Cookie monster

THE STRIKE IS OVER!
Nate's hunger strike, that is.

For a strike to end, both parties have to give something to the effort.
I rewarded a full dinner with an Oreo. SUCCESS!

Will get back to normal soon

Lame lack of posting... I know. Here is what's up. I am frantically trying to get us an apartment in Milwaukee for this summer from May to July, get Chris an apartment in Des Moines for August, get us a new apartment here for August to May, and get a storage unit for all of our stuff this summer. So I will be posting soon. Every waking hour has been working on these projects. Yesterday Chris said to me as I was sitting in our computer chair at the computer, "You sit there a lot!" Oooooh I am so glad that everything is on the internet right now. It makes a lot of this busy work so much easier! I will post this weekend. P.S. Thank you for all of your tricks for the hunger strike- he is eating again! I tried to make it fun and it worked!We aren't back to normal eating... but maybe he won't... I forgot they drop down after 18 mo. THanks for reminding me! You guys are great friends.

Mommy S.O.S.

HELP!

Nate enjoying lunch a very long time ago!!
Where did that binky come from?!

I NEED HELP! So for about a week now Nate has refused to eat. He says that he's hungry but then when I put him in his chair and give him food, he says, "naw" or "all done". Grrrr. I have been trying his FAVORITE foods: yogurt, pizza, cinnamon rolls- nothing! He will maybe take one bite then say all done. I know doctors say that kids sometimes only eat enough to sustain themselves and nothing more- and that is not a lot of food to us- but I swear he is not eating enough for even that! I have cut out snacks so that he will be really hungry, but still no results. He at least is drinking milk, juice, water- but I can only get him to eat maybe one bite per meal. What should I do?! Suggestions? What am I doing wrong?

[Best Entertainment]

We like to watch kid songs on youtube.
Nate LOVES this video.
Every time it ends he says, "Gan! Gan!"
It is pretty entertaining except for the
strange Mad'Donna dance solos!

[Best News]
A healthy baby is on its way
and will be here in September

An important first for a Russell boy

[Best Sight]
My little boy teaching himself how to eat
pizza by the slice!

That piece of pizza is seriously the size of his head!

Nate and I took Chris's favorite lunch up to him at the law school yesterday. I came fully prepared: bib, plates, napkins, and a knife to cut up Nate's pizza. He took 2 bits of his diced pizza and got up, pulled off the bib and left. He found himself a new seat by the pizza box and grabbed himself a slice- and to my surprise- stared to eat it without having me cut it! He ate it upside down, so the practical mom in me was cringing at the thought of him dropping that greasy slice on his shirt, but the good mom in me grabbed my phone and snapped a picture of this very important first in our baby's life. Whenever I see him to things like this, I hear that Pullups song in my head, "Mommy, wow! I'm a big kid now!"

Best Part

Today my best part of the day was this: After Nate's nap I gave him a cracker and he took off running. Curiously, I followed him to see what he was up to. He ran to the front door and sat down then started doing scissor motions with his legs- opening and closing them (something he does when he gets excited) and then pat the spot next to him for me to come sit. Completely random, but so sweet. Check out the nice bed head he still has from the nap. And of course, another good part of the day was more furrowed brow displays. Sorry this picture was bad. I was laughing at the furrowed brow and not looking at the picture itself. This is his TRUE furrowed brow look- chin down, brows furrowed, looking up at you. He was trying to show me his disappointment that I didn't come to sit by him right away because I was trying to take a picture of him to email to Chris. What a manipulator!

Gelato, YUM!

Tonight Chris' parents came over after Nate was down so we could go out on a mini-date. We went to Capanna for some gelato off the recommendation from our friends the Dixs. THANK YOU! It was so de-lish! And here is the great part- it has up to 70% less fat than ice cream! Check out their website
http://www.capannacoffee.com/gelato
For those that live here there are 2 locations, one up by Stoddards and Streets and one in the ped mall. I know it isn't really the season for frozen treats... but just do what I did- wrap a napkin around your dish to keep your hand warm- OH! Here is the best part! You can get muliple flavors- the bigger the dish size, the more flavors you can get! Bambino= 2 flavors all the way up to Grandissimo = 5 flavors. I got a grandissimo with 2 flavors, Berry also Chocolate Peanut Butter. It was like having a chocolate cake with berries on top- so good! Okay, just thinking about it makes me want more!

