Videos!!

Silas sings Jingle Bells with Grandpa.



This was Joel's intro to sledding, in Grandpa's backyard, where Uncles Jason and Justin sculpted out a nice toboggan run.

Some quickie quotes from Joel

OK, I know I have tons of blog stuff to catch up on, (preschool Christmas program, JIMIL reunion, Christmas in Iowa, etc) but for now I just have a few quick Joel quotes to share with you.

First one is my favorite: "When I wash my hands, it feels like I have to go to the bathroom. That doesn't make any sense!" That's just the way it is, kid, no one knows why.

After the boys slept over at Grandma's, (Mommy and Daddy got to go to a grownup party - whoop!) not realizing Aunties and Uncles were sleeping over there too, Aunt Roxanne emerged from the basement in the morning and Joel said with shock, "Hey, where'd you come from?"

Jorie found a game that Joel wanted to play, but it required marbles, which we don't have. Jorie explained to Joel the plans for the morning, "Daddy has to work and I'm going to bring you over to Grandma's house to play." Joel replied with exasperation, "But who will go to the marble store?!"

Thanksgiving in Iowa

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Grandpa John and Uncle Tim came out to visit us at our new house, their first visit since the initial moving day. We all joined Jorie's parents for Thanksgiving dinner at their house just down the block. Jorie's Grandma and Grandpa Engstrom were able to come out from Milwaukee and join us too, so it was a nice full table for Thanksgiving at the Engstrom house.


It couldn't have worked out better with the kids. We went over to Jim and Rhoda's around 1 and after playing for a little bit there, Joel and Silas were both ready to take a nap, just in time for us to have dinner. Now, I'm sure some of you (maybe those without kids or those who have forgotten how crazy toddlers can be at the dinner table) are thinking, "Oh, that's too bad, Joel and Silas didn't get to enjoy the Thanksgiving meal?" Let me tell you, this worked out best for everyone involved. Joel wouldn't touch any of that food, as he can be a picky eater, and Silas would have made a HUGE mess, and probably not eaten much either. They were much happier eating their normal lunches, taking their naps, and then later they got to join in and enjoy the Thansgiving desserts. Joel loved Grandma Rhoda's pumpkin ice cream pie (ok, I loved it too - YUM).


So we had a nice time of fellowship and food at Jim and Rhoda's and then my dad, Tim, and our fam came back to our house where we hung out and played some Wii games for a while, and then later watched Evan Almighty after Joel and Silas were in bed. I wasn't expecting much from Evan Almighty, but even though it was pretty cornball, it was definitely entertaining, and had many laugh-out-loud moments.

Grandpa John and Tim headed back home on Friday, and we spent the rest of the weekend decorating and shopping for Christmas. Joel and Silas loved decorating the tree and playing in the huge Christmas tree box. It was a hilarious sight after we were done decorating the tree, that 80% of our ornaments were on the bottom 2 feet of branches. They were busy boys for sure!

Cold season sets in

And I am hoping we are through the worst of it. The kids have both been sick with bad coughs and colds for about a week. Seems like when our kids get sick, they get SICK, no messing around. Fevers of 102+ degrees, coughing fits so bad it makes them spit up, bucketfuls of snot and chest congestion, you name it, they've got it. Poor little guys. And of course for Silas, this means extreme fussiness at his age, but Joel has been a real trooper. He just keeps asking in this sad voice, "When will my cold be gone?" (or sometimes, "When will my boogers be gone?") and it just breaks your heart because he's been a rock throughout this whole thing. His little face is chapped and dry from the constant mucus/nose-blowing but he never complains or cries about feeling lousy.

Silas, on the other hand, has regressed to more baby-ish behavior, which is understandable for his age and dealing with feeling very sick, difficulty breathing comfortably, coughing, etc. Last night was a major victory because he actually stayed in his crib all night. For most of this illness, it has been impossible to put him down at all during sleep times. This means that when Silas goes to bed, Jorie sleeps with him. At nap times, too, one of us has to sleep with him (usually Jorie, but I took care of him Sunday). I don't mean to complain about parenthood, I know this is part of having small kids, I just want to communicate what our daily life has been like lately. That is the point of a blog, right? :-)

So it's been a bit rough, but I think they're through the worst of it at this point. We've been doing plenty of Nebulizer treatments (it's a breathing mist-machine thing that lets you breathe in medicine to open your lungs) and going through lots and lots of Kleenex. (the tissue plus lotion stuff is one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century, I am convinced) Jorie is taking them to the doctor's today to make sure they aren't developing sinus infections, which has happened before when they are stuffed up for an extended period of time.

