Starlings' Flights

2012-10-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

Someone was asking me the other day when my kids really started talking clearly - they were worried about their toddler not talking yet. I couldn't really recall when Chloe started talking well...which means I haven't been doing a good job of recording things. So here's what's going on around here lately...

Mateo:
Talking in complete understandable sentences - with impeccable grammar. It makes my heart pitter-patter, perhaps a grammar nerd like his Momma? :) He doesn't even use contractions... "Chloe, do not do that!" He and Chloe have recently started using the phrase "Capiche?" ...it's pretty cute. He counts to 15 nearly perfectly every time - a result of frequent hide-and-seek games with his big sister. He can almost sing his whole ABCs, another result of his sister's teaching. He has a rather strong will, and frequently says "I will do it myself!". Because of Chloe's afternoon kindergarten, his naps have gone by the wayside, which some days causes meltdowns. He's a master heart-string puller. He loves playing with trains (thanks for the train table ChipCousins!). He frequently says in his soft little voice - "Mommy, I love you..." - that heart-string thing.

Chloe:
With a month of kindergarten under her belt, Chloe is growing into an assertive, whip-smart girl. She's been practicing sight words and reading - getting pretty good. She's a director (similar to how I likely was as a little girl?) - making sure everyone knows exactly what they should or shouldn't be doing. She knows exactly how to push her little brother's buttons and occasionally does so without relent. She is sometimes smarter than us and it's a little scary. Daddy has encouraged bed-making every morning - and with my anti-bed-making-genes, she's figured out if she wears warm enough pajamas she won't need to sleep under the covers and thus won't have to make her bed in the AM. :) She sets the table for supper, clears her dishes - but picking up toys is like water-boarding. She's an expert bicycle rider with no training wheels.

For me, work is super-busy. Still learning lots every day - and still overwhelmed by everything I don't know yet. A few obstacles that have thrown me for a loop - but nothing that makes me want to hide under the covers.
Aaron's working on a bathroom redo - in sloooooooooow stages. :)
And now some pictures - in our usual fall leafy tree spot.

Another kids photoshoot

2012-09-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't have facebook... And I have pics from our trip to VA - but I was having too much fun with these pics after taking them yesterday afternoon....

Summer summer....

2012-07-21T23:34:00.000-05:00

Mateo's learning disc golf

My brown-eyed girl

See-saw fun with Breanna

Lake Pepin on the mighty Mississippi

Picking out his boat...

Happy 4th!!

Jami, MS, RN - I finally made it!!

2012-05-06T21:19:00.001-05:00

Lining up to be hooded!

Dr. Meiers officially "hooding" me!

My #1 Cheerleader!!

My faculty advisor - Dr. Cindy Scherb - thanks for everything!!

Ready for commencement ceremony

Hooded and capped!

See my hat?

Shaking hands with President Ramaley

I have NO idea where she gets her sass...

Thanks for babysitting, Jana. It was sooooo nice to enjoy the day with my hubby and no hyper children!

Easter Weekend with Nana and Wendy

2012-04-10T20:11:00.004-05:00

So Nana, Wendy, and Langston flew into Minneapolis and we got a hotel for Thurs-Sun and explored the Twin Cities together this past weekend. Went to the Children's Museum, Como Zoo, shopping at MOA, we even found the lovely Lyndale Peace Garden to do a Nana and grandkids photoshoot.

Ready for swimming!!

The kids were attached to Nana's hip all weekend!

We attempted a shoot of our family...this was the only good one

All the rest look something like this one! :)

She bumped her forehead on the swinging gate- you'd have thought she'd been shot with all the drama!!

The gorgeous Daddy to my cute kids!! See where Chloe gets her dimples?

She had just licked my cheek....ewww!

St Paddy's Day

2012-03-18T18:06:00.001-05:00

Our weather has been ridiculously warm all week - perhaps a record was broken every day I believe? It should be at least 20 degrees colder for our average...but boy has it been nice, we won't complain!! Yesterday we took some JJ's out to Oxbow and saw the animals for the first time of 2012...some were still in hibernation, but it was loads of fun anyhow! (P.S. All these pictures were taken with my phone...exciting and a little bit sad all at the same time for a digital photographer...)

Aaron's been practicing his super-model suck in your cheeks look... :)

Checking out Mr. Otter up close and personal - they were swimming and sunbathing the whole time we were there! Usually they're sleeping!

I wish my hair looked like this from behind...the girl's curl is almost criminal!

I love these birds....so gorgeous.

