What A Ham Bone!

I have started to realize what a ham bone little Bug is becoming. Every time I get the camera out, he looks up at me and smiles!
He also really enjoys seeing the baby in the mirror looking back at him. Here is a picture of him looking at himself in the mirror. I'm sure you can "see" all the kisses he has left on the mirror (as evidenced by all the drool!)
Here he is, being a BIG ham! He's saying, "Hey! Look at me. I'm so CUTE!"
And here, he is saying, "Watch me. I can get them to do anything when I look like this. NO ONE can refuse me!" What a little Squirt!

Monday Night

I'm glad Monday is over. Not that it has been a bad day, just a very long one. (I suppose staying up until 3:30am finishing a book didn't make the day any easier!)

We'll start with yesterday....The boys and I went to church and I enjoyed listening to a very good sermon. The boys did well in the nursery. Baby Nick was so interested in watching all the other kids that he refused to take a nap. The result; he was asleep before leaving the church! While packing the boys up to leave the nursery, Joey kept waving, "Bye kids, bye kids." (As if he were one of the big people!) I had to return to the sanctuary to pick up my things, and Joey ran up and down the aisles and up on the platform (something he learned he enjoyed from his cousin Jesse!) As I was running up on the platform to keep Joey from pulling on all the cords trying to figure out what they do, Pastor called out to me, saying, "I didn't know if you were going to sing today. Were you ready to sing?" NO WAY, I assured him. "Next week." he said. So I am scheduled to sing next Sunday. The next order of business was to find something to sing, that I could learn in only one week.

Back to Monday.....Nick wanted me to come in this morning and do some more filing as they may have a visit this week from an accreditation company, and he wanted to make sure everything was in order. So after reading until 3:30am, knowing the alarm was going to go off shortly after 7:00am, I got up early, got the boys and I ready and went in to work for Nick. When the boys had all they could handle, I brought them home for a couple hours before leaving again to go the the Christian book store. They didn't have a huge selection of accompaniment CD's and I didn't recognize most of them by just the title, but I picked out a couple that had nice lyrics. (They didn't come with the melody written out in music, just lyrics, so I was truly choosing blind, or deaf, as it were.) Listening to the first song I chose in the car on the way home, I knew that it was the one I would sing on Sunday. It is called, "My Past is Passed." My favorite line says "And Satan declares 'the sin is still there' Then God asked the question, 'What sin?'" It's a beautiful reminder that when we confess our sins and repent, God is faithful and just to forgive us and then He chooses to remember the sin no longer.
After being home for a couple hours, we loaded back up in the van, went back to Nick's work to finish the filing started that morning and to bring Nick home when he got off work. Then came dinner, dishes, laundry, garbage collection, and taking the garbage to the curb.
Here are my adorable sons playing with each other in the recliner. Notice how Joey is, once again, not wearing any pants! I swear, I can't keep clothes on that boy. (Did I mention that the temperature never got out of the single digits today?!) They have so much fun laughing at each other. They don't have to have any thing to laugh at, but one starts laughing, the other follows suit. Back and forth, laughing at each other for no other reason, except that they enjoy being brothers. It cracks me up.

When Nick went out the front door to take the garbage to the curb, not ten feet away was a mama moose munching on the tree limbs. I snapped a couple pictures to show you. You can see that the hind end of the moose is nearly touching the corner of our house, that is how close she was!
Anyway, I think Bug is finally getting tired...if only you could hear him! I better take care of him. Hopefully he will go to sleep quickly and I can get some sleep tonight.

Valentine's Gift

Normally, I wouldn't allow a picture to be taken of me, let alone be put on the blog (since I sort of resemble Jaba the Hut.) However, I had to put this on to illustrate the gift my husband gave me for Valentine's Day.

Nick gave me a gift certificate to a Salon & Spa. With it, I got a wonderful 60 minute massage, which I so desperately needed. I also got a new hairstyle. The certificate was enough to cover both services, however, when I got there, I found out that they were running a special on hour-long massages! So after the massage, hairstyle, extremely expensive tiny bottle of hair product, and tips, I still had some left over on the card!

Here's the new look!

Nick was very pleased, and even Joey thinks I'm handsome! He reminded me that he is handsome with his new haircut too.

