During the Blizzard

This is what it looked like through our front window during the blizzard the continued on Wednesday morning:

And out the back door:

Out of my bedroom window:

And out the side door:

Inside, we opened gifts from my Aunt Babz - she sent a gift for Charlie's birthday and included something for Eli too, which was very thoughtful. I was glad to have something new for the kids to play with while we were cooped up inside for a couple days.

Eli named his puppy, Boots because she has white paws.

 And Charlie loved his Big Boy bank - 

Babz also sent this awesome frog bag (for me), but Charlie took quite a liking to it :)

A few days later when we finally emerged from the house, I bargained with Charlie that he could bring the frog bag along in the car if he wore his real coat (because after the blizzard, we had subzero temps and I wasn't okay with Charlie just wearing his hoodie outside). 

View of our alley after the snow finally stopped - we got about 20+ inches of snow, but the wind blew these huge snow drifts up against the garages in the alley. Ben did manage to get in to work that day, but this is what he had to climb through for five or so blocks, then he waited outside in the blizzard at the el platform for 25 minutes before a train showed up. At the end of the day, he walked all the way to the Metra station, only to find that those trains were running the Sunday schedule (since there was hardly anyone downtown that day) and there wasn't a train anytime soon. Then he trekked over to the nearest el station, but the normal express train wasn't running... oh he was so frustrated. It took him almost two hours to finally get home on Wednesday. 

Santa is My Homeboy

My very thoughtful Aunt Babz sent Eli the cutest gift for turning 18 months old! A Santa is My Homeboy shirt and a santa hat :) So cute!! Here he is checking it out:

Looking at her cute card:

Trying on the soft hat:

Thank you Babz! Eli loved having presents to open and especially loves pointing at the shirt saying, "Santa!"

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

My brother Davey spent the weekend with us last weekend, and our Aunt Babz sent Davey and Eli matching Beverly Hills Chihuahua t-shirts and movie posters (she works for Disney).

Eli's shirt is a little roomy for now, but he loves having a shirt with a "dog dog" on it :) Thanks Babz!

Cutest Apron EVER!!

Today we received the most darling package from my Aunt Babz. She has a talent for wrapping things beautifully and for finding really neat things. The package was for Eli as a housewarming gift. I squealed when we opened it up and saw what was inside:

a kid-sized FROG apron!!

I absolutely love frog things. Isn't this apron so darling??

Eli was still in his pj's, but he had to try it on right away.

Thank you so much! It will be so fun for him to wear this cute apron when we cook and bake together. I think it made him feel like such a big boy and really special. We love it!

Fun Birthday Package

Yesterday a birthday package for Eli arrived from my Aunt Babz and cousins Michael and Sarah. He was very excited to open more presents, and gifts from Aunt Babz are always extra special! There was a beautiful card and the gifts were wrapped in fun frog birthday paper.

In the package: the Beatles "1" CD and a matching Beatles "1" onesie!

I think he's a fan of the Beatles.
Here he is in the fun onesie. (We've had a hard day today, so I wasn't very successful in getting a really happy shot of Eli in this, but maybe the next time he wears it...) I thought this gift was so thoughtful and creative. Thank you so much!!
On a side note... we have had a crazy 24 hrs. It involves our piece of junk, 94 Altima, that Ben and Steve drove for 4 1/2 hours to go fishing in the North Woods of Wisconsin. More details to come, but it involves the car breaking down in the middle of nowhere and a stranger coming to their aid! (The story isn't over yet, so I don't know the ending! :)