Jorie's had the cough/cold as well, so please keep us in your prayers, that this indeed is the end of it. Somehow I have been spared from this bug - I think I have some sort of freaky immune system. I do get sick at times, but the bugs that everyone seems to catch have no effect on me.

Some cute quotes from Joel to end a dreary post on a lighter note:

While refusing to stay in his bed at nap time: "Why aren't you guys going down for your naps?" "You really need a nap, daddy."

With a "no-fair" tone, "Daddy, why are YOU the only one who doesn't have a cold?"

While playing Wii Golf with Joel (he loves hitting the ball all over the place, especially in the water, but doesn't care so much about getting it in the hole), I said, "The wind is at our backs, that's good." I was more just talking to myself, I didn't expect Joel to comprehend that. But Joel responded, "The wind will help push the ball over the water." I was floored that a 3-year old would grasp that concept.

Trick or Treat!

We took the kids trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood last week and had a great time. It was cool out, but comfortable enough to not need coats, which was great. We enjoyed getting to meet some more people in our neighborhood and the kids loved getting all the candy, of course. Joel didn't really understand the idea of moderation. When offered the candy dish, he would continually grab pieces of candy and drop them in his bucket until the dish was pulled away. And if the person held onto the dish and only offered one piece of candy, Joel would reach up for more. Quite embarassing, but hilarious at the same time. We tried to explain to him to take only what is offered, but of course ideas of proper decorum are easily ignored by a 3-year old.

Joel came up with his costume idea. We started asking him a few weeks before Halloween what he wanted to be and he would always reply, "Bananas." We weren't sure exactly how to make a banana costume, but Jorie got a great suggestion from a friend, Ashley, and with Rhoda's help we were able to create this simple yet effective banana costume. Silas was a bear, but since Joel was dressed as a banana, several people made the mistake of thinking Silas was a monkey. That would have definitely made for a more creative costume combo, so we didn't correct them. Here are some pics!

Joel's 911 calls

We have been practicing calling 911 in case of an emergency with Joel. Rhoda suggested this idea, since they do this with her first graders. He is very good at dialing 911 (on a disconnected phone, of course) telling them what is wrong and giving his name and address. Last night, Jorie and Joel practiced a call where he told them Mommy was hurt. Then Joel wanted to practice calling for Daddy and Silas too. His second call went like this:

Jorie: "911 Emergency, how may I assist you?"

Joel: "No, Mommy, you have to wait until I finish dialing."

Jorie: "Oh, sorry. OK." (waits) "911 Emergency, how may I assist you?"

Joel: "This time it's Daddy."

Jorie: "What happened to your daddy?"

Joel: "Daddy fell down the stairs and it was very bumpy."

Jorie: "Can you give me your address so we can send help?"

Joel: (provides address)

After this, Joel insisted on having Jorie making a 911 call as if Joel was hurt. So he lied down on the floor and didn't move a muscle. Jorie shook his arm and said, "Joel? Joel? Are you OK?" (all acting) and Joel continued to lie there, perfectly still. Only after Jorie completed the call to 911 did Joel come back to life. What a little ham!

Weekend with Engstrom fam

Once again, I apologize for the lack of new posts on the blog, I've been seriously slacking. So here's some pictures from a few weekends ago when Jorie's sister, Annie, and her brother, Jason, along with his wife Roxanne and daughter Annikah (thus the nickname JayRoxikah) were in town.

We had lots of fun hanging out, enjoying great home-cooked meals from Rhoda, eating pizza at our house, watching football, and we spent Sunday morning in the Amana Colonies, the quaint little German village near Cedar Rapids. We had a scrumptious breakfast, with amazing quantities of eggs, pancakes, fruit, hashbrows, bacon and sausage. All very greasy and all very yummy. I had to wolf it all down quickly, since the boys were not going to tolerate sitting down in one place in a restaurant for more than 15 minutes, but it was still some mmmm-good eatin'. Maybe someday we'll be able to enjoy restaurants with the boys, but that day is not yet here.

