Family Song

One of our favorite betime songs (mostly because it is easy for a tired Mommie and Daddy to remember all the words) is the tried-and-true children's praise song "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in the morning, Jesus at the noontime, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus when the sun goes down." Apparently we sing it a lot since it was one of the first songs Jack memorized. Last night as we were headed to Sonic for a special ice cream treat he started singing his own version of the song: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy in the Morning, Daddy at the noontime...." etc. I thought it was so cute that we continued on with Mommie, Maggie, Jack (we may have said Baby too...I cant remember)...and then I reminded him that there are other people in our family too so he continued with Bertie, Pops, Rachel, Uncle Jeff, (Granny) Ruthie, Mzee, Daniel and Macy. I'm sure that he would have gone on to sing ALL the people in our family (and we would have been singing the song ALL NIGHT 'cause we have A LOT of family) had we not arrived at Sonic and he got VERY excited about his ice cream! It was very fun to hear his sweet little voice singing, and I have to say I am VERY impressed with his ability to remember and name family members, and even to remember which people belong to which side of the family...because like I said, we have A LOT of family!!
It's really fun to hear him bursting into song, as I mentioned earlier today. He seems to carry the tune pretty well, and even though a few words may be left out or mispronounced, if he sings a few words or lines of a song I can usually tell which one he is singing....his rhythm and keeping time is also impressing me. This morning while he was sitting on the potty he started singing "Wheels on the Bus" and it just made me smile to hear him entertaining himself while I was working in the kitchen....partially because that means I dont have to sit in there with him the WHOLE TIME on the floor reading him books.

so So SO CUTE!

Jack did something so sweet this afternoon...I wish I could have taken a picture and preserved the scene forever, but not sure Josh would have allowed it...so I can only hope my description can do it justice.

Jack was very excited, as he always is, for Daddy to come home from work today, but sadly, Daddy came home with a raging headache and needed to lay down for a while before spending much time with us. I was still getting dinner ready, so Jack was playing with his toys in the dining room while Daddy was laying down on our bed, and for some reason he left our bedroom door open. Every so often I would poke my head in the dining room to check on Jack, or he would poke his head in the kitchen to "check on" me, and for all I knew he was contentedly puttering away with his toys. Once the timer beeped that dinner was ready, Jack came running into the kitchen saying "food ready food ready, yay!" I told him that we needed to go wake up daddy, so he went running into the bedroom exclaiming in a very non-inside voice "Food ready food ready! Daddy wake UP!" I could tell by looking at his expression that Josh's headache was only marginally better, but I went around to his side of the bed to check on him, and was surprised by what I saw. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Jack had been making "secret" trips into our bedroom and was "sharing" his toys with daddy. Arranged all around Josh's head were a soccer ball, a foot ball and 2 or 3 other various toys, some even tucked under the pillow! I guess Jack was DETERMINED to play with Daddy, whether Daddy was able to play or not!!! Not sure how much of a nap Daddy actually got! It kinda reminded me of what I've heard about cats "sharing" their mice with their owners on their pillows in the middle of the night, only this was not gross, and so adorably cute I could hardly stand it! He loves his daddy so much!

Baby Boy Update

Well, we had the 3D ultrasound yesterday....it was quite cool! Jack did great while we were in a darkened room for almost an hour...thank goodness for Daddys phone getting music....Jack ended up listening to Disney Songs while we finished up. Blurry pictures of Baby Brother (BB for short, at least during this post) are only interesting for so long to a 2 year old. The 3D stuff was neat....BB was head down and facing my back the whole time, so there was only so much he would allow us to see...and the little stinker was keeping his hands in front of his face almost the WHOLE TIME...we figure he's gonna be a boxer of something...Josh kept saying that the little guy was "protecting his moneymaker" and coaching him saying "jab, uppercut, right cross, left hook, etc" He WAS quite active though, and it is SO fascinating to me to be able to feel a wiggle and then see it happening on the screen! No matter how much we tried poking and prodding and "tickling" him, he pretty much stayed in the same position...or moved away from the "camera", but he DID give us a few little glimpses of his sweet face. These are a few of my favorites. DISCLAIMER: PLEASE dont be disturbed by the shadows and discolorations and "holes" that appear on him....the tech assured us, as well as all the ultrasounds we have had, that our baby is whole and complete, without any gaping holes or strange markings...what we are seeing in these pictures is just shadows in the images reflecting on him and with the machine.

