Photo Dump Randomness

Let me start with a real treasure and one of my favorite books we have. Just arrived from amazon...

If you don't have this book, run – don't walk – to get it for your kids. It is so beautifully written and wonderfully captures God's love for us. I just can't say enough about it. Magnificent!


We've also been doing a little bible story craft time during the days.

This book has a lot of great crafts that are appropriate for Alex's age. It also has simplified bible stories to go with each craft. I love talking to Alex about the story while he's working on his craft. And he loves to do his crafts all by him-"SELF"! Glue sticks, crayons, feathers, google-eyes - he does it all.

Have you seen this bread? A total splurge at the grocery store, but so much fun to use for Alex's sandwiches. He loves his Pepperidge Farm goldfish bread.

New shoes for all the boys.

Sweet little Roo is gearing up for football season.

Morning Muffin Madness!
I've never made chocolate muffins, but we sure made a go of it today. I asked Alex to hold out the box so that you could see what we were making. He was too busy looking at the box himself to turn it forward.

Licking the bowl. The best part of making muffins (or cakes or cookies) in Alex's opinion. Can't blame a boy for that.

Licking the bowl wasn't enough. Once Little Man was low on batter in the bowl, he moved right on to the muffin cups.

"Show me your hands, Alex." Covered in batter! And look at that smile, would ya? Worth every bit of mess I had to clean up off of him, me and the kitchen. =)

Enjoying the fruits of his labor!

Steel trap? Yeah, right.

Apparently, I can only retain information for about two minutes these days. After that, I'm lucky if I have any recall of something. Perfect example, I took Alex to the doctor for his two-year check-up a few weeks ago and asked the doctor about his eczema. The doctor recommended Dove soap as one of the treatments. What did I do? I went and bought him Ivory. You know, the soap that dries out skin rather than moisturizes. Nice. Anyway, that's how things are rolling these days. If I don't write it down, it may be forever lost. So this post is just a random sampling of goings on these days. In the hopes that I'll be able to recall some of the memories down the line...

Alex is starting to put a couple of words together, although they still sound like one word. "I want some," and "open it," are the two phrases most commonly used. Also, his words are becoming clearer. (Except for the phrases, which require some translation if you're not used to hearing him talk.) What was once "Meemo," has now become accurately pronounced, "Nemo." Likewise, "nah-nahs," has morphed into a true "thank you."

He's also learning to identify feelings. Today we took something up to Jerry's office, and when we left, Alex said, "Daddy. Work. Alex. Sad." He was sad that Daddy couldn't come with us. And the saddest little thing ever was the other day after I had to discipline Alex for disobeying. He was crying and looked at me and said, "Alex. Sad." Pitiful, I tell you.

Speaking of discipline, we've had our fair share these days. The typical actions and attitudes of a two-year old have most definitely set in around here. On Saturday, we told Alex that if he did a good job obeying, we would take him to get a new Car. Well, let. me. just. tell. you. he did NOT obey. And he did NOT get a new Car. But today, he was so obedient all day long, and my heart just burst with joy. Tonight at dinner, I said to Alex, "You have done such a great job of obeying today, would you like to go to the store and get a new Car?" You could see the wheels turning in his head. His eyes let you know he was processing the question, and then after a few seconds he gleefully exclaimed, "YEA!" and clapped his hands excitedly. It was so precious! Jerry and I just rolled with laughter. So Miles Axlerod has been added to the collection. And to accompany Miles was a nice reminder that just because we obey doesn't always mean that we get treats.

Oh, and Alex does love his treats – especially of the food variety. After requesting cake as his "birthday meal," it is clear that he is my son. It is also abundantly clear that he is his father's son, too.

That's right. Two little chip-lovers in this family. And don't dare forget the guacamole. Because a chip isn't nearly as tasty without the Chipotle guac which Alex takes great pleasure in dipping all by himself. "Self," he says to us, as in "I don't need your help, thankyouverymuch."

