Our own little Mater

For the past three weeks, I've been telling this story to anyone who will listen so I figured I'd finally put it down for posterity.

The other day, Moses and I were playing with a battery-operated car in the driveway when it fell off the driveway into the grass. I heard Moses say something under his breath and then he bolted into the house. He reemerged, with his tow truck, and proceeded to tow his car onto the driveway! It. was. the. cutest. thing.

By the way, Moses calls tow trucks "car ups."

He digs it

A return to normalcy

Well, I (we) made it! The boys and I picked Dave up from the airport last Wednesday night (and fell to our knees, fervently begging him not to leave again!) His trip to DC for the inauguration went fantastically though so, in retrospect, we were more than happy to part with him for those 5 days. It was a little rough in the sleep department for me though. I had both boys in bed with me since Moses has night terrors/nightmares and usually wakes up screaming a couple times a night (and those screams would startle Milo into crying). I think my current cold stems from those sleepless nights.

At the airport, several parents and students just gabbed my ear off with praise for Dave -- as a teacher and travel agent. It was yet another moment I was proud to be his wife. Moses was delighted to see him again but at first sight he wasn't sure what to do -- as if Dave's image was a mirage. Once he got over it, he clung to Dave as the students oohed and awed over the twosome.

Since I've deprived my last few posts of pictures, here are some taken during our week without Dave:






Dave also had a little more press coverage (without nervous balance-of-powers goofs) during and after the trip so we're relishing his 15-minutes!

Shameless self-bragging!

I just ran all 3.5 miles of our usual walking route. I'm so ecstatic! I've been doing a walk/run combo for a couple of weeks now, but today was the first day I had it in me to run the whole way. The boys were perfect, sleeping witnesses to my achievement but woke the second we got home so we're celebrating with some yummy clementines.

I've now lost 50 of the 65 pounds I set out to lose. With a little discipline (fewer pastries and daily exercise), it's been easier than I anticipated so hopefully I'll be in my skinny pants soon!

Woot!

Fall, Out Boys

I'm quickly learning how precious time is once your second child is out of that newborn stage. Milo is no longer sleeping a majority of the time, and while he's developing a routine, I still find my hands the fullest they've ever been: it seems I'm constantly keeping cars from getting microwaved while wiping up oodles of spit up and juggling a cup of coffee. Don't even get me started on the house.

As always, I've composed many a blog in my head only to not have the time to get my thoughts down on keyboard. I've been more diligent about taking photos though since it's the easier form of blogging these days. Here are some highlights:

Fall Planting: We bought some ferns and fall annuals for our back patio. Moses was incredibly helpful and quickly picked up on the dos (the don'ts were a little harder to comprehend). After he saw me packing the dirt around our newly planted flowers, he was suddenly a professional gardener and insisted that he pack the dirt around all our plants, new and old.


Milo watched us plant, pounding his fists when he wasn't satisfied with our pace. All his direction paid off though--I love fall colors.

Pensive Progeny: Milo reached a new level of awesomeness while sleeping. Such a thoughtful boy.

He's just one cool dude all-around though.

Cocoa: We're still taking our long walks most mornings even though the weather is turning chilly, and our new favorite thing is having a cup of hot chocolate when we get home. Even though Moses' mug only has a couple of ounces, it's the highlight of his morning--he even wakes up talking about "co-co." If these eyes and lips don't scream satisfaction, I don't know what else would.

Well, it's off to bed. I aim to blog most nights but usually end up falling asleep with Milo, at least tonight was a success!

Car-razy

Moses has always been car crazy, but after receiving some Matchbox cars over the weekend, he's taken it to a new level: he doesn't let the cars leave his sight and has slept with a front-end loader at least once this week.

Below he is transporting dirt in his dump truck from one end of the bench to the other and swinging with cement mixer and the same dump truck. I'm getting pretty good at naming vehicles.

Fall!

Today was the most fall-like day so far. The air had just enough of a chill to make it comfortable outside. Finally! Moses and I celebrated the pleasant weather with a little backyard time. Milo joined us but celebrated by sleeping.

Swing kid

While Milo was still sleeping this morning, Moses and I went outside to swing, mismatched pajamas and all. Moses wanted me to swing, but having recently learned better, I told Moses I couldn't because I was too big (read: fat-from-recently-carrying-a-child-for-9-months) and it hurt to squeeze my adult rear into that small swing. Upon hearing that unpleasant news, Moses decided to designate two more "kids" for me to push (notice the bubbles in the other swing). Nevertheless, Moses, the bubble twins, and I had a nice morning.