This is the best one we got of his face...again, he DOESNT have a strange growth on his forehead...that's just due to the shadows and angle of the ultrasound machine.

Tara, the ultrasound tech (and the mother of our newest babysitter....gotta love a small town....) was able to do an "Estimated Fetal Weight" measurement on him....we had LOTS of those done with Jack because he was SO big (and making ME so BIG!) and GASP! According to her measurements the little guy is already measuring 3 POUNDS! According to my books and all the online averages I have seen, a baby at 26 weeks should only weigh about 2 pounds!!! Did I mention that at our ultrasound 2 weeks ago he was also measuring 2 inches LONGER than average as well? GASP! (This means he is already the size of the average 30 week baby) Looks like maybe I shouldnt even bother unpacking the 0-3 month clothes! This one is gonna be a HOSS too...just like his big brother and his daddy (while Mommie, who was a nice average sized baby gets to carry these large gened-big boys around (both internally and externally, sometimes at the SAME TIME! woohoo!)

We are still fairly confident about the due date, etc, and at my last visit my dr said I was measuring just "perfect" and that I should tell all those people who comment on "look how BIG you're getting!" to keep their observations to themselves! It's not that I'm not THRILLED to be pregnant, or that I am carrying a healthy robust baby, I am just trying not to remember how uncomfortable I got with Jack, and if I am already THIS big, how much more can my body take, will I be able to care for Jack while feeling so uncomfortable and swollen (in the SUMMER this time!) and the fact that the ONLY explanation I have been given for why Jack chose to make his arrival 3 1/2 weeks early (SURPRISE) was that I "ran out of real estate" (SERIOUSLY...if my firstborn who was born ALMOST a MONTH early.....and weighed ALMOST 9 pounds had gone full term....he could have been ALMOST 12+ pounds!!!) I pointed out to Josh the other day that if this little guy comes as early as Jack did, then we could be having a baby in about 10 weeks! eek!

I'll let you know as soon was we decide what BB's name is going to be....still working on it....Still down to just 2 names in the running and then deciding which middle name we like to go with it....stay tuned....it is CERTAINLY not my intention to wait until the little guy gets here to decide....we'll see what Daddy wants to do.

