A Belated Happy Birthday!

Saturday was Kurt's birthday, we celebrated with a couple friends and of course birthday cake! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!I guess I should have told him to smile?

This is what happens when the three year old controls the sprinkles.

Bluebonnet time once again

Tradition in central Texas states that you must take pictures of your kids in the bluebonnets each spring. Buddy Mike (as in Mike from Riverhome Photography!) took ours a couple of weeks ago. It's always so fun to see what he caught on the camera. Give him a holler for some great family or kid pics-I think there are still plenty of bluebonnets out there to be squished for the perfect photo!

Finding the perfect one...

Mr. GQ

Joshua's actually sharing by putting a bluebonnet in his pocket...

This Joshua posing himself. Seriously. He must get all that cheese from his Dad.

We're going to frame this one for the grandmas for Mother's Day.

Random Confessions

1) The first confession really needs to be said. I've been feeling bad about it for a while. It's time to tell the truth. I've been cheating on the blog world. With Facebook. I'm not ashamed anymore. The first week was so bad I forgot to look at anyone's blog for two days. It's been fun, but I'm ready to get back to blogging.




2) We are in month 9 of potty training Joshua, and it's not over yet. And that's all I can say about that right now.

3) I have a skinned knee and elbow from falling while running Monday night. Training has begun once again for the Danskin Triathlon. The irony? I fell in the exact same spot two years ago when I was training. Time to fix the sidewalk?



4) I haven't sent out thank you notes for Tobin's birthday that was 3 1/2 weeks ago. (maybe I should be doing that instead of blogging?) What kind of Southern girl am I?We had lots of fun celebrating with The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme from Eric Carle's book. We figured it fit well since much of Tobin's first year was spent eating and eating and then spitting up. We had all the food that the caterpillar munched on (well most of it anyway). Lots of fun!

5) 2009 is the year of unfinished projects. I am currently finishing a valence for the living room. One was finished and hung 3 YEARS AGO.

6) Tobin's been screaming in his crib and can no longer be ignored.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

When you are young on St. Patrick's Day you go to the local pub to celebrate. When you are a mom you go get your picture with a traditional Irishman at the local Walgreens! It was a little wild and crazy though since he offered to prove to me that he was traditional in his wearing of the kilt. (You'll have to figure that one out yourself)

Happy Birthday Tobin!

Tobin is sleeping soundly right now as a big one year old! There was going to be a slideshow of pics from the last year to post today, but I'm just going to be happy I'm getting a few pics up at all!


A year ago today:Ready to conquer the world now? Maybe just the playground...



Mom Mom is in town to visit so we went to the Cameron Park Zoo today. Mimi and Papa come into town tomorrow for a celebration this weekend!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!

Time to Rock the Vote

I was going to say Jam the Vote, but it seemed a little to punny.
We recently made a "film" with our friends Mike, Jodi, and Abe (with Dexter) and entered it in a contest for Welch's Jelly. There's a trip to NYC and moola up for grabs.. We had lots of fun making it and hope you will have fun watching it. We also hope you will vote 5 Jars of Jelly for us. The top ten rated videos/pics will go before an official judging panel, so we need your vote!

To vote, Click Here. This should bring you straight to our video. Watch it (of course!). Click "Rate This" under the jelly jars and give us a 5 (of course!). We'd love your comments as well. The title is "The Welch's Wonderboys."2/23/09 The Voting for the video on the Welch's/Food Network site is now over. Thanks for all who voted-the official judging will be on or around 3/25. If you missed the video you can see it here:

Thanks Friends!

11 months and counting

Tobin is 11 months old today-wow! The past two months have been amazing with respect to growth and development. Here's a little time line of his big moments:
Dec 11: First tooth
Dec 18: Second tooth
Dec 21: Third tooth
Dec 23: Fourth tooth-Lucky for us the first one was the only one that seemed to bother him!
Dec 25: Started trying to pull up on the train table from Santa
Dec 30: Successful pulled up on coffee table
Jan 2: First sign language, Signed "more"
Jan 11: Clapped hands
Jan 18: Took first step-toward the train table :)
Jan 19: Waved goodbye
Jan 28: Walked across living room with walker
This is Tobin after the whole bedtime routine, after being prayed over and kissed goodnight, covered with a blanket and whispered "I love You's." Apparently it's much more fun to stand and play than to sleep.
Jamming with buddy Oliver. They aren't allowed in the garage unsupervised, so they are a living room band instead of a garage band.

