Nadelhoffer

I have moved to tumblr

2012-02-13T15:43:00.001-05:00

I'm hoping tumbr will be easier for me to update, because I can do it from my phone. You can continue to follow me here

Birthday Month!

2011-10-04T01:22:00.002-04:00

On September 18, Matthew turned 6 and a week later Libby Lou turned 2! Which made me come to an amazing realization: I had 3 babies in 4 years and one week. No wonder I'm in the gym 5 days a week getting my you-know-what kicked by a professional bodybuilder, and running on my own outside of class. But that's a whole other blog. Operation Work Butt Off or OWBO. I digress...

I had birthday hats for the birthday kids and wanted to get their picture, but this is what I got:

Being close to family has been wonderful. My parents came down the weekend before Matthew's birthday to shower the kids with gifts. That's really no exaggeration, let me tell ya'! Then on Matthew's actual birthday we had a small celebration with just us at home. On Libby's birthday, Matt's whole Chicago-land family came to celebrate. We were having so many parties, that over breakfast one morning, Matthew asked me if he was really six yet. "Is today my real birthday, Mom?" How cute. My kids are truly loved. Thanks family, for coming to par-taaay!

At one point during the gift openings, Libby was so excited about the present Grandma and Grandpa got her, but she couldn't open the packaging (seriously! What's with the Fort Knox packaging!) and took it over to Grandma, running her little legs in place, shoved the gift in Grandma's chest and said very loudly and intensely, "DOOOOO!" Meaning, "Could you please help me open up my present Grandmother Dearest?"

I forgot to mention that our good friend, Andrew came down in between the two parties:

He got Matthew and Natalie tennis racquets and lessons because although he supports Matt's basketball, his real love is tennis and wants the kids to concentrate on that REAL sport, as he says. He got the Jr. Federer and Jr. Sharipova racquets. They love their new sport!

And on two the final birthday celebration with Matt's family:

Aunt Joyce's birthday is right after Libby's, so she got a present, too...her first pair of Lululemon pants! I had to photograph the momentous occasion. If you've ever worn Lulu, you understand.

Natalie was the sweetest sister. She had a great attitude, and was genuinely excited about her siblings' gifts.

This was going on in the back yard...

While this was going on in the front yard...

And this was my favorite guest of the weekend:

Thanks for the awesome memories, family!

What?!? A Week Without Knowing What She Wore? I'm so sorry...

2011-09-20T15:50:00.001-04:00

Let us begin:

Monday

I know. Side pony? She can rock it.

Tuesday

And notice, there is the option of removing the aqua denim jacket as the day gets warmer.

Wednesday

I know you're looking for a caption here, but it doesn't really need one.

Thursday

I haven't told her that models don't usually stick their tummies out when they pose.

Friday

Libby's complaining about Natalie sitting next to her on the bench. She giving a great big whiney "nOOoooo" right here. Poor Natalie. She looks like, "what did I do?"

Matthew's take on all of this?

Preschool Day Four

2011-09-10T23:04:00.002-04:00

Natalie, Do you think you could pose and show us your outfit for today?

Thanks.

Libby, Do you think you could hold still long enough for me to take a picture?

Thanks anyway.

A little heart-to-heart from Natalie to Libby about how to pose:

After a night of practice:

Well done, student. Well, done.

Day Three Preschool and Backyard Football

2011-09-08T20:55:00.017-04:00

Matthew wasn't the most cooperative with pictures this morning.

I tried, but didn't get a good one of the three of them. This scene is pretty typical:

I finally got Natalie by herself. I think she thrives under the one-on-one attention.

When it was time to go and I was loading them in the car, Libby was in here saying, "Beeby Guts go bye-bye?" (P.S. Baby Gus goes EVERYWHERE with her)

On to Backyard Football... I've got the phone/camera in one hand and am trying to throw/catch with Matthew while capturing these images.

After a nice game of catch, Natalie came back outside after changing out of her school clothes. For some reason she thinks that football players spit a lot, so she showed she was ready to play.

They had a blast.

And ended the game with a hug and shaking the other's hand saying, "congratulations."

Where was Libby during this?

"How do you expect me to play when I have two left feet?" (shoes)

Day Two Preschool

2011-09-07T13:48:00.006-04:00

I may as well publish what they wear everyday, because I know some of you out there get your fashion from these little treasures. I just like to take a lot of pictures of them because as you scroll through them, the personalities come out.

First Days of School

2011-09-06T21:48:00.010-04:00

Matthew started Kindergarten two weeks ago. He is doing great! After being in school all day, he is ready for bed at night (6:45) and goes to sleep right away. Then he usually needs to be woken up in the morning, bless his heart.

Natalie started Preschool today, rip our hearts out. Matt said that she grew up so much today and that it was hard to let her go. She was SO ready for school to start, though. Every day we dropped Matthew off at his school, she asked if today was her day, too. When I picked her up after the half-day, her teacher pulled me aside and said she did great, she had no fears of being there, she jumped right in and played with other kids, and even comforted a little boy when they were putting toys away and a truck fell on his head. Here's some pictures of the kids this morning:

When we picked Matthew up from school (after having to wake Natalie up from a deep nap!), Matthew with huge eyes, hands on his knees bending down to get his nose about 3 inches away from Natalie's nose, says, "Hey Natalie! How was your day? Did you like your school? Did you make new friends? Did you sit criss-cross applesauce?" It happened so fast, I couldn't get my camera out! It was precious, though, as she just answered with huge eyes, nodding her head "yes."

Working out, Country style

2011-09-01T10:51:00.003-04:00

Out here in the country, where there are miles and miles of soy and corn, there are no trees. When there are no trees, there is no shade. Hence, no relief from the blaring sun. No trees also means the wind whips around relentlessly. This is not such a bad thing, to help cool from the lack of shade, but when you're pulling 80 pounds into the wind, it's brutal!

I didn't realize Natalie grabbed my phone and was able to snap a picture of their view of the workout. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you Natalie, for not panning any higher! The first time she rode in the bicycle trailer, she said, "Mommy? Your seat is too little for your buns." Yes, thank-you. That's why mommy's riding the bike. Sit tight because now we're going another 30 miles thanks to that comment.

I should also mention that when I'm riding my bike with my best girlies in the back, I'm riding into the wind both ways. Uphill. With snowshoes packed in the back.

Shucks

2011-08-30T16:14:00.004-04:00

The kids and I were drawing with chalk on the driveway, when my neighbor and her grandson go running down the street yelling, "Combine! Come watch the combine!" So naturally, we all take off running barefoot into someone's backyard. This HUGE combine comes RIGHT past us, combining the corn. Is that the right way to say that? This big monster of a machine, takes the dried corn and pulls all of the kernels off of the cob. After watching this for a while, I officially met my neighbor, whose yard I was in. The little boy next to Natalie in this picture is Lincoln, my neighbor's grandson. He's also 4 years old.

As the corn fills up the combine, a tractor comes along side to take away the corn so the combine can keep right on working. It's sort of like re-fueling a jet in the air. Tractors and Jets. I know so much about both of these, I'm practically an expert. This was so much fun watching and the kids loved picking up dried stalks and empty cobs. It leaves the neighbor's yard a mess, but what a riot! I can't wait until they come and harvest the soy in our backyard. All are welcome to watch when it happens, I'll even provide snacks.

The Big Move

2011-08-26T11:55:00.022-04:00

Most of you know this already, but Matt accepted a job at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Our family affectionately calls Decatur "The Dirty D," so we bought a home in Forsyth. We love it here. Our house backs up to a soy field, so every night we get to see a fabulous sunset over the miles and miles of soy. And corn. And soy. It is very peaceful.

Life is very different than the "Main Line" of Philadelphia! My mom recently came for a visit to help decorate our home. And by decorate, I mean that she bought, brought, and

arranged everything for me! I love it! BTW: Mom, you need to be an interior decorator. That is, after your job of wedding coordinator. After your job of modeling agent for our kids. You have so many talents, Mom. I love you!

Back to my point of this not being the "Main Line." Mom kept asking about the stores around here to get some nick-knacks for the house. "Don't you have a Michael's?" No. "Let's go to Bed Bath and Beyond." Yeah. That'll be two hours away. "Marshall's?" Try again. So our store of choice was Hobby Lobby. We actually did quite well finding moss balls and other necessities to dress up the house. Here are two pictures of the kitchen and shelves she arranged:

Another difference is that we're doing things in Central Illinois that we may not have done on the "Main Line." 1) Running around in swimsuits in the backyard. 2) Wearing nothing but a diaper. 3) Playing with a Slip-N-Slide. 4) Owning a Slip-N-Slide. 5) Even knowing what a Slip-N-Slide is! The kids loved it, so who cares? Not these hill-billies, I can tell you that much!

One more difference from the "Main Line" is that life is a lot slower out here. That is mostly due to the fact that I am a stay at home mom! I can actually keep a clean house, I can actually put dishes away, I can actually cook a dinner every single night! The biggest change that I see in our new move is family. Our definition of family in Philly was best friends. Friends that are supportive and loyal and were our non-traditional family. But here, family is Matt and I and the kids. Matt is able to come home every night for dinner and then play soccer in the back yard with the kids. Every night. It is awesome. Family is also knowing that our families are so close. Matt's mom, step-dad, two brothers, sister-in-law, and new nephew came down one weekend to help us organize the house. They helped us put in shelves and organizational pieces to help keep clutter and toys and tools out of the way. They helped us make sense of our computers and TVs and technology-type-things because that is lacking in our immediate family. Thanks Al and Nancy, Gus and Christine, and Bryan! I love my 52" TV in my bedroom!

My parents are also close enough (5 hours) to hop in the car if they want. My mom and sister and her kids did that one day and stayed for the night and headed back. When they were here, we went through all of the kids' clothes. That's not a fun task. But DGID pushed me to do it. (Debbie Gets It Done is what her in-laws call her!) Oh! Funny story that I'm sure my mom will appreciate me sharing... Matt and I took mom, sis, and the six kids to Guadalajara, a fabulous Mexican joint to thank them for coming down. So Matt goes and talks to the servers and tells them it's mom's birthday. When Rob and Rach visited, we all went there and saw that the waiters come out with fried ice cream and sing "Hoppy Birthday" (if you know what I mean) and so Matt thought he'd play a little joke on mom, seeing as it wasn't near her birthday. Well, we eat our dinner and our kids are at blow out stage, so we decide it's time to go, right as we're leaving, I see the waiters all coming towards our table, so I let mom in on the joke and explain why we have to turn around and all go back to sit down. Little did Matt and I know that they were going to SMASH the pile of whipped cream in mom's face! Mom was a great sport, but the best part was the grandkids' faces. They could not believe that they would do such an irreverent thing to their grandma!

Then there's Rob and Rach. They came down the very first weekend that we moved in. Rob was not as excited as Rachel was to attack the organization. That weekend was hilarious! We learned a lot about each other and our strengths and weaknesses. Rachel was able to sit in my closet/bathroom for four hours straight organizing clothes and toiletries. I think the boys were trying to put together a drying rack for clothes that whole time. Yes, it took both of them for that project. The big thing that they wanted to leave us with was painting the kids' rooms. That wouldn't have gotten done if it weren't for them saying, "Let's just do it!" The girls are sleeping now, but their room is pink (duh) and as soon as Libby is out of the crib, I will hang pictures in there, so no picture of their room to share on the blog yet. Matthew's room is pretty much the envy of any spiderman-crazed boy. He loves it. He especially loves taking his little decals and moving them around the room.

Speaking of Matthew, the big boy started Kindergarten last week! He's doing really well. Of course he's picked out the cutest girl in the class and has befriended her. How am I with him in Kindergarten? Not so good. I miss him like crazy! I know he needs to be there, but goodness sakes! From 8:30-3:30? By the time we get home and the girls smother him with kisses, it's time for me to make dinner and then eat, a little soccer time and then bed! *tears* He growing up so fast! The two weeks before he started school, I spent some quality time with him because it really hit me that from here on out, it would be different. *more tears* We spent rest times reading, talking, coloring, or playing. I loved those quiet times together where we just read Runaway Ralph or Paddington Bear chapter books. He's such a good boy.

Natalie is a totally different little lady now that we've moved into this house. This summer she was quite the busy body and couldn't control her bones. As soon as we moved in

and were a complete family again, she slowed down. She is the most precious little lamb. She will turn to me during breakfast and say, "mom, you're so beautiful." That does nothing for me. And other times she'll say, "mom, I just love you so much. With my whole heart." Again, nothing. :) She loves to be a helper at all times with everything I'm doing. Sometimes that's very nice.

Libby has grown so much. She is trying to talk. We have toy phones all over the house and she picks them up and jibber-jabbers constantly. My mom couldn't believe the running commentary that goes on all day from that little one. Her personality has really come out. You certainly know when she wants something. She can be a little demanding, especially when it comes to "jutes." She follows me around with lips pursed saying "jutes, jutes, jutes" and tries to climb cupboards to get cups down for me to fill with juice. Yes, she's posing in this picture.

Well, that's a good enough update for now. Thanks to everyone that helped us with this move. I know that there are a lot of you out there that have stayed on your knees praying for us in this transition. Thanks for all the support. We appreciated all of the help out in Philly and throughout the summer and now to our new home. We miss our Philly Family, but are doing really well with our new definition of family.

Long time no post

2011-03-22T21:52:00.006-04:00

Sorry everyone. I love blogging. I love reading comments about my blog. I love sharing my life with you and I love showing off my kids to you, too. So why haven't I blogged? Well that's a stupid question. I know, you were always taught that "there are no stupid questions, Johnny, only stupid answers." But in this case, that's just a stupid question. I'm lazy. There are no two ways around that. Lazy lazy lazy wife, prof, mommy, coach, yogi, friend, wife. Oh, I already mentioned wife. But, some of you know why that goes on there twice. :)

Like I said. I love my life and sharing all of its craziness with you. I know I have a lot to catch up on, but for now, I'll share a pic of me and a few of the kids. They are getting so big! Why share a pic of me? Because my mom sent me this fabulous Free People sweatshirt in the mail yesterday. Just Because. Her description of it beats any of my attempts: "Oh free the people! It looks poppish, punchy, grundgy, and Mainline irreverent. Thought you would like it." Too funny. Matthew took the picture with my iPhone and I was modeling it like Natalie would.

