weekend at Cate & Claire's

Last weekend we went to visit our old friends Cate and Claire in Chicagoland. Their parents Carrie and Jason, as well as our friends Jon, Bri, Mike, Kristin, Beth, & Ed were all there too. Also Cate & Claire have a new dog named Cooper, who added much fun to the trip. It was just a short overnight visit, but we had a great time. We got there early enough on Saturday that we got to start by playing outside for awhile.

Will had been talking about blowing bubbles with Cate and Claire all week, and they got to do it while we grilled dinner. Cooper played too.

Jon and the other children played really well together.

Jason has Beatles: Rockband. It's awesome - kind of like Guitar Hero but with additional instruments and vocals. And Jason had pretty much every Beatles hit song so we played lots. Will tried each instrument (I think he preferred being Ringo), and also tried some vocals.

After a late and very fun night, we were all a little... slow... the next morning. Here Hallie is just waking up from a night's sleep in her cage.

Just kidding of course, but she was proud that she managed to get herself into Cooper's cage. Hallie stayed with Erin and Will and I and was that one kid at the sleepover that keeps waking everyone up to keep playing and won't let anyone sleep, how sweet. Fortunately, Carrie had some coffee going and prepared a delicious breakfast to get the morning started right.

After breakfast Will and Cate kicked back to read a little of the Sunday paper, like an old married couple.

Shortly afterward we had to say goodbye and hit the road for home. The kids agreed to all sit together for one more round of pictures, though getting them all to look at the camera and smile at the same time proved virtually impossible. This one is still very cute.

One very neat thing we did on this trip was to go to a nearby park so Carrie could take some pictures of our kids with her very nice camera (and do some photo editing to make them extra pretty). Here are just a few of my favorites, but you can see more at my picasa site. Thanks Carrie, these are really great!

Announcing Will's baby sister

Hey everyone, turns out they have wireless internet connectivity in the hospital so I can inform the masses. I am happy to announce:

Hallie Claire Ferris was born via C-section at 8:52 AM EST this morning. 7 lbs 14 oz. She is truly beautiful - she looks not much different than Will did when he was born. Erin and Hallie are doing very well. She (Hallie) has been fed and burped successfully several times, and has been peacefully dozing most of the day.

For those of you who don't know, Hallie was the name of Erin's late Grandmother. Although I never got to meet her, from the stories I hear she was a very lovely and strong woman, and raised a mischievious young Grandpa Paul and his siblings to be the same. Also she must have been an excellent cook since lots of Erin's specialty dishes are Grandma Hallie's recipes.

We let Will pick Hallie's middle name. You can find several reasons why he chose the name Claire here. Technically, it was a name Erin always liked and Will's endorsement made it a winner.

Grandma and Grandpa Mueller are here staying with Will at our house - after Will's nap they all came to visit and he got to meet his baby sister. It went about as well as I could have hoped. He got a present from Hallie and also brought her a present - a stuffed baby seal. I took some priceless pictures of him holding her on his lap.

We're here at the hospital until at least Sunday (they need to monitor Erin post-op), if nothing comes up we'll be able to go home sometime that afternoon. Provided Grandma & Grandpa can find my camera dock at the house, I'll upload pictures tomorrow!

watching the Hawkee-guys and playing with Cate

Last weekend we went to visit Will's girlfriend Cate, daughter of Carrie & Jason, outside of Chicago. We have been visiting every couple months or so and Will and Cate seem to really like seeing each other and get along really well. This time we also met our friends Jon & Bri and Kristin & Mike as well, and enjoyed watching our Iowa Hawkeyes whoop up on Wisconsin (sorry Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Paul). Throughout the trip, Will announced to everyone that his favorite football team was the "Hawkee-guys". See his sweet Hawkeye bomber jacket in the picture below, where he and Cate are enjoying the tailgating food.



Since our last visit, Cate has a new baby sister, Claire. Will got lots of opportunities to play with Baby Claire - really liked holding her and tickling her tummy - and we reminded him he was going to get his own baby brother or sister soon. Won't that be fun?



