My Favorite Things

You know, Oprah always does an episode on her favorite things. And, they are all monetary type items, like purses and ipads. I know it would be fun to be in her audience when she doles out these treats to everyone, but I must say that all of those things combined do not compare to the things I have experienced this year. Here's a list of my favorite things.

• Welcoming Ollie into the world on May 20. What a wonderfully, special day.


• Watching Drew see Ollie for the first time.


• Drew discovering his shadow and enjoying hopping and jumping in front of himself.


• Drew seeing his reflection in the window of our car. Where he says, "Drew, Drew".


• Hearing Drew's voice.


• Seeing Ollie's smile in the middle of the night, no matter how tired you are, you just have to smile in return.


• Seeing Ollie's teeth burst through his gums. Again, still smiling.


• Laughing at Mike as he drives our car over the curb, yet again.


• Watching Mike play with the boys in our living room - doing Drew and Ollie bench presses.


• Listening to Mike teach Drew how to make car noises with his tonka trucks.


• Listening to Ollie belly-laugh as Drew puts a bowl on his head.


• Watching Ollie smile at Murphy and knowing that he is wishing Murphy would come to him so he can grab his tail.


• Having dinner with Mandy & Patrick and then them saying to Drew, "Want to come to the movie with us?" And, him replying yes, then having a meltdown when we tell him he cannot go to the movie with them as he holds Mandy's hand in the parking lot.


• Watching Drew light up when he goes to school - running in the door and hugging Ms. Alita.


• Drew falling in love with Grammy & Pa, but especially Pa. To the point that everytime we say, do you know who we're going to see today? He will inevitably say "Pa?? Pa??" - then he's disappointed when we tell him no.


• Seeing family at Thanksgiving and watching the boys with their cousins.


• Watching Drew yell for Uncle Chris on the cabin porch during thanksgiving. Priceless.


• Enjoying spending time in Chicago this summer while celebrating my in-law's 40th anniversary.
  
• Drew using his imagination constantly. He's so innocent. Using anything he finds to pretend he has a hose to spray water on people. It's fantastic.


• Friendships that endure even though our lives have shifted and we don't see each other as often as we used to.


• Shoe shopping with Drew- though stressful - always ends on a positive note. There is nothing better than a boy who loves his shoes.


• Spending alone time with Mike, though it doesn't happen often, when it does it is so fun.


• Summer vacations that are funnier after you get home.
  
• Watching the kids continue to grow and learn and be silly.

Here's to 2011! We will be making many more memories as the year goes on. We have a lot to be thankful for and we will enjoy every minute of it.

