left) and his friend Ryan played at a local coffee place in Indianapolis while Mike was home for Christmas. Enjoy!

Anne is...

officially 2 days overdue with Baby Frank the Second.  Ug!

Here's the deal.  I'm going back to the doctor on Thursday to check my progress, unless this baby comes sooner.  I will then have the option to induce on Friday of this week or wait until the baby wants to come on his own.  We'll see!

My friend Naomi said that there's no such thing as a perpetually pregnant woman, which I'm thankful for!  She's a testament to this because she was 8 days overdue and had her little boy, Brennan, last Thursday. 

My friend Betsy had her little girl last week, too, on Wednesday. It's my turn, now! 

I'm beginning to wonder, though, does this baby really wants to meet US or not? 

Franks Pizza

We made homemade pizza tonight.  Yum! I made the dough and sauce, Chris assembled the whole thing (he even throws the dough in the air!), and Cole tasted the cheese as I grated it.  A family affair!  We decided that tonight's pizza is the BEST version we've made so far.  Yes! 

And yes, today is my due date.  December 30 and still no baby Frank!  I have to admit that since Cole came a week early I expected this one to arrive early also. Just goes to show how little of a clue I really have.  I go to the doctor tomorrow, so stay tuned!  Maybe the first baby of 2008? 

Cole is fruity...

Crispy Schokochef

For those of you who have joined our blog readership recently, Chris is CRAZY about chocolate.  His mom and sister sent him a fabulous array of chocolate items for Christmas, including this book you see above called Hot Chocolate. Chris has been perusing this book for a few days, and tonight he attempted for the second time to create a brilliant drink to enjoy.   Tonight's creation included caramelized brown sugar, pure vanilla extract, and a touch of cinnamon.  And of course, a chopped chocolate bar carefully chosen from Chris's decadent collection.   

Another note for those of you who are interested...Chris and I went to Paris in March.  We

visited countless chocolate shops and one factory. Chris carried home at least 50 bars of chocolate ranging in cocoa percentage from 50% to 100%.   He's STILL plowing through this chocolate, because unlike Hershey's, one cannot eat a whole bar in one sitting, let alone a day. It MUST be savored!  The concentrated caffeine and sugar in these kinds of bars would take you down.  

So forget Swiss Miss, folks!  Come over and Crispy the Shokochef will serve you up a cup of the good stuff.   

Dec 25 2007 - VID00011

The Flip

Chris and I received a VERY cool Christmas gift...a Flip Video Camera.  Seriously, this thing is amazing. Check it out. 

Merry Christmas!

We've had a full few days, but it has been so much fun! We spent last weekend with the Luginbills in Indianapolis. They came all the way from Iowa, California, and North Carolina. We decorated cookies, exchanged gifts, hung out, and enjoyed great food. We spent Christmas Eve with the Messerlies, which was also fun. Cole played Santa and passed out presents to everyone. He's learning to be so generous! We came back to my parent's house and Cole and Chris spent a while deciding which cookies to give to Santa this year. Then, off to bed! This morning, we opened gifts and enjoyed some family time together with my parents and Mike, who is home for a week from California. We even had homemade cinnamon rolls..YUM. One of Cole's favorite gifts was a Hot Wheel! Unfortunately, his legs are still a little too short to pedal! He had fun riding up and down the street, though, and down my parent's driveway.
We don't have much baby news to report yet, either. I am dilated 2 centimeters and everything is just fine. My actual due date is this Sunday, December 30, so we're just enjoying our time together until we meet our new little boy. I have to admit, I'm thankful that I wasn't in the hospital for these last few days of Christmas celebrations! It's been a huge blessing to be around so much family after being in Vienna the last three years. We'll be sure to post as soon as our BEST Christmas present arrives!

Crispy's Job Stats

Since working in Vienna...

86 applications to IU jobs (82 were actually forwarded to the specific department)

13 applications to non-IU jobs

6 interviews for IU jobs

3 interviews for non-IU jobs

1 IU job offered to me

1 non-IU job offered to me

My feeling of the job "success" rate: 0.00000001%

IU job "success" rate: 1%

Total job "success" rate: 2%

Grown application skills: lots of time, a little money

Improved resume: help from family and friends, a little money

Improved interviewing skills: time, confusion, humility

Actually having a full time paying job: priceless

Buzz Cut

I'm tired of scrubbing peanut butter out of Cole's hair. It had to go.

Snowy Saturday!

We woke up to lots of snow today, so we seized the moment and trekked outside in all of our snow gear. It was so much fun! Cole ate some snow, we threw snowballs, and we built a short-lived snowman. I guess destroying it was part of the fun, too!

No more TO DOs

It's official.

Christmas shopping is done.
Gifts are wrapped, but NOT under the tree yet. We want them to STAY wrapped until Christmas Day!
Packages to California are sent.
Cookie baking is finished.
Cookies have been delivered.
Baby clothes are washed.
Hospital bag is packed.
Call list is made and posted.
Hospital preregistration is done.
Husband has a job.
Insurance is no longer a problem.

Baby Frank #2, come NOW!

I want to fly!!

Wow!!! This is so amazing, and I would love to do this someday. Heilige Fleischbaellchen!
Now, THIS, is flying.

I still need to tell you about my new job.  Coming soon...

3 weeks to go!

It's a rare day when I put myself on the blog, so today I used this nifty Photo Booth program that our computer has to show you my belly AND my face. Only a few more weeks until we get to meet Blank Frank #2! I bet you can't wait to hear his name...

HUGE Blessings

Chris is going to post more pretty soon, too, but I can't help but share about the awesome things happening to us right now. Some of you may know that Chris has struggled since August with a job search. He has had several interviews and a lot of positive feedback, but nothing came from any of it. It has been discouraging for us, especially because our health insurance expired at the end of November, and we were counting on a job by then that would cover us as a family. Our baby is due December 30...soon! So November 30 came and went and nothing was changing.

Until last Friday! Chris interviewed for 2 jobs last week on Wednesday and Thursday. BOTH opportunities offered him a job on Friday! He chose to accept a job with NWS Enterprises. It's a small accounting company downtown Bloomington. He will have to share more later about the details. All I know is that we are SO thankful! I even find myself excited to iron his shirts and make him lunch. I wonder how long THAT will last! So I've been Christmas shopping this week, too, now that we know we'll have some income coming soon. Yahoo!

The other piece is about insurance. Chris's new job doesn't cover us until April 1, 2008. No luck with this pregnancy, unfortunately. So, we applied for Hoosier Healthwise Medicaid. I found out yesterday that my doctor does not accept this form of insurance, so I was fretting about switching doctors 3 weeks before my due date. I called what seemed like a million people and offices, including my doctor's office, to get this to work somehow, and nothing came of it. So I went to my regularly scheduled appointment yesterday afternoon, and when I arrived, the nurse told me not to worry because my doctors would accept Medicaid just for me in this situation. NO PROBLEM after all! Another HUGE blessing. Our baby can be born without our stress of paying for it out of our empty pockets, and Chris has a job that is a better opportunity than he could have ever designed on his own.

Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Cookie Time!

A favorite family tradition! Chris and I decorated these the other night while we watched White Christmas. Cole and I delivered them to our neighbors today. Unfortunately not many were home, but we did manage to surprise a few!

Go Hoosiers!

beat Kentucky!