Workin' 5 to 9!

Ok, so not exactly, but it feels like those are my hours these days. We're getting back into the swing of things here at the Hill household. I wake up at 5:00 so I can get ready before Auden starts crying and wants to be held until I put him in his car seat for the commute to Miss Dawn's or the walk to Jen's. Logan is becoming such a big boy now, thankfully, so I can pretty much throw an outfit at him and he'll put it on himself. I envy Eric, who can sleep in until close to 6:00 because he just has to roll out of bed and throw on some clothes and maybe shave.

Needless to say, returning to work has been a whirlwind of activity. And we've been given laptops, so now I have to keep track of this computer that I don't need and hope that it doesn't take a dive off of a desk or something on my watch. Or that I don't walk out of the office in haste on Friday afternoon and forget to take it with me. Thanks, IT director. Way to make everyone's lives so much easier. My kids look like they'll be a good this year, which is nice. And I've gotten over the whole getting misty thing when I drop off the boys. It's still pretty tough knowing that I'm missing quite a lot of their day though. So, if anyone knows of a part-time gig with flexible hours and decent pay that may open up this summer or fall, let me know. ha.

Auden did his first sign the other day. "More." Of course, since he eats like a madman. And he's dancing and clapping to any ditty you happen to sing or play. Logan just learned the letter M and was amazed to find it in a story we were reading last night. We just love them so much.

Yay, cake!

We had a great time at Auden's birthday party yesterday. Although it rained a bit, we managed to fit about 25 people in our house relatively comfortably, and Auden had a blast playing with all the kids and his new toys. Thanks to everyone for coming out, traveling from near and far! It was a wonderful day to celebrate our special little boy who has brought us so much joy and laughter!

Happy Birthday, Auden!

Our little boy is officially one year old today! It's hard to believe how quickly it has gone. But just to help it sink in, I looked through our archived photos last night. Yes, he's gone from that sleepy, cuddly, helpless little baby to an active, mischievous, walking toddler. As far as the walking goes, for the past two days, he's made great strides--literally--after regressing a bit. He was on two feet, albeit wobbly, for the majority of the day, so I think the walking thing is going to stick this time. Not only is he walking, he's also climbing. Stairs, chairs, whatever he can pull up on. And when you take him away from the object he's climbing for safety's sake, he wants to climb it all the more. The little rascal will go for it again, smiling at you the whole time. He's becoming quite the daredevil, and it shows.

He has a wonderful little bruise on the corner of his eye. He's been really crazily moody lately, I think thanks to his molars that are making their way through. I went to take him out of his crib the other day. He was crying and refusing to nap, and as I was walking past his door, he threw his head back suddenly, and he caught the corner of the door. A little bluish line started to develop immediately after he hit it. Though I tried to force some ice on it, he was in hysterics, so I gave up and resigned myself to the fact that he would have a shiner for his first birthday. Actually, it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. It's kind of like smoky eyeshadow or something. On one eye.

Tonight, Auden tried to keep up with Logan as he ran laps around the basement floor. While he couldn't quite keep up with big brother, he had fun trying. Such laughter. And Logan's commentary of his running was another source of laughter. He was pumping his arms as he ran, and he shouted out something silly every time he passed by me: "See, mom. This is how I make my body strroonng! I'm really workin' my body! I'm getting lots of exercise! I'm a good runner, just like daddy. I just ran out of batteries." (That's when he stopped for two seconds or so to rest.)

This is my last week home with the boys and I am soooo in denial about going back to work full time. I'm telling myself that I'm just living in the moment, making the most of the time I have left with them as a stay-at-home-mom, but who am I kidding? Whatever I'm doing, it sure as heck isn't preparing for the first day of school like I used to. Yet, strangely, I feel ready for it. We'll see how I am next week. I'll probably be sweating, stomach in knots. But maybe not.

