Independence

Here are Sophie and Jack chilling out on the Fourth. Too Cute. We really enjoyed the holiday this year, small town americana at it's very best. There were fireworks and a Sousa orchestra just a block away, lovely weather and good friends. Summer here is amazing, come visit!

he loves me

The other day out of the blue John walked in with these beauties. For no reason other than he knows peonies are my favorite. I love that man.

just dance

As I write this Sam is here

doing this

with a tall dark and handsome boy.  

And I only have evidence of it because my sweet neighbors (who were invited to the dance, unlike stodgy parents like me) smuggled in my camera and brought it to me on the way home. So thanks, Rodriguezes, now I feel like I was there too.

Grandmas, look quickly because these might be yanked at any moment by a camera shy 14 year old.

And by the way, when the heck did I get stodgy and how can I possibly have a teenager?

Let the fun begin.

Spring In Our Steps

Spring has finally sprung in the great frozen tundra.  It has been a looooong hard winter, the longest of my life.  Seven hard frigid windy months.  Yes, worse than Maine, Washington, Montana and Connecticut.  Maybe even worse than them combined.  But this week we finally have tulips springing up in random places in our yard, the sun is shining and the birds are singing.  Maybe too much of that last thing since one of our neighbors is bird crazy.  In the way that some unmarried older androgynous women are cat crazy, but in this case we get to participate in the fun.  She has no less than 12 birdfeeders in her tiny yard, half of them technically in our yard.  But, alas, she is a nice lady and throws the ball for Sadie (who is technically a bird dog!) whenever she wants. Which is a lot.   A lot more than I do, anyway.  

Easter was fun. The kids were very dapper and we got to eat most of their candy so it was a win win situation, really.John got to golf Blackwolf Run last weekend, Kohler actually has a couple of world class golf courses...the PGA Championship is here next year.  Here he is warming up with his protege.

The kids are growing so fast.  Sam is making lots of friends here, even the boy variety:).  So she's happy but we don't see much of her, hence no pictures of her in this post.  Jack is a learning sponge right now, he says at least two new words every day and has begun combining them into little sentences.  Sophie is hilarious and so cute and definitely keeps us on our toes. She's known as the little Shawn Johnson in her gymnastics class, soooo much fun to watch.  

We're going to enjoy the next several months here, the parks, the beach and the lake are fantastic and it's so nice to get out.  We'll get some pics of those places up soon!  Here is a look at an afternoon well spent until then.

Happy Birthday Jack Cooper!

Today is Jack's first birthday.  I can't believe how time has flown.  Sophie only has 4 pounds on him now.  He'll most certainly be caught up with her by 18 months.   We had a giant cupcake and let him get nice and dirty, he even got his candle in his mouth and it took two of us to pry it from his crazy powerful jaws.   I tried to put together his new car this morning- it's not really supposed to be a convertible- but I sadly lack the skills necessary to perform basic adult functions.  Thank heavens for daddy coming home from work early and finishing the job for me:) The cozy coupe is now fully operational and sometimes Sophie even allows Jack to drive it, after all it is his b-day.

Long time no blog...

I just got an email from my dear Aunt Judi wanting this blog updated.  She's right, it's been way too long!  We have been hibernating the winter away here in the frozen tundra, seems like it takes so much more effort to do anything right now, even blogging.  Anyway, today is our fourth wedding anniversary. Crazy how many life-altering things can happen in four years.  It has been a great ride so far and we're looking forward to another 40 or so.  The kids are growing so fast.  Jack turns one next week and has been walking for a 6 weeks or so.  His favorite words are "ball", "good", and "what's this".  Sophie cracks us up every day.  She has such a great personality and is just a delight.  Sam is doing well and making friends.  I think we are just all waiting for the weather to break at this point!  

We're waiting, Santa.

And the rest of you are waiting for your Christmas cards.  We're going to take the Christmas pictures ON Christmas, a result of several flawed after church photo shoots.  So those of you who think you are forgotten, fear not.  Cards will be on their way not long after Rudolph begins the journey home.  The Adams will have their act together soon.  Until then, have a very Merry Christmas and we hope you all enjoy the magic and wonder of the season.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Yesterday morning John and I got up bright and early to take Jack and Sophie to see Santa rolling into town on a steam train.  It was C.O.L.D. but really neat.  Here are some pics of us (gasp! pictures of the grownups!) and the munchkins.

'nuff said

Numerology cont'd

Remember the whole numerology post a while back?  Scroll down to read it and you'll see why our new address must be inspired.....

