Friday, June 26, 2009

Miraculous Moments

I did not stage these photos. No one is crying. No one was bribed with candy. I did not even suggest the boy do any of these things or even ask him to pretend just for a moment his sister existed. I merely observed these miraculous moments and photographed them.


Oh and yes Matthew does have a severe Crystal Light mustache. But when you are photographing miraculous moments, you do not ask the subjects first to wash their face, you just shoot.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

A Few Questions for Today

This morning while getting ready to take Matthew to VBS
I Wonder........

How many times I have heard "Hey, Mama" this hour?

If our ears are only able to hear a certain amount of words in a lifetime before shutting down completely? (I may be nearing my quota)




When I see a young man park in the "new and expectant mother" spot at CVS
I Wonder......

When is he due?

If I should take a photo of him? (he will likely be famous soon, since pregnancy in males is kind of rare, that photo could make me rich)




When walking out to the van to go pick Matthew up from VBS
I Wonder.....

How in the world could I have left the side door open for 2 hours?

Will the van start? (It did by the way)




While eating lunch
I Wonder......

Would Matthew be ok eating pb&j for lunch for the rest of his life?

What did I eat?

Really why can't I remember what I ate? (maybe I should ask Matthew, he probably remembers)



When getting Matthew up from a little rest time
I Wonder.....

How can he possibly stand to be covered up in a fleece blanket when the thermostat right outside his door reads 84 degrees?

Was he wearing that outfit when I last saw him?



Moments ago while passing by the bathroom mirror
I Wonder......

Has my hair ever been this long before?

Why is it so knotty?

What is that thing in my hair?

How long have I been toting this baby booger around in my hair?

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Update: VBS Gets an "A" Today

Meet "Gator School" 's biggest fan......

Sweat + Dirt + a Gator Puppet = A Smile on this Boy's Face

Monday, June 22, 2009

The VBS Report


Matthew is going to VBS (Vacation Bible School) for the first time ever this week. I was a little nervous because sitting still is not his specialty. The church we are going to right now is small and does not have VBS so he is going to a different church where we do not know a soul. This does not at all bother my boy (he is so much braver than me).


He chose this particular VBS because it had a gator on the sign. Although, he almost changed his mind when he saw another church was having "Kangaroo school". I have been talking with him about it the last couple of days and he has been pumped for "Gator school".


I felt maybe he been slightly misled by the sign (and maybe me) when he kept asking me these questions on the way this morning:

"Do you think they will have an alligator statue, Mama?"

"Mama, will they tell me all the gator information there?"

"I wonder if they will have a baby cayman for me to touch?"


Yikes! I was pretty worried that his first day of VBS could very well be his last, if he wasn't sufficiently chucked full of alligator info by noon.


When I picked him up I, of course, asked how it went.

I got this response "I didn't know they were going to sing such long songs at gator school."


Strike One!


Then came off the necklace he had made (that appeared to have nothing to do with alligators). I cheerfully say "Oh wow, what a cool necklace you made."

His response "No, my teacher made this for you because I told her I only like to make cool gator things." (In reality, the child does not like to make ANYTHING. I do not think he has a crafty bone in his body. You are probably thinking, how could he possibly be MY child when I am so crafty and all??? I know, I know it is a mystery).


Strike Two!


I then see a bracelet he got that looked gatory and say "Well you did get this neat bracelet that looks like an alligator."

He says "Yeah, but it doesn't have a head."

(I normally don't expect bracelets to come with heads, but then again I am not a 4 year old boy, so I guess our expectations could differ slightly.)


Strike Three!


Next, he says "I am starving because I don't like salad and cherry tomatoes." I am kinda having a hard time envisioning 4 year olds being given a salad and cherry tomato snack. I don't really think that was the snack, but just in case I might stick around for snack time tomorrow because I would love a salad.


Strike Four! (Yeah, yeah I know there is no such thing as four strikes, but what can I say I am generous)


So at this point I am pretty much thinking it is going to be torture to get him to go to the not-as-gatory-as-he-had-hoped school tomorrow when all of the sudden the clouds parted and the sun appeared.


Matthew says, "There were so many kids there. I didn't know who to meet first. At first, I thought it was a school, but then they talked about God, so I think maybe it is a church. And I get to go back for 56 days!"


Apparently, he is the kind of kid who likes to share the "bad news" first.




*Oh and on a completely unrelated note, for those of you wondering about the beefy baby's poundage, here are Alexis' 4 month stats: 17 lbs. 6 oz. and the height is somewhere in the 26's near 27 in (I don't remember exactly).

Friday, June 19, 2009

Alexis Meets Grandma and Grandpa

Last week Erik's parents came from MI for a visit! They got to meet the girl and play with the boy. We had a great time and I sure do wish we didn't live so far apart.
Fun times! The kids are still trying to get adjusted back to real life where the adult to child ratio is 1:2 most of the time rather than the 4:2 they were enjoying last week!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

4 Months Old


Alexis turned 4 months old yesterday. She is a happy, smiley girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to squeal until she gets it. She rolled over once. She hates to be on her tummy. She loves to pull my hair and have a fist full of hair in each hand (she would definitely cry if I got my hair cut). Alexis LOVES her Daddy. She can be in the crankiest mood and as soon as her Daddy talks to her, she is all smiles and happy chatter. She is really starting to take an interest in watching her big brother and what he is up to, so now she should never be bored ever again.


Her legs and arms are always moving and she must always be sitting straight up unless she is being rocked. She has slept through the night the last 3 nights (woohoo!!!).


We have her 4 month appointment this week so I don't have her stats yet, maybe I will post them later this week. (But, come on, this is my SECOND post of the day, what is the likelihood I will post 3 times in one week! Ha..no really I will try.)




I Think A License Should Be Required To Operate These....

Of course, if a license were in fact required mine would most certainly be revoked due to reckless clipping.

It seems that I am TERRIBLE at clipping baby finger nails. Erik used to clip Matthew's when he was a baby. I am completely capable of clipping his now, but poor Alexis on the other hand would have some horrible stories to tell you if she could talk.

The first time the clipping went completely wrong was Sunday February 8, 2009. That's right folks, Alexis was just three tiny days old and it was our very first day home. Her nails were incredibly long and her face looked like a painful line graph with all the scratches. So while Erik was showering, I decided I was completely capable of cutting my baby girl's finger nails and decided to put an end to her self inflicted pain. I was thinking "Don't worry tiny baby, Mama is coming to the rescue!". I was picturing myself in a cape, standing tall with wind whipping through my hair and cape all while heroic music played. Her finger was bleeding 4.7 seconds later.

Maybe I can sell my cape on ebay.

I felt horrible. She was bleeding. I cut her teeny tiny finger on her first day home. She was probably contemplating going back to the hospital hoping that she had been switched at birth and that her "real" mom was a proficient baby nail clipper.

Matthew just so happens to hate getting his nails clipped. He always tells me it hurts and then I laugh and laugh, and say "No it doesn't, silly". So he walks on to the nail clipping scene and sees Alexis' teeny tiny bleeding finger and me with the nail clippers in my hand and says "What happened to Awexis?". "Um........she hurt her finger", I say. That isn't a lie right? She did in fact have a hurt finger. For once in his life he didn't ask for specifics.

That was the first time and unfortunately, not the last.

So, is anyone looking for a very part time (so part-time, let's call it part-of-a-part-time) baby nail clipping job? The job doesn't pay much (actually it doesn't pay anything at all), but you can have all the ice water you can drink while you are here! Qualified applicants only, please. This child's fingers can't take anymore rookie clipping.