Happy Day!

Friday March 21st, 2014

Meme came and picked up Christian and Lindalee this morning.  Chris and I headed to the north shore for a full day of house hunting.  I was feeling better today, but we were still pretty stressed about the whole situation.  By the time we got to our destination, the ocean waves had melted our worries away.  Both Chris and I had been so tense from our experience yesterday, it was weird to finally feel "relaxed".  We went to see four homes.  We liked three and fell in love with one.  It was great to finally feel excited about a house.

It's amazing, it's gorgeous.  It's old and needs work.  

It's a bidding situation so I'm not going to get my hopes up.  We will have Papa come check it out on Sunday to make sure it's worth "fighting" for.

After our home tours, Chris and I explored the area some more.  We ended up in Marblehead.  

When in Rome....  Roast beef seems to be quite popular on the North Shore, there are roast beef shops everywhere.  We decided to give it a try.  Roast beef, mayo, cheese, and BBQ sauce.  It was heaven going down, but I regretted it two minuets later.  I'll make sure to have some Tums handy for my next roast beef sandwich.

Thankful for a great day by the ocean.

Happy Spring! With a not so happy afternoon.

March 20th, 2014

Happy first day of Spring!  It's about time!  There were some days when I wasn't sure we would make it through the whole winter.  Of course, we picked one of the coldest winters in history to move to New England.  Next winter will be much warmer, right?

Lindalee was feeling all better today, yay!  It was off to the MoS again for some MORE girl time!  Lindalee was excited to pick out her own outfit today.  Her "princess shirt" and "boots" and "pink bow" made for one happy little girl!

I couldn't resist a picture with her coat. It was Christian's, tear, tear.

Lindalee working on some tops with her buddy Olivia.

Busy girls "reading" some books.

"Hi!"

A wonderful little morning.... turned into a not so wonderful afternoon.

First of all, neither Christian or Lindalee napped.  Christian doesn't normally nap, but he seemed really tired and needed some rest.  Lindalee normally naps, and really needs it.  Second of all, we spent the afternoon house hunting with our two, very tired children.  To top it off, we were looking at very {very} unimpressive houses at very {very} impressive prices.  By the time we got home {past bedtime, of course}, I felt like I could pull all of my hair out of my head.  I just wanted to scream with frustration.

After a couple glasses of wine, I called my mom and asked for help.  I'm not the type of person who likes to ask for help, but I was desperate.  We have another full day of house hunting planned for tomorrow, and there is no way I could have the children come along.  I very well could end up being Baker Acted {too bad we don't live in Florida where it's possible}.

Thankful I'm not in a mental institution.

Cool Shades

March 19th, 2014

Lindalee wasn't feeling so well today.  She put on Christian's shades so her eyes didn't hurt.  I think she looked pretty awesome.  She hides it well.

And of course, silly big brother!

Thankful for one cool dude and one cool little lady, even when she's under the weather.

Girl time at the MoS

March 17th, 2014

The milk is still green, silly little leprechaun!  The children were excited to show off their milk mustaches this morning.

Two cool dude(ette)s on the way to Christian's school.

Lindalee and I missed Christian {Lindalee is very vocal with her disapproval of him going to school without her}.  Despite Lindalee shedding a few tears during Christian's drop off, she and I had a wonderful morning together.  We visited the MoS and she got to be 100% in charge of where we spent our time.  I think she enjoyed a morning of everything going her way.

Lindalee wanted to spend a lot of time looking at the animals.  She liked the moose, espeically it's "shoes" {hooves}.  She thought they were pretty silly.

Learning about the bears or pretending to talk on the phone, I'm not sure.

Lindalee liked touching all the different animal fur.  When she saw the bear fur, she said "Daddy hair!".  I thought he'd appreciate that.

Lindalee was tickled with joy when she found out her little bestie would be meeting up with us for some fun at the Discovery Center.  Mona and Lindalee worked very hard on making different shaped tops.

Bath time with brother, the best way to end a fun day!

Thankful for some quality time with my little girl, and and afternoon with her and her awesome big brother.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

March 17th, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  The children woke up and were happy to see that the leprechaun had paid our apartment a visit.  Their milk was green!

Loving his green milk!

Both Christian and Lindalee have been asking to go to the aquarium, so off we went!  It was a big day for Christian at the museum.  He has never wanted to get too close to the shark and stingray touch tank, but today was different.  For the first time, he touched both a shark and stingray.  Not just one, but as many as he could.  After about thirty minutes, I had to bribe him to leave.  Poor Lindalee was terrified the whole time, but she was a trooper.

Touching a stingray.

Lindalee had some brave moments.  She would get close to the tank as long as no sharks or stingrays were close by.  Smart girl.

Christian touching the sharks.  I had a hard time watching.  I'm with Lindalee!

"Oh my gosh!  That was awesome!"

