January 24 = Football Day

Today was a big day in the NFL- the conference championships!  The Patriots played the Broncos and the Cardinals played the Panthers.  I was torn in the Patriots/Broncos game.  I thought it would be hilarious watching Roger Goodell having to congratulate Tom Brady after all the drama between them at the end of last season but at the same time... this could be Peyton's last season so you've gotta pull for him.  So I decided either way I'd be happy.  In the other game I was definitely pulling for the Cardinals.  I'm not a Cam Newton fan but I am a Bruce Arians fan- he's hilarious- and also... I wanted the Packers' loss to not be in vain.  However... the Panthers won.  Oh well- we had good food to eat and Liam loves saying "football time," and "football score" so it was a good time for all.

Also, Malia found this: 

 

It's an eye mask that I use sometimes if I have a bad headache... but Malia decided to use it as a headband... she's got her own style. 

January 23 = Snow Day!

We woke up today to even more snow than there was when we went to bed last night!  Here's Liam checking it out first thing this morning.  Right after this picture was taken, he slammed the door- he gets it from his momma.

That's my van almost covered by snow:

Our Navy garden flag was barely peeking through:

Since we weren't going anywhere, we decided to have a preschool day on a weekend!  This week was "All About Green" so we did some cucumber printing with green paint in our green pajamas- lots of green!

 And we played with the green rice sensory bins:

Zachary was working hard to get our driveway and the snow around my car shoveled.  The only problem was... we don't have a snow shovel.  And the one shovel we do have was in the backyard.  So he used the top of a rubbermaid container... and that worked for a while but then he decided it would be worth it to look for the shovel in the backyard.  So this is what happened:

The kids stayed inside and when we came back in this is what we found:

Joey was not a fan of the cold:

I know this looks like mashed potatoes or cauliflower but it's actually snow cream!  It was so good!

 

January 22 = My Birthday!

My family was going to come up this weekend for my birthday but because we are supposed to get 36 inches of snow, we've decided to postpone the celebration.  But I still had a lovely day.  First of all, Zachary had to go in for a little bit this morning but went in super early so he'd be home before the kids got up.  They did wake up before he got home but were content enough in their rooms that I was able to get some stuff done and wait for him to get home before getting them out of their rooms.  And he brought doughnuts!  I got a pink sprinkled one and the kids got blueberry doughnut circles.  So so good! Next, we signed Zachary up for the same membership at the gym that I have- he has had a lower tier membership because his gym time doesn't revolve around classes like mine does but I thought it would be neat for us to do yoga together so we did this morning!  It was a tough class taught by my favorite teacher, Donna, and she said he was a rock star when we left.  Not surprising.  Then we came home a few minutes later, Liam's physical therapist was there to do a session.  At the end of their session, everyone else on his team came over for his 6 month IFSP review.  It was very encouraging- they all said he's making a lot of progress, cognitively, socially, etc.  While we were having the PT session, Zachary left to get me Chickfila for lunch.  He also came home with this:

This is random but I saw this on FaceBook today and it made me laugh and you know how I love sharing things that make me laugh:

Malia and Liam both sampled my Edible Arrangement- I'm not a huge honeydew melon so we started them with that- they were both fans!  I think they liked eating off a stick more than the actual fruit but hey, whatever works.

We made Tex-Mex rice and nachos for dinner- so good.  And we really had a relaxing evening.  It had been snowing since the afternoon and Zachary decided to wait until lots had fallen to take the trash out.  And he decided to take his clothes off.  Don't ask me- I have no clue.

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.

January 20 = Feed Minnie Day

Sweet little Malia is such a nurturer. I'm convinced she's going to be a nurse.  Here she is feeding her little Minnie Mouse doll.

 And here's a FaceBook meme I found hilarious.  And wish I could say myself.

And... let the snow begin.  This is our skylight in our bathroom and as you can see, the upcoming blizzard got an early start.  I'm praying we don't get too much snow- being stuck in a house with toddlers isn't exactly ideal- but we'll make the best of it if it comes to that! 

January 19 = Shot Day

Since Dr. Modi went ahead and did Malia's 18 month well visit last week, today we just had to run in for one quick shot.  Here we are waiting:

She took it like a champ- she's such a tough girl- and this was the last shot she'll have to get until she's four!  Today's Tuesday so Zachary has class... this week is going to be crazy.  Tomorrow night, he's required to go to a women's basketball game and Thursday night he has a meeting at 6:00- he's not going to be able to come home before any of these nighttime commitments so it's going to be me and the babies on our own for basically three straight days.  But he's taking Friday off so ... there's a light at the end of the tunnel!  Also I have a cute story.  Liam's developed a new habit of finding any cup and filling it with water from the refrigerator.  Today, he brought a pretty full cup in the living room and spilled it in my lap.  He immediately went to the kitchen and got a towel and started drying me off.  Such a sweet boy!

January 18 = MLK Jr. Day

Since Zachary had to work every day this weekend and this was a long week- today, having nothing a free day off, is very much appreciated!  We started out going to the gym and I got some help with doing some new exercises- Zachary is so knowledgeable about good form and what muscle groups each exercise works and what weight I should start out with.  I had to snap a picture of this and I posted it on Snap Chat (which my brother and friend, Alexandra, have taught me to use...) with a caption of "big lifter" because they weighed 2.5 pounds each.  But hey- better than not going to the gym at all right??

Later, I had Liam try a new activity for our new week of at home preschool- putting beads into the holes of an old Parmesan cheese container.  This is a great exercise for fine motor skills and he did great!

We played with his sensory bin as well... can you tell our theme is green this week?

And later we had some sweet sibling time- they love each other!