After the spa, I went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple books I have been wanting. (Actually, I had to order one, and even though it comes before the one I bought in the series, since I have read it in the recent past, I will go ahead and read the one I have in hand!) Then I treated myself to dinner! Just after I had my food brought to my table, Nick called and said he had hurt his back and couldn't lift either of the boys and wanted to know when I would be home. Even though he said not to rush, I had my food packed in a to-go box and came home right away. It was a delightful time to pamper myself, and I appreciate Nick more than words can say for giving me this wonderful gift.

Being Corrected By My Toddler

There is nothing funnier (yes, that is a valid word in my vocabulary) than being corrected by a toddler. There is nothing more humbling either, if it is a serious correction. But tonight I'm talking about the funny kind.

Nick and I call each other 'Babe.' So, for nicknames around here, I have Babe, Bubba, and Bug. Can you see how easy it would be to call someone by the wrong name? I have been calling Joey 'Babe' more often than I care to admit, intending to say 'Bubba.' Finally, he looks at me in exasperation, puts his hand on his chest and says, "I'm Bubba, not Babe." He used his best 'get it right, Mom' voice.

Tonight, I called Nick 'sweetheart' rather than Babe or the occasional 'honey.' Joey chastises me, saying, "Don't call him sweetheart! He's honey." What a funny child.

Bug's new favorite place to go is in the kitchen. He is FAST, too. I will pull him out of the kitchen, place him back in the living room, walk back to the kitchen myself, and by the time I get in the kitchen and turn around, Bug is already peeking around the corner. For some reason, it absolutely delights Joey to see Bug in the kitchen. All I hear is laughter, from both boys, when they are in the kitchen. The funny thing about Bug coming into the kitchen is how he gets there. Every time, he goes through his "secret passageway." He goes between the legs of the piano. He rarely goes around it. Here are a couple pictures of him going through his secret passageway. Please excuse the bright spot, the flash was reflected off the corner of the wall.

Hope you have a great weekend. I'm sure I'll have something to say later.

Thursday Night

Last night was choir practice. We have started rehearsals for the Easter program. It has some really beautiful pieces in it. As I was getting ready to leave, Joey decided he should go too, even though it is supposed to be my escape from the house (and all that comes with it.) So Joey and I went to choir. As I was singing, Joey kept saying, "I don't wanna sing." I had to remind him that Mommy was singing and he didn't have to.

The choir is small right now, there were only about eight people there last night, but there are supposed to be six or seven more that have already to committed to joining us. After we were done going over the music, we sat and visited for a few minutes. That's when Joey decided to charm everybody. He walked up to the pastor and asked, "My big full name?" So I translated for everybody....he was asking what his big, full name is. But lately, he has been confused and thinks his big full name is Big Full Name. Lenore asked if his name was Joseph. He said, "Yeah! Shrishan Looty." Again, I translated. Then he came over to me, facing the whole choir, and says, "Be quiet!" So now the choir knows who rules in our house! :)

As we were leaving, I asked Pastor if we ever got a video of the Christmas program, as I had told you I would get a copy. Unfortunately, they never got a good recording of it. The audio was fine, but the visual was not. So I am sorry....no video of the Christmas program. Then Pastor said that he wanted to get me singing some solos, on Sundays, for the offertory. Then he said, "How about this Sunday?" I gave him a look of near panic and he said, "Or whenever you feel comfortable......So how about Sunday?"

I couldn't give him an answer because I had to take care of something with Joey before we left. Although I wouldn't be ready to sing this Sunday, I will have to talk to him about singing in the future. I don't have much in my repertoire though. Besides the song I sang at my wedding and the song I sang when we dedicated the boys, all I have are on tapes, which goes to show how old they are! So I will have to consider getting something new. (Aubrey, I could use some suggestions of something new, in my range, if you have any ideas.)

Now it is Friday. It will be nice to have the week over with and Nick home for the weekend. Although, he is going to have to work for much of the day tomorrow. Have a great day!

Boys Being Boys

So, here are my goofy boys playing with each other.
I tried to get a good shot of Bug swinging in his bouncer...he will bounce crazy to get it going, then lift his feet and let it swing back and forth! I laugh so hard...Joey never did that and I haven't seen any other kid do it either.
As you can tell...watching the boys play with each other cracks me up.
I try to keep my kids dressed, most of the time, but Joey chooses to run around with no pants on.
It's funny to watch these videos again, because I find myself giggling at all the same places that I giggled while recording.
Hope you enjoy the slice of life at the loony-bin (aka Luty household!)