In my determination to make sure Tobin gets a lot of attention though he is the second, I have neglected the first born. He/We are doing an Itty Bitty Sports Class to learn some basics in Soccer, Football, "Baseball" (Tee Ball) and Basketball. It is really fun to have a gym with 6 3&4 year olds, who all have their own ball, and try to get them to follow basic directions. I have a new name for the next class: Itty Bitty Torture. Okay, it's not that bad. I have had to work really hard to adjust my expectations and relax. Joshua has gotten better at following the directions as well. He is actually putting to use some of his moves. Hopefully I will get some pictures next week.
He is also doing really well at learning the alphabet and counting. He was using some stencils the other day and told me he had written his name. When I looked at the board it said, "W W Stud." Maybe that's what he wants to be called these days?







Here's a video with some of Tobin's latest moves. There's even a crazy Elvis in there. As usual, ignore my high-pitched mommy's excited voice.

Watch out for those church nursery workers

We recently visited a family member's church and left the boys in child care. When picking up Tobin, I immediately noticed he had a red mark, around an inch and a half long, on his right cheek. I pointed it out to the nursery workers and asked what had happened. Neither could remember him getting hurt- which is more annoying than a child getting hurt in the first place. I headed outside to wait for the rest of our crew when I noticed two more of the same mark on his left check. And then another on his forehead. I tried not to completely flip out. Fortunately my family showed up before I marched back in to confront the church ladies. The family pack reacted with shock until Ellen pointed it out for what it was: lipstick. Tobin and been getting SUGAR all morning and had the lipstick marks to prove it!

Just in case you were wondering...

I think I really do learn something new everyday. Here is a sample of my new-found pearls and gems of wisdom. Just in case you were wondering.















*Having your 3 year-old feed the baby will not save you time. In fact, it will take you three times as long to bathe the baby, change his clothes, and clean the oatmeal out of his ears than if you had just fed him yourself to begin with.



* A gallon of milk, if dropped at just the right angle, can empty itself in approximately 2.5 seconds. Which is also approximately the amount of time it takes you to realize that you dropped the milk to begin with.







* Baking with your child can be a great way to be productive and have quality time together. As long as you make sure he's not picking his nose while your back is turned.


* As mommies, we really will do anything for a good picture. As displayed by my friend Esther at the mall.



* Many people have told me if your child won't pick up their toys to take them away for a period of time. However, this trick doesn't always work. I'm thinking that when your child helps you bag them up, holds the door for you to take them out, and then never asks about them again, that it wasn't effective.

Fa la la la la..la la la la

My little gingerbread boys.

Yes, we are still alive. Is it really already the 7th of January?

Christmas was great. We spent Christmas Eve at home and had dinner with my brother. Opened presents in the morning and then headed to California to stay with my stepsister and family. My dad and Ellen were also in California. It was loads of fun!

Twas the Night Before Christmas; reading with Uncle Jeffrey

Santa brought a train table!

Joshua and his cousins.

Kurt and I left the boys in good care and went to San Francisco for three nights. We had a great time and the boys did great back in the OC as well. We are thankful to my family for the opportunity!

You can check out the full load of pictures here at our Picasa web album.

Happy New Year!!!

Determination

I was hoping Tobin would be a little less determined than his older brother, but it's not looking that way. Not that determination is a bad thing, it just makes for challenging parenting. Here a video from a couple of months ago that never got posted.

Kurt just watched this again and wanted me to write that it's a video only a parent can love and that you can get the gist in the first 30 seconds...

Here to stay?

We have steadily been putting down roots here in Texas for several years. Who would have thought we'd be here now after 5 years of marriage and two kids? Anyway, I think we can officially say we are fixin' to stay for the long haul. (See I even talk Texan now.) Kurt made it offcial last weekend as we headed into Austin for a pair of cowboy boots. We went to Allen's on South Congress. Who would have ever thought Mr. Delaware would be doing the boot scootin boogey??? Joshua helped him pick out some cool ones and he's breaking them in now.
After making the big purchase we headed to Chuy's Annual Kids Giving to Kid Parade on Congress Ave. The highlight for Joshua was the fire truck.

I had several highlights, seeing the police chief live and in person, meeting chewbacca, and watching a homeless man wander into the middle of the parade. Ahh, Austin.
Tobin's highlight was when he got to eat. (This it the look of desperation)


After hitting the parade we stopped for some yummy food at Guerros Taco Bar. Joshua was introduced to Queso, a rare treat for our clan.