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

	This year’s Christmas events started with buying a Christmas tree way too early. Perhaps that’s because we slung shot ourselves into the Christmas spirit a few days before Thanksgiving mainly just to be able to add a few more song’s (i.e., carols) to our bed time routine and put Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to rest if just for a few weeks. By the time Christmas rolled around, the tree looked a bit saggy, but festive all the same. All the same, Drew had a great time hanging, removing, and rehanging the same ornament over and over again all month long. This was our first big family Christmas at home. We had the “luxury” of hosting Mike’s entire family, that’s 11 extra people all from north of the Mason-Dixon line: Grammy and Pa in their bus (RV); Bob and Gretchen, and the twins, Robbie and Jakie; Don, Amy, Jack, Ella, and Elise. They left exotic cold climate places like Chicago, Green Bay and Minneapolis and headed for the balmy South. Well, actually, they were all delayed because of snow, not at their origins, but rather at their destination were it hasn’t snowed on Christmas in 128 years. Drew and Mike did their best at making Drew’s first snow man, but since the layer of pine needles in the yard was thicker then the snow, it turned into more of a snow-needle man, which of course had little cohesion. So, we had to settle for his first snow ball fight. Of course, what would Christmas be without a Christmas cookie decorating party? Elizabeth’s friend Amy, Drew’s friend Jacob, and his baby brother Noah came over on Christmas Eve to decorate cookies. Jacob and Drew are pretty close in age and have become good friends this past year. A lot of time and patience were spent on the first few cookies, but as the morning wore on, I think more candied stars and sprinkles were consumed than made it onto cookies. Once Amy set a limit on the number of cookies Jacob could take home, he started liking each one after he decorated it just so she’d have to take it home. I got a say, he’s a sly one. The two kids spent the morning decorating a cookie, racing around the house in their cars, decorating a cookie, racing around the house in their cars, decorating a cookie…you get the idea.
		After naps, we got all gussied up for Christmas Eve Services, then a delicious dinner and family fun at Aunt Kappy’s. Drew was naturally enthralled with Uncle Chris and his guitar, and Smyth helped everyone out with the Christmas carols when the only words we could remember were, “emm mmm bvvvve mumble mumble maaabbaaa.” Christmas morning was pretty traditional, we all went downstairs together and sure enough, Santa Clause was here! And, he left all kinds of cool loot. Anything that had Buzz Lightyear on it was a hit (that boy is in love with Buzz). By midday the snow and the trips to the airport commenced and the remaining Chilsons trickled in. The house was buzzing with Chilsons by Sunday. The newest generation even got in on the pile-ons. On Monday The Green Bay Chilsons, and Grammy and Pa took Drew to the aquarium, leaving the Minneapolis Chilsons and us home. We had a nice quiet lunch at Chili’s where the adults outnumbered the kids four to three, an easy zone defense
		We caught up with everyone else at Mike's Brother Don’s hotel for an evening swim. Everyone was in the pool splashing and having a good time. Drew spent the evening on the deck eating applesauce having a good time of his own. Slowly Mike was able to coheres him to the edge of the pool and dangle his feet in, then Grammy was able to get him splashing and kicking his feet, and once soaked, he finally was fully in the pool with Mike by the time everyone else was out and drying off. I don't have any pictures of Drew in the water because Mike had to use it as a bribe to get him in the water. We’ll have to work on swimming lessons this summer.
	The weekend festivities ended with a shoot-out win by the Gwinnett Gladiators over the Wheeling Nailers in ECHL hockey action. All us “young” adults and Jack were able to sneak out to the game leaving the three babies, two two-year-olds, and Ella home with Grammy and Pa. I think Grammy and Pa reveled in the grandchildren, but I must admit, I half expected to come home either to see Grammy and Pa tied up in the basement, or locked up in the RV and the kids running amuck. Fortunately, neither happened. Grammy and Pa, being the experts that they are, had all the kids sound asleep by the time that we came home. They looked a little weary but I think had a great time themselves. Now everyone has gone home, the decorations are all back in the garage, the rush hour traffic is in full force, and the vacation balance is once again full for the new year. Hope you all had as great as a holiday weekend as we did!
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Anniversary, Birthday, The Flu...and more.

December is already a busy month for us. It is packed with our anniversary, my birthday, and Christmas. But, this year, it has not only been busy - but also frustrating.

We began the month celebrating our anniversary. Five great years. I still can't believe it's already been 5 years. It went by so quickly. I always had it in my head that being married would be hard work, but when you're married to your perfect match it is actually quite easy. I really feel like I am the luckiest woman in the world. He makes me feel like a million bucks every day. He provides me with lots of laughs and truly lets me be me. He encourages me, supports me, and only wants the best for me. I love him more than I have time to write. I have to laugh because as I type this in bed, he's farting. Oh my lord. Ha. He says,"that should show me how much I love you, I feel comfortable enough to fart in front of you." Thanks, hon.

My Aunt Martha & Uncle George came out to our house one Saturday afternoon to babysit. Mike and I were giddy with excitement to be able to go to a movie and dinner. I cannot tell you how long it has been since we've seen a movie on the big screen. On Demand has become our best friend since it is a cheap alternative. We went to dinner at The Tavern, which was yummy and then we headed to see the latest Harry Potter flick. This was a compromise because I would have rather seen a chick flick and rented Harry Potter, but Mike loves this series - so out of love for him I agreed. And, I must say, it was good. I've liked them all, but this one was scary. And, it was aggravating that they say it is the last film, but it's really not because there's a part 2 that will come out some time next year. In any case, we enjoyed our evening out. We arrived home to a quiet house and then as soon as we layed our heads on our pillows Drew began screaming. I went into his room and he felt like he was burning up. He had a fever of 103. He had some crazy hallucinations and slept in our bed until almost 2am at which point, he looked at me and asked to go back to his own bed. He slept the rest of the night there. Once he had the tylenol in him, the fever disappeared and didn't come back. It was very strange. He had been on meds for a sinus infection, so honestly, I'm not sure why the fever appeared. It was weird.