Checking out the coyotes...

Wheeeee!

This boy LOVES the sandbox!!

I think our plan to build our own sandbox for their birthday presents is going to be a big hit!

My hunnie bought me a flower....for Saint Patrick's Day....isn't he sweet?!

Pancakes and Play-Doh

2012-03-10T11:12:00.001-06:00

I've been trying to think of a cool way to neatly dispense pancake batter. You know, to draw and write so it's a bit more fun for everyone. Finally found an idea that worked fairly well. Had to make a few adjustments to the bottle as I didn't want to "milk down" the batter.

A condiment bottle!

First up - CHLOE

Second but should have been first - MATEO

He could hardly wait to dig in. I'm lucky to get this picture of all his letters. You can see he's in motion here on his way to get the "M".

One of the faces I drew just for fun...

PLAY TIME WITH MISS MILLER

Had Aurelia over for a few hours last night. She seemed to be missing her mom so I figured I'd get something distracting going. It worked. Good ole Play-Doh!

Mateo at work creating his masterpiece

A normal picture of Chloe! She had her usual cheesy smile going so I asked her questions until she forgot she was having her picture taken. Walah!

Hope you enjoyed!
-Aaron-

Thanksgiving in Orlando

2012-01-07T16:24:00.004-06:00

Ok, So I'm behind. I know, I know.

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Florida. It was we 4 Starlings, Grandma and Grandaddy Bickford, Nana Gracie, Uncle Ben, Uncle Mike and Auntie Wendy and Langston. We had Turkey dinner Wed. evening and Aaron and I spent Thanksgiving Day at Magic Kingdom with the kids. To say that Chloe LOVED it would be a significant understatement. We got some outlet shopping in... and Aaron, Ben, and Mike went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure to see the Harry Potter park... And we managed to swim in the pool almost every day. Certainly an enjoyable trip!

New York City...flying into Newark. Good thing for the moving sidewalks to entertain the kids during our several hour layover. I think we rode it back and forth at least 100 times.

Langston!!

Fall photo shoot

2011-10-29T23:08:00.002-05:00

Took the kids out to try and get some portrait quality photos this afternoon....didn't get any quite as good as last year's....but they're cute anyhow!!

My little man

Wish my hair looked like that from the back!!

She was saying peek-a-boo

Wish I had focused on her face and not the tree bark...but it's still cute!

She keeps doing this cheesy fake smile, so you have to tell her, "CHLOE, DON'T SMILE" and then she giggles

My blue-eyed charmer...

Mateo did NOT like this sitting down for a picture idea...he'd rather be motorin around..(And there's Chloe's cheese smile)

Day at the Orchard

2011-10-03T00:09:00.003-05:00

We took the kids out to Apple Ridge Orchard Saturday...cool fall air, warm sunshine, pumpkins, apples, animals, tractor-wagon ride...doesn't get any more fun than that!!

We attempted to get all three kids with their pumpkins...they were all interested in something else.

Mateo is liking hugs from big sister less and less...

Mateo was also trying to feed them his corn, but he was quite distraught when the hungry goat wanted to steal the whole cob...he didn't want to share!

Look of mischief?

He was loving the short orchard trees that made him feel big and tall when he stood underneath...it was quite cute!

BOO. Check out those hoodlums!

Camera is out! Time to be goofy!

2011-09-28T00:31:00.000-05:00

As soon as the camera comes out Chloe generally starts making all sorts of goofy faces and acting silly. Half of the pictures I take are ones that will only be seen at her high school graduation ceremony. Mwahahahahaha!!

Mateo sort of started to get in on some of the fun once he saw his sister was having a grand ole time.

Dropped his milk. This is serious.

Chloe being her usual goofy self.

Good times. Good times.

Oxbow Park

2011-09-24T15:53:00.003-05:00

It's getting close to the end of summer so trips like this will unfortunately have to come to an end shortly. Jami and the kids took a trip out to Oxbow Park/Zoo where they have local animals you can see up close. It's kinda small but fun for the kids. They have some animals you can pet and feed grass to but for some reason they haven't allowed the kids to pet and feed the bear or bobcat.

Unfortunately we don't go here as often as we should and we'll miss going here during the winter. Also, this post is more just to get some pictures out there for those who really just want to look at pictures. BUT...I do intend to get some other posts going at some point that don't necessarily include the kids. After all it's not just about the kids. Okay yes it is but at any rate I'll be trying to think of something else to blog about occasionally and your input would be appreciated! Ideas anyone?

