Movin' on Up

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo BooksSammy's first little crawl motions...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo BooksAt first I think he got stage fright because he saw the camera, but he got brave enough to attempt an army crawl.  Sam also has learned to lift up on his toes so his little tushy is way up in the air, but I haven't been able to capture that on film yet.  Watch out world, here he comes!

The Blanket Fort

a few Saturdays ago it was too hot for the boys to be outside to play very long, so Ryan made us a fort to play in. Huge success! Now we do it every once in a while for something to spice up playtime. And yes, mommy is allowed back in....for now!

A Little Bit of Alex-ness

Alex's stats these days:  He's 35lbs and 38.5inches tall!!!  Yep, he's several notches off the top of the percentile chart for his height--wonder where he gets that from!

Alex has never been very cuddly, but these days he's very, very love-y.  He will run up to Ryan or I in the middle of playing or whatever just for a hug or a smooch.  And I've caught him smooching Sammy's forehead several times now!  If he's not getting your attention the way he wants to he will put his hand under your chin and turn your face so that you are looking directly at his eyes.  Hhhmmmm...wonder if his mommy or daddy have ever done that to him....  Not that he's always so charming.  He is two afterall.  He's become a master of "the fit."  But he is, Praise the Lord, responding really well to correction these days and we are seeing fewer and fewer fits. 

Alex enjoys making little brother laugh.  And most anything he does makes little brother laugh.  He's a goofball at the table anyway.  The kid can't just eat applesauce.  He has to make airplane noises as it goes in his mouth.  Or he has to turn the spoon over and eat the applesauce off the other end--it's really slow going that way.  And yes, he's still a ketchup fanatic.

If he sees anything he likes he says "ooooooooohhhhh" with this little lilt in his voice that is so cute.  He does this for food, any good news we tell him (like "time to go outside!"), something he likes in a movie or book, or just anything that tickles his fancy.  

Alex....well, he's my crazy kid!  He's always doing crazy stuff.  He is my little Mad Scientist in that he has to experiment with everything.  For instance:  He can't just drink the water out of the bathtub (gross as that is), he has to suck it off his toes to see how that works!  We often discribe Alex's life as "teetering on the brink of disaster."  Here's a story to illustrate.  Ryan was getting ready for work the other morning and I heard Alex go in the bathroom with him.  He usually climbs up to stand on the toilet and brush his hair or play in the sink or something.  Well for a second I heard them just talking, then it was quiet, then Ryan yells "Alex, Nooooooooo!"  Apparently Alex was doing his norm and Ryan turned to get something out of the cupboard and when he looked back Alex had his hands on either side of the toilet seat and was swiftly lowering his head down into the toilet bowl.  What were his intentions if he hadn't been stopped?  I don't even want to think about it...."Teetering on the Brink of Disaster."  That's my boy!

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Alex is finally starting to consistently use more words and he knows a ton of them now.  He has a big list of his favorite food words--shocker there!  He often sounds like he's from New England when he talks (very funny since I did the same thing.  I was knicknamed Boston for a while because of it.)  Just a few of my favorite words that he says are:

Buzz (as in Buzz Lightyear):  "Buzzzssssssss"

Colors:   "Col-ahhhrs"  

Crackers:    "Cack-ahhhs"

Daddy:  "Daddeeeeee"

Stickers:  "Kickers"

Pizza:  "peet-da, peet-da"

Blue:  "Bwuuuu"  (he says this like he's blowing out air)

Alex:  "Aaa-yeex"

And my very favorite is "Mum-Mum"  That's me!!

Our Little Sports Fans

Yeah, Pistons!  No matter where we live we gotta Rep-Re-Sent for our boys on the court! No one really cares that we cheer for the Pistons out here, but Ry has gotten some "looks" for wearing his Michigan hat! 

With football season just around the corner we've been getting the boys ready to help Daddy cheer for the games--especially now that we are out west and will be able to see more Broncos games!!

oh, yeah, and this video's for you, Uncle Greg!

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Our Fridge Got a Facelift!

This weekend Ryan took the teens out of town for an activity down in Lincoln.  To keep myself busy while he was gone (like I'm not busy already, right?) I decided to tackle a huge project I have been trying to accomplish for a long time...I painted my fridge!  Yep, painted it.  It was this huge avacado green monster in my kitchen, and now it is transformed!  It took 4 cans of appliance spray paint and many hours to clean, sand, tape off, and paint it, not to mention the clean up, but it was sooooo worth it!  Now for the next project on the list...

Sammy Update

Of course Sam turned 6 months old 2 weeks ago, but it's been kind of crazy around here!!
Sammy is now 20lbs. and 26.5in. long.  He's in the 90th percentile for both his height and weight.  (sounds really big, I know, but if you compare kids he's actually the same size Alex was at 5 months!  He is following pretty closely in the steps of his big brother.)  He's got two teeth and is obviously working on more.  His favorite foods right now are bananas and sweet potatoes, though he gets so excited he shakes when he sees any food or a bottle coming his way!