Mom sent clothes for kids, too. They had to model them in their own way:
Thanks mom!

It's all in the way you word it...

2010-05-04T10:20:00.004-04:00

In this picture are my co-captain from this year, Adrienne, my co-captain for next year, Alleigh, my assistant coach (and wonderful friend), Adrienne, and me!

I completed a 5K run!

I was the last of the runners to come in.

*Now in fairness...I did not train. The last time I ran was on the beach in Florida over Christmas! This course was rediculously hard, too! Hills galore!

I coached my cheerleaders to a first place victory in a competition!

We were the only team in the competition in our division.

*Now in fairness....there is no excuse.

I came in second in a golf tournament!

Out of two in my age/gender bracket.

*Now in fairness...I lost by one stroke.

I placed third in a partner stunt competition in college!

Out of three couples.

*Now in fairness...the other couples were Division I on scholarship.

He is Risen!

2010-04-05T09:22:00.010-04:00

I have taught my Dutch Christian Reformed children well.

Here they are at church on Easter Morning:

Since it was the first Sunday of the month, Matt and I had nursery duty on Easter. Libby was in nursery with us. Evidently we are a fun bunch of workers and we tire out the kids, bless her heart.

When we got home I just had to take a picture of the kids in their outfits, but that didn't work out so well. Poor Libby. Here's Libby without being bothered: After church we had our Easter egg hunt in the basement. Oh my goodness! The kids could hardly wait. Matthew found an orange egg in the orange hungry hungry hippo's mouth:

Natalie looking for eggs:
She found one! And it was PINK! Her favorite color! Life is SO GOOD!
Matthew paused during the event to count his eggs. As he returned to the hunt, his Father, "The Tease" stole all of his eggs. Matthew's reaction to his eggs being gone:

For the faithful readers

2010-03-27T13:27:00.001-04:00

After figuring out how to disable a certain pop-up blocker, I was able to finally upload pictures from a few posts ago about family visiting. Scroll down to check them out.

Six Months!

2010-03-27T10:42:00.009-04:00

I don't know if you can see, but Matthew is constantly in Libby's face talking to her and making her smile. He's in the reflection of her sunglasses.

Has it really been six months? It's been a blur. I was thinking about how we were all in Marco over Christmas and I was like, "was Libby there? I think so... I don't really remember." Is that bad of me? It's just that she fits in so well with the flow and the busyness of the family and she's content to just watch it all go on around her. She has the quickest smile and can light up a stranger's face just by looking at them and flashing that toothless grin. She has mastered rolling over (when she wants to). She's very selective about when she wants to do it right away or when she'd rather lay there and cause a scene. Matt's right: there is a lot more drama raising girls!

So now I'll back up two weeks... Mom came out to visit! Yea! I think it may have been the daily photo albums I would email her that got her out here. Yeah, that may have done it, but I think the deciding factor was the phone message from the kids telling her they missed her and loved her and needed to see her. She had not seen Libby since Christmas, so needless to say, Libby had changed a bit since she had seen her last. As this picture shows, they were completely smitten with each other: Since it rained ALL day, every day she was here, we had to find things to do. We took the kids to get haircuts. This was Natalie's first haircut and all of us were nervous about cutting off the curls! Matt even called while Natalie was sitting in the chair and the stylist heard Matt tell her not to cut off the curls. She assured us she wouldn't. She did a great job cutting her hair and added just enough layers so that BO-ING!!!! the curls could not be contained. My mom and I both had our cameras there as well as our phones that have cameras on them. We could've been a Saturday Night Live skit with all of the pictures we were taking! At one point, I obviously wasn't thinking, and the stylist had Natalie looking down and I said, "Natalie, look up! Over here! Smile! Look at Mommy!" The poor woman had to try to cut hair as mom and I were both vying for Natalie's attention. Natalie, a.k.a. Sally Sit-Still (that's what we call her because she doesn't sit still!) didn't move a muscle the whole time she was in the chair. She was awesome.

This is Matthew getting tickled by "Mr. Buzz" the electric razor:
The finished product:

Thanks for coming, Mom!

5 months

2010-03-06T22:31:00.002-05:00

Check out this picture of Libby Lou and then look at Natalie's picture on the left side at 5 months. Almost twinners!

More family visitors

2010-02-27T16:20:00.006-05:00

Last weekend Great Grandma, Bryan, Gus and Christine came for a visit. We had a great time just being together. It was certainly a busy weekend in that Matt and I were both honoring our seniors in our respective programs at school. So once we got through the game (that we won!), had our reception for our seniors, we came home to relax and enjoy each other. We stayed up late playing board games while laughing hysterically. At least the ones that played games had a riot. I can't speak for the party-poopers that watched basketball in the basement all night - you know who you are. Here's the indoor "swing" Bryan and Gus made for Matthew and Natalie! They had a blast with their big strong uncles.

This is the Day!

2010-02-13T09:28:00.004-05:00

This morning at 7:15, I heard Matthew and Natalie singing in their beds. They were singing, "This is the Day. This is the Day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it!" Although it was early, my heart was full of joy remembering those early Sunday mornings when my dad would come in, voice as loud as thunder singing, "This is the Day!..." as he leaned over my bed to pull up the shade. We had the old shades that when you'd yank hard enough on the bottom, it would roll up so fast that it would keep rolling at the top. "Whap whap whap whap whap" as the shade would try to stop itself. Then the sun comes blaring in. Add that to the whapping shade and thunderous voice, and you had someone who would start their habit of needing coffee in the morning before she could be kind.

Last night my girlfriends and dad and I went to the late showing of "Valentine's Day". Dad traveled from Michigan yesterday and had to get up early. Traveling is tiring for dad, so after a full day of traveling, a late movie, and early morning hymns, I say: PAYBACK! :)

Love you, Dad. Glad you're here. (for the record, he's still sleeping)

Sledding, Libby Style

2010-02-09T12:25:00.004-05:00

Libby didn't get to go sledding the other day. She had to stay home and watch Daddy nap.

So yesterday our little family unit went sledding. Here's how Libby went down the hill...

I'm totally KIDDING!!! We would never do this! I took this picture with posting this blog in mind.

Hippo Soup

2010-02-08T10:51:00.003-05:00

Have you ever heard of the children's clothing brand "Pampolina"? I love it. My mother loves it. The store where she buys it from welcomes her by name when she goes in. Now do we get a better understanding of how much my mom likes it? My kids benefit when my mom finds something she likes so much. My sister knows what I'm talking about! ;) It's a much-appreciated hobby of my mom's.

So back to Pampolina...Every item of clothing comes with this cute gummy-bear-looking hippo, except it's hard. The kids like collecting them and playing with them. They take their toy kitchen cookware and pretend to make Hippo Soup. Yummmm. It is delicious! Here's one of the chefs making it, but pausing to pose for a picture...

Whenever my mom comes to visit, Natalie wants Grandma to do everything for her. She says, "No, mommy, Grandma's going to put me to bed." or "Grandma get me out of the car! Not you." or "Grandma read me books." So whenever she shoves me aside and goes for Grandma, Grandma says, "more Pampolina for you!"

The Big Nor'Easter Part Two

2010-02-06T17:35:00.019-05:00

So after a hearty lunch and a nice long nap from the kids, it was time for sledding!!! My friends, Rachel and Adrienne (left to right in the photo), decided to venture out in this trecherous Nor'Easter from their apartment .8 miles away. They back-packed through the conditions and arrived at their destination in one piece...

So once we got the kids suited up, we headed out (Matt stayed home to take care of Libby who decided to wake up screaming as soon as I walked out of the house - not my problem).

How did we get to the big hill? We walked up the street. Natalie, bless her heart, needed to be pulled there, so Mommy, bless her heart, pulled her in the sled. Holy Burning Quads, Batman!

Here's a picture of Rachel and Matthew that shows the incline of the hill. Not unlike the climb Miley Cyrus takes (stay tuned for future Miley Cyrus reference that will make sense).

Walking to the park, the snow got so deep in areas, that we had to carry the kids and help them through it.

Here's a shot of the hill we went sledding down. The woman laughing in the foreground is my next-door neighbor, Kelly.

Since our kids are not used to sledding, Rachel was kind enough to volunteer to be the first one down the hill to show the kids how fun it was. This is her saying, "Don't push me!". So I did.

And there she goes, complete with snow spray in her face!

Here I am sending my babies down the hill all by themselves. My heart was racing!

There they go!There's the little munchkins all on their own!Then Matthew braved it on his own. He went down the hill really fast and his sled stopped, but he kept going. He was giggling the whole time - notice the boot coming off!

Here's me chasing after the sled when Natalie said she wanted to push Rachel and Matthew down but didn't let go! She got snow all down her snowpants. Too funny.
Then the three of us decided to squeeze on a sled together. Ya' know how "the lighter the kid, the faster they go down the hill"? We had a nice slow ride down the hill.

When we got back to the house, we had to build a snow cave that turned into a snow tunnel. "Holla" to Cousin Kristy! for the suggestion.

So the best part of coming home is when they strip down to dance to Miley Cyrus. This is a daily occurance...Enjoy.

The Big Nor'Easter!

2010-02-06T11:58:00.011-05:00

So far there are more than 18 inches on the ground. We're expected to get 3 feet! So here's post one of two. The next post will be of our sledding adventures. Noodles would not stay in the house. She LOVES the snow. Natalie and Matthew liked helping Daddy and Ryan Livingston shovel the driveway.

But it's tiring...

The best part of playing in the snow is the Hot Chocolate afterwards...

And here's Libby Lou at 4 months! She's a total ham. She has a quick smile and loves it when her older brother and sister pay attention to her. They say, "You big baby!" in a low, excited voice. She's guaranteed to smile when they come around.

C'Mon, Mom! Why won't you update the Blog?

2010-01-26T20:50:00.003-05:00

The residue on his mouth is from one of those candy necklaces. Boy, did they love those!

She's Off the Charts!

2010-01-14T09:46:00.004-05:00

Here's Libby before we left for Florida:Here she is after one week of indirectly eating Grandma's great cooking:And here she is after two weeks of good eats (face fuller & major growth spurt- she's off the charts in height!):

And yes, she does have Matthew's ears!

Oh No She Didn't!

2009-12-19T20:43:00.003-05:00

A series of things have happened at the house where I've said aloud, "Oh no you d' ent!" (didn't)

We did get the two feet that was forcasted here. It was fun. Noodles loves bouncing around in the snow. When I let her out, she was a little disoriented by all of the white - she jumped on the roof like normal, but this time she proceded to piddle right there on the roof!

"Oh no she didn't!"

Natalie woke up in the middle of the night last night. She was whining telling me to get her another sippy cup because I put soup in her current sippy cup. Of course I did no such thing, but she must have been dreaming about the soup she had for dinner that she didn't like. She kept asking me why I put soup in her sippy cup? When I showed her the water that was in her sippy cup, she insisted it was soup! How could I do such a thing?

"Oh no I didn't!"

A few nights ago I had put the kids to bed and went downstairs to feed Libby. Matthew and Natalie were talking and giggling and I "Shhhhhushed" them. Matthew was trying to tell me something, but I just said, "No more talking, it's nigh-night time." Well, when Matt came home and walked in (hours later) Natalie woke up, whispered to Matt, "Daddy! Do you want to know something?" Matt said he did. She said, "Mommy forgot to brush our teeth tonight!" She called me out! Obviously that's what Matthew was trying to tell me when I was shushing them.

"Oh no she didn't!"

I have another incident that I'm not proud of, it was in a moment of parental weakness. I immediately apologized to Natalie for it, but I thought I should let all my readers know that I am not perfect. Natalie has been my shadow for the past few weeks because she's been afraid of "the Black Witch" from Sleeping Beauty. Sort of like when Matthew was afraid of "the Scary Guy" whoever that was. Anyway, I'm stalling because I'm so ashamed, I had been asking Natalie for 25 minutes to pick up the Lincoln Logs and put them in the bucket. Literally, I was sitting next to her, watching as she would pick up one piece and slowly put it in the bucket. Then she would lose focus and just stand still. I would say, "Natalie!" and she would jerk like I snapped her trance that she was in. She would slowly pick up another piece and you get the picture. 25 minutes of this. Well lunchtime crept up on us and I had to go make lunch. The whole time I'm calling down the steps hoping that we're making progress. I forgot to mention that there are about 250 Lincoln Log pieces. So, I'm finished making lunch and I ask Natalie if she's finished. "No," she says. I come halfway down the stairs to see that NOT ONE piece has moved since I've made lunch. Should I be so surprised? not really. At this point I'm a little frustrated. Teensy bit. So, instead of taking a breath and thinking first, I say, "Listen here, Snow White, you better hurry up before the Black Witch comes!" Oh yes I did. And I even got my Disney Princess wrong in the process. Didn't matter, Natalie made the most heartbreaking face and scream-cried and came running up the stairs.

"Oh no I didn't!"

To even the score here, we'll include Matt. Matt had an extremely emotional week with basketball. There are always trials every season on every team, but this one situation was difficult and took a lot out of Matt. He would come home and say "hi" to the kids but then he'd go right to bed completely drained. I felt bad for him, but knew there was nothing I could do or say to fix it, so I just climbed in bed and snuggled close to him. Ya' know what he did? Oh no he didn't! I felt his stomach tighten up and then the resounding buh-whaap was so shocking I couldn't move! And after a wind so roughly passed as that, you dare not move for fear of the whaft that shoots straight up the nostrils when the sheets move!

"Oh no he didn't!"

The following stories are all true except it was me, not Matt. Again readers, I apologize for ruining my perfection.

Snow Day!!!

