We rang in 2019 next door with our neighbors with a low-key pizza party. Everyone, even the kids other than Reid (who was home sleeping) made it to midnight and beyond. We had champagne, hats, glasses, and party horns.
We’ve been making some updates around the house including our loft. While we really love our year-old couch downstairs in the family room it sure is easier to hang out with (and contain) the kids playing in the loft. Plus, the carpet makes it a nicer play area and I feel a bit better about any potential falls on the softer surface. Kevin had been hunting for sofas and narrowed it down to one particular one he liked at Macys. Then, however, he went to Costco and stumbled upon a nice sectional with recliners and decided with a much cheaper price tag we would go for it. Four trips to Costco and back in the van, he and Griffin picked it up. It should have been 3 trips, but Costco gave them 2 of the same box (!!) so we didn’t have all the correct pieces. Once we had them all home Kevin and I hauled them up the stairs together. We aren’t quite done yet with the arrangement, but for now it’s functional and Kevin and Griffin installed the new TV. We’re excited to have a cozy and contained family play space!
On New Year’s Day we headed to the Bethune’s home for our annual New Years Day pork dinner. The Buckeyes also played in the Rose Bowl so we were all suited up to cheer on the team. 
Later that week we hosted the Bethune’s for our monthly family dinner. Graham likely enjoyed dinner of lasagne, salad, and breadsticks the best as he relayed to me that “Iggy, dinner is delicious!”. 
Reid is always on the go and especially wanting to have what everyone else does. Here he is walking around in Griffin’s shoes. He regularly tries on mine too which is a sight to see.
I’ve been trying to be better about meal planning and eating at home. Life is such that eating out is “easier” but I’m wanting to eat “better” and be home more for the kids to get to bed earlier. Griffin has been demonstrating pretty sassy behavior over the last few months and I’m reaching my end point. Hoping that more sleep will be a good starting place for a more pleasant attitude. I asked Amy for good recipes of chicken/soup that I could make to take George dinner after Lynda’s passing. I went with Chicken Taco Soup which turned out delish. I’ve already made it twice since – it’s easy and tasty!
Hannah’s last day with us was Friday, January 4th. It’s been a real challenge to find someone new and it’s taking a toll on my mental state. I’ve found this time to be more challenging than ever to find qualified people who have experience and the right personality. Thankfully, Jim and Pat have come to our rescue yet again and have been up several times to watch the kids. We did hire a girl who came for one day, but it just didn’t feel right so I let her go on the second morning. So our search continues……
Kevin and I were able to go out for a late date night one evening during Jim and Pat’s stay. Kevin was sweet and gave me a card and flowers when I came home to pick him up :). 
My new phone has an awesome Portrait mode which takes really nice photos. While I sometimes look at our pictures and think they are crappy quality, I am thankful to have the pictures to capture the memories! Life on the move doesn’t always make for sharp and perfect pictures.
Reid REALLY does not enjoy getting his teeth brushed. He’s better when he brushes them himself, but he typically does it for about 8 seconds and then says “dah” for done. So I then try to brush his teeth for real and a scream fest ensues. The hygienist recommended I bring Reid along to Griffin’s visits in advance of when it is his time so he can observe and get adjusted to them playing in his mouth. Reid went this week for Finn’s (perfect) check up and was quite curious the entire time. Dr. Bob was great and playfully checked our Reid’s teeth while he was in the extra chair. He got a good couple of chuckles out of him. I decided since Griffin had no cavities, what better way to celebrate than to go get ice cream at Kilwin’s in Dublin. 
Griffin continues to make good progress on his sign words and fluency phrases. He’s gotten sticker number 2!
Griffin has been loving playing with Grandpa while they’ve been caring for Griffin and Reid. Lots of soccer and outdoor play time when the weather permits. Finn loves going out and shoveling or even playing by himself in the cold and snow. We ordered new undies for Griffin and Reid (both Paw Patrol) and when I unpacked them all Reid wanted to do was try them on. Below he has Griffin’s undies on over his pjs. He was pretty proud, even if two legs were in one hole!
