in the meantime...

I just noticed I haven't posted a decent family pic in a while. So while you all eagerly await the impending barrage of Christmas pics, here's a family shot for your enjoyment. Some of you may recognize it as our Christmas card (and if you don't, don't feel bad -- our Christmas card list was extremely abbreviated this year) except this is the way it was supposed to look. You know, before Walmart got their hands on it.


P.S. If you design your own photo cards like I do, don't have them printed at Walmart even though you can get them cheap and they include the envelopes. They doctored my image even though I unchecked every possible box in the process. My cards came out dark and smudgy.

technical difficulties

I know I promised to be a better blogger and I meant it, really! However my incessant picture-taking appears to have caught up with me and well, now my hard drive is full. Which means no uploading of new pics until I remove some of the {cough}sixthousandsomeodd{cough} digital images currently residing on my hard drive. No problem! I bought a 500GB external hard drive months ago that I've just never gotten around to hooking up. Well here I am with it all hooked up, ready to start backing up, only to find out it doesn't appear to be compatible with my Mac. Not sure how I missed that little detail. So back it goes and here I sit, waiting for Wednesday when my new Mac compatible hard drive shows up on my door step looking into online backup options. Maybe, just maybe, I can manage to thin my photo galleries enough manually to make room. But don't hold your breaths. I've got an entire 2GB memory card and part of another to upload.

So until then, please accept my deepest apologies and hang tight just a few more days...

the man in red

It's no secret that Alex is not a fan of Santa. To be more specific, he is not a fan of sitting on Santa's lap. I think he actually likes Santa and the idea that Santa brings toys, but the prospect of interacting with Santa one-on-one? Not so much. Take last year's Santa experiences for example:


and...


But what can I say? I'm a sucker for a good screaming kid with Santa pic. Is that so wrong? Maybe. So this year when our friends the Browns said they were going to go visit Santa at the Bass Pro Shop I decided to try to ease Alex's anxiety by talking through the process. We spent the entire day talking about it.

Me: You want to go see Santa tonight?
Alex: Santa not scare me?
Me: No, Santa isn't scary.
Alex: I don't want to sit on his lap.
Me: But you have to sit on his lap to tell him what you want for Christmas. What are you going to tell Santa you want for Christmas?
Alex: Airplane.
Me: What kind of airplane?
Alex: A baby one.

We carried on variations of this conversation many, many times that day and by the time we left the house I really thought we had made some progress. I wasn't going to get my screaming kid with Santa pic but I decided my own selfish desires were far less important than my child's mental well-being.

For the record, Bass Pro Shops has a pretty sweet set-up. There's an electric train that runs around a miniature town (which Alex was mesmerized by), a slot car track, and tables where the kids can color. Genius! See, here's Alex working away on his choo-choo...


And here's some fine coloring left behind by another child, demonstrating the other choice in coloring pages.


That's right, a choo-choo or a hunter aiming his rifle. Only at Bass Pro Shops...

Next up, the main event. Here's Avery seemingly unaffected by his first Santa experience. Awww...


And here's the rest of the picture...


What happened you ask? Well as we approached Santa Alex began to cling to Ben rather tightly and by the time we were standing in front of him the whimpering had begun followed quickly by tears. Santa tried to offer some comforting words (as did I) but it was to no avail. So when I heard Alex whine that he wanted one of the candy canes he had seen Santa give the other kids I took my chance and said "well you have to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what you want then." I have never seen Alex move so quickly as he did to look at Santa, spit out "airplane!", and turn back burying his face in Ben's shoulder. Santa produced the tiny candy cane as promised but wait, what about my picture? So I told Ben to peel him off onto Santa's lap and kneel there beside him if necessary. Santa looked at me like I was crazy as it was so you can imagine his face as I pushed my 6-month old into the crook of his other arm. I mean come on. Like this guy hadn't dealt with a crying kid before?!

Oh, and some have pointed out that they too would be crying if there were such freaky looking reindeer (perhaps once alive? quite possible based on the location.) only feet away. But no. He WANTED to sit on one of them!

So there you have it. I got my picture and 10 seconds later Alex was happily aiming a laser rifle at a target. Again, only at Bass Pro Shops... (Insert heavy eye rolling here.)

But speaking of screaming kid with Santa pics, mine are nothing compared to the doozy my cousin scored this year. Just check out the look on Santa's face! Priceless.

back on the blog wagon

OK so I will spare you the sob story of why this blog has been so neglected for so terribly long. I got behind this summer (what, with a new baby and a 2 year old? noooooo...) and the prospect of catching up just became so overwhelming as time went on that well, it was easier to just ignore. So here we are starting fresh. If I find the time and inclination over the coming weeks and months I will try to go back and share some pics and stories from the past 5 months (holy cow it's been that long?!?) but I make no promises.

