Jack's 2nd time on stage...

yes I KNOW it is the same song he sang at Christmas, but at least this time I had the camera charged up this time and could take the video myself...I sincerely apologize for my seriously lacking filming skills...I really tried to anchor my arm, but apparently it wasnt good enough! Part of the problem might have been that I kinda started swaying to the music, until I realized that it wouldnt film well.You might want to pop a dramamine before watching it like Josh said he needed to do! I think it gets a little better towards the end.
I am SO proud of my big guy! I thought he did a really great job!

I guess I'm going to need to get a handle on the whole video camera thing if my little guy is going to enjoy being on stage THIS MUCH!

My Baby can Sign...

AND, he might be left handed....not sure which one I am more excited about!

Easter with Grandparents

After Sunday School we jumped in the car and zoomed to Bertie's house for Lunch. I didnt get any pictures of the boys actually opening their Easter Baskets because, well...it all happened so fast! Jack got a fun puzzle/game set, lots of smarties, some Easter Eggs and jelly beans, and some fun Toy Story Socks! He did a really good job putting the puzzle together (almost) all by himself!

Wesley's favorite part of his Easter Basket was the PUFFS!

I just love this picture!

and this one too!

Jack giving Bertie a thank-you hug



our attempt at a family picture.

 It was at the point of the family picture when I was holding Jack that I noticed he was feeling really really warm. At first I was hoping it was just from having on too many layers and corduroy pants and maybe from snoozing in the car, but the 102 fever we discovered from the thermometer told us otherwise. Boy am I glad Bertie lives around the corner from a Walgreens! Tylenol quickly brought the fever down, and he seemed to feel pretty good, but it sure put a damper on our visit with Bertie and seriously shortened our visit with Granny Ruthie and Mzee! Between pregnant aunties, and uncle preparing for exams, grandparents who are caring for great grandparents and a granny ruthie who is preparing to travel to see the Fargo Fishers....there just isnt room in our days for sickness. We got to visit for a few minutes (didnt get any pictures on my camera!), but headed home much earlier than we had initially planned! :( It's frustrating that he wasnt feeling well....that it cropped up so fast...that he had just been in childcare at church (and we are praying he didnt infect anyone!!)...that we had to miss out on fun visits with family...and that it all happened AFTER we got to nashville...doesn't his fever know that it costs us at least $20 in gas to make a trip to the Nashville area?   I'm glad that we made the trip and got to visit for a little while....thanks for all the goodies and yummy food!

Easter Morning

Our goal was to make it to Early Services this morning (at 8:15)....but when I was planning to do this I forgot about doing Easter Baskets and the obligatory Easter Egg hunt at home and we just couldnt fit everything in and given our busy day I knew we wouldnt get a chance to have this "just us family of 4" time later in the day....so we made it to Sunday School (and skipped the later service in order to make it to Franklin for Easter lunch at Bertie's house...more on that later!)

Easter Breakfast of cheerios and Carrot Bread (like I said, busy morning...besides, I made blackberry pancakes the day before!)

the Easter Bunny brought an awesome Hot Wheels racetrack!

oh I love this picture! Big Brother and Little Brother checking out their goodies!

"Look what I got!!"

something NEW to CHEW on!!

some new books (that were actually left over from the overabundance of books I bought for Christmas!)

Easter Egg hunting

Wesley found one too!

like Daddy's tie? It was an attempt to keep it out of the cheerio chomping drooling baby's hands!

I still contend that toys like this and the Thomas the Train sets are just as much for the Daddy's as they are for the sons!

all 3 boys checking out the action!

He's excited about his new toy too!

Jack also got a Lightning McQueen bean bag toss game

Easter Eggs

I decided to try some fun Easter Egg kits this year.

Dinsosaur Eggs, aka "Eggasauraus"

Sporty Eggs....Jack enjoyed watching me do the shrink wrap thingys with the hair dryer...but not enough to brave using that hot, loud, annoying hair dryer himself!

this was his favorite Eggasaurus

Wesley is 10 months old!

He's gotten pretty good at waving...when it is his idea! He's also started smiling a little bit for the camera too!

