this little piggie

You would think, with the way Colin gobbles down his food these days, that he'd be breaking the scale with his heft. But you'd be wrong.

Tonight he just ate all 4 of his McDonald's chicken nuggets (mom of the year award, here I come!), several french fries, a whole banana, a danimals drink yogurt, and a handful of cheerios. Now he's asking for something, but it sounds like he's calling "Jakie" so I'm not really sure what he's after. No nap today, according to Kelly - we'll be going to bed early tonight!

Gavin ate about 1/2 of his cheeseburger and is munching on fries while drinking his yogurt. He chugged his chocolate milk in record time. Now G is asking me about Halloween costumes - I can't wait to see what Joy has put together! Colin will be Yoda, and Gavin will be Luke Skywalker. Nora across the street will be Princess Leia. G would like me to dress up as someone from Clone Wars, but I'm thinking no. I asked if I could be Chewbacca, but he said no since I'm a girl. Grr. But he said his daddy can be Chewie, and I think that would be just dandy :)

new doggie!!

On Friday, I took the boys to the Williamson County Animal Shelter to browse the beautiful puppies in need of new homes. We saw a pretty girl named Vida, and she stole my heart. I took a picture of her and texted it to Scott, who was about to board a plane in San Francisco to come home to us after being out of town for work all week. On Saturday, we loaded the family into the car to go back to the shelter so that Scott could see the dogs himself. As I was showing Vida to him, a man came to take her out of her kennel to go to an on-site adoption event at PetSmart. He offered to leave her at the shelter, but we told him we'd meet him there to see her - that way, we could see her outside the shelter environment, and if we adopted her there we got a bunch of PetSmart coupons, so why not? We stopped by the "chicken nugget station" (Chick Fil A) for lunch and then went to PetSmart. There she was, looking pretty! They brought her to us on a leash and let us take her on a little walk between the stores, away from the other dogs. She was sweet, totally fine with the boys, and we all fell in love. We left here there to go home and get Jake so that we could see if the 2 dogs got along. When we returned with Jake, we walked the 2 of them together and they seemed almost indifferent to each other. Jake was, I think, nervous and weirded out by the barking of the shelter dogs when he was near them, and so he was more subdued than usual. Anyway, they seemed to get along just fine (no fighting, no problems at all) so we adopted Vida!

Here she is, sitting at my feet:

And here she is sleeping at my feet:

She is the same height as Jake (or maybe a smidge taller) but 53 lbs to his 70 lbs. But Jake is a Fatty McFattysaurus these days, and she's been at a shelter (before that, a stray).

Scott ran out to WalMart to get a crate for the new doggie. She'll go in it when there is a treat inside and no people close, but Colin seems to enjoy it more :) So does Jake, actually. Last night, when she cried to go out, she didn't want to go back in the crate. Jake went in instead, and she slept in Jake's dog bed.

The new dog does not yet have a name. We're looking at several names, and as soon as we've found the perfect one to fit her we will share :)

getting scared....

On Friday, we are getting on a plane with 2 crazy cute monsters. I am so very worried about how that will go. Naps are a fight. Snacks work as bribery, but once they're no longer hungry they cease to be very helpful. They like to move around. Colin will not have his own seat on the plane and will share with me, and he will wiggle the entire time.

Deep breaths. I think I can, I think I can.....

summer

You'd think that, now that summer is in full swing, I would actually update the blog. Or, maybe, just take a few pictures. But no, I have not updated the blog, and I haven't even taken pictures of the kids. (Or of anything else, just to be clear.) Wow. I'm fairly ashamed of myself.

Facebook has been my downfall. It's really easy to post a one-liner update of what's going on, or snap a quick picture on my phone and post it, and so I don't think about getting online to blog about anything. I am a very lazy blogger. I'm sorry.

We leave on Friday for Tucson, and I am certain that either Scott or I will take pictures of all the goings-on with the family. In the event that an epic picture-fail occurs, other family members will hopefully have cameras and snap away, sharing the fruits of their labors with us after we beg and plead. There WILL be pictures.

So, a quick update:

Gavin is 3 1/2 and he is amazing. He is taking swimming lessons at Nitro Swimming every Saturday, and he's *thisclose* to moving from station 1 to station 2 - to do so, he has to hold his breath for 5 seconds with his face fully submerged in the water. He got to 3 or 4 seconds this past Saturday, and then in the pool with Scott on Sunday did a full 10 seconds! This is a big deal, since getting him to even put on goggles (he calls them "gobbles") was an ordeal, and he's really not been a big fan of putting any part of his head underwater. Progress!! He loves to pretend, and he's a loving and fabulous big brother. He loves broccoli. He is so proud that he's finally learned to pee standing up. He can't get himself moving on the swing yet so he still demands to be pushed. He is an adept negotiator. Oh, and he gives the BEST hugs on the planet.

Colin is 16 months and walking (and running now too!) up a storm. He loves to be outside. He is talking more and more each day (I have GOT to post a video of him yelling "Da-EEEE" to get Scott's attention!). Today he figured out how to unhook the cabinet locks in the kitchen, and then he spent the rest of the afternoon/evening happily digging around and banging on my metal mixing bowls. He loves to close doors, so he'll go into Gavin's room, close the door, and then play with whatever is at hand. Or he'll notice that the pantry is partly open, go inside, and pull the door closed. I'll open the door and he's standing inside (in the dark), just grinning at me. He is learning to throw one heck of a tantrum. If he's mad, he'll lay down on the floor and start scooting (in whatever direction his head is pointed) until he hits a wall. If I leave the room, he'll scoot until he reaches an obstacle, stand up, find me, and lay back down to scoot some more. Of course, he screams the entire time. Hellooooooo terrible twos! You are early! When he's not channeling a demon, though, he is the sweetest, snuggliest little man. And he's got the beginnings of a mullet, since his hair's finally growing in. We're watching it, don't worry, it'll get cut before things get too crazy.

