Baby It's Cold

We've spent a lot of time at home since the first of the year. Between the lovely gray Chicago winter and my nesting instincts I have come up with all kinds of projects. We have been busy getting our master bedroom and bathroom done (finally), turning Amelia's room into a room for two, putting shelving in many of our "undershelved" closets and other miscellaneous projects. Mark and Amelia have been very patient putting up with many weekend mornings of Home Depot, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Target, etc. I think their patience and our credit card need a break. We are almost done with all the projects so now we can focus on our last weeks of a family of three.

Amelia has been working on perfecting her makeup applying skills. I don't think brown eye shadow is the best color for her cheeks.

Last week Amelia's new toddler bed arrived. We decided to get it and let her warm up to the idea of a bed instead of her crib. She was so excited and from the moment it was put together she has insisted in sleeping in her, "big girl bed."

Amelia has been very helpful with all the projects. She spackled holes in her closet, unfolded all the clothes that had just been organized and lost screws that were to be put in her new bed.
A happy girl playing on her new bed. She gets so excited to go to sleep in her bed but she has had some trouble falling asleep and waking up at night. We wondered how long it would take her to realize that if she wasn't happy in the bed she could get herself out of it. Well during nap time today we heard some drawers closing and when we went into her room she had taken out a bunch of baby toys (that I had just put away) and was pulling her wipes out of her dresser. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Mama I blow my nose." There is nothing Amelia hates more than having her nose blown so I highly doubt that was what she was doing. Mark was proud of her as he thought that her comment showed that she can think on her feet.

Oh, yes we also got a little bit of snow this week. Chicago Public Schools have not had a snow day since 1999 and they had two this week. Here in Chicago we are pretty tough about snow. So what if you get 6" of snow? Put your boots on and get to the train. The 20" of snow that came Tuesday night sure put the City on pause. Both of our offices were closed Wednesday so we had our first family snow day. Amelia woke-up to Dada outside shoveling. She took this photograph of Dada shoveling while giggling hysterically. I'm not sure why she found Mark shoveling so hilarious but I don't think he was laughing at the four foot snow drifts across our driveway. This was the view out our window at about noon Wednesday. The plows had pilled up so much snow that SUV's had snow within two feet of their roofs and the snow was blowing so hard the streets looked like they had five feet of snow covering them.
What else does a girl do on a snow day in February but bake red velvet cupcakes? Our little Betty Crocker loves to pour the ingredients in the bowl, stir the batter and sit and wait for her goodies to come out of the oven.
The proud baker and her fabulous cupcakes!