And sweet little Andrew...well, he is just as precious as ever. He'll almost give smiles by request these days. Unless of course, you're trying to take his picture with his brother. And then, notsomuch.

Oh, and not when trying to get him to show out for a stranger either. Just keepin' it in the family, he is.  And I'll admit, I do beg him for smiles when Alex starts with his two-year old antics. I need to feel the love somehow. Ha!

Our doctor visits don't line up very well with my Roary and Andrew posts. I get my stat info a couple of weeks later, so I wanted to post the most current info I have since this is for the memory books and all.

ONE MONTH

• Height: 22 inches (49%)
• Weight: 10 lbs, 4 oz (48%)
• Head: 15 1/4 inches (51%)

TWO MONTHS

• Height: 23 1/2 inches (59%)
• Weight: 12 lbs, 5 oz (53%)
• Head: 15 3/4 inches (42%)

Little Roo (his new nickname in our house) is giving a little fist bump to those of you checking in. We'll be back with more photos later. Peace out.

Couple of pics

I wish I had the mental energy to write a post about our goings on. But I don't. Not tonight. I'm finding it very hard to keep up these days. With thank you notes I need to write for Alex's birthday gifts. Birth announcements that need to be mailed out. Laundry that needs to be washed, dried, folded and put away. Sheets that need to be washed and put back on the bed. It's all snowballing. But I will survive.

On a totally random note, have you seen the previews for that show Up All Night that will be on NBC this fall with Christina Applegate? I can't wait. I hope it's as funny as the previews. Haven't looked forward to a primetime show as much as this one in a long time. I think because that's what I'm living these days.

Ok, here are a couple of photos of my sweet Little Men that Jerry was kind enough to help me capture last weekend. {I owe him BIG TIME! There are about one million other things he'd rather be doing than playing photographer's assistant to me. But he's kind enough to do it because he knows how much it means to me. Thank you, babe!} Alright, off to bed. Good night.

He knows how to light up his momma's heart!!

Sweet all-American boy!!

It's a numbers game

We're all about making learning fun. Counting cookies and m&m's. Well, it's really more just like saying numbers, but we're getting there. =)

Alex's 2nd Birthday {a wee bit late}

{Yes, I am more than a month behind in making this post. I'm counting my lucky stars that I'm even able to get it up at all.}

Last year we had a HUGE birthday celebration for our Little Man. This year was more...shall we say, intimate? Rather than having a big party {which, quite frankly, seemed overwhelming with a newborn}, we opted for a weekend getaway to celebrate with our little family.

Alex's birthday fell on a Friday this year. We had planned to leave that morning to head to Asheboro, NC, for an overnight trip which would include a visit to the North Carolina Zoo and some time in the hotel pool. But life had other plans. That morning, we let him open a couple of gifts before we packed up and traveled to West Virginia for a funeral. It was the funeral for our friend Troy's mother. I found it special that we got to celebrate two lives in one day.

After making the day trip up there, we asked Alex what he wanted to eat for dinner...

CAKE! That's my boy! =)

He also said "Moo-moo" throughout the day which is his way of saying Chick-fil-A. So later that night, we loaded up for Cow Appreciation Day at Moo-moos - costumes and all.

Please note the cars, one in each hand. =)

And when we got home, we skyped with Noni and Pop Pop while singing happy birthday to one tired Little Man who could barely keep his eyes open long enough to eat one or two bites of cupcake before he was ready to call it a day.

The next day we got up early and headed out for the zoo. He was worn out by the end of the day! Turns out, some friends of ours were also planning a trip to the zoo that weekend so we got to spend some time with them, too. The kids were on cloud nine to get to play together. Especially at the hotel pool {which, sadly, I got no pictures of}. And us parents were excited to get a little P.F. Chang's for dinner! Here are a few of Little Man during his special trip.

Riding the bee at the bee hive

Peeking out of the bee hive

Driving the zoo crew

Navigating the chopper at the safari exhibit

He was having his hopscotch over and over and over again!

