I look Stupid!!!

This morning Jeremiah dressed up in his pirate bandana, construction goggles, sword and shield (tupperware lid).  I told him he looked silly...he proclaimed "I don't look silly, I look stupid."  

Missing Imhotep

This past week we went on Vacation to CA.  I traveled with the boys...by myself...I will create a completely separate posting about that with pics.  Never the less, while we were gone Imhotep (EMO) or dog was being watched by an old co-worker of mine.  Unfortunately it rained and when it rains he digs in the mud.  He tracked in muddy prints throughout the downstairs with twigs and leafs.  But the sad part is that he got out on Monday night and has yet to be seen since.  He has a collar with number on it and most of the neighbors know him.  Anyway, today the boys and I are going on Imoquest...wish us luck.

Jesus Loves Me

I walked into Jeremiah's room tonight to hear him singing Jesus Loves Me.  This is how it went...

J-For the Bible tells me so

Me-Jesus loves me this I  know

J-No Mommy... Jesus no hit me this I know for the Bible tells me so, Daddy tickle me this I know for the Bible tells me so.  Yes the Bible loves me for Daddy tells me so.

The chase is on...

This video is a little old (about a month) but I am finally getting around to posting it. I have another one but I can't seem to get it to load properly. Enjoy...THE CHASE.

Bluebonnets

One of the prettiest aspects of living in Austin is the Bluebonnets that grow wild in the Spring. Local tradition involves forcing children to sit in them and take adorable pictures. This is as adorable as a forced photo session can get around our house.

Rolling with my Homies!

I don't really need to explain....I thought I had at least 13 more years.

Home furnishings - Opinions?

We are trying to make our living room a bit warmer.  The white walls are so blah but cost way too much to paint.  So we have done a couple changes and I need opinions.  We put some sconces with candles on the stairs, new curtains, cute photo frame near the kitchen and a very colorful painting in the dining room.  I like all of what we have done but am unsure about the painting above the couch.  Take a look and let me know.  

Dodging Davis

We allow Jeremiah to eat breakfast in the living room while watching cartoons in the morning.  Now that Davis is all over the place Jeremiah is always on the defense with his food.  This morning he got wise and found a place to watch his cartoons and eat in peace.

God made the Fish and Rocks!

We are currently fish sitting "the fish" for the Beards while they are in CA.  This morning we fed the fish and Jeremiah was patiently waiting for the fish to eat.  He began the normal string of why questions.  Why is there water?  Why is the fish in water? Why are there rocks in the water?  Then he said "God made the Fish and Rocks."  I was impressed, he proceeded to say "and God made me, God made Mommy, God made Daddy and God made Davis."  It was so sweet.

Waxing Philosophical

The other day Ben was lying on the couch and Jeremiah was climbing all over him, as he is prone to doing. He then jumped on Ben's stomach and Ben said "ouch." Jeremiah, in a very consoling voice, said "Don't worry Daddy, boo-boos can only get better." Ahh, blind optimism.

Blueberry Love!

Davis is teething so I decided to let him enjoy some frozen blueberries.  I remembered that it really helped Jeremiah, not to mention he LOVED them.  I guess I forgot the mess of the blueberry.  Here are pictures of the boys enjoying their frozen berries.  The top two are Jeremiah just before his first birthday followed by Davis at nine months...I still think Davis is much bigger.

9 Month Check Up

Davis had his nine month check up on Friday and all is well.  He is a happy, healthy baby with two teeth on the bottom (the second one popped in on Thursday night).  His percentages have gone down but that is to be expected considering how mobile he is now days.  He is 20.2lbs (50%) and 29 inches long (75%) close to Jeremiah at the same age, he was 19.4lbs and 28 inches long.  It is funny since I can't help but to think of Davis as being so much bigger than J was.  He is eating most everything we are willing to give him and Jeremiah is very gracious with his food.  They are so much fun to watch together, they are very interactive and seem to really love each other.

