Monday, September 22, 2008

Happy Nick!






Sometimes, it's hard to catch him in a smile, usually he quits before the shutter finishes! He really is a happy baby - we get asked that a lot. He's got his moments of drama when he's tired; and since he doesn't nap for fear of missing action in the afternoon, that's what I get when we get home from "school".
One of my favorite things is that when he's crawling towards you, he roars at you grrrrroar! And when he gets there, he says HAH!
Funny funny kids!






Thanks Mr. Larry & Mrs. Grace

Thanks so much Mr. Larry & Mrs. Grace for the tricycle. I had a lot of try tonight - I either need about another inch of body height or a little extra oomph in my pedaling to use the pedals. I had a great time with it tonight - even telling Daddy MY DO IT when he was trying to help. I look forward to making full use of it!

Love,
Jake










The best bear in the whole world!

For Jake's first Christmas, Auntie Lu sent him a big bear. The bear has become Jake's best buddy (next to the paci). We have to have him at bed time, if we don't feel too good and definately when we travel.

Thanks, Auntie Lu!




















Why one should not use the oven as storage for baked goods

I'd say the pictures speak for themselves....





Friday, September 19, 2008

Random Shots






Some shots from afternoon fun with Mom. Love the Smiles!

Entertainment during Ike


While we were out and about surveying damage and eating breakfast because we had no power...we stopped by Home Depot to find flashlights (good planning, huh?) Anyway, Jake climbed right up on the riding mower and started "driving". He was very disappointed when we had to focus on the task at hand. We found flashlights, but batteries were the endangered species that day!

Wrath of Ike


While we were out checking the situation on Sunday, we passed by this house. They were very lucky that the tree missed their house. We were very lucky cell phones come equipped with cameras, now! :)

Monday, September 15, 2008

Hurricane Ike

It is kind of ironic that we were hit harder by Hurricane Ike in Little Rock, Arkansas, than we would have been at our house in Killeen, Texas. Little Rock received torrential rains and sustained winds of 45 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. There were a lot of trees blown over along with numerous power outages. We were without power for about 7.5 hours on Sunday. So, we are not complaining. We are still much better off than the folks in Galveston and Houston areas. However, Killeen received negilible rainfall and was a little breezy. They didn't even bother turning off their sprinkler systems because they received so little rain.

Jake and Nick were both good boys yesterday, quickly adjusting to the minor disruption in their routines caused by the brief power outage. They both had a great time running out for ice first thing in the morning so we could take care of our perishable items in the refrigerator. They were very entertaining during breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Nick played lead spoon with Jake playing fork on the tabletop.

We were blessed with a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Jake and Daddy went on a nice walk around our complex. Jake correctly identified all of the big trucks, boats, flowers, rocks, trees, kitty cats, and puppies. He also learned about squirrels, acorns, pine cones, and bushes. Jake is particularly fond of pointing out all of the pine cones on the ground now.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

10 more minutes

As bed time nears, we started giving Jake warnings. I read (I know...but as it turns out it was right...) that in a kid's mind, whatever they were working on or playing with is very important to them at that moment so you can't just announce bedtime and go. The more vocal Jake is, the more true this has become.

So, after getting Jammies on and playing with Daddy some more, we've started warning Jake that bed time was 10 (or whatever) minutes away. The last couple of nights, he has totally caught on. I start talking bed time and Jake says "10 more minutes Mama".

I fancy myself more towards the smart side than the stupid side of people - I swear I didn't come up with that kind of thing until I was much older than TWO! Looks like he'll be even further towards the smart side. :)

Hurricane Ike

Even though we are located safely in central Arkansas, Hurricane Ike is still having an impact here. The college football game between Arkansas and the #8 University of Texas Longhorns has been postponed until Sept 27th - during our fall semester training exercise. So much for enjoying Jake flashing his "Hook 'em Horns" at Arkansas fans during the game watching party we WERE going to this Saturday.

I did check on our friends Doug, Rebecca, and Matthew in Houston this afternoon. They are stocked up on beer, diapers, and formula, and are planning to ride Ike out. Besides, all of the roads going north and west through Houston are huge parking lots with folks getting off the Texas coast. Let's pray this one isn't bad.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Creativity

If you know my mom, you know she can sew anything (seriously, I remember a prom dress with roses at the sleeves - not mine, mine were much more simple - and I remember a pteradactyl). She sewed a lot of our clothes growing up. I've gotten a wild hair since I was home with the boys and decided I'd start too. I've sewn clothes more for Jake because I'm not up for figuring out the snaps of onesies, yet. I've done these burpcloths, too, taking ones I've received one step further. So far, it's all been for gifts for friends. Tonight I finished my first commissioned burp cloths - they're at the bottom. I never thought I'd have it in me. I'm not quite ready to jump on the prom dress or dinosaur, but I'm getting there! :)










Manny's Tools





Jake & Nick received a box on Monday. In addition to the clothes that they sent, Jake got a tool box with all of Manny's tools. The boys watch Handy Manny about 15,000 times a day (courtesy of the DVR). Jake asks for it before we even get home (despite the fact that it's playing on the DVD player in the car) and Nick will turn around from wherever he's at to watch it.
Jake is currently learning to share, and like most things, it's on his terms. He's a toddler - if he's seen it, touched it, thought of it or been near it - it's his especially true of his newest toys. So, of course the new tools have been a hot topic. You can see Nick inching closer, smiling at them when they sing and dance; you can see Jake thinking about knocking Nick on his hiney using his feet and Daddy sitting very close by to run interference (Mommy was holding the camera). :)
They really enjoy the tool box. We're sure someday, they might be 14 & 16, but someday, Jake will share!

Random shots





Both boys are very smiley. It's hard to catch Nick with the camera - apparently he hasn't yet figured out you're supposed to smile when Mommy gets out the camera. Jake is quite the ham - screaming "CHEEEESE" whenever he sees a camera (at Little Gym last Saturday, one of the dad's was taking pictures of his own kid, Jake saw the camera and yelled Cheese stopping short of running to the shot). Tonight, we were showing Bapaw our teeth. Oh, and Bapaw, during bath time last night the little Monster was saying "Bapaw come?" Completely unprovoked by me. I was too busy trying to wrangle him to get him dressed.

Eating chip dip


We had some Wood Family chip dip. Jake helped make it. If you look closely, you'll see that Jake discovered a new way to eat the dip. After touching it to his tongue, he decided it tasted better if you eat the chip - dip end last.
You can't really explain to a 2-year-old that it all gets crunched up in there and ultimately tastes the same.
It was pretty amusing watching him eat it and trying not to get his hands dirty!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Arkansas vs. Texas Game Week

Jake is prepared for this weeks college football showdown between Arkansas and Texas. He has been diligently working on his "Hook 'em Horns" hand gesture. Our Arkansas neighbors are not impressed, but still think he is cute. He will get his chance to show it off this Saturday afternoon at a game watching party. The crowd is expected to be a mix of fans from both teams. He should be quite entertaining.