I had actually written most of this post last night and had to update it this evening with some sad news. Our pug, Remy, has gone to doggy heaven. Remy started to go down hill a few weeks ago and we knew at Thanksgiving that our time with him was limited, but he took a turn for the worse yesterday and then today he was so miserable we knew it was time. I have had Remy for 14 1/2 years and can still remember bringing him home to our apartment our first weekend of living in Chicago. I had just graduated from college in 2003 and moved to Chicago with Alan. Remy was a graduation gift from Alan and my first baby. We lived on the 6th floor of our apartment when we got Remy and potty training in an apartment building was interesting. He barely made it outside, in fact he usually made it to the elevator and then thought this was his bathroom. We eventually litterbox trained him (yes I promise he was a dog) and this worked great in our apartment until he decided he wanted to lift his leg to go potty like the other dogs at the dog park. Then the floor lamp became his bathroom, and for some reason Alan insisted that he learn how to go to the bathroom outside. He figured it out just in time for us to move back to Minnesota in the winter! I of course got him booties for his little paws for his first MN winter. We got Remy a few weeks before Alan's mom, Paula, passed away and he was a wonderful distraction during that difficult time. He moved all over with us and loved all three of our kiddos. He was an important part of our family and was with Alan and I through the best and hardest parts of our life together. Unfortunately, when we moved to Connecticut our lease didn't allow for pets so he stayed in Eagan with my parents and brother. He probably loved that more and got a lot more attention the last few months with them, but I'm sad his last few months were apart from us. We will miss his snoring, hairy snuggles, and his high maintenance lifestyle:). We loved our sweet pug.
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My mom took pictures of each kid with Remy at Thanksgiving |
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It's hard to transition into much else after that, but we have been having a great couple of weeks getting ready for and enjoying the holiday season. We were in Minnesota for about 10 days over Thanksgiving. It got off to a rocky start when I left my phone at the airport, right after reprimanding Charlie for leaving our iPad in the car. Sorry, buddy! Luckily someone found it and turned it in and Alan was able to get it for me when he was back in CT for work that week. It made for an interesting few days being phone-less when I was trying to make plans with everyone back home. We made it work, but I don't have a ton of pictures because of this. Our first day home the kids played with their neighbor friends from the moment they were up until the minute they went to bed. We had really missed our neighbors and it was great to reconnect with everyone. I had my parents around so I pretty much took a PTO week and enjoyed shopping by myself, meeting up with my friends in the evenings, and sleeping in most morning. It was wonderful! The kids were also really excited that we were able to celebrate their cousin's 3rd birthday while we were in town! We got see a lot of friends and family that week and it was pretty difficult to think about coming back to Connecticut at the end of the week. It had been 4 months since we had been home and you sort of forget what it feels like to have a village. We definitely missed it. But, unexpectedly, when we got back to West Hartford it felt good to be "home" and get settled back into our routine. We also knew that we would be back to MN in a few weeks for Christmas.
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| Celebrating Michael's 3rd Birthday |
Back in West Hartford the weekend after Thanksgiving Grandma and Grandpa Elder came out to visit and watch the kids. The first night they were in town we went the center for the Holiday Stroll. The kids got a chance to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Jack, who has never asked for a specific present for any birthday or holiday in his 4 1/2 years is now asking Santa for a drum set. Seriously? A drum set? Wish us luck on that. Who does Santa disappoint? Jack or his parents? Alan and I actually headed back to Minnesota for about 30 hours for Alan's holiday party for work. This is always a highlight of the holiday season and we had a great time, too much fun based on how I was feeling Sunday morning. Back in West Hartford, Grandma and Grandpa were running the kids all over for hockey, basketball, and birthday parties! The kids loved having them here and they were sad when they left after the long weekend here. We really appreciated having them come all the way out here so that we could make it to the holiday party!
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| Santa and Mrs. Claus |
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| PNA Holiday Party @ The Varsity |
This last weekend we got our first snowfall in Connecticut! The kids loved every minute of it. They spent most of the day Saturday and Sunday outside playing in the snow. We also made our annual gingerbread house. It was a total failure this year, but the kids didn't care and decorated our masterpiece just the same. On Sunday we took the kids on the North Pole Express Train ride. We went with a couple of friends from Charlie's class and their parents. We went to the North Pole, picked up Santa and Mrs. Claus, had a dance party, and got to have hot chocolate and cookies, all while in our comfy pajamas. The kids loved it and having the snow made it even more magical. They have something similar back in MN, but we had never done it before. It is fun when you can find an activity that is great for all the kids to enjoy.
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| #gingerbreadfail |
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| Our first snowfall |
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| Playing in the snow |
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| Waiting to head to the North Pole |
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| Mrs. Claus |
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| Kaylee's face when she tried the hot chocolate that was too hot |
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| Santa! |
In between all of this we have been busy with hockey, basketball, boy scouts and getting ready for the holidays. We went and got our Christmas tree a few weeks ago. We got a small one this year since we won't actually be here for Christmas and most of our gifts have been sent to Minnesota. We also don't have a ton of Christmas decorations put up this year, because I didn't bring any out to Connecticut with us. We left them in Minnesota so that my parents could decorate our house for when we came home. While this seemed like a good plan in theory, I am missing all the decorations around the house. I went and bought a few, but not a lot. We are finding it to be an adjustment with living in one place, but celebrating in another place and how to manage all of that this year. We have had to travel in other years, but never so far away and figuring out Santa's logistics has caused some silly issues as well. The kids are really concerned with how Santa will be getting to them this year. Will they bring everything to Minnesota? How will we get it home? Will Santa remember that we won't be in Connecticut? What if our alarm is set, how does Santa get in? Soooo many questions! If we decide to stay in Connecticut we will likely try and spend part of the Christmas holiday here so we can wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning. This year is unique, because we have our home in Eagan, so while we are traveling the kids will still get to wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning. We can't wait to get home and be with our family for the holidays and our countdown is on!
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| Picking out our Christmas Tree |
Thanks for reading the blog and for caring about our family. We feel really lucky to have such a great support system even though many of you are so far away. We are starting to make some really great connections and friendships out here in Connecticut too, which we are so grateful for. I love this time of the year and we are trying to make some new memories here in Connecticut. We definitely miss being home surrounded by family and friends during this time of year, but we are finding that we are able to make our own new traditions with our kiddos and that has been fun for everyone! We hope everyone has a great holiday and we hope to see many of you while we are home in a few weeks! A special thanks to my parents and brother who had to take Remy to the vet today and be there with him at the end. It was a sad day and hard to be 1300 miles away from him, but we are thankful he was in such good hands. He will be missed.
XOXO
