Bilingual Baby

Spence has one word - Dada. He loves to say it. He'll even say it on command when Brian asks him. On the way to church today he started saying "dada dada dada." Coleman of course wanted to join in. Then Coleman started saying "muffy" over and over. Yes, that enigmatic word again. With every "muffy" Spence would respond with a "dada." Coleman finally said, "No dada, just muffy!" Coleman is trying to make him bilingual. I use that term loosely since Spence isn't even really lingual, and the second language isn't a real language.

And on a completely unrelated note: I was going upstairs to get Coleman up from his nap and I stopped to pick up a package of diapers that hadn't quite made it to his room. I was thinking to myself, "I wish Coleman would regain his interest in using the potty. I'm tired of all these diapers." I opened his door and he sat up in bed and said, "I wanna go potty!" Wow! Talk about ask and ye shall receive! Excitedly I said, "You want to go potty?!" He looked at me and said, "No, I want to go party." Brian had told him that after he rested we would be going to a party at church tonight. Oh well. At least he's excited about going to church! Anyway, I wouldn't want that package of diapers going to waste.

Chicken Saves the Day

We had just arrived home from a day of shopping and dinner out. Spence was happily playing in the kitchen, so I stepped out of the room to take a look at some of my purchases. I walked back into the kitchen, but Spence was not there. I turned, only to see him already up to the third stair. (Yes, we have a gate, but no, it was not up.) As soon as I started for him, he started falling back. I knew I couldn't get to him before his head would hit the tile floor at the bottom of the staircase. As I was moving toward him, I was expecting to hear a loud thud and then wailing cries, but there was no sound at all. I reached for him, and lifted him off of Coleman's stuffed chicken. Chicken had broken his fall! That ridiculous animal that Coleman carries all over the place and sleeps with every night had saved the day! Thank you, Chicken. No more jokes about making you into nuggets.

Put On Your Listening Ears!

And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Throughout this time of uncertainty with Brian's job search, I have never been overwhelmed by fear or anxious thoughts of the unknown. Praise God! I've known that God would take care of us, no matter what. Today Brian began doing contract work for a company. This company wants him to continue working for them even if he goes back to work for his former boss. I thank all of you who have been praying for us. It is so important to have friends and family who are lifting you up in prayer.

I'm doing a Bible study by Beth Moore about the Old Testament tabernacle. I had my concerns before starting, but my mom assured me this was her favorite Beth Moore study. I wanted to get back into a women's Bible study group, and I think I've picked a winner! Girls, if you've never done a Beth Moore study, let me just say that YOU MUST! It is a big commitment, but well worth it. She has a way of making things just come alive and bring out truths that seemed hidden before. She said something in the DVD that struck me as strange, and then true. She said, "You can never get to the bottom of God's word." What??? Oh.... I'm realizing that now. The deeper you dig, the more you find. And that leads you to something else, and something else, and, well, you get the picture. I'm praying that I leave this study changed. A lot of the reading is from Exodus. At least it's not Numbers! Actually, I'm enjoying it.

I'm also enjoying my boys these days! Coleman has a new word: muffy. No, I don't know what it means. I'm pretty sure it's an adjective, but tonight I tried using it as a noun. I think I confused him. He wouldn't tell me what he wanted for dinner so I asked, "Do you want chicken nuggets? Pizza rolls? Peanut butter? Turkey sandwich?" To which he replied, "No. No. No. No." So I said, "Do you want some muffy?" Sounding intrigued, he asked, "What's muffy?" I wanted him to tell me, but he wouldn't. He decided that he did want muffy for dinner. Great. Anyone got the recipe? I tried to convince him that muffy was chicken nuggets with ketchup (he usually eats them with Ranch - a.k.a. Daddy dippin' sauce). He wasn't buying it, but he eventually ate it.

Our family is trying to cut back on M&Ms, so I bought popsicles for dessert this week. Every evening Brian, Coleman, and I all pick our flavors and go sit on the driveway. We each take a bite of each others, and we all share with Spence. It's been fun, and swatting the mosquitoes away has been good exercise! I love Fall, when it's finally nice enough to eat a popsicle outside! Ha!