sorry, just had to add a few more

I know you may get tired of reading these updates about his new sayings, but I think they are funny and I dont want to forget them, so please forgive!
*Ever since he was about 6 months old we have been running a fan or humidifier in his room for white noise....we are looking into investing in an actual white noise machine for him, and for baby brother, or at least an air purifier or something. Anyway, the one we are using right now has been in use, for 14+ hours a day, ever since he was about 8 or 9 months old. It is now wearing out and making some wierd noises off and on, mostly when it is starting up and slowing down. It is part of his wake up "ritual" to turn off the fan, and lately, as it has been slowing down it will make a strange squeaky/creaky sound. Jack has decided that the fan is "waffing" (laughing!) and he will join in, "HAHAHA"
*We were working his "Merica" (America) puzzle the other day after a few days off. He only wants to do the puzzle WITH one of us in the room with him because as he puts a piece in he says "Mommie, Daddy, TALK about it!" meaning he wants us to tell him the name of the states or talk about the pictures. So far he still only knows the Texas, Oregon, North Dakota and Tennessee pieces, and occasionally he will remember California and Alaska. the other day he cracked me up, because he was repeating over and over "Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona" when I pointed to the adjoining "Nevada" piece and asked him "What is this one called?" he just said "um....YELLOW one!" ....at least he was right about the color!
*He has also taken to filling up any empty conversation space with singing....usually serenading us with his version of the ABC's....he only leaves out a few of the letters in the middle, but it SERIOUSLY seems NON-STOP! Just wandering around the house he will burst into song, or if there is a lull in the conversation at the dinner table, he will start singing....at least he is adding a little variety and occasionally will alternate with Jesus Loves Me. He actually knows LOTS of songs, you know....as well as a 2 year old can....the other day I taught him "Where is Thumbkin"...thankfully his 2 year old fine motor skills arent allowing him to flick off anyone...yet...although he likes for me to sing it with him while we are in the car....that's a little scary...and I'm a bit nervous about any raised eyebrows we might get when he asks us to sing "Where is Funkin'.....He also enjoys "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" and bopping the field mice on the head.
*He's also taken to using desperate measures at bedtime to delay the inevitable. Actually, they arent too desperate at this time, but its AMAZING that some nights, after not asking to use the Potty for DAYS AND DAYS, he will suddenly have this incredible need to sit on the potty (and read a few more books) just before we say prayers and get in bed. The one he uses on us pretty regularly and on his babysitter the other night was "Blow nose! Boogies!" and getting quite distressed if we dont get a tissue right away....apparently blowing his nose is IMPORTANT! From what I have heard from friends...this phase is only just beginning.
*He also makes us laugh with his "play by play commentary" on what is going on around him. There are no inside thoughts with this kid....thankfully he doesnt know to say unkind things, so it's all just observations right now. This morning he was sitting in our bed watching Thomas while I TRIED to catch a few more minutes of sleep. He felt the need to inform me that "Daddy Take a Shower" and "Daddy close the door" and "Daddy turn light on." Ialso like it when one of us will be amused by something and start laughing. Not only will Jack join in on the laughter too, but he will announce "Mommie Waffin!" (laughing)
*okay, okay, one more....we went out for a walk today and I told him if he rode in the stroller he could take some library books with him. He chose SIX library books to bring, and he insisted on carrying them himself. As he was walking down the walkway he started saying "ohh...books so heavy!" I replied "Wow, you are sooooo Strong!" and he responded "yeah, strong like Incredible Hulk! grrr!" I had to giggle at that one!

Pregnancy Update

So I have another entry coming about Baby Boy's progress (as soon as I can upload the photos).....this one is about Baby Boy's Mommie:
It doesnt help my nerves that I am STILL getting comments about how big I am getting (couldnt they at least phrase it as how big HE is getting?) although I am doing much better about keeping a sense of humor about it....and trying to be especially forgiving of men and women who havent ever been pregnant who make these comments....but it was daunting yesterday to be told by Josh's boss...who delivers babies for a living and sees more pregnant women than anyone else I know.....that he couldn't believe I am only 26 weeks along...."I could have sworn by looking at you that you were at least 36 weeks or MORE! WOW!" sigh.....he's a VERY nice man and a VERY good boss....and according to his patients a VERY good doctor......but apparently after 20+ years doing OB he still hasnt learned how to always be tactful with pregnant women.....I am choosing to blame the comments yesterday (his comment wasnt the only one) on the shirt that I chose to wear (I know, denial is a sweet thing) because although I think it is a cute maternity shirt, I think the pattern and the style of it REALLY accentuate the baby belly...EVERY SINGLE TIME I wear this shirt, I get a similar comment. Maybe I should warn any of my future pregnant friends who are loaned this shirt, and see if it happens to them too....because surely it isnt me....my dr said I am measuring PERFECT....so HUSH! Plus, she has been pleased so far with the weight I have gained....not sharing that factoid, sorry! I'll take the compliment now, before the serious swelling starts! Water weight doesnt count in the end anyway, right? :) I like what my dear dear friend Bethany said as a rule of thumb: "If you wouldnt say it to a non-pregnant woman....DONT say it to a pregnant woman!" Just stick with "You look Great" or "How are you feeling?" comments....and when in doubt, I am all in favor of the little white lie when it comes to pregnant ladies....it REALLY DOES help us feel better than we actually do! :)
Josh was VERY sweet and supportive the other day when I was feeling especially insecure about people's comments. I said something along the lines of "I'm sorry I'm not one of those women who has the itty bitty baby belly and looks so petite and cute while pregnant" to which he immediately replied "Yes, but you are also not giving birth to itty bitty teeny tiny babies, and (so far) you carry and give birth to healthy "robust" babies who thrive from the start".....it's so nice to have a husband in the healthcare profession who has his baby/pregnancy priorities in order! Plus I just love that word "robust" :)
Honestly, I am not feeling too uncomfortable these days (and I'm sure Josh wishes people would stop making these comments too...it might just convince me that I SHOULD be more uncomfortable than I actually am and therefore need to complain....even more....). I am eating my banana and drinking a glass of milk before bed to head off those dreaded leg cramps...only had one or 2 so far (it's just so hard to get back to sleep after one...afraid it will come back!).......my sciatic nerve is feeling much better most of the time and as long as I dont overdo it (such as gardening for 5 hours last weekend....not my best idea ever...more on that later), I have a fair amount of energy. Sleeping comes and goes, but thankfully, Jack is still a GREAT napper, most of the time, and if I can convince myself that a nap is more important that getting stuff done around the house (usually not to hard to convince myself of that!) I can take a nap when he goes down. I am thankful for these blessings thus far in my pregnancy!
I'll be honest, I've always rolled my eyes when a couple uses the phrase "WE are pregnant"....but on some level, it IS true, because although my husband isn't actually CARRYING a baby in his body, he is carrying much more responsibility around the house than he was before (and I'm NOT saying that he didnt help out around the house before...he DID....he's just helping SO MUCH MORE!). He's helping out SO much with keeping the house straight....he's helping out more and more with Jack (and he was already the greatest HANDS ON DAD ever!) and he's being so GREAT about letting me escape by myself to run errands that would just take too long and be too exhausting for me with Jack along for the ride...or he runs the errands with us! He really is SUCH a great partner in this parenting adventure....I couldnt ask for a better husband and father for our family. I feel SO blessed! So although I think the "WE are pregnant" phrase is still lame....WE are BOTH having a baby....no doubt about it.