A few pics of the little ones to keep you updated.  Note the abominable snow baby up top, she reminds me of the little brother from The Christmas Story in that getup.   Can't move, but oh so cute.  Moving on we have Sophie in her new black boots that she insists on wearing at all times, even when napping.  Note the missing swatch of leather on the ottoman which Sophie chewed off like a little beaver in her teething months.  Jack is now carrying on the tradition by peeling the remaining leather off in strips which Sophie then grabs from his chubby little hands and/or mouth and brings to me, pronouncing them to be twash (trash in two year old speak).  And last but certainly not least, our handsome and sweet Jack on his nine month birthday.  Couldn't BE and cuter.  He's crawling like a madman (and I remind you he's the only one of our kids to ever crawl at all!), pulling himself up to standing on anything (and sometimes nothing), he says something very close to Mama which I believe is merely his version of the same, he lights up the room with his smile, and we all love him with everything we've got.  

Say Cheese

Yes, the time has come.  Or as they say in our new hometown 'You Betcha!'...insert the accent and you'll see where I'm going.  As I write this there are two huge moving trucks flanking our house, four men packing up our things and thankfully two sleeping babies.  This week we are moving to Wisconsin.  Who'd have guessed that one was coming?  John recently started working for a cheese company about three hours from here near Sheboygan.  We've found an adorable house in a quaint, idyllic village called Kohler and we're looking forward to what this next chapter brings. We are going to miss some great people here more than we want to admit and are so grateful for the time we spent in these cornfields.  The upside is that maybe our blog readership will go up! And maybe I'll actually keep it somewhat current as a result!!!!  Here a few recent pics to keep you all in the loop until I can find our camera again.  Wish us luck!

All John

I've had a few inquiries today from those of you who are far away as to who the babies look like. John.  All John.  I've only contributed the gestation part.  Okay, maybe a long torso here and a backside there but that's it.  Thankfully they have more of John's personality, too!  My new niece, Ava, (congratulations Mike and April!) is rumored to have my cheeks, so maybe my genes live on in the Payne family.  

Sophie and Jack also look so much like eachother that we can't tell which of them is in some younger baby pictures, we have to look at the other items in the photo and try to figure out what season it was or some other clue as to who would have been that age at the time.  Jack had his 6 month doctor visit today and he is a healthy 18 pounds 14 ounces and 28 inches long.  Sophie wasn't even that big at 12 months...I predict the inevitable twin questions to begin by the new year.  Go Jack!  

Summer Pics

WICKED!!!

In Maine, which Sam and I still consider 'back home', the word wicked is an expression.  As in 'wicked cool' or 'wicked good' or, come to think of it, 'wicked' almost anything.  But here in Chicago, Wicked is the hottest Broadway play...notoriously hard to get tickets for and a real treat if you're even able to pay large amounts of money to go.   Well, my super smart and talented daughter just beat out several hundred if not thousands of kids in the state in an essay contest to win a pair of tickets to the show. Only one middle schooler was chosen and that was Sam!  The first of many accolades to come for her writing, I'm sure.  So if you happen to wonder what we're up to Thursday night, we'll be having some 'wicked' fun!  

Time Flies

We can hardly believe it, summer is over.  And I haven't updated the blog all summer- sorry! Good thing the only people who actually read this are the grandmas and Aunt Judi.  You all forgive me over and over, so add my summer laziness to the list.:)

Sam just started 8th grade with new side bangs (see above) and some great jeans....all a girl needs to succeed in middle school, it seems.  Jack will be six months old in a few days-just cut his first tooth- and Sophie is practicing very hard for when the time comes to be two!  Her favorite word right now is 'okay' and she uses it as a tool....we ask if she wants this, that or the other thing and when you get to what she wants, she says 'okay' in the sweetest little voice that makes it seem like you are gladly offering her the thing she wants, even if you were just trying to figure it out before agreeing to it.  The little ones are learning so many things so fast right now I swear you can see the gears turning in their heads, it's amazing to be able to watch.   

There is a saying that "One is none, two is twenty" when it comes to children. How true that is. My wonderful brother tells me that when you have to abandon man-to-man defense and go to zone, that's when the challenge begins.  Maybe for him, since he seems to be able to handle six (as of next week, anyway, when I should have a new niece).  But for us, a 1:1.5 ratio of babies to grownups/teenager kicks our butts!  That being said, we are sure having a lot of fun and were loving every minute of the craziness.