Toys-Toys and more Toys!

The clothes have been put away in the closet, the books are in their rooms and the play dough has been tucked away for a rainy day activity. There are still a few new birthday toys around that needed to be played with though!

He tried, but unfortunately Uncle Corey wasn't able to make it here for this year's party. The gift he mailed the boys did though. They didn't completely understand it when they opened it but by the next morning - after Daddy had assembled it.......WOW! Spencer was a little hesitant at first. When Mommy asked him if he wanted to ride the horse he immediately said "No". However, after we dropped Brian off at school and came home - he couldn't get enough of "horse-ie!"

Let's Party!

Since Daddy's parents as well as two of his three brothers (as well as their families) all live in the Chicago land area, small family birthday gatherings involve quite a few people. Today we had a joint birthday party for the boys with the local aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. Grandma is famous for her birthday cakes and once again lived up to her reputation by making three balloon cakes - one for Spencer, one for Brian and one for Mommy! Spencer loves the concept of blowing out the candles and he got both of his candles out on the first try!

As is the case with all kids, the boy's excitement level as they started opening their gifts was off the charts! We hope that the boy's South Dakota cousin had a fabulous birthday today too! Happy 7th Birthday Nolan - we can't wait until we get to see you again!!!

Let Em' Roll!

Our new house has an amazing backyard and the boys have wasted no time breaking it in! There is a small slope at the front of the house which is perfect for doing some body rolling!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!!!

Brian isn't always the nicest big brother to Spencer. He has been known to push, shove and yes even bite his little brother. However, Spencer still thinks of Brian as a rock star and he loves playing with him!

To celebrate Brian's birthday today, when Daddy got home from work we headed over to Downers Grove and had dinner at the All Aboard Diner. There was a short wait before we could be seated but fortunately there is a great toy train set at the entrance. There are lots of buttons on the front that operate various things around the train track. One button moves a swing set, one button turns on a beacon light, one button makes a tractor drive forward and backward, etc. The train track kept both boys very well entertained until we were able to be seated. From the laughing and expressions on the boys faces, I think it's fair to say that they had a great time! Spencer and the rest of his family alway want to send out a HUGE Happy Birthday greeting to Grandpa H! We hope you had as wonderful of a day in South Dakota as we did here!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Mommy woke up to a very wonderful sight this morning. Two little boys and their Daddy wishing and singing her Happy Birthday! Daddy had to head off to work but Mommy got to spend the day playing and enjoying her boys. Our rule is that on your birthday, you get to go out for dinner. Mommy and Daddy opted to pass on getting babysitters and going to a "grown up place". Instead, the four of us went to a family friendly place, Old Country Buffet. We go there fairly regularly but now that we have moved, this was our first time going to what will be our new location. The boys are very familiar with the buffet rules. Rule #1: there will be NO ice cream until you have had your dinner. Once Spencer had fulfilled rule #1, he got busy on his dessert ice cream cone.......and he enjoyed every single bit of it! Spending the evening with her family and watching the smiles and laughter that came out of Brian and Spencer was one of the most amazing birthday gifts Mommy could have ever asked for!

Bugle Boy!

While Brian was off at his first morning of preschool, Spencer and Mommy enjoyed some quality bonding time together. When Spencer found Daddy's old boy scout bugle, he put on quite a little concert!

Chomp......again!

Poor Spencer has once again become the victim to his big brothers new interest of biting. Mommy and Daddy have been busy gathering as many tips and suggestions as they can so that they can help Brian make this problem to away immediately, if not sooner! This picture was actually taken a couple days after the initial "chomp" but the bruise from Brian's teeth still shows up very clearly.

Running Laps!

The boys have been sleeping very soundly and we think it's from all the laps they are running during the day. They can run a full circle through the dining room and living room and when they aren't doing that they are running up the stairs......and then back down the stairs. When this picture was taken, they had just ran upstairs and into Brian's bedroom to read some books.

Is This New?????

The boys have about 8 million toys and somehow, the best toy will remains to be........

.....a box!

PS: Spencer's first night in the new house can be classified as "sleep as normal". After having his bath, a few books read to him and his bedtime prayers, he grabbed Goober and went right to sleep!

Moving Day!

Villa Park sponsors an event right before school starts each summer called "Big Rigs and Kids". In addition to the park district being able to showcase what they have to offer, they have lots of big trucks and stuff on display that the kids and get up close and personal looks at. Since Mommy and Daddy were busy with the movers today, the boys checked out the trucks with Uncle Kevin, Aunt June, Krista and Erika. By the end of the day though, we spent our first night in our new house. Spencer is in a "temporary bedroom" at the moment. Mommy and Daddy are using Spencer's room and Spencer is using what will end up being the playroom. Here is a Before photo of what his temporary quarters used to look like.

Here is what it looks like now.

