Snow Days

Glorious, pure, white, pristine snow has fallen upon us once again! Around this household we love it and even though it is almost March, I welcome the six plus inches. As soon as Noelle was carried out into the living room Tuesday morning and glanced outside, her face lit up and with much enthusiasm she said, "Yook Mommy Bear, yots of snow!".

Soon after eating a very weak breakfast Noelle was calling for "Cup-o-snow, peas!". When I was a little girl we always looked forward to big snow falls and my Dad would slip on boots and trudge out to find a clean pile. One without dog prints and or other unnamed things, and then fill three cups of snow for us kiddies to indulge in. I find myself doing the same for Noelle and she enjoys it as much as I did. Oh, the simple pleasures in life, a cup of snow!

Later Aunt CeeCee once again came to visit and spend time with all of us. Noelle conned her into playing in the snow. Despite not having any snow gear Charlotte went out anyways. Sledding and sliding, the snow was a haven of pure fun.

Again, today, Friday, the snow has been floating down from the heavens. This weekend will be one filled with much time outside. To all those haters of snow out there, come on over and we'll show you a good time. There is nothing like a two year old, cheeks and nose red as an apple, begging to stay out a "yittle bit yonger" as she runs and eats as much snow as possible, to make one appreciate it.


Here is a little recipe for Snow Ice Cream to make you feel like a child again:

8 cups snow or crushed ice
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together and serve immediately!

Yellow Poo

While intently playing Mom to Bear, Noelle decided he needed a diaper change. She delicately undid the diaper and exclaimed, "Bear have yellow poopy like Max!". I asked her why was Bear's poo yellow and the answer was, "Cause Bear drink Noelle booby milk".

They truly are sponges!

Well Speak

First, I couldn't resist posting a picture of my little bro in action. The Traverse City Central Trojans finished first in their hockey conference (The Big North Coference) composed of Northern Michigan High Schools. Alex, being only a mere sophomore, finished second in goals in the whole conference. I'm so proud of him! Behind Noelle, Charlotte and I run a close second as VP's of the Alex Goodhue Fan Club.

I have some fresh quotes, and stories floating in my head. Since I have given up all hope about a year ago of keeping up Noelle's baby book, this blog is serving as one for her. I won't even attempt to keep one for Max, sorry Bud. Here are some stories and quotes I want to remember:

Last week, during nap time I go to check on Noelle because much noise could be heard from her room. I walk in and she is standing with her arms crossed and loudly exclaims, "I'm mad!". I polietly hide my smile and ask why is she mad. "I'm mad at nap!", of course I then asked why she was mad at her nap, "Nap no fun!". If she only knew how much adults not only love naps, but crave them. I guess when you are two the nap is nothing more than the emeny that takes you away from toys and fun.

While trying to complete the task of putting on a diaper for her baby, it was soon whipped and Noelle screamed out, "I SO FUSRATED!". When asked why she was frustrated she responded with, "I sooo fusrated at diaper. Diaper broke."

Noelle and I were having a discussion about love
Me: "Do you love Mommy?"
Noelle: "Yeah"
Me: "Do you love Daddy?"
Noelle: "Yeah"
Me: "Who else do you love?"
Without any hesitation at all: "I lub Zeus, chocat, and new clothes"
A girl after my own heart!!

I was feeding Max and could unfortunately feel and hear him fill his diaper. As Noelle was standing next to me and heard the sound I told her that he just pooped his pants and I would change him after he finished eating. She bent down close to his diaper and sniffed. "Baby Max real real stinky". I kind of glared at her because of the grossness of what just happened. She responded with, "Mommy Bear laugh, peas." I couldn't help myself and laughed while trying to explain that she didn't need to smell his diaper anymore.

During out bedtime reading session I was intently reading a story to Noelle. With a voice similar to someone who has just smelled the worst smell ever created she coughed out while holding her nose, "Mommy breath SO stinky!". She quickly jumped off my lap and ran to Daddy, "Daddy read book peas, Mommy breath stinky". Thanks Noelle.

This weekend we had Aunt Liz, Uncle Larry, cousins Larry and Colton, and Granpa Ro-gig come visit. They brought a Wii and as Tom and I were competively playing a bowling game, I had a bad frame, behind me I heard, "Mommy do real real real real baaaaaad!". Tom soon was told the same. What a little cheerleader we have.

This morning as we were snuggling on the couch, Noelle looked at the empty candy jar on the side table. With her eyebrows furrowed she said "Granpa Ro-gig eat all chocat eggs". Being accused of eating all the chocolate eggs is a serious offense Grandpa!

