Snow Day & Fun Playing in the Snow

Samantha: 67 Months, Week 4
Aedan: 32 Months, Week 3

Our days and weeks have been going by much faster now that I am working full time, so I am trying my best to stay caught up with my blog. I got behind over Christmas break and haven't seemed to find the time to work on it. Then, by the time I'm home and the kids are in bed, I am just too tired mentally and physically to do anymore, but I am trying my best to keep up.

Tuesday, January 10th was my second day of teaching, Aedan's second day at Miss Lisa's, and Samantha's second day in Mr. McBride's class. After a very emotional first day, the second day was not much better. At lunch I checked up on Samantha, and she just looked really sad. She just sat there with her hands on her chin most of lunch, didn't know who to sit by in her new class, and without any leading questions, said she really misses her friends and started crying. They don't always go out to recess at the same time Ms. Cornwell's class does, so she doesn't have as many opportunities to see her old friends as we thought she would. With already leaving her friends in Oxford and feeling really sad and lonely all summer after moving to Sault Ste. Marie, I felt bad making her change classes and not know anyone and feel left out and alone again. Seeing Samantha so sad, made me almost start to cry. It was hard to hold back the tears, and I wondered if all this was just a big mistake. I talked to Ben about it, and we decided that I would try to meet with Ms. Cornwell, Mrs. Corbiere, and Mr. McBride after school that day to touch base with everyone about Samantha's transition and go from there. However, the rest of the day I was just second guessing everything, again ready to just throw in the towel because I felt like it was just making everything more complicated than it needed to be.

I was able to meet with teachers quickly after school, and I expressed my concerns with how Samantha was doing in her transition. Mr. McBride and Mrs. Corbiere were surprised that she cried about it because to them it looked like she was doing just fine with the transition. She was fitting in well, learning the routines, and she's a well-behaved, smart kid, so there's definitely no problem there. In order to address the problem with her feeling sad about missing her friends, they suggested letting Samantha sit with her other friends in Ms. Cornwell's class at lunchtime, if she wants to. Also, when her class goes out for recess at the end of the day, Samantha could choose to go outside with us rather than stay in for the Snack and Share they do in her class at the end of the day. I thought those ideas sounded good, and so did Samantha, so we decided to try that for the rest of week and see how Samantha was feeling on Friday. It was all still new to her, and she adapts slowly to change sometimes, so I knew she would just need some time to adjust as well.

It was good for us all to get home and spend some time together that evening. Aedan did not take a nap at Miss Lisa's again, but most of the time he holds it together pretty well, even if he's tired. He's much better at acting right without napping than Samantha was at his age. The best part of this new semester is that Ben is now home in the evenings. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he picks Aedan up and then Samantha and me up at 4:15, and then we get home and can spend the rest of the evening hanging out and playing together. On Mondays and Wednesdays, Ben still picks all of us up, since we only have one car, and then he drops us off at home before going back to campus to teach his class from 4:30-5:50. So that means he gets home just before 6:00, which is much better than the 6-8 class he had last semester.

It snowed quite a bit overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, so much so that when my alarm went off on Wednesday morning, I saw that I had a message from Bahweting saying that school was cancelled due to weather. I was very excited to turn my alarm off and go back to sleep. Samantha eventually came downstairs to check on us, since she doesn't know if school is cancelled or not. We told her that school was cancelled, and she climbed into bed with us to cuddle, talk, and tell us all about her dreams. It was a wonderful way to start the day.

Being a working mom now, I had forgotten the joy of a snow day. It was absolutely wonderful and refreshing to have a spontaneous day off in the middle of the week. I was so excited to spend the day with the kids. Ben still went to campus, but the kids and I had a lot of fun together. We had a leisurely breakfast and a relaxing morning playing and sitting around in our pajamas. The kids helped me take off all the ornaments and put them away in the boxes. I had cleaned up all the other Christmas decorations on Tuesday night, but I figured the kids would be sad if they woke up in the morning and the tree was suddenly gone. They did a really good job helping me with the ornaments, and I was glad to have the help. Both kids requested that we play with play-doh together, so we did that for awhile, too.

After awhile of playing in the house, I decided to have all of us go out and play in the snow together. Samantha plays in the snow every day at school, and now Aedan is going out most days at Miss Lisa's house, so I knew we would have fun together. The problem in our backyard is that the snow is not packed down much, so Aedan just kept sinking into the snow and then his boot would get stuck and he couldn't pull it back out again. Or, his foot would come out and leave the boot behind. So I ended up making paths through the snow in front of him, so he could walk through the snow easier. It was fun to play in the deep snow that had a thin layer of hard snow/ice on the top. The kids played in the "woods" and in the play house. As it was getting closer to lunchtime, Aedan was getting hungry and tired, so he went back inside with me while I made lunch. Samantha decided to stay outside and play a little longer. Here's what our backyard looked like that afternoon. It's funny because it's so much more snow than we've ever had where we've lived before, but we've been surrounded by it for so long at this point that I am kind of used to seeing piles of snow everywhere.

After a busy, fun morning and time to play outside, Aedan was tired and ready for a nap. I got him to go right to sleep, which I was really glad for since he hadn't taken a nap for the three previous days. I told Ben that apparently I have the magic touch in getting him to go to sleep.

Once Ben got home from campus, we had homemade pizza for dinner and then just hung out and played with the kids. It's so nice to have our evenings back again. In fact, I have a story to share about putting Aedan to sleep. I can't remember which night it was, but whenever I put him to bed, I will hold him and rock him after reading him books and singing to him. Often, he will just start talking to me about whatever is on his mind. On this particular night, Aedan said, "No want Mommy to die. No want Daddy to die." I told him that he doesn't have to worry about that, that we should be alive for a long time. He was quiet for a little while, and then said, "But Jesus died." I told him that yes he did die so that he could save us from our sins. Then Aedan asked who killed Jesus. I told him that bad men that didn't believe in Jesus killed him. Aedan said, "No like bad men." We also talked about how Jesus wasn't dead anymore but that he was alive and in heaven, and that sometime he will come back and take everyone up to heaven to live with Him forever. I thought it was an amazing conversation to have with a 2 1/2 year old. I love that he is already asking questions and beginning to grasp the story of Jesus dying for him. I am glad to talk to Aedan and answer his questions any time he has them. These precious moments one-on-one are so precious to me.

On Thursday it was back to our normal routine of work, school, and Miss Lisa's house. Ben always picks up Aedan before coming to pick Samantha and me up from school, and everyone is so happy to be reunited again. Here are the kids holding hands in the back seat of the car on the way home from school. They are so cute together. Samantha is such a good big sister and takes such good care of her little brother.