Will got some nice presents from our friends for his birthday. Cate gave him a "Rocket" toy from Little Einsteins - his favorite tv show. Cate had the same toy and they played with them together a lot, including in the bath! Also Kristin & Mike remembered that Will likes choo-choos and got him a sweet Thomas the Train outfit, which we'll include in the Halloween collection to be worn next week.


They also got him a Thomas toy set, so Will and Cate set up the track and pushed the choo-choos around on it, good times.



Cate was once again a very sweet host and willingly shared all of her toys with Will. But this time Will was much more able to play with her I think - it was great because we didn't really have to worry about watching the kids all the time - they entertained themselves. There was a lot of running around in circles chasing each other, but a lot of other game playing which was very cute.



Cate was also nice enough to share her bath toys with Will.



One of the games they played a lot on the morning we had to leave was hide-and-seek. Except both of them kept hiding in the same place - behind the curtain. After they hid and found each other for awhile, the game became that I had to find both of them. I captured a video of this game in action - I'll post soon.

Ear Shots

Around the time she turned four, Hallie started asking me how my earrings stayed in my ears. I explained the concept of piercing - in no way sugar-coating the fact that ear piercing feels just like ear shots - and told her that whenever she felt ready, I would take her to the mall to get hers done. Since that day, every time we'd walk past Claire's she'd stop, take a few deep breaths, and then shake her head. "No, I'm not ready", she'd state, and then she'd turn and walk away.

But last Friday, after taking her deep breaths, Hallie shocked me by proclaiming, "I'm ready", and marching right into the store.

I asked Hallie repeatedly if she was sure she wanted her ears pierced (once the employee opens the pre-sterilized earrings you have to pay for them regardless of whether or not ears actually end up pierced), and every time she response with a confident, "YES!" After I talked her out of Hello Kitty, Hallie agreed to go with (fake, but don't tell Hallie that) diamond earrings.

Waiting to get started.
(See that man, just over Hallie's left shoulder and sitting out
in the mall? I'm pretty sure he thought I was torturing Hallie.)

Only one employee was working that day, so we knew from the get-go that Hallie's ears would be pierced one at a time. For those of you who've been through ear piercing either yourself or with your kiddos, you know that this method often proves problematic because many people, after having the first ear pierced, think twice about having the second one done.

Hallie was no exception to the one-and-done ear piercing "challenge"; as soon as the first earring shot through her ear, Hallie started crying and refused to let the employee anywhere near her. I too refused...I refused to leave Claire's with only one ear pierced. So I talked Hallie down off her ledge with the promise of two lollipops and distracted her with a stuffed princess bear just long enough for the employee to administer the second ear shot.

All done! Smiling through her tears.

Getting them cleaned for the first time.

The recovery process, aided by four college girls who ooh-ed and aah-ed at Hallie's new body art, went quickly and within two minutes my girl was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

The compliments from the college girls solidified for Hallie that
getting her ears pierced was the right thing to do. No more tears!

Hallie LOVES her new earrings, and can barely wait to start changing her earrings in six weeks. She also can't wait for her daddy and brother to get their ears pierced so that "everyone in our whole family can have their ears pierced together!" I may just buy a pack of stick-on earrings for Tom and Will and let Hallie think they've joined in the fun.

The only negative in all this? My baby suddenly looks much older...

Hallie Claire is 2 years old!

You were born on April 10, 2009. After my labor and birth experience with your older brother, I knew a scheduled c-section was the best way for you to enter this world. I was right – your entrance was peaceful, the moment your daddy and I first met you was perfect, and you were glorious.

You were a beautiful baby who looked nothing like what we expected. We thought you’d be teeny, seeing as you were coming out a week before your due date, but you weighed an above-average 7 lbs. 14 oz. We thought you’d have white-blond, curly hair, like your brother, but instead you had stick-straight dark brown hair.

You were mad. Oh so mad. You didn’t stop screaming, despite the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with you, for more than two hours after you came out into the world. One of your nurses laughed and told us she’d never seen a baby madder to have been born.