The next weekend was my birthday. We had tickets to go see Second City's Miracle on 1280 Peachtree Street. It was very funny. I've never been to an improv show, but it was hysterical. They even incorporated a song about Mike into the show. And, it was fun to watch him squirm while they asked him questions. He's not the most extroverted person and his face got redder and redder everytime they inquired about something. It was funny. My aunt Katherine & Uncle Eddie watched the boys that Saturday so we could go to the show and a nice lunch out. We picked up the boys late that afternoon and then headed home for a quiet evening. Ollie began showing signs that he might be congested, but overall everyone was still feeling pretty good. Drew & Mike made me brownies for my birthday which was a nice treat. They were delicious and Drew is quite the helper in the kitchen.

By Monday, Ollie had definitely begun to get a full blown cold. I asked Mike to take him to the doctor that afternoon. He picked him up early from school to get him to the doctor. The pediatrician (not our normal one) diagnosed him with bronchiolitis. We had to begin giving him breathing treatments a couple of times a day. Then Tuesday I stayed home from work to take care of him and by noon he had a 103 temperature. I called the doctor back and she said that if the fever remained we would need to bring him back in on Wednesday. Wednesday rolled around and the fever persisted. Mike took the day off work and they went back to the doctor. This time we saw our favorite pediatrician....the one who goes well beyond the call of duty to make sure our children are taken care of. It was an awful day. Atlanta began to get ice on the ground right after work...therefore it took an hour to get anywhere. Ollie has been unbelieveably fussy and just miserable. So not like him. While at the doctor, she explained that Ollie had the flu. She prescribed a steroid, some additional breathing treatments, tamiflu, etc. In addition, Drew was prescribed some tamiflu so he doesn't get it. This has been real fun. Then Thursday I stayed home with Ollie and Mike went to work. I should also mention that my school district canceled school on Thursday due to the ice that we got the night before. Score for me! I didn't have to take a sick day! Friday, Mike stayed home and took him back to the doctor. Our doctor ended up giving us her personal cell phone number so that we could call her next week and update her. She's the best. It was kind of eye opening to Mike when she said that it was a miracle we didn't end up at the hospital with him. By Friday he looked a little better but he's not eating much at all.


All the while, he's still trying to be happy - but it just doesn't come off the same as the usual Ollie. Drew has been a trooper during all of this. He's worried about his brother and when I take him to school, he asks why Ollie isn't in his seat? I think he's ready for Ollie to feel better. We all are.


Other things that have been going on.... on top of the flu..... Ollie has about 6 top teeth coming in. Seriously, I originally counted 4, but then tonight Mike said it looked like 6. They are coming in so fast.

Drew is addicted to his new shoes. He asks for them as soon as he gets up in the morning and he wants to sleep in them at night.


I have also become quite aware of what a slacker parent I am.... this past week Drew has come home with gloves/mittens that do not belong to him. Come to find out, these gloves are borrowed from another classmate, but since it has been so cold outside during recess he's needed gloves and not had them. Finally on Wednesday night when I picked him up from school, he had on someone's gloves that he did not want to give back...and it occurred to me that we needed to go get him some mittens of his own. Keep in mind, we decide to do this on the night it is sleeting outside and beginning to ice in the parking lots. We ventured to the Target only to discover that they no longer have any kids gloves in stock. Off to kohls we went...and luckily, we found some brown gloves and matching hat that he liked. And, now, for several days he won't take them off. He says, "Brown Loves" He loves his brown gloves. He gets quite attached to his accessories.