Friday was a bit of a hard day for me because Ben stayed home with Aedan while I went to work. They went grocery shopping together before going to Jump U.P. to let Aedan run around and play for awhile. However, Ben said that Aedan was very whiny and tired that day, just not wanting to do anything and constantly hungry and asking for food. I wondered if it could have been the not napping most of the week catching up with him. Plus, he's waking up incredibly early, sometimes around 6:00-6:15 and then not going back to sleep. Aedan loves playing at Jump U.P. for tot time. It's a fun activity to do with him on Fridays, and Ben really likes this time with his little man.

When I saw Samantha at lunch time on Friday, she had exciting news for me. Mr. McBride tested her reading level, and Ms. Cornwell only had her at a level C, so he started her at a level D, and she was 100% proficient at reading at that level with inflection and fluency as well. He moved her up to a level E for her to practice reading. In kindergarten, they expect the students to be working on reading at a level D by the very end of kindergarten. E is first grade level. Plus, he emphasized how she doesn't just know the words, she can read with expression, too. She was very proud and excited to tell me, and Mr. McBride even came up and pointed it out to me. I think they are impressed with our daughter. Samantha told him all about how she practices at home and had to learn sight words in preschool. She told me she wants to practice reading harder books at home. I'm so proud of Samantha, of who she is as a person, and of how much she has grown and learned in kindergarten this year.

That afternoon at school they had a dance party to celebrate the low number of referrals the school had as a whole. It was fun to watch all the kids dance to the music, and Samantha was really cute how she flitted from one group to the next, spending time with different friends, holding friends' hands and spinning in a circle, and just having a wonderful time dancing with both old friends and new friends. It was too dark to get many good videos, but she asked me to take a picture of her at the dance party. What a cute little wonderful girl I have! It's really fun to see more of her during the day while she's at school.

By the time Friday night came, I was very tired. In fact, I fell asleep on the couch by 9:00 on Friday night which is reminiscent of back in my old teaching days where that was a common occurrence. It was weird being back to work and having everyone out of the house all day, but I just tried to remember that my working will help give us money for things we may want to buy in the future, like a mini-van at some point. By the end of the week I was definitely feeling how working was making our life a little more hectic. I definitely don't have as much time to get things done, like laundry and picking things up around the house. On Friday night before we started playing together after dinner, we all worked together to clean up toys around the house that had been laying there since the previous week. We work as a team more now, and of course, Ben has been wonderful in this whole transition. He has been helping out more at home, helping do laundry and make some meals, along with running random errands around town. He is definitely going above and beyond to make sure I don't feel too stressed out by having to work and still do the majority of the work around the house. I am so grateful to have such a kind, loving, considerate husband.

Saturday was another fun family day. I love our weekends together. We had a relaxing morning playing together at home before heading to ice skating lessons. Aedan kept trying to skate over to where Samantha's class was skating. He wanted to be a part of what the big kids were doing.

Even though Samantha wasn't very happy with me, I had her take a nap on Saturday afternoon, even though she had taken one on Friday because she was so tired and cranky. We had plans to go to a Laker hockey game that night so we knew we would be out late that night. Both kids ended up taking really good naps, and after dinner we headed out to the hockey game. We had a fun time at the game, watching it for the first period, getting snacks for everyone during the break between periods, and then enjoying our snacks for the second period. Once Aedan was done with his snack, he didn't feel much like sitting for the rest of the game, so he requested to just be taken back home and put to bed.

Samantha wanted to stay at the game with Ben, which works out fine for her. She can handle herself better staying up late at night. In fact, Samantha even saw a girl from kindergarten that she was able to hang out with and play with during the end of the game. Here's a cute picture of the two of them that night at the game.

On Sunday after church, once I got Aedan down for a nap, Ben decided to take Samantha on a Daddy-Daughter date. We used to do this a lot more when we lived in Oxford, but there just aren't as many places to go around Sault Ste. Marie. However, we had been wanting to try out the local tubing hill because it looks fun and is really popular with people that are from this area. We figured it would be best for Samantha and Ben to try it out first and see if it would even be anything that Aedan would be able to do or enjoy doing at all. Aedan is a little more cautious and afraid, even when we went down the small hill together near Project Playground. Plus, he needed to nap more than anything. I was excited to hear how the afternoon went when they got back home from their date. Ben said that Samantha was a little hesitant at first, but then she loved it. The only part that she didn't like was when too much snow blew in her face. They went down together at the beginning, with Ben holding on to her tube, but after a little while she wanted to go down by herself. Watching the videos were so fun. The first video was the smaller hill where Samantha went down on her own, and the second one was the bigger hill where they were going down together. It was amazing how fast they went! I love the expressions on her face! Even though we now live where is snows much more than we would prefer, at least we get to participate in fun things like this in the wintertime when other places we've lived don't even have snow.

After going tubing together, they went to a local coffee shop to get coffee for Ben and hot chocolate for Samantha. They had a fun date together, and she came back excited and rejuvenated. It was nice for them to get out together while I stayed home with Aedan while he napped.

The rest of our afternoon and evening we spent relaxing and spending time together before Monday and a new week came again. Ben had plans to leave right after his class and eating a quick dinner with us on Monday night to drive down to Warsaw to support Jeni and Alaina with what was going on in their life that week. Which also meant that I would be on my own with the kids from Monday night through late Wednesday night. Normally that's not as big of a deal, but with me being back to work and having to be there at 7:45 while also dropping Aedan off before going to work, would make our mornings and days a lot more hectic.

Going into the week, I was kind of dreading Ben being gone, even though I was glad that he could be there for his family, even if it meant that he would have a long drive to do. These are the times when it is really hard to be far away from family. We wish we could be closer so we could support each other during difficult times.

The best thing that happened on Monday was that Aedan finally took a nap at Miss Lisa's house. He fell asleep around 2:30 and slept for over an hour, so not as long as he usually would at home, but I would take any nap over no nap at all. It gave me hope that maybe Aedan just had to get used to being at her house and would fall into the nap routine with the other kids. It made me feel much better about my decision to go back to work. In fact, when I went to pick Aedan up from Miss Lisa's that afternoon, I decided to take the kids to McDonald's for a really quick ice cream to celebrate Aedan finally napping. He was definitely thrilled with the idea of ice cream as a reward. :)

(Blog about January 10-16, 2017)

Changes in Our Daily Life with the Start of School

Samantha: 67 Months, Week 3
Aedan: 32 Months, Week 2

Tuesday, January 3rd was Samantha's first day back to school after almost two weeks off for Christmas break. She was ready and excited to get back to her teacher, her friends, and her routine. In fact, the couple days right before school started, she just wanted to play school with Aedan, so you could tell she was looking forward to being back..