The Aquarium, Building 2

In between buildings we decided to venture over to the food court for a snack. Jack thought it was pretty cool to get his VERY OWN cup of ice cream! I wish I were brave enough to get him a cone, just because I love hearing him say "Ice Bean Bone"...still working on those hard "c's"...but he IS making progress....anyway.....building 2 is quite a bit newer than the previous building....and a bit smaller too.....which by this point we were thankful for...his naptime is usually around 2, and I think we entered the building just after 2pm, so all of these memories were bought on borrowed time, but he was SUCH a trooper! I think he was SO excited about seeing all the animals, that he didnt notice he was tired until the very end.
(I realize that these although these first several pictures were taken at an AQUARIUM, there are no fish, or water creatures at all, in them...not sure why macaws, butterflies and hedgehogs are featured at a water themed attraction....but Jack thought they were cool!)

He kept calling the macaws "parrots" and saying his own 2 year old version of "Polly wanna cracker? squawk squawk!" Pretty sure we were the only ones who could understand even a little bit of it...but it was cute!
Looking at the Macaws....by the end of our adventure Daddy's arms and shoulders and back were quite worn out! Who needs P90X after a visit to the aquarium with a 2 year old? :)There was a COOL butterfly room in this building, and we got several neat pictures....The aforementioned misplaced warmbloded mammal amongst the fish, reptiles and amphibians. The hedgehog wasnt too excited about being there either!
Watching my boys go down the escalator. I ended up pushing the stroller through both buildings and not really using it AT ALL....we just werent sure if he would get tired, or need to nap while we were there...but he wasnt interested in sitting, that was for sure....so "Being Prepared" just ended up meaning one more things to keep track of and needing to use the elevators most of the time instead of the escalators...except for this one time. I still had to use the elevator, but Jack got to feel like a big boy and ride one of his first trips on an escalator.

