Snow Week and Sleep Success!

This week was full of snow. It snowed several days, but didn't affect our schedule too much. The other big news item was that we FINALLY were able to combine Keira and Soren in their room, after a few nights of Keira sleeping in the kitchen. We call it a success, but Keira has not been sleeping as well due to sharing, but we are hoping it will just continue to improve. Ryan and I have been sleeping much better.

On Monday, we had the largest snowfall of the week. It was a snow day for the schools, which didn't affect us today. We were finally able to get a snowman built! I took a ton of pictures in the snow, I pulled a couple favorites and the rest are in a slide show.



Once Ryan got home from work, we had to go to Sears at the mall to replace my wiper blades. We decided to stop and get a pretzel and let the kids play for a bit. While we were there, we witnessed some very shocking parenting. There was a man sleeping at the play area. It wasn't like he had just dozed off, either. He was laying on the bench with a bag for a pillow and his coat as a blanket. We were alarmed by this, first because it was creepy that a person was sleeping there. Second, we realized that he was supposed to be watching two small children. The older one looked to be no older than 5 at the most, maybe younger because he wasn't that much bigger than Keira. We were busy keeping an eye on Keira and Soren, helping them play, and then as we were ready to leave, we noticed that the children that were with the man were missing. Ryan woke him up and asked him if he had children he was supposed to be watching because we thought they were gone. One lady spotted them walking towards the mall center. We felt terrible, and although it was not our fault, we felt as if we should have done something sooner. The man notified security, and we made a couple quick checks of the places I know Keira like to go (petland and the TV at Gymboree), but didn't see them. We ran into a security guard and asked him about the situation, and fortunately, the children had been found already. I felt so relieved, because we would have felt terrible knowing that we could/should have done or said something earlier. It really bothered both of us how someone could be so irresponsible.

On Tuesday, Keira went to school as the snow was cleared. She made a race car painting at school today.
We were also excited that one of our neighbor's replaced our stick nose with a carrot for our snowman. Keira told me that our snowman had grown a carrot nose, and I didn't believe her until I saw it. Soren also loves the snowman, and can sort of say snow man.


That evening, we had the Blue and Gold Banquet for Ryan's cub scouts at church. It was pretty fun, and the dinner was good. The boys got a bit wild towards the end, and Keira stayed up way too late, but other than that, it was a nice night. Ryan is being thanked for being a leader below.
Elise, Lizzie, and Keira eating their cake.
Soren was very excited about his balloon. He was very preoccupied with them much of the evening.
Soren fell asleep on the way home, clutching his balloon.


On Wednesday, Keira was pretty tired and crabby after staying up too late last night. After the gym, we skipped the special library activity that we had planned. We drove over there, but with Keira pouting and no parking spaces except at the high school, we decided to head home. Soren had to go to the Dr for his ear check and his immunizations that were overdue from his 15 month visit at the beginning of the year. He looked great, and was 32 inches tall and 22 lbs, 5 oz. He is getting tall and skinny these days. After the doctor's visit, we just played around the house with the balloons from last night. They made their hair full of static. Keira also decided today that she didn't want to sleep in the kitchen anymore, and started sharing a room with Soren.





On Thursday, I didn't have any meetings or much to do while Keira was at school, so Soren was able to get some nice one on one attention. He was so funny putting these blocks on his arms.



Keira made this train hat at school today, but as typical, she didn't want her picture taken in it. I am glad I took this one in the car once we got home.

We had also gotten a bit more snow, so our snowman grew a "hat".

On Friday, we had a really full day. It was a very snowy day, and snowed constantly. After my swim workout, I took Keira and Soren swimming with me at the gym. It wasn't as difficult as I thought, especially because I utilized the child care to get myself cleaned up.

Soren was so funny, he will just relax and close his eyes while floating in his life jacket. He looks like he is going to sleep, except for his big smile.



Keira looked so cute giving Soren a kiss before we left the pool area.
Next, we met up with Michelle for some visiting teaching at the mall. Keira loves playing with Zach. They had a great time playing after we ate.


Despite the snow, once Ryan got home from work we headed out to do some bike browsing in Ann Arbor. We had dinner at Metzgers, a German restaurant while out that way. It was really good. Keira was excited about all of the decor, especially a picture of Schloss Neuschwanstein made of stained glass.

On Saturday, we had a really lazy morning. Neither Ryan or I worked out today. I needed a rest after working out 5 days in a row already, and the weather was just too snowy for Ryan to do anything outside. Soren woke up early, and Keira woke up late. It was good for Keira to get some much needed rest. Soren was ready for a nap after getting cleaned up. He had really funny hair from going to sleep right after his bath.

We joined Kris and Linda for lunch at Pei Wei, which is always fun. Then, we hit up REI with them. I did some errands on my own, and then we got pizza for dinner.

On Sunday, Ryan was not feeling well so I took both Keira and Soren to church. It was not as bad as I feared it would be. Soren made it almost the entire Sacrament meeting in the chapel, and thanks to Kim and Barb, I was able to leave Keira while taking Soren out. Since I was conducting today, It wasn't the easiest to have Soren with me. Initially, he sat on a chair right up front in Keira's class, but was just too loud to stay there. He is only a few weeks away from being in nursery officially, so Shannon took him in nursery for me. He did great! He stayed in from that point until the end. He was getting tired, so periodically he would ask for me, but then would get cheered up by a toy. He did get a little upset at the end, and ran out as soon as the door opened. He was brought to me with a toy phone in hand, which was pretty funny. He always has his toy phones at home and talks into them. I guess I spend too much time on the phone! These are just some pictures at home today, since we spent the rest of the day here.



It warmed up a bit today, and our snowman, who had undergone so many changes this week, looked pretty sad and depressed today. Keira really enjoys the "Snowmen at Night" book, about everything crazy that snowmen do at night which makes them look funny during the day, and she will probably be sad that our snowman looks so rough. His nose had fallen off when we came home from church, and although I replaced it, he just got even more droopy as the day went on.
Up for next week, hopefully March will go in like a lion so that it will go out like a lamb. I am ready for winter to be over, but will take a few more days of snow now so that it can be done and over with.