Saturday Tom and Noelle ventured out to the store and made a quick stop at the car wash. Because of a long line in the automatic wash, Tom went to the manual. When he was finished and hopped back into the car Noelle said, "I cry Daddy", there was no evidence of tears and as he made frequent peeks inside, Tom was sure she was bluffing. He asked if she had fun at the carwash, and she sounded off with an enthusiastic "yeah!" However, as they pulled out she loudly called, "Dryers Peas!". Tom explained that this car wash didn't have dryers. Further down the road she was crying for the dryers and Tom asked if she like the dryers. "Dryers scare Well" was the response. Just like Noelle enjoys being scared from time to time in the dark hallway, she apparently likes being scared by the dryers at the carwash!

Aunt CeeCee In The House!

This week we have had the pleasure of Aunt CeeCee coming to stay with us. She came in on Tuesday and left today, Friday. Her assistance with the children has been a true blessing.

Noelle loves to convince Aunt CeeCee to do things I would never agree to, hence the face painting picture!

After every disciplinary action I attempted, Charlotte would laugh at Noelle's typical two year old reaction. All bets were then off to actually follow through with the discipline. It will take a bit to get things back to normal but we sure did laugh a lot. When Tom was home he would tell Charlotte to stop laughing and Noelle picked up on that very quickly. She would look right into Aunt CeeCee's face and say "Stop laughing CeeCee" after we were desperately trying to put her in time out.

Wednesday we drove in to Ann Arbor. I wanted to do some clothes shopping for the children and with Charlotte around it was the perfect opportunity. I have never let Noelle roam totally on her own in a store and it was so much fun. She is all girl and knew how to shop right away. She would pick something out and say, "Mommy this one so cute!" then throw it into the cart. If I put something back she would go and get it again and excitedly say, "Mommy this one very very very cute! I please have it?". Basically she ended up getting just about all that she thought was cute, how could I refuse? While in the boys section she also had to help picking out things for Max. "Max look so cute with dis" was the standard while she grabbed a ton of different things. I am not sure I will let her do too much shopping with me again because I ended up purchasing way more than originally planned, but it was such an entertaining outing.

That night Charlotte put her extraordinary skills to use and made me a brunette with blonde highlights! It's a big change for me and I'm in love with it...let me know your opinion by leaving a comment if you want.

Thursday we decided to all go grocery shopping. Boy, that sounds really lame as I write it, but for a new Mom of two it was a big outing. Sad as that may sound, it's true. Char and Noelle were in one cart and by the time I met back up with them Noelle had done most of the shopping. She conned her gullible Aunt CeeCee into powdered doughnuts saying "I lub dese powdered do-nuts CeeCee!". She also pushed the cart around, picked out whatever she wanted, and basically ran the store. Charlotte is the epitome of sucker when it comes to Noelle, but that is what Aunts are for.

Max has been a bit fussy lately, only wanting to be held by me. That has been making life a little difficult. I can't let him get upset while being held by someone else. When he is crying while in another set of arms, those motherly instincts take completely over and I want to scoop him up and end the tears. Charlotte was extremely patient with me and him, forcing me to let her hold Max. By the time she left Max was getting used to her and didn't fuss nearly as much.

She has only been gone a few hours and I'm missing her already. It was another wonderful visit that was relaxing and enjoyable. Oh, I forgot to mention Tom and I were able to go to a lovely dinner without kids on Tuesday night! It was our first outing together, alone, since Max came into our lives. Good food and great conversation with my loved one made for an excellent dinner, one I think we as a couple really needed. Thank you so much Charlotte, for everything these last few days. Come again very soon!

Bye Bye Baby, Graduation, and Hockey Family

On Monday, after much consideration and just a tiny bit of regret we decided it was time to say Adios! to our little Maximilian and move him into his room. It may sound a bit heartless and one may question how a mother can give the heave-ho to a five week old baby, but you have not slept in the same room with our little guy. Noelle was also a big grunter and got the boot after only a few weeks. This new Grunt Master General has the ability to be completely asleep and belt out some unbelievably loud grunts that wake me about every hour.

The first night went very well and he was able to sleep about four and a half hours straight! I am greatly anticipating that first night that we get a full six to eight hours, and here is the key, in a row. If he is anything like Noelle it will be very very soon.

Congratulations to Aunt CeeCee who graduated from the Michigan College of Beauty on Friday. The kids and I got up early and headed to Troy to watch. Noelle was a bit shy around the large group of people but loved being with CeeCee. We all went to lunch afterward to celebrate. We are very proud of Charlotte and I know she will be very successful in the industry.

Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed to Trenton. Uncle Alex was playing in a hockey Showcase so we had to attend. I can't miss my little brother when he is only an hour away. Noelle was very excited since she is the president of the Uncle Fan Club. After the game, in which they won of course, Granpa, Uncle Alex, Charlotte and her boyfriend all came back to the house. Noelle was over the moon with joy to have such a crowd around. She wore a new very spring dress and danced around like a little princess and was a ham at every turn.

