Super Saturday morning!

What a great morning we had today! Mike did not have to work, which is a big Saturday bonus in the summer! We went to our favorite breakfast spot, then we headed toward the beach. We actually do this every weekend... breakfast, then to the beach to feed the "kai kai's" the rest of Kyle's pancakes. This is Kyle's word for birds, which came from quack quack. He has some strange word morphs.

Anyway, we headed down, but today was Paws on the Pier so we did that first. It's a fundraiser for the Al-Van Humane Society and there were lots of dogs walking their paws on the pier. Kyle was in heaven and was so gentle petting them all. Mulligan would have been in awe considering the rough housing they do. While on the pier we also fed the ducks a bunch of leftover bread we'd had at the house.

Then on to the beach. Kyle was loving the water! He was running along the shore. Of course, it wasn't long before he tripped and got all wet, so shortly after that he was covered in sand. It was all worth it for the fun! And the kai kai's did get to enjoy leftover pancake while we were there.

Ahhh... summer fun on the shores of Lake Michigan!

Pictures from the week...

We got Kyle's little pool out this week and he had a lot of fun playing in it. I've been a little torn about getting him a bigger one, but since we put the new lawn in last year I am not relishing the thought of having one we can't easily empty and move around. I don't want a big circle of dead grass. Considering Kyle seems to have much more fun with the hose, I'm not too worried about it. Erin has been so cooperative about Kyle's play time... she's sleeps for quite awhile after he is up from his nap. Her pack and play is right by the window looking out at the side yard, so we can play in it and listen for her to wake up.

And here are a couple shots of Erin. She has become SUCH a smiler. I love, love, love it. She has these wonderful grins. I need to capture more on film. And one of her sleeping... I think she is dreaming about bustin' a move. Note the similar picture of Kyle from when he was about a month older than Erin below it, LOL.

And here's Mulligan. His deer-in-the-headlights expression is saying, "I am not wearing these beads willingly!" I will give you one guess as to who put Mulligan into Mardi Gras attire. :)

Where's the manual?

Shouldn't there be a manual on how to raise children? Kyle is taking us on a pretty wild ride of the terrible twos, probably in combination of bringing a sibling home to rock his world. He simply does not listen. We simply have no control. So I am doing my best to find the next best thing to a manual. I have three books going right now on toddlers, parenting and discipline. If I combine the best aspects of all three I figure I *have* to wind up with an angel, right?

Erin will be six weeks old tomorrow. That means that six weeks ago tonight we had our last night of putting Kyle to bed and having him actually stay in bed. Since Erin has come home he thinks he is missing something. He comes back down the stairs 756 times each night, sometimes for up to two hours. He comes down two stairs and peeks at us. He makes a camp with his pillows on the upstairs landing. He drives us nuts!

After much discussion, today I bought one of those door knob safety features things that spins when a child tries to open the door, yet an adult can squeeze it in just the right place and open the door. Why this is a "safety" feature I don't know. I think it is a sanity feature in this house.



Here's where I sought a manual, again. Kyle and I were rocking and reading bedtime stories in his room. I kept questioning myself, "Do I tell him about the door?" I did; I didn't want him to be scared that it wouldn't open. I had him try it. I explained how this would help him be a good boy and stay in bed. I also gave him one of several Thomas series trains I have on hand for an occasion when a new train may make a difference.

Tonight Kyle got Salty. A red train that works on the docks. I told him Salty would keep him company since he would have to stay in his room.

So, it went fairly well. I did go in twice because Kyle was upset about the door. The second time I told him I would not be back in again until morning. All has been quiet for about an hour.

We may be on to something here. Whew. Now on to figuring out the next thing on the list.

Mmmm... strawberry shortcake night!

One night this week we had strawberry shortcake for dinner. What you say? When I was growing up my best friend Stacy's mom used to do this one night a year when the Michigan strawberries came in. Even though I didn't like strawberries at the time, I think it was such a fun idea I copied their family tradition and brought it to our family. This is our second year having a strawberry shortcake night with our delicious Michigan strawberries. This year we used strawberries picked fresh that morning that I bought from a farm stand.

Here's a pic from dinner this week, and one from last year just for a fun comparison. It made me laugh when I saw that I used the same plate since we don't use that one very often anymore.

Our Saturday Photo Shoot

Taking pictures, or having them taken, of an active toddler is always a challenge. Kyle does not like to sit still for photos! Erin did well, and actually decided to be awake for the occasion. Of course, getting all four of us smiling at once was a challenge we couldn't meet. That's okay, we got some good shots overall. And I can't add captions into the slide show, but some of these are funny... like the one where the ball is in midair next to Kyle, or when he climbed onto Mike's back instead of into his lap.

Erin is one month old!

WOW! Where has the time gone? I can't believe it was actually one month ago today that she entered our lives! Of course if you ask Erin where the time has gone, she will yawn and tell you she slept through it, LOL.

Erin still sleeps a lot; much more than Kyle ever did. She is a little more alert each day, though, and really beginning to show some personality. She smiles responsively a lot now, and it just melts my heart to see her do it. She will smile readily if you stroke her cheek or give her a kiss. This means Kyle gets tons of smiles since he must kiss her at least a hundred times a day!

Erin has also warmed my heart with her nighttime sleeping. The girl is giving her mom a break! For the past week she has been settling into a routine of going down for the night around 11, waking up between 3 and 4 to eat, and then she will sleep until about 9. Now if I could just get Kyle to quit getting up between 5 and 6 life would be bliss!

Happy birthday, Erin!

Kyle heads to "school"!!

