Looks like Rain

Tonight during his bath Calvin wanted the shower on, but he didn't like the spray in his face so I grabbed his hard hat. And then he wanted his rain boots. He ended up having a lot of fun in his impromptu rain storm. Here are some of the decent shots.

Costco

Calvin's newest thing is to scream for his other parent whenever he wants out of something. For example, when I'm changing his diaper he'll yell "daddy, help me! Daddy, help!" or when Andy's doing something he doesn't like he'll yell for me.

The other day we were in Costco and he didn't want to leave so Andy picked him up. In the middle of a packed Costco he started kicking Andy and screaming "No don't! Mommy help! Mommy help me!" He looked like a small child being kidnapped. Luckily no one ever tries to help anymore, so they just glared at Andy as he hauled a kicking, screaming, crying little boy out the door.

Sweet Stuff

She's the sweetest little piece of sugar.

Syndrome

Calvin has these little yellow sunglasses that he doesn't really like to wear, but whenever he puts them on he reminds me of this:
...because of his round face, tiny glasses, wild hair, and in this case the angry scowl on his face.

I love this picture. I chased him around the house trying to snap a shot of him in the glasses, but he slammed himself in the closet, only opening the door to scream at me to stop. Such a sweetheart.

Cowboys and Prayers

Lately Calvin wants to say the blessing on the food. He says "I wanna say Heavenly Father" and then he whispers whatever he's saying so quietly that we have no idea what's going on. And then it's over and we consider our food blessed. It's especially endearing when he insists on wearing his cowboy hat while praying.

And then has everyone else try it on.

A Moment of Silence

I just thought it was cute how both of the boys were sitting at the kitchen table reading together.

St. Patrick's Day

I know people think we're retarded (I know because I have a husband and two brothers-in-law who said so several times today) because we like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as if it were a major holiday. Also because we celebrate it preschool style (no beer, just lots of stuff colored green and decorated with leprechauns). We all love it though, and they were silly enough to marry us, so they're stuck.

My brother was supposed to fly in from Virginia tonight so we had planned a party around his being here, but when he didn't end up coming because he's been sick, we had the party without him.

First the little kids had a treasure hunt with Auntie Carrie (I took a video but it is too big to post). At the end they found a tree with gold medallion necklaces hanging from the branches and bags of chocolate gold underneath.


Then we ate dinner...

Corned beef and cabbage, green mashed potatoes (Andy said these looked like the goop on Better off Dead and were taking things too far), and green beans.

Pistachio pudding. My favorite.

The obligatory green jello.

And then we hung out for a bit. Here are some of the shots I liked:

The kids watching Barbie.

Curtis and McKenna.

My little lucky charm.

Riah and Carrie were holding babies and sitting on the stairs. Fias felt left out and joined them.

Two of my three loveys.

The girls.

Curtis and Calvin in their John Deere green.

Little imps, Maria, Aby, and Aysha, in their sassy green socks.

Eexersaucer

Today we pulled out Calvin's old Exersaucer and tried it out on the girl. She did pretty well in it and was transfixed by all of the bright toys.

Calvin called it the robot and insisted on sitting in it, even though he's clearly too big. We traded off between the two of them for most of the night.

(Do we know how to have a good time, or what?)

Project Day Two

Today the boys started to assemble the new play set. This was taken at 2pm right before we went in and took a nap.

This was taken at 7pm. It's hard to believe it's even the same day.

Andy, tired after a long day of work, got pounced by the kids as soon as he walked through the door.

Deconstruction

Ever since we bought this house we've been planning to change some things in the yard. Today was the deconstruction of the play set. We thought the boy would freak out, but he took things surprisingly well. Here were a few shots of the demolition.

Calvin in his little fort (this was right before the panel slipped and smashed him). My brother-in-law Jared is on top, Andy's hiding behind.

A Cute boy peeking through the panels.

Hiding in the garden boxes we removed.

Checking out the ladder.

A day full of work for our little manly man.