When Mommy and Daddy are able to move out of Spencer's room, this is what his permanent room will look like.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!!!

It's a good thing that Spencer is the age he is and that he is just a good natured little kid. With Mommy and Daddy going crazy getting ready for the movers to come tomorrow, Spencer's birthday festivities were pretty low key today. He spent a good portion of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house but he loves playing with their toys so that was not a problem for him! Our birthday celebration happened around dinner time when Mommy, Daddy, Brian and birthday boy Spencer went to one of the boys favorite restaurants.......the All Aboard Diner. It's located in Downers Grove and if you have a train loving person in your family - child or adult, you would love it! We were able to get seats at the counter which is the best place to sit since that way the train can deliver your food right to you!

After dinner, Spencer couldn't take his eyes off the train as it rounded the corner carrying his birthday cupcake. As everyone sang happy birthday to him, all he could think of was how long it was going to take the waitress to get that cupcake close enough to him so that he could blow out the candle! Happy Birthday Spencer........Mommy and Daddy promise that your future birthdays will be made much more special!

The Last Supper

Due to our upcoming move, over the next couple of days things are going to get pretty crazy. Of course, things have been pretty much crazy for the past month or so, so this shouldn't be a huge shock for the boys. That being said, tonight the boys sat down to their final family dinner in our Villa Park house.

Even with a big bite mark bruise on his arm, Spencer was just oozing charm and cuteness all evening.

Since I couldn't decide which of these pictures I liked the best, I thought I would post all three of them!

OUCH!!!!!!

Brian has entered a new stage.......the biting stage. Unfortunately, Spencer has ended up being the victim to this new problem. Everything was going very nicely today as we were making lunch together. One moment we were working away making our pizza's and the next........

.....Spencer was crying out in pain. It's hard to see in the picture but it wouldn't take a CSI to determine that the source of this chomp mark is his brothers teeth!

The Lift!

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago out in the back yard. I'm not sure who has more fun trying to find different ways to make anything and everything into a new toy.......the boys, or Daddy! Either way, they ALL had a great time playing!

The Prison Break Is ON!!!!

This evening Mommy was in the hallway outside the boy's bedrooms backing up a few things. All of the sudden she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. It was Spencer! He darted out of his bedroom and into the living room.....laughing the whole way! Tonight was the first time that he crawled out of his crib. Considering that this event came just five days shy of his 2nd birthday - Mommy and Daddy are very happy that they have been able to enjoy his "crib confinement" for as long as they have!

Mommy snapped this picture after she bribed him back into his crib with the two trucks that he is holding. He stayed in bed the rest of the night........but who knows what he has planned for tomorrow morning!!!

Nope.....Not Yet!

Yes, from time to time we have to correct someone when they ask if Spencer is a girl. Yes, we can put it into a pony tail in the back (we don't - but we could!) But sorry, Mommy and Daddy still refuse to cut it. His soft wispy baby fine hair may be long in the back, but it's not long anywhere else so.....don't look for Spencer to be sporting a drastic hairstyle change any time soon. No matter if he has long or short hair - could he be any cuter?!?!?!?!

Peek-a-Boo!

After his bath tonight, Spencer decided to top off his evening with a relaxing game of peek-a-boo. If you ever find yourself in the mood for some peek-a-boo, the boy's Thomas the Train tee pee works great!

JAMIE!!!!!

The boys had a real treat yesterday when our wonderful friends Aunt Karen and her daughter Jamie came over to play! They spent the whole day with the boys so that Mommy could get some more work done at the new house. As you can see from his face.......Spencer would be more than happy to get play with Jamie EVERY day!

Park It Here!

Spencer took Brian and Mommy to a local park today. Franklin Park is located on Second and Elm within Villa Park's park district and it was a winner!

This is a smaller park but the boys especially loved the slide! The slide wasn't a curly one - but there it's nice and steep which makes for the boys to fly down it nice and fast which they enjoyed! The slide wasn't just "a slide" either - it was three that sat side by side. The boys had a ball waiting until they had both climbed the steps and were seated next to each other so that they could slide down at the same time! The static build up that the kids get from sliding down the plastic playground equipment makes them look like some sort of a mad science experiment!

Hit The Showers!!!!

After the boys had baths tonight, Spencer took his first shower! Brian is big on taking a post bath shower but Spencer usually declines the offer. Tonight, instead of wanting to go directly from bath to jammies, he got a taste (quite literally) of what a shower is like!

Let's Go Truckin'!

Every child has their "thing" that they seem the most drawn to when they want a toy. For Spencer, it's trucks. We keep a small stock of them (like the one he has in his hand) next to the changing table in the event that he needs a small distraction. Goober is still a security item but except for a few occasions, he only uses "The Goob" when he naps and at bedtime.

Help!