Kyle began a new "school" today when he headed off to Kidzone. He will go there for three hours each day on Mondays and Wednesdays so I can get some work done. My prime times for getting my editing job done have always been Kyle's nap and the evening. Now these are prime times for Erin to want to eat and be held!

Kidzone is where Kyle's cousin, Jack, goes, so he will get some play time in with him, also. I think overall it will be great for Kyle to get to spend a little time in a daycare environment again. I always loved KinderCare when he went there, and was sad to pull him out. I felt I was pulling him out of an environment where he was socializing and learning. While I have spent time taking him to play groups and story hours, much of that is over for the summer so this is good timing.

I always referred to KinderCare as school, so I did the same with Kidzone this morning. It went over well until we went to get in the car and Kyle was upset he didn't get to ride a school bus!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Mike, the best Dad my kids could possibly have! He is so great with them... we are all so lucky!

Happy Father's Day also to my Dad, and we remember Mike's Dad in our hearts today.

Shine on, Kyle

We like to experience the effects of Murphy's Law in our house... the universe's way of poking fun at things we try to plan. Within two hours of making an appointment to have professional pictures taken on Saturday Kyle accidently collided heads with the neighbor boy. Yep, his eye got the brunt of it and he's got a shiner.

I've kept the appointment figuring one of two things will happen. It may just look better by then. Or, if not, these pictures will show Kyle as Kyle is... a busy, active, fearless boy. They will tell a story of life as it is with this glorious toddler.

Shortly after "the incident."

Today, less swelling... more bruise.

These are a few of my favorite things... by Kyle

In no particular order, here are a few of Kyle's favorite things. Below Kyle is painting; he is really into finger painting as opposed to brush painting, and loves doing hand prints. In general, Kyle likes doing crafts, playing with Play Doh, etc.

Kyle is really into books. We read a lot of books before nap time and bedtime every day. He has favorites, and we often will read the same book many times in a row, then move on to another favorite a few days later. He also likes to sit down and read books on his own, even on the kitchen floor, LOL.

Kyle usually loves getting a bath, although sometimes he will adamantly decide he doesn't want one that night. Now that it is summer, we are lucky he likes baths since he is often one dirty boy by day's end!

While in the tub, Kyle likes to play with his letters, which is another favorite thing right now. Anytime something has letters on it, like the name on the front of the TV, or the name on the handle of the grocery cart, etc., Kyle likes to tell me the letters. He only truly knows a few of them, but he likes to sit and say letters and letter sounds.

These are by far favorites of Kyle's, because they have to go everywhere with us -- blankie, usually referred to simply as "green," and puppy, referred to as "Ba Boof," which morphed from woof woof. Note Kyle's index finger is tucked under, this is how he usually holds his blankie!

Yep, Kyle is a TV boy. If the TV is on, it is typically on Noggin. Here he is watching Max and Ruby, a favorite -- much to Mike's dismay since he can't stand it! And I can never figure out why these rabbits have no parents and Ruby is the bossy sister. Kyle's all time favorite show is Bob the Builder, though.

Cars and trucks. Any car, any truck. I really should sit down and count some day, because Kyle has more cars and trucks than any boy could possibly need... although he will tell you they are all important!

And Kyle's new all time favorite thing is... yep, Erin. Awwwwwww...

Happy three weeks, Erin!

At three weeks Erin continues to be an easy going baby who sleeps most of the time. I can't complain, although a little more sleep at night would be good!

I thought we'd take a moment to compare Kyle and Erin as babies. Their biggest difference is that Kyle's hair was much more blond and Erin's is much more red. Kyle had a little red to his hair, which he no longer has, but Erin's is pretty much red. We have no idea where this came from, other than that Mike and I each have a cousin with red hair. We'll see what hers does; strawberry blond would be nice! Since Kyle was two pounds lighter at birth, I think we'll be able to compare their similaries and differences a little better in another month or two. And when we can actually get some shots of Erin awake, LOL.

Here is Erin yesterday. I think she looks like a doll. I love, love her lips.

Here is handsome Kyle as a newborn...

I used to think they looked more alike until I looked at these! Although if you look at Erin's hospital picture to the left in the sidebar, I think they look more similar.

Hmm, tearing down our house?

Our neighborhood has been a flutter with controversy lately because of plans to redo the water mains and sewer lines on our street, and resurface the street at the same time. Sounds like a good thing overall, but each homeowner on the street is expected to share in the cost -- to the tune of $3,500 each. Therein lies the controversy (after all, what do we pay taxes for?)

We have even more controversy because we live on the corner of Superior Street and a dead end alley. Our driveway is on the alley, and there are three homes down the alley from us. The other houses have very screwy water lines, including that one of them feeds off the other so one neighbor actually writes a check to the other neighbor each month to cover his water usage. Clearly these should be sorted out.

So Mike has been going to council meetings, and we've been talking with other neighbors about it. Mike and I both pretty much think the project should happen and that the alley should be included, we just want to make sure that we don't get billed twice, once for the street and once for the alley.

Imagine our surprise when we were told that the city was looking at three possible solutions, and one of them included widening the alley, which would require them to "purchase and demolish the house at 901 Superior Street." YES, that is US!

I was shocked at first to think that we may be forced to move quickly. Then we started to wonder how much we would get for the house, since, after all, they were displacing a family. During dinner I said to Mike, "Hey, you'd never have to finish the trim work." LOL

It's actually all a moot point now because the city has decided they don't have time to add the alley into the plans and will just be doing the street. Gotta love it that they decided they don't have time to do it right and fix the wacky way the lines were originally set up, so they will just move forward with the original plans.

So, for now, you can continue to send any snail mail to 901 Superior. :-)