Things I've Learned About Snow

I've learned a lot since this picture was taken (our first weekend in Iowa in 2007)-



Now that I think about it, I learned a lot that weekend about snow and winter weather. I didn't know there was such thing as freezing rain but I found out fast. The craziest weather I have seen so far was "thundersnow" where it was snowing AND had thunder with it. I think that has only happened once so it is pretty rare. Even the snow itself can be very different depending on how wet or dry it is. Try making a snowman with dry snow- you'll be there all day because that stuff doesn't stick together at all.

Driving in the snow was the thing that concerned me the most about moving to Iowa. I pictured that every day would be like that Bridgestone commercial.



It's not like that at all. I mean, it does happen sometimes but we just don't drive when it's bad like that. The plows come through quickly to clear the snow and the main roads are fine in no time. Residential roads and ones with less traffic take a little longer to get rid of all the snow but that is okay because there aren't that many cars on those streets so if you struggle a little, it isn't a big deal. When a snowstorm is coming, you plan ahead for groceries and things like that so you don't have to go out. If you do have to go out, take the bus. Let them crash. Speaking of crash, you have to just prepare yourself for falling on your butt. It will happen. It gets pretty slick and icy out there and everyone will be on their butt at some point. It hasn't happened to me yet but I think God's been looking out for me since I've been pregnant or carrying small children around most of the time. Rob's wadded it up a time or two though and I am sure my time is coming.

The thing I think about first though when I think about snow is how beautiful and peaceful it is after a snowstorm passes through. I love the snow before anyone has walked or driven through it, before the snowplows have come through- the snow just sparkles when you look at it and it is amazing to see. It truly looks like there are diamonds all in it. The snow blankets all the houses, trees and everything in white and no one is out driving around so it is just so quiet. Even a boring, ugly chain-link fence looks pretty when there is snow on it.



I still look forward to spring and summer but I'm learning that winter is a pretty special time too.

Good Eats

I have about two minutes to type this up but I just have to share my news. Last week we had a turning point with Wyatt's eating- he is finally starting to eat some baby food. I can not find the words to adequately express how excited I am about this. We have been working with him for months and finally have made progress. We've tried all kinds of things- Gerber baby food or homemade, Rob and I both trying to feed him, tried letting him feed himself, and foods of all kinds (that he is allowed to have at this point). Now we know that he doesn't care who is feeding him, he prefers completely pureed things rather than textured, chunky foods and he likes the apples and pears the best. Today, at exactly 8 months old, he ate an entire container (his first of any kind) of apples for lunch.

He likes to take little breaks and play with the spoon.



Wyatt opens his mouth now when the spoon is coming towards him. So much better than the pursed lips we used to be faced with when he saw the spoon coming.



An actual smile while eating. A miracle.



Yay Wyatt!!!

My Snow Angels

Rex has all the gear now to go play in the snow- heavy duty jacket, boots, gloves and hat- so we've taken him out in the yard a few times to let him play. Here he is with his dad.




Aren't they so cute? Cute AND naughty.



I was just trying to capture this nice moment of my husband and son playing in the snow together and I get nailed by a snowball. I have a feeling it's not the last snowball I will get hit with. Truthfully, I don't mind. I love that I have two sons which makes for a total of 3 boys in my house. I just have to remember that things in my house will get broken and trips to the emergency room are likely. I will keep hoping that they don't though.

Things have been pretty slow around here. Although my resolutions to be more organized and lose weight were kind of half-hearted, I have been making progress on both. Rob built some shelves for me in the basement and I bought a bunch of storage containers so we've been working on getting things put away and organized. Once the basement started looking a little better, I felt like going down there to use my treadmill and so I did almost 4 miles on the thing this morning. It took a little encouragement from Rob to get me out of bed but I'm so glad I listened to him and exercised. It definitely puts me in a better mood for the day. Someone who is not in a good mood right now is Wyatt- he is running out of patience with me while I work on this so I better get going.

Super Sleeper

I love superhero jammies for my boys. I don't have any for Wyatt- just a onesie so far for him- but Rex is a different story. First, there was the generic superhero one piece outfit. Then we upgraded him to Batman pajamas (cape not pictured). And now as he moves into yet another size, he has not one, but FOUR superhero jammies- a Christmas gift from Nana and Papa.

First up is Spiderman.



Next we have the Man of Steel.



Here he is sporting the latest from the Dark Knight collection.



Finally, we have Mr. Tony Stark, aka Ironman.



I wasn't aware that Ironman and Curious George had that much in common but they seem to be hitting it off here. I often complain about how little girls' clothes are so cute and it is a lot harder to find cute things for boys. I have to say that the superhero pajama collection may just make up for that.

Happy New Year!

Wyatt got into the spirit of things with this special onesie-



Rob and I stayed up for midnight on New Year's Eve- I only got a little kiss though because I was informed that I smelled like pepperoni (we had pizza for dinner). Thanks honey. We spent our New Year's Day taking down the Christmas tree and some of the decorations. We got sidetracked though when we took down the tree and decided to totally redesign our living room. We took the dining table out so it is all living room now. This is mostly because the family room project is costing more than planned and, therefore, taking longer than planned. We all need more room and since we can eat at the table in the kitchen, it was decided that the dining table would be stored in the basement for now and we would have a large living room now. I'm not going to lie, it's a little crowded to eat in the kitchen but since it is only temporary, we can deal with it. New Year's is all about organizing and making life better, right? I'd say we did just that.

I read that in the Japanese culture, sweet potatoes (or satsumaimo, as they call it) is part of a dish called kurikinton which is supposed to bring you wealth in the new year. I don't know what kurikinton is exactly and didn't have any sweet potatoes on hand but I did have a container of Gerber sweet potatoes (I think you see where this is heading). I heated up the container and we all took a bite- even forced a very small amount on Wyatt- in hopes of landing a big prize (HGTV Dream House, perhaps) or a big jackpot (Mega Millions is up to $290 million- Yowza!) in 2011. Not expecting much but it couldn't hurt, right?

As for the rest of my plans for the year, I'm not sure that I have any resolutions prepared. Last year I set out to blog 8 times a month which was reasonable until Wyatt was born. I never met my goal after his birth because I am so busy with the two of them all the time. I did have 19 more posts than 2009 so I consider it a success. I have some weight loss goals that I'd like to meet but until Wyatt sleeps better and I can devote time to my new treadmill in the basement, those goals look pretty tough. I miss my running though and as soon as I can get a decent night's sleep, I am all over that treadmill. I consider myself a pretty organized person but as I look around my house, I see I could make quite a few improvements there. I suppose my goals are to weigh less and be more organized on December 31st than I was on January 1st!