Still Worthy

These are a bunch of random photos taken over the last month or two. For whatever reason, they didn't make it into their own blog post, but I think they're still worthy.

First, some new tulips I planted last fall. I just love tulips, and back when we moved into this house, a whole 8 years ago, my sister Sandy and I planted like 140 tulip bulbs. Now those tulips are small and more scarce than they originally were, so last fall I planted some new bulbs in two big bunches on either side of my hydrangea bush. I think they're very pretty.

For Teacher Appreciation Week (which was a few weeks ago), Zach and I decided to make cookies for his teachers. So Drew and Zach both helped me make some sugar cookies, and it was really fun that everybody could participate. Here I am rolling the dough into balls, then Drew would roll them in sugar, and Zach would flatten them with forks. It was fun, and a good project to do together because I wasn't being too anal about what they looked like (I like things I bake to look pretty), and the boys couldn't really screw them up.

One Sunday morning, Mike, Jake, and I were upstairs on our bed and we saw Zach and Drew run out of their rooms and down the stairs in their swim trunks. Playing in swim trunks is nothing new for those two, so we weren't surprised, but we were mildly curious as to what they were up to. A bit later we went downstairs and saw them outside, attempting to fill up the pool. It was about 60 degrees outside, but they didn't care.

One day I returned from kickboxing class to find this scene. I thought it was pretty sweet.

A random cute picture of Jake and Mike. I love that huge smile on Jake's face.

I think here Jake probably was blowing a raspberry at me. He loves to do that, and it's so cute when he does it. I can't help but smile.

One day before school last week, we were all just playing on the floor, and then Jake put this ring in his mouth, and Zach, Drew, and I all got a good laugh over it.

Drew's not really the arts-and-crafts sort of guy, but one day last week I talked him into finger-painting. He hadn't done finger-painting in a long time, so it was almost like a new experience for him, and he liked it. He didn't even get mad when I put a little paint on his nose. Then he decided to add a little paint on his own.

Last Saturday we had plans with our friends BJ, Carey, and Charlie to get together for pizza at our house. At the last minute, Carey and I decided we needed a mom's night out, as the dads had had quite a late night out the night before. So Carey and I met at a restaurant for some delicious food and drinks, and Mike and BJ got to hang with the 4 little boys. Zach just loves playing the big brother role (especially when the kid isn't really his little brother), so he really enjoyed having Charlie here. Drew is still figuring out how to share and co-exist with younger kids who might want to play with his stuff (including his big brother), but I think a good time was definitely had by all. I love this picture of the 4 boys- Charlie looks like he fits right in!

Wake Up Call

I woke up Saturday morning (after a very rough night with Jake) to calls of, "Help! HELP!" Immediately I thought, "Oh, no, Drew! Don't wake Jake up!" So I quickly got out of bed and checked the boys' bathroom, where I saw Zach washing his hands. "HELP!" I hear again. So I hurry downstairs, and this is what I find.

Yep, Drew was sitting in the pedestal sink, sans pants. Turns out he wanted to get a closer look at the water. Before helping him out, I had to grab the camera, so here he is saying, "No! No!" but I couldn't resist.

Mobile!

Jake is almost five and a half months old, and he's already mobile! Ok, so he's just barely scooting forward in an army crawl, but still, I think that counts. It will be interesting to see how long it is before he's really crawling and getting around. Zach army crawled for a while before he did a regular crawl, so it may be a month or more yet. Jake does get up on his hands and knees more and more often, though, so maybe not.

Anyway, I got a little video of Jake showing off his new skill. He loved it I would clap and cheer for him- it's cute to see his huge smile. However, you may want to turn the sound down or off, as my voice sounds pretty annoying on this video, especially when I am clapping and cheering. And if you choose to leave your sound on, consider yourself warned.

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Happy Bears

Drew and Zach played at Grandma Cynthia and Grandpa Kevin's house today. Drew took a great nap there, although he said he didn't like the bear that they had for him to sleep with. I asked him later why he didn't like it. He said, "Well, it's a happy bear, and I don't like happy bears." I asked, "How did you know it was happy?" He said, "It had a happy face." So then I said, "Why don't you like happy bears?" He said, "Well, because happy bears are just annoying to me... but Puppy is not annoying!" I have no idea where this annoyance comes from, but I think it's pretty funny, and pretty fitting for Drew. You just never know what will bug him next, which can be frustrating and adorable all at the same time.

5 Months Old

Jake turned 5 months old on the 10th. As I sit and rock with him in the rocking chair in his room, he seems so big to me. It's getting difficult to cradle him in one arm anymore, and it just blows my mind how quickly he is changing. Mike's dad's family says something about newborn babies being "tapioca"- something that was first said when Mike was 13 and his little sister Katherine was just born. I guess because she couldn't do anything, like all newborns, Mike's dad explained to Mike that she was just tapioca. This comparison has come up with each of the boys being newborns, and lately when I've looked at Jake, I've thought, "You're not tapioca anymore!"

I'm sure I won't remember everything I want to say about Jake at 5 months, but I'll give it a shot. He loves to suck his toes and does it quite often. It makes it very difficult to change his diaper or get him dressed.

At his 4 month check-up, the pediatrician said we could start rice cereal. We waited a few weeks and started it last week. Jake did really well. He

Is There Anything More Precious...

Than a sleeping baby?! I uploaded the pictures from our camera and my phone, and I found more than a couple of pictures of Jake sleeping. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and I'd take a million pictures of my dogs because I thought they were so cute.

First, sleeping on Dad, with his mouth open, Grandma Ruth style.

Then, on a cooler day after dropping Zach off at school. I gotta admit, I love the hood.

This picture and the following video show how Jake occasionally sucks on his own tongue. I don't see it often, but one day last week, after getting home from picking Zach up from school, he was asleep and was doing it. So I quickly took a picture on my phone and then grabbed the video. The video doesn't do it justice, but it gives you a little idea of what I'm talking about.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And this is the most recent sweet sleeping picture. This was taken yesterday, after I got home from kickboxing class, and Grandma Linda was here with the boys. Zach and Drew were playing on Linda's iPad and Jake was just snoozin' peacefully.