I can't believe my baby is 10 months old now! That is SOOO close to being a year old! My goal is to nurse my babies until they are a year old (Jack went about 13 months due to his birthday and traveling during the holidays) and I have a trip planned in early August, so that means that we will probably only be nursing for a few more months! Wow! He's already cut back to 3-4 times a day. He's also so very interested in whatever is going on around him, that he will often pull away during nursing to look around, especially if the tv is on, or Jack or Daddy are in the room playing or talking. This can sometimes lead to nursing taking a LOOONNNGGG time and turning into quite a wrestling match! He is still eating extremely well. As far as table foods, he is doing GREAT. I will still about once a day feed him some baby fruit mixed with yogurt (he's finally stopped gagging at the taste of yogurt) but other than that he is doing only finger foods. I'm not much of a green pea person AT ALL, but my boys just LOVE them, and when Jack sees me putting some peas on Wesley's tray he will usually ask for some too. It shocked me last week when I finally got around to hard boiling some eggs and gave Wesley the yolks....he inhaled them! That was one food that often made Jack gag! Who woulda guessed!?!

Have I mentioned that teething is a very slippery slope? At 9 months Wesley had 2 top and 2 bottom teeth, but over the course of this month 3, maybe 4 teeth have started poking through. For the most part is hasn't been quite a dramatic as those first 4, but we think all this teething has led to his first ear infection! :( This is also all coming right at the time for seasonal allergies to hit our home. Thankfully Josh and I haven't suffered too bad for too long, but both boys noses are just running like faucets! :( I now feel like I am back working at a pharmacy with all the vitamins, antihistamines, decongestants, and antibiotics I am doling out each day. Thankfully it's not slowing them down too much!

When we went to Daddy's office the other day to have all the ears checked out Wesley weighed 24 pounds (fully clothed)!!! That's over a full pound heavier than his 9 month check up that was a little over 2 weeks ago. Yikes! I wonder if that diaper was really full and he was wearing heavy clothes or something! Like I said earlier, he eats A LOT, and I am trying to cut back on the snacks-which honestly I only do out of convenience while we are out. If he is eating he usually isnt fussing...although it didnt take him long AT ALL to equate sitting in a shopping cart=a cup of baby puffs...my apologies to anyone at Walmart or Kroger who encountered our trail of cereal puffs on the floor! We've wondered if there is a bottom to his appetite....it seems like he could eat forever...but the past few days he has started slowing down a little bit and actually STOPPED eating with food in front of him...so that 's a good sign! He's still not crawling, but I am TRYING to do a better job of putting him on his tummy. His arms are strong enough to push himself BACKWARDS while he is rreeeaaaacchhhing for whatever toy I put in front of him to entice him to crawl, and his legs are strong enough to push himself backwards while he is laying on his back...he just can't seem to get coordinated enough to move the arms and legs to crawl. Again, trying hard not to worry about that...since Daddy and Dr. C aren't worried.

Wesley's 2 newest things are giving fives and giving kisses. He has learned that giving us open mouthed slobbery kisses on our cheeks will get a postive reaction from us, so he will do it over and over and over...even pulling our faces towards him to plant another one. I need to get a picture or video of it....it's is SOOOO sweet...and moist! I love it!

He's also started voicing his opinion on several things, such as being put down to play while mommie moves around some laundry or having certain toys taken away by a parent or a certain big brother who is still learning how to share (which is another reason why I'm pretty much ok that only one of these boys is mobile...a whole new world of babyproofing and toy sharing and conflict resolution will erupt in our home once baby brother starts moving around! I'm feeling a little more optimistic about this though, since Jack has been getting some really REALLY good reports from school/cbs/mops/church lately! YAY!!!)

He's wearing 18 month clothes still, hopefully will be there for a while! They are still a bit baggy on him ,but in my opinion that is better than skin tight 12 month clothes.
He's actually started saying mamamamama in addition to dadadada and babababa...still not sure if they have any meaning, but we ARE making some progress with sign language...when I'm not too hurried to do it with him. He's getting better about signing "more" and what's also fun is that Jack is getting into it too...he actually remembers soem signs (and corrects me about doing "more" the right way instead of the baby friendly way)...he loves to ask me to sign different words (usually asking me about things that are within his line of sight) and sometimes I know them, but most of the time I dont. It's really fun! I hope we can make as much progress with Wesley as we did with Jack.

stuffa-yo-face!