The other really good news for Drew is that he's moving up to the next room at school. While I had a bit of sticker shock when they told me the new pricing come January, I am happy with where he is at with school. He loves school, loves his friends, and his teachers. He's learning a lot and I'm amazed every day at how much he takes in while he's there. Lately he has been showing me things that "match". If he sees things of the same color or shape, he'll tell me "match, match, match" until I acknowledge what he's saying. Yesterday as we were leaving school in the broad daylight, he (in the backseat of the car) points to the sky and says, "moon". He is so observant and focused. He knows his colors, shapes, animals, animal sounds, and can count to five. He truly takes everything in and remembers it. In the next room, he'll work more on the potty training. The teacher in there said, "Oh, Drew is already farther along than most in our current class. He's going to be potty trained in no time." Most 2 year olds don't have the focus and drive that Drew has. Drew is a naturally gifted child when it comes to his attention span. I think this will be a blessing in the coming years.

My last week of school was this past week. It was insanely busy and I had some cases at school that made me think how lucky I am to have the family I have, how open and accepting we are of each other. Not all families are as loving and compassionate as ours, and as the week ended right before christmas I was saddened about some of the families my students have to go home to. Many of them are not loved unconditionally and while I consider myself blessed there are times that I wish I could take them all in.

I

Bad Parenting....

There are moments when Mike and I look back at decisions we've made or things we've done and said to ourselves, "well, that was our fault." And, today, it all came together for us on one thing that's been going on with Drew. Because he doesn't vocalize his thoughts very much, it's hard to know what's going on in his head. Well, yesterday morning we went out to breakfast and as I was putting on Drew's shoes he keeps saying, "tight, tight" and so we rebuckled them making them looser and he was fine.

Then today, he refused to put on his shoes. He'd had it. It then dawned on me and Mike that he doesn't want to walk anywhere or go put on his shoes because they hurt. He loves to walk, but lately he has wanted to be carried everywhere. It all makes sense now. I mean at Thanksgiving, I basically had to carry him the entire hike because he did not want to walk. Then today he would not put on his shoes. So, this afternoon we ventured to the mall to get some new shoes for him. The whole way there he's saying he wanted "white" shoes. When we get to the shoe store, we had him measured and sure enough, he is a full size and half bigger than his current shoes. Mike and I felt awful. He hasn't even had these shoes that long.

I dread shoe shopping with Drew. It's such an emotional rollercoaster. Today was no exception. It's 5pm on a Sunday and the mall has not a single shoe that will fit him. We made the decision to leave the mall and go find something else. All the while, he is going from place to place with no shoes. He only has his socks on because everytime I tried to put his shoes on he would say, "owie". I love how all of this presents itself on a Sunday night and he has school on Monday. We don't even have a spare pair of shoes because he refuses to wear any other shoe. We were in a desperate attempt to find some shoes that fit.

We made our way up to the Kohls. There was also a famous footwear store in the same plaza. The problem was that now it was 6pm and Famous Footwear is closing. Kohls is our very last option. Literally, I'm thinking I'm going to have to stay home from work tomorrow because he doesn't have shoes that he will put on.

We go into Kohl's (barefoot) and we make it to the shoe section. Meltdowns ensue. He doesn't like any of the shoes. We're down to the very last pair in his size. And, thank God, he decided to try one of them on. Mike says, "let's put on the other one and then you can go run around the store." He goes for it....and sure enough, it works!!! He loves the shoes, won't take them off, runs around the store chasing his daddy. He's bouncing. I ask him, "are they tight?" He says, No. I ask him, if he likes them, he says "yes". I look at Mike and say, bring the box, we'll pay for them at the counter. Don't take them off his feet.

Even after we got home, he's bouncing up the stairs. We try to get him in the tub and he's resistant to taking them off. A successful evening after many meltdowns.

Lesson learned....we should have recognized that his shoes didn't fit when he didn't want to walk anywhere. I thought it was because he was jealous that Ollie was being carried everywhere...but no. This explains a lot!

6 months olds Part 2

Yes, Ollie is 6 months old. By the time I get this blog published, he'll be 7. Whatever, I'm slow these days. Friday, Mike took Ollie to see the doctor for his 6 month visit. She, of course, thinks he's perfect. There are not a lot of Oliver's in the world, so whenever she sees him it reminds her of her grandfather who was also an Ollie. She loves little Ollie and that is why she is such a great doctor.