Ben posted this picture below on Facebook with the comment, "One of these children is incredibly excited to head back to school. Her dad is okay with it too. One person (pictured) will miss his sister terribly today." It was just too cute of a picture. We had a nice, long, fun, relaxing, family filled Christmas break, and it was hard to get back into the swing of school starting again.

Since I was still in Aurora staying with Christy and helping her, I had to live vicariously through Ben to keep up to date on what was happening with the kids. Here's another comment he made: "Nothing is quite as cute as hearing your kindergartner read a Mo Willems book to your two and a half year old with the same silly inflections you use. It's much cuter on Samantha than it is on me."

Here's Aedan wearing his new Larry Boy t-shirt he got for Christmas from Aunt Jeni. As soon as it's clean, he wants to wear it again.

Ben had a few errands to run after getting Samantha to school on Tuesday morning, but first they decided to go to McDonald's to meet some other moms that were meeting up for some coffee and play time for their kids. Ben decided to go to give Aedan someone else to play with for awhile. Aedan kept complaining about being hungry at McDonald's, even though he already ate breakfast at home, so Ben bought him a bacon, egg, and cheese McGriddle which he finished off quickly before going back to playing.

After playing for awhile, it was time for Aedan to get his hair cut. It probably should have been cut before Christmas, but we didn't, and it got really long while we were out of town. Ben had never taken Aedan to get his hair cut before, so he thought he was so cute sitting in the chair all by himself like a big boy. He does a really good job, sits pretty still, and only feels a little tickled when they use the razor. 

After the hair cut, Ben had to stop at the animal shelter to get Roscoe registered. We have never had our dog registered in any place that we lived, but they require it here in order to be licensed foster parents. It was only $10, but it was more just the hassle of getting the vaccination records and going into the shelter. Apparently the lady that worked there gave Ben a really hard time about not having the proper documentation. Ben then tried to take that paperwork into the DHHS office because it was the last thing Lauri needed to get our paperwork finished, but he arrived when they had already closed for lunch. He had a busy, somewhat frustrating morning running around town, so I contacted Lauri to see if she could just stop by and get the paperwork from us, rather than making Ben go back out with the kids again.

The other interesting development on Tuesday was an email I received from Bahweting, offering me the position for the kindergarten paraprofessional. Since I wasn't willing to commit beyond the end of this school year, they wanted to hire me as a substitute paraprofessional rather than a permanent paraprofessional. The school and all employees have to go through several steps to become a staff member, like everything a typical public school requires, as well as BIE/Department of the Interior systems clearance, and more. They didn't really think it would be fair or make sense to put everyone through that when I am not certain of my future intentions. That made sense to me as well, especially since I am only considering this position as a short-term way to get in the classroom and help, as well as make money for my family, but knowing that I am not ready to go back to work full time yet. The only issue with hiring me like that could be the pay they would give me because if I was only making the paraprofessional substitute rate, then it wouldn't make it worthwhile for me to work there and pay for childcare for Aedan. The other wrench in the plan was that they would not allow me to be placed in Samantha's classroom because it is a school policy that they have followed for years, and it would cause inequity among staff who were not granted this same request, which I totally understood. So then in addition to figuring out how much they would pay me, I would need to figure out where they would place me. If I was placed in Mr. McBride's class, then his para would be moved to Ms. Cornwell's class, which I knew neither of them would like. If I was placed in Ms. Cornwell's class, then Samantha would have to be moved to Mr. McBride's class, which we just weren't sure about. We didn't want to make Samantha have to move in order to accommodate the preferences of adults. Samantha talks about how much she likes Mr. McBride, but I know she would miss her friends and Ms. Cornwell, too. There was a lot to think about and consider. I tried calling the school back that morning, but just left a message with the HR lady, so then it was just waiting for her to call me back.

The other issue we had to figure out quickly is what we would do for childcare for Aedan. We talked to Miss Lisa and visited with her before Christmas, so that option was still open, but it made it a little more complicated having to drive out to her house, meaning Aedan would have to be dropped off earlier in the morning since we only have one car. There was also a preschool on campus that I had heard good things about that we wanted to check out. Ben called and talked to them, and he had plans to go visit the preschool on Tuesday afternoon. The campus preschool would be more expensive, but it would be more convenient since it was right on campus and Ben could just drop him off on his way to his office in the morning.

Aedan has been fighting his naps a lot more lately, and that was definitely the case when Ben was alone with the kids. He fell asleep in his arms again on Tuesday afternoon, but then he just woke right back up again after laying him down. Ben said that he went back in and told him to go to sleep. He was quiet but still awake and ended up not ever napping. Ben even had a recording of him talking about Woody and Buzz. Also, one time when Ben walked in, Aedan said, "Daddy losing his patience..." in a really cute way, copying what he has heard Daddy say. :) I felt bad leaving Ben for so long to take care of the kids on his own. He was doing fine, but it's certainly a lot more work and a lot less enjoyable than when both of us are there taking care of things together.

Ben got a jar of cookie mix from his colleague at work, so on Tuesday evening, once Samantha got home from school, they made cookies together. Both kids enjoyed helping Daddy mix them together and then watched them baking in the oven.

While Ben was hanging out with the kids, I was hanging out with Brielle and Oliver in Aurora. I took a picture of Brielle with her Frozen sled that the kids picked out for her for Christmas. Brielle loved this toy and played with it every day while I was there. It seemed like it was definitely her favorite toy from this Christmas. She really likes to play with play-doh. This was in the evening just before bed. I love her crazy curls, and it was fun spending more time with her and getting to know my niece better.

And, of course, I got a lot of baby cuddles in with little mister Oliver. It was great to be with him during his first week of life and to be able to help Christy and Matthew adjust to life with two children: a newborn and a busy toddler.

On Wednesday morning, Ben sent me a message saying that both kids talked about missing mommy. Ben said, "We all do..." There was a winter storm going through the U.P on Wednesday into Thursday, which made me really nervous about my flight out on Wednesday evening. I hoped it wouldn't get cancelled or delayed, and I hoped that Ben would be able to pick me up safely from the airport that evening. It was bitter cold in the Chicago area, just like it was in the U.P., but there was no snow to deal with in Chicago. Here is a video Ben sent me of the weather outside our house that morning.

I hadn't heard back from the HR lady on Wednesday, so I called them back and left another message. I knew they wanted to hire someone as soon as possible, so I did my best to get in touch with them.

Ben told me that Aedan was super whiny on Wednesday, hungry and whiny. He ate half a bagel and a banana for breakfast, a cheese stick, and then three helpings of mac and cheese for lunch. We have been wondering if he is growing lately because he has been eating more than usual and is always talking about being hungry or wondering what we're going to have for our next meal.

