3-months old!

now - three-months-old

then - coming home from the hospital

Baby Jacob is three months old today. He is getting soooo big and has the yummiest fat rolls on his legs. :) We love his constant smiles, coos and Pillsbury Dough-boy laugh. He is a sweet, sweet baby but does have an occasional evening fussy spell. He's obviously a great eater and is also still a great sleeper. His schedule is: wake up, eat, play, nap, repeat. At night I feed him at 10 and put him to bed and he sleeps until at least 5 am but usually 6.

things in the ocean

The theme in Joseph's class this week is Water/Ocean. Last night at dinner I asked him who lives in the ocean. The answer?
J: "whales! whales live in the ocean."
me: "what else?"
J: "optopus!!!"
me: "anything else?"
J: "no - just whales and optopus"

Joseph's many hats

the big brother hat:
Jacob has a bit of the cold that the rest of us have been passing around. Last evening he sneezed and Joseph leaned over and awkwardly positioned his arm so Jacob's mouth was in the crook of Joseph's elbow. "Jacob - we sneeze in our elbow."

the dramatic hat:
Now that all of our little boy diapers are "thrown away" and we use big boy underwear exclusively, we cut off the drinks an hour before nap-time and at dinner in the evenings. This is a bit of a hardship for Joseph who is one of the most hydrated little boys I know. Last night he was begging for something to drink about a half hour before bedtime. When I explained (once again) that he did not need a drink and that it was almost bedtime, I got this teary response. "Oh man. . . . I don't ever get anything to drink anymore!"

the student hat:
Joseph loves school and comes home singing some new song or spouting out something I know I didn't teach him. Two songs that he was singing around the house last evening:
1) G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N, that spells green, that spells green.
2) God our Father, God our Father, once again, once again, we are very thankful, we are very thankful, amen, amen.

the going-to-bed hat:
Joseph has the occasional "I don't want to go to bed!" meltdown . . . but usually he is very good about bedtime. We tell him when bedtime is (clock is at the top - or - clock is at the bottom) and when it is that time on the clock, he'll announce "the clock is at the top! time for bed!" If we don't respond fast enough he'll grab Red George and head for the stairs (at nap-time) or hop up on the couch and start saying his bedtime prayer (at night). The other night he hopped up on Christopher's lap and said his entire prayer so quickly that Christopher didn't even know what was happening.

the my-best-friend-is-a-monkey hat:
Yesterday, after another successful #2 in the potty, Joseph shared his joy with Red George.
J: "George, I poopied in the potty!"
George: "yay Joseph!" . . . and then proceeded to do a happy dance.

ice cold milk and an Oreo cookie . . . .

Oh, oh, oh, ice cold milk and an Oreo cookie. They forever go together. What a classic combination when a dark, delicious cookie meets an icy cold sensation, like the one and only creamy, crunchy, chocolate, O-R-E-O!

Freecycle

I am a Freecycle fan! Freecycle is an online group for trading/recycling your stuff. You can post things that you have that you want to get rid of or ask for things you need. I used Freecycle in Charleston and was able to give a lot of our used things to a good home before we left. I have now joined the Little Rock group. In this past week I have been able to clean a couple of things out of our garage and have also been able to pick up some great items for us."new" shoes for Joseph. play clothes for Joseph.and some plant cuttings that will eventually be a great boost to our landscaping.

heading to the post office

birth announcements will be on the way shortly!

finger-sucker

Saturday breakfast

the many "cheeses" of Joseph

Play time

I got out the Baby Einstein play mat for Jacob this morning and so far it's a hit. We had some tummy time and now he's on his back with arms and legs going full speed. Below is a short video that ends with an example of what happens pretty much every time a camera is pointed at Jacob.

cutest. thing. ever.

locking things

So - this morning Joseph comes into the living room looking so sad and forlorn.
J: "I can't go pee pee or poopy in the potty any more momma."
me: "why not?"
J: "I just can't."
??????

