Gavin Turns 2!

We had so much fun celebrating Gavin's 2nd birthday! We had a party with family (all 4 grandparents along with Aunt Mel and Uncle Aaron!) that got its theme from Gavin's favorite movie, Disney's "Cars." Cassidy helped me decorate with checkered race car streamers and balloons, and we made a figure-8 race track cake for his die-cast "Cars" characters to sit upon. (We tried making his cake with fondant icing this time. It was fun to try - but we all agree it doesn't taste nearly as good as delicious buttercream!) We started the party with brunch, then opened some presents from family and ate some cake. Gavin caught a glimpse of his cake after it had been cut to pieces and was nearly in tears. I think he thought the cake was a toy that had gotten demolished somehow. He was yelling from his crib at the start of naptime, "Where's my birthday CAKE???" Anyway, we were so thankful to spend the day with family and we had such a fun celebration. The following weekend, on Gavin's actual birthday, we had some good friends and their kids over for a casual BBQ dinner and we had birthday cupcakes for dessert.

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring!

Cassidy and I have been talking for weeks about the tulip bulbs we planted last fall and how long it might be until we start to see them grow. Well, the snow has finally melted away and we now see the tiniest little buds popping through the dirt! We first noticed them as we were getting in the car for school at 9am yesterday morning. When I picked her up from school two and half hours later, the first thing she said to me was "Mommy! Did our tulip flowers open up yet?!?" I tried to explain that it might take a few weeks until we see the real flowers, but I promised we could check every morning.

We've kept ourselves busy over the last few weeks. Erik is wrapping up a project at work that has been over a year in the making, so he's very excited to see that come to a successful conclusion. However, since he's in the home stretch, he and his team have been putting in long days and weekend time, so he's looking forward to taking a few days off next month and relaxing at home with me and the kids. We're excited for that too!

At the end of February, I had my final round of oral surgery to place the dental implants into my upper jaw. It went very well and as soon as the bone is strong again (10-12 weeks from now), I can have the final crowns put in place. So sometime in June, I look very forward to ditching my retainer and saying goodbye to weekly dental visits! It will feel wonderful to have this 9-month process complete, and I am so grateful to my fantastic dentist and oral surgeon for all they have done for me. I will be smiling big this summer!

The kids are doing well. Gavin turns 2 in just a few days! We took a chance with potty training him at 22 months (I read a book that suggested that was an ideal age to train) - and it worked like a charm. We still have maybe 1-2 accidents a week, but for the most part he's got it down. Potty training has been a challenge with Cassidy, so it's nice to know that the next one is already done! Cassidy is making progress though, and I have a feeling we'll have both kids feeling confident with the potty by summertime. (Fingers crossed for that anyway!) Cassidy had a fun date with Erik last month when they went to see Toy Story 3 on Ice. They loved it. This photo from the event makes me smile every time I see it - such genuine, 3-year old anticipation and excitement!
More to come in the weeks ahead!

The Blizzard of 2011

This past Tuesday and Wednesday brought us the "Blizzard of 2011." And while it seems that meteorologists usually predict much more snow than ever actually falls, this time their forecast of 18-22 inches was accurate - we have a whopping 20 inches on the ground. It was so windy during the snowstorm that some of the snowdrifts around our house are waist-high. I have never seen so much snow! Cassidy had 2 days off from school and the whole city shut down - businesses closed, no mail delivery, empty streets. Chicago Public Schools even closed - the first time in 12 years they've had a snow day. Cassidy had fun building an igloo with our neighbor and helping Erik shovel the driveway. Since Gavin refuses to keep on gloves or a hat (I put it on, he throws it off, I put it on, he throws it off!), he was in tears after 10 minutes and asked to go back inside. I snapped one picture of him in his winter gear, and then we got out the hot cocoa and watched from inside. Below are some of the photos we took over the past few days. It was a fascinating storm to watch and it certainly gave people something to buzz about this week. But, needless to say, we are officially ready for Spring!

Nearing the end of the storm

Passing the time until we can get outside to play

We opened the back door...

The backyard - still snowing!

The storm is finally done - this is out the front door

After Erik shoveled the driveway!

Gavin's 10 minute outdoor adventure

Cassidy's igloo! She had SO much fun.

Welcome, 2011!

Happy New Year! We wish everyone all the best in the year to come!

In the Brown house, we have resolved to put more focus on healthy habits in 2011. Not that we've been unhealthy this past year, but it's an area we think we can improve (there's always room for that, right?). We're aiming to: get more sleep, drink more water, eat a healthier diet, and keep general anxieties low (shoot for the stars, we say!). Wish us luck. With small kids, we have learned to simply do the best we can with goals like these; some days will certainly be easier than others. But we'll give it our best shot! We're wishing you the best of health in 2011 as well.

Above is our 2nd annual New Year's photo for the flip-book we started in 2010. We posted some of the "alternates" down below. Welcome, 2011!

