Gaby's Tirade

Gaby's been making us sweat this week. She has had level 3 temper tantrums to total 4 time outs this week. Poor Bella ended up with 1 for imitating Gaby during an episode. Even Grandpa had to issue 2 timeouts. We are all learning that Gaby is much more independant than we originally thought. Maybe she figures since she's the big sister and will soon have 2 babies to dominate she should act like "big people". We plan on continuing on with the time outs and not letting her wear us down. Truthfully, I'm exhausted. We plan on this lasting at least for another week... we hope! She's lucky she's cute or I would have given her away by now! Here she is wearing Nina's glasses.

More of Gaby's Photography

Gaby wanted to take pictures one day while I was working in the garden and they were playing in the yard. The girls quickly discovered a family of mourning doves that live under our bushes. She'll be a world-famous photographer some day!

Swimming Class

Gaby and Nina had a fun time at swimmng class. It is a parent-tot class for half of the session and ultimately the children graduate to going into the water by themselves. Gaby has been going in with the teachers only for 3 weeks. Next year, she will be in the pool without me. (boo-hoo!) Luckily, I will be enrolled in Bella's class and the newborn class!

A day at Lincoln Park Zoo with Nina

Nina took the girls to the Lincoln Park Zoo for the day. Needless to say, they had a great time. A great shot (partial shot) of the Chicago Skyline. According to Gaby "Nina takes us to the zoo and the mall." Good old Nina.

Gaby's photo

This a picture that Gaby took with Abba's camera. She is quite the photog. This pseudo sunset is actually our coffee table. This photo has been entered into a photography contest at the library. I'm sure we won't win, but still, it was good enough to enter. The winner will be announced on July 31st. We'll stay tuned.

Pool Party

Our friend Christina, from MOMS Club, had a pool party for the kids. It was so much fun! The kids enjoyed hot dogs and pasta salad while the moms had an awesome salad with a chicken salad topping. Between the lunch, the pool, and the sand table the kids were wiped.




Pictured (clockwise from the left): Scarlett, Bella, Helene, Gaby, Madelyn (backwards), Ava Claire, and Marshall.

Alex decorated

The library was having free Henna tatoos and I just had to join in on the fun. Actually, according to Indian custom, it is very soothing to the baby and it promotes a calming birth. Hey, if there's 1% chance of that being true... I'm there.

Our day at the stables

Our friend Patti invited us out to see her horse Grace. Gaby and Bella had a great time feeding him. As you can see Grace is very big and so Gaby was a little taken aback. Belle on the other hand grabbed her saddle and hopped on!
Patti said that next time she'll ride Grace before so that he'll be tired and then let the girls trot on him. That will be fun!

Aren't they cute?

The girls got themselves dressed, hats and all and were playing with their dolls. I couldn't resist taking the picture. Little angels.... right!

Our day at the beach

The girls and I had a great time at the beach. Bella did not like the sand. "it's too scratchy!" Gaby had fun climbing a sand dune... Bella needed to be carried up because the sand was not only "scratchy" but "hot". That was fun. Mommy suggested we put shoes on... "we don't wear shoes at the beach!" Silly mommy!

Gaby's Special Treat Day!

Gaby enjoyed a "special treat day" with Nana... her reward for her stopping biting her nails. Her nails are actually quite long and healthy. She and Nana went to get manicures and pedicures.... yes, at the age of 4. (Start writing your mother of the year essays!) Gaby did not choose pink nail polish, which was much to everyone's surprise. Instead she chose neon green for her hands and neon orange for her feet. Very un-Gaby-like. She also had flowers drawn on her nails, small daisies... they are actually really cute. It was all she could talk about for the rest of the day.

Bella was left wondering "What about me?" So she and I had home mani and pedis. She said "I want my favorite color" I said "I don't have yellow" She said "My favorite nail polish color.... RED" Silly mommy!

Grandpa's Hot

Gaby: "Grandma says that Grandpa is hot stuff!"
Mommy: "What?"
Gaby: "Grandpa.... he's hot stuff."
Mommy: "What?!?"
Gaby: "Because Grandpa eats hot things."
Mommy (thinking) : Oh thank God!