New Toy

As you can see, we got a new video camera. It took Joey several days before he stopped saying "Cheese" whenever I turned it on. This is just a sample of what we do at home....try to get our kids to perform for entertainment!
After saying 'hi' to all the family, every time I turned the camera on, Joey would go into listing off family he was saying 'hi' to. (I love how he instructed me on how to say 'Rina'!)
I hope you enjoy hearing the boys as well as seeing them. It is very,very, late (or early) being after two in the morning, so I better try to get Bug back in his bed and get to sleep myself.
Loves and kisses to all.

Much Ado About Nothing

There's not much going on around here, just wanted to write something so you didn't forget about us.

Currently, Baby Nick is napping, and Joey is throwing a monstrous fit, so he is down for a nap as well (hence the monstrous fit, vicious cycle).

At the end of January, we experienced a warm-up in the weather. We even saw temperatures in the mid-forties! But that didn't last long. We have had a couple more inches of snow and until yesterday, enjoyed temperatures in the mid to upper-twenties. But now we are back to single digit and low-teen temperatures. On the bright side, the sun is shinning and daylight hours are lasting longer. Today, the sunrise was at 8:28am and the sun won't set until 6:01pm. It is nice to keep my blinds open to let all that sunlight in.

Baby Nick had his six month pictures done on Saturday. I can't wait to get them back, they are so cute. I should get them back a week from tomorrow, so I will be sending them out to family soon after that.

Anyway, nothing new here. Have a great day.

Tooth Update

Baby Nick's second tooth has broken through....the bottom right front, right next to his first tooth. I knew it wouldn't take too long. I just hope that from now on, he will be a little less of a HUGE pill than what he has been lately.

Going Hog Wild

Now that Bug has a tooth (and the second one is not far away from cutting through), I thought he should try a teething biscuit. He LOVED it! He was very intense while eating it, fully concentrating on getting as much as he possibly could in his mouth at once.
Needless to say....he went "hog wild." He thoroughly enjoyed it, as proven by the picture below. It didn't take him long to bite of a bigger chunk than he could chew, so after he was finished gagging, I stayed pretty close by to make sure he didn't choke himself. At one point, just a couple minutes after giving him the biscuit, I looked over at him and he was done! I couldn't believe how fast he had eaten it. As I was washing him up, I found the remainder that he had dropped in his lap.....there was about two-thirds left. So he didn't really eat the whole thing super fast, but I thought he had had enough anyway. (Didn't want to spoil his supper.)

Speaking of supper, we had Randy and Cheryl over tonight for dinner. I wanted to try something new, something that would give the "wow" factor. Usually, I don't try new recipes for company without having first tried them with family...but this was not a dish I would normally have made just for the two of us (since Joey wouldn't really eat any of it, and Baby Nick is still too little!) I made a Stuffed Flank Steak, with potato-rosemary bread (store bought), and cheesy cauliflower. The potato-rosemary bread is one of my favorites, so fragrant and savory. And one of the only ways I eat cauliflower is covered in cheese. But the stuffed flank steak was a new dish.

You start by butterfly cutting the steak, which can be quite difficult when you haven't ever done it before. But with easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Nick did a fantastic job. Then you pound it out with a meat tenderizer for two reasons: first, it breaks down the sinewy tissues in the meat so it won't be so chewy and second, to make it an even thickness. You layer the steak with cooked spinach and mashed potatoes with grated cheddar cheese and bacon mixed in. Then you roll the steak, tie it to keep in together, sear it on all sides, brush it with barbecue sauce and roast it in the oven until the meat is cooked to your liking.

Here is a cross-section view of the finished product. It was absolutely divine. I definitely delivered the "wow" factor with this dinner!

Cheryl had admitted that she could never seem to eat cauliflower because it didn't really have much flavor, but she really liked it smothered in mayo/mustard and covered in melted cheese. Randy also liked it, neither of them having had it like this before.

After dinner, we taught Randy and Cheryl how to play Phase 10. It was not one of my better games. I was stuck on Phase One twice, Phase Three five times, Phase Four twice, Phase Seven twice, and by the time I finished Phase Eight, the game was over. Oh well, such is the luck of the draw! Next time, I will teach them Mexican Train (Dominoes). That's another game that can take several hours to play!