2009-12-19T15:43:00.011-05:00

We're expected to get 2 feet of snow here. So far we've gotten about a foot. Matt and I have both shoveled twice just to keep up with it. The TV news anchors have all of our unmentionables in a bunch over the impending snow. Last night before anything had fallen, they were "strongly urging" no one to get out of their houses. PennDot (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) was advising the public to only use the roads if it is an "extreme emergency". Gimme a break, it's just not the Midwest. People freak out here! They don't know how to drive and the plows are on their own time-schedule and its like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey as to which roads they choose to plow. Basketball games have even been cancelled due to forcasts, not even true storms. Which is rediculous for two reasons: 1) Everyone here on the Main Line has one, if not two SUVs - complete with pinstriped monogramming on the side - but don't know how to drive them or switch to 4-wheel drive. 2) Wild horses couldn't keep Michiganders and Indianders from their beloved tri-weekly tradition! It's High School on Tues/Fri and College on Wed/Sat, so I'm factoring in one college away game a week.
So anyways, the snow. The sweat. My sweat. Trying to find all of the boots, gloves, hats, scarves, jackets, snowpants, I-have-to-go-potty-mommy while we're half-dressed, what am I going to do with the baby now that we've been at this for 55 minutes and she needs a nap? It's a work-out. We finally made it out after OVER an hour of assembling, disassembling and re-assembling the outfits.
We really did have a great time. The kids aren't used to the snow since we only get about one storm a season. Matthew thinks its still okay to ride the tricycle...
Natalie wanted to swim in the snow...
We did get to do traditional thing like snow angels...

and catching snowflakes on our tongues...

Libby truly enjoyed her first experience with snow...

Now that the kids are up from a 2 1/2 hour nap, we're going to do it all over again!

2009-12-06T17:39:00.005-05:00

My blog is usually geared toward family, since we don't live near them, but this one's for some of the cheerleaders that "creep on ma' blog". So the first part is for them and the second paragraph is to keep my family amused.

I just have to give a shout out to my cheerleading team. *HOLLA* They cheered a great game last night. During warm-ups they stayed focused while kids were running in between each of their formations, they hit their stunts even though kids were saying, "Mom MAaaaaaaaaM!" and rearranged every single time-out we've rehearsed since the beginning of the year b/c of a student suddenly transferring, another out with mono, and yet another out with an injury - all of this happening last week! They have such positive attitudes that they faced these challenges head-on and encouraged each other throughout it all. I wish I could explain all of their unique personalities and quirky senses of humor, but to go out and get a fun picture in the snow is a little glimpse into that. I love this team.

The great thing about coaching cheerleading is that no matter how the basketball team does, the cheerleaders always win! I like to remind Matt about this after a tough basketball loss. I let him know that my cheerleaders did awesome, thanks for asking, and that seems to help put things into perspective for him - helps him get over the loss quicker.

When in Wayne

2009-12-04T16:31:00.005-05:00

So, we live on "The Main Line" as you may know. The thing about the Main Line is that there is this exuberant pressure on people to keep up appearances. My mom affectionately calls it "Disheveled Chic." Which completely explains the average Main Line mom of 5, all children spaced two years apart or less, with a fresh cup of Starbucks in hand, wearing their work-out clothes- if it's Friday mid-morning they're coming from Tennis and have their skirts and matching sweaters on, I kid you not- hair in a ponytail that is messy, make-up on, and driving around in their luxury SUV. I have fallen prey.

Well, not to the total package of being a Disheveled Chic Mom, but if I had cupholders in my stoller, I may. I began walking some 3.5 miles on the Radnor Trail since we've had nice weather. It takes me a good hour to get ready to go on this walk. I have to put the kids in their cutest clothes:

I have to get entertainment for the older kids (books, snack, juice) so that they can last in the double stroller together, bundle and strap the little one in the baby bjorn, and get Noodles harnessed. Yes Noodles gets to go too. I wish I could get a picture of this Circus because from the comments I get from other Disheveled Chic (children-in-daycare) Moms, it looks "like I've got my hands full!" Comments I get from Main Line Dads on the trail? "I will never again complain about my workout being tough!" Those comments keep pushing me to go faster. But, back to the process of this taking a long time:

She fell asleep on the floor!

Thankful for Family

2009-12-02T10:30:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Uncle Grammie, PopPop, Uncle Bryan, Uncle Gus and Uncle Christine. Yup. We're still in the phase of calling everyone, except PopPop, "Uncle." Matthew loved being smacked around by his big uncles and Natalie took a special liking to Bryan. She kept crawling on him trying to get closer to him. Grammie and PopPop provided non-stop entertainment for the kids. They even walked into Wayne to hit up the beloved "Gumdrops and Sprinkles" candy store that the kids love so much. Christine and I enjoyed getting away on Black Friday for 7.5 hours of power shopping!

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. We kept talking about how someone needed to get a picture of the beautiful table that was set with all of my Christmas dishes, tablecoth and professionally-folded napkins, but no one did! If you've ever cooked a Thanksgiving meal you know that its a rush at the end with the carving of a 25-lb turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and brown-n-serve rolls all at once. That and the hot breath from family that is standing over you, hungrily wondering when dinner will be ready. I actually grabbed the camera after the dinner, but it looked like a pack of angry wolves attacked the table. I didn't want to save that image over the lovely picture I had in my head of how wonderful the table looked before the wolves sat down. Ha! I just put it together that Al and Nancy's last name is Wolff! I honestly didn't mean that the Wolff's sat down and tore it up, I was more speaking about the men at the table.

I realized that Libby inherited Matt's mischivious, crooked smile. So cute.

Eating Spurt

2009-11-23T22:39:00.003-05:00

Hi. My name is Libby. I'm going through a growth spurt. One where I just like to eat. All-la-la Day! And All-la-la Night! My Mommy wants me to have a growth spurt where I sleep all day, but no, I need to show her that I'm in control and when I say, "EAT" in my special ear-piercing way, she sprints! Right now I'm pretending to sleep, just waiting for the perfect moment when Mommy is sound asleep to explain that I'd like to eat. NOW. So as I'm pretending to sleep, I hear Daddy tell Mommy that this growth spurt has even stressed him out. He has no idea what I have in store for them tonight!

Super Powers

2009-11-21T11:21:00.010-05:00

They can fly...

Natalie actually attempts a spin-move as she jumps...

Matthew focuses more on height and distance. Sorry about Noodles, I wish I could add a modesty patch over her "potty"...

And one for Natalie's bips...And there's no explanation for this face...
I really enjoy staying home with the kiddos. Some days when the weather is bad, we stay in our pj's all day and jump on couch cushions, play basketball, dance and sing to "Go Cubs Go", color, build legos and train tracks and just play. It's a riot. I also enjoy watching how kind my kids are to each other. They encourage each other, say please and thank-you to each other and randomly go up to one another for a hug. It is awesome to witness. Yeah, sometimes they have their moments of frustration and sharing issues, but they really are good buddies.

I went back to classes this week. I was glad to see my students again and walk with them. BUT, when leaving the house, Libby wants to eat and the bottle is just not the same as my "elbow" (see previous post), while Matthew and Natalie are up and running around telling Matt that they want him to make them eggs. My class started in 20 minutes and I could see the stress blowing out Matt's ears as he asked if I could help him with breakfast for the older kids. No, I could not. And I walked out the door. It was tough for me and I'm sure it was harder for him, so we'll see who goes to class for the remainder of the semester! Look at these faces...How could I not want to stay home?

Downtown with Uncle Debbie

2009-11-15T20:04:00.016-05:00

My sister came for a visit this weekend. It had been over a year since we had seen each other - too long! I had fun watching my kids love up on her. "I want to go with Uncle Debbie!" and "Uncle Debbie sing Matthew and Natalie songs" and on and on and on. I wasn't allowed to do anything, by the kids' standards. Only Debbie could do it. Shucks Darn! I took advantage of the extra set of hands and ran some errands with Debbie and the kids. And by errands I mean shopping. 75% off shoes at Nordstrom Rack?!? SOLD!

Back to Debbie. Matt stayed home with the kids and she and I got to go out for my dear friend's birthday. I'm glad she got to meet some of my great friends here.

Little Libby is getting bigger. She's filling out and lengthening quite a bit. I put a size 3month dress on her that Natalie wore well into her 5th month, and it wasn't a dress. It came up to her hips, so I put it with pants. She's really that long! She has been smiling and cooing a ton. It sure tickles my heart when she smiles!

Natalie has been saying "yum" for "yes" lately. I don't know where that came from. It sounds like she's going to say "yup" but ends it with an "ummm." Too funny. Today she started calling Matthew, "Ma-few." No more "Man-ew!" So sad. I loved her nickname for him. Oh, and she has awesome hair.

When we're at the table eating our meals, Matthew has gotten into the habit of saying "downtown" and "uptown" and talking in the third person. A common phrase we hear is, "Matthew's milk is downtown and Natalie's milk is uptown." That means that Matthew is drinking his milk and it's almost gone. Natalie still has a lot of milk in her cup. I have no idea where this came from. Something else I have no idea where it came from is Matthew's label for certain body parts. A few months ago he told me his ankle was hurting. So, naturally I look down toward his foot. Not so much. He said, "No MOM! THIS ankle." He was pointing at his third leg. See? Where does he get this? Then just the other day I was nursing Libby- You know where this is going- Matthew sits down next to me and says, "Hey mom, I can feed Libby, too." As I respond with, "Oh yeah? why do you say that?" he's lifting up his shirt and he says, "See look, I have elbows, too!" He could see that I was ready to laugh and when I told him that they were called nipples he laughed hysterically and said, "No they're not!" He thought I was kidding with him. When Matt came home I asked Matthew to show Daddy his elbows. He lifted up his shirt and showed him the nips. Matt corrected him the same way I did, but Matthew didn't believe us!

Cheap Thrills

2009-11-09T10:35:00.011-05:00

When we get the "Dark Time" its time for bath and bed. So, when Grandma sent Glow Sticks, we activated them and let the kids play outside during the "Dark Time" the kids LOVED it! They went bananas: B-A-N-A-N-A-S running around with their Glow Sticks. What a thrill!

You can see Matthew's excitement and Natalie's in the middle of saying, "Momma, whaa chis!" (Watch this)

I have been trying so hard to get Libby smiling on camera. She smiles quite often and I usually do have my camera within an arm's reach at all times, but she smiles when I hold her and therefore can't get her at the right angle. Here are a few attempts, but it really doesn't do the real thing justice. Notice the dimple!

How lucious is this?

This one's for the Grandmas to kiss their computers:

And these last two are of Natalie and Kate Gosselin helping Daddy wash his Hot Rod. He (Kate) just got his haircut from our nextdoor neighbor and it is a permaKate, constantly stuck in the Kate style. Poor kid.
I'd be upset, too.

Saving the Day!

2009-11-06T09:46:00.007-05:00

Halloween was a Super-Hero event for us this year. Matthew was Captain America and he donned his home-made Shield of Faith for the day.

Natalie was Super-Girl and wore her Boots of Righteousness in order to "walk in His Way" for the day.

Libby wore a "my first Halloween" shirt and went as a Beautiful Baby.

It rained on us, for the 15 houses we went to, but that did not stop the Super-Heros from spreading their joy to the neighborhood. Every house they went to, Matthew and Natalie were polite and left each house smiling. When we came back to the house, Noodles was upset that we left her home this year. Like I said, it was raining and we didn't want to smell wet dog all night, so she got left behind. As soon as the kids were in bed and we were relaxing, she had something to say about it:

And in other exciting news: I got out of the house for dinner with the girls! It was a friend's birthday, so I got away (childless) to celebrate her big day for an hour. Thanks Matt! He even thought it was so momentous an occation, that he offered to take our picture (Fabulous boots, Rachel!).

Blowing through October

2009-10-26T11:43:00.010-04:00

We're already half-way through the semester, we've started basketball season, and Libby's already a month old. Wow!

We try to entertain our children while we do chores, but we always end up entertaining ourselves in the process. What is going on here?

Need a clue? Look on the right side of the picture.

They kept running in front of the leaf blower - either that or Matt kept shooting it at them, I'm not sure.

Libby is much more alert these days...

She even reached up to give Matt a kiss!

And then nestled in safe arms to fall asleep...

We're headed to the doctor today for Libby's one-month check up, so I'll update with her growth when we return.

New Pictures

2009-10-20T21:28:00.007-04:00

Sheshame Shtreet

2009-10-19T09:46:00.010-04:00

When I'm sitting, Libby's nursing, Natalie's thinking of ways to antagonize Matthew and Matthew's trying to run away, this is how I diffuse the situation:

All I do is click on "Sesame Street," which is on our favorites, and Matthew navigates his way around the site - no problem. Oh, and here's what the situation looks like all at once:

I'm trying to smile for the camera as Natalie's climbing on me and her feet are pulling my hair out.

Libby's been smiling and "Ahh"ing more lately. When we get the camera out to try to capture the smile - of course we're all trying to get her attention at once - it makes her go cross-eyed and not know who or what to focus on:

In the end, Matt & Nat really are best buddies!

First Photo Shoot

2009-10-16T16:41:00.005-04:00

Grandma wants more pictures, so Grandma gets more pictures. I've placed her down this way:

And watched her roll over twice! She's also getting much better at holding her head up, looking around, and when she does tummy-time, she pushes up onto her elbows - so much so, that she scooted to the edge of the blanket! Yeah, I know, professional athlete.

The Third Needs to be Heard!

2009-10-15T13:15:00.011-04:00

I've had some people tell me that once you have your third child, they just go with the flow b/c they have to, b/c there's so much commotion around them that they are entertained. Not so much. Libby is a good sleeper at night, but during the day she wants some attention, too. Attention in the form of "Hold me. If you put me down, within 5 minutes I'll realize I'm not being held and I'll let you know about how you left me alone." So this is how she spends a lot of her day - as a fashionable arm accessory.Libby's going through a growth spurt, to say the least. She grew an inch and a half since birth (2 1/2 weeks ago) and is in the 97th percentile for length. She weighs 8.13 and that puts her in the 70th percentile.

