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Nana and Pop took Natalie out on Friday. JAC joined too! Loving the warmer weather.

We’ve got a walker!  Elliott’s been a bona fide walker for at least a week – a full two months earlier than his big sister (aka Nah-Nah, his 3rd word).  That may b/c he is desperate to keep up with her.  Or, perhaps he’s desperate for outrunning his dad, as was the case at the park tonight.

Combine the walking with a love for nakedness and bike helmets (both modeled after his big sister), and you have a whole lot of cuteness walking around in our house.

Just try to catch me Mom!

Pause.  Short break to check out this awesome dryer.

These two have spent even more time together than usual, as hand foot and mouth hit preschool last week – and therefore, our house this week.  Poor Elliott has a lot of sores on his legs.  Good news is that once the fever breaks, you’re clear, so we can still have visitors this week. (Consider that my PSA b/c the info online is rather unclear about when kids are “in the clear”.)

First, happy mother’s day to my mom and Grandma-extraordinaire.  As a kid, some of my fav things to do with her and my sisters were baking Christmas cookies, reading all the time and going swimming (at the Y, at Kaukana, at Black Creek).  As a grown-up, some of the things my kids like to do best with Grandma are reading, acting out scenarios with dolls/figurines, and playing kitchen/tea party.  (I’m sure cousin Trevor would substitute at least one of these for ‘trucks’)!

Second, happy mother’s day to Nana, who is actually in France right.  I am of course, forever grateful for the amazing son she raised and she’s a super fun, loving Nana too.  She regularly picks up each kid for a special outing – here’s a recent trip to the Children’s Museum (Natalie had been wanting to go for weeks – thanks Nana and Pop!)

Finally, thanks to Jordan for planning such a fun Mother’s Day, which included:

1. Elliott sleeping in until 5:55.  (Okay, Jordan probably didn’t plan this one, but it was a treat!)

2. A family bike ride, to a playground with a packed lunch

3. An hour work-out at the gym

4. A trip out for ice cream (Natalie’s idea on a great way to celebrate Mother’s Day)

5. A locket with pics of the two best kids in the world

6. A picture album showcasing Elliott (to match the two that I’ve gotten for Natalie)

We never got a pic of both kids and me.  Not for lack of trying.  Natalie showed a grumpy face a lot.  At least for me.  She really enjoyed a walk to get ice cream (pic 1)… and the thought of giving Issy a walk home (pic 2).

A month or two ago, Natalie’s preschool told us that a photographer was coming in to take pictures and the kids could where whatever they wanted.   Ok, whatever.

Last week, we get an email with proofs of all the kids.  Natalie’s pictures is, of course, ridiculously adorable.  And for a single 5×7 pitures, you too can have this photo for just $115.  What?!?!!  Yeah, the packages go up to about $350 and get cheaper per picture, but to purchase even one pic is a minimum of $115.  And I’m quite sure that preschool is getting a cut of that.

It’s extortion-by-cuteness.  So despite the cuteness, I’m not going to give in.  Fortunately, there is no shortage of cute Natalie pictures!

And today got to 91 and felt like summer!

Check out these cuties. Big Sis and Little Bro lovin’.

Loving my hand-me-down car. (Mom’s note: Pretty sure big sis is not going to like this)

Ha! You crack me up, little couz!

On my Wednesday day off, the kids and I had a super busy day.  After nap #1, we went to the zoo.

Are you taller than a polar bear?

Aardvark, aardvark, come out wherever you are!

After lunch, Natalie requested going to the park by Nana and Pop’s house.  We instead opted for Cummings Park, next to the zoo.

Hmmm… not exactly sure how I’m supposed to get on this swing like my big sis.

Here I come!

Ride ’em Cowboy!

Natalie also had her first pee crouch experience as well.  (Note to self: Take portable potty with you everywhere – you never know when your daughter will decide to pee 10 minutes after you ask her to go, when there’s a conveniently located bathroom.)  I’m happy to report, dry undies and pants, in thanks to the fancy positioning, with my support.  Hope that wasn’t TMI.

NOTE:  YOU WILL WANT TO VIEW THIS POST FROM A COMPUTER – NOT A MOBILE PHONE.  Also, the images below load really slowly.  You may want to walk away and come back in a minute.