2011-09-21T00:29:00.005-05:00

Oh dear. I hope you're all ready for this. My first blog posting on here. Actually, if any of you are avid followers to this blog you'd know I have in fact posted once before. Once. In interviewing for this position my experience blew all of my competitors away. Clearly. So here we go.

Mateo has learned that copying his sister is way cool. It is. In most cases. Trying to get Chloe to understand that what she does isn't always suitable for a 1yr old is challenge #217 right now. It's cute anyway.

See the progression here? Mmm Hmm! I'm looking into installing safety nets at the bottom of our stairs. Both Mateo and Chloe have fallen down these stairs in the past couple weeks. The entire flight of stairs. Now I understand where flight of stairs comes from.

And they also each have a balloon from Nana which they have enjoyed playing with. On the stairs.

Since July 4th....

2011-08-28T13:15:00.002-05:00

Okay, photo-editing keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list...but here's what we've done since July 4th weekend in VA.

Celebrated Jana's birthday with boursin chicken and yummy Daube's cake with hat's made by Chloe.
Celebrated my birthday.
Bought a mini-van (a Honda Odyssey from Mum)...Aaron flew out to VA and drove it home (Straight through in one day!). No it was not my birthday present, as much as Aaron would like to convince me so...(see #4 for my birthday present)
Drove aforementioned van ~1300 miles each way out to Milford, NH for convention. Jana, Aurelia, and Autumn all went with us. We can affirm that it is a great road-tripping vehicle. We can also affirm that driving straight through the night is helpful with kids asleep, but not so helpful for the adults doing the driving. It was heart-warming and uplifting to see all the family and friends from New England.... We even got some more Langston cuddles in.
Made a quick trip to Iowa for Reid's first birthday!
Celebrated Aaron's birthday (he got a projector this summer that's his birthday/anniversary present for the next few years).
Said farewell to the Layden family as they left for their Great Adventure to the West.
Aaron has "retired" from American Airlines. Yes, that means we no longer have flying benefits. However, anytime we've tried to use them lately we can't get where we want to with flights chock full! Plus, when Mateo turns two in April we'll need 4 seats...nearly impossible on standby. With my work/school schedule this fall we knew there wouldn't be any feasibility to Aaron getting work hours in or even traveling anywhere for that matter. We're also hoping it will encourage family to come see us more (hint, hint)!!
I have started my final year of grad school. Start stock-piling your fireworks because the celebration in May is going to be a seriously huge one. 2 classes + 120 clinical hours this fall, 1 class + 120 clinical hours in the spring. I will be done in less time than it takes to fully gestate a human. It is not possible for me to convey my excitement through the two-dimensional black and whiteness of these words.
I am applying for an administrative fellowship at Mayo. It would mean rotations through all the management areas (finance, HR, research, operations- all the stuff a healthcare organization does) for two years. It's apparently highly competitive, but they can't say yes/no if I don't apply, so I'm applying, in spite of all the nay-sayers!
I will make it an item on Aaron's to-do list to take photos and post them on here....since his full-time job now is Daddy...he can take over the blog, right?! Ha. :)

Gillis Grandkids Photoshoot

2011-07-09T16:53:00.007-05:00

Nana got matching outfits for her three grandkids, so we staged a photoshoot in Wendy's front yard with all three dressed up!

I'm concerned that Chloe seems to be mastering the art of being coy...

Sweet baby Langston...

Smooooooooch. Mateo was definitely pleased!

Concerned about Langston's discontent....or are they?

Here, this will cheer you up, Langston!!

Random weirdness

2011-06-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

The Chloe Baby Bump with the Eiffel Tower!!

So this blog I follow is giving away a trip to Paris for 2!! How cool would that be to win?!
And it happened the same week I reconnected with my highschool french teacher on Facebook. I think it's a sign. Aaron and I NEED to go back to Paris!!

Gramma & Grampa's April Visit

2011-05-25T19:25:00.007-05:00

April was a busy month....and that's in addition to me getting schoolwork completed!

Gramma and Grampa came for a visit...

Grampa wanted to make a Russian Fairytale Cake....it was an all-morning affair!!

Tasted....different. Quite dense...but the chocolate on top was good!

Chloe closing her eyes while her birthday present from Gramma and Grampa was placed on the floor in front of her....keep em shut tight!!

What is it?!! I think she was happy!!

A new bike!!!! We picked out Lightning McQueen...not very girly, we know- but at least Mateo will be able to use it...and she loves "Lightning A-Queen" so it was perfect!!