Scott has been traveling for work (Germany, Germany again, California, soon California again) more frequently these days. We all like it best when he's home! I had a couple of training days for school earlier in the month, and I go back the first week in August for 3 more training days. School stuff officially begins for me August 16 with staff development on my campus. Until then, I'm enjoying every second I have on vacation!

for your viewing pleasure...

We sing the ABCs at home all the time, and we have for a long while - the song has even become part of Gavin's handwashing routine, a way for him to make sure he scrubs his hands long enough before rinsing. This video is take 2 - the first time, he was putting his hands in front of the camera [until I told him I'd let him watch it when we were done, that prompted full cooperation]. You may notice that he skips J, and of course lmnop is all one letter. We're working on it :)



"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is a newer favorite at home. I don't know if he learned it with Kelly or at school, but he's just recently starting singing "twinkle." I'm sad that I didn't get it on camera when he was still singing "crinkle crinkle little star." Oh well. Still cute.



By the time we got around to singing "Wheels on the Bus," Gavin was really into it. My favorite part is when he gets to the driver on the bus.



Colin's not singing yet, but he is starting to sign! I'll try to get video of that soon. He's been signing when he's finished [at the table usually, though the other day he signed he was finished after some bath tub water swallowing/sputtering, which was cool - the signing, not the sputtering!]. His wave [hello or goodbye] is starting to look more and more like a real wave, too - it started as him clenching his fists and opening them again, at his sides or wherever his hands were, and now he's starting to point his hand in the direction of whatever/whoever he's waving at. Most recently he's starting signing "more." Today he had barely put a bit of marshmallow in his mouth and was already signing for more. The kid has a sweet tooth, what can I say?

a day in the life...

Gavin spent the better part of the morning in his Shrek underwear (that are too big, and he was falling out of them in one way or another quite frequently, ha). He called it his "wrestling outfit." Then he had buffalo wings and banana yogurt for lunch - only Gavin would find that combo even remotely appetizing! - and dripped buffalo sauce and ranch on his undies so he decided it was finally time to get dressed. He came out of his room dressed in a rhino shirt and light-up fire truck jeans and carrying a sword, declaring himself "Captain Hook." Two guesses as to who saw "Peter Pan" for the first time today?

Colin has been (mostly) all smiles this morning. He woke up, nursed, and then just grinned at me. I love that! Then he played on the floor with the kitchen set (he likes to pull everything out and throw it on the floor - thank goodness he does it with the play kitchen and not the real one!) and with his new blocks. The blocks are very tasty, apparently, and he chewed on them contentedly. He napped early, then had some sweet potato and yogurt for lunch, and now he's happy in his jumper. It's been a while since he's used it, and I think we're getting close to time to retire it. It is definitely nice to be able to put him someplace and know he won't be across the room in 1/2 a second. I'll miss the jumper when it's gone!

Now Gavin is talking on the phone from his kitchen: "Hello? .... I know ... hmmm ... (hands phone to daddy) it's my friends. (takes phone back) Hello? ... oh my gosh! ... wanna talk to mommy? (hands phone to me, then takes it back) Yeah. ... I'm tired. I'll take a nap, in a little while. I'm watching football ... with my daddy. Bye!"

He has such an imagination. Yesterday, he told me he was the daddy and I was the kid. And he was going to the "hamburger station" to get me a hamburger and chocolate milk and apples and a toy. He got a soda, because he was the grown-up. Every place we go is the "___ Station" - the hamburger station, the coffee station, airplane station.

Now Colin is chewing on his fingers and looking around. It's almost time for his nap, but for now he's happy to chill out and talk to us. Just a day in the life of us...

it's been a while...

Now that school's in full swing, I'll most likely begin every new blog post with an apology for it being so long since the previous post. In the month since I last posted we've had a lot going on - Grammy came in town while Scott and I went to the Austin City Limits music festival, Gramma Joy and Grandpa Mark flew in for a weekend from Tucson to visit, Scott's been working like a crazy man to finish his project for grad school - so it's been a bit hectic!

Today I set Colin in the pack and play (that is still set up in our room from when the grandparents came to visit 2 weeks ago - I really should put it away!) so I could throw in some laundry. He's not yet mobile and crawling, but he's close, and when he sits on the floor he often leans forward to grab something not quite in his reach and ends up on his tummy in crawl-ready position - but then he immediately gets frustrated and just cries. So, yeah, I set him in the pack and play rather than on the floor hoping to bypass the crying part. The bassinet part of the pack and play moves easily, something that Colin quickly realized and took full advantage of:

The child is so ridiculously photogenic. He really likes the flashy lights on the camera, especially the colored ones some cameras have, so when you point a camera at him and he sees any lights he just smiles away. I think he looks a LOT like my brother Scott in this picture:

If you want to see pictures of anything in particular (grandparent visits, the kids outside, Gavin riding his bike, etc.) then please post a comment and I'll get 'em posted. You can count on a Halloween blog post next weekend - Gramma Joy made costumes for both boys, and they are a.dor.a.ble! She's amazing (and she sews well, too!) :)