Farewell February

This turned out to be the snowiest February on record for the Chicago area with 28.7 inches.

Jackson and Peyton insisted on shoveling the last bit of snow - even though it wasn't much to shovel.

As you can see they did a great job!

This February we...


Went to get haircuts and nobody cried!!!



Had a Family Fun Day at Auntie Kiki's to celebrate Grammy and Poppy visiting


Vowed to play outside as much as possible. Even if only for 10 minutes at a time. Here are Jackson and Peyton on the last day of February playing in the last patch of snow. They wanted Buzz and Woody to make snow angels.

Farewell February

Miscellaneous winter moments

We've had a string of really nice days. Last Thursday it was 6 below and this Thursday it reached almost 60 degrees. There was no way we were wasting these days so the boys got on their boots and got outside. It still felt cold and the wind here is brutal, but the sun was shining and in small doses we were happy to get some much needed fresh air.


With the change in weather we didn't know what to wear! Jackson and Peyton insisted on "shoveling" the few patches of snow left. We received more than 20 inches of snow this month and it was all gone by Friday!

Jackson & Peyton splashing around at Grandma and Granddad's on Thursday.

Brett loved being outside getting some fresh air at home Thursday.

February has been great. Nothing too exciting, but all good. So here are some miscellaneous photos and stories:

Jackson knocked his noggin again. This time it wasn't that bad and didn't send us to the emergency room, but when I went to the freezer for ice it apparently was a flashback because both he and Peyton screamed like crazy.
Later Jackson was talking about his ouchie and said "Mommy please kiss my forepile." I had him repeat it a few times and than just laughed and kissed his little forepile. He also refers to it as his floorbreaker (from a little rhyme from Grandma and Grandad).

Jackson's goose egg.

Maybe it's the recent sunshine, but I swear all of a sudden the boys are getting so big. Clothes they wore all winter are too tight or too short. And this is how Peyton started a conversation with me the other day at the breakfast table:
"When I was a little kid..."
Really? I know it's going by way too fast because Tate and I had our first meeting with the school district about Brett transitioning to preschool in May. Gasp! Jackson and Peyton will be starting in the fall.


Cuties cuddling before bed

Brett is back doing physical therapy at Easter Seals! This is the "spider cage". The bungees simultaneously help stabilize him and challenge his muscles. He was working on sitting and standing.

The boys received a set of four vehicle puzzles from Auntie Amy, Uncle Jackie, Caroline and Sophie for Christmas. After doing the 12-piece puzzles with them a few times they were doing them on their own. It didn't take long before they were able to do this 48-piece on their own. The puzzles have been one of their favorite things and helping us keep our sanity this winter.

Tate and Brett hanging out at the computer together.

Blizzard of '11

Jackson, Brett & Peyton
I'm a weather sceptic. I swear they are so far off most of the time or give such a wide range that anyone could predict. So when they said blizzard I just shrugged it off. By Monday that was all anyone was talking about and by Tuesday morning everyone was whipped up into a frenzy. I made sure we had enough food in the house and made sure we had enough of the boys' prescriptions for their coughs etc., but that's it.
But they were right. It was crazy yesterday afternoon/night. It wasn't so much the snow, but the high winds. It was thundering and lightening by our house and that was downright bizarre. It took Tate several hours to get home when it should have been less than an hour. By 5 a.m. today Tate's work was called off and I already knew everyone in my division was working from home. Tate ventured out around 9 a.m. to begin digging out and after helping several neighbors got back into the house right around noon.
It's kind of surreal to watch it all from your window while reading stories of people being stranded for nine hours in the city.
We were fortunate enough to stay cocooned in the comfort of our home.
But with 20.2 inches (the third largest on record in Chicago) there was no way we were going to pass up the opportunity to frolic a bit!


Peyton

Brett

Jackson

Jackson & Peyton knee deep in it