Natalie began riding her princess bike by herself this week! At 2yrs 3months we think that's pretty spectacular! Her biggest obstacle is watching out for big brother on his bike. He is so fast. He lowers his head, raises his elbows and plows down the sidewalk. He yells, "Nat-a-LEEE!" and with a look of sheer panic, moves to her safe place to get out of the way. Here's what that looks like:

Matthew learned hop-scotch with Grammy this week and then when PopPop came they played baseball in the driveway and he finally caught on to the concept of hitting the ball, dropping (a.k.a. flinging) the bat, and then running the bases. One of his new favorite activities is finger-painting:

Today was cold and rainy, so PopPop came up with the great idea of buiding a fire and then eating a picnic lunch in front of the fireplace. Great idea, PopPop! The kids loved it.

Grammy's Here!

2009-10-11T11:55:00.003-04:00

Whew! Just in time! As soon as mom left, I came down with Mastitis and a sore throat, runny nose, and the sneezes. But no fear! Nancy's here! And you can tell from the picture that the kids were just as excited as she was - especially when they receive gifts like these great t-shirts from Uncle Bryan and funny books from Auntie Cari. Libby was thrilled just to be held.

Her flight was delayed 4 hours coming out of Chicago, but it was while the kids were sleeping anyway. For someone who doesn't sit still, waiting 4 hours to see your grandkids and hold the newest grand-baby is torture! When she finally got to our house it was 1:30am and she went upstairs to kiss the kids. Natalie, being the light sleeper she is, woke up and said, "Where's PopPop?" I think what she meant to say if she had not had sleepy-cloudy-head would have been, "Well Good Evening, Grammy. So nice to see you! I'm so delighted that you're here but you usually come with that silly, fun, handy-man, PopPop. Is he here, too?" PopPop flies in today - woo hoo!

On my own...

2009-10-06T21:42:00.008-04:00

My mommy left. :( Two weeks of love, service, laundry, organizing, groceries, meals, entertainment, taking care of Matthew and Natalie, getting the Christmas dishes out, oh and the Starbucks! Hot PSLs, Iced PSLs, with whip, without whip. Oh how I'll miss my Pumpkin Spice Lattes delivered with love from Mom. My mom did EVERYTHING around the house. I miss my mommy. Thanks for EVERYTHING, Mommy! But good news! I get another mommy here on Friday! How lucky am I?!? I like having my mommies around and the kids LOVE having their Grandma, Grandpop, Grammie, and PopPop here. Grandma was packing to leave today and Natalie said, "I want to go to Michigan by myself, Mommy." And then when we dropped Grandma off at the airport, Natalie said, "I miss Grandma, Mommy!"

Matthew has been the best older brother in the world. I'm assuming he's much sweeter than his father was to his uncles and auntie. He loves sitting next to Libby, kissing Libby, and talking to her. He was sitting on the couch next to me and he started kicking his legs in excitement and I asked him what he was thinking. He said, "I'm just so excited to have two sisters!" Today he kissed Libby and said, "I love baby Libby so much, Mommy. I love you so much, too." Precious.

Natalie is learning how to use her gentle hands. She loves Libby and wants to be near her, but she doesn't realize how near she actually gets - like nearly sitting on her. She is very interested, but quickly gets interested in other things, so supervision and quick hands are a must! Right now Natalie has a cold that has affected her voice. Mom called it her "sexy voice." She sounds so funny. I got a video of it, but it's on Mom's camera and I'll have to call Mom and walk her through how to upload that so we can all hear it.

Libby is sleeping tremendously. She is giving me 4-6 hours at night and sometimes I have to wake her up! She certainly has her fussy times during the day, which is new to Matt and I, but if that makes her tired for nighttime sleep, I'll deal. The first two nights home from the hospital she was awake for a few hours from 2-5am. After a strict talking-to, she knows that's not acceptable. Here Libby's wearing my FaFa's outfit that he wore home from the hospital 85 years ago!

I shouldn't say that I'm on my own. I'm not. I have the best husband. He's very sensitive to me and takes on a ton around the house and especially the wrestling duties with the kids. They need to be loved a little rough every once in a while. He's taught them how to wrestle gently and one of the most favorite thing the kids like to do is wrestle. Now that you know a little more about Matthew's loving and sensative behavior and Natalie working on her "gentle hands" I'll show you a picture of what their wrestling looks like. You can imagine who calls out for help first. Hint: the one usually on the bottom of the pile. Natalie also has some tricks up her sleeve, like de-pantsing Matthew during the brawl. It's unfair. He can't fight back because he giggles too hard.

Sweet Serenity

2009-10-03T11:52:00.002-04:00

There's nothing better than a sleeping baby! She likes to suck in her lower lip when she sleeps.

Libby Louise

2009-09-30T21:35:00.011-04:00

I know. You've been waiting for me to remove my cross-eyed face and update about our new addition.

Elizabeth "Libby" Louise Nadelhoffer was born on Friday, Sept. 25 at 6:35pm. She weighed 8lbs 2oz and measured 21inches long. Matt and I were pretty convinced that we were having a boy, so she went nameless for the first night in the hospital, bless her heart.

Going a little Loony

2009-09-23T17:15:00.004-04:00

This morning at about 5 I was awoken by some funny pangy feelings in my lower stomach. I debated on whether or not I should call my department head to tell him I was in labor so that he could let my sub know. I kept waiting and waiting and just kept feeling nauseaus and adrenaline-surged that the baby might really be coming. At about 7 I thought I should just go to power walking class and that would either help contractions or let me know I wasn't really in labor. I only get a week off of my classes, so I want to make sure I'm really having this baby in order to use up one of those precious days! You should have seen my class' faces when I told them I had had a few contractions and that I would only be walking half the route with them today. That was my 8am class. I was feeling heavy Braxton-Hicks contractions, but not the real ones. So I stayed for my 9am class and walked half their route, too. After this walk I didn't feel much progress. Talk about getting your hopes up and then having them come crashing down! I came home to rest for a half-hour while I still had the sitter, but was getting texts from everyone on campus wishing me good luck. It was nice, but I should've just shut my phone off.

I'm not feeling like myself and am really tired. I think it's my body's way of telling me to rest to get ready for the new one to come. After lunch I got to nap a little when the kids napped and was awoken again by more of those uncomfortable feelings. So, I do think that things are happening, but not so quickly. We just went for a family walk and I felt more Braxton-Hicks contractions. The good thing is that my mom and dad are headed out here in a few hours and that they didn't miss any action yet. I had a dream two nights ago that they drove out here but didn't make it in time for the birth and Matt called them to tell them the baby was here, but that they'd have to wait and see what we had until they actually got to the hospital. Isn't that cruel? How could you do that, Matt? You're such a tease. Anyway, it'll make me feel better when my parents come and will help me not worry about finding people to watch the kids.

Matthew's 4!

2009-09-18T22:11:00.036-04:00

I can't believe our first baby is four today. He woke up this morning and I am convinced he looks older. Maybe it was because of the too-cute "crewcuts" outfit Grandma got him, but he is just looking so grown up to me (wipe the tears).

Let me back-track just a little. Because of the last blog that I updated with the pictures of the kids, Dad booked a flight for Mom to visit. Even though she'll be back when the baby decides to come out, she had to come out. Who can blame her? The kids are too cute to resist, Matt's constantly sending her picture mail on her cell phone, the kids call and leave her messages, she's a grandma, and so she gets to do such things. We had a great visit. We went to the park, went shopping, hung out at the house, went out for breakfast where she was absolutely amazed at how much and how fast my kids can inhale pancakes and eggs (of course who could blame them when we licked our plates clean, too!), and did more shopping. Just what I needed. I needed to get out of the house and eat and shop and play. My kind of visit. Here's some pictures: The first try was a little bright, so we moved to a better location.

Here we are at the park:

Sometimes the park can be tiring!

After Grandma left the kids needed some roughing up and wrestle time with Daddy. So what better time to do it than right before bed! We were in the process of getting P.J.'s on when Daddy started wrestle-mania. There are two things the kids love: 1) wrestling with Daddy and 2) being naked. They were so wound up and sweaty that they needed a bath and some serious book-reading and song-singing by Mommy to calm down.

The kids ended up winning.

So back to Matthew's 4th Birthday. The day started out typical with Matt and I leaving for work and the sitter coming over to teach letters and trade shoes and bounce on the couch cushions.

Later we had a playdate with Matthew's friend, Jude. Of course the cushions come off for that fun, too. I happened to pull the camera out right when Matthew got a papercut on his new coloring book and this is all I captured from their playtime together. "It's my birthday, I can cry if I want to, cry if I want to..."

Jude brought him his first Lego set and he loved it! I had fun putting it together for him.
And then we opened presents. The anticipation of opening the presents was too much to handle and we had to grab our leg to hold on. He was so excited about all of the great toys, movies, pajama's, writing/coloring things, Spiderman guys and clothes (Daddy loved the green and white striped long-sleeved Lacoste shirt the most! You can see it in the box under the "Bee Movie"). Natalie did pretty good at watching him open presents and trying to stay away from the new toys. Matthew was on guard trying to protect his new toys from his destructive sister.

One of his favorites was the Incredible Hulk punching gloves that make noises and grunts when you hit something. Natalie's reaction to hearing the gruff voice was worth a picture, too.

To finish up a great day we had friends over for dinner and Spiderman Cake. Matthew waited a day and a half to eat that cake. He was so excited! When we all sang to him he just couldn't hold in his elation and giggled through the whole song.

Thanks everyone for making Matthew's Day so special with your thoughts, phone calls, cards, presents and just being together. We love you all!

Inside Bows

2009-09-12T21:50:00.004-04:00

These days I have a rediculously difficult time bending down to put shoes on, let alone tie the laces without some sort of perverse noise coming out of me. Usually it's just a loud grunt, but I wouldn't stand behind me, just to be safe. Back to trying to put on shoes...so I'm at the point where I have to sit down a.k.a. "flop down" on the couch and then pull on my pant leg in order to get my foot up on my other knee. From this point I tie my shoe laces, working around the belly, grunting, and end up with the bows tied on the insides of my feet, so they rub against each other when I walk. Not attractive.

So seeing as I can't reach my feet very well, my friends thought I needed a pedicure. How right they were. Especially after I sat in the exam room, with the "sheet" that they provide you for covering - which neither covers nor is 1000-count - for 45 minutes for the doctor to come in. Unacceptable, I know. I was texting Matt to tell him to call the front desk and make sure they knew I was still in an exam room WAITING. Those exam tables are not comfortable for pregnant women. Ironic, I know, seeing as it is an OB office. So as I'm sitting there, my cankles are swelling and swelling and throbbing and throbbing. I can't get down off of the table because if male doctor comes in, I have to hop back on the exam table with my "sheet" and I'm afraid of the noises and things that would occur. While I'm waiting, I get a text from my friend that suggests a pedicure tonight. Dear friends, I love you. I'm going to have the pedicure people rub real hard to hopefully start labor, but male doctor says he thinks I might "hold on to this baby for a while" after my due date. Not something I wanted to hear.

So we got our pedicures and my feet look fabulous. I mean, I have to have my feet look pretty for pushing! I chose a chocolatey color - OPI "I'm Fondue of you" - to help me think about wonderful, delicious, soothing things like chocolate while I'm going through the most difficult part.

Cinderella's Castle

2009-09-09T15:40:00.003-04:00

WARNING: This post is a little more gross than it is funny. Keep reading if you haven't eaten.

These days everything is Cinderella for Natalie: Fruit Snacks, Pull-Ups, A Ball, Books, Movies, she's everywhere. This morning she did the deuces on the potty (good girl, Natalie!), turns around looking into the toilet and says, "Look Mommy! A Castle!" What am I, What do I, How do I, What does anyone say to that?

Back to it!

2009-09-05T19:40:00.015-04:00

So here we are again, back in the full swing of classes. I go through denial at the start of every semester. I think, "I am really teaching? Am I really waking up and getting professional clothes on, not just packing for the pool today?" But this semester I was actually ready. I got my entire semester planned and essential papers photocopied and organized because that meant that I was ready for the next step: the baby! As soon as the baby comes I'll be handing over the day-to-day activity of the classes to Matt and my T.A.'s. I will come in and lecture for exams about every two weeks. My goal is also to get back and power walk with my classes quickly so that they can see that you can exercise up until the baby is born and you can get right back into it soon after, too. That's the plan, anyway.

The kids have grown up so much. They are starting to look a little older and are clearly communicating with each other and us perfectly. It is so much fun to see their personalities grow and watch them become such good buddies.

My wonderful babysitter, Amanda, has agreed to teach Matthew 5 days a week out of a teacher's book I got from a teacher's store. They trace letters, cut out shapes, color, glue, and work on sounds of the letters. I'm guessing Natalie gets to play with Amanda's phone during "teaching time" in order for the lesson to get done. (She even managed to take some of these pictures so that I could see what they do! What a blessing this "school" has been! We went to the zoo the other day and children could sign their name on a good-luck banner for a pregnant orangutan and Matthew walked right up to it and wrote "A" on it. That was after one day of teaching, so I put "M" in front and "tthew" around it. We've been working on the rest of his name over this weekend. He's got "T" and "H" and "E" down, but we need work on "M" and "W."

If you're wondering about Natalie's face, that happened on my watch. I took the kids to the park and as soon as we got there, she ran out of the stroller, tried to run up a step and missed. She barely has a nose, but managed to scrape the entire thing! She has bruises by her eyebrow and on either side of the bridge of her nose, a scab on the top of her nose, and the rest is spaghetti dinner.

We've had a wonderful summer, filled with family and friends and new adventures. Matthew and Natalie have both become spectacular swimmers. Matthew can go in the "big pool" by himself: no rafts, floaties, or noodles! He even swims underwater. Natalie jumps in the "big pool" goes underwater, and swims with a noodle. Here's Matthew jumping in and then swimming the width of the pool. Natalie is in the "kiddie pool" swimming underwater.