After getting a call back from Bahweting about the job and how much they'd be able to pay me, Ben crunched some numbers and we decided that putting Aedan with Miss Lisa would be the best decision financially, especially considering he will only need care for 3 1/2 months, until Ben is done teaching for the semester. Aedan was comfortable at Miss Lisa's house, and it is a more intimate, home environment, rather than a preschool with more kids. We felt like Aedan would get more one-on-one attention with Miss Lisa, and she was more accommodating to us as far as being comfortable using cloth diapers, helping him get adjusted to nap time there, and also would feed him breakfast, lunch, and snack, meaning we wouldn't have to send any food with him. I was a little unsure about making the decision to go back to work just because it would be such a huge change in our weekly routine, but having an extra $6500 in our bank account for working just for the rest of the year would be really nice to help us save money again for future expenses.

Because of the weather on Wednesday, Bahweting sent the kids home early. Samantha got out at 12:30 so that all the buses could get the kids home safely. Aedan was a stinker again that afternoon for Ben, falling asleep as he rocked him in his arms and then waking up as soon as he stood up. However, Ben went back in his room awhile later and "quasi-yelled" at him, and after that he thought he may have gone to sleep. All of this drama with getting Aedan to sleep made me a little nervous about how he would do with nap time at Miss Lisa's house. He would be one of five other kids, and possibly share a room with another child, and I wondered how in the world he would ever nap there. He would be sleeping in a toddler bed, which he has never done before, and Miss Lisa would not be able to do all the individual things we do with Aedan in order to get him to sleep. Aedan is used to sleeping in a quiet, dark room by himself. However, with how much he's been fighting naps at home, it's not like he's been sleeping at home either, so in some ways I felt relieved in thinking about not fighting that battle with him every day. We were spoiled with Aedan being such a good napper and sleeper for so long, and now it's hard that his personality is changing some in that regard.

Apparently Aedan only napped for fifteen minutes that Wednesday for Ben, and then was crying really hard because he was pooping. Ben tried to get him to the potty, but it was already too late, so then Ben just let the kids start playing together instead of putting Aedan back to bed again.

In Aurora that morning, I got myself packed up, got showered and ready, and then we all took a trip to the library to get Brielle out of the house for a little while. We didn't get there until around noon, so we didn't spend too long there before heading back to the house for lunch and nap time for Brielle. Matthew's brother and his family came over to visit and see Oliver, so they were busying talking when mom and dad showed up to take me to the airport. It was forty-five minutes to get to the airport, but we left in plenty of time for me to get through security and find my gate. I didn't have to check any bag, which also made the whole process easier. I was glad to be heading back home. I missed Ben and the kids, and I had been gone for two weeks total, so I was ready to be back in my own house and bed as well.

Once at the gate, I was able to FaceTime with Ben and the kids and show them that I was sitting in the airport. You could tell that they had all had enough. Ben was tired of "adulting" and the kids were both tired, cranky, and freaking out for no reason. In fact, that night for dinner Aedan refused to eat for Ben. He told Aedan he could go lay down in the hallway or sit at the table, and he chose to go lay down in the hallway. He just kept saying "no want to" over and over again. Ben said he wasn't being mean, and that he told him several times that his food was right there waiting for him, but he didn't want to get up and sit down for dinner. After dinner was over and Ben was cleaning up the dishes, Aedan decided he was hungry again at 6:45 and then ate two helpings of chicken, salad, pears, and green beans. So apparently he was hungry, but he was just in a bad mood when it was time to eat. I wondered if maybe the not napping was catching up to him and just making him too tired to think about his behavior.

My flight from Chicago to Detroit was fine. I ate dinner on the plane and sat next to a man that decided he could invade my personal space. He had his knees spread way out and kept bumping into me with his right elbow. It was not an enjoyable ride. Plane seats are not big enough as they are, and then to have someone taking up some of your space, that makes it even worse. I was glad to get off that plane. Ben told me that the early afternoon flight from Detroit to Sault Ste. Marie was cancelled, so he hoped that my flight would take off that night. It would stink to be stranded in Detroit for the night, when all I wanted to do was get back home. Once I got on the plane to Sault Ste. Marie, the pilot announced about how they would try to land but would have to see if they could see the runway to land safely. If they couldn't land safely, we would either go back to Green Bay or back to Detroit. They took more fuel on board in case they couldn't land and had to turn around. If we went back to Detroit, we would stay the night and try flying out again tomorrow. If we went to Green Bay, we would basically sit on the plane until the snow cleared enough for us to try flying back and landing again. We sat for awhile as they got volunteers to get off the plane to balance the weight of the extra fuel, and then we had to stop to get de-iced before taking off. When we got near Sault Ste. Marie and began to descend, everyone was hopeful. In fact, when the wheels touched down, everyone cheered and clapped. Everyone was relieved to reach their destination, some after waiting at the Detroit airport since earlier that afternoon. Ben met me at the airport, while our neighbor across the street sat in our house while the kids slept. It was so good to see Ben again, and I almost forgot what our house looked like and smelled like before I walked in. There's no place like home with my family.

Early Thursday morning, before our alarms were set to go off, we got a call from Bahweting saying that school was cancelled due to the snow. Ben and I were both very excited, turning off our alarms and going back to sleep. When the kids woke up that morning, I turned off their monitors and went upstairs to get them up and be with them so that Ben could sleep in. It has been a long few days for him, and he deserved to get some extra rest. I was so excited to see them, and they were excited to see me. We had fun playing together, and then I made waffles. It was perfect having a snow day so that I could have an extra day to be with my little kids. Ben ended up hanging out at home for the day as well. He offered to go grocery shopping for us in the morning, so that I didn't have to drag both kids out to do it. We did end up taking the kids to McDonald's for lunch and time to play. It's the only indoor place to play around here, and the kids enjoy it. Plus, it gave Ben and me a chance to talk and catch up with each other.

Once we got back home, I put Aedan down for his nap, and even though Ben didn't have much success getting Aedan to sleep, he fell asleep in my arms and I was able to lay him down and he stayed asleep. I switched his bed to be more like a big boy bed by taking off the thick bumper pads and even putting his new sheet and blanket on his bed that he got from Chicago Grandpa and Grandma for Christmas, rather than putting him in a wrap. He opened his eyes slightly when I laid him down and started to say, "Mommy...Mommy" so I left my hand on his back and he closed his eyes and fell right back asleep after that. I also got a Woody and Buzz sticker chart out and told him that every day he takes a nap, he will get a sticker. I figured I might as well try these things and see if I could get him to start napping again.  He ended up taking a normal nap, and it might have just been a fluke, but I was glad he at least took a nap that day. Here are some cute pictures of my little guy sleeping that afternoon.

