I know

You're all waiting with baited breath to hear the news. But I'm not sharing yet, although lots of people know the answer already.

I'll share soon though, just not ready yet.

On another note:

We visited Chicago over the long weekend and Che had a great time playing with his cousins. They own one of these:

But, those crafty people didn't put the big battery in it so it was just a really big radio, which still kept those three kids (age 4 and under) occupied for most of the evening. We had some great barbecue, smoked brisket, and smoked ribs. It was great, and Che really liked it too.

As always we left late, and Che fell asleep by the time we were on the toll road. It helped that it was dark and rainy, that he didn't have a nap that day, and that he was totally worn out. He slept until about 5 miles from home, when a loud thud to the car woke him. The thud.... a deer.

Luckily, Mike's superb driving skills really helped out as he braked and swerved, hitting the deer with only one side of the car. The headlight was a goner, and there were lots of dents and damage, but no one was hurt, and luckily the air bags deployed. I believe there was also talk about saliva being smeared down the side of the car. I called my mom, to tell her that we were almost home and Che grabbed the phone. This was the conversation:

Che: "Hi Nana."
Nana: "Hi Ché, how are you?"
Che: "I'm ok. We bumped into a deer."
Nana: "You did! Is everyone alright."
Che: "yea." at this point he got really sad... "but I think it was a reindeer."

He talked about that reindeer off and on for the next couple of days. We assured him that the deer's momma gave it a band-aid and kisses, and we're sure it's better. Of course in reality, that deer was hurting, since we only hit the back half, and I'm sure by now it's not living anymore.

It was an interesting incident by the way, but hopefully the talk of reindeer is on it's way out.

What a weekend!

We spent Friday and Saturday in Chicago. Ché was so excited to finally be on the road to Chicago, instead of just driving by it!

We arrived at Uncle Ted and Aunt Sharon's house around 4 o'clock our time. We promptly began helping out with the birthday party preparations. It was very difficult trying to explain to Ché why he couldn't eat the gummies we were putting in the bag, but hey, it was fine! We then went up to explore what Tracy was doing.... and found her in the midst of these:

Ché was amazed and kept asking to taste. We finished up frosting the little ones, and that last purple one was a bit hard. My hands had warmed up the frosting in the bags so much, that it didn't want to stick to the cake. The purple "hair" kept coming off in clumps, and I was convinced that the morning would find one bald monster, and a pile of purple hair on the table in the morning.

We then had some dinner with Uncle Ted, Aunt Sharon, Tracy and ourselves. The Beavers very kindly bought Aurelio's pizza and 2 were devoured in no time.

It was getting fairly late and so Ché went to bed. Aunt Sharon gave us a blow up Dora bed, and so we thought we'd try it, but honestly, it was a no go. Ché just thought it was a play thing, and we had to set up his portable crib. He only cried a few minutes and then was out. I'd forgotten how loud a sleeper he was, since the last time we've slept in the same room as Ché was in Missouri almost a year ago.



Saturday brought more party preparations, and a drive to Algonquin that I couldn't replicate if I my life depended on it. Ché and Nadja were like old friends and Romana was just fascinating to Ché. We know that he loves babies, but for some reason he was enamored. It could be because she's beautiful!

**You can visit our PicasaWeb Album to see more**

Weekend Recap

Mike really said most of what went on this weekend in his blog. He also elaborates on our Hooters trip.
Honestly. We took the 2 year old to Hooters. Now when he develops a fetish for orange hotpants, we can explain why. I don't know what possessed us to actually go there. The options are endless in our town, but I would like to think that it has something to do with the fact that we were hungry, on a time budget, and had a 2 year old with an empty belly with us.
I know we should have been better parents, we should have snacks, and definitive plans, but hey we all can't be perfect, right?

In hindsight, it wasn't horrible. We learned of Ché's great interest in bowling, and it was quiet. Who else is in a Hooter's on a Sunday afternoon? (Answer: Drunk guys and surprisingly other families)

Anyway, we then went home and Mike, so smartly, told Ché that we were going to go swimming. As anyone in the parenting world is aware, you don't tell 2 year olds plans that are not concrete, just in case it doesn't work out. First of all, when we turned the car onto our street it was met with much screaming! The pool does not open for family swim until 2:00. Not 1:55, not 1:57, 2:00. It was 1:30. We had to get suits, towels, toys, and accessories before heading to the pool. Seriously, you would have thought we pulled the kids leg off. He was screaming, yelling no, and pointing the opposite direction we were going. We finally were able to convince him that we can't swim naked, and needed to get things ready at home.
To be on the safe side, Mike checked the schedule for the pool. Now, you see, Notre Dame is on Spring Break which means that pool schedules are different. But this was what was posted:

Pool: Closed 10am to 6 pm Family Hours 2pm to 5 pm

So that's confusing. Mike called. The guy on the phone said the pool was closed due to some class, but would be open for family hours. yay! No disappointing a toddler. So we head over at 2:00. Campus is literally 5 minutes from our house, so it doesn't take long. We walk up the marble steps, across the lawn and into the building, 2 bags, 2 adults, 1 child. The lady at the counter says: "Are you here for the pool?" Mike of course says yes, and she then says "It's closed because of Spring Break."