So to catch you up... Avery is now 6 1/2 months old. Crazy, huh? He is a sweet smiley boy who is pretty content to go with the flow. He is a peanut compared to his brother, only weighing about 16lbs (Alex was close to 20lbs at this point), and a little less "high needs". He is actually eating some homemade baby foods -- from a spoon!!! -- (Alex never would) albeit with a few digestive/allergy issues that we're working to figure out. Avery also has 2 teeth and is this close to being able to sit without any assistance. He enjoys pacifiers, kisses and watching his older brother's every move. I think he's taking notes.


Cute, right?

Alex is 2 1/2 and literally a laugh a minute. You'd be amazed at some of the things that come out of this kid's mouth. Some of his favorite sayings include "that's awesome", "in a little minute", "oh stop it" and the sometimes proper, sometimes improper use of the days of the week and words "yesterday" and "today". He definitely has his challenging moments and possesses quite a strong little personality but all in all he is an amazing charismatic little person.


Did I mention he has the best smile ever?

I guess I'll quit gushing about my kids now and figure out what I'm going to post next. Check back often because I'm gonna be a blogging fool. At least that's the plan.

Oh, and speaking of kids, Spencer would have been 4 on Thanksgiving. FOUR. As in years old. How time flies...

P.S. Like our festive new layout?

giggle of the day

This morning as Alex was busying himself ripping up and crumpling Ben's discarded sections of the newspaper Ben asked "why do you crush everything, are you angry?" His reply? "No, I'm Alex."

take me out to the ball game

A few weekends ago we tempted fate by taking both boys to their first Diamondbacks game with our friends the Browns. At 1:00 in the afternoon. For those of you unfamiliar with toddler law (or so far removed that you've forgotten) that puts the game smack dab in the midst of prime napping time. I can't tell you much about the game -- I was just there for the nachos -- aside from the fact that we played the Anaheim Angels, we lost, and Alex was amazingly well behaved for only catching a few winks in the car on the way there.

Avery slept nearly the entire time but did wake up every now and then to catch a few plays.


Alex and Peyton bounced around from seat to seat keeping each other entertained until Peyton finally gave in and crashed out.

Alex managed to power through and I think had a pretty great time although I'm pretty sure football is still his #1 spectator sport.


And the icing on the cake? Getting to watch the "choo choo" (aka light rail) that runs right in front of the stadium...

1 month: a recap

Before anyone begins to worry that I've been swallowed whole by the vast undertaking that is becoming a mother of two, I thought I'd better post an update. The truth is Alex has become quite fond of the computer (and quite adept at using it as well) so it's something of a challenge to get on long enough to even read an e-mail or two, let alone respond to one, without him wanting a turn. Updating my Facebook status is sometimes pushing it. And well I just seem to find better things to do while he's sleeping. Like take a minute to relax and watch something on TV other than 'Cars', 'Thomas', or his new favorite -- a FAA produced DVD on Agricultural Aviation that Ben was kind enough to bring home from work. Or re-fold the load of laundry he so kindly "helped" me with.

But seriously, life with two is good. Alex couldn't be a better, more loving big brother and Avery sleeps. A lot. So far. It's too bad that after growing 3 babies and now juggling a toddler and a newborn my brain is completely void of any semblance of memory or I might have a few cute stories to share. I'm sure something will come to me at some point but until then, here are some pictures. Which I'm sure is what you're really here for anyway. There are probably so many that I may even break them out into a few separate posts so keep scrolling down until you get to something you've read before (probably Avery's birth announcement).

brotherly love

If I were to be completely honest I'd say we were all a bit nervous about how Alex was going to take to having a new baby hanging around but this kid never ceases to amaze. Granted for the first few days Avery was "baby Alan" (Alex's cousin) but he quickly upgraded to "baby brudder" and eventually "Avwy". He looooooves his new baby brother and I can honestly say there's hardly a bit of jealousy there. Our biggest problem is making sure he doesn't smother Avery in fact. Well that along with reminding him to gently push the bouncy seat so Avery doesn't catapult out of it, your mouth is not a place for Avery's pacifiers, and yes you may kiss the baby again but please just don't smother him!

The feeling is definitely mutual being that Alex seems to be the only person guaranteed to get a big smile out of his little brudder so far.

squeaky clean

Somewhere in the past month Avery got his first bath. Not much more to it than that except Alex reeeeeeally wanted to get in the tub and help. I managed to keep him out but he was not happy about it.

Avery started out thinking it wasn't so bad...


...and ended up changing his mind.

But all was forgotten once he was dry, clothed, and snuggled into the sling for an evening walk.

everything old is new again

Not only does Alex love his baby "brudder", he loves baby brudder's things. All of which were previously his things though he seems to be enjoying them much more now than back then.

Alex in the Bumbo. (This one I find particularly funny considering his chunky thighs outgrew the Bumbo when he was about 6 months old yet at 2 years he fits quite comfortably.)


Alex on the Boppy (with a baby blanket).


Alex in the infant car seat.


And my least favorite -- Alex with the pacifier in his mouth. (This one makes me crazy. He doesn't even suck on it, just lets it sit in his mouth.)