After breakfast, we sampled some locally brewed root beers and then just walked around enjoying the beautiful morning and the little shops. (well, that was more for the ladies of course - they shop, we watch the kids, I guess those are the rules, but we have more fun with the kids anyway!)

Joel and Mark playing on the swing

Hugging cousins are way too cute!

Annie is very loved by her niece and nephews

The whole gang (minus Justin, gotta photoshop him in here somehow)

There we go :-)

Our little gang

Jorie and her Dill boys

The Engstrom sibs

Silas James and Grandpa James

The boys loved playing in all the leaves

A Gorgeous Fall Day

Joel and Silas love their new backyard

Our little lippy man

They're both shouting "Iowa!" for the camera

Good buddies

Ring around the rosy!

More Moving Day Pics

Celebration after a successful closing! But there's still more work to do.

Our first family photo on our new front porch

Here it is! The new homestead on move-in day.

So much extra space in the garage! Perfect place to stash baby gear.

The living room is starting to come together.

The kitchen has a long way to go. (but you should see it now!)

A job well done!

Already blaming his brother

The other day, Silas very obviously and loudly passed gas. (we call 'em "toots" around here) Jorie said, "Silas, did you toot?" Silas said, very seriously, "No. Jo-Joel."

Joel has a new phrase. We were at the toy store last night and Joel was looking at all the new trains they had and he kept saying, "This is too cool!" "This is too cool, Daddy, they have Salty!" "This is too cool, Daddy, they have the carnival!" I guess Joel is just too cool. No idea where he picked that up, maybe I say it once in a while.

This morning, I was playing a little Mario Party and Joel asked, "Is the dinosaur bad, daddy, is he the bad guy?" I said, "Yep, that's Bowser, he's the bad guy." Joel then asked, "Does he run away from his daddy all the time?"

Had to share this video

Despite reminding me slightly of the "happy hands club" scene from Napolean Dynamite, this video is awesome.

Wildlife sightings!

On our last night in the Grayslake townhouse, Jorie saw two deer, one of them a huge buck, right by the side of the road near our house. That isn't all that unusual, but it can be startling when you're driving. But what was unusual was when she pulled into our neighborhood and she spotted a coyote sauntering down the sidewalk right outside our house! Crazy!

Then on our first full day in Cedar Rapids, I was driving with Joel to pick up some stuff at the hardware store. On the way back, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head just as we were driving by and saw some bizarre looking animals ambling around right beside the road. At first I thought they were some type of large pheasant, but I wasn't really sure. It was definitely something I had never seen in the wild before. I told Joel we were turning around and going back for another look. We looped around and parked right next to this flock of about 7 gigantic birds that were pecking around in the dry grass. They were huge wild turkeys! I've heard they can be quite temperamental (my cousin Lisa has a hilarious story on her blog about getting chased by a wild turkey during a run in Champaign, IL), so Joel and I stayed near the car and watched them for a bit. I keep looking for them every time I drive by, but I haven't seen them since.

Is that where you live?

Here's a recent conversation I had with a Best Buy security guy, while waiting for a manager to approve my pickup of a large TV stand.

I looked at the size of the box and said, "Man, that thing's not gonna be fun to haul down to the basement."

Best Buy guy looked me over and said, "Is that where you live?"

With a bemused grin, I replied, "No, I live in the whole house."

He said, "Oh! You look like you're still in college or something."

I laughed and said, "Man, I've got two kids. I'm 31."

Then he raised his eyebrows and nodded and said, "Heh, well I know how you feel. I'm 36." (he looked about my age)

I said, "Really, I would have guessed about 46."

Just kidding, I didn't say that last part. I just had to share this little random conversation because I thought, "Is that where you live?" was a hilariously bizarre response. Not that there's anything wrong with living in the basement, if that's what you gotta do, but it seemed like a strange thing to assume, just because I want to put a TV stand down there.

The boys are hard at work, helping Daddy assemble the stand.

Joel made these himself out of the styrofoam that came with the stand. On the left is a house, on the right is a bird.

Moving is CRAZY!

In order to accurately capture the chaos of moving day, I decided to write some new lyrics to the song "End of the World" by R.E.M.