Here's another adventure: Matt has really wanted me to start potty-training Natalie, but my desire is just not there. It was such a huge "indoor" commitment with Matthew and I did not enjoy it. Matt said that he would help with Natalie and he has. He's been the motivator for doing this. Matthew is the encourager. He is so cute when Natalie is successful. And here's the best part: I'm not doing much! I just keep asking if she has to go and she'll say "yes" and go on the potty or she'll say "no" and I won't worry about it. And she stays dry! Yes, there have been a couple of accidents, but I've decided to go the lazy Pull-Ups route, so it's not a big deal. With Matthew, because I was so intense with him, he went straight to underwear and there were no accidents. So, she's pretty much training on her own. Thatta girl!

Now we're really excited about meeting our future adventure. I'm feeling pretty good. At this point I am 37 weeks and a couple of days. I was very uncomfortable three weeks ago and felt very big in the stomach. I couldn't sleep well and woke up often at night in pain. Sometimes I would lose my breath and just have to get up and walk around at night. Turns out the baby was breach. No wonder! So I posted that on my Facebook status and I randomly hear from an old Wheaton aquaintance from back in the day, saying that she had the same thing. She gave me an exercise to try. [See below] I tried it that night and felt an unbelieveable rolling sensation that I had never felt before - in any pregnancy. I did it again the next night and felt the same thing. I kept doing this for a week, but only felt crazy movements the first two nights. I then went back to the doctor on Thursday and she said the baby had flipped! It worked! Although I am much more relaxed about the delivery now that I know the baby is in the right position, I can't control the cankle issue. My ankles keep swelling up at night. Poor me. I wish I could get a calf/foot massage once in a while. (At this point I would highly recommend texting, calling, facebooking, commenting to Matt that his wife would appreciate the jesture.)

Pretty crazy position, huh? I would stay like this for at least 10 minutes, sometimes make it to 20, but that was only if I didn't eat or drink right before. Everything seems to move toward the throat in this position. On a side note: I just took this picture for the blog so that you could see what I went through. I actually took this myself and put the camera on a timer. Go ahead and imagine the scene: running back and forth, trying to maneuver into this aweful place, making sure I'm in the picture, and then making it on time before the picture takes. So if I have sweaty-pitties, please forgive.

Hopefully the next post will be some sort of update about the baby coming early. I would like that. I'm just feeling huge and cankles aren't that becoming on me. Oh, and I do want to meet the kid, too. ;)

Happy Nine Years!

2009-08-11T11:46:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated 9 Happy years of marriage! We went out for a nice Italian dinner without our children. It was wonderful. Here's how our children reacted to us going out without them:

Natalie's Two!

2009-07-13T22:38:00.003-04:00

My little girl is two. I can't believe it! It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital with her and remember all the pain she caused me. OH! No, that wasn't what I meant to say. What I meant to say is I remember when they said, "She's a GIRL!" and I looked at my mom with tears in my eyes and said, "I got my girl!" I was so happy. Still am. Didn't mean for that to be past tense. I also didn't know how much I really wanted a girl until I had Natalie. Our Matthew is so well-mannered, he's a respectful, kind, obedient, wonderful boy and we just assumed that a little girl would be all that and then sugary sweet on top of it. Well, she is a good little girl, but she's not all sugary sweet, there's some spice in there, too. That's why we love her so much. God made her perfect - perfect for Matt and I to perfect our parenting skills!

To Appease My Family

2009-06-30T11:46:00.005-04:00

My family complains that I never have pictures of me. Here's one from last month in Marco.

The belly's a bit bigger now! And here's one with my boyfriend. He doesn't wear his wedding band because it's a little big and he doesn't want it to "fall off and lose it." Aw, how sweet. Always thinking ahead. Those dolphins in Marco are known to jump right out of the gulf and strip men of their wedding bands, so good thinking dear. "That's what turns me on about 'cha - your attention to details." (Ace Ventura, Pet Detective)

AH-Choooooo!

2009-06-30T10:54:00.003-04:00

I've come down with quite a bad cold and Matt suggested it might be from needing to change the A/C filter. I think he was right. I love my Mr. Fix-it husband. So I was changing the filter (notice who actually did it), and the kids were very interested in what I was doing. I told them that I was changing the filter so that mom would maybe stop sneezing. Matthew wanted to make sure he understood me, so he said, "Are you changing that to fix your bless-you's?" Yup. I am. I changed it an hour ago and I feel better already.

And just because every post needs a picture or two...here are the kids at their finest. Matthew safely rocking out to Lightning McQueen - because he can be quite a head-banger - and Natalie after she wakes up from sleep.

Villanova Basketball Camp

2009-06-28T10:23:00.004-04:00

We went over to visit Daddy "working" at Villanova Basketball Camp. He looks like he's one of the kids, just having a great time, so that's why I call it "work." Plus, he's a commissioner so he delegates all responsibilities. Matthew got his picture taken with Scottie Reynolds, who was so sweet to Matthew. Later, as awards were about to start and the whole camp is in the Pavilion, including campers, parents and all coaches (about 350 people total) Matt told Matthew to go up to Coach Wright and give him a high-5. Matthew says, "which one is he?" Matt pointed him out as the guy with dark hair in a blue shirt about 30 feet away. Off Matthew went. I couldn't believe it! He went right up to him and held out his hand for a high-5. Coach Wright played it up, gave him a big high-5, and said something to him to send Matthew skipping back to Matt with a huge smile on his face. Now that we know he's not embarrassed or shy, he'll be the kid we send into the kitchen at restaurants to ask how much longer until our food is ready.

Day by Day by Day

2009-06-26T12:09:00.008-04:00

We try to get outside as much as possible. The kids love going outside - "Side" as Natalie calls it. We finally made it to Eastern's pool yesterday because the weather was wonderful. I took them two weeks ago before we had all of the rain, but the kiddie pool was ice cold and they just stood in there with their lips getting purple staring at me. I asked them if they were having fun. Their response was not so positive so we left.

Here's Matthew's favorite outfit lately. The Oscar the Grouch shirt and the Lightning McQueen socks - with flip-flops, nontheless.

I grabbed the camera a little late on this one because Matt was saying that he couldn't hold them up anymore. He did let them down gently, just so you know.

Grammie and PopPop came out for a much-needed visit. We appreciated how they took the kids every morning and fed them eggs and pancakes while we slept in a little. I can't handle cooking eggs when I'm pregnant so I was happy that they did that for me. Natalie would talk about "eggs and cakes" all day. As you can tell from my last post, she is slightly motivated by food. Grammie and PopPop bought birthday bikes for Matthew and Natalie's birthdays coming up in the next few months. The kids love their bikes! Natalie's is a Disney Princess bike with matching helmet and knee pads - too cute. Matthew's is a "Devious" bike - I'm sure that's a sign for things to come.

I've got more pictures, but little Bunny's up from nap and I need to get her before she flops out of her crib.

I'm back to put up the rest of the pictures. The big house project that we used PopPop's expertise on for this trip was our leaky deck. He came up with a great drainage system to combat the flat roof that the deck sits on. Grammie was a huge help with making sure it looked good! But it wasn't all work, there was always time to swing a kid or two.

Natalie could've stayed and played in Grammie and PopPop's minivan all day just pushing magic buttons and watching things light up or doors open and shut. When I asked her what she was doing, she'd say, "Drifing."

But Maaaam! I'm haaahmry!

2009-06-10T14:00:00.003-04:00

This is how Natalie tells me she's (hahmry) hungry:

Interesting Conversation with Matthew

2009-06-07T12:32:00.003-04:00

Let me set the stage...

Natalie's upstairs sleeping. Matt, Matthew and I are eating lunch on the deck. After lunch, Matt goes through the house, down to the garage to get the lawnmower started. Matthew gets his plastic lawnmower and takes it down the steps of the deck. I'm still eating, naturally.

Matthew comes to the bottom of the steps and says, "Mommy? I just have to go poop in the grass."
Me: Um, what?
Matthew: Yeah. I just have to go poop in the grass real quick.
Me: No, Matthew, we go poop in the potty.
Matthew: But I go tinkle on the grass?
Me: Yes, but that is in an emergency when we are away from a potty.
Matthew: That's okay, Mommy, I just went tinkle over there so you couldn't see me. I watered the grass to make the flowers grow.
Me: (Just laughter, no words!) and then tried to get it together to say, "Matthew, we need to go tinkle in the potty, not on the grass, okay?
Matthew: Okay.

Now he's out mowing the lawn with Matt.

No pictures yet

2009-06-06T16:41:00.003-04:00

All of the pictures from Marco Island are on Matt's computer and that is always with him, so for now I'll just update on some silly things that the kids are saying and doing.

Natalie calls Matthew, "Man-ew" which is just too cute. She's quick to tell on him: Man-ew ouch!, or wake him up: Wake up, Man-ew, or tell him to stop doing something: Top it, Man-ew. She also likes to say "no" and that's just more for reaction. Like when Matt asks her for a kiss and she says "no" and then smiles so huge that her eyes disappear and her teeth jet out.

Matthew's latest thing is to either live his life in his pajama's or in his underwear. If he had his choice, he'd choose the buck while doing cartwheels around the house, blinding us with his death star. The pajama thing has been a struggle for a few weeks now. I mean, the kid has beautiful clothes and wants to hang out in his "monster pajama's" all day. No thanks.

Both of the kids love music, too. He watched some "Diego" and "Dora" down in Florida and knows both of the theme songs now. He has an incredible memory for songs. Grandma sang the kids songs before bedtime, songs that she used to sing to me, that I had forgotten about, and we were in the car trying to get the kids to sleep so we asked them what songs they wanted to sing. Matthew sweetly sang this entire song: Who made the mountains? who made the trees? who made the river flow through the seas? somebody BIGGER than you or me! and did all of the motions. Matt and I were both moved to tears. We immediately called Mom and Dad's house in GR (because they were still in Florida) and he sang the whole thing on their answering machine. Natalie loved "children, children" and instantly calmed down when I sang it to her as she was going to bed. It goes: Praise Him, Praise Him all ye little children, God is love, God is love. One night I put them to bed and went down in the basement. I could hear them on the monitor and she was saying, "songs, songs" and Matthew started singing to her! I mean, pictures can't do that memory justice for me. He sang the mountains song, the alphabet, and many others. I was astounded!

We were just eating dinner and Matthew said, "I just had to give Noodles my bread." And I said, "you had bread for lunch, you mean you gave Noodles your bread at lunch?" He said, "yeah." I said, "I thought you ate your whole lunch!" He said, "yeah, but Noodles was really hungry." I couldn't believe how matter-of-factly he said it, but I could see a twinkle of mischievousness in his eyes. Let the games begin!

The other day Matt asked Matthew to help him with something. Matthew said, "Sure! I just have to go scrape my face." Matt and I burst into laughter. He got this plastic shaving kit from Pop-Pop months ago, but has now begun to run it under water, put it to his face, and then proceed to wipe his face with a towel - all very methodically and seriously.

I'll share pictures when I get on Matt's computer. Hope you liked the stories.

Updating (so those overseas can calm down!)

2009-05-13T13:03:00.021-04:00

This is Matthew's latest trick and it absolutely freaks his dad out. This was a trick he learned in Sunday School. He came home from church, sat at the table, just like this and held out his finger toward me. Looking past his finger he says, "Look, two moms!" He has now perfected his trick to doing it without holding his finger out to start the eyes. We're so proud.

This is Natalie dancing to nursery rhymes and songs on the TV. It looks more like Madonna's "Cherish" video from back in the day, but that's just me.

I have completed another year of teaching. I am home all day with the kids and I love it. I also love my teaching job, but now that I don't have it taking up my mornings, I enjoy a relaxing cup of un-leaded coffee and then just playing with the kids and taking them places that we never seemed to have time to do during school. I was always working around nap schedules or practices or whatnot, but I'm really enjoying my time at home. Matt says he likes me totally relaxed, too. Well isn't that nice.

I was able to take the kids with Rachel, a friend of mine and Elle, the little girl Natalie's age that she watches, to the Please Touch Museum. Elle would sit in a room and play with something for dozens of minutes on end while my kids raced from room to room to room just trying to take everything in all at once. That's always a fun site - watching a pregnant woman waddle after her two sprinting kids going in opposite directions! Ok, well that's not totally true. I don't waddle. And, if you've been with my kids at all you know that they are very well-behaved and that they listen to me so it wasn't totally true. I just thought you'd like the image. They were running around crazy, but that's because I let them. See the difference? They were just so excited! Here are just a few pictures from that fun day - thanks Rachel!

They had cars to play in...

A Grocery Store to play in...

Rumpelstilzkin's Castle with Jack and the Beanstalk nearby. The Giant's voice would boom, "Fee Fie Fo Fum!" and the kids would look startled up at the beanstalk where the speaker was. I enjoyed that part.

They could sit in a subway car, drive a dump truck, ride a moped, and plant a garden (P.S. the fenced in areas were my favorite)...

Check out this concentration...

And everyone's favorite play area - the water!

Natalie would hold that toy right in the stream of the water (which was freezing cold and it would splash up in her face. She would then turn to Rachel and say, "Wet-hu, wet-hu, wet!"

Recycling Results

2009-04-19T11:51:00.001-04:00

Rabbit pellets.

Salad Shooter!

2009-04-13T13:19:00.003-04:00

Matt and I have had this nickname, "Bunny" for Natalie since she was born. It could be because she's as cute as a bunny, is as soft as a bunny, has a little nose like a bunny, or because she's always been a little "fluffier" than Matthew. Whatever the case, we call her "Bunny." So I made myself a large salad today. Good thing I did, she ate more than half of the lettuce. Quite fitting for a bunny, right? So why is this post called salad shooter? I'm waiting to see how it gets recycled. I also thought it was rather coincidental that she has a lettuce-green outfit on today.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T20:54:00.016-04:00

Today was a day like many many Easter Sundays growing up in Michigan. I woke up and taught my kids how to say, "He is Risen, He is Risen, indeed!" Then we went to church, sang Handel's Messiah, came home and took family pictures in the warm sun, but cold cold cold air temperature. I can't tell you how many times when I was young, we'd be standing outside, either by the beautiful landscape in the front yard, or in the backyard against the wood rail fence FREEZING! But, Mom needed that perfect picture! And how Rob made that task so difficult! Well, the "Robert" in Matthew Robert Thomas came out. I told him when we were in the car (the boy always needs to know the agenda - which also comes from Uncle Rob), that I wanted to take one good picture. Well, he complied for his individual shot and then that was it. Thanks "Rob"!

