A weekend with Grandma Mary & Grandpa Craig

We welcomed Grandma Mary and Grandpa Craig for a nice weekend visit with plenty on the agenda.  Between showing them the train garden at the Botanic Garden, to going on the boat for the first time, to seeing Donna & Emil's new house, we had lots to keep us busy.  My favorite part of the weekend was just watching them interact with Luke and Claire.  (My least favorite part was watching 'The Impossible", the movie about the tsunami in Thailand.  I basically cried or hid my face in the pillow for 90% of it.  Moms beware, it is a tough one to watch.) 

Kid observation log:

• Luke loves to turn off all the lights in the house, and shut all the doors, too.  He is methodical, going from room to room, it is really funny.  This kid is not afraid of the dark.  The sad thing is (at least for me) that he can reach all the light switches WITHOUT his stools!  How did he get to be such a big kid?  
• Luke is singing and dancing so much more, it is really fun.  He used to just want you to sing to him, but now he gets in on the action.  In the bath one night we were singing "Wheels on the bus" and we sing "The Mommies on the bus" verse and instead of saying "Shhh Shhh Shhh" he says "The Mommies on the bus say 'Don't drink the dirty water, don't drink the dirty water, don't drink the dirty water.'"  Then he laughed at how funny he was.  I laughed too at his good memory and clever lyrics - because even though I have told him that many times, I hadn't for a while.  Smart kid:)
• Luke is newly obsessed with his night light turtle, even though he's owned it for a couple years now.  It actually is an incentive to going to bed at naptime and at bedtime - without the nightly fight of "only 3 books".  Amazing miracle product.
• Luke usually just ignores Claire, but the other day I was in the bedroom putting away clothes while Claire was in her swing and Luke was playing with his puzzles.  Luke came in to tell me that "Claire Bear is crying, Mommy".  This was the first time he seemed aware of her and concerned enough to come and tell me.  It was either that or her crying was hurting his ears and he wanted me to stop her from making all that noise!  
• Claire is holding herself up so well.  I can hold her on my hip with just one arm, instead of having to support her neck and head.  That means we have a baby now, not an infant!
• Claire is a grabbing machine.  She grabs onto toys, my clothes, my jewelry and my hair most of all (ouch!).  I forgot that a few months after you have a baby you lose a lot of hair.  I have been experiencing this crazy hair loss, so when Claire pulls more  of my hair out it isn't helping the situation!

Walking to the train garden.  He never lets me hold his hand, but asked to hold Grandma Mary's hand.

Looking at a train going by.

Love the puffball flowers

It was a beautiful day to go to the gardens

Boating time!  It was pretty chilly on the water, but still pretty fun.

Claire's first time on the boat!  The baby who never fusses hated the life vest, as all babies are required to because they are awful and uncomfortable.

Grandma reading Lukers stories, notice Claire craning to hear the story too!

SO big!

Enjoying a lovely visit in D&E's new backyard.

We walked to giant Bowen Park through a beautiful ravine trail from D&E's house.

Look at this beautiful face.  

Super strong stander-upper!  Rolls on the legs going strong.  We actually have to put a cream in between her skin rolls to protect that skin because it never sees the light of day!

Back to reality

Our baby is 3 months old already, hard to believe!  So you know what that means...(cue the foreboding music)...back to work I must go.  It was an absolutely unbelievable, amazing, stupendous three months.  I could definitely be a stay-at-home Mom, provided I still had Isolene here to help everyday and Matt here a lot of the time too, of course.  Wait, that's not what being a stay-at-home Mom is like at all, I'm told.  That's more like the lives that Hollywood starlet Moms have.  Hmmm.  Maybe check that.  In any case, I guess all good things must come to an end, and reality has invaded in the form of my full-time job.  Not that I don't enjoy my job, I do (for the most part).  I just enjoyed the set-up I had for the past few months quite a bit more.  Going back to work this time was so much more difficult than it was with just Luke.  Now I have two babies to kiss goodbye in the morning, and having been home with Luke so much more made me realize everything I had been missing with him.  Also, unlike when I went back to work the first time, he can talk.  So now he can vocalize "Mommy, don't leeeeaaavee!  Don't go to work today, stay home with meeeee!"  Ahh!  Straight through the heart!  Anyway, going back to work was fine - I was suitably overwhelmed by the workload, concerned about work/life balance, and wondering about my decision to go back to work.  You know, typical working Mom stuff.  It didn't help that I caught a cold immediately and lost my voice, so was feeling crappy physically.  But after the first week it started to get better, and now it isn't so bad.  I just needed to get back into a new routine and reassure myself that I will still see my children, and I am not missing their whole lives.  I do like what I do, and my life/career coach Katie Richardson just reminds me that I need to set boundaries to maintain my work/life balance.  I can do it!