there was a radio commercial years and years ago for some restaurant and the catch-phrase was "stuffa-yo-face." It was also one of my family's silly phrases to say while I was growing up. :) Anyway, Unfortunately the cuteness factor didnt completely translate in these pictures, but I just couldnt help myself. We were at a restaurant and Wesley was being his usual grabby (not crabby, GRabby, like handsy....grabbing everything) self and got hold of a spoon. He was shoving food in with one hand, and waving the spoon around with the other. It was purty darn cute.

more quotable quotes

The other day we were finishing up our meal at Chick Fila (THANK YOU GREEN RECIEPT DAY!). I am trying to remember to get braver about getting out and about with Jack in big boy undies and not just pull ups. I've graduated up to braving it when Josh and I are out together, or when we are going straight to a place where he will be in childcare (cbs, church etc). Anyway, this was one of those days where he was in undies, and as you all know, potty training is training the parents almost as much as the kid. I am needing to train myself to remind him to try to go when it is most convenient. This day it was going to be much more convenient for him to go at Chickfila than at our next stop: Lowes. When we asked him to try to go, he politely refused, because he didnt need to...understandable. Again we encouraged him by saying "It would be a good idea to try to go here, because they have nicer potties here than at the next store." "He looked up at me with big eyes and asked, "You mean they have MEAN potties at the next store?!?!" We laughed SO SO hard! If you think about it, to a little kid, the idea of a MEAN potty could be quite terrifying!

One of Jack's favorite cereals is Frosted MiniWheats. Just before lunch one day Jack asked me for a snack. I asked him "Why, are you feeling a little hungry?" He replied "Yes, those mini wheats just didnt stick around!" That's one of those phrases that I KNOW he got from us!

On Saturday morning while Wesley and I were sleeping in, Jack and Daddy went on a little "date" to the local donut shop. Jack was wearing his Vandy hat. He and daddy were having a conversation about Vanderbilt (Jack knows it is both Daddy's and Uncle Daniel's school) and Daddy asked Jack if he was going to Vanderbilt too. Jack replied "Yes, and I am going to play an instrument like Uncle Daniel." "Oh really, what instrument is that? Drums like Daniel and John or Trumpet like Derrick?" "Nope, I want to play the Tuba!" "okaaaay" "But I wont go to Vanderbilt now, I will go when I grow bigger bigger bigger"
The best part of this conversation was continued later: We were preparing him that when we got home, it would be time to take a nap. He started the obligatory "but I dont wanna take a nap!" routine. My usually comback is "But if you want to grow up to be big and strong like Daddy, you need to take a nap (and eat all your food, etc)" Jack immediately added "And when I take a nap and grow bigger bigger I will go to Vanderbilt and play a tuba, okay mommie, I will take a nap" AWESOME! I couldnt believe the promise of Vanderbilt and ultimately playing a TUBA 15 years in the future helped him want to take a nap NOW! WOW!

When Daddy has to leave for work in the morning, sometimes Jack will ask his usual "Why do you have to go to work, Daddy?" Daddy's reply usually involves "Because I need to go help people and fix their boo-boos"....well now, Jack thinks that ANYONE who goes to work must fix something. He's now figured out that Mzee goes to work to fix computers, and he asked me this morning about Uncle Jeff: "But Mommie, what does Uncle Jeff fix at work?" (He's a youth pastor....I wasnt sure what would be the right answer, and I thought it would be a cute conversation for later so I told him to talk to Uncle Jeff about it this weekend) He said "I know what uncle Jeff fixes.....he fixes phones...right mommie"....uh, sure son.....

I am SO thankful that bad language isnt a part of our vocabulary....at least not USUALLY if you know what I mean....but of course there are still a few non "bad words" that we still dont want Jack to repeat like "hate or butt or stupid" etc....just to hold off as long as possible. Well, one that I say probably more often that I should is "Freaking out" and the other day Wesley was...well....FREAKING OUT for some reason (probably teething....have I mentioned that he has 3 or 4 teeth coming in at the SAME TIME!?!?!) Anyway, Jack heard me tell Josh that Wesley was "freaking out" and as I was comforting him, Jack comes to me and says "Mommie, why was Wesley freaking out?".....uh-oh. Not sure how I feel about him saying that phrase so young....I know it's not TECHNICALLY bad words or anything....just a grown up phrase....but honestly, it's gonna be a hard one for me to remember to NOT say. Pretty sure that will be the worst of it though...unless he develops supersonic hearing...no comment.....