The Furrowed Brow

When Nate was a baby he would furrow his brow, which was so uncharacteristic of a baby and made people laugh. Now the furrowed brow has returned. He does it when he dislikes something- like me trying to take a picture of him. I tried to get a couple of pictures, but it is hard to take pictures of a moving target. I think some are still clear enough to be laugh-worthy! He is covering his eye in some of them because of the flash. I finally got a clue and turned the flash off. I love the expressions kids make. Hats off to Kate Oldroyd. I think she has some of the best expressions I have ever seen a kid make. Maybe we will get lucky and Nate is going to be an expressive kid like that. This new face sure makes us laugh!

18th month bliss

Ever stop to think.... I finally have it all. This is what I have always wanted. With pictures like these... how can I not?

Graham Cracker Train

The tradition: on Christmas Eve growing up, the Russell kids would make a graham cracker train (much the same as ginger bread houses- lots of frosting and cand) to use up some of the kids excitement about Santa and kill time before going to bed. The rule was you got to eat the candy off of your train in the days to come- so they used to mainly be cargo trains packed with candy... now it's just for fun so we really get creative. Daz made an aquarium this year... Jon made a med school (fitting since he is applying right now). Mine was very uninspired- just very colorful. We always have great memories of the trains and every Christmas we talk about "remember the year when "so and so" made this train" etc. It's been a fun memory. This was the first year Nate "participated" but it is my 5th. We didn't get any pictures on Christmas Eve itself, of the creation process, just the days after of Nate trying to sneak candy.

The captions that go along with this picture is I told Nate "no" he couldn't have any candy right now and walked out of the room- thinking the train was safe since all of the chairs were pushed against the wall. Ha! The little sneak pushed the chair right up to the table. I didn't think he could do that! THe next picture I am trying to stop him from demolishing Trudy's car.

BUT AT LAST... I GAVE IN!

CANNEEEEE!

AND NATE WENT TO TOWN!

THERE HAS GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY... OH THIS IS BETTER!

ONCE AGAIN, HAD TO RESORT TO DESPERATE MEASURES


I SAID "ONE MORE" AND NATE SAYS "2 MORE"

Did you know...

Did you guys see the extra scene at the end of Pirates III that starts out by saying "Ten years later..."? If you haven't seen it, go to the end of the movie, right after the credits. You can't find it by scene selection, you have to fast forward through all the credits to see it. It is definitely worth seeing! Adds to the story!

CHRISTMAS!

Opening a cash register from Uncle Jon

Playing with Gma Trudy's stuffed Santas.............Nate with the German Nativity he loved!

Chris opening a big one! ..........................................Nate LOVED his Curious George slippers

Nate opened one gift early... 3 days early!........... Nate and Aunt Daz. She loves him so much!

Merry Christmas Daz! ...................................................Grandma Trudy and Uncle Jon

I will never...

The stocking my mom made for me. Cute, huh?

I know as I type this that it is a lie but I will never make another home-made stocking! My mom made each of her kids these darling stockings and so I thought I would follow in suit! Ha! I finally finished it at 2 am on Christmas Eve. I had been working on it nonstop for the week beforehand. I thought I would sit down and whip it out in a couple of hours. I worked from 8pm-2am for days before Christmas. Well, at least I finished it on time!

Nate's stocking I made.

Oh yeah... I still have a blog!

Okay, I realize that I have been pathetic about my posting the last few months- but life has been crazy! But I am back! I will be posting every day this week to catch you all up on what we have been doing, Christmas, etc. But my first post is a big one!

It's gone! I finally did it!

10 inches really isn't that much after all! I thought my hair would have to be so much shorter than that! I know these pictures aren't very good of my actual hair cut, so I will have Chris take one from the shoulders up tonight so you can really see it. I have never actaully liked a hair cut while in the salon. I usually go home and cry and then get use to it- but I really like it! And love my new stylist Kelly. She's wonderful. If anyone needs a good stylist in the area go to her! I went to Trendz over by hwy 1 in Iowa City.