I suppose since it is a quarter to one in the morning, I should try to get some sleep before my boys wake up and prevent me from doing so. Although, most nights, I wonder why I try to go to bed at all!

First Tooth

It happened sooner than I thought, but Bug's first tooth cut through this morning. I thought that the bottom tooth on his right side would cut through first, but as it turns out, it was the tooth on his left side that popped through. And only six months old. Here are a couple pictures....it's hard to see the tooth, because it barely cut through and its hard to tell if what you see is just the reflection of the flash off a puddle of drool...but it is there.

Right there, the bottom front tooth on Bug's left. Can you see it? If not, just imagine it is there, because it is!
It's almost easier to see the tooth in this picture, but you have to enlarge the picture to see it closer up. But isn't he cute, anyway?!?!?!!

We Have A Giant!

I can't believe how much Baby Nick has grown! In the last four months, Nick has averaged a growth of 1. 5" each month. Dr. Bateman said that he is very lean and long. Imagine, me having a 'lean' child! (Ha ha) These are Baby Nick's measurements from his six month check-up:
Weight: 17lbs 6oz (50th percentile) Height: 29" (Wow, greater than 97th percentile) and his Head Circumference: 45cm (80th percentile) He has gained 2 pounds and 3 inches in two months.

Joey's measurements at six months were: Weight: 21lbs 9oz Height: 26.5", and I don't have a record of his head circumference (but I do know that at 9mos his head was 48.5cm, so it was less than that at six months!)

So Joey is our short, chubby cherub, and Nick is our lean, lanky love. Joey's weight gain slowed down remarkably after he turned four months old, he still isn't 30 pounds yet...so in 29 months, he has gained less than 10 pounds. So don't think that I, for one minute, think my son is or has ever been, fat. He's a healthy weight, and I don't want him growing up with a complex thinking he is too fat.

Now I on the other hand, are much too fat. I just got some workout DVDs by Denise Austin. She is cheerful and encouraging without being annoying...and she doesn't make you feel like you are know good just because you are fat. (Like Tony Little, always calling you a wimp if you can't keep going.) I am horrified to say, that I can hardly do the 15-minute Easy walk without great strain. However, I did find it a tiny little bit easier the second time, than I did the first. The first time, it felt like 15 minutes lasted an hour. But as I carefully watched the timer on the DVD player the second time, I found that the fifteen minutes came sooner than I expected. I look forward to the day that the Easy walk becomes too easy and I can try out the Fat Blasting Interval walk, and eventually the Power Walk and Tone. I also got the Personal Training System DVD by Denise Austin that has several segments to target different areas, but this too, has low, medium, and high intensity workouts, so those of us who are so out of shape we can't even walk for fifteen minutes, can work our way up. I haven't tried this video yet, I thought after seeing how difficult it was for me to walk for a few minutes, I would wait a few more days before trying it. My goal, is that next week, I will walk everyday (instead of every other day like I'm doing this week) and then by the week after next, I will alternate one day of walking with one day of the other work-out. Even as I write this, I wonder if I am insane to share it, because it is hard enough to be around all the skinny-minnies in our families knowing that I am so fat. I can only imagine what people must think of me. Oh well. Maybe there will be a day far, far, far in the future that I am not so fat.

Anyway....have a very Happy Valentine's Day.

Half A Year Already

Can you believe it? I can't. Baby Nick is growing up so fast, getting so big. I just got out the 6-9month size clothes out of storage and realized I probably should have dressed him in these for the last month. I guess I am trying to keep him little a little longer.
Here is the little Bug, six months old. He is not sitting on his own real well, even propped up with the Boppy he was falling over. This is the one area where Joey developed before Baby Nick. Nick still isn't crawling, but is ever so close. He will get up on his hands and knees, hop forward on his knees a couple times, until his knees are too close to his hands to stay balanced. He will then fall forward onto his face, get back up on his hands and knees, and do it all over again. But he is a pro at scooting. He is so fast I can hardly turn around and expect him to be in the same vicinity a second later. He will put his arms out in front of him and pull himself forward. (Not quite the army crawl, using one arm at a time, but just as efficient, using both.)