My boys waiting on me at the bottom of the escalator

Sorry there are so many pictures of his BACK....he was ON THE MOVE so much, that pretty much the only time he was still enough for a picture was while he was looking at something. Like I said, the camera is messed up....wont take action shots AT ALL....which is kinda why most of the fish pictures are blurry or absent....fish just dont pose well for still pictures.
Another warm-blooded animal, at least this one lives in the water....and it's one of my favorites, so I dont mind!Jellyfish dont pose well either.
HUGE crab! (insert Jack's "snap snap" here)

There were also lots of cool water animals such as a tank to pet sharks and sting rays (it was a bit too deep for the little guy's short arms to reach) and a tank that we could walk UNDER to see the sharks swimming above us....very COOL!
Once we were done with this building we debated back and forth about what to do next. We REALLY wanted to hop on one of the trolleys and take him to see the infamous Chattanooga ChooChoo (Have I mentioned he is into trains these days!?!?! ;)...but he was SO tired and nodding off in his stroller. He could have gotten a decent nap if we had strolled him along for a while, but this pregnant body needed to rest, so we decided we would just have to take another trip to Chattanooga soon, both for the ChooCho and the AMAZING Children's Museum I keep hearing about. It surely looks AMAZING from the outside, cant wait to see the inside! Poor little guy was asleep in his carseat before we even got out of the parking garage and slept most of the way home....

SPEAKING of the way home....technology is a GREAT thing, when it WORKS! As I mentioned before, we utilized the GPS feature in Josh's fancy-shmancy phone to get to Chattanooga. Apparently it couldnt get a signal while we were in the parking garage, and was very upset about it.....so while we were leaving downtown Chattanooga it REFUSED to connect to the GPS and therefore we didnt really have any idea how to get home! GRRR! I wasnt too terribly worried, because I knew that if all else failed, we could always follow the signs to I24, make it back to Nashville and then find our small town from there...but that scenario was FAR from ideal. Finally the blasted thing decided to work, although we were looking forward to taking the scenic route home and it decided we needed to take a more direct route via highways....which was a bit less breathtaking, but still interesting. We even made it home in time for dinner, so this trip was fairly budget friendly, and DEFINITELY FUN!

Pictures from our Aquarium, building ONE

On a recent weekend we decided to embark on a journey to Chattanooga. This trip holds a bit of nostalgia for me and Josh, since we have taken many a day trip and weekend trip visiting all the fun touristy places....Rock City being our favorite, since we got ENGAGED there! We have been back to Rock City a few times since, and the last time we decided we wouldnt come back until we had a kid to share it with....well, now we DO have a kid to share it with....but we still decided not to go this time. We figured that as a 2 year old Jack would enjoy the Aquarium more, and we didnt want to cram in too many things before his naptime.

The drive down to Chattanooga was very beautiful. We took a different route than we have ever taken before, since we now live in a different part of the state..and it took a little bit less time to drive down than it did from Nashville. Josh's fancy-shmancy phone GPS thingy apparently took us the scenic route over Signal Mountain which was BREATHTAKING! That view was worth the drive all by itself! Too bad I didnt get any pictures of that!

Upon our arrival we made our way to the aquarium and decided to get some lunch first. The hotdogs we got were okay....but you would have thought they were gourmet given the amount of time and $$ that was spent on them! Tourist food...go figure! :) Here are a few pictures of the first of 2 buildings. I didnt get as many as I would have hoped (believe it or not) because the settings on our camera have gotten messed with, and I dont know how to un-mess them....so this is the best we got! Enjoy!

Clownfish (you should have heard him exclaiming to everyone who was near-NEMO FISH!!! NEMO FISH!!)

The Seahorse exhibit

the best seahorse picture my camera would take...they were REALLY cool!

Watching the animals being fed by the scuba divers

Not sure what we are looking at...it was just one of the few picture with Jack and Mommie, even if it is our backs!

Petting a fish...cant remember which one...maybe Daddy can remind me!

Alligator!

turtles

Jack and Daddy

Not sure what he is looking at, but I thought this was funny

maybe he was looking at the turtle!

Aquarium Pictures from Daddy's Phone

I decided to split up pictures from our aquarium adventure into at least 2, maybe 3 posts, if for no other reason, then to keep your eyes from tiring! :) Here are the pics that were taken with Daddy's phone. I was in the middle of uploading ones from the camera when the internet stopped working and all that time was wasted....so I promise I will come back soon and do more. In the meantime, enjoy! 

