RIP Old Friend

We received some very devastating news yesterday. Our dear sweet Barley has passed away. I realize it's been a year and a half since he has lived with us but he will forever be remembered as our "first born" and I will always think of both of them as our dogs. We were incredibly lucky to find such an amazing person to take them both and to take such great care of them when we felt we couldn't. I am thankful that I do not have to have a conversation about death with 2 little boys. Dane remembers our dogs but since we've moved into this house, the questions about them have been less frequent. I am sad that we weren't able to say goodbye but again so incredibly thankful that Joy was with him until the end. She spared us the news before Christmas...he got very sick and his body shut down within a week so Joy had to make the hard decision to take his pain away last Saturday. In Joy's words...

"Jen - I did all I could do for him. His disease appeared to be rapidly closing down his body and spreading fast and furious.He was in wonderful care with vets that have cared for my family dogs for years and years. I was holding him until the very end and I believe he passed peacefully.

I am so sorry for this email. I did not want to share this news during the holiday season but felt you must know. This was a very unexpected event and I did everything in my power as I love that dog dearly. Please know Roscoe is being showered with love and attention and we do not see any sign of Barley's disease or symptoms affecting him."

Thankful for her. Sad that Barley's end came too quickly. RIP Btown!! 

Christmastime Fun!

We have had a lot of fun so far this December and today we're heading to Navy Pier's winter wonderland. Cameron took the day off so we all get to go! For the rest of our activities, I will let the pictures do the talking....

Our little drummer boys at Kohls Childrens museum:

Our old favorite playplace closed...good thing a new one opened! Yu Kids Island...

 

 They call it a water bed, I call it a silicone implant...

Of course, finding Gooey Shoe every morning...

At the Wonderland Express at Chicago Botanic Garden, 

getting our tickets from the conductor:

 Best I could do on pictures!

 Kale's running stance...because he ran the entire time. ENTIRE TIME!

 See Kale is blurry...did I mention he ran the entire time?

 Checking out the trains...Soldier Field in picture above. 

 Best we could do:

 Mean mama strapped him in the stroller...I was sweating!

And it snowed! Hopefully we get the real stuff soon!

We made cookies and decorated...2, only 2 of them.

 Clearly dumping the sprinkles was way more fun! Look how hard and fast he's shaking them!

 Our sprinkle pile...

 Hot chocolate at the chocolate shop (it was the weekend and Kale was napping so since Daddy was home, Dane and I ran into town):

 Playing in things that are obviously dangerous:

 Making our gingerbread house...he wasn't as interested as he was last year (except for eating the candy):

 The picture Dane snapped of me while working on the house...pretty, I know:

 Our finished product (do you see a theme in our house? That Kale is never in pictures of things that might be messy? We wait until Kale's napping):

 Playing in Santa's sleigh in the town square:

 Walking into town all bundled up:

 Visiting our favorite Santa...

 Opening presents with Grandma Pam...can you tell he's excited about John Deere tractors??

 And Kale with his new little barn...those fisher price barns sure have been upgraded since I was a kid:

 And hugging, lots of hugging (or tackling, however you want to look at it):

Congratulations Cameron!!

A huge congratulations to my hubby on his well deserved promotion! Cameron has worked incredibly hard for Intercall for almost 13 years...he has been handed many challenges in the form of struggling offices and he has always turned them around quickly. He continues to be a top performer and has kept his Chicago office in the top 5 of all offices nationwide. His hard work has allowed me the luxury of giving up my job and raising our kiddos. Thank you Cameron...we are all very proud of all you have accomplished!

Many Thoughts That I Can't Communicate...

but my friend did. Perfectly. She's an incredible writer and you should check out her blog. She said what I wasn't able to...http://www.laurealism.com/2012/12/life-is-precious.html

Life Is Precious from the Laurealism blog

I cried a lot today. Life is so precious.

