A child after my own heart

This Thanksgiving, I discovered that Evan loves noodles. And not just any kind of noodles. These are the traditional Midwest "chicken & noodles" that everyone in my family serves during the holidays--they're thick and sit like a brick [in your stomach]. And seeing as how we have nearly 2 lbs of leftover noodles in our refrigerator (apparently, everyone else doesn't like them as much as Evan & I), he'll get his fill for the next week. Starch is one of the major food groups, right?

Sunday Snapshots

Somewhere in the midst of preparing Thanksgiving dinner for our friends, we neglected to keep an eye on the boys. When I did check up on them, this is what I found:
I would have loved to have seen exactly how this went down-- who crawled under first, what Evan said to Grant, etc.

And a view from the other side:


Grant, after we explained where "turkey dinner" really comes from.


Bullit, the guardian.


Grant putting his two new teeth to use on his first taste of finger food--he loved it!

Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday

It is Thanksgiving and I have reason to give lots of thanks. Among the many things are...

Two boys who are learning to love each other, despite squabbles over toys.


A healthy and no longer "semi" mobile baby, which means he ends up in situations like this:

Sunday Snapshots

A little belated, but nonetheless, here they are.


The boys. In their playroom. On their new brightly colored play mat. So bright that it almost replaces my need for coffee in the morning. I said almost.

Whenever I bring out the camera these days, Evan says "take my picture!" Here he is sliding into the frame at the last moment.

This is becoming an all-too-common scene: Grant reaching for toys and Evan saying "Nooooo!"

And here we have a semi-mobile baby. HELP ME!

Fun things to do when it's 16 degrees outside: build a cardboard playhouse.

Snuggle baby after his bath. Is it weird that Grant only takes a bath a couple of times a week (sometimes only once)? I can't figure out if it's because I forget to do it or if it's because I've decided that he doesn't get that dirty. Anyway, if you look closely in this pic, you can see his TWO bottom teeth!

Sunday Snapshots

What we did this weekend:

Took Evan to his first bowling experience. Not sure which he liked more: bowling or dancing under the cosmic bowling lights. Doesn't this look like Footloose II in the making?

Bowling was just too much for Grant.

Leaf blowing/raking/mowing.

Evan's strategy: load the leaves into his dump truck, one at a time.

And lastly, a couple of shots from the week:

An early present is the best kind

On Nov. 14, a full two weeks ahead of schedule, Kim (Jason's sister) and Shane added a baby boy to the family! Sebastian McRann B. was 6 lbs even and 19.5 in. Mom, Dad & Baby are all doing very well. We know that Kim & Shane will make wonderful parents. We can't wait to meet you Sebastian!

Watch out Martha

I go through phases where I get really crafty. I'm thick in the middle of one of those phases. In the hopper are Christmas stockings for the boys, an advent calendar, burp cloths and more pairs of baby legs. Recently completed is what you see below. It was spurred by my obsession with Grant's profile. Now, this isn't "true" silhouette art (those people have real talent!); I did cut them out, but I had a little help from my digital camera and photo editing software. Still, I think they look pretty cool and my plan is to re-do them every few years.

Housekeeping 911

*Not pictured here is a load that is still in the dryer and another one yet to be washed.

Thankful Thursday

There's something so intoxicating about a child's smile. So pure. I can't help but melt just a little each time I see Grant smile. And as for Evan, his mood these days can be so volatile, that when he smiles--really smiles--I know it's good.

So today, I am thankful for smiles.

Sunday Snapshots

We've discovered that our dining room makes a great photo studio when the afternoon sunlight shines in. Here are a couple shots of Grant.

I have no idea what Evan is doing or saying here. The real reason for this photo is to show how, for the first time, the boys can "play" together. Or at least sit together.

Evan asked if he could help feed Grant, who was more than happy to oblige. So sweet!

Grandma Soon & Grandpa came to visit this weekend. Evan & Grant were in Grandparent-love heaven.

Grandma gives special bubble baths... with LOTS of bubbles.

One of Evan's special new presents from G&G. (Nancy, does this jacket look familiar? Thanks!)

We bundled up, sat out back and enjoyed a nice fire in the chimnea.

And lastly, a shot of mom & Baby G.

6 months!

Here is Grant then...

And now!
Yesterday was his 6 month birthday, and with that, he is now sitting on his own, eating baby food 2x a day and...NOT crawling (thank-you-God!). At his 6 month check up today, I was told that he is in the 35th percentile for weight and 98th percentile for height! Guess he'll grow up to be my little string bean!

That's my boy!

In an attempt to get Evan to eat his dinner tonight, I suggested he add some pepper to his mac-n-cheese and green beans. Now, anyone reading this who knows me or anyone in my family, knows a little bit about my pepper obsession. It's on both sides of my family, so the gene runs deep. My grandpa puts pepper on watermelon, cantaloupe and everything else inbetween. So tonight, when Evan not only tried pepper, but added it to every bite he took (and asked for more), it was a proud, proud moment.

Of course, when he put too much pepper on his green beans, I got this reaction:

2009 training begins

The boys (minus Grant) went out for their first night run this evening. The event was made even more exciting because Evan got his own flashlight. Thus begins training for Jason's 2009 races (no Ironman, "just" a marathon and some shorter triathlons). I'll begin my daytime runs with Grant later this week to train for a half marathon in March.

Sunday Snapshots

We celebrated Jason's 31st birthday on Friday (in between trick-or-treating) and on Saturday with friends and my first-ever ice cream cake, which turned out dee-lish (and easy!).

Another first this week: Evan & Daddy built a fort. It was fun for all of 10 minutes.

Jason's old fire helmet finds a new purpose. We had to snap this photo quickly--the weight of the helmet nearly knocked him over!

Are you seeing a theme here? If you haven't tried it, go grab a kid and dress them in something funny. It's good for a few laughs!

Evan had WAAAY too much cake and candy this weekend. Halloween + Dad's birthday = recipe for sugar high.

Grant ate no candy, no cake. Ahh, to be so pure and innocent!

I just love this picture of Evan. He's got such a great smile and the items pictured represent some of his favorite things these days: his drum (ugh!), blocks and nigh-night bear.

I say this all the time, but once again, I just love Grant's sweet little profile. Anyone know how to do silhouette pictures?


Evan's first experience with a s'more (did I mention how much junk he ate this weekend?). Once he realized there was "chocwat" in the middle, he was hooked!

We visited our "farm friends" in Alabama again this weekend (you know, the ones that own a chicken coop). Evan met John Deere.

Sugar high crash.

~THE END~

Home-made

With two kids, a job and a life to maintain, I was really dreading the stage of homemade baby food. When I did it for Evan, I was so excited about the whole thing... I went out of my way to find unique and nutritious foods to puree and freeze. This time around, however, the mere thought of making baby food made me tired. But now that I'm doing it again, I've realized it's not that bad. And it makes me feel good knowing that I'm feeding Grant wholesome, fresh meals (cheaper too!).