I do have to mention one other cute thing Coleman said this week. It's only hearsay, so I hope I get it right. Brian was reading Little Elephant's Listening Ears, a book Grandma gave Coleman, the other night before bed. Coleman is very familiar with this book since we've read it every day at nap and bedtime since we've been back from Iowa (that's roughly 20 times). It's a cute book, but let me tell you, Elliot the Elephant is quite the brat. He definitely needs to put on his listening ears, and Mommy Elephant needs to learn some disciplining techniques! Nonetheless, it is a cute book. Back to my story, when Brian was reading it the other night, Coleman asked, "Where's his Daddy?" Brian said, "I don't know where he is. That's probably part of Elliot's problem." Coleman, obviously not picking up on the humor, replied, "Maybe he went to work to look for a job." Isn't that funny? He thinks if his Daddy is looking for a job, everybody's Daddy must be looking for a job! I love it! And I love all of you. Thanks for coming back every day and reading my stories!

I Give It a 10!

My favorite show is back! Yes, I'm talking about Dancing With the Stars. I love it! Did you see it tonight? It's one of those shows that I get so hooked on. I'm rooting for Jennie Garth, because I was a big 90210 fan. But the best dancer tonight was Sabrina Bryan. Tomorrow night the men dance. The only bad thing about this show is the time it takes to watch it. They dance one night and then have a results show the next. Once I get invested in it though, I just can't miss it!

Brian just walked by, saw this post, and said, "Boy, that's pathetic." But hey, everyone needs one guilty pleasure, right? This is mine!

Silly Boys & Mommy and Daddy are Big Spenders

Today we have a guest blogger. Welcome Brian!

Now that we've recovered from traveling to and from Iowa, we're thinking straight again. We stayed at The Renaissance Savery Hotel in downtown Des Moines. Don't knock it 'till you try it, Des Moines was a very nice area.


Saturday before the wedding we went to a very nice and LARGE farmer's market and had some very good breakfast burritos and coffee. It was even a little cold! Very nice compared to Houston. Back regarding the hotel; on our way out, I grabbed a shower cap thinking Coleman would enjoy it in the bath. He did. And it is affectionately called the "Silly Hat".


The weather is getting better down here. The heat index is now below triple digits. We went to the park yesterday and Coleman "rode" his trike there. Actually, I pushed him with a painting extension handle. We had a good time.






On our way home from the gym today, we saw a sign for a garage sale in our neighborhood. We usually do a drive by to see if it's worth it to get the boys out. They just moved in a couple of weeks ago and were getting rid of some of their boy's stuff. We found a great Leggo/Car/Train table for Coleman and Spence for $15. Mommy and Daddy are big spenders. ;-) The boys already had fun with it today.

You're in Radiator Springs, the Cutest Little Town in Carburetor County

If you haven't seen the Disney Pixar movie Cars then you may not get most of the references in this post. I just had to share Coleman's new hobby of reenacting movie scenes though.

great wikipedia article on Cars

Coleman's favorite movie is Cars. It's really a good movie. He has almost all the Cars cars and has seen the movie so many times that he can reenact many of the scenes. The cars race, Lightning McQueen blows a tire, McQueen jumps over an overturned Leak Less, McQueen falls out of his trailer, and my favorite, Mater takes McQueen tractor tipping. For this scene Coleman tips his tractors backwards and sets up Mater and McQueen in front of them. (This is like cow tipping, but with tractors.) His new favorite scene now is toward the end of the movie when McQueen helps all the townsfolk fix up Radiator Springs. They turn on the neon signs and Sh-Boom by The Chords starts playing. I sing along with it every time. "Oh, life could be a dream, sh-boom..." Coleman says, "I want to watch loppa dream!" I'm guessing that's his version of "life could be a dream." All I can say is thank goodness for DVDs and scene selection. I can select that scene and he's happy. We don't have to watch the whole movie (yes, it's a good movie, but I've seen it in its entirety several dozen times) and no fast forwarding or rewinding. Sometimes I've wondered what toys we'd be playing with and what movies we'd be watching if I had girls. My friend Theresa informed me that her 2 year old daughter loves Cars also, and is now obsessed with tires! So rock on Cars fans!

A bonus fun fact! My favorite line from the movie:
You know, I once knew this girl Doreen. Good-looking girl. Looked just like a Jaguar, only she was a truck! You know, I used to crash into her just so I could spoke to her. (Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy)

I'll be good, for a price.......