A few weeks ago my husband and I were at a mall in Merrillville, Indiana with Henry. As we were walking through JC Penney a group of people came barreling around a corner. Holding hands and running they were screaming "Someone is shooting, he has a gun."
We froze for a moment. I was looking around for a place to hide. Mark was thinking of running back into the mall to see if he could help. I kept thinking to myself "Please don't let me see blood, please don't let me see blood." Because blood would mean something bad. Really bad.
We joined the masses in a panicked exit. Fortunately the situation turned out alright. A man fired a single gunshot into the air. Who knows why, but no one was hurt.
But in that moment, with someone screaming about a man with a gun, in a crowded mall, with my son in a stroller in front of me, I didn't know if it would be okay. Suddenly everything seemed unreal. It wasn't until we were safely in our car that I realized how terrified I was, and how much adrenaline was pumping through me.
Back in February of this year we were living in Chardon, Ohio when a 17-year old boy open-fired in the local high school's cafeteria killing three students and injuring two. We were part of a community in shock, in mourning. For days after the shooting there were helicopters, media vans, press conference and people crying. Everywhere, for weeks. I remember going to the grocery store and seeing people in tears. And hugging. Everyone was hugging.
These are my experiences.
And then I read on my Facebook news feed this morning about a developing story about a shooting at a school in Connecticut. There was another one last week at a mall. A month ago at a movie theatre. We've heard all the stories.
And as you know, this developing story turned into 28 people dead. 18 CHILDREN. They are saying kindergartners. Kindergartners. What kind of monster can point a gun at a child and pull the trigger? And then do it again 19 more times?
What is happening?
So many parents tonight don't get to hug their children. There are presents under trees that will go unopened. And so many surviving children witnessed something that no child should ever be exposed to.
It's hard to think about this tragedy. It makes my heart hurt and my stomach churn. I usually don't blog about things like this. And I don't even know where I'm going with this post, but I just needed to saysomething.
Brittany Gibbons posted this quote today on Facebook. I think it's fitting.
"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of 'disaster,' I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world." -- Mister Rogers
I believe we do see great people in the face of tragedy: heroes, helpers and huggers. But I wish we saw these sides of people every single day. Maybe if we were helpers every moment of every day, things like this wouldn't happen. I'm not saying a smile at this monster would have changed things. But maybe a smile, and someone to talk to, over the course of his life would have made a difference.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Sea Bright Rising

First of all...shame on me for taking so long to post about this. Remember the little beach town on the Jersey Shore that we have visited summer after summer to stay with our friends that had a house there? This quiet little town (which is nothing like you see on the MTV hit show "Jersey Shore") was absolutely devastated by Hurricane Sandy. It's a small town that survives on locals and local business. Our friends basically suffered a complete loss of their home as did their neighbors. It took about 2 weeks after the hurricane hit for the National Guard to open it up so our friends could go back to check out the damage. Thankfully they live full time in Brooklyn so they were safe. The landscape has completely changed...the beach moved onto Ocean Avenue, many of the beautiful beach clubs were completely wiped out. Gone. The National Guard just took down "tent city" and moved out last week. The pop band "Train" just did a recorded concert there to raise money for the rebuilding of the town. It will air on Christmas day. If you would like to keep up with the rebuilding of this fantastic town, please go to https://www.facebook.com/SeaBrightRising. We have amazing memories of this place and look forward to going back eventually. 

Great Minds Think Alike

Just to clarify...Janel and I did not pick out our Christmas cards together!! They are VERY similar but I had not seen hers until I received it in the mail and vice versa. Cameron and I actually always have 2 different cards that we mail out, but it was pretty crazy that ours were soooo much like the Zehrings!

Adult Night Out!

Last Saturday evening Cameron and I took advantage of a night away from the boys. We do not very often leave the boys overnight but Grandma Teresa gave us a night off. So a huge thanks to her! We had a great dinner in Chicago with our college friends and an awesome brunch on Sunday morning. I ran off to a baby shower and Cameron had the opportunity to catch the Bears game with some friends before we headed back to the burbs!