Here are Samantha and Aedan (and Roscoe) sitting on the couch watching a show after nap time that day. I love how they sit close and snuggle up with each other.

The rest of the day went well just hanging out at home, having leftovers since neither of us felt like cooking, and then trying to get ourselves to bed earlier in preparation for next week when I go back to work and we all have to be out the door by 7:30. In order to be able to get up earlier in the morning, I need to make sure I'm going to bed earlier at night so that I get enough rest.

On Friday Samantha went back to school and Ben went to work on campus in preparation for the semester starting on Monday. Aedan and I had a few errands to run after dropping Samantha off at school, like dropping some checks off at the bank and stopping by Miss Lisa's to turn in our paperwork for Aedan starting on Monday. When we were at Miss Lisa's, I enjoyed just watching Aedan play and interact with the other kids. He made himself right at home. I was able to see where Aedan would be sleeping, and for some reason I got all emotional when thinking about leaving Aedan there next week. It's not that I didn't want to work. I just felt like it was so sudden, and with big decisions like this, I always feel unsure. I think I was just nervous about how crazy and busy it would make me feel working full time and still taking care of the kids and the house. I didn't want to make Ben feel more stressed out and like he didn't have enough time to get work done because I was working full time. Plus, I was nervous about Aedan being watched by someone and possibly not napping anymore, and just not being with one of us, even though I knew he would be fine. Then, there was also a selfish part of me that realized I wouldn't have any time to myself, no quiet afternoons to get things done, no down time with just Aedan, and no time to do MOPS or meet people, evn though I know all of this is just for the semester. But than all of those thoughts conflicted with how I liked the idea of making money for the family and making paying our bills and saving up for the future easier. Plus, if I don't take the job, Samantha's class wouldn't have any consistent help, meaning her education would suffer. So, I had lots of conflicting thoughts floating around in my head.

After our time at Miss Lisa's, I took Aedan to Jump U.P. since I normally have subbed on Fridays and don't usually have a chance to take him there. I bought him some popcorn for a quick snack, and then he had fun jumping around on the inflatables. I even went on the obstacle course with him a few times and jumped with him. We had a lot of fun together that morning, and I was glad to have this time with him before I went back to work on Monday.

I got Aedan to take a good nap again on Friday, giving me some time to myself on Friday afternoon as well, which was nice for me. Then, we actually got invited to the Sayer's house for taco night with some other families from church. Samantha and Aedan were excited to play with some other kids, and Ben and I were excited for some adult conversation and a chance to not have to make dinner at home. After that, we got back home in time for me to get the kids to bed and Ben went to the hockey game on her own. I was glad for Ben to have a chance to get out of the house and watch a game in peace.

It was so good to be back home and start getting back into our normal weekly routine. Ben let me sleep in on Saturday, and then we relaxed and played together before heading to ice skating lessons. We had a couple errands to run, so I helped Ben get the ice skates on the kids before heading out to Walmart and the recycling center and then going back to pick Ben and the kids up. The video of Aedan is so great, watching him push that bucket around so fast, even though he keeps going up to Samantha's teacher rather than his own. But look at him go? He's skating all around the ice, catching himself when he almost loses his balance, reaches down to pick things up off the floor, and is getting around the ice so quickly now. Such a huge difference from his first lesson when all he did is sit on the ice and cry.

Samantha's video is great, too. She is getting pretty fast skating around on her own, and she discovered that she can do the little spin move at the end where she twirls around in a circle. They are doing a great job learning how to skate, and it will be fun to see them perform at the ice show in the spring.

On Saturday afternoon, after the kids took good naps, we decided to go to the John Rhodes pool in Canada to go swimming in theri warm water and enjoy some good family time. It's one of the few family-friendly indoor activities around, and we all enjoy our time there. It was a fun evening of playing and splashing in the water together. Ben and I even got the idea to maybe check out a place like Great Wolf Lodge for a winter getaway in February over our winter break. The kids would love to play in the water and an indoor water park. On our way home from swimming, we followed our typical tradition of stopping at Tim Horton's for some donut holes and coffee before crossing back over the International Bridge.

After a couple of busy days, Sunday was a much more relaxed day with church and then just getting things done around the house in preparation for the beginning to the week, Ben starting a new semester and me starting a new job. We had both Samantha and Aedan nap since they were both tired after being out late two nights in a row. I had gotten Aedan to sleep three days in a row when I put him down, but not when Ben put him down on Sunday. Who knows if it had anything to do with Ben or not, but it all made me a little nervous for how things would go on Monday when Aedan went to Miss Lisa's for the first time.

We went out for pizza that evening and when we came back home, Roscoe had pooped all over his kennel and laid in it. He had never done something like that before, and we were more than frustrated with having to clean up the mess. Usually he doesn't go where he sleeps, so now we are left wondering if we are going to need to make the decision to put him down sooner rather than later. We don't want to deal with cleaning up after him even more than we already do.

Monday was a day of firsts for everyone. We had to be out the door at 7:30 in the morning so that I could get to school to start my new job at 7:45. Samantha came with me and just hung out in the room while I helped get things ready for the day. It was fun having some extra time with my little girl during the day since I missed her when she was gone at school all day long. Ben dropped Aedan off at Miss Lisa's, and Aedan took his jacket right off and went running in to play. He didn't even care whether Ben hugged him or not. Samantha was also doing well in Mr. McBride's class, saying that she was doing great and all the children were being helpful to get her acquainted with the room and routine. Mr. McBride was impressed with Samantha's reading and writing skills. At the end of the day when Ben picked Aedan up, Miss Lisa said he did a great job and was respectful, ate well, and was a good listener. The only issue with his day was that he did not take a nap, which is not too surprising to me. With all the kids and the different environment, who knows if he will ever learn to nap there.

My day was pretty good, too. I wouldn't say it was fun, but I think I was just worried about how the day would go for everyone. Not that I just sat around all the time when I stayed home, but it will take some adjusting to get used to working outside of the house all day, getting up at 6:00 so I can be ready by 7:00 and help the kids get dressed and eat breakfast. I felt really tired and emotionally worn out that first night. Even though it's silly, I really missed Aedan that first day back to work. In fact, that night I put him to bed, and since he was so tired from not napping, he fell asleep in my arms while I was rocking him. I decided to just hold him extra long and enjoy him sleeping in my arms. I couldn't stop myself from crying a little bit as I rocked him. I was definitely feeling tired and emotional, and it would take some time to get used to going back to work.