For Coleman to be still for the rehearsal, pictures, and wedding we bribed him with M&Ms. It was incredible the power Brian had with those tiny little candies. Below are pictures of Coleman "behaving" for a treat (click to enlarge).

Also, here's a little poem I wrote for the occasion:

I’m two and a half I’m sure you can see

I think the world revolves around me

You know that I could act much better

If you’d give me the candy with my favorite letter

I’d stop running and whining and climbing the wall

I’d be an angel, the best 2 year old of all

I know you’ve got a bag of them handy

Go ahead and hand over some of that candy!

The Wedding Continued

OK. I'm somewhat recovered from the trip. Haven't quite caught up on sleep, but I'm getting back into my normal routine. Well, things aren't completely normal since Brian is home everyday. It's been nice having him here, but I'm trying not to get too used to it so I won't feel overwhelmed when he goes back to work.

Coleman enjoyed sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room. They read lots of books, played with lots of tractors, and made a "snow mountain" out of the big fluffy pillows on the bed.

It was great seeing Rita's family. Her two sisters and their families were there. Here is a picture of all the girls. We should really leave the guys behind and go on a little vacation sometime. I keep hearing about this Mall of America. Sounds like my kind of place!

Sherrie, Dre, me, Jeani, Rita, Mary, Rhonda, and Roz

Coleman thought that the reception was a birthday party. He was amazed by Grandma and Grandpa's awesome dancing! It took him awhile, but we finally got him out on the dance floor with Roz. He partied hard until 11:30!


All this fun, and we added another member to our family. I know we'll have many more happy occasions to celebrate together! I can't wait!

The Wedding

We're back! We had such a wonderful time in Iowa visiting with family and attending all the wedding festivities. I can't go into too much detail tonight because I am SO TIRED. Traveling with small children is not fun. We got back home last night around 12:30. Let me just say I have serious concerns with airport security in Des Moines. I was able to get on the plane with 3 juice boxes filled with 6.75 ounces of juice each.

Coleman was a super ring bearer. Coleman was also a stinky ring bearer. I did not detect the dirty diaper until the wedding party was lined up to march down the aisle. I don't think too many people smelled him.

I know many of you reading this were at the wedding. We enjoyed seeing all of you! It's sad that we live in so many different places (Texas, Montana, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa), but that makes it even more special when we get together.

Here are a few highlight pictures from our trip. There are many more wonderful pictures and much more to say, so I'll post more in the next few days.

Coleman and Spence watching the planes

All dressed up for the rehearsal Friday night



Saturday morning at the Farmers' Market
with Rhonda, Jared, and Roz



The big day has arrived and Spence is ready for his pictures!



Our family before the wedding



Coleman with the flower girls, Andrea's cousins



Grandpa and Coleman in their tuxes



Brent and his beautiful wife, Andrea

Turn! Turn! Turn!

That's what I'm saying to Humberto. How dare a tropical storm threaten us the day before we leave for Iowa. Where did this thing come from??? I think it's safe to say that Humberto would have to face the wrath of Grandma Rita if it prevented us from getting to Iowa on time. It looks as though the storm is turning and will not cause as much trouble as was thought a few hours ago. Please pray that we will have a safe journey tomorrow!

We are all looking forward to our trip and the wedding. I'm sure we'll have some wonderful pictures to share. Hopefully we'll have a cute story about what an awesome ringbearer Coleman was, and not how he set the church on fire and caused widespread chaos...

I'll post again on Monday!

Need a Laugh?

Yesterday Brian was sitting on the couch with his laptop. Coleman was playing nearby and suddenly stopped and said, "Daddy." Brian finished what he was reading then said, "What Buddy?" Coleman pointed at him and said in a very strong, stern voice, "Daddy! GET A JOB!!!"

This morning Spence was sitting on my lap and Coleman was playing with his cars. Spence passed gas and I said, "Spence just tooted on me." Coleman replied, "That was maybe me."

Seriously, I don't know where he learns this stuff...

Just a Little Fun on a Summer Evening

Coleman is a so-so driver.

"Shear" Excitement

(Not sure what happened to the pictures here. Maybe I'll have Brian see what the problem is soon.)

I'm 10 months old today!

This was haircut week. We all got one so we'd look presentable for Brent's wedding. I must say, we look stunning. Well, at least Coleman and Spence. Here are their before and after pictures.