Riding her bike.. And Mateo's birthday present from us- a ride-along car that we can push!

My goofy kids

Can't believe you're 4 already!!

My hamming little one-year old!!

Going for a ride in the wagon....this was the kids' birthday presents last year from Gramma and Grandaddy Bickford!!

Miss Aurelia and Mister Mateo....hope they'll always like playing together as much as they do now!!

March...ing on.

2011-05-21T17:01:00.003-05:00

While Chloe and I were in Virginia for Wendy's birthday weekend, Jana was busy at home transforming Chloe's bedroom! Who could ask for a better friend?! Here's the end result...definitely MORE girly than the plain white walls of before!

We had "Irish Potluck" at Jon and Shannon's with some ping-pong action....I only ended up getting a few pictures, but here are the ones I caught!

Breanna's about to smack that ball!

The sweet Postma family!!

They're only 3 months apart- but I think Mateo's the same size or bigger!

I despise you....

My blue-eyed charmer!!

Reece!

Happy Birthday Wendy!

2011-05-14T14:46:00.009-05:00

So back at the beginning of March, Chloe and I flew to VA for a girls weekend with Auntie Wendy to celebrate her birthday. We helped Wendy do her baby registry....did the Richmond Art Walk.... saw the Picasso exhibit at the Richmond Art Museum....met up with Jen and Hunter at the Richmond children's museum....had some dinner with Gram and Gramp and dad....went to meeting with Mum and Uncle Leslie was there.....saw the Smuckers Stars on Ice figure-skating show (including Evan Lysacek!!!)....had some deelish mexican in DC....spent the night at a "ho-motel" as Chloe calls them....and flew back home first thing Monday morning.....a whirlwind of fun!!

Beautee-full Nana

My gorgeous brown-eyed girl....

Ping-pong at Grampie's

A Ben hatchling!!

Picking apples and playing in the water pool at the children's museum....

Cuddly dinosaurs!!

Bbq lunch at Buz and Ned's in Richmond....mmmmmmgood.

Tom's dropsy foot....

Kissin the blue-man....

Me n my sis....

Picasso!!!

Using Auntie Wendy's sketch book while we wait in line....

Them'er my family!

Uncle Tom!

Cutesy-tootsy

Calculus discussion waitin in line...

Bear with me....

2011-05-08T15:47:00.009-05:00

Here are more photos from February. I know....I know....It's MAY....I'm WAY behind!!!!!!

This picture makes me laugh.....see even though my kids are so photogenic....not EVERY photo I take of them is amazing....heehee. I love the normalcy of this shot....Chloe's hair looks like it hasn't been combed in DAYS....Mateo's got a cold with snot and drool EVERYWHERE....and he's clearly thinking, "How could you take a picture of me like this, Mum!?"

This is a look of disdain. From my baby...!

Do you think there's any mischief in those brown eyes?! HA...

Miss Aurelia

How we spent the majority of February....digging out from snow.

Mateo's perch watchin the excitement outside

Aaron and I got a bowling date in February....for Valentine's day!

Bring your lover....

2011-02-20T16:39:00.004-06:00

We hosted a Post-Valentine's couples party Friday evening....it was so nice to have adult interaction other than coworkers or online discussion boards for school!! We baked potatoes and chili and everyone else brought dessert.... and we had an arm-wrestling competition for some light-hearted fun. The Gunnarsons took home the trophy....and Jon even wrestled left-handed....apparently he's a big deal in the arm-wrestling world.

My apologies

2011-02-14T21:38:00.004-06:00

I'm sorry for the blog silence. School is killing me. Maybe I can convince Aaron to do blog posts? HA....that'll be the day.

So we had our thesis defense on 1/31. Worst academic experience of my life (and I thought I had a pretty diverse portfolio so far...Rappahannock....UVA....poster presentations at nursing fairs....etc). I've used the following analogy to describe it to a few people. Picture someone standing across the street from you (thesis advisor).....gently encouraging you to step off the curb, teaching you to look both ways, how to carefully put one foot in front of the other.....you're finally past the middle line, it's been smooth sailing across one lane....now to cross the other lane....step by step....almost to the opposite curb...then BAM.....gigantic bus hits you out of nowhere. Um hello? Thesis advisor? Weren't you supposed to be coaching me through this? Anyhoo....we got the "Congratulations! You've successfully defended your thesis!! (After sitting with them for 2.5 hours as they ripped it to shreds)....We're gonna give you a B....and you have to fix this and this and this and this and this and...." well you get the picture. If self-esteem boosting is what you're in need of, don't expect it at a thesis defense.

