Midwest Keech

It's been a while since I've been out of town or gone on an outing with or without the kids, so I figured President's Day was a good option. I asked Bry to take the day off so he could go with us & then just had to decided whether to go North (to Chicago) or South (to St.Louis). Another friend mentioned that the Shedd Aquarium (in Chicago) had free admission this week, so we decided to go there. After we parked, we decided to hit the Field Museum before going over to Shedd. I totally forgot how big the Field Museum was & totally UNDERESTIMATED the attention span of my kids. Things I thought they would like were uninteresting & vice versa. Crazy Kids. The kids did think Sue was cool. Are we having fun yet? Dino-Snack? Just a nibble... Is Allison chewing the bone?? That's not just a big fish story... Egyptian bed & Mia playing dead. Cat goddess shrine. Avery loved riding in the wrap. She slept great! Overall, we had a good time. I don't have any Shed...

Avery is thriving, but I find myself busier than ever. Go figure. At her one month checkup, she weighed 8lb 14oz (born 6lb 15oz). Then at her 2 month checkup, she was 10lb 14oz. I don't think I've had a baby grow so fast. We'll have to see how long this keeps up. She's even close to sleeping through the night. Several nights a week, she sleeps for around 7 hours! None of my babies like bathtime . BIG Yawn! Baby bear in her carseat . Allison can't stand to leave her be. She loves her baby sister. Sometimes her eyes don't focus together....My poor little crazy-eyes. Happy baby! She's officially grown out of a few outfits like this one. Sad Baby. Trying to enjoy a litt le playtime. "Look at Mommy Baby!" My Little girls. Floor Dancing Avery needs her binky . Allison is a punk sometimes...She took Avery's sock off, so I made her put it back on. It's a lot harder than it looks.

Allison had a birthday....She's 4!!! We decided (well, I conceded) to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play. We bought a bunch of tokens & played for a while. Then, we cashed in our tickets for prizes & hit McDonalds for some dinner. We then headed home for cake & presents. I wish ALL kid birthdays were that easy! The girls ALL loved this ride. Whoopee! Horse race anyone?? Isn't she cute? She knows she's too cute. Mia liked getting tickets too. Silly girl... Allison had to have a pink cake with pink frosting & sprinkles. Allison may be the ONLY kid who doesn't know how to blow out candles. She couldn't seem to make them go out.

February 2, 2011 was the day we got a TON of snow. In fact, it's only the 2nd time I've been snowed-in since moving to Illinois (the 1st was the blizzard 4yrs ago that caused Allison to be born a day later on 2/14). This is what I could see from our front door. Believe it or not, there should be a street here. Our front steps were COMPLETELY covered with snow. Not only did it snow, but the wind whipped up & caused the snow to drift. This "wave" by the front door was cool looking. Here's the backyard. The tricycle is near the edge of the yard & the alley. Several neighbors spent the day shoveling their driveways, and a couple shovelled a path out to the street. When Bryan went out to shovel our drive, a neighbor came over to help. We have great neighbors. Monster pile of snow...This is only from doing 1/2 the driveway! Smile Bryan! That's a LOT of snow! We were able to get out of our house/driveway, but many people in our subdivision were stuck until t...