Mommie and Jack

Jack and Daddy waiting for Mommie during one of her many potty breaks! :)

more hanging out....

watching the cars while hanging out

Jellyfish! Mommie thinks they are a bit creepy, but everyone else seems to think they are cool...

more jellyfish

Mommie resting her weary feet

the tail end of a SHARK!

sorry...

I can't believe it has been so long since I last updated! I think I know why....I almost ALWAYS blog during (Jack's) naptime....but lately we have been on the GO so much during his AWAKE time, that I am exhausted during his naptime, and must nap myself....or there are little things like gardening stuff that I have been doing or pretending to keep a straight house (which is pretty much impossible) I've basically stopped bending over to get stuff...if at all possible...if it's not important and no one is around to help me pick it up, then it just stays there until I can't stand it anymore. Isn't that a terrible housekeeping thing to admit? We have had some jam packed weekends too...such as our visit to the TN aquarium a few weekends back and a 5 hour gardening extravaganza this past weekend. I promise I will give a proper update soon....it's been on my to-do list for waaay over a week. Today we are going to Josh's office for a 3D ultrasound! YAY! Jack got so excited last night when we were talking about seeing pictures of baby brothers face and hands and feet! It will be on a dvd so maybe I'll be able to get some pics or video off of it to post here....if I can figure it out! :) I am hopeful that when we get a clearer picture of his face, maybe we can settle on a name...I think we are REALLY close...we are pretty much bouncing around 2 different first names with a whole host of middle names in the running. It's a hard decision....I was holding out on having a middle name from my side of the family...but that may not work out now....but hey....at least the kid will HAVE a name...eventually!

the things he says, part II

so here is another update on the silly and sweet things he has been saying lately...

*Yesterday he was VERY proud of himself when he turned on the hallway light switch all by himself. This was while standing on his highest tippy-toes and he not quite tall enough to turn off the light...but he thought he was BIG STUFF. Then he looked up and saw our (ugly) doorbell cover...I'd take a picture of it...but it's just too ugly....anyway...it looks kind of like a little house hung on the wall...Jack looked at it an declared "Cuckoo Clock!" It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about and so he explained "Cuckoo Clock....cuckoo! cuckoo!" all while bobbing his head back and forth like a cuckoo bird going in and out of a clock. I seriously doubt he has ever SEEN a real cuckoo clock and I can only think of 1 book that I have read to him (a long time ago) that had a cuckoo in it....just that amazing memory at work I guess!

*We have been working on him learning to refuse things politely....he used to get very upset if we offered him something he didnt want...lately he has gotten much better at just saying "No" and just yesterday he started saying either "maybe not" or "No 'hank' you" (no thank you)....well yesterday afternoon I told him to put up his Easter Eggs which were strewn all over the living room....he replied back very politely "Uh.....maybe not....no thank you..." and walked off. hmmm...I was a bit speechless as to what to do...because he was EXTREMELY polite about his refusal (VICTORY!) but when you get right down to it, he was being disobedient.....I guess the next lesson to teach is for him to determine when he is ALLOWED to refuse, and when he NEEDS to obey! :)

*He has gotten very concerned lately with whether other people are feeling happy or sad....usually in books and movies he can tell by facial expressions and will declare "little boy happy!" or "puppy dog sad." (sometimes it gets a bit distracting while we are reading or watching something because he has to give a running commentary about how ALL the characters are feeling) But he is also putting together that his actions can cause others to feel different emotions as well....he is becoming much more aware that when he makes poor choices it "makes mommie (or daddy or maggie) sad" and that good choices "make mommie (etc) happy!"....although I have read, and agree with several parenting books that say the ultimate goal is that he needs to learn to measure his choices about whether they are the right thing to do and if they make GOD happy or sad....I have also read that since mommie and daddy are more concrete to him now, it is a good thing that he is recognizing that his actions affect others. I'm also still trying to get across to him that when he makes good choices it makes "Jack feel happy!" too....right now he tells me that when he makes a good choice, it makes him sad....hmm......

*Anyone want to guess which 3 word phrase I hear THE MOST all day long? Remember, I have a 2 year old in the house who is exerting his independence...."JACK DO IT!" are the most popular words out of his mouth these days!