He is trying to cut a couple teeth, I think. His bottom two front teeth are closer to the surface, and although they are not cutting through yet, you can feel the ridges under the skin. Now it's just a matter of how long it will take them to pop through. He is enjoying his solid food, at times, not seeming to get enough. I think he is growing like a weed, because he looks bigger to me than he did a couple weeks ago, and usually I can't tell (being with them all the time) until I look back later.

Here is a picture of Bubba at six months, a way of comparing them. (I love this picture of Joey, he looks so angelic!) I still think they have so much in common, as far as their looks go. They have their differences, sure, but there is absolutely no mistaking that they are brothers.

I love watching them interact, because Joey loves to make Baby Nick smile, and Baby Nick just lights up when Joey is near. I will get some video of them playing together so you can see. It's so precious.

I suppose it is lunch time, so I will get Joey fed, and then hopefully be able to get a shower while he is eating! That would be so nice. (A shower everyday for three days in a row? Almost unheard of.)

Growing Up

Baby Nick is SIX months tomorrow! Half a year, already gone. That also means that in two weeks, we will have been in Alaska six months. Sometimes it feels like we have been here MUCH MUCH longer than that, at the same time being hard to believe that so much time has gone so by so quickly.

Here is an adorable picture of Baby Nick eating carrots for the first time. What's so funny about this picture is not that he is covered in bright orange, but that is looks like he is smiling, when in fact he had just gagged himself with the spoon!

Baby Nick will have his six month check up on Wednesday, Valentine's Day (a reminder to all those men who might not realize it's just around the corner), so I will update you on how big he is getting. I will also have comparison pictures for you tomorrow. Baby Nick will have his professional pictures done on Saturday, so within a couple more weeks, I will be able to send those out to you.

It's Bubba's bedtime, so I need to make sure he gets tucked in. I will bring more cuteness to you tomorrow.

Baby Shower

Yesterday we had a baby shower at the church for a couple ladies; Rachel had a baby girl in December and Mindy is due at the end of this month. I have met Rachel before, but I hadn't met Mindy until I was getting ready to leave the shower when it was over. I thought I would take a few pictures and show you some of the ladies from the church that I go to, just so you can get a different picture of my life up here in Alaska.

The lady holding Baby Nick is Sarah, the wife of the new associate pastor. The little girl, Olivia, is about a year old. The babies enjoyed playing with each other. Olivia kept tickling Baby Nick's feet, and Baby Nick kept grabbing at her hair 'puffs'.
Lenore, on the left, is the first person I met at the church. She is the nursery coordinator and is such a sweet and gentle lady. You get a sense of peace when you are around her. Linda is on the right and I have only just met her a couple times, but I hear she is a prayer warrior and someone wonderful to take your problems to.
Here are the girls opening their gifts. Mindy is the red-head on the left, and Rachel has the short brown hair, on the right. I got each of the babies an outfit and each of the mom's a collection of smelly bath stuff so they remember to take time to pamper themselves (very important for a mom to do.)
Here is Rachel with her daughter Tirzah. She will be two months old tomorrow.
Here is Baby Nick enjoying his time with Sarah. He was quite a flirt and gave her many smiles...more than I can usually coax out of him.

Here is a picture of Baby Tirzah with her Grandma.

We played one game, a word scramble, which I tied for first!! I got 19 out of 25 words. We only had five minutes to get all 25 words, so I did pretty good. I almost had a couple of them figured out when time ran out. These are the words I missed:

rodeomothh teatley gefined herette dacler paynpel

They also read a baby story about Mr. and Mrs. Right rushing to the hospital. Each table had a chocolate bar that was to be passed to one person on the right anytime the word 'right' was read in the story, and one person to the left anytime the word 'left' was read. At the end of the story, the person with the chocolate bar got to eat it....I won again!! But since chocolate isn't my favorite, I shared.

Anyway...just wanted to share a bit of my weekend. As an added note: the choir starts practice for the Easter program on Thursday, and I am looking forward to it.

Budding Artist

I wanted to show you the incredible artistic ability of my son, Bubba. He drew this all by himself. Can you see what it is? It is Bubba on a cycle-bike (or bicycle as the rest of us know it as.) Didn't he do a great job? I must admit that I am amazed, but then again, I'm biased.
Joey has shown a taste for cheese like his mommy. We both love cheese, especially Pawn-ju-jon cheese (you may recognize it as Parmesan.)

