Chicago Day 1 and Navy Pier Photos

Looking at the trains, cars, and planes

Watching the plane come over

Ollie's funny face

Playing

Love his beautiful blue eyes

At the Chicago Children's Museum

Playing in the water complex

Playing with his boat

Two girls were nice enough to show him how to make the water come up, he really liked that

He wants one in the back yard now I think

Getting the boats to come down the "waterfall"

Grandma Patty treated him to CHOCOLATE ice cream even though he was wearing a WHITE tee shirt

The Windy Chicago "Pirate Ship"

Me and my boys on the Windy

Grandma Patty gave Thomas a tour of the upper deck

Thomas loved the canon they shot out at the end

Beautiful Shot of Chicago from Lake Michigan

Navy Pier

Navy Pier again

Navy Pier Light House

Play time and Park Photos

Teething

Sitting up all by himself

Play time

In his "safari" hat

His cheeks are so chubby in this one!

Napping at the park

Walking to the park

Thomas at the play area

Peaking out above the slide

Weekend Update!

It seems as though with all the nice weather I have been skipping out on blogging! But have no worries, the next couple days are supposed to be rainy around here!

To play a quick game of catch up, the last week has been pretty laid back around here. I wrapped up my finals on the 14th and celebrated by getting my hair cut that weekend. I decided not only to indulge and get some highlights but also to go a little retro and get bangs!!! A pretty brave choice for me but I love it so far.

To make up for my "me" moment I spent the entire week with my boys. I think we went to the park almost every day. One day we went 3 times, I think we need some new activities. At least my legs are getting toned up for summer skirts and shorts! We also went to Chicago with Grandpa Patty.

But no trip out of the house would be complete without a little bit of drama. Wednesday would have been a perfectly ordinary day, but Thomas had other plans for me. To start the day Thomas had an accident during the middle of what should have been his nap. Let me tell you....a 3 year old + no pull up during nap = potential for disaster. What resulted lets just say was I had to clean up poop all the way from his bedroom down the hallway to the bathroom when he ran to try to make it to the toilet. I am not sure who is more scarred, me or my floors. Well that wasn't enough excitement so of course we happened to run out of wipes right before dinner. I thought I had some stockpiled but I couldn't find them. So I needed to make dinner FAST and I decided to make grilled cheese, only to find out the bread was moldy. Well I hadn't bought groceries this week since we were leaving town for 3 days. I mean why bother? The food would sit there while we were gone. So I had to get 2 cranky kids loaded up in the car to go get us dinner and wipes. Ollie was crying and Thomas was throwing a fit because he wanted to go to the park. It would have been lovely to have a "sub" at this point. Every mom should have a stand in mom. Well we get some fast food which is a rare thing in our house. But Thomas decided he doesn't "like" his food. I make him eat 3 bites (how awful!!) before he can have his apples. Well he ate it fine, he just wanted the apples. (**WARNING: stop reading now if you have a weak stomach**) We finally get to Target and Thomas threw up ALL OVER, on purpose I imagine. And by all over I mean everywhere--the car seat, carpet, himself, back of the seat. And what does he do, he tried to catch it with his hands and he no joke hands it to me to take. Yuck yuck yuck. So there I am, just standing there in amazement, and I don't even have wipes to clean it up with. OMG I about died. I stripped him down (the person parked next to us I am sure was standing there trying not to laugh at this point) and grabbed a random outfit from the back (Thank goodness I had even that) and ran into the store with 2 cranky boys (one of which was also very smelly) to grab stupid wipes and now a towel to clean up the mess. I bathed Thomas and somehow managed to get him not to smell (a feat right there!) but the car on the other hand is kind of smelly. Thank goodness I have developed a sudden aversion to driving. However, car cleaning services in the Corridor area are happy to take my business at this point. What a stimulus for the economy my 2 children can be!

However, apart from my *wonderful Wednesday* evening, the week was great. On Thursday we visited Navy Pier in Chicago. We visited the Chicago Children's Museum which is FREE 5 PM-8 PM and sponsored by Kraft Foods. Thomas loved the water play feature they had. We also went on a sunset boat cruise on Lake Michigan. Thomas loved it when they shot a canon off the "pirate" ship. Ollie even enjoyed the boat ride. He loved watching the waves across the lake. Then on Friday we went swimming at the hotel and to the Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago. I have to say that the Brookfield Zoo was really cool. We enjoyed seeing seals, dolphins, bears, lions, snakes, and even a life-size dinosaur! They had a fantastic Dinosaur exhibit that was so realistic. I only wish it was open later in the evening, we would have stayed much longer! We were sad to come home but we got to see Grandma Kim who was on her way back from Detroit.

I will have lots of pictures to share soon, be watching for them!

Slow start to the week

It seems like the week has been dragging along because it has felt super slow around here despite finals approaching for me. On Monday and Tuesday the boys got to visit the park and bake cookies. Today it was rainy so we declared it a movie day and made mini pizzas and watched Disney movies. Tomorrow I have my last final, which has been keeping me busy and from posting more. But starting next week I can't wait to have more photos again and share with all of you how are day was. Here is to a good rest of the week!

Playing with his toy in his sleep. It was pretty funny really, he wouldn't let go!

Honestly, Kraft should pay my kid to advertise for them. Thomas loves his mac and cheese!

My little chefs making cookies, Oliver wanted to lick the bowl! ;-)

Thomas working hard

Oliver eating rice cereal, he couldn't get enough tonight

The weekend in pictures

At lunch after Reid's graduation reception
Thomas feeding the fish and ducks

Joe and Thomas

Swans

Grandma Kim, Brent and Oliver

Mother's Day Photo

Thomas with his spiky hair

Oliver in his high chair at Mother's Day Brunch

All smiles

The boys great great grandma

Reflections on the last 4 years

Friday is my last day as a full time student and a mom. I have a few loose ends to tie up but this summer I will be completely done with school. I feel refreshed but at the same time it feels strange knowing that there are no more papers, finals, late night readings or cram sessions. And hopefully no more cold coffee after sleepless nights! I know I won't miss these things, but it defined who I was as a mother for so long that I feel emotional letting go. For almost the last 4 years I have been both a student and a mother.

Looking back on it all I can say that being a mom and a student was awkward at times. I was that "different" person in the classroom. Not that I was weird or better or anything like that, I just stood out. Never before in my life have I been more self conscious. I was very aware that I was in a much different place in my life than everyone else. My peers were enjoying the freedom of college life and an occasional beer, which I completely understand. Meanwhile, I was at home trying to balance everything. I was attempting to study while getting my child ready for bed and cooking dinner, all at the same time.

It sounds humorous really, that my life was a balancing act. Or as some have said, that I was trying to do "too much" all at once. But it was everyday life for me. I chose this life and I could handle it all. I had no desire to party but I did feel like I was misunderstood, judged, and horribly out of place. In the beginning I struggled with this, I felt ashamed and alone to be a student AND a mom. Yes, I had friends that stuck by me and I had an amazing family that were there every step of the way. However, being different meant that certain friends would leave my life forever because they would never understand that being a parent has no off days. It dawned on me that I should be proud of what I was doing. From then on I embraced my identity as BOTH a mom and a student.

These last four years my family, school, and extended family and friends have defined my life. Today I start a new chapter. My identity feels "unknown" in the sense that I get to redefine my life. Oh the things that I can do now! There are so many possibilities of what to do with my "free" time, it is overwhelming really! I can do household projects I have been neglecting. And then maybe even relax or take up a hobby or two.

It is fitting that my last week of classes is right before Mother's Day. In my heart I know I am a better mom for powering through school. If I had stopped or slowed, I would never have been able to finish. I am the type of person that has to completely dive into something to finish a project. I just HAD to keep going. So I kept pushing myself and pushing myself, and then pushing myself a little more. I used my momentum as motivation. Financially we are more secure. And I would like to think that I am also wiser for finishing my degree. Some day when our children are grown I hope to be able to use it finally. But for now I just want to take a break and be there for all those small moments. I don't want to miss anything and I hope to never have to leave my boys again.

So here is to all those mothers that are determined to finish school and work hard every day, pushing themselves and persevering despite being told it is too much to handle or impossible. Everything in life is doable, you just have to enjoy the ride.

My zen moment of the week

It has been a long week thus far and I really just needed to unwind for a moment. So I flipped through some photos I took in the Carribbean last August. It took me back to pure bliss, *sigh* -------

Where was I? Oh yes... if you find yourself needing to take five, just look up photos of around the world on the internet. Its really relaxing and everyone loves to share where they have been so there are many to flip through. Here is a link to National Geographic Photos. They are super cool and as an added bonus--educational! http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography