Big Brother

 

 So our friend Allison took some pictures for us and we had to share!  Little is getting so big that it makes me kind of sad.  But that's life - we try to just soak up the moment and not worry about the has beens.

Daddy secretly taught me this face...Blue Steel anyone?

This chair all for me?

Hark!  Do I hear a cry for help?  (Think Peter Parker)

 I'm on my way!

 Coming....I'm coming!

 Okay, now where are we going?

 #1, I like that!

#2, we'll have to see what he's like.

From what I can tell so far, he's pretty squishy and makes reading books with Mommy kind of tough....                                                                

 

 Definitely not matching bellies....

But we love what it means is coming...

 

More love for all of us...                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little and ....Little Little

I wouldn't be surprised if no one except my in-laws, parents, siblings and a few friends read this blog anymore - I am probably one of the worst bloggers ever!  But, on a bright note, that means only the really important people read this...aww...thanks guys.

So if you  haven't heard yet (although we are in regular contact with all the above mentioned people reading this blog...)  James is going to be a big brother!  We are expecting another delicious boy in May and are sooo excited!  We waited until Christmas to break the news but it was kind of hard to keep a true secret since I was sporting a noticeable baby bump after announcing in my Christmas letter I was back to pre-pregnancy weight.

                                                                           27 weeks

Since we call James 'Little' we've started calling the baby 'Little Little' since he, as of yet, has no name.  If things go the way they went last time, it may be a while (as in, in the delivery room) before he officially has one. 

Jared decided to practice holding two babies at the same time when we babysat for our friends - as you can tell, he wears all his true emotions on his face...

 

So there you have it - our wonderful news, Jared's true look of joy, and my belly.

An update on us the last couple months:

Christmas was wonderful -
Little discovered the magic of Christmas lights. (We left the tree pretty undecorated, expecting the tipping over to be a regular thing, but it never happened!  Ah well, less to pack away.)

 We saw the famous Nativity in Cedar Rapids.  After it was damaged in the 2009 flood, the church was approached and offered it on condition it was restored and displayed - the members restored it through hours and hours of work and now display it every year opened to the public with over 400 other nativities (smaller ones) and live music - it was a beautiful and cool Christmas experience and set the tone for the season.  (We like to say that Little Little was with us here since I'm four months pregnant, can't you tell?  I definitely could since I was VERY emotional - I stopped crying ten minutes before we left - we were there for 40...)

 

We went to my home for Christmas where James was the littlest shepherd in the Nativity we act out every year--

 The littlest shepherd had a watchful dad...

 ...and of course was best friends with the shepherd dog...

 ...on so many levels...

... he visited Grandpa in an unscheduled off hours visit in his office for a foot exam  - passed with flying colors even with his shoes on....

...and had his heart checked out by his cute cousin Brooklyn, the aspiring doctor herself.

 My amazing mom and dad -

 Not everyone rolled in until later, so this is just a few of us after church in the foyer -

 

Church was a rough one for Little Man - another little boy accidentally tripped him and he fell into the corner of the pew - he took it like a champ though, crying less than a minute--Little Rocky...

 

It's really fun to be with my siblings and their kids of similar ages...I can't believe we're so grown up!

 

 

After the holidays we got down to business and bought him a bigger car seat.  It came in a nice big box and Jared cut a hole in it so it could be his car.  (He LOVES cars, like any true boy - 'car!'  'car!' as we drive anywhere).  As you can see, someone else seems to be waaay more excited about it than James who seems slightly perplexed as to why he's stuck in a box...

 

And while I'm on the topic, James updates:  He became our little coal miner - seriously, he loves wearing it on his head and is unafraid to venture under the stairs with me...

 ...and since both J and I wear glasses, he naturally wants to be part of the team but this is as far as he gets with them...

 

 ...and I obviously talk on my phone way too much around him - he has full on conversations with pauses and nods, "Yup!" on anything - my hairdryer, the remote...

 

...and sometimes he doesn't stop even while getting ready for bed ...

Right after Christmas he started doing a scruchy smile which surprised me - I don't know why, it just did...

 and he has six adorable teeth...

 which we brush daily (he asks every time we go into the bathroom, 'teeth!' 'teeth!') but we've found the only real way to let us do the brushing instead of him, is to let him brush our teeth as well...he's pretty good...

 ...he loves spending time with his daddy, which is less on this current rotation, but he still managed to help him make my birthday cake...

...and we've been lucky enough to have a lot of snow and below 20 F days here this winter - so far our Little Man has been tolerant of it (although today it was warmer and he really loved it!)

...and he is the best peek-a-booer you've ever seen.

 

I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.

So in a nutshell, we're doing great!  I mean, look at that face, how could we not?

 

 

The Gravediggers

Our oh-so-impressive field with such beautifully dug holes

 

So my lovely J is on our HOA board this year and is actively involved in maximizing our property value before we sell in two years.  The proposed idea of adding trees to the beautiful grassy lot behind our home was approved and guess who made it happen?  Uh huh!  So this summer we ordered 20 trees from the Arbor Day Foundation for $20.00.  What a whale of a deal right?  Then we kind of forgot about them until they came in late November (apparently you're supposed to plant them while they're dormant).  There they were, at $1 each, most were about the length of two one dollar bills end to end not even kidding!  A few were longer but they were tiny!  J was working long hours, not getting home until 7 or 8 at night, and when the sun goes down at 5:30 and temperature is in the 20's the last thing you want to do is go dig holes.  Our poor little trees sat in the garagage for a week or so; I was worried they would die, so one day during Little's nap when it was in the upper 30's, I went out and dug the holes J had marked.  It wasn't too bad - the sun was shining and once you got going it was warm.  Several days later J put the trees in after work.  I had gone to a meeting and when I got home he was still working (Little was in bed before I left) so I went out to help him.  It was dark and cold but the moon and stars were out.  He had a flashlight and a head lamp and it was warmer - low 30's.  Cars slowed as they passed us and I couldn't place how I felt until suddenly a scene flashed into my mind - Huck Finn coming across the illegal grave diggers.  I started laughing.  "Do you feel a little like grave digger?" I asked J.  He replied that he'd had the same thought several times that night.  So the rest of the night we joked about being grave diggers.  It was actually a lot of fun to work under the stars in the fresh air - cold but fun.

Our efforts were not in vain and our little trees made it into the ground.  Later there was an HOA fencing project that fenced in our tiny trees with stakes and chicken wire.  Hopefully they grow.  If not, at least we got to be grave digger for one night!

Happy First Birthday Little Man!

(I promise this was written in 2012 - the same year of this November birthday, but bogger has been tricky for pictures and I'm just now getting it posted--ah, so sorry!)

Happy Birthday Little Man!!  It's incredible - one year of life already and he is still happy, alive and progressing!  (A nickname, Little Man has become simply, 'Little'.)  We feel so so so blessed to have him for our son.  Always brimming with curiosity and cheer, this boy has transformed and transfixed us in so many ways. 

And we celebrated in STYLE...kind of. Okay okay, my sisters set a darn high bar and we don't really do that kind of thing over here, so our style was a little less formal. But it did include:


Cake - a turtle one of course, which I'm sure is what he would have asked for if he could talk.

A daddy to tease him...

a mommy to squeeze him...

and cake to be eaten, not just looked at...

.

There were some gifts that he enjoyed immensely - especially the wrapping paper that they came in.

 

  His favorite part was when we sang to him.  The cake really didn't seem to make any kind of an impact, at which we were kind of surprised since he has not yet had sugar, but then again, there isn't anything he doesn't like to eat - our child for sure =)

Happy Birthday Sweet Son of Ours, and Many More...