Now, two years later, you're no longer mad about being a part of this world. You're a little peeved about some things, like when your brother gets to brush his teeth on the bathroom stool before you do or when I make you wear a bib, but for the most part you are joyful and excited about life.

Two years later you are anything but above-average in size. Strangers consistently guess your age as six months younger than you actually are, until they hear you talk, that is. Your dark hair fell out, and in its place arrived pale blond, wavy wisps.

Two years later you are every bit as glorious as you were the day you were born.

Happy 2nd birthday, Hallie Claire.

One Week

One Year

Two Years

(Daddy and I agree that you now look like nothing like what you looked like as a newborn and one-year-old. How is it possible that you've changed so much in such a short period of time?!)

Quintessential Hallie, Years 1 & 2

baby sittserr.

The three of us - Erin, Will, and myself - went yesterday morning for the 5-month ultrasound for the baby in mama's tummy. We had been asking Will for the last week or so if he wanted a baby brother, or sister, and he pretty consistently told us he wanted a "baybee sittser". This could have been influenced by recent visits to Cate's house, where he got to play with and hold Cate's baby sister, Claire. Then he changed his mind a couple days ago and started saying he wanted a baby Elmo. So when we went into the ultrasound, we were hoping to just have a healthy version of one of those three types of baby.

The baby is a girl. This is good because Erin has an excuse to fill our house with pink stuff. Also, figure maybe there can be tradeoffs between Will and his sister for what they play together - maybe they'll play a little baseball, then do some ballet. He has promised me he'll help teach her to brush her teeth. Also, he thinks she should be named "Claire".

Boops!

Hallie Claire loves her red cowboy boots ("boops"). They go with everything.

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Susie bought the little red boots for Hallie right after we moved to Texas. The boots were purposely too big when they came home with Hallie so that she'd be able to wear them for a while, and thankfully they still fit her now. Someday, however, the little red boots will find another home, and when that day comes Hallie has another pair of boots waiting in the wings.

Hallie adores Ms. Andrea's little girl, Makenna. A few weeks ago, Andrea was cleaning out Makenna's closet and came across a pair of PINK cowboy boots that Makenna had never worn but that were now too small for her. Andrea offered them to Hallie, who after seeing a picture of the boots and learning that they once lived in Makenna's closet, said she absolutely, positively wanted to put her little feet in them.

They're still about three sizes too big, but when the time comes these pink boots are going to help Hallie light up the world around her.

Speedway Spectacular

On our most recent “date”, Will and I attended the Brazos County Children’s Museum’s Mom & Son Speedway Spectacular. The event was held at the Texas World Speedway, which is just outside of College Station, and to me, sounded like a classy venue. This is what the scoreboard (is it called a scoreboard in car racing?) looked like – not so classy.



The event reminding me of the Ann Arbor Touch-a-Truck, which Will loved, but with fewer trucks and more reptiles.

We enjoyed a hotdog, potato chip, and fruit punch dinner.


Watched a car race.




Went on a limo ride around the track.


Drove pedal go-carts.


Visited with Banana the snake and his/her reptile friends. (shudder)






And spray painted Will’s hair blue. You might be thinking that the evening contained an odd collection of events, and you would be right.


Though I spend A LOT of time with both kids together, and quite a bit of time with just Hallie, I am rarely able to spend time with just Will. And while Tom spends a fair amount of time with Will, and Will and Hallie together, he rarely spends time with just Hallie. Tom and I decided to remedy this situation by occasionally going on “dates” with the child of the opposite gender.

The night Will and I went to the Speedway Spectactular (which I considered a successful date, what with only one injury and one meltdown – I’ll let you guess which one of us was injured and which one of us had a meltdown), Tom and Hallie walked to McDonald’s for dinner and to play on the indoor playscape. Their date was a resounding success as well – Hallie Claire loved having her daddy all to herself, and as anticipated, McDonald’s was a hit.

I have lots of good ideas for future dates with Will – mini golf, movies, frozen yogurt (sorbet for Will) – but have a feeling that, for at least the next few months, Tom won’t have to come up with new date ideas for Hallie. The Golden Arches suit her just fine.