We had taken off her diaper and let her wear some underwear for awhile. At one point she took off the underwear and looked at them, "no poop in underwear!" she exclaimed. Then she quickly rushed to Uncle and shoved them in his face while shrieking, "Look Uncle, no poop!". Alex wasn't too happy about that but the rest of us got a very good laugh. Shortly thereafter she did have an accident and couldn't make it to her potty for a number two. We cleaned her up and after she ran to Uncle and said, "I pooped on floor, Uncle!". Every detail of her day had to be shared with her favorite person, Lucky Alex. Nap time was missed but strangely she didn't seem to show any of the signs that one was needed. She had family to entertain and that she did. We literally all relaxed while she held our attention and fed off the laughter. Do I dare say she is a bit like her mother in the respect of wanting to be the center of attention?

Around 6pm the house was empty and Noelle was very sad. We quickly distracted her and it has been nonstop, Uncle this and Uncle that!

Fat Tuesday and Stuff

While I did not indulge in the obligatory paczki today I did do something semi-shameful! While Noelle and Max were both napping and quiet was reigning over the house, I went to the cupboard searching for something to satisfy my intense sweet tooth. There, on the top shelf, was a brand new can of chocolate fudge frosting beckoning to me. I snatched it up and tore into it. While reaching for a spoon, because I didn't want to be too desperate, my eyes fell upon some bananas. Chocolate and bananas, oh such a wonderful combination, seemed just right to quench this all consuming sweet tooth. Plus, in my mind adding a banana to the mix automatically cancels out all calories pertaining to the frosting! I swear I scarfed down that banana, smothered with enough frosting to add ten pounds to the sucker, in record time. Go Natalie! Oh, since I never post pictures including myself I thought I would add this one of Max and I...I am in an extreme need of a hair job and my makeup is nonexistent, but such is life with children. Thanks for taking the picture Karen, it's the first one that I did not want to instantly search for the delete button.

So that is my quick confession...now on to the stories that have filled our lives since the last post. On Friday, my good friend Jackie Hein made the drive from Chicago to visit us. I knew I could count on Jackie's love for a relaxing glass of wine and I had a bottle chilling. Half a glass for me and my cheeks became red and blotchey, and I felt a little tipsy. Half a glass? Can you believe that? I guess that is what happens when you don't have a drink for nine plus months! Anyways, I enjoyed the glass nonetheless and the laughs that Tom and Jackie experienced at my expense were worth it. On Saturday Tom decided to watch the little ones while I enjoyed a wonderful dinner out with Jackie. We went to a Mexican restaurant that I had heard good things about in the area. The outing was just what this Momma needed. Good company and good food are always a winning combination for recharging a new Mom.

Saturday was also the first time Zeus was attached to a sled with Noelle in it. Friday, we finally received the right amount of snow that gave itself to some serious play time. The brand new sled was fished out of the back of Noelle's closet and her little face lit right up. After the mandatory 20 minute dress session (why does it seem like an eternity to dress children)? The snow suit is always impossible to slip on, as is getting all the fingers into the mittens while pulling the coat over. All of this while trying not to undue what has all ready been done, (what a challenge)! Noelle walked outside very excitedely to say the least. Tom hooked up Zeus and Noelle held on for dear life! The whole idea was short lived due to the fact Zeus was a little too excited and would jerk Noelle around. Jackie and I watched in the warmth of the house as they decided to try their hand at the little hill in our yard. Noelle did enjoy it, but eating the snow was more fun than sledding and being pulled by Zeus. Of course, Daddy pulling her while scooping snow was the ultimate pleasure!

Today we had some friends come and visit. It was a great relief to spend time with another Mom while the kiddies entertained themselves until nap time approached. I really appreciate trading stories and laughing with another Mom.

Here are some stories of Noelle that I just have to share:

* Noelle's prized teddy bear somehow sustained a tear along the backside she came up to Tom and sadly proclaimed, "Bear have tear-itis."

* Tom was using his pocket knife to pry open a music maker to change the batteries, Noelle with much worry in her voice said "Daddy no cut yourself, peas!"

* Putting on her glasses in the morning, "Noelle SO petty with glasses!"

* "I gotta dollar, hey, hey, hey, hey!" We gave her a dollar to put in her new wallet while we watched the Little Rascals movie

* While playing with play doh I made some little play doh balls and some big ones. Noelle picked up two and sang, "I got two big balls, hey, hey, hey, hey!"

* The Caesar song: "Caesar Meesar, pudding pie, kiss the gurls and make em croy!"