(Blog about January 3-9, 2016)

Christmas in Aurora

Samantha: 67 Months, Week 2
Aedan: 32 Months, Week 1

While visiting Chicago for Christmas, we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Aurora, about 10-15 minutes away from where Matthew and Christy's house is. We got this kids' suite where there is a king bed and bathroom, just like a regular hotel room, but then there's a small room off the side that had bunk beds, perfect for kids. We decided the kids would love to try this out, especially because Samantha is always talking about having bunkbeds when they get older and sharing a room with Aedan. Of course, she planned to sleep on the top bunk, and we brought our portable rail to attach to the bottom bunk so that Aedan could sleep there. He had never slept in a bed other than his crib or a pack and play, but we figured with the rail, it wouldn't feel too much different to him, and we wouldn't have to worry about him falling out of bed in the middle of the night. When we put the kids to bed together on Monday night, Aedan was excited about sleeping in the big bed, but had a hard time quieting down for sleep. We had to go in the room several times to tell him to be quiet and to stop disrupting Samantha from being able to sleep, too. It's difficult, because he will do this some at home as well, just talk in his crib until he falls asleep. We aren't too concerned about it at home because he is by himself and not bothering Samantha. In the hotel room, it was a different story. Then, since we were in a different time zone, instead of waking up at 7:00 like usual, he woke up at 6:00, after already being up late. Ben tried to tell him to be quiet, but it didn't work, so he brought him back in the room with us so that he wouldn't wake Samantha up that early, too. Aedan started crying and carrying on too much and wouldn't calm down, so I decided to set up his pack and play in the bathroom so I could put him in there. The door couldn't close with the pack and play set up, so Ben and I could still hear him making noise, but at least he wasn't bothering Samantha anymore. He ended up falling back asleep at about 6:50, and then pretty much right at 7:00 Samantha came out of the room, awake for the day, since she knows that is when she is allowed to get up. Ben took her back into their bedroom and put a show on the TV in order to let Aedan sleep for awhile longer in his pack and play. We hoped that we wouldn't have this much trouble every night while sleeping in the hotel because we really don't have any other options of places for him to sleep.

My parents both had plans or work on Tuesday, and Uncle Matthew worked that day, so Christy and I planned to swim for awhile in the morning at the hotel pool. I hoped that we could take Brielle in the pool, and Christy could just sit and relax with Oliver in a different environment than her house. Since we all were going to get in a chlorinated pool, we didn't shower right away that morning, we just enjoyed our hot breakfast and then played in the hotel room. Both kids enjoyed sitting up on the top bunk to play together. Then, they came up with this game of throwing their blankies down to Daddy and then he threw them back up to them. They were certainly having a good time. It's the simple things that kids enjoy the most, and Ben is always so good at interacting with the kids and being silly with them. :)

We had a pretty good time swimming, although the kids didn't swim for as long as we'd hoped since the water was a little chilly. Brielle was acting shy and didn't want to come in the water with Ben and me, so she just stuck by Christy's side at the edge of the pool for most of the time. Once we were all done, we went back up to our hotel room, gave the kids a quick bath, got them dressed, and then Ben and I took showers and got ready ourselves. The kids played with their Leap Pads and the toys we brought to the room while we finished getting ready for the day. Then, we headed to Christy's house just before lunch.

After eating lunch, we got a pack and play set up in Oliver's room for Aedan to take a nap in. He was fairly easy to get to sleep that day since he missed out on so much sleep the night before. Since Samantha generally does not nap at home, we didn't have her nap that afternoon. Instead, she hung out with us, adored baby Oliver, and got time to play on her Leap Pad. Here are some pictures from when I was holding Oliver for awhile that afternoon. It was so fun holding a baby that was only three days old, so cute, so cuddly, and so sleepy.

I love these next two pictures, mostly because of Samantha. Aunt Christy did her hair after swimming that morning, and with her new dress from Ema and Papa, she looked like such a big kid. I think she is just beautiful, and that dress color really brings out the features of her face. She was so loving and gentle with Oliver.

Ben took Samantha out for awhile that afternoon to buy some groceries, and to stop at Dunkin Donuts to get coffee for Mommy and Daddy, and to share a donut together, kind of like a little Daddy-Daughter Date.

My dad ended up coming over for dinner and time to hang out that evening. Here is Papa and all the grandkids sitting on the couch together watching a show after dinner. It's always fun to get all the cousins together, especially at Christmastime.

Since we stayed at a hotel, we couldn't stay too late into the evening so that we could get our kids to bed at a decent time. However, the plus side was that Ben and I could take turns sitting in the hot tub after putting the kids to bed.

However, on Tuesday night we decided to do things a little differently with bedtime. I asked Aedan if he would rather sleep in the pack and play than the bunk bed, and he said yes. So, I just moved his pack and play into the room and put it right next to the bed. Bed time that night went much better. There was a little talking, which is to be expected, but he did not wake up crying early in the morning and he seemed to sleep better. Maybe he's just not ready for a big bed like that since he has never slept in one before. It was just too different for him, and he likes the familiarity of the pack and play that he has always slept in.

Wednesday was going to be our celebration of Christmas with my family. Here are the kids all dressed and ready to go that morning. Aedan sure did enjoy all this one-on-one time with Sissy over break. He's really going to miss having her around when she goes back to school. She loves it when he cuddles into her lap like this. :)

Once we got to Uncle Matthew's and Aunt Christy's house that morning, Ben and I got to work preparing the meals for the day while the kids played. We made a chicken, broccoli, and cheese casserole for lunch, and got it all ready so that way we could just stick it in the oven when we were ready. We also made sure we had everything we needed for our Christmas dinner and figured out when we needed to start making things.

I know Samantha really missed having someone her age to play with because when we are in Upland, Samantha and Alaina are stuck to each other like glue, which probably makes Aedan feel sort of left out sometimes. Well, in Chicago, it's the opposite where Brielle and Aedan are fairly close in age, leaving Samantha sort of left out sometimes. However, Samantha really enjoyed holding Oliver, and she asked to hold him several times that day. She always washed her hands first and was careful to support his head and treat him gently. So here's the oldest cousin holding the youngest cousin. :)

Since Christy and I are the ones with kids and schedules to deal with, and since we were having everyone over at her house, we decided to pick the time that would be the most convenient for us. We told family to start arriving around 10:00, and that we would start opening presents around 10:30. We wanted to make sure the kids had enough time to open presents and enjoy playing with some of them, so we didn't want everything to be crammed into the after dinner time when kids will be getting tired. Opening presents with kids is always a little bit chaotic because they are so anxious to open presents that it's hard to wait. We don't have a typical way of taking turns for opening presents, so we decided to hand out our presents to people first. Brielle got the Frozen play-doh set and craft supplies from us, as well as the ceramic train that Samantha got for her to paint.

We got Grandma and Don a framed picture of the kids, and I had plans to take them out to eat when I stayed with them before flying back home.

And we gave my parents a canvas print of pictures, something different than just a regular picture frame. Those Antiquities pictures were just too cute not to share. After all, that's why I bought the digital rights to them.

We got my brother, Matt, a World Series Cubs shirt. And then it was on to presents from the rest of my family, and to be honest with you, I'm not sure who got us what because it was such a flurry of activity. Aedan got this dinosaur puzzle, two box set puzzles with trucks and diggers, waterproof mittens that won't fall off, a blue toddler bedding set, and a race car with a track, and probably other things that I can't recall right now.

Samantha got some cool new clothes, a light-up tracing pad, a Frozen watch, a space puzzle, a 3D dollhouse puzzle, The Fairy Game board game, the space ship to go along with the rocket that we got for her, and some special markers and coloring book, along with other things I am probably forgetting.

We saved this present for last because we knew as soon as Aedan got it, he wouldn't want to play with anything else, which was definitely true. Ben and I had gotten him Woody, and we suggested that Uncle Matt get him Buzz, since he was looking for a present to get for Aedan. Aedan was SO excited to get Buzz out of the box, now he had Woody's friend and the completed pair. I don't think he played with anything else the rest of the day, or the week for that matter. This will probably be one of his favorite toys from this Christmas, just as the guitar was his favorite toy from last Christmas.

Just look at that smile! He was ecstatic.

Even though Aedan had taken decent naps the previous afternoons, he had a really hard time on Wednesday afternoon. I put him down, and he fell asleep in my lap just like he always does, but then he woke up when I laid him down. He did this several times, with both Ben and me trying to get him to go to sleep. Lately, he has been doing this more, where he will wake up when we lay him down, but he will usually just roll over and continue sleeping, not just sit up and start crying. I peeked my head into the room a while later, since we didn't have a monitor for him, and he was just standing up in the pack and play. So, no nap for him that afternoon which was going to make for a potentially rough evening. It's not like him to just not take a nap, especially after so many attempts to try to get him to sleep.

Once again, we didn't have Samantha nap there, but Daddy worked with her on building her space shuttle, which she played with a lot the rest of the day. She also got time to play on her Leap Pad, which is always exciting to her. Then, once all the kids were up from their naps, Christy put on a Mickey Mouse Christmas show.

That afternoon, I tried to sit in the kitchen and talk with my grandma for awhile, since I don't get to see her or talk to her very often. While I sat at the table, I also got to get some baby snuggles in, giving Christy a break for awhile since he was nursing most of the day. I don't mind. I enjoy holding little babies.

Ben did a lot of work to make Christmas dinner for my family. We baked a ham, made mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls, and had different flavors of pie for dessert. I tried to help him as much as I could, but our kids were tired from not napping that afternoon, meaning they were fighting a lot more, and I had to keep stopping what I was doing to help them. At one point, both of them were in time outs upstairs, and I think they were feeling sort of left out because they didn't have anyone to play with. There were almost too many adults there, and the kids just got lost in the shuffle.

We tried to leave a little earlier that evening to get our kids to bed at a normal time and try to catch up on some sleep. Aedan decided to sleep in the pack and play again, and especially since he didn't nap that afternoon, he went right to sleep. It was quiet in their room pretty much right away after a long day of commotion and people.

Since we had spent most of the week at the house, we suggested going to the Children's Museum on Thursday morning, especially since both my parents were off work and could join us. I tried to convince Christy to stay back at the house with Oliver since he didn't need to be out around so many people. I said we could just take Brielle with us, and especially with mom and dad with us, we would have more than enough people to keep an eye on all the kids. However, she wanted to get out of the house and come along with us, so we all headed to the DuPage Children's Museum for the day. With Christy's pass, we can all get in with only having to pay $5 each for Grandpa and Grandma. Once we got in, we tried to stay in the same area and then just let the kids have fun playing. Here are some pictures from the day.

It is a fun museum, a good place to go spend a few hours with kids. We packed lunches at Christy's house, so we stopped to eat lunch after finishing most of the first floor and before going up to the second floor. The kids were all getting pretty tired after lunch, so we went back to Christy's house for nap time. Since Samantha was acting pretty tired and grumpy and hadn't napped since her short nap in the car on Monday, we told her she was going to take a nap that afternoon, much to her chagrin. Ben laid down with her and told her to just lay down and see what happens, and she fell asleep right away. She was a tired little girl and needed some extra rest. I put Aedan down, and even though he fought the idea of napping himself, he fell asleep pretty quickly in my arms as I rocked him, but just like he did the day before, he woke up as soon as I laid him down and started crying for me, so I left my hand on his back for a little while until he fell back asleep and was breathing deeply. We were so glad our kids were napping and would be in better moods for our last night together in Chicago.

A trip to Chicago is not complete without some deep dish pizza, so that was our plan for dinner on Thursday night. We got Lou Malnati's, my favorite, and it was the perfect amount of sauce, sausage, cheese, and crust. Pizza, deep dish in particular, will always be my favorite food. It was fun to spend one more night with family before Ben and the kids started the drive back home to Sault Ste. Marie. I planned to stay for about six extra days to help Christy out with Oliver, learning how to deal with two kids, and chores and work around the house. I had a one way ticket back home the following Wednesday, so I packed the things I needed in my carry-on suitcase, and Ben and I worked together to get all our things picked up, organized, and packed from around the hotel room. 

On Friday we got up earlier than normal to be ready and get ourselves packed up and checked out of the hotel room so that Ben and the kids could get on the road. There was snow that went through Michigan overnight and into the morning, but it was going to be done snowing by 10:00 a.m. It was highly likely that the roads would be fine by the time he got to them, but I was worried about how the trip would go for them. The trip is long enough and hard enough when both of us are in the car with the kids that I didn't want the roads to be difficult for Ben to drive on, while also trying to deal with the kids in the back seat. However, a lot of times they are better in the car when there's just one person because they know they have to behave better, and Samantha does a pretty good job of helping and playing with Aedan. The roads were clear, they were making good time, arriving home around 7:00 eastern time. Apparently Aedan got sad when I wasn't home for bedtime, but he calmed down quickly. They were both tired from a long day of traveling, but were excited to be home again after a week and half of being away. He didn't hear anything but a few blankie jingles from Samantha, so bedtime went well. Here's a video Ben sent me that night as they were getting ready for bed.

My day on Friday was a little different without Ben and the kids. I hung out with Christy while Matthew was at work and tried to be as helpful as I could in playing with Brielle, helping around the house, making meals, cleaning up dishes, doing laundry, putting away clothes, and anything else I could do. After all, I was there to help, so I wanted to be as useful as possible. Mom and dad came over again that night for dinner and then hung out for awhile that evening as well.