Say "Queso!"




















Tobin just sat there being super cute and flirting with the folks at the next table.





It's always fun to break from the norm and experience Austin in all it's weirdness!

More notes from November

Thanksgiving was quiet and nice. We had my brother and a friend from our hometown over for dinner. Since everything was low key, we were able to spend some quality time as a family. We made a Thanksgiving Tree together. Some of our favorite leaves: Milk-Tobin (well we were guessing what he was thankful for), Dinner & Ice Cream-Joshua. Naptime-Mommy, Pumpkin Pie-Daddy. All jokes aside, we know we have so much to be thankful for. I often lay in bed under my warm comforter in our safe, little world and think of a mother in a small hut far away trying to keep her babies warm and protected from harm. We are blessed.

In the spirit of thankfulness, I ventured out for my now annual Black Friday shopping. We had been contemplating a high efficiency washer and dryer and saw a really good deal. So, I lined up at 6 AM with about 100 other people at a local appliance and electronic store. Fortunately I didn't have to throw any elbows to get our deal. The fun part? BIG BOXES. The guys (all three of them) had a blast with the boxes for the next week. I still remember playing with big boxes as a kid. Good times!

blog slacker again

It's never too fun to get behind on your blog, it becomes an avalanche of events, photos, and stories to tell. We've had lots of fun the past few weeks-hope you enjoy!

Joshua turned three! The celebration began with a special snack with his class at school. In an effort to promote healthy snacks, we decided to do yogurt cups with a few sprinkles and a dollop of whip cream. However I stressed for a week whether the healthy snack idea was ripping off the fun of his first classroom celebration because he didn't have cupcakes. The night before we presented the snack to him to see if he liked it. He got super excited and clapped. He started in on the whipcream and sprinkles. But then his smile turned to a frown and he started pouting with the announcement that he didn't like the strawberries. I had accidentally bought a kind with a small and occasional piece of real strawberry. So, I spent forty minutes of my life (that I will never get back) picking the strawberries out of two large containers of yogurt. The next morning I put the cups together and finally felt at peace about the healthy snack. Until I got them out of the fridge to take them to school only to find the whip cream had flopped. They no longer looked fun and special. Next year, CUPCAKES for everyone!
Next up Joshua had his first public performance. His Mother's Day Out program had a pie social for parents in which the kids sang us a song. It was pretty funny. I think 75% of the kids just stood on stage looking overwhelmed!Check out the performance here:


Two days later was Joshua's official birthday and the next day the celebration with a few friends. We did a firetruck theme and the firetruck with some real fireman showed up too. The kids loved it, and the moms did too ;) Engine 3 came which was perfect!

A few days after those festivities, my dad and brother showed up with Jeff's belongings to get him set up here is Austin. So, I now have family in the area! We are excited that he is here and look forward to lots of free babysitting!


Hurray for Uncle Jeffrey and for BBQ!













Poor Papa, this marks his third trip of moving someone to Austin (Me, Kurt, and now Jeff)








More November Notables to come...

Sad to say...

Back in 2006 when we visited California, we took a day trip to Santa Barbara. (You can check out my blog entry on the visit here.) My great grandfather owned property there in the 1920s and began to build a home there. When the stock market crashed he had to halt the nearly completed building and in 1947 my great Uncle Hobert sold the property to the Holy Cross Order of the Episcopalian Church. It has been used for a monastery and retreat center every since.

Friday I was reading CNN.com for the first time in a long time and saw there had been fires in Santa Barbara. The article I read specifically said the County Sheriff had flown over the monastery and it appeared to be completely destroyed. I feel very sad but so thankful that my brother and I were able to visit there with my dad when we did.

Back in 2006 on our visit.

My brother found a few pictures online on the ruins:

It sad to think of such a beautiful place being gone, but we are glad no one was hurt. Hopefully it will be rebuilt and continued to be used as a retreat for people. I'll end with the paragraph I wrote in the 2006 blog entry:

"It was a quick trip, but a great day. I thought about what could have been if only the family had held onto the house and the land. But it's great to know that so many people make use of the land and the retreat house. I'm sure not many who visit know the history, but I'm proud of my family for leaving a legacy of memories. For themselves and for the generations of families that will enjoy it in the future. I feel fortunate to have been able to go there with my Dad to narrate. And my brother to pick on. An my husband to hold my hand. Hopefully someday we can take Joshua there and hike up the canyon."