Today at lunch, we had pasta with butter and pawn-ju-jon cheese. I had Joey say the grace, and usually I have him repeat after me, but today I let him say his own prayer. This is how it went: "Jesus love me. Wash mine booty. Amen" Where that came from I have NO idea.

A new phrase that he has become fond of is, "That's not fair." I'm not sure he always knows how it applies, but he knows the spirit of the phrase. Whenever he says it, he balls up his fists and glares as hard as he can.

Dinner needs to be made soon, so I better get to it.

Scooting Bug

Here is the promised video of Joey "helping" mommy by scooting Baby Nick back onto the carpet. You can see how Baby Nick tries to get away at the beginning, determined to reach the toy he wanted. You can also see what effort Joey puts into it...his tongue sticking out. Let me explain his pajamas...he picked out what he wanted to wear to bed, it just happened to be from two different sets of PJ's. I am surprised that baby Nick doesn't end up with rug burn on his face! But Joey is always careful to be as gentle as he can. I am such a terrible mother, I sometimes ask Joey to scoot Baby Nick just for the fun of watching it!

My Secretary

Joey is very helpful to me around the house. He loves to unload the dishwasher (of course, he is taking out the dirty dishes as I am trying to get them in). He loves to get things for me to take care of Baby Nick, and he is now scooting Baby Nick around the floor if he gets into something he shouldn't. (Now that is a video I should share!) His new task....acting as my secretary. I only wish we had a translation software for everybody else to be able to understand what he has typed. It's the thought that counts, right? Gotta love him.

Joey Cracks Me Up

Last night, Nick was kind enough to give me some 'alone' time so that I could work on my Bible study. 'Alone' generally means having only one kid around instead of both. So I am trying to concentrate on the study at the same time field questions and comments from Joey. All of the sudden, Joey leaves my room and closes the door behind him. I thought that he finally decided to give me some real alone time, very sweet of him.

After a few minutes, I hear Baby Nick laughing harder than I have ever heard him before. So I creep down a few stairs so as not to distract Nick from whatever was amusing him so. Baby Nick was in his bouncer across the room from the computer desk, where Nick was making silly noises. I sat there for a full minute or two and Baby Nick could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard. I, too, was laughing hard just watching him. As I started up the stairs I realized I hadn't seen Joey downstairs.

So I checked in the boys' room (since Joey wasn't in my room) but he wasn't there. I checked my room again thinking maybe he had sneaked back in when I was on the stairs. Nope, not there either. Then I noticed the linen closet door, slightly open. I figured that someone had just forgotten to close the door all the way, because it is not a room, just a closet. But as I opened the door, Joey looked up at me from the floor with a 'deer in the headlights' look on his face. There he was, sitting with the Costco size laundry detergent bucket between his legs, and scooping soap in his lap! My first thought and fear was that he was eating it. But after several breath checks, no 'fresh breeze' scent met my nose (unfortunately, it would have been an improvement!) After vacuuming the closet floor, my 'alone' time had expired and I hadn't gotten much done on the Bible study.

Tonight, as I was trying to put Baby Nick in his crib (the little pill woke up again as soon as I laid him down), I hear Joey asking Daddy a very important question. "Do you have juice on your cheek?" Daddy's response? "No, it's just a little zit." I had to hold on to Baby Nick tighter because I was afraid I might drop him from laughing so hard. Out of the mouths of babes. Kids say the darnedest things. Take your pick, but that is what I experience every day! Those are the enjoyable moments of my days.

Like father, like son.......how cute is that. Wondering why Nick is missing his goatee? His trimmer doesn't work anymore, and we don't have hair trimming scissors, so he had to shave it off to "trim" it up. I told him that if I could get over how funny he looked to me without it, I might ask him not to grow it back, because now my lips aren't poked with prickly whiskers when he kisses me!! :) (And I don't mean funny-ugly, just funny-different.)

Joey and I have been working on his recognition of letter and their sounds. He recognizes several letters and sounds, but although he recognizes the letter 'F', he doesn't apply it to his words. For example, 'Felipe', he calls 'Ohlipe'. So I tried having him watch my mouth as I said, "Ff Ff Felipe." He responds, "Ff Ff Ff...Ohlipe." Now he walks around the house saying, "Ff Ff Ff...TV. Ff Ff Ff...chair. Ff Ff Ff...highchair." Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess.