Alex managed to pick the single carousel animal that did not move.
Daddy said we were lucky to even get him on that one.
Although after the ride was over, Alex was eager to go again. Go figure.

We had a wonderful time celebrating Little Man and giving him a weekend that was all about him – just as his birthday should be. Happy 2nd, sweet angel!

Hook 'Em

For all of my Aggie friends, you will not be pleased with this post. Sorry. But I just had to capture my two cutie patooties in their UT outfits - compliments of Ganny and Grandpa - while sitting next to the singing Bevo - compliments of Pop Pop.

Let this be evidence that we are teaching our boys that Texas is hands-down the best state. And for those of you who live there, while we are not the least bit jealous of your 110º days, we are jealous that you're there and we're not.

Roary and Andrew - 2 months

Sweet little "Ah-yoo" (as Alex calls him) turned two months old yesterday.

Andrew - 2 months

What do you think, do he and Alex favor?

Alex - 2 months

I love this stage - the smiles and coos are finally coming! Just when the sleep deprivation is catching up to me, the smiles and coos begin to surface. It's like a carrot dangling in front of my nose to keep me going. =)

This is the closest I've come to capturing a photo of one of the smiles. Plus you get the bonus of seeing how diligently he works that tiny little tongue of his.

Our Littlest Man is such a content baby. He is happy much of the time. He especially likes his bath time where he just lies there and enjoys getting himself cleaned up and smelling good.

We've continued to fight diaper rashes. I tell you what, his poor little bottom is red more often than not it seems. And I've tried everything short of cloth diapers. We'll get it all healed up, and then we're back at it again. We're going through Triple Paste like there's no tomorrow, and that stuff isn't cheap. But it seems to work the best, so Triple Paste it is. We're moving on from the tube to the tub – at least we'll get some economies of scale!

We moved Andrew into his crib around week 5, so he's no longer sleeping in our room. Overall, he's done great. Our only struggle is that he has a rough time getting settled in when we first put him down in the evenings. We can get him to sleep in our arms and transfer him to bed ok, but about five or ten minutes in, he wakes up. It takes us a few tries to get him to actually drift off for good. His bedtime is around 9 p.m., and he is still waking up every three to four hours. Occasionally he'll go for a longer stretch of time, but it's inconsistent. He also gets quite restless somewhere between 5 and 6 a.m. It always seems like he's working so hard to fill his diaper but just can't quite make a go of it. Once he does, he settles back down for more sleep.

He's a great little napper, too. I often put him in his car seat for naps. He seems to like the warmth and coziness of it all. Plus it allows for some portability if a certain Little Man is loud during the Littlest Man's nap times – I can move him upstairs easily or to another room as necessary.

Speaking of the Little Man, he seems to be transitioning better these days. I try very hard to make one-on-one play time with him while Andrew is sleeping. That seems to help a lot. If he hasn't gotten the attention he needs, he becomes very disobedient. And I become very frustrated. I have to quote this scripture to myself repeatedly these days, "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (Ephesians 4:2)

The two Little Men seem to enjoy playing together, especially on the play mat. Alex LOVES to show Andrew his cars, too. See the upside down car next to Andrew in the photo below? That was lovingly placed there by Alex, who tried to share his pretzels and water with Andrew the other day, too.

Andrew also seems to be picking up a thumb-sucking habit from his older brother. I've noticed that the paci is starting to take a back seat to the hand/thumb. Usually the left hand/thumb like his brother, too. Two thumb-suckers. Oh how I dread when the time comes to break this habit...

Yesterday we gave Andrew his first bottle. He wasn't all that interested. He didn't get frustrated; he simply didn't drink it. I'd put the bottle in his mouth, and he just kind of played with it. He only drank about one ounce and that was over the period of an hour or so. We'll try again, but so far, he seems to prefer nursing.

That's about it from the home-front for now. Time to go see about a nap. =)

A prayer for my boys

"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him." Luke 2:40 
 
Dear Lord,
Let this be the story of these boys' lives. 
Amen.