After a nice ham dinner and naps, we hid Easter Eggs in the basement for the kids. They were totally into it. Natalie's face lit up every time she'd see an egg and ran towards it to grab it. Matthew was a great hunter, too - especially since they were in plain view.

Yesterday we took the kids to Capri's for some water ice. It was a lot warmer yesterday. This was Natalie's first experience with her own water ice. Every time any of us took a bite of our own cups, she would say "MO" and come running up to us with her mouth wide open. Needless to say, she loved it! He was Blue Raspberry, she was sugar-free Tangerine. We kept saying, "stick your tongue out, show us your tongue!" so she put her finger on her tongue, trying to show us.

So, I saw a commercial on TV the other day for a 99 cent kid's meal at Burger King - toy included! Yeah. Quite the deal. So, blame it on my Dutch heritage or a pregnancy urge, but regardless, I strapped the kids in the car and drove 15 minutes to Paoli for Burger King. No comments about the gas expense not really saving me any money on the kids' meals, please. Anyhoo, here's King Matthew and Queen Natalie!

A typical morning with the babysitter

2009-04-02T14:17:00.018-04:00

"A Bananda" is how Matthew first started pronouncing Amanda's name. Here's what they love doing with Amanda:

Taking all the cushions off the couches and flipping off of them.

On the flipping note, Natalie does somersaults too! Sometimes she does them all by herself and sometimes she'll put her hands and her head on the groud, tuck her chin and wait for Matthew to come racing by and push her butt over! They both laugh and laugh.

They like riding trucks, taking care of the "baby", and taking pictures. Notice who's ready to drop the hammer from the top ropes!

They build forts and train sets

And sometimes they just stand and squeal at each other

A disclaimer about the pajamas. They still fit, so even though we're way past Halloween, they're still going to wear them. Just like my Spode Christmas dishes. They are still beautiful and very useful, so they're not in storage.

You Listening? I got something to tell ya'...

2009-03-27T19:49:00.006-04:00

"Sissy pooped in the tub tonight. Yeah. I was in there, too. I was trying to let it not touch me. Mommy was putting our clothes away in the next room when it happened. Mommy, don't feed her so many Craisins next time!"

Sorry for the Craisins part.

She's going to be trouble!

2009-03-16T07:07:00.004-04:00

I mean, does this picture not say it all? We really are going to be in for it! Click on the picture to make it bigger and check out the expression on her face. I honestly don't know what she's trying to tell me. Little Miss Thing wanted to wear that outfit today. She sees it coming out of the laundry and runs over yelling, "Cake [breath] Cake [breath] Cake!" Every time I try to fold it, she takes it out of the stack of laundry, unfolding everything else in its pile, and tries to put the shirt over whatever she has on. It's almost like she thinks a real cupcake will just come alive so she can eat it if she puts the shirt on. Same for the pants, she grabs those out of the laundry and tries to put those on whatever she's wearing, too. Personality PLUS, let me tell 'ya!

Ewwww!

2009-03-07T22:41:00.003-05:00

It was bound to happen...

Natalie has been taking her diaper off before she goes to bed. Two nights ago, I go in to check on both of them and Natalie is dead asleep with her bare butt up in the air and a puddle of pee underneath her! Where was my camera and why doesn't it work in the dark? Well tonight was a different story. She took her diaper off and pooped in the crib. Bless her heart, when I went up there to see why see was whining, she was smashed in the corner of her crib, all blankets and pillows huddled around her and a big turd in the middle of the crib. As I walk in the room, she says with the binky hanging out of her mouth, "Poop...Poop." What a sad pathetic site! I plopped her straight in the tub and spoke very clearly into the monitor, "There's...poop...all...over...the...crib." Sure enough, I heard backup coming up the stairs from the basement to help.

Bragging Rights

2009-03-05T10:35:00.005-05:00

I'm a proud mom. I get to brag on my littles. Last month when my dad came to visit, we went to the toy store and he bought Matthew some puzzles. Now we all know Matthew loves puzzles (he gets it from his mom)! We decided to get him a 100-piece puzzle that is for ages 5+. I'll have you know he did that whole puzzle in about 25 mins, with no problems. Now it's a piece of cake, and he zips right through it.

A friend of ours (who will remain anonymous to remain our friend) came over a couple of weeks ago and challenged Matthew to a puzzle race. Each had a 24-piece floor puzzle and Matthew "won her!" as he says. She, being the competitive friend that she is, says that it wasn't really fair because they were Matthew's puzzles and he knows them better. Never mind the fact that he's THREE and she's ten times that!

Natalie started talking about three weeks ago. By "talking" I mean that she repeats everything. She now is not only repeating, but coming up with words on her own and has even strung three words together. Just like her older brother, she too, is brilliant!

Just about done!

2009-03-04T11:30:00.005-05:00

The basement looks SO much better! We (and by "we" I mean I'm pregnant and not supposed to paint) still need to paint the trim and the whole section behind the TV, but it looks so much better down here! The lightness sure does bring out the lovely hole in the ceiling that we've had since we moved in, but one thing at a time. And yes, Natalie is wearing a kilt. I know, I can't stand it either. I told Matt she's on her way to becoming "Mary Katherine Galagher!"

Painting

2009-03-03T10:11:00.008-05:00

After living in the dark, butterscotch-wooded tongue-and-groove basement for 7 years, we decided to lighten things up. Here is a reminder of the way things used to be and here is the progress so far:

Because so much painting was going on downstairs, the kids wanted to help, so I went out and got their own painting supplies. They loved it! They were so proud to show daddy their pictures.

Slew of pictures

2009-02-28T09:13:00.024-05:00

Here are some updated pictures from Christmas, all of our visitors and loved ones. Gus and Christine even brought Philly! It was great to see he and Noodles play together again.

Gus helped Matt hang a new TV in the basement. Saves SO much room!

Al built a closet for our spare bedroom downstairs. He came back two weeks ago to finish with his trusty helper, Grammie. Eventually Matt and I will move downstairs when everything is painted, most likely this spring. He did a beautiful job on the closet. It somehow makes the room look bigger. Here's the progress of the closet and all of the helpers that had a hand in the work. Matt hung the closet bar at the top, which is comical, because had we not fixed it, all of our clothes would have slipped to the left. Then he needed his mom's help to realize that he didn't need to stand IN the closet in order to paint in the closet. He's a huge helper once you spend the first few minutes explaining exactly what you want and how to do it, bless his heart.

Well, that's good for now!

What have we been doing?

2009-02-27T15:41:00.004-05:00

We've been JUST a bit busy. Too busy for posting, even. So much has developed over the past few months I just don't know where to begin. We've had visitors almost every weekend since our Marco trip, which we absolutely love! Keep coming! We also had my parents come at the beginning of February, when I last posted. The whole Nadelhoffer family got sick. My mom took care of everyone, loaded our kitchen with food and our freezer with homemade meals and cookies. Then she went home and got violently ill, bless her heart! Matthew got RSV and was put on a nebulizer, Natalie got an ear infection, Matt and I had the sore throat, runny nose, headache, body aches, low-grade temps, and the basketball games don't stop for sickies. After two weeks of feeling a step up from death, I decided it was time to go to the doctor and get some serious medicine. I had only been taking tylenol, a couple of Sudafed, and Robotussin DM, which is all you can take when you're pregnant. Oh yeah, and I'm pregnant! How about that fun, surprising news for all parties involved? We're due Sept. 24. I've been feeling tired and eating non-stop. Other than that I don't feel pregnant at all. It was good to see the ultrasound of the baby today. The heartbeat is strong and the baby moved and punched a little while I was watching him/her. I'm only ten weeks along, so this should be a nice long pregnancy for all of you to wait through. Now that some of the shock has worn off, we're all really excited to meet the last of our starting five!

I'm trying to put the ultrasound picture up, but no such luck. So, you'll just have to take my word for it that this next one will be cute, too.

Finishing up Florida pics from last month

2009-02-06T20:22:00.003-05:00

We've been a little busy here. I'll get to that in the next few posts. First, I need to finish with these great pictures from Florida. Here's Matt and Rob playing an intense game of Wii Tennis, Grandma not being able to keep her hands off Natalie's tushie, Matthew tickling Natalie, Sunset pictures!, and the family out to dinner our last night in Marco. We went to Guy Harvey's.

Now on to the day we got back from Marco. When we came home, we walked into a house full of family! It was great! Matt's mom, step-dad, brother and sister-in-law were all here to celebrate Christmas and New Year's! We kept them all very busy with a home-improvement project while they were here. Well, Matt's kicking me off the computer, so that's it for now...I'll update again soon.

Happy New Year - Throw a party, throw a kid, or pop a zit!

2009-01-01T18:27:00.019-05:00

I wish we had a water-proof camera because then you could see her elated face as she was flying!

Before we went to Marco Island, Bryan came out for a short visit. He took Matthew to "Bolt" the movie and then to the toy store. Bryan didn't realize that he had bought tickets online to the 3-D show. Matthew didn't want to wear the 3-D glasses, so he watched the whole movie in a blur. He loved it though! Bryan said that he sat with a smile on his face as he ate more popcorn than Bryan! After the movie, they were able to play outside (in mid-December) with the drag-racing set that Matthew picked out. "I win you, Uncle Bryan!" Thanks for a great visit, Bryan.

After Bryan's visit, we flew straight to paradise.
Marco Island, Florida of course. Oh how we love to be on Marco. Even though the average age is 65 on the island, we have no trouble finding rest and relaxation right along with the blue-hairs. So here we go with a slew of pictures...

Here's Matt getting "SPF'd" to go lay by the pool. Little did he know that this brand of lotion did not rub in very well. Rob nicknamed him "Elmer" because he looked like he was covered in Elmer's glue.

Show me teeth, Natalie!

Matt bravely caught a starfish with his bare hands! Here Matthew is helping him put him in a bucket of water so that we could watch him.

This is celebrating Christmas. Dad got some wooden puzzles and some clothes. Natalie got a cute headband, and along with Matthew, got some rediculously good-looking clothes! They also got some fun toys and books.

Rachel got a ring that she had seen at a local jeweler's the first night they were in Marco (that my mom secretly went back to buy). She was so excited (and Rob was super-excited for her - what a nice, sarcastic husband).

Rob got some nice clothes, but the best gift was teaching his nephew how to pull his finger and say "excuse me!" afterward.

Mom got a calendar and a photo book with pictures of Dad, the dogs, kids, and grandkids on it. What Grandma doesn't like that?

Matt and I got the most amazing gift of free babysitting! We were able to leave the kids up in the condo with my mom or dad and go for long walks on the beach or just relax by the pool. We also got to go to our favorite restraunt with Rob and Rachel, Tommy Bahama's. It was glorious! We also got some great clothes that I willingly model below. The green sweater and shoes are the new items. Any agents out there?

Okay, that's long enough of a post for today. I have many more pictures from Marco and then back home in Philly with Matt's family.

"in town" for Christmas!

2008-12-24T07:42:00.000-05:00

First of all, Merry Christmas! We celebrate our Savior's birth today. Matthew says that Jesus lives in his tummy and since Jesus was born today, he wants to know how does he get out?

We're down in Marco Island, with poor internet connection, so this won't have any pictures, but will have some stories sure to make you smile.

Matthew has been entertaining, as usual. In fact, when Grandma was babysitting, she took the kids down to the beach and it wasn't until they were all the way down by the water when Matthew started running around non-stop on his tip-toes. He'd run in place and then run around for a while and then run in place again. Grandma asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom and he said, "yeah, the poop is in town." So, they had to make the 200-yard trek up to the condo and up the elevator, down the hall, and then to "Florida" (he calls the condo "Florida"). He held it the whole way and made it to the bathroom. When he was done, he hopped back up on the toilet and told Grandma, "I'm not done, the poop has a friend!"

Speaking of friends, when my mom picked us up from the airport, the first thing Matthew said after "GRANDMA!" was, "Where's Grandma's friend, Grandpop?" He associated Uncle Rob and Auntie Rachel as friends and Mom and Dad as friends, too.

Another story that Matt's family will appreciate involves a family walk on the beach. To set the background... a long time ago (when Matt was 4), in a land far away (Orlando, FL), Matt's family was at Walt Disney World and Matt, who was very capable of walking around, decided he needed to ride in the stroller all day, while little brother Bryan needed to be carried. Similarly, the other day we were walking on the beach and Matthew wanted in the stroller while Natalie ran the whole 200 yards back "to Florida."

We've been busy here in Marco Island. It has been 80 and sunny here everyday. I know, everyone up North has been getting slammed with snow, blah blah blah, who cares? It's the topic of conversation around the pool here, we feel really bad for our families. We go for walks on the beach and swim in the pool daily. Matthew made it down to the last step on the first day! This is a huge accomplishment seeing as last May it took him all week to get down to the last step by the very last day. He also took Natalie's baby floating ring and has the courage to swim around the whole pool in it. He'll even jump off the side of the pool with it around him! Natalie is quite the swimmer, too. No problem for her to be thrown up in the air, go under water and then be caught. She'll swim to the side of the pool by herself without a panic, too. She knows how to kick her little legs, keep her head up, and spit water out of her mouth as she's swimming. It's so fun to watch them. I have pictures, but I may have to wait until I get back home to upload those.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

I had to...

2008-12-11T09:53:00.001-05:00

Some of my friends have this on their blogs and the kids love watching them, so I had to put our faces dancing. Besides the kids wanting to see themselves, Matt's birthday is tomorrow, so this is my little gift to him. My favorite is watching Matt shimmie his hips back and forth!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Kung Fu Panda Fightling

2008-12-04T12:31:00.000-05:00

If you'd like the full effect, play the song (imagine the kids dancing) and then read...

(If it doesn't load, click the pop-out player button and it'll open in a new window)
You read that right. The song says, "Everybody was Kung Fu fighting, your mind becomes fast as lightning, although the future is a little bit frightening..." so of course any 3-year-old could make this mistake. We have a new favorite activity in the basement. And believe it or not, Natalie started this! I have the pictures to prove it. She starts taking all of the cushions off of the couch and Matthew starts giggling, gives me a play-by-play and then joins in. Once all of the cushions are in a heap on the ground, they do "Kung Fu Panda Fightling" moves. Let me just say that we do have new cushions wrapped in the garage, waiting to be used once the children are a little older. If you look closely, you can see ink all over and broken zippers on these poor Kung Fu mats.

Here she is trying to get the torque on the cushion to heave-ho it on the ground. The first position didn't work so she switched to a new angle, added the tongue and that did the trick!

I think being on the "beautiful pole vault pit" (is that the correct respectful term, Rach?) gave them this at-home do-it-yourself idea. Matthew does flips and Natalie just runs and dives or flops face-first into the pile.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T10:44:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Cari and Paul came to visit, if you didn't notice that already. We also had friends come over Wednesday night for some Twister and Mad Gab. What a riot! A bunch of late 20-year-olds, and I'm in complete denial about my age here, playing silly games together. This is Matt after he used his asset to knock me down and out of the game. Cheater. And sometimes the positions that you get yourself in are not convenient for others playing the game, right Katie? :)

Kara, a good friend of mine came over to help me cook and to celebrate the feast. Here we are trying to gather the juices to make gravy. It was a heavy turkey! We had to put it on the floor.

Then Bah Humbug surprised me and suggested that we put up the Christmas Tree! Heart be still! This is the first time Matt has helped me put up a tree in 7 years. Then we got dressed and took family pictures in front of the tree. Heart RESTART! (For those of you that don't know, Matt is not a fan of pictures, to say the least) You'll have to wait for your Christmas card to see those, though. Thanks for the memories, Matt it meant a lot to me. Matthew helped put the glass ornaments on the tree and was very careful.

Matthew popped the question!

2008-11-28T08:47:00.000-05:00

Yes. Matthew gained excellent experience in proposing when he asked his Auntie Cari if she would marry Uncle Paul! She couldn't say no to Matthew, so Cari and Paul are engaged. Smart man, who would reject a 3-year-old? Matt and I were thrilled to be a part of such a special moment. Thanks, Paul. Here's how it all went down...

Chiclets!

2008-11-27T23:27:00.000-05:00

She loves showing off her pretty teeth. Crest, Colgate, and Aquafresh are all bidding to be her sponsor.

Grandpop came to visit

2008-11-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time with Grandpop last weekend. We went to our favorite places together: the Eastern Gym, the King of Prussia Mall, and Champps. He also ate at his favorite cheesesteak and pizza place, so I'd call this trip a success! He got to see two basketball games while he was here. And a first - two wins!!! There's a myth that my dad brings losses, but he proved the skeptics wrong. The curse is broken! The team is now 3-1, so we're off to a good start. We loved having you here, Dad. Come back soon!

This past weekend the basketball team played at Dickinson near Harrisburg. I thought I would have to do some serious entertaining for the kids during the games, so I brought two backpacks full of food and books and toys. We started out with a Starbucks marshmallow square and then soon discovered something behind the curtain...a huge crash mat! Matthew ran, jumped, flipped and played all game. He was a rosy-cheeked, static-haired mess by the time the game was over! We went to the hotel after the game and he was asleep within 20 minutes. He played his little heart out. The half scowl-half I'm-trying-not-to-laugh was directed at me when he was jumping on the mat and mid-jump I took his legs out from underneath him. He said, "Mommy that is NOT NICE!" Then we both busted up laughing. Natalie played on the mat during pre-game and half-time but stayed with me watching and clapping and smiling at the team from her stroller during the game.

Best of Friends

2008-11-15T09:38:00.000-05:00

Matthew and Natalie get along so well. We are very blessed that he is so gentle to his little sissy. He said, "Read to me, Natalie!"

Of course, sometimes things are not perfect and they tease each other. Like throwing leaves at each other or knocking down train tracks, which deserves a scolding look, but Daddy's always here to let them know who's boss.

It happened again!

2008-11-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

Matthew was still in the bath tub, Natalie was bathed, dried, lotioned, and dressed. Matt went downstairs to get her a bottle, I was getting ready for my night class and "watching" her. All of a sudden Matthew laughs hysterically and says, "Natalie's taking a bath in her clothes!" This time I had Matt capture the moment. Her pajamas are a real light pink color; salmon when wet. I was laughing, Matt was not. Maybe it was because I needed to leave right then for class? I don't know.

Matthew loves to eat pears.

It rained today

2008-11-05T16:41:00.000-05:00

The humidity affects some people's hair more than others

videos guaranteed to make you smile

2008-11-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

So, I need to start off saying that my next post will be about how great of siblings Matthew and Natalie are. He is so gentle with her and she loves being with him. But, I need to get these videos posted. They are too good not to share. I'm having difficulty uploading the individual videos, but for some reason one long combined video uploaded. Oh well, the separate videos are better and edited, but combination is less than three minutes, so it's not that bad. The first two segments are of Matthew. I don't think that I need to introduce it any further, except to say that I am not able to participate in this activity because my husband affectionately calls me "Gonzo." You'll understand, just watch the clip...The third segment is of the kids getting into the camera bag/chords. The fourth segment is of Natalie discovering herself on video. She walked over to me and flipped the view-lens over by herself and then watched the "bayba". When you don't see her face, she was giving herself kisses, with tongue. The last segment is of Matthew "bonking" Natalie with a ball. His father taught him how to do this and his mother is not so innocent either. I came home from classes yesterday and my sitter told me that he had done this and she scolded him and put him in a chair for time-out. Oops. We do it to Matthew, too, but we use the big green ball on him. We like to think it helps them work on their balance and coordination. So that's it. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:48:00.000-04:00

We had a beautiful night for Trick-or-Treating. It was about sixty degrees; perfect for furry little outfits.

This picture explains if you were wondering why Matthew wanted to be a beaver. Matthew loves to pretend that he's a lion and he "roars" after his dad, the beaver. The daddy beaver, in turn, likes to gnaw on the lion's tummy when they play. But today they were both beavers.

Tonight was so much fun. Matthew was so excited to put on his beaver outfit and turn around to show everyone(a.k.a. shake) his tail. Natalie loved her kitty costume. As soon as she has it on, she starts smiling so huge that she has slits for eyes and shows her beaver-teeth. She's so cute.

Both kids certainly takes after their mother in their love for sweets. Here are the kids as soon as we came in the house after our big 5-house trick-or-treating adventure. She kept saying, "nyumm nyumm nyumm" pleading for more candy and here's her daddy giving in...

Update on Natalie's head: Two weeks ago she fell on Matthew's scooter and her head split open. I took her to the plastic surgeon and he glued it and said that she'd be fine. I took her home, put her down for a nap and when she woke up, the glue and covering was off. So much for that $30 co-pay! He had said that it would fall off naturally and when it did to just put Neosporin and a band-aid on it. So she went around for two weeks with a band-aid on her head, like the first picture shows. We went back to the plastic surgeon for another $30 co-pay visit and he said she'd be just fine. He said that it will leave a tiny scar, but that we should massage it 10 times a day for the next few weeks to help minimize scar-tissue. I just keep thinking that she can still be a model if she wants, Cindy Crawford did it with a mole on her face, so Natalie Nadelhoffer can do it with an itty-bitty, teensy-weensy scar on her forehead.

Matthew's singing future

2008-10-20T10:57:00.000-04:00

Matthew wanted to sing for you. He's singing the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and the alphabet. The last song he sings is from a VeggieTale Video. He says, "Larry Boy. There's no hero quite like Larry Boy." After he sings this, he tries to say "mom" but he belches it by accident. That's why I'm laughing.

Words we don't like

2008-10-17T15:10:00.000-04:00

And of course by "we" I mean Matt. Matt has this thing about words. If someone says a word he doesn't like, he goes fetal and I can tell it's like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard. So, I'm delighted to share these words with you. I'm also inviting you to say them in front of both of us so that I can watch his reactions and giggle. Here they are: Moist. That is the number one, all-time, worst word for Matt. He also has aversions to teensy, weensy, scooch, cinch, crusty, skeeves, yicky, skivvies, and anything similar with the long "ee" or "sk" sound. Oh, and he doesn't like anyone calling me Rebecks.

What's the point of this, you ask? We were out taking a family walk and noticed some of our neighbors' Halloween decorations. Matthew calls any skeletons or the like "scary guys". Well, I told him that he doesn't need to be afraid of them because they're not real, but that they are "icky." At the very next house, Matthew tried to say "icky" but had "scary guys" on his mind, so it came out "Skicky Guys." I'm laughing so hard right now remembering this that I can barely type! Now I try to get Matthew to say "Skicky" in front of his father all the time. You can only imagine what his reaction is. I encourage our faithful fans to comment using as many of these words as possible.

I've had two days off of school and Matt started two-a-day basketball practices, so I've been deprived of adult interaction, thus this rediculous post.

Family Pictures

2008-09-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

We were in Michigan two weekends ago to see the "Biggest thing to hit GR since Bono!" My sister, husband, and kids, her in-laws, my brother and his wife, and parents all got to spend some quality time together. These are some pictures from the trip. A friend of the family also came over to take family photos and those proofs can be seen on http://www.photosbykaity.com/ under "client proofs" and then "Dykstra". She was able to capture some cute moments with the little cousins.

Right now Matt's dad is visiting from Oregon. It is great to see him and watch him love on the kids. He took the kids to Toys R Us and bought Natalie a babydoll and Matthew 10 airplanes! Since "GrandDad" has been here, we've asked Matthew who his best friend is, and without prompting or hesitation, it's "GrandDad!"

Have you ever had a night like this?

2008-09-26T22:37:00.000-04:00

First of all let's set the scene: Matt's in Grand Rapids schmoozing some Schmoozy Van Schmoozersmas and playing tennis, sleeping in, eating the best mom-cooked food you could possibly want, and loving the attention from my parents.

Here's how the day started out: if you don't know, I teach powerwalking in the morning to college kids. That would be an outdoor class. I don't have a sitter for this morning because Matt thinks that I'm Wonder Woman and can handle two kids and class. After all, I'm just walking with my classes. Well, as I mentioned earlier, it is to college kids and they do get credit for it and I do actually teach useful things and give exams in this particular class. This morning I was to review for our exam, hand back log books, and then walk. No big deal, even with my children. A few situations to consider... Situation number one: children get up at 7:30 and my class starts at 8. Situation number two: Children need to eat. Situation number three: It's raining. Hard. Situation number four: another professor threw out her back, wants me to combine her classes with mine. Sure no problem. I'm Wonder Woman, remember? Situation number four in detail: Circuit Training in a small gym with 70 college students, two children under three, and one professor. I must say, I did live up to Matt's expectations this morning!

But anyway, getting to the good part...the kids and I had a great day filled with lots of good belly-laughing tickling, coloring, baseball, basketball, let's-roll-the-ball-into-a-kid-and-see-if-they-stay-standing, and of course puzzles.

Tonight. Oh tonight. I had some girlfriends coming over for some yummy homemade apple pie at 8, so I did dinner and cleaned up and headed for the bath thinking that I was right on track for the kids sleeping by the time the girls came over. Bathtime was actually a riot. Matthew likes to blow bubbles (with his face this time, and I only mention it because sometimes they come out the other end) and Natalie stuck her face in the water and blew bubbles too! This made Matthew laugh hysterically. I took Natalie out after she was all done bubbling and dried her up, lotioned her, and got her in her jammies. Phone rings. It's my dad. And Matt. They are going on about all the wonderful food they've been eating and the sleep they've been getting, and blah blah blah SPLASH! What!?!? Oh no she didn't! Yes she did! She walked to the bath, rolled over the side and got right back in.

Yes. That precious face did that. I had to laugh. She was so cute all wet in her P.J.'s sucking on her binky, looking at me with huge eyes as Matthew is laughing and trying to tell me that she climbed into the bathtub with her clothes on and that she's all wet.

But, being the Wonder Woman that I am, the kids were in bed and she was sleeping and he was talking to himself by the time my friends came over. I do love my life and take none of this for granted.

Grammie's in Glory!

2008-09-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

This picture is of my mom, my Grammie, and my Mamo, probably taken when they were celebrating my mom's birthday and mother's day. Although the reason for the trip to Yakima, WA was bittersweet, I had a wonderful time reconnecting to my mom's family and celebrating Grammie's great 84 years on Earth and 61 years of marriage to my Fafa. I heard many people share amazing stories of Grammie's faith, devotion, and love to God, her family, and her husband. I am proud to be a "Hull woman" carrying on the tradition and legacy she taught me through my mom and now I'm passing on to my children. Here's some pictures of family taken right outside my aunt and uncle's backyard.

Matthew's Three!

2008-09-19T20:31:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Matthew's third birthday. He started out the day at 6:30, which is mighty early for the Nadelhoffer house. He woke up with, "Mom! It's my birthday! I want to open presents!" I was just as excited as he was, but didn't want to wake up the rest of the house so I coaxed him in the basement to play before breakfast. As soon as he walked downstairs he saw the presents and climbed onto the table and quietly sat next to them for a long time. Finally he asked, "Can we open them now?" I must have told him 5001 more times that we needed to wait until Daddy and Sissy got up before we opened them. Finally, at 8am we couldn't wait any longer. We marched upstairs to yell, "Wake up, sleepy head!" in Daddy's sleeping face. That was my favorite part of the birthday. I got the kids dressed and sat them down for a nice round of Grandma-will-appreciate-these-pictures-sit-still-and-smile-while-we're-waiting-for-your-father-to-come-downstairs camera time. Notice Natalie. She tends to have puffy eyes in the morning, I don't know if you can see it on the picture or not, bless her heart. Here's the birthday boy opening up his presents. It takes much skill and concentration.