Jack loves his I Spy books and videos. The main characters are a funny little dude called "Spyler" and his sidekick, a dog named "Cee-Cee". We watched several episodes over the weekend. On Sunday we told Jack that we wanted to go get some pizza at CiCi's pizza. At first he wasnt on board...he wanted a cheese sandwich, because he didnt want to go to CiCis (one of the last times we went was around Halloween and they had some scary decorations up....he didnt want to see the spiders on the window....cant believe he remembers THAT!) but after assuring him there would be NO spiders he said, "Okay, let's go get some I Spy Pizza"....um....what???...then it dawned on us: CiCi's=Cee-Cee=I Spy. Man, these homophones and multiple meaning words are tricky to a 3 year old!

Now this one is slightly embarrassing to me....lately whenever we tell Jack that we need to clean up his room or clean up his toys, he will pipe up with "Why? Are we having Visitors?"....I dont know whether to think it's cute that he is wanting visitors...or to be embarassed that he thinks that is the only time we clean our house!
He keeps us laughing all day long with all of his ideas and thoughts...when our ears arent bleeding from the non-stop talking. I have been reminded by several ladies to treasure it while I can, and I know that next time I blink he will be grown and I will WISH he was still talking my ear off. I suggested to Josh last night that we should as Bertie if HE talked non-stop when he was 3. Josh responded "I'm pretty sure that Jack has said more words TODAY than I have said in my ENTIRE LIFE".....that could very well be true. ;)

We all knew this day would come...

just didnt expect it to come so soon! While Josh was digging through a closet he found an old gameboy. I used to enjoy killing time  playing uno on it (we only have 2 games and as an adult, Toy Story 2 just wasnt interesting to me!) Well we had it sitting within Jack's range of vision and you should have seen how he zeroed in on it! "What's that Mommie, can I play with it?" It was really cute how excited he was about it. I told him that it might be kinda tricky and he might need Daddy's help, and he said "That's okay Mommie, can I just TRY it?" We've set it up that he can play it for 10 minutes at the end of the day and when the timer beeps he needs to put it up without any fuss....and he follows those rules BEAUTIFULLY! Josh has also been playing it too....you know....so he can help Jack know what to do.....no other reason....boys and their toys. Sigh......

Trinity Playground!

After hearing about it for several weeks, I finally decided we should check out a local church playground. I had seen it from a distance, but assumed it would be locked up like other church playgrounds, but its NOT. It was so wonderful, we have gone back 2 days in a row, and thinking about going tomorrow too! Its clean, spread out, shaded AND sunny, and Jack can play on a lot of it by himself. While we are looking at building one of our own, I'm not feeling in such a big hurry if we have this one so close!

part of what I think is cool is that there are 3 separate play areas, this is the smallest play area with cute little double slides.

all 3 of my boys on the top of a slide

"take a picture of me swinging Mommie!"

they also have a "special needs" swing...which also acommodates a certain 9 month old.

cutie pie, watching Daddy and Jack on the monkey bars

I'm not sure if this swing is meant to be used this way, and I think it looks a bit uncomfortable, but he doesnt seem to mind, and it makes me laugh to see him flying through the air like SUPERMAN.

such sweetness

while I was trying very hard not to obsess with the storm coverage this morning, Jack and Wesley were playing very nicely in Wesley's room. As I was heading back in there to see what was going on Jack runs out and says "Mommie, I am being very sweet to Weswey...I am snuggawing with him and giving him kisses, come and see!" so I did. They were both being so sweet, they even kept up the love-fest while I ran for my phone and camera. So sweet...I may get cavities! We are at the point that other than causing him major bodily pain, Jack can do no wrong in Wesley's eyes. Every interaction is met with adoring looks, smiles, giggles and excitement. I love it!

chipmunk cheeks

the other day when Wesley and I did a quick run to the store, the cashier cracked me up! He took one look at Wesley and said "Man, those cheeks are huge....DUDE, winter is OVER!" I just had to take a picture as soon as we got back to the car to document these chipmunk cheeks!

music to my ears

need I say more?