King of the Castle

Dave's parents and niece came down last weekend and we spent some time at our local mammoth play village. We hadn't been out there before and Moses had a lot of fun. Ignore his shorts--his normally-smooth-dressing daddy wasn't thinking (1- they are too small, 2 - he's got too many shades of blue on).

P.S. Is anyone else having issues with Firefox 3.0.1 and their ability to cut and paste? I can't move my blog pictures and text around like usual (in blogger or any other FF window) and it's disturbing my Internet chi.

Out for a Stroll

As a baby gift, I received my dream stroller from my Dad and Sally. I know I previously said I wanted a Phil & Ted's Sport but after doing more research, I decided on the BOB Stroller Strides Duallie* because it allows me to either walk or jog with two, and with the infant seat attachment, we can get outside sooner rather than later. Ultimately, I want to start running again, but for now, we're just using it for long walks to the park.

On Monday morning, we walked a mile to the park, played, and then walked back. Aside from a couple of Milo's outbursts, the walk went great! The stroller handles so well---it's easy to push through grass and sand, turns on a dime (really!), takes bumpy sidewalks like a charm, and fits though our doorways. It must be cozy, too, because Moses fell asleep on the return trip.



Of course, that tiny nap threw Moses off schedule and he ended up crashing mid-play that afternoon.
*No, I don't do Stroller Strides but wanted the extra amenities the stroller has to offer (handlebar console, exercise bands, and workout manual). The stroller comes with a free week's worth of classes so I'll definitely give it a try but $45 a month for classes is tough when I'm not bringing in money. Shoot, maybe I'll just follow behind our local class and copy their workouts--I suppose there's nothing to stop me (except extreme embarrassment)! Ha!

The poor man's bubble machine

Any parent knows what a thrill bubble blowing is for children and is aware of the relentless requests to produce them. Sure, there are bubble machines available these days, but Dave introduced Moses to another way of making bubbles by turning Moses' water table into a bubble table with the help of soap and tinker toy sticks. It's been a smashing success and unburdened Dave with the task wand-blowing. The only downside is that Moses enjoys an occasional sip of his bubbly water.




I have to take a moment to give my sweet hubby a shout out. He's been such a huge help to me these past few weeks as I get bigger, more tired, and less mobile. I just don't know what I'd do without his help this summer and it warms my heart to see how much fun he and Moses have each day.

Is this not the face of a boy smitten with his father?

-Lindsey

Home again, home again.

So after a long, tiring week in the Dallas Metroplex, we are home again. We had a nice time but Dave and I agreed that we'd never turn a work trip into a family trip again because it was too exhausting for both of us. Maybe when Moses is older and I'm not pregnant we'll give it another go, but for now, we'll just say our goodbyes to Dad at the airport and hope he brings us back something cool.

We did have a great time seeing family and friends and visiting the zoo though. He saw grandparents, great-grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and more that I don't know the official titles of--some of whom he'd never met. We also met up with one of my good friends and her husband at The Cheesecake Factory, yum, where Dave and I took turns walking outside with Moses because he refused to behave (figures) in the restaurant. He's just at that age where he's into everything and sitting still is not an option. I also took us to the Ft. Worth Zoo, where Moses enjoyed the un-zoo parts most--the stairs, the men with brooms and dustpans, the golf carts zipping around--not the animals. He only took interest in a bear, a crocodile, and the aviary--everything else either scared him ("no, no, no, bye, bye") or was wholly uninteresting to him.

One thing he's taken away from our trip is a love for airplanes. Each one he saw in the sky would bring about pointing and the repeating of "pane, pane" until we, too, acknowledged its existence.

One thing Dave and I took away from the trip was the damage a coyote caused to our rental car. Seven days of driving in Dallas traffic, and we're fine. Forty-five minutes from home, and we hit a coyote with a death wish who seriously damages our front fender and air conditioner. It's just not right. I think Mother Nature should carry insurance for such occasions because we really, really aren't looking forward to handling this with ours.

Enjoying his great-grandparents' backyard and toddler-sized bridge

Learning the art of sunscreen application

Failing at sunscreen application

"Talking" on the phone for the first-time ever, to Dave's dad (Papa)

Crocodile!

The gorilla

Moses' reaction to the gorilla (vigorous head shaking)

Eh, rhinos, so what?

Moses and the bear "connecting"

-Lindsey