What a way to start 2011

Last night I showed a picture of our New Year's Eve celebration. We rang in the new year in bed (everyone had to get up early), but we had plenty to celebrate in our house!

This cute little butt:


Has been wearing underwear since 3 p.m. Friday - with only one tiny little accident! I may just have a few diaper free months afterall!



Oh, and for the record, Mike actually left today. For real this time.

Ringing in the new year!

The one benefit to Mike's delayed departure was we got to spend New Year's Eve together as a family! Though our New Year's Eve celebrations are far from the late-nights we used to indulge in, we still had some fun! It's just a different kind of fun these days. It was too cold and icy to go anywhere (and Mike had to get up too early Saturday morning to do much) so we holed up inside the house and spent a great night hanging with the boys.

Mike and the boys played games while I cleaned the kitchen.

Then we settled in for a little movie enjoyment. I'd like to say our family snuggled up like this to enjoy "Mary Poppins."


But, really, we looked more like this by the time the opening credits started. I swear, Mike can't sit on the couch without the computer in his lap. It might be a medical condition.


And I will share more on this cute little thing tomorrow!


Happy New Year everyone!

Mike's leaving: Take 3

We really thought the third time would be a charm. Mike managed to get a flight out of our local airport (which is usually exponentially more expensive) without having to pay a dime more. We once again had the boys say good-bye in the morning so as to avoid any airport tears later in the day. Seriously, by this point we were just ready to have him go. Not that we don't love him and all, but the back and forth was getting a bit ridiculous. See, everyone was smiling for these good-byes.




And Nick was still very worried about the iPad. See, he's telling Mike "It better be here when I get home."



I left work a little early to drop him off so his car wouldn't be sitting in the parking lot for what now amounted to two and a half weeks. He was going to have to spend a little extra time waiting around in the terminal, but it was worth it to get the tears/good-byes out of the way in the morning. He called me while I was at Target to say the plane had left Minneapolis a little late, but it was in the air. We all took this for a good sign. I had just picked up the boys, put on my PJs (my permanent at home pregnant wear) when the phone rang. They had turned the plane around. His flight was cancelled. I needed to come get him. Seriously? Yep. I guess the third time wasn't a charm this time around.

Mike's leaving: Take 2

This is going to be a rare pictureless post but it has to be done. You see, Mike left again for the second try at making it to Poughkeepsie. Those sad faced Nick pictures I posted the other day. Imagine them again. That's what it looked like. But this time there was a small smile on his face. The reason: the iPad. Nick's compromise for not crying too much was that Mike would leave the iPad behind. It seemed to work. There were tears, but nothing too extreme. Not that it mattered anyway.

Mike left for the airport before we came home from work/school. About 5 p.m. I called him to let him know that flights were being canceled due to fog. He didn't seem too worried but about an hour later I got a call back. He was just texted that his early morning flight had been cancelled. He was coming home. Again.

He's back

Remember all these tears? Yeah, they were all for naught. Little did we know that the snow storm brewing on the eastern seaboard would turn into "Snowmageddon." No, seriously. That's what they called it. By this morning Mike's flight out was canceled. He was able to get a seat on an early Thursday flight but that meant he was coming back home and we were going to have to do this all over again. Yeah for snow!

The up side to all of this was he got one more night to play with Nick and all the new Christmas toys. They built a Lego police station.


But, more importantly, at least to Nick, they played on the iPad. Nick was so excited to play air hockey and hear a Toy Story 3 book he almost forgot about the fact that Mike was going to have to leave again and we would have to say good-bye tomorrow morning.

Mike's leaving: Take 1

Mike left today for a three week business trip in Poughkeepsie, New York. I had about two weeks to prepare for the tears (Nick and Zander's) and the weeks of "I want Dad." But, what I wasn't prepared for was the week of coming and going.

Mike was originally supposed to fly out today but the cost of flights was too expensive so his company opted to lose a day in NY and send him out bright and early Tuesday morning (like 6 a.m. from an airport an hour away). He said good-bye to the boys in the morning before we headed off for work and school. Here's what that looked like. See, it started out with smiles and hugs.


Then Nick started to realize what was going on and got a little clingy.


Then he told Mike he wasn't going anywhere. He did his best to hold him down, too.


And finally it was just outright tears.


See you in three weeks dad! Maybe ...

A glimpse at my future

I have a feeling this is only the beginning. Nick got a Vtech MobiGo for Christmas and has been enjoying it frequently since then. I've had to lay down the law a few times and he's done well with playing in moderation, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. At some point, Mike's desire to "bond" with the boys over video games will trump my desire to limit playtime!