Spencer is gonna get himself into trouble some day with all of his Crying Wolf! He puts a very serious look on his face and in the most pitiful sounding voice you could imagine, he calls out "heeeelp!" Mommy and Daddy have gotten used to this routine to the point where we don't IMMEDIATELY drop everything and rush to his side to see what the problem is. (Now we just go to his side to see what the problem is.) Spencer's "emergency" today was that he tipped over this toy car. Other "emergencies" have been dropping a sippy cup, a toy rolling under a chair, the episode of Caillou he was watching ending, you know......really serious stuff!

Sunday Driver!

The boys helped Mommy take a car load of stuff over to put into our storage handy hut. If you have looked at today's post on Brian's blog, you know that he "drove" over to the new house. Before we even backed out of the driveway, it was very obvious that there was no way we were going to make it all the way there with only ONE steering wheel. Fortunately, this toy hadn't been packed up yet and it made for three (Spencer, Brian AND Mommy) content drivers!

Here's Your Paper Lady!

Getting the paper in the morning is a huge deal at our house and one that has been known to cause some issues. Two anxious paper retrieving boys live here and sadly.......we only get one newspaper. Spencer got to get the paper today because Brian was distracted in the kitchen helping make breakfast. As you can see, he was very pleased to have the responsibility!

Oops!

During the past three months, just knowing that our house needed to be "show ready" at a moments notice has been challenging. Mommy spent much of her time just following the boys around picking up toys. Spencer seems to get a great deal of pleasure in waiting until all the toys (that weren't being played with) had just been tucked back into their storage drawers before he would slowly pour them all out again.

Just knowing that if we wanted to, we could leave piles of dirty laundry, a sink full of dishes and a trail of toys all over the house now......well, its a very nice feeling! When Spencer dumps toys all over now - Mommy just smiles as she watches them play and have a good time.

Park It Here!

The park that Spencer chose to rate this week is the Southland Park which is located on the corner of Central and Grace within the Lombard Park District. We have driven by this park numerous times but until today, haven't stopped.

It's a smaller park, not fenced in (poor marks from Mommy on that) but all in all, a good toddler park. There were no toddler swings but the boys were much more interested in the "firetruck" anyway.

One thing about this playground that Mommy really liked is that there was just one way (the steps) to get up to the slides. Most of the other parks we have gone to have a variety of areas for kids (mainly older kids) to crawl up and around in order to get to where they want to go. The boys had a blast running back and forth from the slide to the firetruck and then back to the slide. All in all, Spencer gives this park a 3.75 rating!

It's ALLLLLL About Spencer!

Spencer has never experienced what its like to not have his brother around all the time. In a couple weeks, that is going to change. Brian will be starting 3 year old preschool later this month. This means that from 8:15am - 11:00am Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Spencer and Mommy will get to spend some quality one on one time together! Mommy loved having that time with Brian prior to Spencer being born and she is looking forward to having the opportunity to have similar time alone with Spencer!

In this picture, Spencer is modeling what we believe to be....... forehead bruise #531. We think it's a nice one!

Fish....Just Add Water!

Brian loves being in the pool, but we think that Spencer was born to BE in the water! He seems to have some kind of built in natural swimming instinct! From the moment he is in the water, his feet are moving, his legs are kicking, and his arms are working to pull himself through the water. I'm sure that with some lessons, Brian can learn this but it looks like Spencer was born with it! Once he was out of the pool, he waisted no time getting back into Grandma's "bonus room" where the majority of the toys are kept!

Spencer Mc'Boing Boing

Spencer has this thing he has been doing lately that we call "boinging". He gets into position like he is going to take a big leap and then just like Winnie the Poohs friend Tigger, he springs up a few inches off the floor saying "Boing"! He boings from the floor, he boings from the steps, he boings from the furniture. In fact, he has boinged his way to several new bruises! He has a good time doing it though, and he is so proud of himself each time that you can't help but smile when you watch him!

Toy Box!

After an exciting trip to the "Red Circle" (see Brian's post for more details on that), we came home with a box of diapers. As soon as we crack open a case of diapers, it becomes a race to see who can get the empty box first!

Its amazing how much entertainment kids can get out of a plain ol' cardboard box!

Suds It Up!

The youth group from our church was having a car wash today and we were happy to stop by to give them some business. Spencer wasn't satisfied to just watch though - thanks to our wonderful friend Michelle, he got to participate!

We needed to be out of the house most of the day today since our realtor was having an open house there today. So, in addition to the car wash, we also spent some time at the Oak Park farmers market this morning. From there we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to hang out/play/nap for the rest of the afternoon.

Shortly after the open house had ended our realtor gave us a call and some very exciting news! After exactly 3 months on the market, 4 open houses and 29 showings......someone made us an offer to buy our house! It's been a long wait but the offer was exactly what we had been hoping for and we have accepted it!