He's smiley, giggly, drooly, and busy, busy, busy. He moves as much on the outside as he did on the inside! He "talks" all the time, sometimes very loudly.

He loves to play in his excersaucer.  Sometimes he just sits in it and watches his big brother play with those admiring eyes and laughs at everything Alex does.  

He's getting to the point of frustration that he hasn't learned to crawl yet. He gets so mad when he is reaching for something and can't get to it. He would be so close to crawling if he could get his body to stay up in the air, but instead he ends up shoving his little face down into the ground. But you can already see how motivated he is.


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Sammy was recently graduated from mommy & daddy's bedroom to a little room all to himself! I was tired of hearing every little noise the big guy makes at night but we just aren't ready to put him in the same room as Alex--he still wakes up around 3 or 4am to eat and I don't want Alex waking up with him!!  So, we had this extra "storage room" off the livingroom that we were using as a coat closet/junk collector.  I found out that the people who originally lived in this house used it for the nursery as it is just big enough for a crib and a nightstand.  Perfect!!  I made some little curtains to cover the shelf and window and a few little decorative touches and voila!  Sammy gets his own bedroom!  

The view when you first walk in...

Here's the crib under the window...

The only decorative touches I had room for...

And the little munchkin himself, snuggled up with his blankie I crocheted for him since just like his big brother he wants to pull a blanket right up over his face when he's sleeping.  

   

Ryan's Ordination

We are so happy and excited that Ryan passed his ordination exam and was ordained by our church this past Sunday. We are so thankful to God for this ministry he has given us, and this one more way he has blessed our family!

Saturday morning the ordination exam began at 11am. We took a quick lunch break at 12:30, and then the questions finished up around 3:15 or so. Ryan says God was good to him in that the questioning went really smoothly. He had a few difficult ones, but it went well overall. After that the counsel went to discuss the exam and came back to announce that Ryan passed unanamously! On Sunday there was a really nice luncheon in the gym and then a special ordination service at 1:30 when he was officially ordained by the church. Now Ryan can start reading all those books he's been waiting to read instead of studying for the ordination....or so he thinks....actually I have this list of home improvement projects that we keep saying we'll do "after the ordination." Hmmm...let's go find the toolbox!

Pool Party

Sam, Cole, and Alex splashin' in the pool.

Happy little beach bum!

Alex licking the drips of water coming down from his hair!

Alex kept splashing Sammy and making him laugh. It was so cute!

Two Sets of Wheels

Sam givin' Grams some love.

The Three Musketeers

No children were harmed in the making of this photo...he's just giving his cousin a kiss!

The cheeseball!

I think I mentioned before how Grams bought an extra Cozy Coupe for the boys to play in so they wouldn't have to fight over the one she had. Well, they are two happy cousins now!! Alex, Sam and I are staying at Grams and Grandpa's house for a few days to give Ryan some time to focus on studying for his ordination this weekend. We are having a good time already, we met Nate, Heather, & Cole at pizza hut with Mom & Jen and enjoyed some time to catch up. Cole came home with us for a few nights to Mom's house, so the boys get more time to play together. I think we are going to the mall tomorrow and to the zoo on Thursday, provided the weather cooperates, so I will post more pics later. (p.s. Miss you already, honey!)

Mackenzie Abigail Leonard

We just want to say a big

"CONGRATULATIONS"

to our friends Curt & Jenny Leonard on the birth of their daughter:

Mackenzie Abigail Leonard

Born Sunday, August 3, 2008 at 11:10am

10lb. 3oz.  --   21in

We are so happy for you guys and look forward to seeing you raise up your little sweetie in the nurture and admonition of the Lord!

"Playing Together"

Here are a few pics from last week of the boys playing together.  I mean, I guess you can't really call it playing together, but they seem to be at least enjoying each other's company!  Sam, of course, still LOVES to watch every move his big brother makes.  And Alex fluctuates between bringing toys to Sam and taking toys away from him!  But here's a little tidbit to make a mommy say "awwwwhh!":  Alex has been spending the last few days at Grams house and apparently he spotted a picture of Sammy on the end table, picked it up, smiled really big and started talking to it!  Maybe they will be friends after all!

The Life of the Party

"the cheering section"

"a fair and impartial ref?"

Sammy & Alex go with us to most of the Youth Activities that we have. Often I take them home if it goes too late, especially if it's a Saturday night and they need to get a good night's sleep before church the next day. But they love being there. Sam loves to watch everybody and to get lots of loves from all the teens and give them his huge dimply smile. Alex loves to run, run, run. We often say that the team that can play a game with our son running around underfoot and not only win, but not injure the little guy gets extra points! The teens really seem to like having the kids there and are so sweet with them. These pics are from the volleyball games we had last weekend. You can see more pics of our activities on our youth group blog--just follow the link in the column to the right.