Shedd Aquarium 2019

The Shedd Aquarium continues to open its doors for free in September, so I piled our three youngest in the van and took off this past Monday to take advantage of their hospitality!  The kiddos loved peering in all the aquariums, thoroughly enjoyed the dolphin show, and touched every touchable thing (well, every NON-LIVING touchable thing) in sight.  (They had no desire to take part in any of the opportunities to touch wildlife.)

It was a wonderful time--the only thing that would have made it better is if Dad and Hylie could have joined us.

Upstairs Hallway

Last year when I was on a "painting all the trim in the house white" kick, I took the time to paint the trim in the upstairs hallway, but then my pregnant self was done with projects.

Now that I'm getting a little more sleep, I decided it was finally time to tackle the rest of the hallway and once and for all get rid of the beige ceiling and walls.  (Who paints a ceiling beige?!)

Before

Before

After!

I love the refreshed look and bright light this change brings!  Now to hang pictures...

Mailbox Make-over

When we lived in Morton Grove, I often wondered why there were no mailboxes lining the streets.  The mailman delivered mail to everyone's door.  After experiencing a winter with a mailbox at the end of our driveway,  I wonder no more. 

I now understand why Chicago goes without that option in many towns.  During the winter, these little boxes get pummeled by snow and ice every time a snow plow goes by, and each run takes its toll!  You will find mailboxes being held together by bungee cords, duct tape, and rope.  Mailboxes that are so bent out of shape, they no longer close and you wonder how the mailman is able to put anything inside it!  This past winter, I kept telling Geoff how I wanted to take pictures of these poor mail receptacles that look like they've served on the front lines of every single battle!

Well, our mailbox was no stranger to close encounters with the snow plow this year.  Luckily, it served as best as it could and miraculously made it through the winter.  Recently, I pulled out the post, tried to give it some needed reinforcements (which were all directed by my amazing Dad), and while I was at it, I figured it was time to make it look a little nicer as well.  I painted the post and picked up a new box from the store--I was ready to dig a better hole and make this mailbox winter ready.  But I found that the ground was all water-logged!  The standing water prevented us from easily digging a new post hole.  So I stuck it back in its existing post-hole to tackle another day.  That day still hasn't arrived, but hopefully this mailbox will work wonders until a more permanent (and hopefully more stable) location is found.

Kyron - 7 months

Kyron decided to change things up a bit when he turned 7 months.  He went on a poop strike.  Yep, this kid did not have a poopy diaper for almost 3 weeks!  3 WEEKS!  I had just starting introducing solids to him around 6 months and was terrified that I fed him too much or did something to do him in.  I backed off on solids for a few days, but still nothing was coming down the pipes.  I contacted the nurse and she recommended he drink pear juice and eat lots of prunes, peaches, and pears.  If things didn't start rolling with that, I was to use the tip of a thermometer to help stimulate things.  Nothing.  I gave him a suppository and FINALLY (after 2 hours) he passed some poop--but it was a very small amount so I took him to the doctor's.  After a very invasive investigation, the doctor explained that he wasn't constipated, he was just being lazy and didn't want to push the poop out!  Crazy!  When she asked how much food I was giving him, she told me to triple that amount and the volume will help things move along.  So on the way home, I stocked up on a ton of baby food and hoped for the best.

That night I had him lay in the bath tub for awhile in hopes the warm water would help--and it did! He got a ton out of his system and I don't ever remember being so excited to see poop in the tub!  I'm still a little on edge--he'll go a few days without pooping, but things are much improved now!

In other news, Kyron is really getting into play time.  He loves toys and sitting in his saucer.  He'll roll over to reach a toy and is becoming super grabby.  We have to be careful about what is within reach!

He is still not sitting on his own.  He flops forward anytime I let go of him.  I'm having him play in his saucer and eat in his high chair in hopes he'll build up strength to sit on his own...but being he's too lazy to poop, he just may be unmotivated to other things as well!

Regardless, we love him so!  His smile and laughs just lift us up.  He continues to be such a pleasant guy and willingly goes with others if mom can't hold him.  His sleeping patterns at night are astronomically better.  My goal was to get him to sleep till 5:00 AM, but he's been pretty consistent with a 4:30 AM wake up call.  He usually nurses at that time and then falls back asleep--so I slip back in bed for a little while and then Kyron continues to sleep while I get the girls ready for the day, so it's working out well for now!

Here's hoping for a more 'regular' month!  ;)

Happy Birthday, Geoff!

We got to celebrate Geoff on September 13th.  And his requests for his day did not surprise me at all--he wanted everything to be as easy as possible for ME!  I reminded him that I LOVE preparing birthday food, but he still insisted on ordering pizza and a cake so all I had to do was show up.  Can you believe I have to put up with such kindness and love for ETERNITY?!  I'm not going to lie, having a night off of food prep and dishes was pretty nice.

The girls had fun making cards and drawing pictures for Geoff.  We also decided to get him a portfolio to use on the High Council.  He is constantly taking notes at meetings and writing things down to help keep himself on top of things.  Members of the Stake Presidency are always letting me know how much they appreciate Geoff and what he is doing for the Stake.  I can tell Geoff loves his calling and has learned so much about service, dedication, and leadership these past seven months.

Here's hoping this year is full of laughter, great health, and quality time together.  We love you, Geoff!

Eliana - Preschool

Eliana is FASCINATED with construction zones and calls the people repairing the roads or constructing the buildings "workers".

Eliana was very excited to get back into Preschool.  We are doing the Co-op with friends again and will be focusing on learning letters this year.  Eliana LOVES her workbook and I pretty much have to hide it from her when she's not in preschool because she just wants to sit down and fill in all the pages!  I keep explaining to her that we got the workbooks to do at preschool with her friends and if she finishes all the pages, she won't have anything to do while her friends work in their books.  Ha ha!  I finally wised up and got her a separate preschool book that she can complete to her heart's content. I'm glad she's eager to learn and to practice her writing--I hope her enthusiasm never dies as she explores learning all throughout her life.

The Cake Pop Layer

I love preparing food--especially when it's for someone or a special event.  So when birthday season comes around, I can't wait to ask my kiddos and Geoff what they want to eat for their special day.

Over the summer when we were with Grandma and Grandpa, we had some Neapolitan Ice Cream and apparently Hylie was fascinated with three flavors in one container!  So for her birthday this year, she asked for a cake with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.  I couldn't wait to put this together!  I literally would lay in bed thinking about how I would combine these ingredients and make it as delicious as possible.

I love layered cakes, and because the consumers of this treat would just be our small family, I didn't want to make it super ginormous, so I used two small 6" round pyrex dishes.  When I saw how tall they baked in the middle, I wanted to use the part I would cut off to level the cakes, and give the cake more height.  But I didn't know how I'd successfully keep a nice, even shape. 

As the cakes were cooling, the idea of the "Cake Pop Layer" came and I was so giddy to try it!  I thought, if a cake pop could keep its ball shape, I'm sure I could make it keep the shape of a cake layer!

I mashed up the mounds of cake, mixed in a spoonful of frosting, molded the mixture into the 6" dish, stuck it in the freezer for an hour or so.  And, voila!  It worked like a charm!

The possibilities with a cake pop layer are endless!  You could mix in chocolate, cookies, caramel or fudge ripples, nutella, strawberries...can you tell I'm excited about this!  I can't wait for the next birthday cake so I can have more fun with this little discovery!