To get ready for our new nanny (who didn’t work out) I went on a major house cleaning and tidying spree. I dusted every room including all the boys dresser shelves – that is lots of work as it involves moving all kinds of things. In the end, I put all of Griffin’s current lego creations on his dresser. He has quite a collection of his own creative cars and structures.
We finally got one good snowfall so Kevin and Griffin headed outside and shoveled our driveway. Toward the end I took Reid out, all suited up in his snow gear for the first time, and Kevin pulled them around in the sled. After a couple minutes Reid changed out his snow hat for Griffin’s bike helmut, which, honestly was a better choice given the slippery condition of the driveway. 
Can you spot the cardinal – we regularly have a few cardinal visitors in our backyard trees. 
This picture is my most favorite recent photo of Finn. He had been outside playing and wanted to have hot cocoa when he came in (and it’s one of the only ways to get him to drink milk). He chose a chocolate chip cookie to go along with it and quickly showed me how the professionals rest their cookie on their cup. 
The construction continues at Millcreek as the cold has finally hit. They needed some more earth, so they moved their original piles and the related topsoil to be able to get to the clay beneath. They also flattened and rearranged the 41 year old compost area – it has a whole new look!
As we’ve been looking for a new caregiver for the boys we’ve been enlisting the help of Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong and also Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein for the last few weeks. We’re super thankful they are able to come and care the for kids and the boys really have fun while they’re here. 
It’s so fun to watch Reid’s personality continue to grow and to watch him change before our eyes. He is babbling and talking up a storm – almost always repeating what you say or just babbling jibberish from time to time like he is telling us something – we just aren’t sure what it is. Around 18 months he was saying about 5 words and I was beginning to get concerned. Once he started talking so much I began documenting the words and here is just a sampling – as now he is basically repeating any word you say! Up, down (dah), done (duh), Dada (also DAH!), Mama (also MAH!), Bar (for snack bar), snack, more, uh uh (for no), no, light (ight), on, off, in, out (aught), doggy (dagah), ball, apple, book, all done (ah duh), choo choo (when he hears the train in our house), buckle (boble), cracker (cacka), wawa (water), milk, snow, cold, hot, warm, car, dog food, paci (he says it the same every time but I don’t know how to document it!), mine (as he hugs something, lol),
The last few days of January have had exceedingly low temperatures with nighttime lows in the negatives (-7) and daytime highs of 0. Yikes! With that, school was cancelled on Wednesday 1/30, Thursday 1/31, and Friday 2/1 (due to lots of snow and cold on Friday). Griffin was scheduled for school Wednesday of this week and they were to make their gingerbread houses (and I was to be the Mystery reader!) so all of that got moved to Friday – and school was cancelled again. Boo! But as it turned out, I got a bad cold that arrived on Wednesday and felt pretty terrible Thursday and Friday. With no school on Friday and with the help of Jim and Pat staying home with Reid, Griffin and I were able to head to Tyler Run to setup for the upcoming book fair this week. It was awesome, we arrived at school and were the second people in the parking lot which hadn’t been plowed! There was about 6″ of snow – which made it lots of fun to drive in!
These boys have been really goofy together lately and it’s a lot of fun to watch them play and be silly together. They love playing in the loft and bath time has been lots of fun!
Griffin has now brought home a few narrative pieces from school. I love seeing his creativity and drawing. I sometimes have difficulty making out his sentences (!) but love the story once he reads it to me!
In this story: We go to school. We are at the hotel. We are going to the pool at the hotel. In this story he was referencing our recent trip to Tennessee. 
Griffin’s class celebrated the 100th day of school on January 30th. Each kid was asked to fill a water bottle with 100 of anything of their choosing – the only parameter was that it was 100 of one item. Griffin chose Q-tips!