This was Spence's first haircut. The poor stylist not only had to deal with a crying client, but his older brother singing, mom telling her what to cut and what not to cut, and dad with a camera snapping pictures and making video. It was like the circus had rolled into town!

Here's the picture I desperately wanted to get,
where he's sitting nicely and sucking on his sucker.

This picture more realistically captures the event.

Random Conversations

There are always cute things that Coleman says that just don't seem to fit in with my daily posts. So here are the top 5 random conversations we've had this week.

#5
I always ask Coleman if he needs to potty when he gets up. He usually says yes, but lately he comes up with an excuse not to go.
Amanda: Good morning! Do you need to go potty?
Coleman: No. I went before bed.

#4
Brian: You're a cookie man!
Coleman: No, I'm a cookie little boy.

#3
Brian: Coleman, pick up your cars please.
Coleman: I can't. I've got a tummy ache from eating hamburgers at Mr. Dan's. (that was the previous day, and he only ate 2 bites)

#2
Coleman was helping me put his cars in the basket before bed and Spence was trying to dump them out.
Amanda: You're a helper. Spence in an unhelper.
Coleman: He's a dump-it-outer.

And the winner, hands down (and eyes closed).
While eating dinner, Coleman was squinting his eyes closed as hard as he could and then taking a bite.
Brian: Why are you eating your dinner with your eyes closed?
Coleman: So I don't get chicken nuggets in my eyes.

All Before 9 A.M.

It's 7:45 and I don't want to get up, but Spence has been making noise for at least 20 minutes. He'll probably start crying soon, then Coleman will wake up. I start climbing up the stairs and hear Coleman. "Mommy, get me UP!!!" I'm still tired. Too bad.

Downstairs, Coleman wants to play his drum (the metal trashcan turned upside-down). Luckily his new drumsticks are a pair of straws. Much quieter than the previous drumsticks - his hands. He says, "I might sing The Messy Song." The song starts with a 15 second drum intro. Then it goes something like this:

You're so MESSY!
You're so MESSY!
You are messy.
You're a messy baby.
So stop!

He drums and dances around while singing, so I get quite a kick out of the performance. "Sing it again," I ask. To which he replies, "No, it's over."

Brian comes in the living room and Coleman wants him to hear The Tractor Song. This song consists of a few taps, then he'll say a word. This time he says Construction (tap tap), Paramedics (tap tap), Big rig (tap tap), Farm tractor (tap tap), Construction (tap tap). We clap, then Daddy has a request. "Sing a song about Montana." But Coleman says, "The Montana Song is not on. Let's eat."

After breakfast, Coleman wants to play baseball. He has to wear his baseball mask. I'm not even going to try to explain this, you'll just have to see the picture below. Maybe later we can share some video.

Just think, if I was still in bed I would have missed all this...

Coleman and his baseball helmet. Notice how he pulls
the flap over his eyes and nose. He can see through it only
slightly, so it really affects his batting average.

Yesterday I was cleaning the dining room floor so I moved
the chairs into the entry. Coleman was pretending that it
was a bus. Duckie is driving and we're all passengers.

No Clever Title

This Labor Day weekend we went to several cookouts. Saturday we went to a barbecue at some friends' house. We made the mistake of telling Coleman the day before that we would be going to Mr. Jim's house and that he had a pool. Coleman had no clue who Mr. Jim was, but he asked every 2 minutes when we would be going. This family does not have any little boys, so we took some of Coleman and Spence's toys. The boys were more interested in the cat toys though! They dumped out the cat toys and were entertained the entire time we ate dinner. Strange, but nice that we got to enjoy the meal and they were happy.

This afternoon I was reading one of Coleman's library books, How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight? After I was done I asked how many kisses he wanted. He said, "One, two, three, four, five." I asked him where he wanted them and he said, "On my head, my back, my nose, my leg, my check, and my nother cheek." Yes, that's six, but you can't kiss one cheek and not the "nother."

Later, Coleman started screaming and hit my foot because he didn't get his way. He was punished and then Brian told him to come apologize to me. He ran over and so sincerely said, "I'm sorry Mommy. I kiss your toe?" He wanted to kiss my toe because he thought he hurt it when he hit me. How can kids go from mean to sweet so quickly?

Here are some new pictures of the boys.

Coleman at "The Tractor Store" with Daddy

Spence playing with the parking garage