Ch-Ch-Changes!!

So this is just a quick, picture-less post. I just wanted to update that I am officially back and work and Cort is officially on "paternity leave." I headed back on Monday and Cort actually had to work on Monday and Tuesday. The Grandmas both took a day to watch the kids and today was Cort's first day home with them. Things have been good so far, it is nice to be able to get ready and have Cort be able to watch the kids. So far it has been pretty easy to get out the door, but it is only day 3! :) It has been a little hard to snap out of mommy-mode and get back into school mode. I shadowed my sub the first day and started teaching again yesterday. Things are a lot different since I have a new program I am teaching. There has been a little bit of a learning curve, but today I felt pretty settled in. I of course miss the kiddos, but am lucky enough to only be gone a couple hours a day.

I am soooo behind on posting what we have been up to (I have so many pictures on my computer I haven't even gone through), but now that Cort is around in the afternoons I should slowly be able to catch up!!

Neighborhood Halloween Parade

Today was our subdivision Halloween parade. People in the neighborhood form a line down the sidewalk for about a block by our park, and the kids get to walk through and pick up candy and goodies along the way. You may remember that we did this last year. Sarah and Ian brought the kids this year and Pam and Ryan joined the fun as well. I have to say though that this year, Mia "got" it so much more and was so completely excited. The downside was it was soooooo windy and cold. Thank goodness we had warm costumes this year, but I still felt bad for little Cole. As you will see though, he was not bothered by the wind or commotion and pretty much slept through the whole thing. :) Here are my little skunks....

Cole all bundled

Mia with the death grip on her "pop pops" (By the way, she wanted to wear her sunglasses the whole time)

Mommy and Mia

Pam "trick or treating" with Mia (Mia actually did say it to the people)

Not into the trick or treating-he'd rather sleep!

Cort collecting candy for Cole-wait, I mean us :) Officer Aidan

Back home-some pics with the kids

The Graske kids, minus Cole

The Graske kids with Cole

Our family

The other Graskes

Cort and Cole (he did so good in his costume!!)

Ryan and Pam with the kids

Skunk on the Loose in the Neighborhood!!!

A Halloween sneak peek....

So as you can see, Mia is going to be a skunk for Halloween this year, and so is Cole. I have not even attempted to put his costume on, as I am sure he will be hateful of it (I remember Mia being very angry when we stuck her in the Chili Pepper at that age)! :) I had found a baby skunk costume at the Children's Place last year for $0.99 when I was pregnant and figured I would just buy it since you can't beat that price. Ironically enough, Sarah's sister passed down a 2T skunk costume to her and we figured it would be cute if both Mia and Cole were little skunks, or "Mommy's Little Stinkers.: :) Mia finally let me try her costume on yesterday and she LOVED it. She wore it for several hours and finally let us take it off when it was time for dinner. :)

This picture makes me happy...

I uploaded this picture tonight and it just made me happy. To me there is just pure joy and happiness on Mia's face. This also probably makes me happy, because in between moments like this, we have been experiencing a lot of tantrums. Welcome to 2!!! This picture also makes me realize how big Mia has gotten! Yesterday at lunch she said to me "I love you Becky!" I about fell off my chair laughing. :)

Where did this big girl come from???

Another one....
And I can't leave out Cole

I have recently discovered (or I should say Mia has) the wireless remote that Cort gave me for Christmas last year that triggers my camera. I hardly have pictures of me with the kids since I tend to be the one taking the pictures. So today I took some pics of me with them using the remote. The one with Mia and I, she actually took-she loves the remote!! That is a whole separate post of all the pictures Mia has taken of us and herself using that thing! :)

Me with Cole

Me with Mia

Welcome to the World Baby Aaron!

Congrats to Venessa and Jimmy who welcomed their baby boy into the world today. Aaron James was born today at 12:23 weighing in at a hefty 8 pounds, 11 ounces and is 20 inches long. Congratulations!! Mia and Cole can't wait to meet their newest playmate!! :)

A Public Service Announcement

Brought to you by your friendly Reading Specialist....