We're getting ready for Auden's party this weekend, and I'm working like crazy to keep the house clean. I feel a little like Sisyphus in that department. So I've decided to stop stressing about it so much. We picked a very easy menu for lunch and ordered cupcakes from Sweet Dreams (I get happy just thinking about them). So I have no reason to stress about it. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway.

The Closet People

Freaky! I just heard Logan whimpering/crying in his bedroom and so I went to get him. He was sitting upright in bed pointing to his closet like there was some sort of monster in there. He's crying again so I gotta go. Okay, I'm back. Potty was what he needed. Anyway, he wasn't saying anything...just pointing and crying. He's got my night issues it seems...minus the whole wetting the bed thing. So glad for his strong bladder...he takes after Carly in that department.
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It's good to be back home!

Well, I'm back!
I only had a half-day of the conference today, so the boys, who were angelic for Eric all week, were, of course crabby and clingy today, since I was home most of the day. But I'm really glad Eric had such a good time with them. It's uncanny how they just fall asleep when he's around.

We did have a great time in Chicago, and I was so happy to be able to spend more time with the boys and Eric, rather than go the distance yet another evening. Just wanted to jot a couple of things I didn't want to forget, though. My conference, which was really useful (thank goodness!), was right down the street from the old water tower in Chicago. Logan has been obsessed with this children's graphic "novel" about the Great Fire, and he got a chance to see it when they dropped me off Thursday morning. "Cool!" he said. Just so awesome for him to make those connections to what he's fascinated to read about and a real-life experience. Can't wait for that to happen more as he gets older.

Also, Auden started waving "hi" today. We walked to the park, and he waved to me while he was in the swing. He opens and closes his little fingers and smiles really big at his accomplishment. I cannot believe he's turning one next week!

A Week to Remember

It's been a great week here at the Hill household. I was a bit apprehensive about how this week was going to go since I'd be watching the boys all by my lonesome, but I have to say, it went extremely well. The boys have been napping, getting along, eating well, and playing nice for the most part. Cleaning up and keeping the house tidy has been annoying, but when is it not. Wednesday night I decided to book a hotel room downtown so Carly wouldn't have to make the long commute. So Wednesday day we went to the Brookfield Zoo with my uncle Jim and cousin Lauren...we saw kangaroos, the dolphin show, rode the slow trolley, and frolicked on the playground...a good time. And then we headed off to the Best Western Grant Park (and the boys napped while getting there...my nap timing has been impeccable this week). It was a decent room, and they had a pool which we all went in after a nice dinner at a Thai place around the corner. I found a free parking space for the evening and night in Chicago! Crazy they exist. The next day we dropped Carly off at the Water Tower after seeing Dick Butkus at Yolk, and the boys and I went to the beach near Navy Pier. They had a blast getting all sandy, but it was a bit too cool for the water that morning. We then cleaned up and napped back at the hotel, grabbed a quick lunch at the deli next door, and strollered it the Field Museum, which is free for me! The boys were impressed with the evolution exhibit and I got equally amazed and depressed by all the variety of species we have on planet earth, and by how we lose so many thousands per day/week or something. All the many extinctions reminded me or rebooting a computer. Anyhoo, we beat the traffic back to DeKalb by leaving around 2:15 and I played b-ball and bingo last night with some neighbors. It was a good couple of days and it's been a week to remember.

Carly has a week left of her stay-at-home adventure until she officially goes back to work full-time. This past year and this summer have flown by. Well, I think that's all I shall record in this blog post. Signing off.

Logan the Giant says:

Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. I smell him wife; I smell him!

Logan was chasing me (eric) around the house yesterday saying Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, etc...and he was sorta biting me but not really. It's cool to see how reading to him has given him such a profound vocabulary. But seriously, exposing him to different books is really making him grow into quite the dynamic little boy. It's great to see him learning so much.

I had a really nice day yesterday with the two boys. Carly is downtown at an AP conference for the whole week and is leaving at 6:30 a.m. and getting back at 6:30 p.m. It's a lot of work! I don't know how she did it this past year. But so far, so good. Baby's crying so I gotta go.