a little boat

we set sail on sunday!!!

our (new) new year's

i read on facebook last night

about a woman who was once told this charmer:

"kids don't change your life."

i can't say if she believed it or not

(that would be another post on another blog, because, hello),

but she, and other mothers, 

started referring to their "unchanged" lives

with more than a little humor.

"its 930pm-

i've been in pajamas for hours."

"i can barely keep my eyes open...

there's no way i'm gonna make it."

"i'm spending my news years watching tv 

with the baby monitor in hand!"

they cracked me up.

our new year's was spent as such:

mark, making a target run for diapers and bum goop.

(this just has to be the last box. tell me it is. please.)

me, perched on the couch, cranberry juice in hand.

(these joints, i tell you. these joints.)

joshua, alternating between candyland, spelling puzzles 

and his supersized car mat.

(his new year's kicked bum.)

bedtime for the shu: 845.

bedtime for us: 1030.

before we called it a year, however,

i was able to meet the requests for more ShuaCam.

i'll spare you the outtakes, that truly only a mother could love,

and just give you this one. my favorite.

when we refer to "Hansy's car,"

we mean the little green porche 914 

on the back corner of the mat.

shu just up and named it Hansy one day,

and, believe you me, the name stuck :)

happy new year, everyone!

dear hansy...

 

the field museum

the stroessler men.

and he's off... rumor is there are dino bones inside.

'dino bones, hansy? please? i love them. just ask Our Betsy!'

shua meets Sue.

if you are lucky enough to know hansy, ask him the story behind these deer. fantastic.

a pteranadon and a t rex mural. home away from home.

if you ask shu what he saw in chicago, he'll most likely answer "trains." if you ask him what else he might have seen, he'll most likely say "t rex and 2 big huge elephants."

mac & cheese, oj, and chicago. sigh.

the ginormous, moving, responds-to-what-moves-around-her Sue. we weren't too sure about her at first.

so we moved to a safer locale.

slowly, we moved forward and eventually made it up front. sadly, no pictures of the bravery. my hand was being held hostage :)

stroesslers: out.

a boy and his hansy.

now, i'm sure you can imagine how tired a dude can get

when faced with a dino spectacular such as this.

because, truly,

a dude can get tired.

real, real tired.

sweet home wrigley

do you have a happy place?

because we do.

we hung out there last saturday.

heading into the fun

a stroessler trifecta

one of my favorite parts: the miller lite billboard. (we played the cardinals.)

taking it in

men walking around with buckets of hot dogs? definitely a happy place.

whoa, dada. back off the hebrew national.

it is all mine.

look at those shiny eyes! he's in love, he's in love, and he don't care who knows it!**

rolling out after the W flag was raised.

the 7th inning stretch... sung by jim belushi 

and a few thousand of his friends :)

(joshua looks confused because this is one of his bedtime songs!)

**be the first to name that movie reference, 

and you'll be the receiver of the next Scribble Card!

three stroesslers

couch antics

the pink-striped couch is legendary in the chicago-based stroesslerland. its one of the things i'm always telling gigi i'm looking forward to --
"i can't wait to hang out on the pink-striped couch."
as ridiculous as it sounds, i'm completely serious. i love this couch.

we've fought over who gets to sleep there, thrown the delightfully countless pillows off in fits of glee or frustration, and cuddled up for many a viewing of The Grinch on christmas eve. its comfy, consistent; i can't get enough.

and now, neither can shua.
so long as he has his hansy and his fast car shoes, the couch will live on.

you may also want to note the serious lack of camera-shyness in this kid. as soon as he realizes i'm filming, you better believe he's ready to roll.