Fully understood that conversation a few minutes later when I tried to open the door to the powder room only to find it locked from the inside. Apparently some little fingers discovered that little lock on the back of the door.

plants

So when the actual time came to leave Charleston I was doing a pretty good job of holding it together emotionally. I had everything organized and packed. . . . ready to go. And then the mover explained to me that my plants had to stay behind. Plants = straw that broke the camel's back. I tried not to boo hoo in front of him. I had nurtured these plants and they brought out something very sentimental in me. The gorgeous peace lily had been sent by friends when my Grandma passed away. The others had been sent to the hospital when Joseph was born. I felt like I was leaving a piece of me behind. I cried. I could not replace them.
A couple of days after Jacob was born and we were home, a basket containing an assortment of plants arrived. I was thrilled. They could not replace what I had lost but they came close. An African Violet is not a peace lily. . . but my Grandma always had African Violets in her window. And the new Ivy plant was actually thriving more than my old one.
I'm so happy to have some plant life in my life again. . . . :)

Mr. Sauders

So I was reflecting the other day about how I got "here" from "there" and realized that there was a pivotal person in my life - my fifth grade teacher Mr. Sauders. This isn't to say that my parents, sisters, friends, etc. didn't help shape me into the person I am today. However, if Mr. Sauders had not been my teacher, the following may or may not have happened.

I may/may not have gone to Grace College. Mr. Sauder's wife is an English professor there. He set-up my potential student visit. While on that visit I spent the night in his daughter's dorm room. I became friends with his daughter and her roommates. His daughter, Cathy, was later my roommate.

I may/may not have moved to Nashville. After college, Cathy and a couple of other friends moved to Nashville. Rachel & I went for a visit and decided to move there also.

I may/may not have met Christopher. After moving to Nashville I began attending Christ Community Church where Christopher also attended.

We may/may not have gotten married. In the may not scenario, I would also have not moved to Charleston, had Joseph, moved to Little Rock, had Jacob.

So - thank you Mr. Sauders.

hot toddy

for a sick momma. . .

On the menu - June 22

Here is our menu for this week:

Tuesday:
Mustard & Brown Sugar Salmon
Pesto Risotto

Wednesday:
Leftovers

Thursday:
Peanut Chicken with Farfalle Pasta
Broccoli (oven roasted with olive oil & kosher salt)

Friday:
Nachos - chips, taco meat, black beans, jalapenos, onions, tomatoes, cheese)

Saturday:
Homemade Pizza Night
Spinach Salad
Apple Sauce

Sunday:
lunch - BLT's & Watermelon Gazpacho (the gazpacho is made the same as regular tomato gazpacho with the addition of some watermelon. we first had this on our honeymoon in St. Barth's.)
dinner - Pierogies with Meat Sauce & a salad

Monday:
Greek Style Quesadillas

Farmer's Market & Cobbler

Little Rock has a Farmer's Market at Riverfront Park every Tuesday and Saturday. What a great surprise it was to find that a small market also sets up on the Children's Hospital Campus every Friday morning! This past Friday I took Christopher & Joseph to work/school, put Jacob in the Bjorn and walked over to the mini-market. There were only a couple of booths but a great selection of fruits & veggies. I purchased some peaches and blackberries. They made a delicious cobbler last night to go with our Father's Day dinner.

My favorite cobbler recipe (have also heard this called "Dump Cake" and "Panic") - you can use almost any fruit combo.

4 sliced fresh peaches (I leave the skins on)
1 cup fresh blackberries
1 yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter

Put the fruit in a greased 9x13 pan. Pour the cake mix on top (straight out of the box - don't prepare it). Slice up the stick of butter and dot it all over the top of the cake mix. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour . . . until nicely browned and bubbly. Top with vanilla ice cream!

Legos

Christopher was doing more sorting and organizing in our garage yesterday and in the process came across his 20-year-old Legos. Joseph was very excited to see all the new Legos last evening and even more excited to play with them today.

Daddy

Father's Day Brunch

We had a delicious brunch this morning of which I had every intention a picture. Except that it was eaten up way too quickly.

Brunch:
Waffles with Nutella & Strawberries
Cheesy scrambled eggs
Sausage Balls

(I'm a pretty firm believer that almost everything is better with Nutella . . . or bacon.)

Anniversary Dinner

Last night we went out to YaYa's Euro Bistro for dinner. Even though we had great volunteer babysitters lined up, we ended up taking the kiddos with us. Joseph has either a cold or allergies and we didn't want to risk getting the Glass kiddos sick. So we exposed the people at the restaurant. :) We had a delightful dinner and, after we got a booster seat to confine him, Joseph was well behaved. I enjoyed Fresh Atlantic Salmon with shrimp ravioli in a lobster cream sauce and Christopher had a Pork Chop the size of your head. It was all delicious. The bonus - this restaurant is just down the road from our house in the Chenal Promenade.

June 19 - six years

then

now

On the menu - June 17

With the stomach bug in our house this week my Tuesday shopping trip got pushed to today. We took a short hiatus from organized meals and even ordered Chinese one night. So here is our menu for tonight through Monday. Hopefully we'll be back on track next week.