It's never to early to start reading :)

Sick!

Wow, was last night a rough one!! Mia came down with a fever yesterday and after putting her to bed last night, she was up throughout the night waking up uncomfortable, at one point with her fever up to 103.4. We brought her into our bed to comfort her and keep an eye on the fever. It seemed like every time she fell back asleep, Cole woke up for a feeding. Today he is 3 months and I am pretty sure he is going through his 3-month growth spurt because he has been up a lot more than usual the last couple of nights. Add to the mix a cat who must have been jealous that he was not getting attention and decided to run like a maniac throughout our room last night and you get 2 VERY TIRED parents!! I guess that is the life with 2 now!

Mia was pretty lethargic today and watched way too much TV (that's all she wanted to do), but by the evening it seemed like her fever had broke (that has really been her only symptom), so we went out to dinner at Chilis just to get out of the house. When we put her to bed tonight I took her temp again and it is down to 99. Keep your fingers crossed that we have a good night!!! :)

On a funny note, I woke up to Mia's head pressed against mine. When I woke up, we were practically eyeball to eyeball and she had a huge smile on her face-not a bad way to wake up. :)

Mia's Fall Pictures

As I said in my last post I have really been wanting to get out and get some pictures of Mia. Today I finally did! Cort was off for Columbus Day, so he was able to help with keeping an eye on Cole and helping to make Mia smile. We went to the Arboretum (shocking I know), along with about half of Illinois-it was a zoo there today! The colors have started to change, so it was really beautiful. We headed to the side opposite the Children's Garden, which is much less populated and walked around a bit. Here are a couple of the pictures that I have gone through. Note to those of you wanting to take pictures of your toddlers and have a hard time getting them to sit still-M&M's are your friends! I am not above a little bribery if it helps me to get some pictures!

Look at our big girl!!

I wish I could have gotten more shots in this field, but at this point we were being eaten alive my mosquitoes!

And look here to see Mia's fall pictures from last year and how much she has changed!!

Eye Contact!!

I have to admit that I have been terrible and haven't attempted to get any "formal" pictures of Mia lately. The reason is that this is not the world's best age to get a child to sit still AND give eye contact at the same time, especially if I am by myself (and also wrangling a baby). I do need to get some 2-year old pictures of Mia though, and am making a goal of it in the next week or two.

That being said, I think I have finally found the secret of getting some pictures of her-jealousy!! Lately, whenever I am giving Cole attention, whether it be for pictures, Cole laying on the boppy, eating, etc., Mia's response is "Mimi's turn." So today, we were playing out front and I still had my background stand set up in the garage from when my sister's family came over to do some pictures. I plopped Cole down to take a couple of snaps, and sure enough Mia wanted her picture taken!!!

Unfortunately, the sheet I was using today was casting off some crazy blue neon-looking color and clearly didn't match the white of the background (not to mention I really wasn't planning on taking pictures today), so this was the best I could get...

Thanks Pam for the outfit, and yes, Cole does have a neck! :)

Picture of the Day-a post of random pictures

I just look at this picture and laugh. Look at the expressions on these two....


And it gets better....I'm not quite sure when Mia turned into such a little ham.

And on to Cole-Attack of the monkeys!!

I think Cole likes them!

Another First

I had honestly forgotten how fun the first couple months of a baby's life can be, when it seems like every day brings a new "first." Today's first was Cole's first laugh. Just like with Mia, it was Cort who had the honor of making Cole laugh. He was changing him and was saying to him "Are you a smiley baby?" (Cole does smile A LOT when you change him) when he just started letting out the cutest laughs. It was too funny! Anyhow, here are my two boys getting silly...

Also, as Cole is close to approaching the 3-month mark, the drool is starting to come out in full force. Here are some cute bubbles (thanks to Gigi and Papa for the cute outfit from Janie and Jack)...