A Very Merry Christmas

We had 3 wonderful Christmas celebrations this year. First, we celebrated at our house a few days before the 25th. Santa was so kind to make an early stop at our house to accommodate our travels! We left him a plate of milk and cookies, along with some carrots and an apple for the hard-working reindeer. All the food was gone in the morning when we woke up! Speaking of waking up the next morning - Cassidy was the first to crack open her bedroom door. I heard her in the hallway, but she was too excited and overwhelmed to peek into the living room on her own. She came into our room, and I told her I'd walk out with her, but I asked her to give me a minute to "get dressed." All I meant was that I wanted to grab some socks and a warm sweatshirt. But she ran out saying, "OK! I'll get dressed too!" A full 10 minutes later, she finally emerged from her room in her "fanciest" clothes (which ended up being her beloved twirly skirt from Grammy and Aunt Belinda, which really should have had a shirt on underneath, along with her ballet slippers and a crown). By this time, Gavin was awake too, so we made our way into the family room to check out the tree together. The gift-opening started right away. Cassidy had been saying for weeks that she desperately wanted a "talking Hiro", which is a special train character from the Thomas the Train movies. She was thrilled that Santa had one with her name on it. Gavin is too young to have a real wish list, but he was very excited to open some new books and a special plush Thomas train that plays bedtime messages when you press a button on top. It was a magical Christmas, and we spent the whole rest of the day immersed in toys!

A couple days later, we made our way to Rockford to celebrate Christmas with the Reders. This year, we arrived to find that Grandpa Reder had set up his old Lionel train set in the basement. It had been a gift to him from his grandfather back in 1950. It needed a little TLC, but it was up and running most of the weekend! The kids were fascinated and spent hours downstairs watching the engines chug along with Grandpa at the controls. So neat! We had fun visiting with the whole family. The kids love seeing their cousins! We all went out together for a wonderful brunch at a local cafe on Christmas Eve, and we spent the rest of the day exchanging gifts and going to church just before dinner. Once the kids were asleep that night, the adults had a gift exchange. This one is always calmer than the daytime kids' exchange! It was a wonderful day all around.


Christmas morning, we woke up and got right in the car to join the Brown family for our next celebration. We always love seeing Grammy and Grandpa Brown, Aunt Mel and Uncle Aaron, and of course Cooper the dog, whom the kids adore (despite Gavin's current hesitation around all canines!). We had a Christmas morning gift exchange, and had a relaxing afternoon spent playing with new toys and catching up with everyone. The kids took their naps on Grandpa's lap after all that playtime! Grammy made a delicious dinner (homemade Swedish meatballs are the tradition!) and Erik and I got to enjoy a night out to see a movie later in the evening. The next day, we went to a morning church service and watched the Bears game together (a win!).

We had such a wonderful visit with all of our family, and we are so thankful for all the Christmas blessings we enjoyed throughout this season.

A Wintry December

It's been a fun and busy December! As expected, it's been snowy and cold - no surprise for Chicago. I brace myself for the frigid temps and try to remember the fun parts, like building snowmen and drinking hot cocoa! Erik was very excited to be heading to a Bears game with 3 of his buddies one Sunday afternoon. However, it happened to be the Sunday that all of Chicagoland went under a blizzard warning. But, the optimists that they are, Erik and the guys bundled up and braved the cold. Unfortunately it was a tough loss for the Bears, but the weather made for a memorable game. And of course Erik had a great time catching up with his buds, as always.

December also brings the annual holiday party with Erik's company. Erik has been with West Monroe since its inception, so this year was our 8th consecutive year in attendance. They always pick a fun, festive venue that gives us the opportunity to get dressed up and head into the city for an evening amongst adults. This year it was held at the Latin restaurant "Carnivale." We had a fantastic time as always! Erik is lucky to work with such a great group of people. He always says they are his favorite part of his job.

We also celebrated the Christmas season all month long. One day while Gavin took a long afternoon nap, Erik and Cassidy made a gingerbread train together. Such fun! It has been part of our kitchen counter's decor all month long. We also had the chance to meet Santa with our playgroup friends. We had seen Santa out and about at various places throughout the past few weeks, never really up close, and the kids seemed pretty hesitant. So I did not have high hopes of getting a photo on Santa's lap at playgroup. But after he read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas aloud to all the kids in a circle, Cassidy and Gavin were the first to pop right into his lap. They were all smiles. So, the photo was snapped afterall. We asked him what the reindeer would like to eat on Christmas Eve, and he answered carrots and apples, so we decided we'd make sure to leave those out alongside Santa's milk and cookies. More to come in my next post about our Christmas celebrations!

Girls' Weekend at the Beach

Earlier this year, my 3 best friends from college and I started talking about how fun it would be to hit the beach for a long weekend together. Now that we're all stay-at-home moms to 2 young kids, all living in different states, we don't have a lot of time to catch up. We decided a weekend in South Florida would do our souls some good. So we left our wonderful husbands in charge for 3 days and flew down to the beach for the weekend. The moment the idea arose, we decided we'd try to do something like this every year, knowing each year that any one of us might have to sit a year out due to life circumstances - new babies, family obligations, etc. So, this year, we really missed Tara, who needed to stay close to home to prepare for her lengthy holiday travels (among many other things!). Jamie, Meg and I had the most wonderful time - we slept in until 9am (3 hours past normal), collected seashells along the beach in the warm sunshine, and enjoyed some great local seafood at a couple fun restaurants. We stumbled upon a live band on our first night in town, and they were so great that we ended up staying out much later than I have in months just to enjoy the scene! It was such a refreshing trip, and I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends in my life. I really hope we can make it an annual getaway!
Meanwhile, back at home...the kids had SO much fun with daddy! Erik really did well - 3 days on your own with 2 small kids can be a challenge. He kept them very occupied and very happy. While I was gone, Chicago got its first snowfall of the season. So, Erik was fighting the crowds at Target for new snowpants and helped the kids create our new snowman, "Carroty." I am so thankful to him for allowing me this time away. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful husband!