Getting Ready for Easter...in the snow!

Spring seems to have forgotten about us, as it was snowing AGAIN last night!

However, it looks like spring is just around the corner in a few days! 

Here Andrew is decorating our tree with some egg ornaments:

We have also been working on some Easter crafts, and yesterday he "decorated" some eggs and went to see the Easter bunny. 

 

I was too afraid to use real eggs! After putting stickers on one egg, he was already ready to move on to the next activity.

When we saw the Easter bunny yesterday, he kept saying, "Hi bunny!" and waving the whole time we waiting in line. When it was his turn, he jogged over to see him. After a high five and a fist bump, he was on his way. I don't think we are ever going to see any tears from him when it comes to the bunny or Santa. Every time I think that this is going to be the time he cries, but it never happens. I also had him open his Easter present from my Grandma Kay, because I have a feeling he will be getting plenty on Easter (thanks, Grandma!)!

I have been trying to come up with all sorts of things for him to do as winter drags on. Last weekend, we went to the library for the first time, which he loved!

Yesterday, we met my dad and Myrna at a train show that was out at my old high school. Andrew had a blast!

After the train show, we ate at the mall, saw the bunny, and Andrew picked out some sunglasses at the Children's Store.

On Saturday, Mike and I had a nice afternoon in Madison while Andrew enjoyed some time with Mike's parents. 

Last week, I finally finished the class I was teaching as contact work, so I have been using that time to go to the gym before picking Andrew up. I have been feeling pretty sore for the past week or so. I have always been pretty bad about working out. It just feels like torture! I have been doing pretty good on the food front, though. Over the last few years or so, I have been pretty interested in what exactly we are eating and just how bad most ordinary food is (in my own opinion). The same goes for a lot of the chemicals we use in our every day lives and on our skin. Over the last few years, I have slowly started changing the products we use, which has been easy to do, since it has been so gradual. These things have included every day things, such as hand soap, dish washing soap, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, cleaning supplies, shampoo/conditioner, and face/body lotions. I even dyed my hair with some new stuff that has less chemicals, but I'm not sure if I can stick it out quite yet, as I'm not crazy about the results. I have been buying all organic fruits, vegetables, meats, etc these last few months, which costs a fortune. It's absolutely ridiculous that we have to pay more money so we don't have to eat meat from cows treated with hormones and antibiotics that eat from a field of pesticides all day! Over the last few years, I bought about 50% organic and all organic for Andrew, but I've taken it up a notch. One of my biggest addictions was soda, but I have somehow managed to only have 1 a week for the past 6 weeks. My friend, Christina, has also got me addicted to coconut oil, which you can literally put in just about anything, because it has no taste, but the benefits to your health are fantastic. I even made eggs for Andrew every morning this past week with coconut oil, and he ate them right up. I will get off my soap box now, as I'm sure many of you are rolling your eyes! I just feel lucky that I have a healthy body, and I want to make sure I treat it better, as many people are not able to say the same. 

On that note, here is a pic of Andrew drinking from my cup while we make scrambled eggs. I have been mixing iced tea (no caffeine) with water every morning, and he loves it, which is a little odd for a kid!

I hope everybody has a wonderful Easter!

Croup

Well, the sicknesses have continued around here! I think Andrew picked up his most recent illness after having so much fun at Monkey Joe's, because we played on Saturday, and he got sick on Monday night. He had a fever on Tuesday, so I took another day off of work. Thursday night, he started coughing at 12:30 AM and was having difficulty breathing. We ended up taking him for this first ER visit at 1 in the morning, because he was literally struggling to breath. He just kept sucking in air, but couldn't seem to exhale. We were actually debating on calling 911, because we weren't sure what was going on. We got in very quickly, and it turns out that had croup. They gave him a breathing treatment and some steroids, and we were on our way. He ended up taking the steroid for 3 more days after the visit, and seems to be doing better as of yesterday. Mike and I were sleep walking on Friday after about 3 hours of sleep, and Mike took off of work this time. It was actually his birthday, so I felt pretty bad for him. He also had the cold and I ended up getting it a day later. Ahh! 

