Never Say Never

A true miracle happened in Minneapolis today! Iris took a nap (a miracle in itself) at the SAME TIME as her sister giving this mother 1.5 hours to get things done!I have clean sheets, folded laundry, a reasonably organized house, and a little bit more sanity than i did pre-nap. Thank you sleeping beauties!

Christmas!

A 3 year old at Christmas has to be one of life's best gifts.

A Moment from Blizzard Day

For my friends in Texas, you probably heard of it on the news: Minneapolis had 18 inches of snow dumped on it in one day leaving this family (and all others) trapped in our house. Thankfully we had food, a new movie, and a gingerbread man to decorate to pass the long day of being isolated indoors!

"The Orange Sisters"

The title of this post was Iris's idea.

First Haircut!!

Iris finally had her first haircut at nearly three years old. Her hair was basically so dirty because she refuses to let me wash it on a regular basis that it prompted me to pay someone else to do it! Who knew Kids Hair Salon would be such a hit! "I love the beauty parlor" she said over and over. She is very proud of her new 'do and was able to show it off to about 20 people at an engagement dinner tonight for my brother (she loves a crowd!)

Can't think of a title...

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Just a couple shots from our recent family photo session with the fabulous Gwen!! If anyone reading this is looking for a photographer she is your gal! Its back to work for this mother so if anyone hears wailing coming from Minneapolis tomorrow morning, please send tissues and emotional support my way!

Berry Hill Farm

Apparently the theme for this fall is "orchards" because this is our third of the season. A group of neighborhood friends caravanned out to this farm on Sunday...what should have taken 40 minutes took almost two hours as this group of city people got quite lost on country roads! Thankfully all children were composed in the car ride. Well worth the drive...a corn maze, a hay ride, and good company.

A Classic Minnesota Autumn Day at an Orchard

A great day with our girls and friends at an orchard near Taylors Falls. Iris enjoyed a hay ride and rolled perhaps too much in the hay as she is now covered in hives.

Georgia at 7 weeks

At 7 weeks Georgie is a pretty mellow little person, a decent sleeper (provided she is in mommy's arms in mommy's bed), and spends a shameful amount of time in her carseat as Mom is quite busy with Child #1. We think she may someday write a book called "My life in a carseat, a memoir of a baby whose mother did not have time to hold her." Meanwhile Big Sister Iris is trying to adjust to life at preschool. Much separation anxiety/ tears/wailing (by mom, too)

Best Friends!

Baby Georgie met her new friend, Baby Siri! (my friend Cheryl's new baby girl)

First Day of School (as in "pre")

A hurricane named Iris hit Step by Step last week...our girl has started preschool! Let's just say Ms. Sophia tried very hard to reframe some of Iris's challenging behaviors in a positive way when I asked how Day One went. Day Two was much smoother reportedly. We hope for success this week when she returns tomorrow!

One of my favorite days ever

Tom and I agreed that Sunday was really pretty close to a perfect day. We enjoyed a spontaneous day with our friends, the Marinaro Family, (the very attractive Italian family featured in this post) exploring an apple orchard, a state park, and the cute town of Marine on St Croix. We were blessed with great weather, a well-behaved Iris, a baby that slept and ate at all the right times, and good company.

Of course perfection doesn't last. 12 hours after we returned home I came down with a nasty case of mastitis.

9/2 update:

The top picture is Iris at 4 weeks. The girls look so much alike!

A brief summary of the past almost 3 weeks...Baby Georgie came 2 weeks early. Tom sprained his ankle two days after we came home from the hospital. Iris stopped sleeping thru the night ( an accomplishment she just achieved at age 2 by the way) and is often up more than the newborn! Ongoing basement remodeling including two days without running water makes Chelsey crabby and feeling much like pioneer housewife having to fetch water from neighbors. Iris fractured one tooth and chipped a second one creating an awkward smile and the likelihood she may lose a tooth. When told this she informed me the Tooth Fairy would bring her a gift and also that the tooth fairy is Mommy. Tired Mommy.