A day on the water

So the ambitious mom is stillon hiatus. I couldn't find the energy to take the girls to Hurricane Harbor, so they had to settle for the beach instead. We went to IL State Beach Park. The girls loved it... well, minus the sand part for Bella. "It's too scratchy." Then there was the mini dune that we had to climb to get to the bathroom. The one I had to carry Bella up because not only was the sand too scratchy, but it was also too hot. Of course, silly mommy for suggesting we put shoes on. "you don't wear shoes at the beach mommy." What was I thinking? At any rate a good time was had by all. We will definately be repeating that outing.

Easy Going Day

The girls and I enjoyed a very low key day today. After the hectic week last week we deserved it. Besides, it was like 150 degrees outside today. (ok, not really but it felt that hot to me!)
We started our day by going to Library Storytime, which the girls always enjoy. They made cow puppets. They are actually cute. Gaby's is pink and Bella's is yellow... big shocker!
We then came home to have lunch and downtime. Bella & mommy both had much needed naps. Thank God Gaby is a good kid and can be trusted unsupervised.
Johnathon and Nana came over in the afternoon to go swimming in the backyard pool. The kids were so cute in there. I didn't get to see much of that because it was off to work with me at this time.
Work really cuts into my personal life!

Tomorrow: the ambitious mom returns.... as I attempt to take them to Hurricane Harbor! Stay Tuned!

Moms on the Loose

Yesterday was my MOMS Club End of the Year Celebration. I was in a celebratory mood because it officially marked the end of my presidency.... thank God! We had it at Hennessey's Steakhouse in Zion.
http://www.hennesseys.net/
It was YUMMY! Not a Gibson's of course, but pretty darn close for Zion. I had the petite NY Strip Steak Yum-O! Not bad prices either. I told Joe that it could be a place to go for a birthday when Chicago is out of the question.
We had a great time!

Chicago.... Chicago....

On Saturday, we went to the museum of Science & Industry. It was Morgan Stanley Corporate Day and admission, snacks and drinks were free. We could not pass up the chance to take the girls, even though I was wiped from 3 days of Great America.

Among the exhibits we saw was a 1920's circus which the girls loved. We also spent time in the Eye Spy exhibit, since this has quickly become a favorite past-time in the car (on every trip) I'm slowly regretting teaching them that one, but they enjoy it sooo much. We also saw the space shuttle and lunar landing exhibit and Gaby LOVED that! She said that she will go to the moon some day too. A mother can only hope.

I made them see (and enjoy) the prenatal development exibit where there are fetuses in formaldehyde. No one really enjoyed it, but I forced them too. I couldn't get over how big a 30 week fetus is already!!! No wonder I feel like a house! From there it was on to the human heart. The girls were amazed. Gaby mostly... my little scientist!

The best exhibit was the "Idea Factory" It is for children from birth to 10. There are lots of gears, cranes, shoots, and levers to work. Great physics lesson! Even my anti-science husband had a great time catapulting foam balls. I loved it too. Huge lego table... that's where Bella was most of the time. She loves building. She'll be my little engineer.

The girls had a great time and you can't pass that up for free!

Before we knew it, it was 4pm and the girls were like ticking time bombs. We got out of Dodge as fast as possible. They fell asleep more than half way home, which we were glad for and they slept through the night. (potty breaks excluded of course) They slept roughly 14 hours. I left the 3 of them sleeping.... yes, Joe too and went to my MOMS Club End of the Year Celebration. It was good day!

Great America... Again!

So yesterday we went back to G.A. I can't really say that I mind taking the girls (even though they are there again today with grandpa - 3rd day in a row!) because they enjoy it SO much. We try to do different things on different days because they nor I can possibly do the whole park in a day. So, as you have read by now, on the first day we pretty much just looked around. On the second day with grandpa they did the carousel, the train and some "circle ride". Lord only knows, between the 3 of them they had no idea what it was. One the third day, we did rides at Cartoon Network. Today, with Grandpa, they were going to shows and next week with me we will be visiting Hurricane Harbor, where the zero depth pool promises to be a fun time!