Saturday night we went over to Mike's parents to celebrate Mike's birthday, and we all barely made it through the weekend. It is so tough to watch a child while you are sick. Even if Andrew is very sick, he will still try and play. It seems like everybody is getting cabin fever lately, and there does not appear to be any relief in sight! It is snowing again today, and we got dumped on pretty bad last week with about a foot. 

At least somebody is enjoying it....

On the day Andrew ended up getting sick, we played outside for an hour. He asked to be pushed in his stroller, and his bike, and his wagon....

We have been running out of things to do in the house. 

Last weekend, we played in a tent for an hour trying to hide from the "beast" (the dog). This month at daycare, they have been learning about the color green and "more and less". I just thought this was SO cute!

Here he is excited about a rocket ship he made there:

He really loves his buddies there. This morning when I dropped him off, one of the little girls said, "Andrew is my best friend!"  He is actually going to her birthday party next month (she turns 2), and I think he will have an awesome time, because the theme is Minnie Mouse.There are 4 other kids besides him. Two are babies, so he spends his days playing with 2 siblings (a 3 year old & the one that is about to turn 2). Everybody lives in the neighborhood except for one of the babies. I can't wait for them to start playing outside again. He has energy burn!

Hopefully next time I write, I will have more to report than snow and sickness! I also picked up his two year pictures yesterday, so I will start mailing some of those out soon.

Trying to Stay Busy in the Winter

I think Andrew is starting to get cabin fever, because almost every day this week, he got upset when he got home and couldn't play outside. He even climbed in his wagon and insisted we go outside one evening. I keep telling him about spring and how we can go out soon when it gets warmer. 

Last weekend, we re-did his 2 year photos, and I think these turned out better. They should come in this week sometime. He was really good, and I was proud of how patient he was when I was picking them out. 

Yesterday, Mike went to the Illinois game, so I took him to Monkey Joe's to bounce. For the first hour, he just wanted to check out the video games and play in the baby area. However, as we were getting ready to go, he suddenly showed some interest in the toddler bouncey, and I knew we were going to be there for a very long time! 

After jumping and going down the slide in there over 30 times or so, I let him check out the big kid slide when nobody was on it. After going down once, he decided that was all he wanted to do!  I was so scared he was going to get run over. He practically gets run over by other toddlers, because he is so timid.

When we got home, he passed out for his nap all red-faced and sweaty (mission accomplished!).  When he woke up, my neighbor came over with her 5 month old daughter, and we hung out for a bit. 

Here are a few pictures when we were playing with the camera later that evening. He loves for me to take his picture and then he looks at it. He makes it so hard, because he crawls all over me and is about a foot from my face.

Valentine's Day

Andrew seemed to have hit the Valentine's Day jackpot this year with cards and gifts from all his admirers. I saved up all his goodies until the 14th, so he could open them all at once when he got home from daycare. 

Opening his cards

My Grandpa Kay sent him a stuffed bear, which he is opening here.

I bought him some V-day sticker books, since he is so into stickers these days. At daycare, they made this neat little V-day art project:

Andrew's art collection

He also got something from a couple of the other kids at daycare, so I was feeling a little guilty that I didn't do valentines from him, but it just sounded like a bunch of busy work at this point. :) By the end of the day, it looked like Valentine's Day had exploded all over our house. Mike and I celebrated on President's Day, since we both had the day off. We went to a movie and then did some shopping after lunch. Romantic, indeed! 

On Saturday, we took Andrew to get his hair cut (much needed as you can see above) and then to Noodle Company (his favorite). Sunday we took him to the Burpee Museum in the morning. 

Andrew doesn't stand much of chance against T-Rex down there

Eye to eye with a snake

Making his own fossil artwork

The best part...pushing buttons to hear animal sounds

After lunch, we thought we had this grand plan to drive to Woodfield Mall and let him sleep on the way in. Well, Andrew decided he wasn't going to sleep, and the whole trip was a complete flop. He was too tired to walk, and then when we rented a stroller, he just wanted to be held. We stayed about 30 minutes and then had to drive all the way home for an hour. We did; however, stop into the disney store where we bought a car and a mickey plate. 

As I type this, ANOTHER winter storm is starting up. The one we had 2 days ago was awful because of the ice. A snowplow actually went in a ditch outside our neighborhood. It has been a very snowy February! We always find a way to stay busy, though. :)