Introducing Baby Georgia

Baby Georgia Frances is here! She arrived a glorious two weeks early on August 14th in the evening after just 7 hours of labor BUT with an unmedicated delivery as we got to the hospital too late for me to have any pain meds! I won't go into the gory details about that here! We are adjusting to life with a newborn again, my biggest fear being how to survive the sleep deprivation. Georgia is a clone in appearance to her big sister in my opinion. We are excited to have her here and to have two little girls!

Sleeping Beauties...

Tom and Iris fell asleep while reading a book at 7:30! Glorious ME TIME tonight!

OK, and for those who are perturbed I am behind on the letter game -my apologies! Here is possibly my last effort to keep the guessing going:

We have 3 letters left as I have only 3 weeks left until there are TWO OF THEM.

Here we go: F G Q

and I should mention, although this may disappoint some...we did have a WINNER at the name game about two weeks ago. Congratulations again to Gma DeDe who after hours of careful study and research, correctly identified the name-to-be!!! I am still not revealing the name until the birth however and she has been sworn to secrecy so don't call her!

Iris and Friends

Here's a tip: don't go to Lewis Park in St Paul. False advertising indeed. While it may be St Paul's only free splash area, what the city fails to mention on their website is that sadly, it is filthy. Unfortunately it is a prime example of what makes some want to flee to the suburbs! These 3 girls had a great time despite their mothers' complete horror...

Day with Mom

Today I jumped at the rare chance for a day off and had a day with Iris, one of our last as just us! We went to the MN Zoo with friends. I thought of course Iris would nap afterward as there was a lot of walking, especially for her since I forgot the stroller...but no. While other mothers of toddlers pushed their strollers to the exit toting sleeping children, this mother had to carry her child to the car so we could actually get to the car because Iris was not interested in leaving the zoo. And instead of falling asleep the second the car began moving like Anna did, Iris talked the entire way home. I think naps are done at our house. :( She's still talking actually while she is supposed to be taking a pretend nap on the couch...

5 letters left: E F G N Q.

UNAVAILABLE!

Sorry Single Ladies: The Twin Cities' Most Eligible Bachelor is now OFF THE MARKET!! Uncle Jeff has been snatched up by a lovely person named Debbie. We were able to meet her tonight and we all say "WE APPROVE!" We are very happy Jeff is happy.

OK: and not to take away from the above HUGE NEWS but I must update the Letter Game. Here are the remaining letters:

D E F G J N Q

7 weeks to go!

Little Gymnast!

We are having so much fun taking a tumbling class at Little Gym. I am starting to slow down now so it is difficult to keep up with a running, bouncing, swinging toddler (parents are expected to participate!) but its been a great Saturday morning activity. Iris is usually the first to volunteer to "demonstrate" new activities and the last one to leave the gym.

Family Trip to Duluth

This family of 3 (soon to be 4 - ahhhh!!!) headed to Duluth for a MUCH needed long weekend. We enjoyed rare moments of relaxation and togetherness without the burdens of dogs, cooking, work, etc. Aside from the arctic weather we had a blast swimming (indoors of course!), eating really good food with no clean up, laughing at Iris (in the same hour she both told a crowd of strangers eating their lunch she had a poopy diaper when they asked her name and then told a woman using the restroom her daddy had diarrhea.) I do have a few comment cards for the Edgewater Resort but if you can overlook the fact that a highway is between your "lakeview balcony" and the lake, and if you generally enjoy a bed that slopes to the middle, an itchy/dirty feeling after a shower, and unsupervised children who desperately need their noses wiped you will have a blast. (Despite my comments we did in fact, have a blast) Next year, however, we may hit the Dells...

Oh! and for those CLOSELY following the Name Game, I owe you two letters: let's take out K and P.

Gone so far: A B C H I K L M O P R S T V X and Z.