At this point we are pretty dumbfounded. We were told it was open, we were all set, and Ché knew where we were. How do you explain that to a kid? So, we walk out. The crying and screaming starts again. Visibly and audibly upset by the act of us walking out of the pool building. (I hope the lady heard it and was saddened too)

So we make the decision to go to the other pool. The cold pool. The pool we usually go to has a therapy pool, that's 5 feet at it's deepest and feels like bath water. No one gets cold, there's no shivering, and we can stay about an hour, which is very good for tiring Ché out. The big pool, where the meets are held, and the diving competitions held is cold. It's meant for competitive swimming. Not the ideal place for a Sunday afternoon family swim.

But we promised swimming. So we go, and find there's no family locker room which means one of us has to go it alone. That means me. But Ché is inherently well behaved, so there were no problems. We shower, and head to the pool, where we join another Mom and her son, for a swim.

BUT IT'S COLD.

If Ché wasn't brown he'd pry have turned blue. But instead he shivered, and shivered, and shivered. We let him stay in 30 minutes. He didn't want to leave, but we couldn't let him keep swimming when he was so cold. So we left.
The nice part was, that after swimming he and I went in to rinse off, in the nice warm showers, and he put his head on my shoulder and took a little nap whilst letting the warm water cascade down his naked brown butt.

We had a good time, but can't wait for the regular pool to come back that's warm, and provides the nice family locker room to help in the readying of Ché for pool.

Another random thing that Ché has started doing is saying Chicago (Chi-ka-o) and Toledo (toe-lee-do) when we drive over the tollroad. Don't worry Beavers, we're teaching him that that's how we get to Nadja and Romana or Nadj and Ro as Ché calls them.

Hope your weekend was just as nice as ours!

Pictures

I was looking for something else when I ran across these pictures. I had to post them even though they were taken at Christmas time, and it is now almost March.


The 1st time Ché and Nadja ever met was Jan. of 2007. He was not walking so of course was of no interest to Nadja. I mean, how can you play with a kid that doesn't walk. (BTW, she had just turned 2 that previous Nov.) They had met since then, and became closer friends due to mobility. Apparently after a few meetings Nadja would ask when cousin Ché was going to play again. We live about 3 hours apart, so a day time trip just isn't the most doable with toddlers.
This Christmas I think both kids were excited to see each other again. These were taken at Ché's Aunt Sharon's house. Aunt Sharon is Nadja's grandma. Clearly Nadja and Ché just can't stand one another.

So this was the attempt at getting both kids to look at the same camera and smile. At least they're both looking...

After the attempted photo shoot this happened:

Ché is fascinated with babies, and Romana was not missed. He played with her, entertained her while she sat captive in the exersaucer, and generally just stared at her, when he wasn't chasing or being chased by Nadja.

Good Times. We can't wait to see them again soon!

Aye, Mateys!

The Guatemalan Pirate be afoot!

No, don't be alarmed rape, and plunder of passing ships hasn't been an issue, but what has it the ever popular "aye"

You see, Ché has taken to answering every affirmative answer with "aye" not yes. Try as we might to correct this slightly annoying, but hilariously funny quirk, nothing works. We continuously repeat "yes" every time we hear "aye," and Ché will then say "yesh," however his first instict is "aye."

We don't know who taught him this, however we do know who's encouraging it... ahem, ND Bio friends...

So, beware of the Guatemalan Pirate and the true possibilty that he may turn to plundering juice and cookies if you come too close! And if you don't comply, you are subject to Pirate Commandment #3: The plank is your law! Obey the plank! Never question the plank!

On the 5th Christmas Visit...

We have returned from our 5th Christmas.
We packed up the car and set out for the long journey to Roselle, Illinois.

As many of you are aware, a trip to Illinois to visit Mike's relatives never goes by with a trip to here:
Who can resist stylish Swedish design at an affordable price? We ended up buying quite a few things which include new dishes (rectangle... how cool is that?), a trash can for the car, and cool adjustable lamp, and some other small things, but the highlight of the IKEA shopping trip was:


Yes, it's a pillbug, and yes, it's mouth unzips to store all those cool toddler things.
On the better side though, we got to visit Ché's very cool cousin's, Nadja and Romana. As far as girls go they are the coolest.

The toddlers, Ché coming in at 2 years, and Nadja coming in at 3 years had their warming up period where both hid behind prospective parents legs, but 5 minutes later you thought they'd known each other their whole lives.
Some memorable quotes from the evening include:

1.)
Ché: gibber jabber garbaldygook
Nadja: What?

2.)
Nadja eating a piece of pizza, Ché comes up and stares at her while she is sitting so nicely at the table
Nadja: Mom why is this kid staring at me?
Said kid (Ché) walks away...
Nadja: Hey little man where are you going?

3.)
Two toddlers playing with one train (We all know this ends badly, right?) and they both want the engine, even though there are 6 cars, and Ché lightly hit Nadja because of frustration, and greediness...
Nadja: Hey (to anyone that would listen) Ché hit me in the face!

We only wish we lived closer!


Now, on to those pictures that I promised:


This is Ché helping to decorate our BEARS Tree. Everyone has a tree with orange and blue lights right?


Daddy and Ché playing in the snow. Who'd thought he'd love snow so much. Getting the boots on is a lot harder than I remember from being a child


Another snow picture:

Perhaps the most shocking to us this Christmas, is that we've been home as a family for a year.
We've come a long way together:

2006

2007

We can still wear the same sweater (It's a 12 month and fits better this year at 25 months of age than it did at 13 months), but boy can a lot change in a year. 2007 definitely has had it's ups and downs, but it really has been a great year for our little family.

I hope you all have a great New Year!