Thursday:
Roasted Chicken Thighs with Zeus seasoning
Ginger spiced carrots
Crescent Rolls

Friday:
Homemade Pizza (usually this is a Saturday night tradition but it's our anniversary and we'll be going out)
Spinach Salad
Apple Sauce

Saturday:
lunch - leftovers
dinner - we are going out - still arranging details for kids/sitters

Sunday:
lunch - enchiladas (I have some leftover filling in the freezer from the last time I made these. So I'll thaw that while at church, roll into tortillas and top with sauce and cheese when we get home.)
dinner - Father's Day! - Pan-seared Ribeye Steaks, Baked Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus, Caesar Salad

Monday:
Hot Ham & Cheese Sandwiches (I like to add a little chive cream cheese on the buns along with the ham and swiss cheese)
Peas
Fruit/Jello Salad

#2

As you may recall, we had Potty Training Boot Camp a couple of months ago. We have had absolutely no issues with #1 since that time . . . including on our road trip to/from Charleston in May. We have had continued issues with #2. There is just a certain comfort level for a small boy that does NOT include sitting on a toilet to drop that load. And momma was getting pretty tired of chasing that small boy around the house when he was attempting to "hide and drop." Finally we contacted the Boot Camp help desk and then followed their suggestion after putting our own spin on it.

Their suggestion: Buy a toy that the kiddo really wants and put it on the table along with a jar. Every time #2 is successfully deposited in the potty he gets to put a marble in the jar. When the jar is full, he gets the toy.

Our interpretation: Buy a toy that the kiddo really wants and put on the table along with a jar. Every time #2 is successfully deposited in the potty he gets to put a wine cork in the jar (because who wants lots of marbles in a house with small children?).

The toy? WALL-E
The process: We had to start making him go commando around the house when it was getting close to "that" time. He really wanted that toy but we really enjoyed staying in his comfort level more. That worked like a charm! Once he had that down pat we started leaving clothes on. That worked too!

The result?

birth announcements

Thanks to my very talented friend Jennifer (for taking the pictures) and sister Megan (for designing the announcement), birth announcements have finally been ordered! At least you will all have them before Jacob starts crawling. . . hopefully. I'm going to keep you in suspense a little longer on the photos used for that but here are a couple of other great shots from that day at Old Mill.

camping out

The poor little guy started feeling better today and is very much on the mend. Thank the Lord! When he is sick he gets to "camp out" on the couch with momma for the duration. I couldn't resist this picture of him today during his nap.

Once again. . .

Joseph has tummy bug. Poor kid has been pretty wiped out since yesterday morning. He finally turned a corner a little while ago. Fever appears to have gone and he asked for toast! Now we'll just be praying that the rest of us don't get it. . . especially Jacob.

decorating the house

Joseph decided our kitchen was a little too neutral recently and decided to liven it up with a little hot pink crayon on the tile grout. Do I clean it up or just remake the curtains to match.
He was so proud of himself too. I don't know when he did it. I thought I had spilled something and bent down to look at it closer. When I stood up, he was standing there smiling. I asked if he colored the floor and he said, "yes! and over here and over there too!" Sure enough . . . . .

visitors

We love getting visitors! Mostly because it's so great to see our friends and family but also because it's a great motivator in the cleaning-the-house department. Last Sunday evening our friend Gibson stopped by for the night along with her mom, daughter and doggie. We haven't seen Gibson since she, Pat & Laurel moved from Charleston to Mississippi. They now live in Colorado Springs. Laurel was just a wee thing when they left Charleston. Joseph & Laurel (La La) had a great time playing together. It was so great to see them. We only wish Pat would have been along too!

Summer Fun

This summer I've been on a quest to come up with fun (inexpensive) things to do with Joseph. We have some great things for outdoor play at home:
$1 water guns
sidewalk chalk
tent in the backyard

Yesterday we had a first for Joseph. We went to a movie! A couple of theaters in Little Rock offer a free summer movie series on Tuesday & Wednesday mornings. Since Joseph is in school on Tuesdays, we decided to check it out yesterday. He was a little afraid when we first entered the dark theater with our popcorn, water and Jacob in the Baby Bjorn. But once the movie began on the big screen Joseph was captivated . . . . for about an hour and fifteen minutes. He then requested to leave. I was ok with that because: 1) it was free, and 2) it was "Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel." We will try it again next week when our viewing options will be: "Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and "Ice Age 3." Stay tuned. . . . .

Old Mill #2

and here a few of the pictures that Joseph took at Old Mill.

the Joseph picture-taking-method:
1. aim the camera
2. "1, 2, 3 CHEESE!"
3. click
4. "oh! that's a good one!"
5. repeat