*We were out walking and he reached up to hold my hand in the driveway. I told him, "I like to hold your hand, Jack" and he replied, "Me too, Mommie" MELT.MY.HEART!

*If there is a food that he doesnt want to eat, whether because he just isnt in the mood or he genuinely doesnt like the food, his response is "Jack no eat....Too Sour!" We could be offering him the sweetest thing in the world...if he doesnt want to eat it...it must be TOO SOUR!

*I fear he may be turning into a lazy teenage already! Sometimes when I ask him to find something, such as his shoes, sippy cup, book, you name it, I will say "Jack, where is your book?" He will look around his immediate area, and if its not in plain sight and he is not too excited about finding it anyway, he will just say, "Uh....book bye bye"...like "I dont see it so it must have gone bye bye, therefore I dont need to look for it anymore."

*We are still working on his pronunciation, and we are still facing the fact that he is turning more C's into B's....here are some of the latest: "Ice bean bones" (Ice Cream cones) and "bovers" (covers)...speaking of covers...the other day he wanted me to read him a book on the sofa....we do this all the time and really enjoyed snuggling up on the sofa underneath a throw blanket to keep warm during those chilly winter days....well apparently he is such a creature of habit, the covers are a REQUIREMENT for reading on the sofa.....even when it is 80+degrees outside and mommie is 6 months pregnant. He got down from the sofa, went across the room and found the covers in a storage ottoman. I may need to hide these covers soon, or it will be a LOOOOONG HOT summer for me! :)

*Whenever Daddy is out and about with us Jack loves to walk between us and say "Jack hold mommie daddy hand!"...at first I thought it was just the sweetest thing in the world (and I still do) but I've figured out, hes not doing it just to be sweet....as soon as he is holding onto both of us, he will start counting "One.....Two......THREEEE!" and want us to pick him up and swing him in the air. It's fun for us too....the first 5 or 10 times...but he expects us to do it through the WHOLE parking lot/sidewalk/hallway....not sure how much longer I'll be able to manage that! ;)

*One more that I just remembered....The other day as we were getting ready to check out at walmart Jack started serenading me with the theme song to the children's show "wow wow wubbzy, wubbzy wubbzy wow wow!" (which is funny, because he's never actually SEEN the show, he's just heard the song a few times) anyway, I was looking around to see what triggered this musical number and he pointed to a large figure of a PACMAN insdie the gameroom at the front of the store and informed me that was "Wubbzy!" I guess I can kinda see the resemblance...but he looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to tell him a little bit about PACMAN! :)

Is it just me....

or does it look like a little BOY lives here! ?!??!?!

Jack

wants to be like his Daddy in SO many ways....

Josh was wanting to find some shoes to wear while he went out to get the mail or something....Jack was trying to help....and when Daddy chose some sandals instead, Jack decided to try Daddy's dress shoes on for size. He made it through 2 rooms lugging these things around!

A few other ways he is like his daddy....other than the fact that they just about look like clones of each other...

*they both have AMAZING memories...Josh has always amazed me with his memory and I think that this attribute is one reason why Jack has learned as much as he already has...he's working on learning some continents, countries and states from a map....no kidding....just ask him sometime where HE lives or "Papa and Nana" or "Auntie Hannah" or "Baby Julia" live....he just might tell you! Trust me...I'm NOT doing flashcards or anything with the child....he's just learning from casual conversations and games and puzzles....

*when either of them is FOCUSED on something, it is just about impossible of distract them in order to move on to something else....I am choosing to see that as a positive thing right now...ahem....but recognizing this fact will hopefully help us be more understanding and patient with him...

*they are 2 of the most loving and affectionate males I have ever encountered...we are needing to work on Jack a little bit on when it is APPROPRIATE to be affectionate....such as in a store when he sees a little girl....he doesnt need to run up to her and start trying to KISS her when I refer to her as a "friend"......

*They both seem to have really good spatial skills....puzzles are not too much of a challenge for either of them....where it takes a lot of my concentration to work some of his toddler puzzles....sad, I know.

