A Day Out with Thomas ~

A few weeks ago, Aaron called me while he was working to say that he'd seen Thomas the Tank Engine being pulled down the highway on a flatbed truck, and after a bit of research we learned that he was on his way to the Illinois Railway Museum for their semi-annual Day Out With Thomas event. Well, since Micah is quite the train fanatic and Pops still plays with them too, we decided this would be a fun thing to take the kids (Micah, Caleb, and Pops) to. :) It was a beautiful day and we had a great time looking at all of the train displays, model railways, and of course, riding on Thomas! I think we were all a bit curious as to just how interested Micah would be in this, but we weren't even there for 5 minutes before he was pointing at the trains and pointing and "ooh-ing" over the different exhibits! I guess when you love something, it doesn't matter how young you are (or how short your attention span usually is). :) We stopped in to look at a model railway display, and after about 5 minutes started to head out... but Micah wasn't done looking! He was on Aaron's shoulders as we were trying to leave and literally grabbed onto the door frame and stopped Aaron from leaving, as if to say, "hey! I'm not done in here yet!" :)

3/4 of our family (Caleb was sleeping in the stroller) :)

The model railway ~

Pops and Micah on the streetcar ~

Waving to the people we passed while riding on Thomas ~

That is one tired, but happy, boy ~

Another 3/4 family picture... I promise Caleb was there, he just slept most of the day! :)

Dinner table conversation...

I've always marveled at those families that I see at a restaurant all sitting at the same table, but having no interaction with each other whatsoever. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about... the people who are all talking on, working on or playing on some sort of phone or other electronic device; talking, texting, or playing while ignoring the people right in front of them. This picture makes me sad... is this really what family time is coming to? I've always said, whenever I see this picture in action, that my family will never be like that. That we will interact with each other around the dinner table, at the very least, and keep cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices away from the dinner table.
Well... it looks like I might have my work cut out for me to make our family time actually BE family time. I guess this next generation really IS the technology generation, and I'm seeing this in my not-quite-20-month-old son, who I truly believe knows more about my cell phone and iPod than I do! I've always promised that we won't be that family at a restaurant talking to each other on our cell phones, but maybe that's not true... I guess only time will tell! :)

S.A.H.M. ... and other exciting news

Well, it's official. I have worked my last few hours at UPS. My last day, technically isn't until September 13 though, because I had a vacation scheduled for the week of Labor Day, and I figure it's worth it to get that extra paycheck! :) But my days of walking through the doors of UPS at 3:00 in the morning (and earlier!) are over. Truth be told, leaving work this morning was very bitter-sweet. It was hard saying goodbye to the people I've worked with for the last 5 years, and knowing that the amazing health insurance we've had through UPS is ending with my employment there, but it was wonderful to come home to a HUGE smile and hug from Micah, especially knowing I'll never have to leave my boys in the middle of the night to go to work again.

Making the decision to stay at home was a bit of a challenge, to say the least. Aaron had had his mind made up about me working since before we were married, but it took me a little (ok, a LOT) longer to get on board. And I still find myself wondering if this is really the best decision for us. But every time I start thinking I should keep working, God gives me some little confirmation that me not working is best. Case in point ~ I have been wrestling with this decision all day today, and when we got home this afternoon, I watched as Caleb rolled over from his back to his front for the first time and realized I do NOT want to miss those milestones with my kids because I'm working, or because I'm so exhausted from the crazy schedule that's required of UPS employees. I've always known my kids would be my top priority once they came along, and they absolutely are, I just didn't think leaving a job that I had only planned to work at for a few months (which turned into 5 years) was going to be so difficult.

But, we've made the decision for me not to work, and as of 8:30 this morning, I am officially a Stay At Home Mom, or S.A.H.M., for short. :) A few weeks ago, my friend shared this article with me, entitled "Stay at Home vs. Working Parents ~ Questions to help spouses bridge the communication gap", and I've been wanting to share it on our blog since I read it because it made both Aaron and me laugh out loud. So, if you're in the mood for a chuckle, click on the link below. And if you're part of a family where one parent works and the other stays home, I'd be interested to hear what you think of the article. Aaron doesn't work in an office setting, but we could definitely relate to a few of the scenarios laid out by the author! So, enjoy! And if you're a S.A.H.M. like me, I pray you're enjoying every second of your time with your kids! They are a tremendous gift from the Lord!

http://www.babble.com/toddler/toddler-development/questions-for-parents-from-SAHM/


My new bosses ~

A busy couple of weekends...