New Ways to Use a Diaper

Today we took the girl out for her first walk. It was a decently warm day, but we bundled her up well. She loved looking at everything we passed and seemed content the entire time. (This picture reminds me of the other day when Andy told me seeing me with makeup these days has become as rare as sighting a unicorn or a leprechaun. He grows weary of my promises that someday when I can finally sleep and exercise I promise I'll be pretty again.)

In other news the boy has developed a new persona. He likes to run around the house like this calling himself "Diaper Head" saying "Calvin so funny!" He thinks he is hilarious.

When Daddy Comes Home

Lately Calvin has had a hard time every time his dad leaves town (which has been just about every week). Tonight when Andy walked through the door the boy pulled him down on the couch, gave him one of his favorite blankets, and laid down to cuddle. I thought it was cute.

Cleaning the Walls

One thing I hate about those tub crayons is that they make my kid think it's okay to write on everything. We have entered the phase of crayons on walls and markers on furniture. I hate that.

Except for times like this...

With no prompting whatsoever, Calvin grabbed some tissue from the bathroom and started scrubbing some crayon off the walls. We upgraded him to a wet paper towel and he scrubbed vigorously until it was mostly gone. The entire time he sang the Wonder Pets song "what's gonna work? team work! what's gonna work? team work!" It was so darling it was all I could do not to eat him.

9 Fingers

This morning Calvin came up to me and held up both of his hands saying "Two hands. Ten fingers." After I told him how smart he was, he proceeded to count all of his fingers. At the end he had missed somewhere and counted only nine fingers. At first he looked confused, and then shocked, and then he started to freak out. He looked back and forth between me and his fingers saying, "oh no! nine fingers!" He looked so panicked that it was hilarious. We recounted more slowly and the next time around he got to ten. He was very relieved that he had all of his fingers after all.

Later in the day we were playing a game called "snowball" that he made up. I wiggle my fingers up high and say "it's snowing" and then I turn into a big snowball and fall down on him and smash him. He laughs hysterically every time. In the middle of the game Autumn started to cry so I left him to go get her. I walked exactly two steps before he dramatically threw up his hand and yelled, "Stop! Don't touch that baby!" He's such a diva.

After naps we went over to his cousins' house to see their new baby chicks. We stayed for dinner and had a fun time playing in their bouncing room and running around outside. Calvin loved it and was sad to come home. It was late when we got back so I threw him straight into the bathtub where he spent the whole time yelling "Calvin a jelly fish!" and gyrating in seizure-like fashion all through the water. I also wrote his name on the tub and he was able to point out C-A-L-V-I-B. He fell apart at the end, but could spell most of his name.

Seriously, could I possibly love this kid any more?

3 Months Old

Dear Autumn,

It's hard to believe that you're three months old. With your brother we studied every single next step and pushed for him to progress. With you we're just enjoying each day as it comes, and you seem to be growing so much more quickly that way. Every day you feel heavier and taller. My tiny little newborn left me while I wasn't watching. I miss her, but you are so darling that it's hard to be too sad about the changes.

You have such strong head control. You love to look around and watch everything happening around you.

You are the smiliest baby I've ever seen. The first thing you do when you wake up in the mornings is give me a huge smile. You'll smile at everyone around you and with very few exceptions, you always seem so content.

You are so curious about everything and can stare at the same thing for such long amounts of time. You especially love studying your fists and your toes. Some days I worry that you'll go cross-eyed from focusing so intently.

I've decided that just because something is cute does not mean it should have ever been made for a baby. Like this turtle-neck. You hate it and can't move your head when you wear it. Sorry I make you wear such silly things sometimes.

You love reaching for things and playing with toys. You have a very firm grasp and once you latch on to something you like, you don't let go. You are so great at entertaining yourself for fairly long stretches of time.

Autumn your sweet, good-natured personality is just what this family needed. You're even winning your big brother over with your huge smile and constant cooing and chattering. You are well-loved by everyone who meets you and we are so excited to see what the next months will bring. I could kiss your soft baby cheeks all day long.

Love,

Mom