Anyway, tell me about Roon....(inside joke, sorry, movie quote from Big Business (best movie ever)).

Claire is 3 months old and still a big adorably chunky baby!  She has officially passed Luke up in weight - he was less than her at 3 months despite being born a half a pound heavier.  She is verbalizing so much, and laughs at so many things, and is holding onto toys and being much more interested in everything in general.  She's getting so much more interactive, it is really fun.

Weight:  15 lbs

Length 25.5 inches

Here are some other cute pictures from the week.  Not much news to report on the Luke front.  He has a toy phone that he got from Aunt Diane & Uncle Garry that he calls his "iphone" (how about that branding?!  I have to appreciate it as a marketer myself).  Anyway, he carries his iphone around and asks me to "smile, Mommy!" so he can take my picture, he even presses the little button on it.  So cute how he mimics me with my phone.  We tried to have him sleep in his bed without the bed rail up because he rarely moves around when he sleeps.  But wouldn't you know it, the night we try to do this he wakes up in the middle of the night all tangled up in his blanket.  I was watching him on the monitor for a couple seconds as he tried to stand up and re-cover himself.  I shot down the hall as soon as I saw what he was trying to do, but before I got there he lost his balance amid all the sheets and stuff and fell out of bed on his head!  He was pretty shaken up, but then went back to sleep pretty quickly.  We'll have to try the no bed rail thing again another day.  

First time on the swing!

First time on the slide!

She loved it!

On Saturday we had a nice visit with Katie's Dad and girlfriend.  They were in town from Tucson for Bobbi's son's graduation from the Great Lakes Naval Station, not 10 minutes away from us.

Saturday night out on the town with my former swim friends!  

Sunday we hosted a brunch for the Eichinger side of the family since Dan, Amy and their kids were in town from Springfield.  It also was Uncle Mike's birthday and Dan & Amy's anniversary.  This is their pose when I asked to take an anniversary picture of them.  Typical:)  They're so funny.

The guys chatting around the table.

All the kids playing in the basement.  It was a really cold day - in the 40's in June!

Three boys in the ball pit.

Lila, Sara and Claire.  Claire looks like she's a little concerned about something!  Ha!

Pretty girl Lila.

All the kids, minus Claire, on the playset

Pretty competitive races on the driveway.

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike!

cake time

Dan jokingly asked to borrow a "parka" because it was so freezing out, so I brought out my Purdue swimming parka!  We aim to please:)

Idyllic Idaho - Part II

As promised, here is the pictorial recap from the rest of our trip to Idaho Falls.  We can't wait for our next trip out there!

Started our day on with a trip to the Farmer's Market,  and Luke got to see the namesake "Falls"in downtown Idaho Falls.

Can't go to IF without stopping at the Candy Cottage!  YUM!

Crazy, amazing sighting of this majestic bald eagle.  Then, as if that wasn't cool enough, it started fighting with an osprey that was angry that the eagle had stolen its food.  It was an aerial battle that was not to be missed (unless you're Matt who drove right on by, unimpressed, and we had to all yell at him to turn around so we could watch).

Ben asked a bird expert after we left what kind of bird the eagle was fighting with, we couldn't tell right then and there, we thought it was a hawk of some kind.  

I had asked Ben & Linda if we could go on a hike while we were there, and they suggested this awesome shortish hike up one of the buttes near their home.  It was pretty steep for Lukers, but Ben was awesome helping him make his way up.    He walked most of the way, but Ben did have some steep parts where he carried him.  Not an easy task!

Luke enjoyed sitting down at inopportune times and playing in the dirt.

Up at the top!  It was super windy!

Lovely views

We were slightly worried about Luke falling off the cliffs, so had to contain the beast during some moments up on the top.

Stinkers also liked to just let Ben and I do the work and would just slide his feet down the dirt instead of walking.

The walking sticks helped Matt (with Claire) keep his balance coming down the rocky path.

Resting and eating a snack after our hike, photo bomb from Uncle Ben!  Matt was able to negotiate a 7 passenger Explorer for the same price as our midsize Priceline reservation, sweet deal!  Easier for us all to travel together the whole time we were there.  In the car a well-enjoyed activity was that Ben and I (we were in the third row the whole time together) would sing "Pop goes the weasel" to Claire and she would laugh so much when Ben pretended to be a crazy, rabid weasel.  

Another must-do Idaho Falls activity - a stop at Reed's Dairy for the BEST ice cream in the whole world (and the best chocolate milk, incidentally, I may actually need to dry ice ship myself some for an arm and a leg- it is that good)

You can see all the cows at the dairy - and thank them personally for the yummy ice cream!

Pumpkin pie.  Just try not to kiss those sweet cheeks, I dare you!

A tour of Ben & Linda's property after a midday nap.  Feeding the horses carrots.

A pile of dirt is as fun as anything else you could have planned.

They have over 4 acres, so Ben worked up this little wagon ride of Lukers to ride around in.

They allow their neighbors to pasture their horses on their land.  It really is so gorgeous, especially as the sun is setting.

An up close and personal tour of B&L's new gigantor sail boat.  They have vacationed on their boat, sleeping overnight in it for more than a week!  It was really cool.

Chalk and basketball time with Uncle Ben

Ready for our last full day of vacation!

We drove just a half hour away to Yellowstone Bear World!  How awesome is this??

You drive your car through "Bear World" and can see tons of wildlife, more than just bears even!  This friendly fellow came right up to our car.

Wolves, elk, moose, and lots of bears!

Comfortable?

Also at Bear World, complimentary kiddie rides with every entrance fee.   Luke, once again, was in heaven!  This little rollercoaster was pretty fast.  Matt told Luke to put his arms up, it was so funny to see him screeching and laughing with his arms up.  

Tilt a bear. Matt had to go on these whirly rides with him, puke city.  

Shockingly, Claire was fabulous.  She either smiled or slept through every activity we did.  This umbrella stroller also converts to an infant seat carrier (when you're with Matt Baranko).

Uncle Ben's wisdom "Play dead for a Grizzly bear, fight back for a Black bear."  Words to live by in Bear Country.  What's the right course of action for this strange looking bear?

Luke loves to chase chickens, we learned.  It was hilarious.  He never quite caught one.  This is at the petting zoo there. 

Luke was psyched to ride in the engine car.

ADORABLE baby bears playing.

After naps we visited "Fun Zone" with these really old carnival rides.  Luke and I went on his first ferris wheel ride together.  The teenager working the ride had to store the engine, which Matt said was from a tractor.  

Another train ride.  This kid got a lot of rides in just one day!

More waterfalls!

Linda's photojournalism

First family vacation picture!

We went to this really nice playground that Ben and Linda helped build.  This was the last thing on the Idaho Falls trip "wish list" that I had started.  We did it!

An extra bonus was when Matt and Luke got to ride B&L's neighbor's ATV.

Helping Uncle Ben turn the irrigation system (read:  tons of sprinklers) on.   The next morning we left bright and early to drive back to Salt Lake City to catch our flight.  Goodbye Ben and Linda.  Goodbye Idaho.  Goodbye vacation.  Goodbye maternity leave.  Hello WORK!  Boo!