Blankies

Me and KK on my blankie when I was just a few months old.

I think that blankies are very important - something that provides comfort, has sentimental value, helps out when Mama or Daddy are not there, etc. I had my blankie (that Mema, my mama's mama made for me ) for many years - probably too many years, but I loved it! And now, my boys have blankies that SweetHart made for them (their mama's mama). I love that we are continuing on the tradition and they have these comfort items to help them feel secure.

Both boys started loving on their blankies when they were brand new -
H just a few days old


C was still in the hospital when he started using his!

Little fingers and toes peeking through!

H snuggled up at a few months old

If C is having a hard time falling asleep,
all you need to do is put the blankie right up by his cheek and he will fall right asleep!

This is how H likes to be put to bed - his "big blankie " spread over his body and "2" (the little blankie) right next to his cheek.
(Did you notice? no paci! He's doing great! He asks for it every few days, but when we tell him it is all gone, he just says OK! It was not as bad of a transition as I thought it would be!)

Afternoon play

I had found a cute little set of water creatures (frog, sea horse, and clown fish) that you can wind up and they will swim in the water, and a net to catch them with. I put them in H's bath the other night and he loved them! He really didn't want to get out, so yesterday we decided to play with them while we were waiting for Daddy to come home. I couldn't think of any other container that I had that would let them swim so I brought C's bath out and filled it up.

H had a blast making the creatures swim

C was even a pretty good sport when the occasional drop of water would come his way.

He had fun catching them too!

Sunbathing

"I'm finking sumping"
(I'm thinking of something)

A little bath full of water was just too much for a two year old to resist!

I snapped a quick picture (because he looked so pleased with himself) and told H to get out of the water, but he kept stepping back in and saying "take picture, 1-2-3 cheese!" so that I might let him get back in. Who can resist such a happy grin?

Where the wild things are...

Check out this post from last year to see more wild things we have around here, and look at how young H looks! Just one year ago!!!

This moth has been making the rounds in our garage (carport) this week.
This morning he was in our doorway.

This one definitely qualifies as a wild one.
He put the rings from his stacking rings around his ankles and was calling them soccer balls (?). It made me think of tribal feathers and a war dance...

A catydid (cicada) shell on the corner of our house outside. It's been hanging there for a few weeks now. The insect has been gone for most of those few weeks too.
If you look closely, right underneath is a baby zipper spider too! Remember this one?

I love my wild things!

Still here...

....just a little busy! Daddy went back to school this week, so last week was full of doctor's appointments, Mama outings, getting insurance squared away, etc... and this week has been full of being full! Getting back into our school year routine with two little boys instead of one!

A few things we've been doing:

finding foam letters that Mama was cleaning in the bathroom sink.
He loved naming each letter and then starting all over again!

Trying out the Bumbo seat for 30 second intervals.
H loved sitting in it when I pulled it out (I can't believe he still fits!)
and thought it was hilarious when I put C in it.

Playing with "kwayduh" (play dough) while brother sleeps

Going for walks before it gets too hot.

Livin' large!
(mr. 95th percentile!)
(H 'lets' C 'hold' his water cup while we walk...)

A surprise!

A month or so ago a neighbor was getting rid of their old turtle sandbox, and so we said we'd take it. We finally got around to getting some sand and today while H was napping we set it all up. We pulled out some of the outdoor toys we had and it was a perfect set up.

We rounded the corner and when he saw the sandbox he threw down his cup and ran right to it.

"Sandbox, Mama!"

He typically doesn't like sand on his hands/feet so I didn't know how it was going to work.
He didn't want to put his feet in for awhile, but eventually got over it and got very messy.

"Look at my brother!"

"Build a hill, Mama. Good idea."

"Plenty pictures."
(no more!)

zzzzz...

He had so much fun playing, building, scooping, and more.

"This is (the) best!"

Something is missing...

...can you tell what it is?