In any case, his stats are, as usual, off the charts. He is well over the 95th percentile for weight. he is 6 months old and weighs 22 lbs and 12 ozs. Wow. I think Drew was over 10 months before he weighed that much. Even today Drew weighs about 27lbs.... which is crazy to me that Ollie is 2 years younger and is only 5 lbs shy of being the same. Hmmm. He is perfect though. It is so fun to watch him sitting in his diaper with nothing else on. He has the most beautiful skin. So soft. I love the rolls in his tummy and legs and arms.

His height is still at 75th percentile. He's 28 and 1/4 inches tall. He is very long, which means that there are few pieces of clothing that fit him well. His toes get so scrunched up into the pajamas that they look completely uncomfortable. His head is at 44.5 cm around. He's got a beautifully round head.



In any case, he is so happy and so fun to be around. I've noticed lately that he loves to do things to annoy Drew, like bang on his legs or arms if he's sitting next to him. Drew will get so aggravated and try moving away from him, but Ollie just keeps scooting closer and closer to him. Then there are moments where Drew will make him laugh and it is so funny.



I can't imagine what life was like before Ollie.... despite the horrible sleeping patterns, he has been a lot of fun.

Family Time

Thanksgiving morning Drew woke up with a lot of drainage in his eyes. Before going out of town I called the pediatrician's office and she told me that she didn't mind seeing him that morning. I swear, we have the best doctor in the whole world. It's thanksgiving morning and she's agreeing to meet me at the office for a quick checkup. She agreed that he had sinusitis so she gave us a prescription and some free samples of a decongestant. Then we hit the road.

We spent this year's thanksgiving at Hard Labor Creek State Park for the second year in a row. My family has a long standing tradition to get together for a few days during thanksgiving, typically at a state park. This year we roomed with my oldest brother's family, except my brother Dutch could not make it. He had to work. He was probably the most upset by this, but we missed him a lot and wished he could have been there. We hope next year will be different.


In any case, the boys had a great time playing with family. Ollie got passed around to those who could stand to hold him. He's so darn heavy, it's ridiculous. The other hard part right now is that he is beginning to experience some separation anxiety, so if he sees me or his daddy in the room, the crying ensues - which for whoever is holding him is not a lot of fun.

Right after we arrived on Thursday we spent some time hanging out with family then realized that the weather was going to be bad on Friday. Since that was the case, we figured we'd better get our hike in before the weather turned. Mike and I thought it was a great idea. And, the first part was fun. Drew truly enjoyed piling leaves upon Ollie. Ollie thought it was funny, too, which made it that much more fun. But once we stopped to take pictures in the leaves and feed Ollie, Drew didn't want to walk and he didn't want Ollie to ride in the backpack. I carried Drew about a mile back to the start of the trail while Mike carried Ollie in the backpack. We both were miserable. Me and Drew, I mean :) It was fine once we made it to the playground, but up until that point I was ready to strangle Drew.

On Friday morning, all the little girls decided to open a "beauty salon" to pamper all the guests. I received a great hand massage as well as a pedicure. They also did a great job combing my hair. When Drew saw me getting my nails painted, he too, wanted his nails done. He picked out his favorite color, "purp" a.k.a. purple and he thoroughly enjoyed having me paint his nails. He was very patient while they dried. It was a lot of fun.

Drew got into the spirit on Saturday morning and went out onto the porch of our cabin to begin yelling for Uncle Chris. Of course, Chris ate this up and enjoyed Drew's attention because this relationship has been a long time in the making.

Before leaving on Saturday, I was adamant that we would get a picture of Drew and Ollie with their cousins. It is still amazing that there are seven boys in all between my brothers and me. They are beautiful kids, all of them unique and talented in their own ways. It is fun spending time with them.

We arrived home Saturday afternoon and hung out around the house. Sunday we went and got our christmas tree. I'm love a christmas tree - none of this fake stuff...I want the real thing. I know they're messy and leave pine needles on the floor, but they are beautiful and smell so good. Drew loves turning on the lights each afternoon.

One night before bed I was talking to Drew about Santa and explaining how Santa brings toys to good girls and boys. He said excitedly, "Me?? Me??" It was adorable. Of course, Drew has been a good boy this year so I'm positive Drew will receive toys. Drew doesn't necessarily know what he wants for christmas, but he does know that he wants to be part of it. This is the start of some very fun years.