Bath Time Fun

It is so much fun to see the boys really becoming interested in each other. They play together now and laugh at each other all of the time, it is really sweet. So for grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends....here are the boys in the tub.

Hot Dog!!!

Last week I watched a Arias and Titus one afternoon. The kids were having a great time dancing in the kitchen so I grabbed my camera to capture the moment.

Smart Baby or Lab Rat

On Friday Davis and I took a journey to the University of Texas at Austin (UT) Department of Psychology Children's Research Laboratory.  We got a call earlier in the week asking if we were willing to participate in a study on how infants discriminate small numerosities (specifically two versus three).  I thought this would be fun so we volunteered.

The procedure was rather simple.  I held Davis on my lap while he watched images on a computer monitor.  I was asked to close my eyes because babies are very connected and sensitive to the feelings of their caregiver.  I was told that the images were safe, birds, trucks, etc. so I agreed.  We will be receiving a newsletter once the testing is all done and the final results are in.  It was a nice experience, the staff and students were great and they all loved Davis.  He got a gift upon departure and happily drooled all over it as we left.  They asked if we were willing to do any additional tests in the future and we said, well I said, yes.   

Nightmares

At 12:40am this morning, Ben went into Jeremiah's room because of blood-curdling screams. Jeremiah was having his first nightmare. The covers were torn from the bed and Jeremiah was sitting up in a cold sweat. When Ben asked what was wrong, Jeremiah whimpered "chench coast." Ben couldn't understand. 

Ben: What do you need?

Jeremiah: Chench Coast.

Ben: New clothes, do you need new clothes?

J: Chench Coast.

Ben: You have cold toes?

J: Chench Coast (screaming), no Chench Coast.

Ben: You need to blow your nose?

J: No, Chench Coast (whimpering), Chench Coast.

Ben: (long pause) Wait, french toast? Do you want french toast.

J: French Toast. Imho get my french toast.

That is our child's deepest subconscious fear. Not monsters or burglars or even giant snakes, but the dog eating his french toast.

Baby Dedication February 15, 2009

Today was the annual Baby Dedication at our Church.  There were 27 babies dedicated this morning.  Can you find Davis?  (Hint: bottom right) 

Naked Exercises!

I admit, I have sequence headbands, I don't wear them but they came in the package with the other headbands that I wear to keep my hair out of my eyes when I exercise.  This morning we opted to exercise at home instead of the gym.  I was getting myself together when Jeremiah ran into the bathroom to go potty.  That is when it happened, he stripped down naked and said he wanted to swim.  I told him he could pretend swim for five minutes.  I walked out of the bathroom to grab my shoes and clothes for Jeremiah.  That is when Jeremiah decided to meet me downstairs.  When I got downstairs there he was stark naked, sequence headbands, on the eliptical machine.  So I had to take a picture.    

Giant Baby Gate

Davis (8 months) is fully crawling, pulling up and cruising on furniture.  Great!  We have giant stairs, therefore we had to get a giant baby gate.  We searched for the best rated one and found the only one that will fit.  Jeremiah and Davis helped Daddy install it and now we have a beautiful addition to the house.

Mo Willems at BookPeople

Jeremiah is a big fan of all Mo Willems books.  He loves Leonardo the Terrible Monster, any and all of the Pigeon books and has just discovered the Knuffle Bunny and Elephant & Piggie books.  That being said last weekend BookPeople, our local book store, had a reading and book signing with Mo himself.  He has a new book The Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and Jeremiah thinks it is fantastic.  He was a riot during the reading laughing at all of the jokes and just being very sweet.  We stood in line to get our book signed and Jeremiah told him that he enjoyed his books (I might have encouraged that).  Anyway, here are some pics of Jeremiah's favorite Author to date.

Jeremiah's Personality

We have had several funny conversations with Jeremiah the past couple of days and I have to share them.  