As the title to this post suggests, we've had a couple of very busy weekends this month! The first weekend, we went to Aaron's good friend Shawn's wedding down at Moody Church in Chicago. It was a beautiful ceremony, and both the bride and the groom looked wonderful and very happy. We had fun catching up with some of Aaron's friends from back home and it was a blessing to be included in such a special day.

Aaron and Shawn (aka - Nino)

Caleb and "Uncle Nino" ~

Some of Aaron's friends from Moody with the happy couple (Shawn is also a Moody grad)

Then the second weekend we took the kids to the Shedd Aquarium for the day, along with Uncle Eric and Auntie Tracy. Aaron had gotten free tickets through his work, so we got to see the dolphin show, a 4D version of a segment of Planet Earth, and wander around the Wild Reef exhibit, and only had to pay for parking! (we brought some coolers with things for lunch) I LOVE being able to do things like that for little or no cost to us! :) We had a great time looking at all the fish and marveling at God's amazing creation, and it was fun to share the day with Tracy and Eric too. Micah loved running around and going from one tank to the next, so I'm not sure we really studied any of the fish in any particular spot for too long, but we had a great day nonetheless. (and since neither of the boys napped for any significant amount of time, bedtime went very smoothly and came fairly early for all of us!) :)

**Some of these pictures were taken by Tracy and Eric, so thanks to them (and the dropbox folder) for most of these shots! :)

The dolphin show ~

The big reef in the center of the aquarium ~

Amusing ourselves before the 4D show of Planet Earth ~

"Shark bait! Ooo ha ha!"

Belugas ~

Playing on the submarine down below the Oceanarium tanks

Looking at the penguins ~

The boys with Auntie Tracy ~

Row, row, row your boat...

This is as close as we've come to camping in a while! :)

Button pushing...

Checking out the dolphins underwater ~

Reaching in to touch a starfish ~

Auntie Tracy with Caleb... I think he wore her out making her carry him around so much! :)

Checking out the turtle statue with Uncle Eric ~

LOVE the look on Micah's face! :)

In between these busy weekends, we've had plenty to keep ourselves occupied. #1 on our list of things to do lately has been to get healthy, so there were several days spent just being home and catching up on rest. But we managed to have some fun.

Caleb and I had some one-on-one time together while Micah napped one day, and he was just "talking" up a storm! Naturally, when I got the camera out he was more interested in that than in making much noise... kind of like Micah was at that age... but there are some good smiles in there too.

Micah had a play date with his buddy Michael last week... usually I'm all about taking tons of pictures when these two are together, but for some reason the camera stayed away this day. (probably because I was busy taking care of Caleb as well) I did manage to get one picture of the boys having a snack at the kitchen table... both sitting in the "big boy" seats. :)


And since we're getting back to our normal selves health-wise, I was able to take Micah to gymnastics last week. Thanks to Grannie Jannie for staying with Caleb so Micah and I could have some one-on-one time together! :) The video is of Micah working on his somersaults at home, in preparation for gymnastics the next day.

Rocking with his friend Elyse ~

When we came home to Nee Nee, Micah amused himself (and us!) by trying on Nee Nee's glasses and shoes. I had flashes of myself as a kid seeing Micah wearing my mom's glasses! :) And I love how he made a beeline for the front door once he was ready to go! :)




We got to visit with my dear friends, Ron and Trish one evening, and had lunch with our small group after church one Sunday (Micah had a ball bouncing...and being bounced... on the trampoline!)...

Our group leaders' son, Sean, loves Micah... and Micah adores Sean too!

...and we've had plenty of time to just enjoy our family...

Micah pulled the pillow and blanket over to lay down by Caleb all by himself ~

My boys ~

Daddy with his "little helpers"

Caleb and Pops having a staring contest :)

This video is kind of dark, but the audio is more important than the video... Micah was helping me take this, so listen closely, especially at the end. :)

Life is busy these days, especially with 2 kiddos! But we've got a great life! :) And God is good!