Sidebar: As I was sitting in my rocking chair this evening, I suddenly felt something warm and slimy cover my bare toes....Baby Nick was sucking on my toes! This kid will put ANYTHING in his mouth right now. Crazy kid.

Good-Bye, Drive Safe

This is Joey's new standard send-off every time Daddy leaves the house. It is so sweet. I know that he learned the phrase from me, but even without my having said it first, he now says good-bye to Nick this way.

He has also become very interested in playing the "mer-ca-ca" or harmonica as most of us know it. He even tries to add vibrato by quickly tapping the back of the instrument as he plays, but in actuality, he just hits his hand. It's quite adorable.

Baby Nick is still trying to crawl. He is getting increasingly more frustrated with himself that he hasn't accomplished it yet, but it sure is fun to watch. I think he is growing through a growth spurt, because he can't seem to get enough to eat. He is hardly waiting three hours anymore between meals, and he sucks a bottle dry in a matter of minutes. He is getting much better at eating solid food, I think I will start feeding him two solid food meals a day starting next week (when he turns six months.) He has now had peas, bananas, sweet potatoes, peaches (which wasn't his favorite) and today he had prunes for the first time. He ate the prunes really well, surprisingly. Next on the list will be carrots, applesauce, and then squash. After that, I think he will have eaten all the single foods I have seen at the store, and so far, he hasn't shown any allergies. That is very good news for me. The only allergy I have seen in him so far is clean clothes. I don't know what it is about them, but as soon as he gets clean clothes on, he spits up all over them! (If only there were a cure for that one!)

Not much is new here, so not much to blog about, but I didn't want to go too long before having you hear from me. Love to all our family, we miss you so much.

Big Steps For A Mommy

Today, I had a really hard day as a Mom, at least in the department of watching my kids grow up and need me just a little less. But I will get to that in a moment. First, I will explain the pictures.
Nick and I were playing cards on Saturday night. First, we played a few hands of Spit, a game that I grew up playing with my sister Aubrey. Our friends, Trisha and Nicole, played with us a lot as well, and we would have tournaments with the four of us. This is a game that brings me very fond memories, and since I dominate over my husband :) I enjoy playing it still! After we played Spit I taught him how to play Phase 10. With only two people playing, the game moves a bit faster than it does when a big bunch plays, so we were able to finish two games before too long. Baby Nick was taking a nap, and Bubba was just hanging out downstairs. We thought he was playing on the floor, but as we walked into the living room, we found Bubba in the chair, asleep. Since it was after 8pm, we were surprised that he had fallen asleep. Of course, he woke right up and didn't go back to sleep until after 1am! That was such a treat (NOT) having him laying in our bed, first with his head up on our pillows, then down by our feet. At one point, I laid down with him at the foot of the bed. Picture this: Nick on his side of the bed, with his head up on his pillow and his feet at the foot of the bed; Joey in the middle of the bed with his head at the foot of the bed and his feet by Daddy's belly; me with my head at the foot of the bed and my feet up in Nick's face. Add to it one pillow-hogging Bubba and my head nearly hanging off the edge of the bed. All of it to see if it would help Joey go to sleep faster. Did it? Of course not. I finally moved my head back up where it belonged, fell asleep, and found that Joey was finally asleep when Baby Nick joined us at 2am. But since I was asleep first, I am not sure what time Joey finally dropped off at. Oh well, at least he slept.
Here is another milestone for Bug: sitting up by himself. Up until just today, he couldn't even balance on his rear for a second, and tonight he sat up for several minutes, with my re-balancing him only once. When he started to fall the second time, he put his hand down to catch himself. He is getting to be such a big boy. He will be SIX months in a week from tomorrow. I can hardly believe it.

Now on to the things which have caused me to grow up a little today. The boys and I went to church this morning (Nick had to stay home as he was on call, and spent over an hour on the phone walking one of his employees through a procedure). Joey walked right into the nursery as if he owned the place, like he has for the last few times. But today, I left Baby Nick in the nursery for the first time. As I sat in the sanctuary, I was more uncomfortable, as if I didn't know what to do with myself without at least one of my children beside me. I stared at the front where the number would surely show up saying that one of my children needed me, but not once was I called to the rescue. I suppose I should grateful that I had some time to myself, and I am, but I'm not as ready for it as my kids seem to be.