When I went in to wake H up from his nap this afternoon, I found him deeply sleeping like this. I would like to know what he was thinking....

Another Charlie video

He laughs! He started this week and we love it!

zzz....

I took this video to show the doctor at C's next visit and thought you might like to hear it too.
He has been snoring/wheezing like this since day one.
He is a very noisy baby!

A little Silhouette-ing

I enjoyed doing a handful of crafts using the Silhouette today. A couple of months ago we had seen a little boy with a shirt on that said "Master of Disaster" and have been wanting to make a shirt that said that. So, I did! And then while I had the machine hooked up, I thought I might as well do a few other things as well.The shirt - made using a $1 clearance shirt from Walmart.
I cut out the words/truck using freezer paper, ironed it to the shirt and then painted it in.

We found a great wooden box with a lid on the roadside in our neighborhood that I thought would make a great toy box, so we grabbed it. I noticed later that it was actually an old bourbon box, and I didn't think that would be child appropriate, so I cut out words that said "Toys, time to play" and "Toys, make a mess!" and covered up the word "bourbon" with them. It helps our office look a lot neater!

I found a VTech VReader at Goodwill this week for $15! I thought it would be great for when I needed to nurse C out somewhere, and H could read a story and be occupied without me worrying that he would be tearing up the place! I thought it would be cute with his name on it.

Sprucing up the laundry room

I may have gotten a little out of control with these two, but who can complain about cuteness!

My iPod and nook reader.

So, I may have enjoyed myself a little too much today,

but they were all quick, easy, cute and fun projects!


A side note: I was realizing how much I rely on and am thankful for appliances. They definitely make life so much easier. You can do without them, but they streamline life nicely. When we visited Amish country, we saw them doing with out so many modern things that we take for granted - namely electricity, and then do just fine without it too!
When we were visiting Monroe, my grandmother told me about growing up without air conditioning, washers/dryers, anti-perspirants - and she grew up in the south! One story that I love is her telling about moving into her current house (about 60 years ago) and complaining to her mother-in-law, Mamaw, that the dishwasher was broken. Mamaw replied with "What? They didn't put a sink in????"
So, I am just being thankful for appliances today. I used the bread maker, microwave, crock pot, ice cream maker, Silhouette, washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, stove, refrigerator, breast pump, iron, sewing machine and the air conditioning today and am thankful for each and every one!

Oh, brother

H is a good big brother to "Chardy." He makes sure he has his blankie, will bring him his paci (today he tried to open his mouth to put it in), will bring him toys, make him wave, and showers him with lots of kisses! C has been smiling a lot recently, and he gives H some of the best ones!

It is fun to see the big brother side of H evolve. We have to keep an eye out, not that he would be too rough, but that he might be too sweet and accidentally put his weight on C or something like that. I can't wait to see these boys grow up together (not too fast, though!).

Get bruver wet.

Here's bone (rattle), Chardy. Leave it there.

Kiss Chardy head.

Read book brother.

Bruver waving (at) you

Give Chardy zerbert (raspberry)

Chardy smiling (at) you!


pacifier update: H only woke up once last night asking for the paci, which I think is pretty good - we were expecting a lot worse. Today before naptime, he asked for it a couple of times and seemed to accept that it was gone when I reminded him that the paci fairy came to get them yesterday. I put him in his crib and when I checked on him in the video monitor about 30 minutes later, he was happily puffing away on a newborn pacifier, and I have no idea where he found it! We will see what he finds tonight!

Time for a change

It was time for a little change in our living room... The orange of H's couch was starting to bother me, and my chair had some moisture spots and smudges, and it just got to the point that I couldn't ignore it anymore! While in Monroe, I picked up some fabric to make these changes, and now I love the room! I made a couple of new pillow covers for the couch to tie it all together, and it just feels like there is a little more sunshine in the room. I know that it will help me feel even better through the dreary winter months.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

C also got his first bottle in the newly recovered chair the other day!

What do you think?

The boys think it's great!