A Quick View of St. Paddy's Day

Valentine's Day pictures were a wash this year, since we were all sick.  Luckily, St. Patrick's Day is another simple holiday for attempting a photo shoot.  Here's a current look at Luke (10 months), and Evan and Joel (who are now officially 2 1/2 years old!)

I love taking pictures of babies, because they actually are interested in looking at and smiling for the camera.  (Granted, it took about a hundred shots in order to get these two decent pictures.)

Then I attempted to take photos of the twins.  Two-year-old boys are MUCH harder to photograph than babies.

It wasn't too hard to get a somewhat decent shot of Evan.  Ignore the messy hair; I've resigned myself to the fact that I am a mother of boys for a reason, and that reason is that I am terrible at keeping kids' heads looking neat and fashionable. Anywhere, here's cutie pie Evan:

Then, I had to attempt to get a decent shot of Joel. Joel acquired the stubborness of his mother.  When he doesn't want to do something, such as, say, smile for the camera, he lets me know it. So he's not actually looking at me here, but I'm willing to use this as my best shot of him:

(Here are two of the alternatives.  You see why I chose the one above.)

Finally, a picture of dinner.  Todd had to work late, so he and I planned to have Reubens for dinner later (we both LOVE corned beef and sauerkraut, so this is a holiday meal we look forward to.)  However, the kids still had to eat, so I decided to try out my snazzy new GT Xpress 101 (which I saw on an informercial a long time ago, decided not to buy based on a high price and horrible reviews, then saw in Target a few days ago at a super low clearance price.)

Ooh, ahh

Pancake mix + corned beef + cheese =

A nice little sandwich-type wrap for the boys!  I love it!!

And of course, no St. Patrick's Day is complete without green mashed potatoes.  (Which the kids absolutely refused to touch.)

Real Men Eat Worcestershire

Because soy sauce would just be gross!

(I never caught the boys in the act, but came into the room to find this on the recliner.)

The Bane of My Existence

(Not the child, just the object.)

Oh, the power they have over our household!  Yes, we are STILL fighting the pacifier addiction.  Yes, that is Joel with a paci in his mouth.  No, I did not give it to him; he stole it from his baby brother. 

Yesterday I caught him in Luke's room, standing atop an overturned rubbermaid container, midway through climbing onto the dresser in order to reach the pacifiers in the container on the shelf above.

I guess in order to break the addiction, we are going to have to rid the house completely, including taking all of Luke's. 

Curse the pacifier!

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Burnt Toast and Torn Clothes: A Story for the Kids

One day, Mommy decided to work on thewhile

was taking a nap, and  were watching tv.

Suddenly, Mommy's recognized the distinct smell of burning.  Charging up the stairs, she got stuck on .  Pulling away, she ran into the smoky kitchen to find

. 

Apparently the twins had decided to make themselves a snack!  After unplugging the toaster, Mommy looked down at her shirt, only to find a giant . 

From now on, Mommy will only work on the when the kids are all asleep.

The end.

February...

It snowed a lot.
We celebrated Todd's birthday.
We all got sick with bad colds that lasted the entire month.
I hate winter.
That's it.

It's Not Child Labor if They Enjoy It

Even though I hate winter (OH how I HATE winter), the boys have given me a lot to celebrate this month.

Joel and Evan have finally discovered how to use the ShopVac that I use regularly in the kitchen and playroom. I am overjoyed at how clean my kitchen floors have become since this discovery! We no longer walk around with dried food stuck to the bottom of our socks; they do a great job of cleaning the floor multiple times per day. Immediately following meals, Joel gets up from his chair and begins vacuuming any crumbs. After he finishes, I lift Luke, shake off his mess, and Evan follows up with whatever mess is left behind. These are glorious times, folks! For two years our floor has been endlessly covered in bits of food, and now I can walk across the room without so much as a cheerio to step on!

A photo of all the "fun stuff" that needs to be cleaned up. Evan did a great job cleaning under the table!

Joel works hard to get any crumbs or bits of dust that gather in under the cabinets. God bless both these children for finally making my day that much easier!

(We remains pants-free most days, as it makes using the potty much easier on little boys who have yet to master pulling pants down. In case you were wondering.)

Joel continues to love caring for his baby brother. A few nights ago, I was feeding Luke yogurt. Joel asked for a piece of celery. When I gave it to him, he grabbed the yogurt and starting feeding it to Luke, using the celery as a spoon.

(After Joel realized how messy the "celery spoon" was, he decided to use the real thing instead.)

My three sons. Don't ask about Evan's hair... I have no idea.

Without regular mental stimulation, the twins, now 28 months, tend to get bored and cause trouble. I've been trying to come up with a variety of activities that require little effort on my part, but a lot on theirs! One activity they really enjoy is putting (uncooked) spaghetti into an empty spice container. They have to really focus in order to get each noodle into all the little holes.

(Evan in orange, Joel in green.)

(Do you see the green L in Evan's workspace? It's a magnet that he carries around and pretends is his gun. When the L is unavailable, he'll settle for the 7 magnet instead.)

Luke is now 8 months old and a complete handful! He puts everything in his mouth (I mean EVERYTHING.) Luckily, the twins are good at recognizing when he has something he shouldn't (which is about 90% of the time), and they quickly take it away. I'd love to be Supermommy and childproof well enough that we don't have to worry, but with toddlers running around, things are never where they should be. I glanced down at Luke the other day to see him gnawing away at Lemon Biscotti... I have no idea how he got it (but he sure enjoyed it!) I'm glad I used the baby-led weaning approach with feedings, because it means he is well aware of how to properly "chew" and swallow foods (or at least he's well skilled at not panicking when he incorrectly swallows.)

He is learning skills at a rapid pace. Wanting desperately to keep up with his brothers, Luke chases the boys using his lightning-fast crawling ability. He loves standing against furniture, and this weekend let go and stood on his own for a few seconds. He has a push toy that he has begun using to practice walking on his own; it's only a matter of time before he's going to be running after his older brothers.

I can't believe my baby is growing so quickly!

And finally, I have to share that my WONDERFUL husband gave me an incredible 30th birthday! To celebrate, he arranged for my parents to babysit for the day, and we went downtown to celebrate. We had a delicious habachi lunch, followed by a tasty tour of chocolate shops in Chicago. We had the most amazing chocolate truffles at this place; I highly recommend trying their chocolate if you ever have chance. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

THANK YOU TODD, for a fabulous birthday!! I LOVE YOU!!