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Given that Erin and I take about 500 pictures per month and keep half of them, I’m a bit of a nut about organizing and editing them. I back up everything in Google Drive, and recently, I noticed something crazy.

Google automatically added those pictures to Google Plus and then automatically bedazzled them! By “bedazzled,” I mean took similar pictures and made moving gif files. It’s actually pretty cool. Check out some below!

Elliott: "Hey Mom, this is awesome!" Natalie: "We never do anything fun." (while sitting on a carousel)

"Hurry up, what's taking so long? FEED ME!"

My favorite birthday-candle-blowing-out-assistant ever! Hands down.

Natalie: "Oh Mammaw, you are a hoot! Tell me more."

Pretty cool, huh?!  Google even had one where they added snow!

Now I’m probably going to take five pictures every time just to see what Google does to them.

As if I needed a reason to take even MORE pictures…

On Thursday evening, we left for Green Bay – hoping that the kids would sleep for most of the 3.5 hours.  I don’t know why we do this – I’m never right.  Elliott went to sleep nearly an hour after he usually does and Natalie finally went down by 9:30pm.  Only to awake 30 min later, screaming b/c she wet through her pull-up and then woke up Elliott.  When we arrived in Green Bay at 10:30pm, Natalie was shocked that I wouldn’t let her play with Grandma right away (despite that I had pre-wired her to the contrary).  So, since she was buzzing awake, they did get to play grocery for 10 minutes, while we got Elliott to bed and got her room set-up.  I liken it to the excitement I would have if I hadn’t seen Jordan for weeks…. I suppose I’d have a lot of adrenaline pumping through my body and not able to sleep either.  The adrenaline stayed around throughout the night though, as she woke up at 540 am.  Shockingly, she waited pretty patiently in bed for an hour and was pretty good the next day.

Trevor and Cameron came over to play that afternoon.  The neighbors have a swing set, which Grandma told Natalie we could play on.  (I think my parents were strategic about making friends with the new neighbors).  Natalie and Trevor played super well together, taking turns on the ladder and equally weighting each other on the teeter totter (Trevor’s words) / seesaw (Natalie’s words).

Higher Trev!

Say the magic word and I’ll let you down!

Cameron is a cute.  You’ll see how he spent much of the evening – ah, 3 weeks old is nice…. he sleeps a ton, makes cute baby sighs and is only about 8.5 lbs (meaning, very easy to carry and lighter than Elliott was at birth!)

Aunt Erin, please get these Mr. Potato Head Glasses off my cute little face!

Elliott has loved “getting in the mix” of everything at G&G’s house….

Whoa – what do you call these ancient things? VCR tapes?  They sound delightful when I throw them!

On Saturday, we made a trip to Bay Beach – on opening day!  What’s not to love about 50-cent carousel rides and 25-cent helicopter rides?  Since most of the pics are on our good camera – not my phone, you can see that Elliott liked the stroller and carrots-in-a-cup about as much as the rides.

And Natalie requested that we go back to Bay Beach everyday!  She was quite the little thrill seeker.  Her fav was the helicopter, where you could go more than 6-ft in the air.  She tried to convince Jordan to let her go by herself – I put the kabash on that one.  Elliott’s fav was probably the real train ride.  I think Trevor liked the carousel the most – poor little guy had some tears on his cheeks after finishing the racecars (which go in a circle, but a really fast circle).  And, Cameron liked the inside of his carseat.

We did get a pic with all 4 grandkids – hopefully, Jordan will post that soon!  And, now, time to sign off – Elliott just woke from his nap.

Oh my head hurts. This ice pack attached to the top of my head with a bath robe string will surely help

Our good friends – Jeff, Megan, Molly, and Luke – are moving to Megan’s hometown of Pittsburgh. We are very happy for them but so sad to have another family leave Chicago. We were lucky to squeeze in a super fun play date at the nature museum this week.

Don’t you love the chaos??

Well, little Luke skipped this because he was still sleeping. Our other good friends, Taylor and Hailey, joined.

The little heads poking up are the 1 year olds. Here’s a better view of their faces: