January 21 = Birthday Eve

My parents were going to come up this weekend for my birthday but it's supposed to snow a lot in NC so they're going to wait and come another time.  But I still had a nice birthday weekend- starting today!  Today was a pretty relaxing day and that is always, always welcomed!

Zachary made a yummy dinner that even Malia ate...

I was cleaning up a bit downstairs while Zachary kept the kids entertained-

And then he made me cupcakes!  He hates icing cupcakes but he tried.

Here he is bringing me one with a candle and a glass of milk :)

January 21 = Rough Day

I woke up this morning with all the time in the world... decided to have a casual day... made some chocolate chip waffles... took my time... checked my email, looked at Zachary's calendar to see what he was up to, and realized- oops!  Liam has an ophthalmology appointment in thirty minutes.  So I kicked into high gear and we got there a few minutes early!

Here are Liam's footprints out to the car:

When we got there, the receptionist said I needed the referral that I had been sent five months ago.  If someone paid me a million dollars to find it, I doubt I could.  So I got to try to call someone who could maybe fax it over.  In case you were wondering, trying to make a phone call in a room where it says in three different places "please take your phone calls outside," with two toddlers who needed their coats outside but now that we are inside and the heat is blaring, want nothing to do with them and want them off NOW, and starting eyes and bad signal and getting really hot yourself and Liam running into an exam room... during an exam... is not fun.  So by the time we were taken back to the appointment we had all had our fill.  Enter in doctor who wants him to put his chin here and his forehead there and let him hold something in front of one eye and oh, let's put drops in his eyes too!  Remind me to never, ever, take Liam to an eye appointment with Malia and without Zachary.  Nightmare.  The good parts: instead of a chart of letter for him to read off, they used pictures.  I was nervous that he wouldn't have words for the pictures they'd show him and therefore this appointment would be pretty pointless- but he did!  He did awesome!  Another good part of the appointment was the doctor looked for some problems in the eye that are connected with NF and they're not there. 


When we got home, it was "watch Caillou" time.  I abandoned the preschool plans for the day because although I've tried to put into words how stressful the appointment was, I don't think I've done it justice.  Here's Miss Malia dancing to the Caillou theme song:

Then we had lunch.  And then it was nap time.  For everyone.  When I came out of my room from my nap, I saw this:
 

 Those are curtain rods.  Here's what I found inside:

 Trouble maker.

February 17 = Snow Day

There's a great hill behind our apartment, perfect for sledding.  So on this cold day, we got the babies and ourselves bundled up and headed outside.

Liam got a little freaked out on the first trip down and tried to put his feet on the ground while they were moving- it took a second for Zachary to realize his feet were stuck but once he did he stopped and got Liam re-situated but Liam had had enough by that point.  We tried a few more times but gave up and headed inside.

I put Malia down on the couch, awake, and turned my head.  I turned my head back around 20 seconds later and she was out.  I had to grab a picture before I made her a bit more comfortable.

Making her more comfortable woke her up but we put on a show from a kids' channel and they both were super interested for a few minutes.

February 14 = Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day!  This is a great to show love to your spouse or significant other but I've also found it's a great day to love on your babies too!  We started a new tradition- Zachary got Malia a present and I got Liam one.  Miss Malia got a pretty glass rose from her daddy and on a less sentimental note, I got Liam a toddler computer with lots of buttons to push that make lots of obnoxious noises.

  

But I think Liam's favorite part of Valentine's Day was the snow!  Liam and Zachary went outside and I took pictures from the warmth of the indoors.

We took this picture from the inside looking out- it was coming down!  I had Zachary stand beside me so my reflection wasn't the only visible one.

January 21 = Snow Day

Liam went to preschool for the second time since the New Year today.  Zachary is pretty frustrated with the way things have been going with preschool.  If the schools are closed- no matter what reason- the preschool is closed and if there is a two hour delay preschool is closed.  You pay the same amount whether they go every Monday and Wednesday or if they don't make it all.  In December, they barely went because the school system's Christmas break is pretty long and so in the last two months, he really hasn't gone very often at all.  But he did go today!  And it's kind of surprising because today we got a lot of snow!

Zachary had class in Washington, DC tonight and I was bit nervous about him driving back when it was dark and cold but it all turned out alright.  Well... Malia was grumpy.

Until Daddy came home and gave her a basketball.

And then Zachary surprised me as I was writing this with a early birthday ice cream cone!

January 6 = Snow Day

Now Liam, Malia and I are all sick.  Zachary woke me up to tell me it was snowing and I immediately felt absolutely awful.  I am not a huge fan of snow.  It's pretty to look at for the first 10 minutes before people and cars travel through it, making it a dirty, wet mess. 

 

Malia woke up around the same time that Zachary had to go to class so I went to feed her and could tell she felt about the same way I did.  When I went to get Liam out of bed, he just looked up at me with these sad eyes like, "Nope, not time yet."  So I gave him a cereal bar in his crib and let him take his time getting up.  After checking on him five times, he finally seemed willing to get out of bed so I changed his diaper but kept him in his warm, comfortable PJs and we, all three, sat on the couch.

 

We survived the morning- mainly because both babies felt so terribly, they didn't give me too much trouble and because I knew before Zachary came home, he was stopping by the drug store to get me some much needed medicinal relief- we were completely out of all cold medicines.  He surprised me by also coming home with these:

Liam had a few days on me and Malia so he started feeling better that afternoon and, completely on his own, started rocking Malia in her rock 'n' play while we were making dinner- such a sweet moment!