There was a small lecture going on at the top of the large ocean tank.  When it was done, the woman leading the lecture said that she will be taking questions.  Without hesitation, Christian {while wearing his ninja turtle t-shirt} said, "Excuse me!  Did you know that turtles don't breathe when they sleep?"  She called him to the platform so that he could tell everyone that interesting fact.  They got into quite the little discussion about turtles {that I could hear from across the tank since she had a microphone}.  She taught him another interesting turtle fact that he thought was very awesome: Turtles can breathe out of their butts.

A snail eating a mussel in the touch tank.

Christian said, "Look Mommy!  That fish is almost as big as me, take a picture!"

Christian and Lindalee are both big fans of the jellyfish exhibit.

A diver waved to them.  That's a big deal in the Baker household!

Watching the penguins eat breakfast.

My sweet little cupcake.  I'll eat her for dessert any night!

Thankful for a truly awesome day with my favorite little people in the whole, wild world!

Family weekend

March 16th, 2014

We had a lazy, but fun weekend.  The kids and I spent Saturday morning playing outside.  My little monkeys spent most of the time "climbing trees".

Little monkey #1

Little monkey #2

Earlier in the week Christian said, "Mommy, why do we still have our Valentines decorations up?  We need St. Patrick's decorations.  I will ask Meme to buy some for me."  I asked him why he was going to ask Meme and not mommy.  He replied, "Meme has lots of money, you do not".

Meme and Papa can't stand to not see the kids, so they payed us an afternoon visit.  Meme brought a bag full of St. Patrick's decorations.  Good thing Meme's got all that money to spare! {Wink, wink}

Happy boy!

Lindalee was very happy to wake up to visitors.  She gave Papa lots of cuddles.

Meme even brought some St. Patricks garb for mommy!  Christian and Lindalee thought it was pretty funny.

On Sunday, we spent the morning at the Biddlecom's.  The children had a blast.  

We had to peel Lindalee away from playing with their dollhouse.

Christian enjoyed a dance video game.  He even convinced daddy to buy it so we could have it at home.  

Thankful for lots of family time!

Curious George story time

March 14th, 2014

An exciting morning at the World's Only Curious George Store!  Christian and Lindalee were eager to get dressed in their green {lucky for Christian, green is his most favorite color} and head to Harvard Square for story time and a treasure hunt.

Thrilled to be surounded by books, toys, and everything Curious George!

Story time smiles!

Sometimes I wonder where these two came from.  As a child, the thought of being the center of attention made me nauseous {literally}.  These two happily volunteered to sit up and help lead story time.  

Unfortuantly, we had to call storytime short {and miss the treasure hunt, eek!}.  Daddy had a minor procedure done and he was having some complications and needed our assistance.  Instead of crying and/or throwing a tantrum, both of the kids headed out with smiles on their faces.  They understood that Daddy needed us and they were excited to "come to the rescue!".   Christian told me he was going to "save the day".  When we got home, Christian continusouly asked Daddy if there was anything he needed.  Water and pillows were his favorite ways to comfort Daddy.  Sweet, sweet boy.

Lindalee decided she didn't want to nap, so she joined me on a run to the store.  Car rides are a novelty for us now.  The children are thrilled to run an errand in the car.  {The novelty runs out after about five minutes, unfortunately}.

Christian and Lindalee were very excited to make dinner, especially pepperoni stromboli!  They did a great job, it was quite delicious!

Thankful for my two little troopers who kept smiles on their faces even when things didn't go their way.

One more music class

March 13th, 2014

Oh, New England weather.  We have been teased with spring weather and wake up to a day full of frigid temperatures and snow.  Christian looked out the window and said, "Mommy, why is it snowing?  I thought it was springtime!?". 

Despite the nasty weather, Lindalee and I enjoyed a lovely morning out with some of our favorite girls.  We headed to Charlestown for some music fun {we had a class we were able to make up from missing a session}.  As much as I missed Christian {he went to school today}, it was nice to give Lindalee all of my attention.  I think she enjoyed it as well.

Lindalee LOVES little Ms. Mona!

This evening, Christian drew this portrait of Daddy.  He spent most of the time drawing his hair {appropriate since Chris has changed his hairstyle for the first time in 10+ years}.  For a little boy who refuses to pick up a writing instrument {he prefers to type on the computer}, I was impress by the "I <3 U".  He was proud.

Thankful for a morning with the ladies and the fact that it has to warm up soon.  Right?

Spring is in the air {part II}

March 12th, 2014

Another beautiful day!  Christian spent the morning at school which gave Lindalee and me some quality "girl time".  We went on a nice {stroller-less} walk around Kendall Square.  Lindalee has discovered her pockets  {exciting stuff} and kept her hands in them for 99% of the walk. 

Stopping to smell the flowers.  

Signs of spring!

One cool girl.

We went to pick up Christian at school and I got a wonderful report from his teacher.  She said he has an impressive memory and is one of the most "emotionally intelligent" children she's ever come across.  That made a mommy proud.  He's a sweet, sweet boy {most of the time}. 

It was rest/nap time when we returned home.  Christian insisted on taking a "nap" in the laundry basket on my bed.  He stayed inside and quite for a long time.  Whatever it takes to get a moment of peace in this apartment!

Thankful for a special morning with my little girl and a rave review of my amazing little man.