I took Jeremiah to the child care at the gym and when I picked him up he was playing with this sweet "older" girl.  When I got home I told Ben about it and he began to ask Jeremiah questions about this little girl.  The conversation went something like this...

Ben: Jeremiah did you make a new friend at the gym?

J: Yes

Ben: What is her name?

J: Um, I don't know.

Ben: What did she look like?

J: Um, I don't know.

Ben: Was she taller or smaller than you?

J: Taller.

Ben: Was she older or younger than you?

J: Older.

Ben: Was she pretty?

J: Um, I don't, Um, I don't, well.

Ben: Was she pretty like mommy?

J: UMMMMM.  She was like mommy.

Ben: How was she like mommy?

J: Um, well, I don't, uhh, happy, I don't know.

I figure this is just the beginning of us grilling him for information about a girl and him giving us as little as possible.  

The second conversation was during lunch the same day. Ben has cut J's PB&J in the shape of dinosaurs. Jeremiah often likes to bite the top off and say "I bit his head off." Nice and morbid, but today he ate most of the sandwich and then asked for candy. We told him he needed to finish his sandwich, and Ben commented that the dinosaur's butt was still there. Thus Jeremiah quickly popped it in his mouth and exclaimed "I ate his butt, I ate his butt." We're so proud.

This morning we were watching cartoons.  Jeremiah loves "Super Why" and when it came on he shouted "Mommy Super Why is on...I need to give you a kiss!"

Jeremiah Turns Three!

January 7th was Jeremiah's third birthday. We were still in Tennessee, so he didn't get to have a party with friends. However, there was some cake involved, and that seemed to be his primary concern. We made a cake (which he helped decorate) and had some family over for dinner and opened some fun presents, including a very loud keyboard. Yea. 

16 Hours in Purgatory

For Christmas, we made the brilliant decision to drive to Tennessee to visit Shawna's parents outside of Nashville. We had the two parents, the two kids, the one dog, Ben's Aunt (who we dropped off in Arkansas), and Ben's friend, Amber, who was headed that way and hitched a ride. This is exactly what we imagined when we bought a car with a third row. The kids actually did okay there and back, no more fussing than one would expect. Jeremiah is now jonesin' for movies though, having developed a habit with the little DVD player in the car. The visit was great all around, though weather prevented us from some outdoor fun. We went to Opryland and downtown Nashville where Ben and Shawna had a date listening to late-night Karaoke. Shawna decided after this incident, that she would rather not be laid down in a "Bed of Roses" because "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." The boys had a personal visit from Santa (grandpa), rode the tractor, and pet some baby goats. Imho the dog managed to not only escape Shawna's parents' yard, but also break into their neighbors yard which featured two large huskies. He left untouched, the dogs obviously respecting his authority. On New Year's Day, we visited a longtime family friend of Shawna's. She had babysat their sons, now in their early 20's. They were surprised to find out she wasn't "way older" than them. On the drive home, we went by Scotland, AR which is where Ben's Aunt and Uncle live. Shawna had never met Uncle Tommy, and had never witnessed this little town which played a prominent role in her husband's childhood. We made it home early Sunday morning and spent Monday in a stupor. 

Quatro-Pedal?

For a couple of months, Davis has been doing one or two crawl steps. However, he has now officially become mobile. He generally makes it a couple of feet before diving at his desired toy, but were sure this is only the beginning of plenty o' drama. He seems to be using his powers to chase the dog more than anything.

San Antonio with the Murrie's

We headed down to San Antonio to meet up with Ben's immediate family. His brother's family came in, plus his parents, sister, grandmother, and aunt. Lots of kids, lots of presents, lots of craziness. The kids had a ball, swimming in the giant pool at the Hyatt Resort. Ben and Shawna both braved the waterslide, while Jeremiah and Davis waded in the shallow end with Grandma. There was also a scorpion/spider hunt, Smores,  and working out sessions. Jeremiah became very fond of his cousins or "friends" as he calls them.