The next thing that made me grow up today was Joey. About 9:30pm, I was rocking Baby Nick to sleep, and Joey started walking up the stairs. I asked him what he was doing, but he didn't say a word. He just looked at me with kind of a sad look on his face and continued climbing the stairs. About fifteen minutes later, Nick asked where Joey was, and I told him that he had gone up the stairs, but I hadn't heard him or seen him since. We both went upstairs, as I was laying Baby Nick down anyway, and noticed that no lights had been turned on. We found Joey laying in our bed, asleep. He had just taken himself off to bed, not saying a word to any of us. It's enough to break my heart. Usually, when he gets tired, he will climb up in my lap and "rest on your shoulder" or lay down on the couch or floor and fall asleep wherever he is (like he did in the picture at the top of the post.) But tonight, he just carried himself off to bed, as if he felt like we didn't have time for him, or care enough about him to put him to bed. I can't wait to hug him in the morning to leave no doubt as to how much I love him, even though I am sure he doesn't really feel the way he made me feel like he feels. (Don't give yourself a headache trying to make sense of that if 9it doesn't just come to you.)

A funny thing that happened today; Joey was sitting on Nick's lap while he was laying back in the recliner. Joey said to him, "You have hair in the nose." That gave us a laugh, but not so much as what was said next. Nick told him that he had hair in his nose too, but Joey just said, "No, I have boogers."

Superbowl results: Nick and I do NOT watch football, we have no idea who the teams are, which teams are good, or why we should root for a particular team. But we do watch the Superbowl, pretty much just to say we did. Nick decided to root for the Bears because they were coming in as the underdogs. I decided to root for the Colts, for the same reason that I root for any team; they have the nicer uniforms! So we decided to make a little wager on the outcome of the game. The loser gives the winner a full body massage. I can't wait to cash in my winnings!!! HE HE HE

Good Hygiene

Joey has been observing me as I cut and file my nails, and now he feels he has to have his nails filed as well. But being the big boy that he is, he wants to do it himself. He is so cute. You may be wondering why he runs around the house virtually naked in Alaska, but clothes are not something I have been able to keep on him very well these days. After running around the house, Joey will say, "I'm fweady (sweaty)" and take his shirt off. I do all I can, but I don't have the time or energy to follow him around the house trying to get him to put the clothes on that he has just thrown off! What am I to do with all the cuteness in my house!

A Funny Story

This one's for you Mom, filled with your favorite kind of visual!

Yesterday, while Baby Nick was taking a nap in his crib (and thank goodness he was,) Joey was sitting on my lap in the recliner. I laid back in the chair and Joey sat on my chest, trying to pretend I was Daddy and that he could bounce on me. Without warning, Joey leaned forward. I'm sure you can guess what happened. The chair became top heavy and fell over backwards.

So there I am, my back lying on the floor and my feet hanging in the air. I couldn't breath, both because I was laughing so hard and because Joey was still sitting on my chest! Joey kept going back and forth between laughing and being a little frightened. (I don't think he knew how to feel.)

The best solution, would have been to fall over while Nick was home so that he could pick us up. Instead, this had to happen when he was at work. What makes it worse, is that the chair is in between the couch and the computer desk, with hardly any clearance on either side, and the wall directly behind. So, my back is still lying on the floor, my feet are still hanging in the air, and I have no way to get up, because there is no room on any side to swing my legs over to. I was finally able to help Joey get off my lap and stand upright on the floor, but he wouldn't be much help to me.

I sat there for awhile, pondering my predicament, when I tried pushing off the wall with my feet, tossing my legs over my head. Once I was able to push off a few inches, I finally had some room to swing my legs over to the side and get myself picked up off the floor. Needless to say, there was absolutely NO grace involved in my movements. My one regret was that there was no one around who would appreciate the humor of the situation to share it with. Joey didn't understand enough to laugh along! Since then, every once in awhile, Joey will come up to me in the chair and say, "Don't slick, don't slide down in the chair." Thanks, Bubba.

Partial Success, But Success Nonetheless

Tonight, as I was helping Joey change his pull-up after he had done his 'doodee', I noticed he was not completely done. So we rushed into the bathroom and he actually finished on the toilet!! Most was still done in his pull-up, but now that we have had that first break through in getting something in the toilet, hopefully he will find it easier to go in the toilet all the time.

I must say, I'm a very proud mama tonight.