It's the End of Grayslake

Six A.M., wake up time, hurry, movers come at nine!
Gotta pack, gotta run, so much stuff we haven't done!
Get huge truck, drive it down, babysitter's car broke down!
She can't stay long, what to do, look who's here, the moving crew.
Disassemble furniture, so much still to pack.
Movers grabbing everything and we're... a... wreck.
Uh oh, overflow, too much stuff for just one truck.
Hope they have another one, they do, so we're in luck.
New plan, Dad can drive, Accord will now get towed behind.
Piano going down the hall, OOPS right through the drywall!
Pack it up, pack it tight, so much stuff is still inside.
Very stressed, about to lose it, time to load the storage unit.
Jor's inside, so much to do, Mark is with the moving crew.
Dad and Tim arrive to help, or else we'd never make it!
Moving crew has finished up, got stuff to still cram on the truck.
Craziness and melting brain, mental overload.
Stressed out, feeling like we'll never hit the road.

It's the end of Grayslake as we know it,
It's the end of rush hour traffic as we know it,
It's the end of crazy-high property taxes as we know it,
and we FEEL FINE.

Five o'clock, almost packed, Accord is loaded on the rack,
Kids need dinner, house needs cleaning, Dad and Tim need to get going.
Buyer's walkthrough is at seven, not much time, still hurrying.
Jorie is a rockstar cleaner, Mark takes kids to Burger King.
Finally finished, leave the key! There's our buyer, time to flee!
Too late to leave, can't arrive at one! Instead we'll stay with Halversons.
Go to bed, try to sleep, oh no here comes Mark's allergy.
Eyes water, can't breathe, go outside, try not to freeze.
Finally come back in at three, Joel dreams his room is full of bees!
Joel and Mark lay on the couch and finally get... some... sleep.

It's the end of Grayslake as we know it,
It's the end of townhouse living as we know it,
It's the end of screaming neighbors as we know it,
and we FEEL FINE.

Six A.M., shake those legs, Dani makes some yummy eggs.
On the road, feelin' fine, no traffic so we make good time.
Jorie drives with fussy boys, Silas still sick and making noise.
Got a call from my lawyer, piano damage stinks.
Gotta leave a big deposit, my lawyer thinks.
Uh oh, without the funds, we can't buy our place.
Get on the phone, make some calls, gotta win this race.
Headin' down the highway, talking on my phone,
driving the second moving truck with my car in tow.
Good news! Buyer agrees to a reasonable deposit!
We can write a check at close and leave with key in pocket!
Grayslake closes, 2:30, and now the Dills are homeless.
3:00, time to go, and hope no trouble at this close.
Oh no, who knew, wiring cash takes time.
Good chance we will not make it, before 4:30 deadline.
Backup plan, bigger loan, close without the funds.
Empty out our bank account, to make this deal get done.
4:30, look who's here, the wire has arrived!
Sigh of relief, now it's easy, and we are still alive.
Celebration, champagne, now everybody's happy!
We did it! We did it! Time to take a nappy.

It's the end of Grayslake as we know it,
It's the end of tiny bedrooms as we know it,
It's the end of fast-paced Chicago life as we know it,
and we FEEL FINE. This truck could only hold about 2/3 of our stuff, believe it or not Heh, I hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know I didn't stick to the format of the song too closely, but meh, most of it sorta works. Moving in was not nearly as chaotic, so I don't need to write a song about that part. But we did have a lot of people here all at once. We had the moving crew (a different one, from Cedar Rapids this time), Best Buy appliance delivery guys, and a Mediacom cable/internet/phone installer all here at once. Fun fun fun! We got the trucks returned and now all that's left is unpacking. I think it is safe to say Joel and Silas are loving living here so far. They seemed totally comfortable in this house right away and Silas loves to say "Iowa!" at every given opportunity.

Ah, that reminds me of one funny story from when I took the kids to Burger King. Joel knew we were planning to go to the Halverson's and he kept begging "Can we go to Luke's now, please please!" And I was telling him, "Well there's a couple stops we have to make first, we have to go to eat, then the store, then home, and THEN do you know where we'll go?" Silas then chimed in and shouted "Iowa!"

Silas the singer

Silas has impressed us with his singing ability lately. He has actually gotten quite good at carrying a tune, better even than Joel, and Joel's not bad for a preschool aged kid. Silas loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Most of the words are substituted with "Bah-buh-bah-buh" but he sings it right on pitch. His favorite part of the song is the part where he actually CAN sound out the words correctly and it is the cutest thing to hear him sing this. (I really have to start posting videos, as I can tell describing the singing is not doing it justice) He sings the part, "Up above the world so high" but he says "Up above the high", but he sings it very clearly and on pitch!