Yesterday, we met Nana, Johnathon and Michael at Cartoon Network, the girls drove the Flintstone mobiles.... twice. They went on the Flintstones Ferris Wheel (didn 't know they had one back then, I must have missed that episode). They went on the Yogi Bear boats and the Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine. They loved the "school bus". We also saw the characters from Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones. Gaby wanted to go see Fred because "He's my favorite vitamin!"

Read tomorrow's blog as we will be going to The Museum of Science and Industry with the girls. Connie's Pizza for lunch! Yum!

Great America

Today the girls and I went to Great America for the first time this season (yeah, we're a little slow). The girls absolutley loved it. We were only there for 2 hours (because I had to work) and we only went on 2 things. This was mostly due to the fact that we visited the bathroom 4 times in our 2 hour stay! We went on the carousel and the train. That made their day. They had a hard time choosing which animal they would ride on the carousel, and ultimately chose pigs! A pink one for you know who and since there was no yellow pig, Belle had to settle for a brown one. The rest of the time was spent by me needing to activate my season pass and purchasing a parking pass. We plan on visiting alot more often now that we have it all straightened out. We didn't make it out of the vicinity of the entrance... Next time we are going to the kid zones!

Good Food & Great Friends

Today we had a cookout and invited Rob and Leigh over to watch the Final World Cup game. We had way too much food... as usual but never fear, Grandma and Grandpa showed up to help us out. Lastly, David, Dora and Johnathon came to join in on the fun. A good day (and good food) was had by all. Gaby knocked out early, since she was running around all day... now if I could only get Bella to bed.

AC at last!

Thank God too, because today was a bit warm for me and a half! The girls (Gaby) were glad to see the Air Conditioning Man leave. The girls and I went grocery shopping while Joe, Honey, and neighbor Dave finished up. I figured why have my girls staring out the window for hours on end so we went out. Then of course they wanted Pizza Hut on the way home... So who am I to object. Bella took a much needed nap and when she woke up we went to Sam's Club where we happened to meet up with Grandma, Grandpa and Michael. Grandpa heard Bella screaming "I WANT TO GET OUT OF THE SHOPPING CART!" from aisles away, so he sought us out. Unfortunately, they did not have the cars with their car seats or Joe and I would have scored an night alone... Darn!
Tomorrow, Uncle Rob and Aunt Leigh come over to watch the Final World Cup Game. Gaby is happy, Bella asked why do they have to come over here? Aye Bella!

The air conditioning man

So as everyone has already heard, our air conditioning unit needs to be replaced. Grandpa's neighbor Dave is doing the work for us, with Grandpa's help. The girls have been seeing Grandpa come over to help with the air conditioning unit. But of course, Grandpa is not over to play with the girls but to ensure that we don't swelter for the rest of the summer. So, I try to explain this to them to which Gaby responds:
Gaby: "I don't like the air conditioning man"
Me: "Why?"
Gaby: "Because he doesn't let Grandpa play with us."

Poor Grandpa!

The Splinter

The splinter was still there when I got home from work. It does not seem to be bothering Bella horribly, so I have lathered it with Neosporin and it is slowly working itself out. We have learned that wearing shoes outside is a necessary!

Happy 4th of July

So a good time was had by all at the 4th of July festivities. We enjoyed a nice Sunday by going to the Waukegan 4th of July Parade. The girls brought home tons of candy and other free things. We didn't know if it was Halloween or the 4th of July. On the 4th we had a cookout with family. Again, the girls had a blast and Pino ran them through the sprinkler too! But no holiday is exempt from injury. Bella got a huge splinter on the bottom of her foot that needed to be removed. Because she had been in the sprinkler, the bottom of her foot was nice and soft and the splinter embedded itself really well. This coupled with the fact that she had not napped made for a very teary removal process. Having removed the majority of the splinter, I conceded that my daughter had suffered enough and let it be. This morning I find out that there still may be a small piece in there as there was a nice pink tender spot. So, back to removal we go. She will be thrilled. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!