home is where the heart is

The week before I went back to work, I took the girls to visit my parents. I love going home. We do a lot of relaxing and eating when we're home. Although I do pick up after my kids, the fact that I don't have to worry about my messy house or the million things I need to get done helps me to relax and just enjoy playing with the kids and catching up with my parents. I have to admit that it's just nice to go home and BE mothered after BEING the mother all the time at home. My sister and Emma came to visit, so there was a lot of girls at home. Sophia kept pointing out how Harabuji was the "only boy" in the house. My dad joked that he was just there to be the girls' chauffeur. But he has always been so sweet with the babies--something about him always makes babies calm down and often sleep.


Sophia had a terrible cold and a nasty cough--her coughs get so bad sometimes that she gags and throws up. So during our trip, she got in two good vomits in public places: first at an Applebee's, just as we were finishing lunch, and then again at the Sprint Store while we were upgrading our cell phones. Throwing up makes Sophia very sad. And being the one who somehow got covered in the stinky vomit, I was sad for the 30 minute ride home. But when we got home, she was back to her normal self, playing the piano and her guitar (a laminated paper guitar that my niece Whitney made at school, probably when she was not too much older than Sophia is now) and singing.


Naomi cut her two bottom teeth while we were there, but aside from chewing on everything, including my face (ok, maybe it was really a slobbery kiss) she was a peach and took great naps and was fabulous on the plane ride both ways.

the serious tower

Looking at the Chicago skyline, Nicholas asks, "Why does the Serious Tower have a lot of blocks?"

Hyeyoung: "The Sears Tower is made up of a bundle of separate buildings."

Nicolas: "Why is it made up of a bunch of different buildings?"

Greg: "They help make the building super strong."

Sophia: "Why is it called the Serious Tower?"

Nicholas: "Because the people in the building are really serious about everything. And because it's a tower."

have you ever wondered

"Mommy, I have a question," says Sophia, as she wrinkles her nose and smooshes her lips to one side...

Why do people have hands? (Because they need to do stuff with them.)

Why do people go to work? (So they can pay for their house and buy food and all the other stuff people need to live.)

Why do people have babies? (So they can have pretty girls like you.)

Why do people have mommies and daddies? (So they have people to love them no matter what.)

Why are people people? (Um...because they just are.)

back to work

After seven months and a week, I finally went back to work today. I was sick as a dog despite my efforts to rest and get better this past weekend, but I thought it would be poor form to call in sick today. I don't think anyone would have believed I was actually sick...they probably would have thought I was just putting off the inevitable. I was just amazed that all five of us got out the door this morning not just on time, but EARLY. On the bright side, I can now call in sick tomorrow should I wish to bag work and play hooky with Gnomes.

We hired a new nanny who the kids really like, so that makes me feel good. Her name is Barbie and she is super sweet and enthusiastic, which is great for the kids. She goes to church with us, so the kids were really excited to see her yesterday at church. In honor of Barbie's first day of work, Sophia packed up her Barbie dolls and took them to school.

Sophia and Nicholas are fairly used to having sitters and I had been reminding them that I was going back to work this week, so they were ok with everything, and looked forward to seeing Barbie today. Naomi, my little stinker, apparently went on a little bottle strike today. Apparently, she wouldn't take the bottle, even though she has no problems taking a bottle generally and she should have been hungry. I guess she must have sensed something was different about the day. Greg tried to give Naomi a bottle later on, which she eventually took, but not without some protesting. When I went back to work after Nicholas and Sophia were born, they both woke up at night to nurse for the first couple of weeks, but didn't fuss about taking a bottle during the day. But then again, Naomi likes to throw us curve balls, doesn't she? Needless to say, Naomi was pretty excited to see me come home, although I think she had ulterior motives for her happiness. I did miss the Gnomes terribly today, though. She's pretty miss-able.

ballerina girl

So much going on these days, so little time to blog...

Sophia started ballet classes a couple of weeks ago. She had been asking for them for a while, and I finally got my act together a couple of months ago and signed her up for the spring session at the Hyde Park School of Dance. She LOVES it. And they are SO cute...a group of little girls, dressed in pink leotards, tights, and dance shoes with little ballerina buns in their hair, all doing their thing. She was a little shy at her first class, since there were others who had been in the class since the fall, but after a few minutes, it was as if she had been there always. And at the end of the class, when they had their show and share time, she got up and did a little impromptu "ballet dance" (as she called it) for the class. Our friend Judy, little girl also takes classes at HPSD, said it made a big difference to have a live pianist during class. I have to agree. Greg was a little sad when he took her to class this past weekend and was told that they don't let parents in the studio to watch class after the first day. On dance class days, Sophia gets into her gear the minute she wakes up and stays in it for the whole day (which doesn't make for a quick bathroom trip at Costco) and does little baby ballet steps all day long. (And I apologize, but I don't know how to turn the video right side up.).

Sophia's impromptu dance for show and share.

Ballerinas dance like butterflies,

practice baby ballet steps,

gallop like horses...

...and dance like elephants. Really.