And here is one from the archives – this pic showed up in my memories – it is of Finn when he was about Reid’s age now. Kevin and I both remember this day, he was laying on our bed watching Sesame Street. He has longer hair, similar to Reid’s, and look at his chubby cheeks! He’s been so lean for so long now it’s hard to recall his chubbiness!
The Christmas holiday was a little different for us this year. After being in Mansfield for a few days, we headed back to Powell in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. After a morning of lounging and then all receiving our traditional pajamas (this year we did it around the kitchen table!) we headed back home and readied ourselves for church at NPC. This was the first year we’ve attended our church on Christmas Eve. It was a nice service of songs, a short sermon, and candles at the end. I spent the last 15 minutes perusing the hallways and lobby with Reid as he was operating on full-speed and wouldn’t sit still or be quiet. 
After we had opened almost all the gifts we had a quick and tasty breakfast of overnight french toast. Then we headed to the basement to “take a few toys downstairs”. Kevin had setup a new train track and we’d covered the air hockey table and put a bow on it. I was really surprised at how low-key Griffin was. He thought whatever was under the sheet was for us, not him! Once we uncovered it everyone jumped in and played a couple of games.
We headed to Enon for a couple days for the Armstrong Christmas. This year the Christmas gathering was at Jim and Pat’s house. Not long after we arrived Griffin was pretty excited to open gifts, so we opened them and then played with all the new toys. Griffin also loved playing on Grandma and Grandpa’s mini-trampoline. It’s a good way to expend some energy 🙂
This week was also picture day at school on Friday. Our handsome boy picked out what he wanted to wear, choosing his blue button down. I had the day off on Friday and enjoyed being home to get him on the bus and off to school. It was a beautiful fall morning and I was able to capture a couple of pics of our front yard. Reid and Griffin rode around on Joe for a short bit before the bus came. Reid’s expression is one of many I find cute. 
Finn’s first school field trip was this week also. The kids rode the bus to Stratford Ecological Center and they learned all about nature, gardening, different animals, they made cider, and we went on a nice walk through the woods to the stream. The kids got to get their hands in the dirt, feed chickens, see how chickens lay eggs and the eggs are collected, and so many other things. My friend Claire and I were in the same group with our kids so we were able to hang out during the trip. It was a fun morning.
While Finn was in school Reid and I went to Liberty Park to enjoy a perfect fall day. The skies were blue and the temperature was perfect outside. He enjoyed being silly and running from me, exploring a few of the play areas they had there, and riding on the swings. He rode a teeter totter too and I’m pretty sure that’s where he got a tiny chip in his left front tooth when he took a slight tumble to the ground. He makes so many faces and expressions. He’s a silly boy, not really talking yet, but understanding and listening to all you ask him to do (unless he’s being stubborn!). 
Saturday night we had a progressive dinner with our neighborhood crew, this time our theme was Football Fan Food. The OSU-Penn State game was on at 8, so everyone was dressed in OSU gear and we watched the nail-biter of a game at Brian and Lisa’s. Good thing, as there was lots of screaming going on! Reid happily slept in his bed at our house and we are able to see him via our video monitor while we were next door. 
Sunday after church we headed up to Mansfield to go apple picking with Grandma and Grandpa Beilstein at Apple Hill. We love that the orchard is close to their house and even when busy isn’t congested at all :). It doesn’t take long to fill our bags with tasty treats. We all taste-tested different kinds of apples and ended up picking an assortment for our bag. We’ve been enjoying them at home – they have all been really good! This year Griffin and Reid tag teamed picking apples from Grandpa and Kevin’s shoulders at the same time. And as always, we always go for the highest Finn can reach! This year he was a bit apprehensive (it was really high up there!) but he was a trooper and was so happy when he picked that apple. 
These boys were beat after a long and busy weekend. They both were asleep in the car once we hit the road back home. Bedtime was a breeze!
And here is Mr. Reid with some of his funny face babble talk. I would have kept taking more video, but my phone ran out of memory so it cut off the filming! He’s a funny boy.