20 Things a Mother should tell her Son

1. Play a sport. It will teach you how to win honorably, lose gracefully, respect authority, work with others, manage your time and stay out of trouble. And maybe even throw or catch.
2. You will set the tone for the sexual relationship, so don't take something away from her that you can't give back.
3. Use careful aim when you pee. Somebody's got to clean that up, you know.
4. Save money when you're young because you're going to need it some day.
5. Allow me to introduce you to the dishwasher, oven, washing machine, iron, vacuum, mop and broom. Now please go use them.
6. Pray and be a spiritual leader.
7. Don't ever be a bully and don't ever start a fight, but if some idiot clocks you, please defend yourself.
8. Your knowledge and education is something that nobody can take away from you.
9. Treat women kindly. Forever is a long time to live alone and it's even longer to live with somebody who hates your guts.
10. Take pride in your appearance.
11. Be strong and tender at the same time.
12. A woman can do everything that you can do. This includes her having a successful career and you changing diapers at 3 A.M. Mutual respect is the key to a good relationship.
13. "Yes ma'am" and "yes sir" still go a long way.
14. The reason that they're called "private parts" is because they're "private". Please do not scratch them in public.
15. Peer pressure is a scary thing. Be a good leader and others will follow.
16. Bringing her flowers for no reason is always a good idea.
17. Be patriotic.
18. Potty humor isn't the only thing that's humorous.
19. Please choose your spouse wisely. My daughter-in-law will be the gatekeeper for me spending time with you and my grandchildren.
20. Remember to call your mother because I might be missing you

Some Days Are Long...

...but the years go by too fast! We are at a funny place in our home right now. Somehow Dane went from infant to baby to toddler to man child! He has been sleeping in underwear for 4 nights now and we've only had one accident! It was all his idea...he had been in pull ups and wasn't keeping them dry so I was waiting until he woke up dry for a few days before trying underwear but he had other ideas. Clearly he can tell the difference, even in his sleep! So we are pretty much diaper free with one! YIPPEE but that also means another chapter has closed...

Watching "Frosty the Snowman"...mesmerized:

 This deserves a story all it's own...see below the picture:

This is Dane's razor. He watched Cameron shave a few days ago and this has since made it into the bathroom next to Dane's toothbrush. On many mornings after breakfast Dane states that he "has to go shave." He knows the routine...fill the sink with water, splash it on his face and bust out his super stellar car razor. This morning when Cameron was shaving, Dane sat on the sink just watching and saying things like "Wo! Daddy, that's a lot of hair!" or while giggling "Daddy, you missed a spot under your nose." Man. Child. Lately he has also been running into Kale's room when I'm putting Kale down for a nap to tell him a story. Sometimes it's a spooky story about monsters and other times it's just a regular ol' made up story by Dane. At the end of the story, he says "thank you" and bows before walking out. The other day we were playing in our blanket fort and he told me that if any mosquitos come in that I need to "punch them right out of his life." Man. Child.

And Kale seems to be turning from infant to toddler to monkey boy. We had the same struggle with Dane but I think it's even worse with Kale. He climbs on everything. EVERY. THING. All. day. long. Everyone that visits says the same thing..."your boys sure like to climb." Yep. He is saying more and more words everyday. Sometimes he even says a phrase. The other day when Cameron left for work, Kale repeatedly said "Peace, Daddy." He is still mostly gibberish but I know it means something to him. He is getting frustrated because he cannot communicate like he wants so I am hoping that we see a big surge in language when he turns 2.

We are making new traditions every year around Christmas and are excited to go see Santa at a nearby mall and also make it to the Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier as a family. There is a "Polar Express" type train set up at the Chicago Botanic Gardens that I plan to take the boys to as well but not sure Cameron will be able to join (unfortunately). There are a few other area things that we are looking at doing, so stay tuned for pictures of Christmastime fun!

Why You're Never Failing as a Mother

I like this...language is naughty in a couple spots, but overlook that - it's a good read.
http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2012/11/9/why-youre-never-failing-as-a-mother

Elf On A Shelf

This year we decided to institute the "Elf on a shelf" at the Hatten house. Last year Dane was really excited about Santa and seemed to really understand "if you're not a nice little boy, you will not get any presents." So because many of our friends use the "Elf on a shelf" and love it, we decided that it would be a fun addition to the Decembers in our home...at least until the boys no longer believe in Santa. Kale doesn't really get it yet but he does get excited when he sees the Elf.

Last evening we went to the Vernon Hill Winter Wonderland light fest...it has become a tradition for us. Boys in jammies, driving through the light show....

When we got home, Santa had left a little friend next to the fireplace.

After discussing what Dane thought he was (Santa's elf) and who had left him there (Santa), we read the story that came along with our Elf. Dane has named him "Gooey Shoe." Hey, whatever works, right?? This morning he was hanging on the oven door.

I look forward to the excitement of finding him every morning!