Thank-you to all of you that sent cards and love and gifts in the mail. We had a wonderful day. My neighbor actually randomly knocked on our door and asked if she could unload some toys on us. She said that they were in good shape but that her kids didn't use them anymore because they're a little older now. Well, unload she did! She brought over two big boxes of large leggos, a wooden castle set for building, Lincoln Logs, games, and best of all, a beautiful Thomas the Train set with a storage bin and all the trains Matthew could ever want. We were thrilled and Matthew was astounded. He ran back to our neighbor's house and flung open her door and gave her a huge hug and said, "Thank-you for my presents!" The best part was that my neighbor had no clue that it was Matthew's birthday, nor did she know how much we really wanted to buy Matthew his own train set. Here he is with his newfound joy...When he lets the choo-choos rest for a minute, his next-best thing are the puzzles. The kid has the patience of Job and loves doing puzzles. He received seven puzzles for his birthday, so needless to say, we're set for the cold weather to come. Speaking of cold weather, I think of cold weather bringing basketball season upon us, so what better gift for Grandma and Grandpop to send than a 7-foot blow up Jump and Jam for the basement! Here we are in the process of trying to blow it up. So far we have one side blown up and the electric pump got a little over-heated so we're waiting for it to cool down before we finish. Four hours later the pump is still

cooling down (a.k.a. I hope it's not broken!) and a friend is bringing over her air pump tomorrow. I'll post a picture when it's all up and the kids are bouncing in it.

Updating

2008-08-17T18:48:00.000-04:00

Much has gone on since we left Michigan on the 4th of July. We now have one child out of diapers! WoooHooo! Life the first few days of potty-training was miserable. You can ask Matt, I was a less-than-perfect wife. I was not patient, not kind, I did envy Matt's days of working out, playing basketball, laying by the pool and then again playing basketball, I was rude, etc., etc., I Corinthians 13, etc. So needless to say, the entertainment committee (a.k.a. me) was in full affect during these days of trying to do business on the potty.
In other news Matt and I have worked through my opposite of love actions and we celebrated 8 years of marriage by going out for a nice dinner. I love you, Matt.

Natalie has an interesting tooth situation. It's pretty cute and I'm sure it will work itself out, but for now she has one upper right and one lower left tooth. It reminds me of one of my favorite books Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name by Ted Arnold.

Little Miss Tease

2008-08-17T13:38:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted and I'll get to updating pictures, but for now I had to share this story with you. Yesterday morning Matthew was drinking from his sippy-cup and placed it on the end table and then proceeded to sit on the couch. Little Miss Tease was watching from the other side of the room and with a glimmer in her eye, came over to the end table, took Matthew's sippy-cup, walked in front of him and started drinking from it. Matthew said, "hey, that's mine!" as Natalie squealed and ran away from him, holding the sippy-cup up in the air. She had the most mischievous look on her face, too. They ran behind the couch where Matthew got the sippy-cup back and sat on Natalie to teach her a lesson. I think she has Matt and my teasing abilities combined - Look out!

Natalie's a year old!

2008-07-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

Holy cats! My baby's a year. I can't believe how fast that went. She is now a full-time walker and is already working on running. She will run away from me because she thinks it's funny, but will run toward her daddy to give him a kiss and here's what that looks like...

This picture also proves that baby's 50 spf really works!

We had a small birthday celebration for Natalie at home (on the 13th) after being in the midwest for a month. She loved her cake and then we put her birthday hat on and she thought since it was her party she could cry if she wants to, cry if she wants to, you would cry to if someone made you wear that hat, too. Oh how I love music from the 80's! As soon as the hat came off she went right back to devouring the cake as if nothing ever came between her and her beloved cake.

So now let's back-track a little. We flew out to Chicago before Natalie was 11 months, so it was the second week of June. We spent two wonderful weeks with Matt's family, soaking up all the love that families know how to give. We spent our time going to the Lincoln Park Zoo, Canterbury Farm, the park, Alfie's - where Natalie had her first cheeseburger and took the whole thing down no problem, going on walks, celebrating Grammy's birthday, doing major landscaping work at Bryan's house, and just hanging out with the fam. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this half of the trip...

This is Matt standing on his tip-toes after playing in one of Bryan's basketball league games. It was fun watching the brothers play together.

I made Matt come outside and take a picture with me because there was a rainbow and we never get in the same picture anymore, one of us usually is behind the camera.
This is Matthew and PopPop playing "Bags" or "Baggo" or "Cornhole" depending on what part of the country you are from. PopPop made six sets of this game! Ours, naturally, says "Matt and Rebecca" on it. Matthew "Cornholed" a few of his throws - a direct shot right in the hole! What an athlete, I tell ya.
Here's Auntie Cari and her boyfriend "Uncle" Paul. "Thanks for the ride on the train and for taking me to Rainforest Cafe", says Matthew.

Ok, so I'm only through half of the Chicago trip, but Natalie's awake from her nap and I'm going to try to take the kids to the pool, so more updates to follow...stay tuned.

I'm back and up for updating more photos. There's so much to tell and show, I could sit here all day and tell funny stories of making great memories with the family!

Here we are visiting Great Grandma at her house. She is showing the kids her collection of Disney music toys. They were mesmerized.

Here are the kids after a pizza dinner in Naperville.

And now on to Michigan. Natalie had a blast in this contraption and Matthew wanted a turn, but he also wanted to make sure he was safe, so he kept his swimmies on for extra flotation.

Natalie trying to walk!

2008-06-29T22:14:00.000-04:00

Since the last post, Natalie has tried to perfect her walking, but at a snail's pace. She walks when she wants to. Well, here's the progression of the last two days...

Matthew got a little haircut/buzz. He was not too keen on me taking his picture, so I videoed him watching Little Orphan Annie. I'm thinking he looks like his father after he disagrees with an official's call...

And to finish off, Natalie wanted to say "hi" to everyone...

Videos!

2008-06-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

Matt brought home a video camera from the basketball office for me to borrow. It has been a lot of fun capturing some of these priceless moments in action. Natalie has a pretty unique style of getting from one place to another, she's very fast, but she looks a little silly. She has been taking a few steps on her own, too. She is very sturdy and just like Matthew, has great balance. As you can only imagine, it was a little difficult trying to get her to perform for the camera. She walks when she wants to walk and will crawl when it's easier for her to get there faster. She was pretty cooperative with me for this video, though. And not to leave out the big brother, he is the showman of the family. I could not include the first clip because as soon as I turned on the camera and started filming, he chose to pull down his diaper! So his clip is very short and goes out to all you Cubs fans & Eastern fans. I combined all of the clips together...

Matthew loves watching the videos that I took of "Sissy & Natalie." As he watches her clap and crawl, he laughs at the camera. They are both at a very fun, very busy stage in life. I enjoy watching Natalie grow and discover new things. It's been fun witnessing her determination to try to walk. Matthew is at the stage where he is starting to ask a lot of questions and saying hilarious things everyday. Matt and I are good kids, always have been, but we need to be extra-cautious of what we say because Matthew is such a sponge right now and anything that we say, could come out of his mouth days later. What he usually says are good things, like "please, thank-you, you're welcome." He's also surprised us with, "I see a robin, mom. Do you see it? He's singing praises to Jesus." The only naughty (but funny) thing that he said was after spending a weekend in NJ with some friends and their boys that taught Matthew the following...we have fun dancing with Matthew and singing, "Shake your body, shake your body" as we turn around and shake our boodies, (oh why am I sharing this?) well, Matthew came home from that weekend singing, "Shake your [male organ], shake your [male organ]!" After Matt and I picked our jaws up from the floor and stifle any outburst of laughter, we had him sing the correct version of that song. That was a few weeks ago, but he randomly came out with it just last night again. Oh yeah, that's another thing he's doing is testing boundaries.

The other day Matthew and I were driving past the elementary school where Matthew will attend in a few short years (let's not think about that yet) and I told him that's where the neighbors go to school. He said, "That's the ABCD House!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

Another fun story about Matthew and his adorable personality is when we had some good friends come to visit last Sunday. I got to meet their little Joshua, 2 months old, and loved holding him and watching him smile. Matthew wasn't too sure about mom holding this baby and said, "Put that baby down, ok?" well, when I couldn't stand to let go of holding Joshua and squeezing all of his chubby bits, Matthew tried another way saying, "Daddy can hold that baby now, ok?". It was cute. I "borrowed" this picture off of Jamie's blog (Joshua's mommy) and although you can't see Joshua's cute face, you can see the situation I was just describing. Thanks for visiting, Jamie and Ben, we'll miss you when you move, but I'll keep your blog on my favorites.

Last thing...Matthew calls buckets, "gupets". I love it.

Spray Suntan Lotion

2008-06-04T11:05:00.000-04:00

I neglected to add one photo to the Florida pictures, but this picture certainly deserves its own title. Has anyone out there ever used spray sunblock? Here's what happens when you spray and you don't rub it in, it creates "hot spots" as Matt says. The red has evened out and his legs are nice and tan now, but we had a few laughs over this, in fact his torso had some "hot spots" too, that have now peeled off. Matt, you look good with a tan.

What happened to May?

2008-06-02T10:20:00.001-04:00

So, how did June pop up so fast? Well, I'm so sorry to all my fans that I have not been keeping up with my posting. I will try to do better. I know how some of you look forward to racing to your computer in the morning, clicking on "Nadelhoffer" in your favorites column hoping for an update, and then becoming overwhelmed with anger because there is nothing new. I'm sorry to have started your day cranky. This picture of Natalie represents you looking for updates, you're looking, you're looking... And finally there's an update on the blog and here's how you now feel... Ah, such joy!
And speaking of joy, being down in Marco Island for a week and a half is very enjoyable. Here are some pictures from our time together with my parents.

Making memories with the family is the best.

Just so you fans know, I started this update yesterday morning and it took me this long to finally finish. I will now post, but stay tuned for some funny stories and updates to come.

April

2008-04-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

So good gracious! Here we are at the end of April and closing another school year. Wow did that go fast! Things are really starting to bloom out here and it is beautiful. Natalie is pulling herself to a stand and will also stand on her own for a few seconds before she pauses, looks back, and drops on her padded bum, which sends Matthew into histerical laughter followed by, "Sissy fall down!" Today she started walking behind the little red wagon! She was one determined little girl wanting to master walking and not pushing too hard so that her little legs had to scramble to get underneath her. Other tricks that she's mastering are the clap, "so big!", MaMa, DaDa, and imitating whatever we challenge her with.

Matthew's really into baseball and the Cubs; his father's so proud! We can actually toss him a ball and he'll swing and hit it on his own! Our neighbor, a Phillies fan, walks by and Matt says to Matthew, "Phillies" and Matthew says, "STINK!" Then they procede to have their father-son moment by singing the "Go Cubs Go" song.

Matthew is now sleeping in the big bed which has no head-board and sits right underneath a window. The window has blinds on it...do you see where this is going? Matthew likes to turn around, peek through the blinds and watch Daddy do his yardwork or walk around in the backyard talking on his cell phone. Matthew knows that if he touches the blinds, he gets a spank. So Matt caught him one night peeking through and Matt ran inside and upstairs and Matthew started with, "I go nigh-night, no spank, go Cubs go, go Cubs go, win today." I'm proud to say that Matt held his composure and followed through on discipline and then laughed the whole way down the stairs.

As you may have noticed, both Sprouticus and Matthew got their haircut.

Here's Matthew and Keating, the next-door neighbor, with his hair styled by the barber...

Yes, all of his lucious curls are gone. Don't talk about it. It is cute, but he's now officially a little boy.

March Madness

2008-03-26T12:14:00.000-04:00

From the title of that you'd think that we're really in to basketball around here. Well, surprisingly enough, neither one of us filled out a tournament bracket this year! I only do it because I enjoy beating Matt's picks, but I just didn't get around to it. Anyway, as the title suggests, March has been Madness! But, it's been wonderful madness. For my Spring Break, the first week of March, I flew with both kids to Michigan to visit my parents and Rob and Rachel.
It was fun to go sledding in all of the snow that delayed us for four hours in the Detroit airport - with two kids, running out of diapers, with no cell phone battery left! But well worth it as soon as we saw Grandma and Grandpop and got our hugs and kisses.

This is Matthew saying "CHEEEEESE!" whenever I reach for the camera.

We went to the Butterfly Gardens and the Children's Museum, but the most fun Matthew had was in Grandpop's bathtub.

I think Natalie's favorite was the Butterfly Museum! What do you think?

We also got to see my cousin, Betsy, and her kids Quincy, who's 9 months older than Matthew, and Annie, who's 1 month younger than Natalie.

I think that my parents enjoy spoiling their grandchildren. Here's a prime example...I hear some giggling and rustling in the pantry. Here's the look I got when I opened the door:

And I can't really blame Matthew, I mean, look who's behind it all:

Very fun memories of being in Michigan, thanks mom and dad!

The madness of March continued as soon as we returned home. My mid-semester grades were due. UGH! Thanks, Matt, for helping me grade tests.

Then we had Matt's mom and step-dad come for another round of much-needed hugs and kisses!

When Grammie and PopPop were here, we had a beautiful day to go to the park:

We had an Easter Egg Hunt; this one was hiding on Cookie Monster's lap:

Matthew got to practice his cheerleading moves (it was PopPop's idea, Matt!):

Much thanks to Grammie and PopPop for coming to see us, the trip to the toy store, grocery store, and a date night for Matt and I, we loved having you here!

Uncle Paul also came to town for a few days. Here's pretty much what his day looked like:

Just kidding, Paul. It was fun to have you here. Matt expressed how much he missed you after you left.

And last and NOT least, March continued by celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter. Here are the kiddies in their Easter gear. Both of the children's wardrobe supplied by Auntie Cari and Grandma. Many, many compliments on how cute they looked, but of course, that's not the real reason for Easter. I just thought I'd mention how cute they were/are! Matthew's trying to share his doughnut with Natalie:

By the way, the lighting in our basement makes Natalie's hair this color!

And March is not over yet. I'm doing a recruit/alumni weekend for cheerleading this weekend and Matt's recruiting is not done yet. What a fun, busy, blessed life we lead! Anyone else want to come and visit? As I said, March is not over yet!