At least I get to come home to these cuties every day....and they love me even if my thesis is B grade...!

And now I'm gonna steal this from my lovely cousin Ellie who lives across the pond at the moment..... I'm avoiding discussion responses and thesis revisions....this is much more fun! It likely won't be as amusing as her responses, but indulge me?

Fill in after the bold words...

1. I want someone to clean my house from top to bottom and get rid of all the clutter because I know it would make my husband deliriously happy and I don't have time to do it.

2. I love curling up under cozy covers with a book that has nothing to do with management concepts or health informatics or hydration status in elderly psychiatric patients.
3. People would say that I'm superwoman, but that's because they don't see me curled in the fetal position crying myself to sleep every night.
4. I don't understand the pervasiveness of anacoluthia amongst my graduate level classmates who already hold management positions. How did you get there?!.
5. When I wake up in the morning, the house is totally silent and I try my best to maintain that, but occasionally my clutziness derails that plan.
6. I lost my sanity somewhere during the past year and a half...maybe at the end of grad school it will miraculously return?.
7. Life is a bowl of cherries, unfortunately I can't stand the taste of cherries. Whose idea was that?!

8. My past is becoming less and less complicated compared to my present.

9. I get annoyed when Chloe repeats the same sentence 45,000 times in a row, but then I remember she's a three year old and her attention span is approximately 4 seconds long.
10. Parties are depressingly absent from my life...except for the couples party I'm hosting at the Starling LoveNest this coming Friday evening. Will there be an arm-wrestling tournament? Why yes, there will be!.
11. I wish I had a personal assistant who could carry out mundane tasks for me every day while I work on the important stuff....or maybe I'd want her to do the major stuff and I could slack off on the mundane things.
12. Dogs are cute in theory, but my allergies and dislike of slobber disprove that theory.
13. Cats cause near anaphylaxis for me, so sadly I cannot be friends with them at all.
14. Tomorrow I will get up and jump on the hamster wheel again after too few hours of sleep.
15. I have low tolerance for poor grammar. Make that zero tolerance.
16. I'm totally terrified of heights. Couldn't even do the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I know, right?!
17. I wonder if this whole going to grad school thing is gonna end up being worth the headache and gray hairs.
18. Never in my life will I like the taste of pickles.
19. High school was thankfully a long time ago. I see high-school kids on the city bus every morning and wonder if I was that ridiculous and inane?.
20. When I'm nervous I tend to forget to breathe regularly.
21. One time at a family gathering I took a whole bunch of awesome family photos, took them to Walgreens to get them developed, and Walgreens RUINED the film. I learned to never take film to Walgreens. EVER.
22. Take my advice: Don't apply to Winona State University's Nursing Administration Master's program.
23. Making my bed is something my husband does for some strange reason. I think it's a totally wasted effort.
24. I'm almost always dreaming about the penthouse I will someday own in Paris overlooking the Seine.
25. I'm addicted to food...and not the healthy stuff.
26. Maybe I should tell my professor how I really feel about her.

2010 Photo Collage

2011-01-10T19:13:00.004-06:00

Here's the Happy New Year card I'm working on getting sent out to everyone....it's coming soon, I promise!!

And here's the rest of the year in photo-collage.... :)

It's really hard to narrow down to just a few pictures from each month....I guess I take too many of em!

Family photo shoot on the beach

2010-12-22T21:59:00.004-06:00

So we attempted to get a family photo while we were in Florida...probably should have gone out earlier in the morning because the sun was hot and bright.....but I think we got a few good ones....

I like the set-up of this one, but there's too much shadow on my face....

This one's cute....not sure what both kids are looking at...? :)

I tried photo-shopping my face from another one into this one, but couldn't get it just right...

A photo of me that I actually like!!

I think this one is my favorite....I'm not sure if either kid really looks like one of us?! ;) HA

Love my darling husband...

Got some of Nana with her grandbabies too....

I love this one....

Chloe was very concerned that her skirt was gonna get wet or sandy or something....who knows!

Then we had to get a few of the good-lookin kids giving Nana her next grandkid....

It's a crime to be this photogenic, you two!!

Crazy lovebirds....

Iowegian Halloween

2010-11-01T23:29:00.003-05:00

The Starling Kidlets.... a fairy, 2 vampires, and Mario

My roaring lion....

My cute little fairy

Sigh...even when they don't cooperate for a photo, they're still cute!!

If you want to see the whole weekend of pictures......they're here