Freeze Frame

Yes we make Nate do things purely for our entertainment.... so are we bad parents? Ha. Seriously, this kid is going to be the class clown because as soon as he finds something that we laugh at him for doing, he will do it over and over again. This time he had a little encouragement because I wanted to video it, but normally he just busts these random things out when we aren't giving him enough attention. It is hard to tell what he is doing that we are laughing at on the video. He does this thing where it is as if I yell "freeze!" He holds completely still except his hands shake a little because he is tensing them so much! His face is the best, don't you think?

*Let it snow*

We took Nate sledding for the first time this week when we actually got a little snow instead of all the ice we have had lately. We can't wait until dad is done with finals to go on some real hills. Nate's sled has a seatbelt which is the only way we could get him to stay sitting! He loved playing in the snow and didn't want to come in!

Sweet Sugar Baby!

Tonight was the last hoorah with my sweet friend Carly Schultz as they are moving in a few short weeks. Carly, I love you dearly and a part of my heart will go with you to DM.... I know you are dying right now seeing this picture, but this is how I will always see you... plus a diet dr. pepper! I always laugh the hardest around you, you are so fun! You have such a great way of looking at life, and then comentating on it, that I will truly miss. I know I can trust you to tell me the honest truth- for better or for worse. You are a great garage sale shopping buddy! You have fabulous taste and always look so great- I am forever stealing fashion tips from you, or new ways to do my hair. You look cuter in sweats and a pony tail than any woman has the right to. I will always remember going to The Holiday last Christmas break with you when you were SO pregnant with Laney and laughing and crying... and being the only ones in the theater- just like it should be! You finally caved and read Twilight! You are so laid back and up for anything- a great friend to have because you are always willing to come along with me to CR or the outlets or just up to the mall. There are so many things that I am going to miss about you, so many things we all are going to miss. Our group dynamic just won't be the same with out you! Good thing you are only going a few hours away! I am so proud of you for starting your own business. I know this is the best thing for your family, but you are sure going to be missed! Love you!

Carly's Bday in April at HuHot
I seriously look like I'm 12.. okay maybe 13

Last night
Carly, I really hope this isn't how you remember me!

Sometimes it's good to be bad...

This afternoon Nate was really missing Chris since he is already locked himself away studying for finals. We were sitting around playing with blocks and listening to Christmas music when he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. When we were in the kitchen he told me to pick him up. When I had picked him up he told me to open the freezer. When I opened the freezer he said, "ice cream!" I was so surprised he knew where the ice cream was that I pulled it out and handed it to him. He sat down on the kitchen floor and took off the lid. I figured out his plan, so I pulled out two spoons- a toddler size for Nate and a normal one for me. We ate ice cream for a couple of minutes, Nate saying "dinky" aka "thank you" after every few bites, then he noticed my spoon was bigger! He convinced me to trade, which followed with a big grin and another "dinky". When he had had enough he stood up and said, "ta ta" which means "tubby time" in our house. I thought he must want to get warmed up after eating icecream. We went up and he played in the tub for a while, then he said "gooks" aka books. So we went into his room, jammified him, and read books for about 30 min. Then he got off my lap, went to his crib and yelled "ginky" aka binky. Then it dawned on me- Nate thought ice cream was his dinner! After dinner each night he takes a tub, then we read books, then he goes to bed. He assumed ice cream was his dinner, and then walked me through his bedtime routine! I laughed because it was only 5:30! There was no way I was going to let him go down this early! I convinced him to come downstairs and play with his farm and wait for dad to get home from school. I was also able to get some "real" dinner into that cute little belly. He ate a lot of lasagna thank goodness! Anyway, so I felt like a bad mom for letting my son eat ice cream for dinner.... but it felt so good to sit on the kitchen floor and eat ice cream straight from the tub.

Dancing King

Here are Nate's sweet dance moves. Even when we are in the mall, at the grocery store, in the car, or at a friend's house he busts out these killer moves- whenever he hears music.

Anytime, anywhere.