On Saturday Ben had to do more things around the house, as well as get the grocery shopping done. He did laundry, put clothes away, put all the toys and presents from Christmas in the third bedroom. The kids were incredibly happy to be home and play with their own toys. The enjoy the space downstairs and just playing together. Samantha seems to have turned a corner where she really does a great job of playing with Aedan and making sure she keeps an eye on him. Aedan, of course, will do whatever Samantha suggests. He loves her so much. Saturday was mostly getting back to normal. The kids did a really good job of playing and allowing me to work. 

On Saturday morning I watched Brielle for Christy and Matt so they could take Oliver to the doctor for a weight check. We watched a little bit of a show together that they had put on before they left, and then we played in her play kitchen, got dressed for the day, and I read some books to her up in her room. Brielle did just fine. She asked about Mommy and Daddy a few times, but I just told them they took baby Oliver to the doctor and that they'd be back soon, and that seemed to suffice as an answer for her. It was nice just spending one on one time with my little niece.

The rest of the day in Aurora was pretty relaxed. Some of their neighbors came over to visit Brielle and see the new baby. We had an early, light dinner of BLTs before heading to church at Harvest. It was kind of nice to go to church on New Year's Eve, to think about the new year from that perspective and what God would have for me in the next year. As I look back on 2016, there were so many unexpected events that took place. We started the year not knowing where or even if Ben would be offered a tenure track position at the almost 90 places he applied. We were still trying to get pregnant with no luck. We had no idea where Samantha would go to kindergarten. Everything was so unknown and up in the air. Then, when March came, everything happened so quickly. Ben had the campus visit, was offered the job at LSSU, we visited just the two of us before accepting the job and looked at schools and houses, and we even put an offer on the house soon after that. We traveled up to Sault Ste. Marie again with the kids over Spring Break for the closing on our house, with plans to move up at the beginning of June. It was a crazy, whirlwind of an experience, and we were sad to leave, but excited for the next step of our journey that we hoped would be more permanent and long-term. Then, we spent our summer getting settled into our new house and town, visiting new places and new sights, and learning how to become home owners. Fall brought a new set of new experiences with Samantha going to full day kindergarten, Ben starting off a new semester at a new school with late classes that kept him away from home two nights a week, and me staying home to take care of Aedan. Our lives have been transitional with Ben in graduate school and then applying for jobs, that each year is so different. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the next year of the life of our family.

Matthew wanted to have a special New Year's Eve, so he decided to go out and buy food to make cheese fondue to enjoy after putting Brielle to bed. I helped him get everything cut up and arranged on platters. We had carrots, broccoli, green apples, and french bread to dip in the cheese, as well as some other finger foods. It was nice to have a special evening together; in fact, my brother, Matt also came over for awhile. We talked, ate food, played a game, and stayed up way later than I normally stay up.

At home, Ben had a guest in his bed on Saturday and Sunday night. Samantha really enjoys sleeping in the bed with us when an adult is gone. The only problem is that Samantha snores a lot, and cuddles like crazy. From the moment he came into the bed, until she woke up in the morning, there was at least one appendage hanging on him. It was cute, but also hard to sleep. Aedan slept well at night, but was not napping during the day. Our Sunday was spent going to church (we made it on time), and putting together toys from Christmas presents like the 3D dollhouse puzzle. 

It was certainly strange being away from Ben and the kids were so long. By Sunday we were both missing each other a lot. They went to church together and then were having a good time playing together at home. He sent me this cute video of the kids at lunch time on Sunday. 

Aedan still had some trouble napping, even at home with Ben. On Sunday Aedan didn't nap, and Ben just had Samantha do quiet time in her room. He decided to get stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut that night because he needed a break from cooking. Samantha thought it was funny that he got tomatoes on the pizza without Aedan knowing. Samantha and Aedan playied school all day on Sunday, so you could tell that Samantha was missing being at school and looking forward to school starting on Tuesday. Then, he tucked them in a little earlier that night since they both didn't take naps and were getting cranky. This was true the whole time, but it was especially true on Sunday. The kids did a really good job of understanding that he had to get everything done, and then play with them. It was a lot of work to do all the work of the house, but they didn't whine. They knew he would play with them as soon as he was able to. But, it was certainly more tiring than having me around to split duties with him. 

At Matthew and Christy's house, we just hung out for most of the morning, and then I went to IKEA for them to get them an additional curtain rod, balls for the end of the rod, and hooks. It was nice to get out of the house and run an errand for them so they didn't have to do it themselves. Matthew made a yummy shrimp pasta dish for dinner, and the he suggested we go out to get ice cream at Oberweiss, which I would never turn down. It was fun having extended time with the Clemons family, being able to help Christy, hold Oliver, and play with Brielle.

Since we'd gotten more snow at home, Ben took the kids outside to play on Monday morning. They were outside for about an hour, having fun playing together. However, Ben said that Samantha stopped listening and that both kids were testing his patience that day. This was his fourth day of taking care of the kids all by himself, so I'm sure everybody was ready to have things more back to normal. In fact, Samantha even made a comment to Ben at one point that he wasn't playing with them as much as he usually does because he had to do all the cooking and cleaning, so she could sense that there was something different about their time without me there to take care of a lot of the cooking and cleaning, or at least for Ben and I to do things together, rather than having one person have to take care of everything.

On Monday mom and dad were planning on coming over to Christy's, but Grandma ended up going into the hospital on Sunday night with pneumonia, so instead, they picked me up from Christy's to bring me to the hospital so I could visit with Grandma for awhile. I helped make chili before leaving for the afternoon, so that way it would be ready when we all got back to the house for dinner. My plan was to stay at my Grandma's on Tuesday night into Wednesday, so that way Don could drive me to the airport for my flight out, and I could also spend some time one-on-one with my grandma, but now that she was sick in the hospital, that whole plan changed, and I was just going to stay at Christy's instead.

Ben had trouble getting Aedan to nap again on Monday. He fell fast asleep in Ben's arms, but then woke up as soon as he laid him down. Samantha just did quiet time again since she was going back to school again the next day, and Ben just ended up getting Aedan up early since he wasn't napping anyways, so that way the kids could play together. They were better on Monday night. Samantha was so excited for school, but Aedan was sad knowing that Samantha would be gone. 

I know Samantha was looking forward to being back in school, and Ben still had two days alone with Aedan before I got back home late Wednesday night. I'm glad that I had the flexibility to stay and help after Oliver was born, but I know it felt like a lot of time away from each other for all the family involved. It was good to talk to them on FaceTime and message Ben a lot, but things are just not quite the same when your whole family is not together.

(Blog about December 27-January 2, 2016)