Social interactions at 3

We have been quite proud of Joel for trying to reach out and make friends lately. We encourage him to approach kids in his preschool class and on the playground and strike up conversations. Joel has been trying, but it seems other three-year-olds aren't quite ready for him yet.

The other day at preschool, Joel was putting his things in his cubby (like a mini-locker) and another boy was doing the same at the cubby next to him. Joel said, "Hi, I like Thomas the train, do you like trains?" The other boy looked at Joel's Thomas backpack and said, "My backpack is way cooler than yours." Now what kind of 3-year old talks like that? "Way cooler"? Come on, I really hope he's not getting that attitude from mom and dad. Joel didn't seem bothered by it though, thankfully.
Then at the park the next day, Joel saw a boy with a "Cars" shirt on (a recent Pixar movie) so he decided to try to make a friend. This boy was a little older, maybe 4 or 5 years old. Joel said, "Hi, I'm Joel. Do you like trains? Because I really like trains." The boy just stood there and stared at Joel with his mouth hanging open. Joel then said, "Why aren't you saying anything?" Then he walked back to Jorie and said, "Mommy, why isn't that boy saying anything?"

At least Joel should have no problem making new friends in Iowa! Here's a recent tower that Joel built with legos. He said he was building "Chicago".

We're moving!!

Sorry it's been so long since I have updated. I apologize to all my faithful readers. (both of you) This is a random collection of quotes and stories that I have been trying to remember until I got a chance to sit and write a blog post about it. I hope it doesn't seem too disjointed.
On the day when we sold our house, we were so excited and Joel and Silas definitely caught the excitement bug from mommy and daddy. First of all, we were all shouting "Yay! The house is sold!" in the car after we got the good news from our realtor. Then we pulled into our driveway and Joel said "What's this? This is not the brown house." He thought we were moving in right then and there. If only it could be that easy!
Once we were inside, the boys were still very excited (mom was too) and Jorie was saying "Woohoo!" Silas copied her by raising his hand in the air and saying "Wooo!" Now whenever Silas is excited, this is his new celebration. He still does the clapping for little things but now for big excitement he raises his arm and says, "Wooo!" Joel's response to Jorie's cheering was to say, "Mommy, we do not yell in the house."
Silas also loves to do animal noises. He will respond with the appropriate noise for just about any animal you can think of. His lion roar is the cutest one. Lately he has been very into jumping off things. Today, he just got daring enough to jump off the second stair. He seems to be quite the little athlete. Recently, Joel and Silas came home from a friend's birthday party with a couple balloons. Bopping the balloons up in the air and trying to catch them was an endless source of entertainment, especially for Silas. He'd try to jump and toss it at the same time for maximum effect, but he could rarely get the timing right and it was hilarious to watch him. Silas is talking a lot more just in the last week. He'll try to say almost anything, really. He loves to try to pop out and surprise you and say "HI!" He also loves calling his brother "Jo-Joel".
Joel understands that we have to keep the house neat for our buyer. The other day, Silas spit some carrots out on the carpet, making a little mess, and Joel said, "Oh no now we cannot get the brown house!"
We recently had a memorial for my mom to remember the 1-year anniversary of her passing away and entering into her eternal life in heaven. It was difficult, but I think it was good to take time out to think about her and reflect on this past year. We've been trying to make sure that Joel always remembers Grandma Donna. He definitely still thinks about her and remembers very specific things about her. One time, he spotted an airplane way up high and he said, "That airplane is bringing Grandma Donna back from heaven." Joel gets sad when he thinks about heaven because the main thing it means to him is that once you go, you can never come back.
I banged my foot on the leg of the loveseat a few nights ago and Joel was so sweet, he came up with the idea of saying a prayer for me. He said, "Please help Daddy's foot heal and make Daddy feel better."
Joel has been going to preschool since the beginning of this month and he LOVES it. He has NO PROBLEM whatsoever saying goodbye to Mommy and running off to play in his classroom. In fact, after coming home and having lunch after his first day of preschool he asked if he could go back and got very upset when he was told that preschool was over for the day. Preschool is only twice a week, but Joel wishes it was every day.