*they both love music and sing ALL the time....jury is still out about whether Jack can carry an actual tune, but he can keep time and as long as the song isnt too wordy, he gets the words out...and the notes APPEAR to be on pitch...we'll see who's actual singing ability he inherited! ;)

Where are we?

Can you tell? The picture isnt SUPPOSED to be sideways....for some reason blogger just likes it that way and WONT let me change it....Anyway, can you tell where we are? Jack and I dont even need an excuse to come to this place to pick up a bite to eat or a little something to drink...especially between the hours of 2-4 during HAPPY HOUR!...this particular picture was taken on Wack Wednesday when childrens meals are cheap...have you guessed yet? If not, this picture of my big boy drinking his first apple juice slush is sure to give it away! When did he get so big? I ask that at least 5 times a day!

our garden

One of the things that really drew me to this house was it's lovely landscaping....it didnt occur to me until later that WE would be responsible for keeping the landscaping lovely (we went to Lowe's yesterday to purchase some mulch, because I dont intend to repeat ANY weeding that I actually get done this season...but I have a feeling I will be SHOCKED at how little of our landscaping 3 measly bags of mulch will cover, and just how much it WILL take!!!)
Thankfully there are some aspects of our landscaping that are lovely all on their own....which is good since this increasingly pregnant body is not enjoying weeding and such these days. I LOVE that just about every tree in our yard FLOWERS at some point during the spring/summer....right now here is what is blooming:

Some sort of tulip tree in the front

Detail of the tulip tree

Forsythias

Weeping Cherry in the backyard which is quite magnificent!
weeping cherry in the front yard which is also quite lovelyDetail of the weeping cherry in the front
Daffodils, which I am very pleased to see due to the fact that I didnt even know we HAD them and I feared that I may have pulled up some very important bulbs last summer when I went on a weeding rampage...

I feel I should humbly say that we can take absolutely NO credit for ANY of the above loveliness...but can only feel blessed that someone did all the hard work before we got here. I'm looking forward to the crepe myrtle, dogwoods, cherry tree, and lilacs, rose of sharon and primrose and some other unidentified lovely flowering bush that will be making their appearances in the coming weeks and months. We also planted a few redbud trees in the front yard, but I feel almost no hope that they will survive....we only paid a dollar for them at the home and garden show here in town and right now they look like sad little sticks in the ground...but who knows! :) No pictures of those!!!

Also, on the topic of gardening...here is some spinach that has decided to FINALLY grow....NOW.....in MARCH/APRIL....after I planted the seeds last AUGUST and got NOTHING!! Sheesh!

And also while we are on the topic of VEGGIE Gardening....I am pretty sure I have lost my mind, but I am trying to plan a small veggie garden for this year....mostly in containers, with a little bit in the ground around our deck (with Josh's help!).....I really WANT to make it work despite the fact that I'm going to be hugely pregnant and have a newborn during the heat of the summer, but I'm also thinking about the CONVENIENCE of having healthy fresh veggies out my back door instead of having to haul everyone to the store...we'll see...hopefully I can talk a neighbor into helping us water while we are otherwise occupied HAVING a baby in Nashville for the better part of a week in July. I've done my research and tried to find varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, lettuce, beans, etc that will do well in containers....we'll see how I do. I also decided to TRY to go the more economical route and start my garden from SEEDS this year instead of buying seedlings to transplant.

Here are some of the results from the seeds I have started....I must confess, Josh and I were BOTH impressed with the ability of these little "seed starting pellets" to actually GROW something....I have almost no faith in my black (but apparently increasingly growing greener) thumb....

after the seedlings got big enough I transplanted them into some larger containers (styrofoam cups....shhh...dont tell my sister) to be nurtured on my windowsills until the time comes to plant them outside in the containers. I sure hope this time and investment pays off, because although it might be cheaper to start from seed...all lower ...but I gotta say....this "indoor small scale" gardening isnt too bad....I think when it comes time to plant outside, I might be singing a different tune...although I have already planted some carrots, peas, lettuce, mesclun and spinach outside...all the rest have to wait until the threat of frost has past. We'll see how much of a gardener I am at THAT point!